Theme: GLASS (72A: Dinnerware item that can precede the start of 17-, 26-, 38-, 52- or 61-Across)
17A: Paintings and such: WORKS OF ART
26A: Causing heads to turn: EYE-CATCHING
38A: Releasing stress, in a way: BLOWING OFF STEAM
52A: Gungan general of "Star Wars" films: JAR JAR BINKS
61A: Very hard candy: JAWBREAKER
And glass ceiling, glasshouse and glassware. What else?
Dictionary explains GLASS JAW as "a person's jaw, esp. that of a boxer, that is vulnerable to even a light blow". It's a new phrase to me.
I got the unifying answer GLASS quickly, but had difficulty obtaining the last two theme answers. Not a "Star Wars' fan, so JAR JAR BINKS was a total stranger to me. He looks ugly. I've never heard of JAWBREAKER candy either. The name sounds so hard.
Very happy to see MINN (67A: Its state bird is the common loon) in the puzzle. Finally a day to celebrate Minnesota. At last, we have a 2rd senator. Mr. (Al) Franken Goes to Washington. I don't expect one iota of "Mr. Smith" style idealism. What a saga! 8 months' recount and court fight.
Across:
1A: World-weary: BLASE. Oh well, lah-di-dah, lah-di-dah.
10A: Feature of a bad air day: SMOG. Misread the clue as "bad hair".
14A: Bay Area county: MARIN. I got the answer from Down fills. Inside the green zone. Wikipedia says it's across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
15A: Fairy tale opener: ONCE. And THE (40D: First word of many titles).
16A: Heart: CORE
19A: Ship of Greek mythology: ARGO. Jason and the Argonauts.
21A: House party convenience: WET BAR
29A: Alimony recipients: EXES. But "All My EX'S Live in Texas".
31A: Negatives: NO'S
32A: Watch readouts: LEDS (Light-Emitting Diodes)
36A: Soup bean: LIMA. I've never made any soup with LIMA bean.
44A: Kinfolk: Abbr.: RELS
45A: A flat counterpart: G-SHARP
46A: Ending letters, in Leeds: ZEDS. Our ZEES.
49A: Suffix with expert: ISE. Hmm, very straightforward cluing. "Verb ending, in Leeds" would be a great clue too. I like our IZE ending though.
56A: Sargasso, for one: SEA. I've never heard of the Sargasso SEA. Dictionary says Sargasso is Portuguese for "seaweed".
57A: Kilimanjaro site: AFRICA. Hope to see Kilimanjaro as answer someday.
58A: River islets: AITS. AIT has the same pronunciation as ATE.
68A: Fourth person: ABEL
69A: Wishful words: I HOPE
70A: Early birds?: EGGS. Nice clue.
Down:
1D: Munich-based automaker: BMW. It owns Rolls-Royce.
2D: __-tze: LAO. The Taoism founder. LAO is literally "old" in Chinese.
4D: Punjab sect member: SIKH. Pronounced the same as "seek". Literally, "disciple".
5D: Happen next: ENSUE
6D: Ease: SOFTEN
7D: "___ clear day ...": ON A
8D: Text-scanning technology, briefly: OCR. No idea. It stands for Optical Character Recognition.
9D: Contents meas.: NET WT
10D: Verbally attack: SCATHE. Oh, this is a new definition to me. So few politicians escapes Maureen Dowd unscathed.
11D: Like fascination with the dark side: MORBID. Woody Allen is half-MORBID.
12D: Instruments with stops: ORGANS
13D: Conductor Szell: GEORG. Nope. Wikipedia says GEORG Szell was born in Budapest and grew up in Vienna. And he served as as Music Director for the Cleveland Orchestra from 1946 to 1970.
18D: Direct ending?: ORY. Directory. IVE is a "Direct ending?" too.
22D: Mercedes sedan category: E-CLASS. Waiting for Dennis to give more information.
23D: LPGA star Karrie: WEBB. I have several of her autographed items. She is in golf Hall of Fame.
24D: Skating maneuver: AXEL. Named after Paulsen AXEL who popularized the maneuver.
25D: Part of a rep's spiel: DEMO. And GLIB (39D: Smooth-talking).
27D: Gigantic statues: COLOSSI. Or colossuses.
28D: "Like, no way!": AS IF
34D: Respiratory cavity: AIR SAC. For bird, right? I obtained the answer from Across fills.
35D: Dir. from Wichita to Omaha: NNE
37D Factory work: Abbr.: MFG. OK, MFG stands for"manufacturing" and MFR stands for "manufacturer".
41D: Vittles: EATS. Anyone likes Alton Brown's "Good EATS"?
42D: 18th century composer Thomas: ARNE. The composer for "Rule, Britannia".
43D: Film-rating org.: MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America)
46D: Alluringly plump: ZAFTIG. New word to me. Dictionary says it's Yiddish for "juicy, succulent". Betty Grable's picture showed up when I googled ZAFTIG. to me, she is not plump at all. Just perfect.
48D: Islamic genies: DJINNS. I only know the other spelling: JINNI. It's literally "demon".
52D: "My Name is Earl" Emmy winner Pressly: JAIME. New actress to me. Very interesting name. J'aime is literally "I love" in French.
53D: Indian prince: RAJAH
54D: Cassis cocktail: KIR. Named after Félix KIR (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon, who allegedly created the recipe, according to Dictionary.com. I've never had it. It's made of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liquor) & white wine.
55D: "Shrek" author Williams: STEIG. Don't know the author. Shrek looks ugly too.
63D: Unseld of the NBA: WES. Sometimes it's clued as "Director Craven".
64D: Campground org.: KOA (Kampgrounds of America). Unknown to me.
65D: Mini-albums, briefly: EPS (Extended Plays). Also new to me.
66D: Legal thing: RES. Latin for "thing".
Answer grid.
C.C.
17A: Paintings and such: WORKS OF ART
26A: Causing heads to turn: EYE-CATCHING
38A: Releasing stress, in a way: BLOWING OFF STEAM
52A: Gungan general of "Star Wars" films: JAR JAR BINKS
61A: Very hard candy: JAWBREAKER
And glass ceiling, glasshouse and glassware. What else?
Dictionary explains GLASS JAW as "a person's jaw, esp. that of a boxer, that is vulnerable to even a light blow". It's a new phrase to me.
I got the unifying answer GLASS quickly, but had difficulty obtaining the last two theme answers. Not a "Star Wars' fan, so JAR JAR BINKS was a total stranger to me. He looks ugly. I've never heard of JAWBREAKER candy either. The name sounds so hard.
Very happy to see MINN (67A: Its state bird is the common loon) in the puzzle. Finally a day to celebrate Minnesota. At last, we have a 2rd senator. Mr. (Al) Franken Goes to Washington. I don't expect one iota of "Mr. Smith" style idealism. What a saga! 8 months' recount and court fight.
Across:
1A: World-weary: BLASE. Oh well, lah-di-dah, lah-di-dah.
10A: Feature of a bad air day: SMOG. Misread the clue as "bad hair".
14A: Bay Area county: MARIN. I got the answer from Down fills. Inside the green zone. Wikipedia says it's across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
15A: Fairy tale opener: ONCE. And THE (40D: First word of many titles).
16A: Heart: CORE
19A: Ship of Greek mythology: ARGO. Jason and the Argonauts.
21A: House party convenience: WET BAR
29A: Alimony recipients: EXES. But "All My EX'S Live in Texas".
31A: Negatives: NO'S
32A: Watch readouts: LEDS (Light-Emitting Diodes)
36A: Soup bean: LIMA. I've never made any soup with LIMA bean.
44A: Kinfolk: Abbr.: RELS
45A: A flat counterpart: G-SHARP
46A: Ending letters, in Leeds: ZEDS. Our ZEES.
49A: Suffix with expert: ISE. Hmm, very straightforward cluing. "Verb ending, in Leeds" would be a great clue too. I like our IZE ending though.
56A: Sargasso, for one: SEA. I've never heard of the Sargasso SEA. Dictionary says Sargasso is Portuguese for "seaweed".
57A: Kilimanjaro site: AFRICA. Hope to see Kilimanjaro as answer someday.
58A: River islets: AITS. AIT has the same pronunciation as ATE.
68A: Fourth person: ABEL
69A: Wishful words: I HOPE
70A: Early birds?: EGGS. Nice clue.
Down:
1D: Munich-based automaker: BMW. It owns Rolls-Royce.
2D: __-tze: LAO. The Taoism founder. LAO is literally "old" in Chinese.
4D: Punjab sect member: SIKH. Pronounced the same as "seek". Literally, "disciple".
5D: Happen next: ENSUE
6D: Ease: SOFTEN
7D: "___ clear day ...": ON A
8D: Text-scanning technology, briefly: OCR. No idea. It stands for Optical Character Recognition.
9D: Contents meas.: NET WT
10D: Verbally attack: SCATHE. Oh, this is a new definition to me. So few politicians escapes Maureen Dowd unscathed.
11D: Like fascination with the dark side: MORBID. Woody Allen is half-MORBID.
12D: Instruments with stops: ORGANS
13D: Conductor Szell: GEORG. Nope. Wikipedia says GEORG Szell was born in Budapest and grew up in Vienna. And he served as as Music Director for the Cleveland Orchestra from 1946 to 1970.
18D: Direct ending?: ORY. Directory. IVE is a "Direct ending?" too.
22D: Mercedes sedan category: E-CLASS. Waiting for Dennis to give more information.
23D: LPGA star Karrie: WEBB. I have several of her autographed items. She is in golf Hall of Fame.
24D: Skating maneuver: AXEL. Named after Paulsen AXEL who popularized the maneuver.
25D: Part of a rep's spiel: DEMO. And GLIB (39D: Smooth-talking).
27D: Gigantic statues: COLOSSI. Or colossuses.
28D: "Like, no way!": AS IF
34D: Respiratory cavity: AIR SAC. For bird, right? I obtained the answer from Across fills.
35D: Dir. from Wichita to Omaha: NNE
37D Factory work: Abbr.: MFG. OK, MFG stands for"manufacturing" and MFR stands for "manufacturer".
41D: Vittles: EATS. Anyone likes Alton Brown's "Good EATS"?
42D: 18th century composer Thomas: ARNE. The composer for "Rule, Britannia".
43D: Film-rating org.: MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America)
46D: Alluringly plump: ZAFTIG. New word to me. Dictionary says it's Yiddish for "juicy, succulent". Betty Grable's picture showed up when I googled ZAFTIG. to me, she is not plump at all. Just perfect.
48D: Islamic genies: DJINNS. I only know the other spelling: JINNI. It's literally "demon".
52D: "My Name is Earl" Emmy winner Pressly: JAIME. New actress to me. Very interesting name. J'aime is literally "I love" in French.
53D: Indian prince: RAJAH
54D: Cassis cocktail: KIR. Named after Félix KIR (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon, who allegedly created the recipe, according to Dictionary.com. I've never had it. It's made of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liquor) & white wine.
55D: "Shrek" author Williams: STEIG. Don't know the author. Shrek looks ugly too.
63D: Unseld of the NBA: WES. Sometimes it's clued as "Director Craven".
64D: Campground org.: KOA (Kampgrounds of America). Unknown to me.
65D: Mini-albums, briefly: EPS (Extended Plays). Also new to me.
66D: Legal thing: RES. Latin for "thing".
Answer grid.
C.C.
109 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - a nice, tight little puzzle today with a clever theme.
I screwed myself up early on by putting 'haze'/'harass' for 10A/10D respectively; took a bit to recover from that, since none of the surrounding perps were gimmes. I knew organs had stops, and 'argo' was usually the ship of choice, but I figured there must be other answers as well. Stupidity reigns this morning.
My unknowns were the Shrek author and Karrie Webb. I didn't think I knew the Gungan general from Star Wars, but as soon as I had 'Jar....', the light came on. Fun puzzle.
From last night - welcome, Lizlee, and you're right -- C.C. has done a remarkable job with this blog. C.C., what'd you get for your birthday (that you can talk about)?
Today is Canada Day, Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day, and International Joke Day; this last one came a day late, as we had some great international jokes yesterday.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "Old age is an excellent time for outrage. My goal is to say or do at least one outrageous thing every week." -- Activist Maggie Kuhn
Fun Facts for the day:
- In 1887, the largest snowflakes on record fell to the earth in Montana. Each snowflake was 15 inches in diameter.
- It is impossible for a solar eclipse to last for more than seven minutes and forty seconds.
C.C., the E-class of Mercedes are their middle-sized sedans, between the C-class (smallest) and S-class (largest). No idea as to the origins of the names.
Thanks for the picture of Jaime Pressley - she's always been a favorite of mine, as much for her personality as her looks.
Off to the gym.
Okay. I had to google to get MARIN and STEIG and then I googled some more to check to see if KIR and AINS were right (as they could just as easily have been KER and AETS, etc.). "Ending Letters, in Leeds" stumped me as the straight forward interpretation of the clue gave me EEDS and as ZAFTIG was a complete unknown I figured it was as good an answer as any.
Here's some clues and fills for imaginary puzzles based on CC's C and I challenge yesterday:
"Lettuce, mostly": CAESAR SALAD
"Beach": SEA SHORE
"'Yes, Ma'am' cousin": SI SENORA
"Goodbye": SEE YOU LATER
"Yes, Captain!": AYE AYE SIR
"Lovely": EYE CATCHING
"1982's Annie": AILEEN QUINN
"Famous last words?": I KNOW I CAN
Martin
Good morning, I have been reading the blog for some time now and finally decided to comment,I do a minimum of six online puzzles (all printed on paper) every day and the L.A. Times is one of my favorites. Thanx to you and your daily help it makes it easier.
Scooter
Oh, by the way, Zaftig is in Merium-Webster's dictionary:
Main Entry:zaf·tig
Etymology:Yiddish zaftik juicy, succulent, from zaft juice, sap, from Middle High German saf, saft, from Old High German saf — more at sap
Date:circa 1936
of a woman : having a full rounded figure : pleasingly plump
Of course it had to enter the English language through German. :)
Martin
Dennis,
HAZE & HARASS are great mistakes. Beautiful flowers & baseball memorabilia. I am also in love with a nice bottle of Burt Bee's serum my husband got for me. And yeah, something else, very sweet.
Scooter,
What other puzzles do you solve besides LAT and NYT? How long have you been solving? Hope to hear from you often.
Martin,
Great effort. I will give you a C, since you did not include it with your first set. Let's see what Jerome thinks of your theme entries. ZEDS came to me immediately. Why "of course" for ZAFTIG's German root?
Why "of course" for ZAFTIG's German root?
Another word for "pleasingly plump" would be Rubanesque named after the Flemish painter Rubens. The Flemish are a "Germanic people inhabiting northern Belgium and a small section of northern France" according to Merium-Webster. I was reflecting on the fact that French women are relatively skinny.
Martin
Martin,
OK, then, do you like Rubenesque women or French women?
Windhover,
60 is a big milestone birthday in China. Then 65, 70, 75, 80, etc. I look forward to celebrate your 65!
Warren,
I like the way you link information: the blue link website & the highlight summary. Now I only read the latter. Too lazy. :-) But seriously it's concise enough for me.
K.Q,
Nice ORDER OUT and SEND In observation. I am glad your son is OK. Parenthood sure sounds hard.
Argyle,
Thanks for ESSO (S.O.). But what does EXXON stand for?
Tarrajo,
Tell Brady reading his comment earlier this morning brightened my day. I don't actually know the exact hour of my birth.
Kelev, Lizlee & all tyros,
A warm welcome! Do stay. As Carol said, we love fresh voices.
Barb B et al,
Thank you so much for the birthday wishes.
Good morning, all!
Scooter, welcome to the group. I hope we'll see you post often. How much time, on average, do you spend solving puzzles each day?
I started the c/w in master mode, and got about two-thirds of the way through it when I clicked on something on the screen that sent me to a different part of the LATimes site. Of course, I lost all my work.
I started over, and at about the same spot, did the same darned thing!
So the last time, I started in Regular mode and flew through the re-entering. The only place I needed red-letter help was the spelling of ZAFTIG. I thought it started with 'So' Once I had 'ZA' in place, ZEDS and JARJAR were obvious.
As I started, I thought this puzzle was more difficult than other Wednesday puzzles. That seems to have been the comment on the last two crosswords as well.
Still, all three have been doable.
C.C., I love the information you provide when you give the answers. It's always interesting to see where your mind will roam. I don't particularly care for Lima beans, either, so they're never in my soup!
A jawbreaker was (perhaps, is) a large round ball of hard candy that barely fits in a child's mouth. Usually once it's been popped into said mouth, it has to be shoved to the side, pooching out the cheek, while it begins to dissolve. Usually they are dispensed from one of those large sealed jars where you put in a quarter (or more) and turn a knob, and the jawbreaker comes rolling out.
I'm off to lead exercise again. I used to be zaftig, but I've become more Rubenesque , so I need all the exercise I can get. (sigh)
It's supposed to be 65 in the Chicago area today, and 81 tomorrow.
I hope you all have a great day!
C.C. I do any and all puzzles I can get my hands on. I love brain candy. I've been solving for about twenty years now, and like you I am a fellow Minnesotan. (Iron Ranger)
Scooter
tarrajo, I missed the last of the posts for yesterday, so I just read Brady's message. It's so 9-year-old-boy perfect that it made me grin! I loved the "no cloths" and "man that fish was big" comments. It sounds as though he really enjoyed his birthday.
You're doing a fine job with him. I'm pleased to see that you are teaching him about hand written notes. I've accumulated a number of notes that need to be sent on behalf of my mother, or personal notes that I've delayed sending, so let him know that he has company as he writes his thanks.
I'd have had to pitch a tent next to him. Either that, or check on him once an hour, and I know that both would ruin the experience. It must be terribly difficult to begin giving your son more freedom. I wish you both good luck.
Good Morning All,
Had to rush through this one because I have to prep for a meeting. My heads not into it so I went on line early to see red. Unknowns were DJINNS, ZAFTIG and GEORG. I actually got the theme before I came here also, a rarity.
LGJ got some wicked cool gifts. We also make our two write thank you letters. It started out a chore because we let time elapse after receiving the gift. Now its done the same day and they still BEMOAN it.
Have a great day!
KittyB-Thank you for your warm welcome. I try to work on puzzles as long as my boss isn't looking.
Just kidding. I like to print the puzzles in the morning and work on them whenever I can. Depending on the day and who the author is solving times vary quite alot.
Scooter
Good Morning, All
Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (Esso/S.O.) was barred from using the brand in some states because other Standard Oil spin-offs protested, so in those states they used Enco and Humble. (there may be more; I just skimed the article.)
Exxon formally replaced the Esso, Enco, and Humble brands on January 1, 1973, in the USA. Consideration was given to simply rebranding all stations as "Enco" but that was shelved when it was learned that "Enco" is a Japanese term for "stalled car." The company then planned to change its name to Exon, staying with the four letter format of Esso and Enco, but it was noticed that the governor of Nebraska was named James Exon. Renaming the company after a sitting governor seemed ill-advised and the second "x" was added to the new name and logo.
The unrestricted international use of the popular brand Esso prompted the company to continue using Esso outside the United States.
Blondie/Heart of Glass
Good morning, C.C. and all,
Things got a little harder this morning. I needed G spot help with Steig and Jarjarbinks, not being a fan of either Shrek or Star Wars films. I had wetbag for wetbar as Szell was unknown to me.
I got the theme fairly quickly but the theme answers did not help much. I guess I am doomed to not remember aits; it always gives me trouble.
Knowing nothing about reading music, I had bsharp instead of gsharp.
Apart from the above, it was a fun puzzle.
I have a clinched jaw this morning about Al Franken. Nuff said.
Time to go water.
Aha!
"DC TV": CSPAN
Martin
Watch readout briefly: LEDS?
I've seen LCDs. An example of a LED watch Mr. Mcinturf? Thanks.
G'day all, and welcome to the new posters.
Jeannie,
Thanks for your comment last night. You are right about my friend. Her husband has always made all the decisions, financially, as well as not wanting her to finish college when they married. As a result, she's never worked outside of his business, so she feels terribly lost and helpless now.
Tarrajo,
LGJ certainly seems to be on the right track. I'm glad you are able to give him such a broad range of experiences to grow up with. Good job!
I had to g'spot JAIME, STEIG, DJINNS, KIR and JARJAR BINKS today, though I recognized him from c.c.'s link. He is a somewhat humorous character. I was messed up on AFRICA for a long time because I had HEFTIG, and wasn't getting ZEDS either as a result. I thought of Kenya or Tanzania, neither fitted of course, but I thought they wanted a more specific locale for Kilimanjaro.
Two duh moments were G SHARP and LEDS--I thought of CONDOS for "flat" alternatives.
SAFTIG in German means JUICY, not something I'd associate with pleasantly plump, maybe the guys would though?
I had to guess at a number of these clues, as I tend to be unfamiliar with names in crosswords - though I did get Karrie Webb!
Overall, the puzzle was a nice challenge this morning. Now if it would only warm up a bit...
Challenging puzzle today. I missed the 54D - 58A cross. KIR and AITS?!? Ok, if you say so.
Had CONN for MINN, so the SW corner was a mess. Also wanted a country, not a continent for Kilimanjaro site. Oh, well . . .
from what I've heard, JJB is the most hated character in the Star Wars mythos.
Argyl - thanks for the clip - my favorite BLONDIE song.
I don't if I've mentioned how much i appreciate CA's poetry entries. Having long ago given up on getting any of mine published, I've started a new feature Wednesday Poetry Blogging on my blog. I'll probably continue it until I run out of original material. Stop by and leave a comment, if you're so inclined.
Cheers!
Happy Hump Day all: I also think the puzzle was a bit more difficult than previous Wednesday ones.
That said, I finished most of it. I would never have thought of 52A as I have never seen a Star Wars film. I did not know Pressly or Shrek author. Last but not least, who would know 'ZAFTIG'?
My fav clue was 70A (Early Birds).
Welcome Lizlee and Scooter...please stay with us. The more the merrier :)
Tarrajo: good for you letting Brady sleep in his new tent. I still remember doing that when I was about his age. My younger sister wanted to come with me but she chickened out. I am sure my folks checked on me often, but I never knew it. (loved his post yesterday - thanks for leaving the grammar and spelling alone, it was so sweet).
What a nice enjoyable puzzle for a Wednesday. I caught on to the theme pretty quickly which always seems to help. I have never heard of a glass jaw but knew the hard candy was a jawbreaker so figured it had to be right. I only had to hit the g-spot once for Georg Szell. I got lots of perp help with Marin, Sargasso sea, ait, sikh, OCR, and Djinns. I am pleased to say that I remembered zeds for zees from a puzzle not too long ago. Zaftig- plump is the new word for me today. My favorite clues today were “heart” – core and “early birds” – eggs.
C.C. I was not sure you would appreciate Brady commenting on your blog so am relieved to hear that reading his comment brightened your day. It sounds like you had a wonderful birthday too. Regarding Alton Brown, I was more a fan of his show “Feasting on asphalt” where he followed the Mississippi River.
KittyB, yes it is hard to start letting go some more and believe me, I didn’t get much sleep last night
Dennis what flavor of ice cream would you create?
Jazzbumpa,
I found this on JJB:
While his compassion spoke volumes of the quality of his character, his inherent gullibility and trusting nature were easily exploited by the less scrupulous in the field of politics. For many, Jar Jar was but a joke, the subject of derision, but in the corrupt inner confines of Senate, his lanky frame stood as a rare example of non-corrupt politician interested only in the greater good of the Republic and his people.
Lots to do today, so not much time to comment.
The NE corner was my problem today, although when the fills came (other than GEORG) I should have known. Many of the names were unknown to me, but I got them from the perps. I have been to an exhibit of William STEIG's cartoons and other art work, so I got that. And for much of my young adulthood (16 to 26), until they discovered my thyroid was not working, I was ZAFTIG - also called Rubenesque (referring to the art of Peter Paul Rubens, best known for portraying full-bodied women).
I don't understand a drink like KIR. Why ruin perfectly good wine with sweet liqueur?
Dennis: For the first time, I don't think much of the WoW. Outrage and outrageous are two different things. Being outrageous in 'old age' is fine, but outraged old folks can be hard to be around.
I'm out of here. Hope to be able to read through all the comments tonight.
Hi c.c. and all:
I believe that Mon-Wed puzzles were more difficult than usual. I googled Tout on Tuesday and FNMA on Monday and today Lao (I had SHI for Shi-tzu) and DJINNS and ZAFTIG. I had Mont (Montana)instead of Minn.
Happy Belated Birthday c.c.
Lets start with the WoW. I don't think old age should be a prerequisite for being outrageous. But at least now I have an excuse.
All new posters, welcome. It is always fun to have newbies join us and add some flavor.
Scooter - that is my son's nickname.
Lots of difficulty for me today. Absolutely never heard of ZAFTIG and DJINNS. I think ZAFTIG is not so popular these days with our super skinny models and actresses. I thought I was starting out well as I knew MARIN, MINN, JAWBREAKER right off the bat, but then got caught up with unknowns such as STEIG (even though I am a Shrek fan). Never heard of GLASS JAW. I had directION vs. IVE. It became quite a disaster for a while. I think some of the answers were a little too esoteric for my taste. It wasn't impossible, but not quite as fun.
The Kir was a popular drink in the '80's when I used to bartend. It is funny how drinks come and go in phases. The fancy martini's are now all the rage - they really don't remind me much of the martini I like to drink.
CC and LGJ, sounds like you both had nice birthdays. I liked that LGJ commented on the blog, however, if he continues we are all going to have to watch what we post aren't we?
Tarrajo, I feel for you on the letting go stage. Wait until they are teenagers. I thought that the baby stage was sleepless, but the teen stage is even more so. Suddenly they are out later than you would like to stay up. I have to take naps in the afternoon just to make sure I can survive their hours.
Embien, how is that toe doing? I had an ingrown nail removed once (actually twice as the first time it got infected). Bummer stuff. Take care of it so you don't have to go back like I did.
Hi C.C. & gang, 'zafting' is a word my wife wanted to get before she had to leave for work today...
It's been a very long time since I've seen a Star Wars movie, I could only vaguely remember Jar Jar Binks
"Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars films The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.[1] His primary role was to provide comic relief. Jar Jar was voiced by Ahmed Best. He is almost completely computer generated. He is a Gungan from the planet Naboo."
I found that there is a large number sites out there that hate this character e.g.
"Jar Jar Binks" is Gungan tongue for "moronic klutz".
Here's one site that warns parents about a life sized doll:
R-rated
All this for a fictional character created as a comic relief?
Good Morning All, I only knew the spelling of "Islamic genies" as JINNS and WEBB, WES and STEIG were new names for me. It all worked out with the perps.
Hmmm, why is a WET BAR a "House party convenience"? Is the constructor talking about a traditional house party that lasts several days, or a party in a house? Either or neither, I would have clued it as "Party plumbing perq".
Odd that COLOSSI was a fill, when The New Colossus was on the blog, just a couple of days ago.
tarrajo, I love it that you require Brady to write thank-you notes. Nice kid, good job!
It's great to see so many new people joining our ranks!
Welcome, Old Tex, whereswebb, lizlee and kelev. "Tyro" was in our puzzle earlier this week. I wonder if I'll remember it, now that C.C. used it to welcome you.
Scooter, the puzzles are addictive, aren't they!
whereswebb, will your avatar change frequently?
Maniac, those puppies look like they'd be great to cuddle.
Clear Ayes, I meant to tell you that I recognized part of the Lazarus poem. I've sung the last part..."Give me your tired, your poor." I didn't realize how much more there was to the poem.
good morning c.c. and all,
clever theme today, and very do-able. like others, never heard of GLASS JAW. noted that AIRSAC crossed BLOWING OFF STEAM.
btw, c.c., human lungs are filled with alveoli, small air sacs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. lung cancer often attacks them.
sargasso was a gimme to me. jane eyre a favorite book, and wide sargasso sea is a sort of prequel written by jean rhys.
whether or not al franken is your cup of tea, he's a sharp guy.
@c.c.: i'm pretty sure you're the only one who calls me that. dennis seems to favor mustang mel.
happy belated birthday to c.c. and brady joe.
Not so good morning, CC and ya`ll: This Rubanesque-approaching zaftig "older person" is outraged (look out Elissa!) On July 1 and for this whole month...my "rag" (and I mean that literally) will be "trying out" different puzzles. Today, it`s something called "Universal Crossword." One clue approached clever...it was Ramses` favorite card game? (faro). We were advised that we could "write..." NO DOUBT, I WILL.
ITMT, CC, since I can`t write about this puzzle in my first post, must I just lurk? If so, it`s been a great ride "knowing" all of you...I`ve learned so much from you all.
Even though I may be leaving, I too welcome our new posters. You may find a puzzle blog approaching as good, but you will NOT find one better...take that, RP!
Hi all,
Solved this one for the most part from the bottom up. Never heard of djinns anf the author of Shrek.
Found the A-flat counterpart to be a clever clue. Are there any other scales that have counterparts?
Afternoon to all - well, I'm old and outraged! Internet Explorer wouldn't let me get online...got tech help and he sent me to Firefox....and lost all of my bookmarks and Mr. G will not accept my password!
I'll never be ZAFTIG!!!What was Mr. Jack thinking of to use this word?
Belated Happy Birthday C.C.
@linda: is doing the puzzle online not an option for you?
I was shocked to get the big tada with the last letter. I really thought this puzzle was beyond me. Of course it was, without google. I didn’t know Georg SZELL, JAIME Pressly, JAR JAR BINKS (I wanted Jaba the Hut) SIKH ABEL or MPAA, and a couple other proper names. Waaay over my head. Even with Google, it took 40 minutes.
I liked seeing ZAFTIG and JAWBREAKER. Very scrabbly puzzle,
I can’t believe Betty Grable was considered Zaftig. Surely not at the time she was a pin-up star. (?) Today, for some reason, emaciated equals sexy. I don’t get it.
Linda, why would you quit working the puzzles? Why not just work the puzzle on line? I haven’t subscribed to a newspaper in years, except for an online version.
Just curious.
When I previewed this comment,I see that MelissaBee has the same question. I'll just let mine stand as additional support.
Linda - I don't understand why you are leaving. Our newspaper (and I use the term loosely) doesn't carry the LA Times puzzles but I have the site on my desktop and just click it to bring up the puzzle, then I print it because I prefer doing it with pen.
p.s. what does ITMT mean?
Morning all..skimmed through comments this morning and want to add my voice of welcome to the newbies...more voices...better perspective and more interesting info. Please stay with us.
Very busy today...leaving in a bit to get the show hung, opening Friday night and also...the article is coming out Friday, July 10th...there may be pictures and I will no longer be able to hide behind my paintings on the blog.
Tough but fun puzzle. Never remember AITS or RES...so maybe when I have time I will deep fry some worms. Similar experience as most here, and, like Dennis, the JAR JAR popped into my head, but needed perps to finish the last name. Liked the theme, breezed through the top half but most of the 3 word fills in the SE corner eluded me for a bit. Oh...knew ZAFTIG, but thought it was spelled ZOF...live and learn. ;o)I think I am still Rubenesque, sliding toward Zaftig...LOL
C.C. hope you had a great birthday...sounds like you got some fun things.
Will try to check in later today.
Cheers all.
My paper had clue for 2D as -tzu which completely thru me off to start. CC - I also read it as 'feature of a bad air day' and felt stupid when I figured out what I was doing. I really must get some new glasses - while I love the LAT's, the long clues are driving me crazy trying to read them.
I worked this from the corners inward but still got stuck - this one didn't resonate with me; too many unknowns.
Thought of both CC and Dennis with the common loon and mercedes sedan category - did the two of you influence Rich Norris?
Did anyone else have an issue with scathe? I verbally attack a lot of people, but scathe them?
Martin - have you thought about constructing - you have some great ideas.
Tarrajo - I just read last nite's posts and your son is a complete darling!! How grown of him to post - are you sure he's only 9!! His b-day must have been so special for both of you.
Geez, I feel like I do one outrageous thing every day (many not by choice). My favorite ice cream flavor would involve chocolate, raspberries, some sort of nuts, & chocolate chunks. Our local ice cream parlor has this flavor called "Red Sky at Nite" which combines all the above - not sure why they call it that but it sure is good!
"Of course...online" she says as she slaps her forehead. That`s how upset I was...although the on-line version is timed which is intimidating because I solve by switching back and forth from up to down...but I CAN still connect with all ya`ll...thanks for all who mentioned it.
ITMT= In the mean time...
Favorite (zaftig-producing) ice cream: Blue Bell "Home Made Vanilla" with 'Butter Pecan" a close second. Neither is very "creative" but awfully good!
Hubby built our guys a tree house once and they loved to sleep up there...I didn`t get much sleep when they did...so I know how you felt, tarrajo.
I`ve written my "polite but never-the-less outraged" letter to my paper...I said, "Let the whiners have their pablum but give us serious solvers back the LAT!"
Jimbo: Here`s another "reminder."
Good morning CC and all + newcomers Lizlee, Scooter and Wheresweb(cool picture!),
Hmmmm, a little too many unknowns for me today so I left 3+ blanks:
The g in mfg & p in mpaa kept me from completing g sharp,
aits????,and abel. Used all perps to help and did not grok ory,leds,djinns, and zaftig. WM, I'm sooo impressed that it was a gimme for you.Well, Steig was a gimme for me. He wrote some great kids books.
Africa also was a quick fill as I learned all about African countries, animals,etc. collecting stamps as a kid.Their stamps and Vatican City's were awesome.
Love the phrase "as if" and the clue early birds.
Could say I was blowing off some steam, but I enjoyed the cw even though it took awhile for me.
I'm an apple, more like piglet's mother than Betty, who has a waist.
Linda...I go to the LAT site after 11 pm PDT and click on regular then you can print it out...Its much bigger than the paper and easier to read with more space for the letters...I don't even do the one in the paper anymore, can't bloody read it except in really bright light...ahhhh, aging!
Ice cream...things with chocolate or caramel. For now my daughter got me hooked on something called Villa Dolce Gelato...4 oz cups of luscious Gelato that even comes with its own little spoon. Allows dessert without the temptation of overindulgence...perfect! It comes out of SoCal so may not be available outside the Bay Area.But Ben and Jerry's is also packaging 4 oz cups of ice cream
JD is joshin' y'all...she is tall and lovely...I know! ;o)
Hello All:--I put in letting off steam for Blowing off steam so that threw me off for the entire Mid-west section. Once I got that fixed I was more or less on my way.
My new word of the day was Zaftig--didn't know that was what I was called!
I especially liked the clues Early birds? and 4th person.
Welcome to the new contributors. I,too,am new and have had a great welcome from this group.
Tarrajo:
Brady sounds so grown up for 9. Keep up the good work! You can be very proud of him!
@Dr. G:
The easiest way to picture musical note/scale equivalents is to look at a piano keyboard.
C^D^EF^G^A^B (then back to C again)
The ^ are the black notes in-between the white ones, i.e. the sharps or flats. A sharp is a half-tone up and a flat is a half-tone down.
So, the obvious ones first:
C-sharp is the same as D-flat
D-sharp is the same as E-flat
F-sharp is the same as G-flat
G-sharp is the same as A-flat
A-sharp is the same as B-flat
You can see the relationship to the next higher or lower letter alphabetically.
Then the not so obvious ones. There is already only a half-tone between E and F, and also between B and C. So B-sharp is actually C and C-Flat is actually B. Same for E and F. We don't usually put those notes in those terms though.
Scooter, welcome to the blog. I'm with you - the more 'brain candy', the better. Anything to push back 'oldtimers'.
whereswebb, it's actually cold in Michigan now?
tarrajo, after a remarkable bit of self-censorship, I find myself unable to come up with a palatable flavor that's not out there already.
elissa, I agree - not an exemplary WOW today - just one I 'settled' on.
Warren, I'm still trying to figure out if that web site is for real. Very bizarre.
Clear Ayes, I always wanted a house with a wet bar, just because it is so convenient when you have parties.
MustangMel, I was very impressed with Franken's drawing of the states - I still make mistakes with the online test. And where've you been?
WM, zaftig and zoftig are both accepted spellings. And I'll go for any ice cream with both chocolate and caramel.
Al, damn, that made my head hurt!
Linda, I'm so glad everyone has guided you to the idea of printing out the on-line version of the puzzle. It's awful to even contemplate you leaving us!
Dr. G, yes. For each sharp there is a corresponding flat. (There are a few exceptions, but for simplicity's sake, I'll ignore them here.) C# = D flat, D# = E flat, F#= G flat, and so on.
In the key of C major, between F and G (and four other pairs of notes) there is a "whole step." If you go from F to F#, you have raised the pitch a "half step." If you go from G to G flat, you have lowered the pitch by a half step. F # and G-flat sound the same.
I can't get my thinking cap in gear this morning, but perhaps one of the other musicians on the blog can give you examples of songs that start with whole or half steps. Perhaps having the sound in your head would make more sense of the explanation.
Dennis, beginning music theory is always easier when you can hear it as well as see it. Al is right that envisioning the keyboard, with the black and white keys makes it easier to understand half and whole steps, but without the concept of the sound to back it up, it's pretty tough to understand.
"So In Love," by Cole Porter, starts out with the words "Strange Dear, but true dear..) If you can hear the music behind the words "Strange dear) that is a half step. I'll have to think on an example for a whole step.
SandbridgeKaren, you are my new favorite blogging friend! If I bring my own spoon, can I share your ice cream? Generally, when asked what flavor ice cream I want, I choose butter pecan, but chocolate and red raspberry are my two most favorite flavors in everything else. "Red Sky at Night" ice cream sounds heavenly! (Good pun, huh? ;-) )
@KittyB, Do you mean listening to intervals, like this?
KQ rest assured that was Brady’s one and only post for the year. I even debated letting him post that one. It’s just everyone was so nice to wish him a Happy Birthday that I think he got a kick out of seeing his name in print so often.
Sandbridgekaren, how nice for you to comment on his sentence structure ability and yes he is just 9 but is a big reader as I don’t allow very much TV time in the house.
Linda, you gave me a start…the blog wouldn’t be the same without our never ending quest to find your whereabouts!
Dennis, I am disappointed that you couldn’t come up with an ice cream flavor, and am now even more curious what your self censorship was all about.
Hi C.C. and all ya'll,
Enjoyed this puzzle very much; even though spending all morning on it. Had so many (almost) unknowns. Kept leaving and going back and each time ending with an AHHA moment. Got the theme early and picked up the first word, but still had trouble finishing the phrase(s). Had to google "zaftig" 46d,
"Djinns" 48d and "jar Jar Binks" 52a. I don't know "doodly squat" about "Star Wars". Ended up filling the grid, but I bet tomorrow's will be a "doozy".
KittyB, How about Lara Fabian's version of So In Love? Cole Porter was a master song writer. It is such a lovely song. I don't think I could have come up with any poem more beautiful.
Hello all, Do people hunt and eat
Loons? With WM, down load at 11:01.
Am done way before 12:00. Need mag-nifying glass to read local paper grid. Only read comics anyway. Read home town paper for obits. PA
has same budjet promblems as CA.
My e-mail to Warren bounced as undeliverable. ??? Found old XP machine - same limited space problem. Am out of space.
MelissaBee - Amazing video of Franken drawing a map. Thanks for sharing.
Carol, ITMT In the mean time. You can just google the letters to find out. I am frequently stumped and I have teenage kids. Imagine.
Tarrajo, I really didn't expect LGJ to be interested in reading all our posts. What 9 year old would want to read all this? I think it is great that you let him post on his birthday and he did a wonderful job. My daughter got a kick out of my blogging last night. She thought I only read them and never posted. I admonished her as all three kids are addicted to facebook, why can't I have a xword blog. It is what I am interested in.
ClearAyes, A wet bar is a convenience bar usually in a person's house. I think it makes perfect sense. If you are having a party in your house, the wet bar would be a convenience for mixing drinks.
OK Linda et al,
another episode from yesteryear.
Following the Circus days, Dad went into "Silent" Motion Pictures. He had a single projector which was positioned at the center of the audience. There was no sound accompaning the movie so it was my job to furnish music. I was probably four years old at this time and of course I could'nt read, but from a stack of 78's, I would pick out certain songs by the color of the label or if there was telltale scratches marking the record. My instrument was a "Victorola" with a windup
crank on the side. My personal favorites were any and all Jimmie Rodgers recordings.
The projector was also operated by a hand crank.
During the fight scenes, dad would turn it faster in order to speed up the action. He also did a lot of narrating during the film.
After the main event, He put on a "Concert" by wrestling "old Fannie" our black bear. I believe tickets sold for 5 and 10 cents at that time.
More about "Fannie" in later posts. (If I'm not boring you).
Vaya con Dios
I really, really loathe having to admit I could not complete this puzzle! JARJARBINKS destroyed me... my life, my reputation... everything is gone! Never again will I experience joy, elation...simple pride... self-esteem. What a cruel crossword this was. What a cruel life awaits me now!
tarrajo, sorry, can't do it; cat's got my tongue on this one.
Jimbo, hopefully we'll see 'doodly squat' in a crossword soon. Haven't heard that one in quite a few years. Also, great circus memories! You paint a great word picture.
Jerome, just dripping. Nice.
Lemonade, how're you doing?
@carol I KNEW ZAFTIG. Slam dunk gimmee. Now if we can get CALLIPYGIAN into a puzzle somehow, that would be great!
Welcome to all the new posters! This community just continues to grow and grow.
@embien Hope the toe is healing well. Don't overdo.
@warren That linked site for Jar Jar would be funny if it weren't so pathetic!
@linda Many of us feel your pain. Thank goodness for online puzzles. The archived puzzle on cruciverb.com seems to be back to the old availability time.
@dr.g Every sharp has an equivalent flat, and vice-versa. I see al has given a much more scholarly discourse.
@southernbelle Take a couple of deep breaths and calm down. Computers are our friends, LOL! I'd advise you to stay with Firefox -- more stable.
@carol In The Mean Time. Batten down the hatches. It's supposed to be a hot one today!
@WM Don't worry about being "outed." We are our own toughest critics, especially in how we look in pictures.
@sandbridgekaren My 2D clue was the same (online).
General comment to online solvers. Getting Across Lite and using the puzzle from cruciverb.com gives you a full screen puzzle and thus there's no way of inadvertently clicking somewhere off the grid and losing your work. As kazie said yesterday, that's a rel bummer, especially if it happens more than once on a puzzle.
@dennis I too had to self-censor my Pink ????? flavored ice-cream.
@jimbo My, you have had an interesting life!
@jerome And the Terrible Thursday puzzle is sneaking up behind you. Gnash your teeth, rend your garments, cry out your pain!
@Dennis, "cat"?
So you were trying to avoid going here? I still can't believe that's an actual company name.
Al, your acumen is exceeded only by your perspicacity.
I just heard Carl Malden died at age 97.
Al, Dennis, Crockett,
my current flavor ice cream is Cherry Cordial. When I was a kid my Mother had to hide the Maraschino cherries on the back shelf. If ice cream came in the flavor you are not mentioning, I would weigh 400 pounds, eating it straight from the box, so to speak.
Tarrajo,
Are you still outrunning those Svens and Oles? If you lived here in the Bluegrass, you'd need a horse and a club to beat these country boys back. This being the land of beautiful horses and fast women, the first thing a girl needs is a pair of running shoes.
Linda,
Glad you figured it out. I'd never find that porch light if you skipped out. What paper do you get the puzzle in these days?
L
Martin- Pretty good for a rookie. You've got some of that "puzzle sense" that Nancy Salomon talks about. The theme phrase I KNOW I CAN is a tad contrived and some of the clues are too vague. The clue for SI SENORA needs to have a hint that the answer is in Spanish. But, good start. Why not pursue learning to create crosswords? Are you familiar with the Cruciverb site or Cruciverb-L?
Greetings C.C. and all the fascinating people I've come to know through "lurking" here the past few months. Since the last few days seem to be "open enrollment" days I figured I'd join the parade.
C.C.: You are the queen of all blog hosts, as far as I am concerned. I started doing crosswords a couple of years ago for the mental challenge and to learn something new. You help me do that every day when I come to your blog to check my answers (I prefer to do them on paper so I'm not getting any "red letter" help along the way). I'm amazed at your mastery of the English language, particularly given your background. I enjoy the extra tidbits of information you provide with your clue answers.
Living on the "Left Coast" as I do, I seem to check the blog a bit later than most of you. You all have been a comfort to me in knowing that many of you struggled with the same clues. I usually don't feel like I have much to add, but I'll certainly chime in when I have my two cents to share.
for @eddyB re: email bounce? I just went back to yesterday's blog and tested the email link I put up and it worked fine so apparently there is either something wrong with your PC or?
RE: Today's clue for LED watch face? I haven't seen a watch with LED's in over 20 years. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) took over for LED's a very long time ago, yes?
Jeannie, he was 97?? Wow, that's one hell of a run.
Windhover, I was honestly in mid-gulp of soda when I finished your first paragraph, and damn near needed rescuing.
JimmyB, welcome! Good of you to join us; I hope you'll post often. C.C. is truly amazing, isn't she?
I NEED HELP.... the arkansas democrat gazette decided today to replace the la times crossword with the universal cw which is ok for the occasional online solving but horrible compared to the la times on a daily basis anyway anybody that could take 30 seconds to send a quick email to ffellone@arkansasonline.com and tell him to switch back would be greatly appreciated
Jerome -
I hate to see you in the depths of dispair. Could I buy you an ice cram cone? (Next best thing after a single malt) My favorite flavor is butter pecan. Funny thing is, the LW knew this about me, and I didn't. Really.
Dr. G. , Al, et.al.-
Al put together a fine listing of what are called enharmonic equivalents. You could play big band, concert band, pop, and most (but not all) American music forever, and never see an A# or Fb. You will find them rather commonly in the European symphonic literature.
People talk about the blog rules (frex, 5 posts/day max.) from time to time. Are they listed anywhere? I want to stay clean.
Cheers!
zac, I just sent one. Group, we don't we blitz this guy and see what happens?
To Al, KittyB & Crockett1947,
Thanks for the music lesson. I guess I was making the "a flat counterpart" too difficult. I was thinking in terms of key of A-flat and G-sharp. Starting a scale with either a G# or an Af the same notes are played. However, in retrospect, I don't believe there is a key of G#.
@windhover I always thought that was fast horses and beautiful women!
@dennis I've learned to never, NEVER have anything in my mouth when reading the blog. Clean up is no fun!
@jazzbumpa Don't know of where the "rules" might be listed. Dennis? C.C.? Argyle?
@dr.g I was just thinking notes, not key signature.
Welcome JimmyB, another Californian heard from. The California girls gathered here, WM, JD, Melissabee, Elissa, myself and..I know I'm missing someone else ???.. were almost positive that all the left coast puzzling by men was done in the next state up. Glad to see you.
I guess ""House party" convenience" just means a party at a house. Previously, when I thought of a house party, I pictured a two or three day O'Hara family shindig at Tara or maybe the Wilkes plantation, Twelve Oaks. Another illusion dashed.
WH, Really! Did you think Linda was going to fall for that? On the other hand, zac just told us "the arkansas democrat gazette decided today to replace the la times crossword with the universal cw"...another hmmmm.
KittyB - feel free to bring your spoon and join me anytime. Always appreciate a 'fellow icecreamer'. (Note - I kept that one 'clean'.
What is the strangest ice cream anyone's had? I've had both oyster and lobster ice cream; not bad but not something I'd want very often or for dessert.
I came in from a marathon weeding session and sat down to read what you all (y'all) have had to say, and you've been endlessly entertaining.
First, Al, that's a fantastic site you linked to for identifying intervals! Thanks.
Clear Ayes, I found a link for "So In Love," at YouTube, but it was Kevin Kline singing, in his role as Cole Porter, and I didn't think it was the best example. Thanks for finding a much better one. I don't think I've heard Lara Fabian before, and plan to find more of her work. That was a great performance!
Jimbo, that was a great story. I can see you as a four year old choosing the music and pumping the handle on the Victrola. I'm glad you responded to Linda's reminders.
Jerome...(sigh)....life's hard, isn't it???
Crockett, I've downloaded Across Lite on my personal computer, but I'm usually at the office computer when I work the puzzle, and it has some conflicts with that program. I'll have to ask my stepsons whether we can tweak something to get it to work.
On the issue of ice cream, I'm glad you guys are pussyfooting around, given that a nine year old COULD visit.
I had to have blood drawn on Monday and saw the word "phlebotomist." That would be a heck of an entry in a crossword!
KQ, I have a icon on my desktop that is the site I go to for the meanings to all the abbreviations that are used in text msgs, etc. They are in alphabetical order but I could not find ITMT.. now I know:) thanks! (you too Linda and Crockett)
Jimbo, great new 'chapter' in your life story:) Love it. Keep 'em coming. What year were you referring to. I know Jimmie Rodgers could not be the same one that sang 'Honeycomb'(among many others).
How old was the bear and did your Dad have him from a cub? Anyone out there notice that you don't see people wrestling with bears anymore? The PC crowd is no fun, DOH!
Crockett: LOL, clever - I'll bend over and crack a smile.
Al (2:22) LOL ..naughty boy, but fun!
Jimmy B, welcome to you! We are happy you decided to post rather than lurk.
Windhover...you and Al - and now Dennis! Boys, boys.... what say we all have an ice cream party (again). It is summer, after all. I look pretty in pink.
I live and work in the Detroit, MI area, and faithfully read the Detroit Free Press. For many years, I have been an afficianado of Wayne R. Williams-edited puzzles. When Mr. Williams retired recently, the Free Press tried several new variations of puzzle, before settling on the L.A. Times, and Mr. McInturff. I have to say that it has taken a couple of weeks to get the hang of Jack's puzzle persona, but, slowly but surely, I am getting up to speed. I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship!
Carol, KittyB, my compliments; nicely done.
Jazzbumpa, outside of the 5-post-per-day rule, it's basically just common sense stuff: no profanity, no ridiculously long posts, and links to 'competitor's' blogs are discouraged, just out of courtesy to C.C.
thanks for the help dennis
Seems like we have lots of new bloggers these days, and that is great!!! Someone asked about blog rules. For those of you wanting to know, CC has a a variety of links on the right side of the page. Interviews with xword constructors and other helpful information. For general purposes, click on Guide to Blog Comment. It gives some very good advice about blogging in general.
In addition, she did an update of rules for her blog on March 4th. If you go down to the box where it says Blog Archive and click on March, you can scroll down to March 4 date and read what she had to say. I think this was the time when her blog really began to grow.
Welcome to all of you, and chime in. It is such fun.
ClearAyes, now that I am a part time San Diegoian (would that be how you would say it?) could I be considered a California girl as well as a Minnesota one?
ClearAyes,
Of course not, but I thought that if I sailed a few obvious paper airplanes in, she might go for it when I ask a really clever question. Of course, now Zac comes along and spills the coffee. For the last few minutes Ive been driving the tractor down the road humming that old Reba McIntyre tune "Little Rock". But then the DemoGaz has a Northwest Edition up in Fayetteville. Go Hogs! (Razorbacks, that is).
I can almost see that porchlight from here.
Carol,
every taste bud in my head is on edge, just thinking about that party.
Windhover, you just waddle right on over and I'll ease your head (ice cream causes a headache if eaten too fast, you know) ;)
Warren, My yahoo mail wouldn't rec-
ognize your domain address. I'll try it with AOL Mail or a dfferent browser. Meanwhile, my number is
408.258.7421. Don't think you will
need the *82. I'm gone all Friday afternoon playing pinochle. I did download the steps to repartition
the drives but, got cold feet when it time to do it. The sliding bar came up so I have room for a few
lines
SB Karen,
On the question of strange ice cream, though only strange in appearance, in Germany you can get something they call spaghetti ice. It's really yellow colored vanilla ice cream forced through a sieve to look like noodles, with some berry flavored red sauce over it to look like tomato sauce, and cookie crumbs on top for parmesan cheese. Really delicious!
10:25 today. About average for a Wednesday puzzle, I'd guess. I never have seen or heard the word ZAFTIG before, and it took a while to fill in that JAR JAR guy, though I had at least heard of him (I'm not a Star Wars fan).
@c.c.: 8D: Text-scanning technology, briefly: OCR. No idea. It stands for Optical Character Recognition.
OCR: The last company I worked for was in the OCR business. I was an installer and troubleshooter for the company, and was its last employee in Oregon (they consolidated operations in Rochester, NY). Kofile
@KQ: The toe is doing fine. It looks a mess, but it's no longer painful to walk (though I kind of limp around).
Carol,
It is my policy to never rush the important stuff. I share the philosophy of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, whose biography I read last year:
"Fill what's empty, empty what's full."
Slowly.
Oh, and ARL also said, "if you don't have anything good to say about someone, come sit by me."
#3
To whom it may concern: Red herrings are SO much fun... :)
Hi C.C.
Here are some more answers to your comment questions.
I've seen KOA campgrounds all over the USA, I'm surprised that you haven't run across one. Here's a link to KOA history
"Kampgrounds of America has been providing quality family camping to travelers from around the world for the past 40 years."
Re: Glass Jaw
"A fighter with a "bad chin", "glass chin", or "glass jaw". refers to boxers with limited ability to absorb punishment in the face."
Jazzbumpa, I meant to tell you earlier, I enjoyed your poem. Beside the affecting topic, the rhythm was very nice. It read well.
KittyB, there was also a version of So In Love by k.d. lang. She is such a smooth singer, and it was a lovely rendition, but the video was rather strange (she started out doing the laundry).
KQ, Any California time counts. I knew I was forgetting somebody.
SandbridgeKaren, I've eaten both avocado ice cream and garlic ice cream. The avocado was OK, but I wouldn't repeat on the garlic. My favorite is a toss up between Pralines and Cream and Pistachio.
It's great to see that parents are still encouraging young people to send thank you notes. One of my granddaughters, age 6 at the time, also sends hand-made cards. Shortly after our cat, Fritz, died, I received a sympathy note from Caroline. The cover showed a cat with "X's" over its eyes and inside was her heartfelt message, "I'm sorry Fritz died. Get over it." Love, Caroline
P.S. Mon., Tues, & Wed. puzzles were all harder than past weeks. You may not hear from me for awhile.
What a great blog read today. Just a few comments.
eddyB: Is PA issuing IOUs yet? CA started today. We cannot spend any more money until a budget is signed, and it appears there's an impasse. The state needs a 2/3 majority to pass a budget.
ClearAyes: You're missing this Southern California girl. Speaking of California, Marin County is the beginning of wine country just north of San Francisco. The "real" wine country is just north of that in Napa and Sonoma counties.
AL: Thanks for the info on the scales. My piano teacher gets after me because I don't memorize that kind of info. I understand it, but don't hold it in my head. I think after 70 years, my head is getting full.
SandbridgeKaren: Ditto on the avocado and garlic ice creams
Am having vertical blinds installed today (to replace the horizontal ones I hate to clean). He's worked around me all day, but now I am being run out of my office. I'm off to the supermarket to get some ingredients to throw in the crock pot in the morning.
Have a great evening.
Doreen
Hi All:
Sorry if this is a duplicate. It's great that parents are encouraging their kids to write thank you notes. The comments brought to mind a hand-made card from my 6-year old (at the time) granddaughter, when my cat, Fritz, died. The cover had a drawing of a cat with "X's" over its eyes. Inside, was the heartfelt note: "I'm sorry Fritz died. Get over it." Love Caroline
Jimbo: Thanks for another glimpse into your fascinating life.
CA and WH: You got me...I DO live in the Arklatex, when I`m not living in the Arkhoma or the TennaMo.
Out for this day...
Jerome,
We had "Yippee cousin" recently as a clue and the answer was OLE but, yes, "'Yes, Ma'am', to Salma" would be clearer. But, hey, since when has the clues being clear been a requirement? ;)
I've tried and failed constructing puzzles. It gives me perspective because I realize that a puzzle in which all the words are from the dictionary would actually be more difficult to construct than a puzzle that also used a lot of place names or foreign words.
Martin
Happy Birthday C.C,
Your the best.
It's Canada's birthday as well.
Best to All,
Geri
@geri Thank you for the reminder! Happy Birthday to our marvelous northern neighbor!
Marilyn Monroe was zaftig. She wore a size 14.
Doreen
KQ, welcome to California!
Jimbo, I wish I could come to your place and sit for hours listening to your wonderful stories.
WM,thnx
Did you all leave some ice cream for me??? Too hard to resist.
Melissa bee, I loved the Al Franken clip. No way I could do that, but I can draw the Hawaiian Islands. LOL
Old Tex, the first and most famous LED was introduced by Pulsar in the early 1970’s, and made instantly famous by James Bond in Live and Let Die. My brother Barry was so impressed by the shining red numerals, he had to run out and buy one when we saw the movie. Since we were still in law school, it was extravagant. He celebrated my first law job two years earlier by buying a reel to reel tape deck. Of course with the LCD’s coming in 1979, the LED’s flamed out, but they are now in as retro .
Linda, you can turn off the timer on the online version, ort just print it as many do. You click on the time and it goes away.
Yeah, I certainly was worried about my kids being seduced by Jar jar Binks, what a world, thank you for the sad reminder Warren.
Dennis, thanks for asking, so far I am still running as fast as I can in the quicksand; I have not sunk but it is not quick either.
I thuoght the puzzle was tricky but fairly easy.
Thought it was interesting that some of our hot topics, like GLASS BLOWING and ZED were bavk; maybe that is why I thought it was easy.
Don't suggest COLOSSI being the sames as colossuses to any Latin loving, fanatic arachaeology students you may run into in life.
We have all heard about SCATHING reviews, that is how one gets one.
It is great to see all the posts from new and old.
Holy Crimeny...I'm gone all day and there are a gazillion posts. I am pooped...we unloaded and carried 17 large paintings upstairs and hung them and got things set for Friday...then we stopped at Costco for wine and food orders...glass or two of wine time.
First off...Jimbo...please keep telling us your stories...better than a movie serial and you are so incredibly descriptive, I get a photo in my head. This is the kind of information that we need to hold close before it is lost. One of my most favorite stories was from my Grandmother who was 6 years old during the Great SF Earthquake of 06...my daughters also know the story and I am sure it will be handed down.Also...what JD said.
Elissa...very dry white wine with a very small amount of really good French Cassis...if you use a dry French Champagne it becomes a Kir Royale. I bought my first bottle of Cassis in Beaune on a wine tasting tour...of course, the weather in Provence may make it more enjoyable along with Pastis.
I think it is great that we are adding so many new people and I might just let our local editor know that posting this website was a great idea.
KQ...I'm with CA...you definitely qualify as a Calif girl now...San Diego is beautiful.
MelissaB...loved the Al Franken clip. I don't do too badly locating the states and I can pretty much name them all on a map...but freehand drawing it...no way.
JD...only speaking the truth...as I can also testify that Elissa is lovely.
MARIN was a definite gimme but it is really difficult in Calif to define "wine country" as so many areas produce distinctive wines.
WH...I almost spit wine all over my computer...LMAO!(also yesterday's joke!)
Al...terrific info on the Sharps and Flats. My dad was a high school music teacher so the xword clue was reasonably easy, but I had really forgotten a lot of the specifics.
Time to get back to my list of lists and make sure I haven't forgotten anything.
Cheers.
Lemonade, I'm glad you're hanging in - a lot of people have you in their thoughts.
JD, Thanks for California Girls. I loved being a California girl when that song came out. Years (many) have passed, but there was a time and a place.....sigh.
Sorry Doreen for missing you. It looks like I forgot to mention several Golden State ladies on this blog.
Melissabee, that Al Franken clip was amazing. Minnesotans are known for their eclectic choices in politicians. It should be very interesting to watch Mr. Franken as he settles into his D.C. life and duties.
Lemonade714, Glad to see you back with some good memories.
Have a good evening, everyone.
Reliving History zzzzzzz
1862- Congress outlawed polygamy for the 1st time; bad news for Utah!
-Lincoln appointed Isaac Newton Sec. of Agriculture-no joke!
-Internal Revenue imposed 1st fed. taxes on inheritance, tobacco,& on incomes OVER $600.!!!
1863- Battle of Gettysburg; Lee's northward advance was halted.
-free city delivery of mail began in 49 US cities; postage 3 cents
1904-Olympic Games in St. Louis
1910- Chicago's Comiskey Park opened...mmmm, it's closed now
1919- This is AMAZING! Postage DROPPED to 2 cents!
1941- Bulova Watch Co. paid $9 for 1st ever network commercial.
1997- China regains sovereignty of Hong Kong
CA, I agree with you that garlic ice cream is disgusting! Have you ever been to the Garlic Festival in Gilroy? EVERYTHING is made with garlic.I do love the lime/garlic calamari!
Hi All:
Having a hard time getting on today.
I guess google is tired of me. I was pleased to know that parents are still encouraging thank you notes. I was reminded of a special hand-made sympathy card from my then 6-year old granddaughter upon the death of my cat, Fritz. The cover had a drawing of a cat with "X's" over its eyes. Inside was the heartfelt message: "I'm sorry Fritz died. Get over it. Love Caroline." (Wasn't that sweet?)
Vern,
Something is very strange--you have managed to get your story on three times now. For some reason, you must not be seeing it at your end.
Windhover, Dennis, Al, it looks like you all are dancing around what should be your choice of ice cream...we in the upper midwest call it...Blondies...If you have never tried it you should as it is really good.
I can't speak for Tarrajo, but this blondie isn't sporting her tennie's anymore. Linda...BTW, you absolutely, cannot leave this blog. LOVE YOU.
Kazie, hoping you are making some sort of headway with reasoning and counseling your friend.
WM, good luck on your "staging, hanging of your works." I am looking forward to pics.
Windhover if you have dug yourself too deep, I do know how to completely run a Crane now.
BTW, if I was going to be creative on an ice cream flavor I would pick lemonade...sounds really refreshing. Especially if you are out in the sun too long; maybe after a long round of golf. Then again there is that ice cream head ache to worry about. Hate when that happens...
Jeannie, thanks...I will definitely post some pictures and a link to the article next. So glad you are staying with us...You're going to have Dennis and WH drooling on their shoes...LOL
Oh... and Dennis...Chocolate and Caramel...I'm sooooo there.
Vern...another LMAO on the condolence card...what a visual!
eddyb...have you a gmail acct? If so you can set up a blogger page...Ask anyone here...I am a complete idiot with computers...but that might help.
And Jerome@2:10pm Whahahahahaha
Lemonade...good to see you here and I'm pleased you liked my HBTY...hope each day is just a bit easier. Hugs
Crocket1947:
On behalf of us Canucks up here, thank you.
Geri
Eddyb...MN Loons are protected by the DNR. We can't shoot them or eat them. BTW, LGJ and I in the canoe can get really close to them obviously because there is no motor on our littel vessel. We both are a little in awe when we see a young one catching a ride on the Mom's back. I am not sure how he knows it (memory perhaps) or seeing some other Mom with a young child in a backpack thingy. Yes, Dennis, I use thingy alot...but I thought it was a good observation on his part that we folks use the same form of transportation for our young. Out of the mouths of babes I tell ya. He keeps me young.
Oh, and yes he did manage to fall asleep and stay the whole night with a buddy in his new tent. Mom is tired though.
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