Theme: None
Total blocks: 32
Total words: 72
All those triple stacks of 10-letter fills in upper right corner and lower left corner consist of two words. Fantastic! I love SWING STATE (5A: Purple region, on some maps) and TROOP SURGE (59A: Bush announcement of 2007) the most.
Then you add UN-PC (15A: Like many -ess words nowadays) and NEO (33D: Conservative leader? - Neoconservative), voila, a great Saturday puzzle for a news junkie. Somehow I thought the SURGE decision was made immediately after the 2006 election though, after Rumsfeld was fired.
Very enjoyable puzzle, full of lively fills. The grid is not that intimidating and most of the multiple-word answers are workable. I still had my normal struggle. But "rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" I think I am.
Across:
1A: __d'Orsay: Seine site: QUAI. Left bank of the Seine. Very close to my beloved Musée d'Orsay. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located here. QUAI is just French for quay (wharf).
16A: It's measured in hits: WEB TRAFFIC. Yep, our blog traffic is measured by hits.
17A: 2002 Eddie Murphy/Owen Wilson film: I SPY. Not a familiar movie to me. Somehow I've never liked Owen Wilson. Clive Owen, yes, definitely.
18A: Play honors: OBIE AWARDS. Or Tony Awards.
19A: End of a series: ZEE. Last letter of English alphabet.
20A: Like galas: DRESSY
21A: Café addition: LAIT. French for "milk". Café au LAIT.
22A: More dry and crumbly: MEALIER. Wanted FLAKIER.
24A: It's taken in spots: TEA. Dictionary explains "spot" as "a drink", chiefly British, informal. then it gives an example: a spot of TEA. New to me.
26A: Like Beethoven's Seventh: IN A. No idea. But I knew the clue is asking for a IN? answer.
27A: Physicist Fermi: ENRICO. Nobel Physics winner, 1938. Learned his name from doing Xword. ENRICO is Italian for "Ruler of the Household".
28A: Largest of Dodecanese: RHODES. Oh, this is where the Colossus of RHODES is located then. So close to Turkey. I was stumped. Have never heard of Dodecanese, literally ""twelve islands" in Greek.
30A: Didn't delete: LEFT IN. My initial answer was KEPT IN.
34A: Minx: HUSSY. New word to me.
37A: Aspect: FACET
39A: How - __: TOS
40A: "Some Like it Hot, " for one: FARCE. Oh, I mixed "Some Like it Hot" with "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".
42A: Like Beethoven's Ninth: CHORAL. I am a classic music idiot. So, no idea. Wikipedia says The Symphony No. 9 (CHORAL) is Beethoven's last symphony.
44A: Seat of Texas's Ector County: ODESSA. Al's 9:31am post yesterday was in play here. Simple guess. Ector County means nothing to me.
46A: Native Midwesterners: OSAGES. Oh, Native Indians.
50A: Island party music source: UKE. Hawaii.
51A: Challah need: EGG. I've never had challah, does it taste like brioche?
53A: Extinguished: BLEW OUT
54A: Dairy prefix: LACT. Latin "milk". As in lactose. Lactose intolerance. I like seeing LAIT and LACT in one grid.
56A: Ring of color: AREOLA. AREa+ OLA. Just like this.
58A: Airport near Forest Hills, N.Y.: LGA (La Guardia Airport). Another guess. JFK did not even come to my mind.
61A: Anglo __ War (1899-1902): BOER. BOERS is derived from Dutch "boor" (peasant).
62A: In-line pickup?: IMPULSE BUY. I don't know the meaning of "In-line". Stand in-line at the check-out?
63A: Francis of Hollywood: ANNE. Unknow to me. Wikipedia says ANNE Francis is perhaps best known for her role as Altaira in the significant Sci-Fi classic "Forbidden Planet".
64A: It'll cost you to go in them: PAY TOILETS. Stymied, though I've used them. Toilets should always be free.
65A: Like most whiskey: AGED. My first thought is OAKY.
Down:
1D: College study group request: QUIZ ME. No idea. Have never attended a school here.
2D: Like radio waves: UNSEEN. And APPEAR (3D: Cease being 2-Down). Nice intersection with I SPY.
4D: Distant: ICY
5D: Quit for good: SWORE OFF
6D: "Der Freischütz" composer: WEBER. Stranger to me. Wikipedia says his full name is Carl Maria von WEBER, and his mastery of the orchestra was equalled in his time only by Beethovena nd Schubert. "Der Freischütz" is usually translated as "The Marksman" or "The Freeshooter".
7D: Head of the Egyptian god Thoth: IBIS. Gimme. IBIS is considered sacred bird for those ancient Egyptians. THOTH is Egypitan god of wisdom. See the IBIS on his head?
8D: Subject of the 2005 opera "Doctor Atomic": N-TEST
9D: Aging, maybe: GRAYER. I am aging. I am GRAYER. OK.
10D: Dated: SAW. A-Rod is dating Kate Hudson. A-Road and Kate Hudson are seeing each other.
11D: Nonstick cookware brand: T-FAL. The brand I use. Short for Teflon & aluminium.
12D: "Yes, sorry to say": AFRAID SO
13D: Desirable trait in a roommate: TIDINESS
14D: No mere joy: ECSTASY
20D: They're rolled on tables: DICE. Nailed it immediately.
23D: Spring bloomers: LILACS
25D: Rubbing reaction: AHH
29D: Western staple: OUTLAW. Wanted OATER.
31D: Toe preceder?: TAC. Tic-TAC-Toe. Got me.
32D: Ego, to Freud: ICH. German for "I", as in JFK's "ICH bin ein Berliner". I wanted IDS. Neat to have ICH right in the heart of the grid.
35D: No-goodnik's accumulation: BAD KARMA. Mine was MAD KARMA, as I filled in MFA rather than BFA ( (Bachelor of Fine Arts) for 35A: Deg. for theater types: BFA.
36D: Infomercial come-on: FREE COPY
38D: Chicago Surface Lines transports: TROLLEYS. Wikipedia says the Chicago Surface Lines was operator of the street railway system of Chicago from 1913 to 1947. Unknown to me.
40D: Barely struck strike: FOUL TIP. I love the clue. FOUL TIP is always counted as a strike.
41D: Computer ending: ESE. Computerese. I was thinking of EXE, the computer file name extension.
43D: Sailing: ASEA
45D: Winner of eight Grand Slam tournaments: AGASSI
47D: Passing order? GO LONG. Stumped. American football term?
48D: Home of the Oregon Ducks: EUGENE. University of Oregon home.
49D: Was wide-eyed: STARED
52D: Bland breakfast: GRUEL. Sometimes my breakfast is just millet/rice GRUEL. I like sprinkle dried fruits and toasted nuts in them.
53D: Australian cager Andrew who was selected first overall in the 2005 NBA draft: BOGUT. No idea. Andrew BOGUT was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks and he is still playing for them.
55D: Ballyhoo: TOUT
57D: Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I.": ERBE. German name, meaning "inheritance". It rhymes with "Herbie". Don't confuse her name with the German river ELBE.
60D: Gaza Strip gp.: PLO. Hamas controls West Bank. (Note: I was wrong. Hamas controls Gaza Strip.)
61D: Shropshire sound: BAA. Did not know Shropshire is a breed of English sheep. Hey, ewe!
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: The always graceful and gracious beauty Clear Ayes & her Golf-Addicted-Husband (G-A-H in her daily comments). She said "Obviously my husband likes to be Santa Claus for the kids. I hope Argyle doesn't get jealous!"
C.C.
Total blocks: 32
Total words: 72
All those triple stacks of 10-letter fills in upper right corner and lower left corner consist of two words. Fantastic! I love SWING STATE (5A: Purple region, on some maps) and TROOP SURGE (59A: Bush announcement of 2007) the most.
Then you add UN-PC (15A: Like many -ess words nowadays) and NEO (33D: Conservative leader? - Neoconservative), voila, a great Saturday puzzle for a news junkie. Somehow I thought the SURGE decision was made immediately after the 2006 election though, after Rumsfeld was fired.
Very enjoyable puzzle, full of lively fills. The grid is not that intimidating and most of the multiple-word answers are workable. I still had my normal struggle. But "rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" I think I am.
Across:
1A: __d'Orsay: Seine site: QUAI. Left bank of the Seine. Very close to my beloved Musée d'Orsay. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located here. QUAI is just French for quay (wharf).
16A: It's measured in hits: WEB TRAFFIC. Yep, our blog traffic is measured by hits.
17A: 2002 Eddie Murphy/Owen Wilson film: I SPY. Not a familiar movie to me. Somehow I've never liked Owen Wilson. Clive Owen, yes, definitely.
18A: Play honors: OBIE AWARDS. Or Tony Awards.
19A: End of a series: ZEE. Last letter of English alphabet.
20A: Like galas: DRESSY
21A: Café addition: LAIT. French for "milk". Café au LAIT.
22A: More dry and crumbly: MEALIER. Wanted FLAKIER.
24A: It's taken in spots: TEA. Dictionary explains "spot" as "a drink", chiefly British, informal. then it gives an example: a spot of TEA. New to me.
26A: Like Beethoven's Seventh: IN A. No idea. But I knew the clue is asking for a IN? answer.
27A: Physicist Fermi: ENRICO. Nobel Physics winner, 1938. Learned his name from doing Xword. ENRICO is Italian for "Ruler of the Household".
28A: Largest of Dodecanese: RHODES. Oh, this is where the Colossus of RHODES is located then. So close to Turkey. I was stumped. Have never heard of Dodecanese, literally ""twelve islands" in Greek.
30A: Didn't delete: LEFT IN. My initial answer was KEPT IN.
34A: Minx: HUSSY. New word to me.
37A: Aspect: FACET
39A: How - __: TOS
40A: "Some Like it Hot, " for one: FARCE. Oh, I mixed "Some Like it Hot" with "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".
42A: Like Beethoven's Ninth: CHORAL. I am a classic music idiot. So, no idea. Wikipedia says The Symphony No. 9 (CHORAL) is Beethoven's last symphony.
44A: Seat of Texas's Ector County: ODESSA. Al's 9:31am post yesterday was in play here. Simple guess. Ector County means nothing to me.
46A: Native Midwesterners: OSAGES. Oh, Native Indians.
50A: Island party music source: UKE. Hawaii.
51A: Challah need: EGG. I've never had challah, does it taste like brioche?
53A: Extinguished: BLEW OUT
54A: Dairy prefix: LACT. Latin "milk". As in lactose. Lactose intolerance. I like seeing LAIT and LACT in one grid.
56A: Ring of color: AREOLA. AREa+ OLA. Just like this.
58A: Airport near Forest Hills, N.Y.: LGA (La Guardia Airport). Another guess. JFK did not even come to my mind.
61A: Anglo __ War (1899-1902): BOER. BOERS is derived from Dutch "boor" (peasant).
62A: In-line pickup?: IMPULSE BUY. I don't know the meaning of "In-line". Stand in-line at the check-out?
63A: Francis of Hollywood: ANNE. Unknow to me. Wikipedia says ANNE Francis is perhaps best known for her role as Altaira in the significant Sci-Fi classic "Forbidden Planet".
64A: It'll cost you to go in them: PAY TOILETS. Stymied, though I've used them. Toilets should always be free.
65A: Like most whiskey: AGED. My first thought is OAKY.
Down:
1D: College study group request: QUIZ ME. No idea. Have never attended a school here.
2D: Like radio waves: UNSEEN. And APPEAR (3D: Cease being 2-Down). Nice intersection with I SPY.
4D: Distant: ICY
5D: Quit for good: SWORE OFF
6D: "Der Freischütz" composer: WEBER. Stranger to me. Wikipedia says his full name is Carl Maria von WEBER, and his mastery of the orchestra was equalled in his time only by Beethovena nd Schubert. "Der Freischütz" is usually translated as "The Marksman" or "The Freeshooter".
7D: Head of the Egyptian god Thoth: IBIS. Gimme. IBIS is considered sacred bird for those ancient Egyptians. THOTH is Egypitan god of wisdom. See the IBIS on his head?
8D: Subject of the 2005 opera "Doctor Atomic": N-TEST
9D: Aging, maybe: GRAYER. I am aging. I am GRAYER. OK.
10D: Dated: SAW. A-Rod is dating Kate Hudson. A-Road and Kate Hudson are seeing each other.
11D: Nonstick cookware brand: T-FAL. The brand I use. Short for Teflon & aluminium.
12D: "Yes, sorry to say": AFRAID SO
13D: Desirable trait in a roommate: TIDINESS
14D: No mere joy: ECSTASY
20D: They're rolled on tables: DICE. Nailed it immediately.
23D: Spring bloomers: LILACS
25D: Rubbing reaction: AHH
29D: Western staple: OUTLAW. Wanted OATER.
31D: Toe preceder?: TAC. Tic-TAC-Toe. Got me.
32D: Ego, to Freud: ICH. German for "I", as in JFK's "ICH bin ein Berliner". I wanted IDS. Neat to have ICH right in the heart of the grid.
35D: No-goodnik's accumulation: BAD KARMA. Mine was MAD KARMA, as I filled in MFA rather than BFA ( (Bachelor of Fine Arts) for 35A: Deg. for theater types: BFA.
36D: Infomercial come-on: FREE COPY
38D: Chicago Surface Lines transports: TROLLEYS. Wikipedia says the Chicago Surface Lines was operator of the street railway system of Chicago from 1913 to 1947. Unknown to me.
40D: Barely struck strike: FOUL TIP. I love the clue. FOUL TIP is always counted as a strike.
41D: Computer ending: ESE. Computerese. I was thinking of EXE, the computer file name extension.
43D: Sailing: ASEA
45D: Winner of eight Grand Slam tournaments: AGASSI
47D: Passing order? GO LONG. Stumped. American football term?
48D: Home of the Oregon Ducks: EUGENE. University of Oregon home.
49D: Was wide-eyed: STARED
52D: Bland breakfast: GRUEL. Sometimes my breakfast is just millet/rice GRUEL. I like sprinkle dried fruits and toasted nuts in them.
53D: Australian cager Andrew who was selected first overall in the 2005 NBA draft: BOGUT. No idea. Andrew BOGUT was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks and he is still playing for them.
55D: Ballyhoo: TOUT
57D: Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I.": ERBE. German name, meaning "inheritance". It rhymes with "Herbie". Don't confuse her name with the German river ELBE.
60D: Gaza Strip gp.: PLO. Hamas controls West Bank. (Note: I was wrong. Hamas controls Gaza Strip.)
61D: Shropshire sound: BAA. Did not know Shropshire is a breed of English sheep. Hey, ewe!
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: The always graceful and gracious beauty Clear Ayes & her Golf-Addicted-Husband (G-A-H in her daily comments). She said "Obviously my husband likes to be Santa Claus for the kids. I hope Argyle doesn't get jealous!"
C.C.
64 comments:
Morning, all!
Very challenging puzzle today. My first two answers were UNPC for 15A and ENRICO for 27A, which means I was still looking at a lot of white space up in the northern hemisphere. I thought I had the answer correct for 5D when I put in SWEAR OFF instead of SWORE OFF. Stupid tenses. That really messed up the NE corner until I finally realized my mistake.
The last section to fall was actually the NW corner. I was committed to UNPC, but couldn't get anything else to work. Usually, that level of commitment on my part means I'm completely wrong, and I almost removed it in order to put FAR for 4D. Fortunately, I finally thought of ICY, which gave me enough to remember I SPY, which revealed UNSEEN, which let me get APPEAR, and that was it.
I think my only complete unknown today was BOGUT, although there was plenty of other stuff that only resided in the fringes of my consciousness. MEALIER, for example -- I've heard the word, but never knew exactly what it meant.
Favorite clue today was "Ego, to Freud" for ICH. Clever, clever, clever.
Hi all,
Just a quick comment and then away to a family reunion today. I did it online for speed and red help. I actually fretted over EGO for quite some time, trying to think of psych terminology, and even when I had the IC- it didn't hit me immediately. Definitely a DUH moment! My first traction was in the SE again. Kind of liked PAY TOILETS, lots of unknowns, and using red letter help doesn't give me time to ponder possibilities, so no real thought processes to remark on.
CA,
Great photo of you and GAH. Very affectionate looking couple.
Have a great day everyone!
Good morning CC and all,,
Just hoping that none of our Californians are in any danger from the wild fires.
Jimmy
Good Morning, C.C. and all,
This puzzle was very intimidating at first glance, but I worked about half of it online, then printed it out, was stumped, went back online, and with Jean's excellent help, we finished pretty quickly. It is fun working together, and good therapy for her. Our favorite clue was for swingstate.
Needless to say, my favorite link was for areola. Thanks, C.C.!
Time to go water.
Have a great weekend.
Hey, all!
This puzzle was really tough for me. Had to do it online as my newspaper stopped publishing a Saturday edition. Really needed the red letter help. Loved the pay toilet and foul tip clues. Wanted tip to precede toe.
Just glad my Steelers didn't sign Vick!
CA - What a nice picture. Your hubby makes a great Santa!
CA-
So long as GAH has his union card, we're cool.
Good Morning, (and good greif!)
When C.C. has less trouble than I did on a puzzle, well....
IMPULSE BUY does refer to a check out line. Both this and the one under it, PAY TOILET, I got by sight recognition and not by solving the clue.
There were others, too, where I said, 'this must be the answer', and THEN figured out the clue. Just backasswards today, I guess.
Big stumper for me today. I thought the clues were do-able, but possibly my brain wasn't doing. Liked PAY TOILET. They don't generally have them in the states, but when I first visited Europe they were very common.
ClearAyes, you look just as lovely as your posts online.
Hope you all have a great day.
Good Morning!
Very challenging puzzle but after I finished I felt that the clues and answers were very simple and it was only me that didnt get it.
(Maybe the coffee wasnt strong enough ;-) )
Ofcourse had to look up Google and use red letter help. Quai was the biggest struggle. When I googled d'Orsay, I got Musee d'Orsay, Gare d'Orsay. Finally got UAI from the perps and googled 'uai d'Orsay" and that's how I got Quai. Google did try to help by showing "d'Orsay seine site" but even there Quai is at the bottom of the page.
Since Hahtool is missing, let me give you the one fact I know about today's date in History
1947: India gained Independence from the British Rule and Jawaharlal Nehru (from yesterday's Xword) became our first Prime Minister.
On the pic front, thank you to all for your kind words. Yes, we are a colorful family (like all families) with me being the black sheep. We are all in the 5'2 - 5'7 range and suddenly my sis decides to marry some one who is 6'2. :)
I loved Clear Ayes' pic. Its great that I can put a face as I read your comments. Looking forward to seeing more pictures.
(I'd love to see closeups of Dennis and CC)
Got an email from WM about a rendezvous and I'm so excited :)
Have a great weekend.
Good morning everyone.
As is usual after Tues. or Wed., I did what immediately came to mind (7 answers) and came right here. I don't have time or the patience to spend on doing more. (The time saved will be to clean the living room, napping after lunch, and doing my 1¼ mile walk.)
CA, the picture of you and GAH is wonderful.
I agree that a picture of C.C. would be a good thing. Necessary even.
Have a great weekend, and cheers.
@C.C., yes, at almost all stores, they pack as much as they can (candy bars, magazines, etc) onto racks and counters at the checkout lines for impulse buyers to pick something up at the last second they wouldn't normally have bought or even thought about. Why? Because it really works to increase sales, especially when there are children with you in line.
I've never had challa (the first syllable is pronounced like you are clearing your throat) but my brother, who converted to Judaism when he married, is visiting, so I asked him. It is just leavened (yeast) bread dough, which is then rolled and woven. The only thing unusual about it are the eggs, which aren't usually a part of a basic bread mixture, so that was actually a pretty good clue.
I really struggled with this one last night, didn't know any of the proper nouns (well, except, Odessa, but only because of yesterday), and would rather not have to ever think about our last President again. The old brain slows down a lot after 2AM, I think.
This was a good one. I didn't have to come to Crossword Corner till the very end, although I did have to look some stuff up.
I was sure about Qaui d'Orsay, but couldn't get 1D.
The explanation of 26A (Beethovern's Seventh) is the key in which it's written.
Good Morning All, What a terrific crossword challenge today. There were so many unusual 10 letter Across fills and the 8 letter Downs weren't any easier. The constructor's name doesn't look familiar. Have I not been paying attention to Corey Rubin? I won't forget again!
I had to go to the NE to get started with ----AWARDS, tried TONY and when that didn't work, I caved to OBIE right away. Then came LAIT and RHODES..one of those Dennis "I didn't know I knew that" words. Those three gave me some traction and I managed to start on the perps.
It was a slow trip down the east coast, and then traveling NW. I was really stuck on Musée d'Orsay, and couldn't think of anything else. It didn't help that I was sure "Distant" was FAR. I finally got UN-PC (my "D'oh" moment) and I SPY and finished up with QUAI. That was an "Aha", rather than a "D'oh", if that makes any sense.
My favorite clue/fill was "no-goodnik accumulation" for BAD KARMA.
Brioche is made with both eggs and butter. Challah does not have butter (it wouldn't be kosher). It is totally delicious. If you'd like to try your hand, here's a fairly simple Challah recipe.
Thanks for the nice photo comments. I don't get in too many pictures. Usually I'm the one behind the camera. C.C.'s new "up close and personal" photos are fun. It's great to get a look at the people we talk to every day.
.
C.C.
Great site and good input by all.
I will check back often!
wake@doramail.com
Good morning, C.C. and gang - well, this was a spirited fight with lot of 'are you kidding me?' moments, but I finally made it through, bent but not broken.
Not much time this morning, tons of running around to do, but in a nutshell: as soon as I realized what a bear this one was, I went through all the acrosses and downs, filling in ones I knew for sure. Certainly didn't take long. Then I just kept skipping around, filling in probables, and then the probables gave me more, and so it went until I finally beat the damn thing into submission. Some very obscure clues/answers. I started expecting something like, 'name of the 6th largest crater on the moon'.
Anyway, it's done and I burned it and stomped on the ashes and I feel much better. Off to play.
Oh, going to see John Legend and India.Arie tonight; has anyone seen either perform?
Today is National Relaxation Day. I'll do my best to honor it today, and it may take 'til Monday to get it right.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "Never put a sock in a toaster." -- Eddie Izzard
Couple more Fun Facts:
- The first fish to travel to space: A South American guppy in 1976.
- The average American consumes approximately 11.7 pounds of chocolate per year.
Good morning CC and all,
Oh my, another hard one today; thought I was doing better with the long vertical fills. Could not see the B or F in bad karma and free copy for a long time. Immediately got parts of some, like surge, buy and toilets, but the beginnings took awhile too.
Not my favorite.
Ca, what a sweet picture of you and GAH; Christmas card perfect!
CC, thanks so much for posting all these marvelous pictures.
Dennis and Barry G., I love that you struggled a bit these last 2 days. You must be loving that.No one wants easy all of the time.
Reliving history
Today's birthdays:
Napoleon Bonaparte-1769
Ethel Barrymore-1879 (one of many gifted actors in her family)
-
Edna Ferber-1887(amazing writer of Giant, Showboat, Cimarron)
.....and
JULIA CHILD-1912-Bon Appetit, Julia
1620- the Mayflower set sail from Sothhampton with 102 Pilgrims
1914- the Panama Canal opened
1939- Wizard of Oz premiered (my least fav. movie-too scary)
In 1935, Will Rogers was killed in a plane crash. Never Met a Man I Didn't Like is a good read.There is an impressive museum in Tulsa.
As Moon said India became independent on this day in 1947 and the Islamic part became Pakistan(where the Indus River Civ. began)
1967- Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened. I did not know it was a fair.Our little town is having an art & wine fair this weekend.This is the 1st day we can smell the smoke from the big fire consuming our beautiful coastal mountains.In 2 days it has burned over 5000 acres, and it's much too close to the redwoods.
1974- longest team trampoline bouncing marathon-52 days!!!
1991-Paul Simon had a free concert in Central Park. 750,000 attended
Thought for the day :
" Imagine a man in public office that everybody knew where he stood.We wouldn't call him a statesman, we would call him a curiosity." Will Rogers
60D: It's the other way around; PLO controls the
West Bank and HAMAS controls Gaza.
Pray for peace in the Middle East!
Hi c.c. and all:
It was a bear for me! Googled a lot, but also got a lot of words. I feel stupid, and I did have UNPC, but still don't get the clue. Could someone explain it to me?
ClearAyes: Great pic!
Puzzle gave me a headache...so I`m doing yardwork...(not gardening... :)
Clearayes: I see well at a distance and had already ascertained from the small photo that GAH would be a good Santa...close up verifies that. Do you ever play "Jessica" (from "Santa Claus is coming to town?") "Put one foot in front of the other"...my favorite tune.
Hey guys...hard puzzles are One thing...BUT...
And with the 11 or so pounds of chocolate, I imbibe
around 15 gallons of brewed coffee!
Barry G: I "worship" at the shrine of your intellect. Should I ever need legal counsel...what is your billing rate per hour? :)
LA714: How visually challenged are you? I can`t see squat up close...have 7 pairs of reading glasses...one with jewels all around the lenses for "dress". :) Long range...I can read road signs as fast as they come into view, usually.
Dennis: Another word of wisdom: Never try to baptise a cat!
Anon @12:06am,
Thanks. I've made a note on my original blog entry.
Clear Ayes,
Why wouldn't it be kosher to have butter in Challah?
Argyle,
Maybe we are getting better figuring out Rich Norris's mind?
Moon,
This picture was taken a month ago.
@gr8momx2, PC means Politically Correct, essentially a tendency in these times to over-react to a perceived offense by trying to avoid any language that could be taken the wrong way, even if not intentional.
UN-pc: like many ess (I take that as S for swear) words today, would be the opposite of PC
Thanks a ton CC for the pic..you are adorable.
Hmm..now I'll always think of your face when I read your blog.
I'm not Jewish but this is what I learnt about Kosher from my trip to Israel last year...milk and meat do not go together ...something about "you'll not cook a kid (baby goat) in its mother's milk".
For lunch, there was always some meat. Hence we did not have any milk products like cheese or butter served.
But I do remember being served cheese, milk with coffee and egg for breakfast together and I stayed at a fancy hotel with a Kosher restaurant.
Now I'm all confused.
Al,
I've got quite a few Al's 9:31 moments today.
Harrietv,
Hey! Thanks for key.
Lemonade,
Got a picture for us?
JD,
Do you have a photo of Truman and the new baby together?
CC: You look adorable! Did you do that lawn in the background? (It looks like mine when I finish with it.) You wear your hair like my Okinawan Aunt. Cute, Cute Cute!
Al, I took -ess to mean the feminine suffix. We discussed -ette back awhile ago.
Good morning, everyone!
A challenge today. Decided to start in the SE since that's where I've usually gotten traction early in the last few puzzles, and was rewarded with the EUGENE gimme. Poked and bounced around and then went N to fill in the great plains. Back S to Texas, then over to California. Above the Mason-Dixon line took some time, but finally got it by going from W to E. The Beethoven and WEBER references were easy, and I just had a feeling about GRUEL and was pleasantly surprised to see that I was correct!
Great pic of CA and GAH!
Thanks for the AEROLA link. Nice to see anytime, but a real eye-opener in the morning.
@argyle I had a few of those backward solves as well.
@moon Being the tall one in a group can have its advantages, but it;s sometimes a problem. I envy you all being able to get together for a face-to-face. Enjoy!
A challah is usually finished with an egg wash on the surface which gives it the beautiful sheen.
Off to do our second annual Barbershop Ice Cream Social in Peninsula Park from noon until 2 today. Carol and anyone else in the area come by for some ice cream and tunes!
Moon,
Yeah, I am confused too, since there is no meat in challah.
Jazzbumpa,
Welcome back. Hope you had a good trip.
Wake@doramail.com,
Do stay with us.
Gator Mom,
Have a look at Dan Naddor's 12:20pm post yesterday. He mentioned that they had to ditch the "Golden Girls, e.g.?" clue for BROAD SHOW on possible "UN-PC grounds".
PJB-Chicago.
I enjoy your posts very much. Thanks for the laughs.
Al and Argyle: Thanks for the Info I get it now. I couldn't get PC, kept thinking personal computer.
C.C. "Why wouldn't it be kosher to have butter in Challah?" I'm not knowledgeable at all. All I really know is that challah is delicious! I picked up this difference between brioche and challah on the ever-so-not-reliable internet. I looked up a little more and most sites say that eggs are neither meat, nor dairy. I should never have attempted an explanation. I defer to Elissa or Hahtool's expertise to fill us in.
Moon,
You might have missed this Dennis picture as well. When did you come to the US?
@Argyle, you're probably right about it meaning feminine forms of words. I just got to the same place for the wrong reason...
Thanks CC for Dennis' pic...just one word came to my mind..DEBONAIR..
A little bit of Mills and Boon (stuff that I read as a teen) kind of hero ;-)
I came to the US in Jan 2005. English is not a problem for me as I've been speaking it since I was 4(its also the common language for my better half and me).
I just get lost with all the entertainment, sports and author clues in the Xwords. I guess I read different books while growing up in Assam.
I asked my brother about the butter. Challah is always served with a meat meal, so to be kosher you couldn't have any dairy in it. Eggs are considered pareve, foods that are neither meat nor milk. They were never a live animal, so are not considered meat, and thus can be eaten with either meat or dairy.
Thank you Al for your explanation.
Now I'm no longer confused. :)
G.A.H. and I are eating as much summer fruit as we can. It will gone before we know it. I found this poem earlier in the year and saved it until the middle of August, where it would fit perfectly. It makes my mouth water!
BLUEBERRIES
All June
and July, berries,
enough berries, more
than enough, berries for the birds
and us! Each morning
we’d go out in the still
and savor, marveling
in low sunlight at their burgeoning
abacus, subtracting,
the ripest, the best.
Now Carolina August
and only a few
remain—ones we’d have passed
over, or thrown away, it only seems
moments before. Yet we pluck,
and find, in their barely
bitter, a remembered
flavor—then happen upon one
cluster our soured mouths swear
the sweetest of the season.
- Gil Allen
Al,
So it is actually kosher to have butter in Challah, correct? If you don't eat it with meat.
Moon,
Debonair for Dennis? Ha ha ha. Will let the cocky guy respond himself.
Linda,
The lawn mowing guys come every Wednesday.
Clear Ayes,
Your posts and poems really reflect who you are: beautiful, elegant, full of class & grace. We are so lucky to have you.
Good afternoon CC and all.
Got about half todays done and conceded defeat.
Cleat Ayes. Nice to see you and Mr Claus. Glad you get to see the person you talk to every day !!!!!
Great poem as always and am gorging myself on Summer fruits.
Jimmy
Al et al,
What about kosher bagel and sandwich bread? No milk as ingredient at all?
25:44 today. I finished the entire puzzle except for a vast sea of white squares in the northeast. I only had NEATNESS (wrong), TONY AWARDS (wrong) and WEB TRAFFIC (wrong) which eventually filled themselves in. Well, I guess I did have LAIT and the IN part of IN A, but that didn't help much. Ouch!
I think I'm not enjoying the themeless puzzles as much these days. I keep looking for the non-existent theme.
EUGENE was a slam dunk since the U of Oregon is my alma mater and I actually grew up in and around Eugene. I haven't been back to campus for thirty years though, so I don't have any idea what it's like these days.
Yikes! This was tougher for me today than most Saturdays. Only completed the puzzle with a great deal of G help.
C.C.--Thanks for your write-up and for posting the photos. Enjoyed yours, as well as CA with GAH. Fun to put names with faces!
CA--Thanks for the Challah recipe. I copied the one loaf recipe for the bread maker, but I'll braid and bake in the oven. Do you prefer sugar or honey? BTW, great, juicy poem.
AL--Thanks for the kosher clarification.
All right, I obviously missed the memo somewhere. Could somebody please tell me what GAH stands for? I finally figured out that DH stands for Dear Husband, but now I'm all confused again...
Oh, wait -- never mind. I just looked it up and apparently it stands for Ground Antenna Hardware.
Mystery solved!
Errrr...
Golf Addicted Husband
Ah, thanks.
Hi C.C.
40 D - "A foul tip always counted as a strike". Yes, almost. When there are already 2 strikes on the batter, a foul tip counts for nothing.
47 D - Yup, the term "go long" is American football lingo. It means for the pass reciever to go out for a long pass. In "sandlot" football it usually means for the receiver to get to the end zone as fast as he can get there.
Dennis,10:56 - the average American consumes aprox. 11.7 lbs. of chocolate per year. If you are sure of that number, pal, I've consumed the shares of at least 2 average Americans and it's only August. Am I an above average American now?
Hello!
A long story in which I find IBIS
I out and out cheated on this puzzle today. A "half cheat" means that I guess and then stick my hunch and part of the clue into Google, such as typing in "BOER" and "1899" or "WEBER" and "ATOMIC"; if there are 1000s of hits, that's good enough. Full-on cheating when I'm clueless consists of rewording the clue and searching, because the exact clue can lead to a crossword blog, which can result in getting too many answers without the "requisite" amount of toil &
tears! Finding IBIS enabled me to tackle the hairy scary NE corner, and fix bad guesses on 5D and 10D.
Loved the 10 letter stacks and the music/theater mini-themes. (Obie; BFA; Uke; Farce; Weber; NTest; and Choral--maybe others). Not usually my forte, but.... The clues for ICH and TEA were inspired, imho.
Challah is my favorite bread to make French Toast with. Slightly stale challah soaks up the syrupy eggy creamy goodness with wild abandon. The ensuing concoction usually leads to offers of marriage from whomever eats it. I have learned that lesson the hard way.
CA; your photo with GAH is a beaut. You look like you enjoy each other. Good thing he's not a bowling or badminton guy, or he would be dubbed "BAH". Thanks for the poems you share; today's was a delight; I read it to the berry lady at the farmers' market.
C.C.; thanks for the kind words and for showing us the photos of our puzzlefriends. I promise to get a real photo to you before the snow flies.
Time to rehearse now. i'm on fourth, out of 10 or so, which means the crowd will be somewhat sober and looking to see something new, but not too far out. That's when the momentum can be irreperably broken OR kicked up just a notch. Will report back tomorrow, with either egg or lipstick on my face!
@C.C. It's kosher to eat butter or cream cheese on bagels or other breads just so long as meat isn't consumed with that. You can have a vegetarian dinner with dairy items, just keep meat away from that. How long to wait in between eating the other type depends on how orthodox a person is. Strict observance is four hours, but moderate observance can require shorter times or even just going to a different place.
Hello All--Had an ego beating bad time today with this puzzle. I put in too many wrong fills, and then couldn't begin to get the perps. I put in an answer, erased, then put in something else, and then erased and put in my first choice again. I finally gave up and thank goodness for C.C.'s insight into obscure clues, because I really needed her help today.
I had Shuttle Bus for In-line pickup and movie for "Some Like It Hot" so the whole SW corner was a bust. Same problems with the NE corner as well with N Bomb instead of N Test, and just flat out didn't know the Purple region on some maps. I missed the word request(It was at the top of the page where the rest of the clue was at the bottom) for College study group and was trying to find a noun to name a study group. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.
I did like the clues for toe preceder, and Western staple. Got those somehow.
I'll blame it on my very restless night last night and lack of sleep. Have to blame something!
Hi C.C. and gang, nice picture C.C.! I always wondered why you used a playing card as your avatar, I just use a real pic... I guess I'm too old fashioned. ;-)
Today's puzzle? I printed out a hard copy enlarged from the paper but my wife and I didn't have much luck, she was sure it was Tony Awards too until I went online in Red and entered Obie...
40 D - "A foul tip always counted as a strike".
That is correct, I checked.
We woke up to the smell of smoke this morning. The fires are over the hill, about 30 miles away from us, in heavy forested and rugged area. Some people were evacuated for the second time in just over a year as they had a fire in some of the area last summer. The pictures on TV are horrendous.
My Hubby and I went to the Antique's Roadshow at our San Jose
Convention Center this morning. It was a fun experience, but very tiring as the lines were very long.
We did have a GREAT appraisal on a pair of Chinese cloisonne candlesticks which were purchased in Shanghai in the mid-1920's. We didn't get on TV, but had a good time none the less.
CA, I loved the picture of you and your hubby. I will be able to spot you when we do get together.
I'm going to take advantage of the National Relaxation Day for the rest of the evening!
I guess in honor of Julia Child's birthday today, a couple of the local PBS stations have her featured today. I flipped on one show in which she was making Boeuf Bourguignon. Either she didn't use the lardons or I missed that part. She was just starting to brown the beef when I came in. There were a couple of great quotes from her:
"The more butter, the better."
and my favorite:
(on nutrition) "...it's like taking care of your car. If you don't give it enough oil, it breaks down."
BTW, 63A gave me fits. There are lots of "Francis of Hollywood". I tried MULE, FORD, KAYE before I figured out that it was ANNE.
Barry G. Ground Antenna Hardware...I like that. Maybe I'll make one of those tinfoil hats for my GAH and we'll be able to cancel our DirecTV service.
Al, thanks for a REAL explanation for pareve and the use of butter.
MJ, I don't make any kind of bread very often...I have a bad habit of eating it! But several times a year I give in to the craving for homebaked bread and haul out the bread maker. That is what I've used to make challah. I've never used honey, but I bet it would be tasty. Oh oh, now I want some of PJB's challah french toast. That sounds so good.
C.C.,
Thank you so much for the blogger's photos. I have started a collection by printing them out and entering them into an album. Of course you are heading the list. (You and Boomer). Now, when I read a comment, I feel closer to that person because I know them through their photos.
As to today's puzzle---I'm not in the running. Way over my "country head".
I do pretty good on the Monday/Wednesday "Jobby dos" though.
Hi all...smells smokey a woodsy outside and we are clear across the by the eastern hills...have seen the smoke billowing up...The side where the fire is has lots of trees and fuel...our side is mostly grasses and when it goes, it is fast!
Actually did the puzzle this morning, then had to leave to pick up some things and grocery shop for my mom.
I kind of did it Chickie-style and Argyle style...ass backwards as I was filling in and erasing, then filling in the same answers again. Guessing helped solve a lot, not the clues. First 2 fills QUAI and LAIT...Also love Musee d'Orsay which started life as a train station and has an awesome clock through which you can see Montmarte and the Sacre Coeur Cathedral. It took me three trips to Paris to finally get in, strikes the first 2 times and almost the 3rd, but finally made it...absolutely lovely and inspiring.
Everyone pretty much covered the puzzle. I like Passing order( a head scratcher and I first put in Grades...ouch) and Spot of TEA...fun. Thanks to Al yesterday for the preview and ESP addition of ODESSA...woo hoo!
Hi CA...that's me waving at you. You look exactly as I pictured you. Can't wait to meet you.
On that subject, I will update everyone. Since a large number of the ladies are trying to have a get together...a Henny Party, we decided to also have a separate get together with the locals in maybe a sports bar or somewhere...that way the guys don't have to listen to all out inane chatter and we will all be more comfortable meeting...any suggestions for Bay Area locale welcome...click on my avatar and send me an email...We're looking at some time in Sept, early Oct...toss out dates also. Thx
Wow! Saved this for evening and it was arduous. I almost quit but persevered and used google help till I got it done. Much trouble with 53 down, google gave me Bynum for the answer. Someone asked about "hussy"...the word often goes with "shameless hussy" or "brazen hussy." Kind of an old- fashioned word that church goers might use for a girl who's a tramp. Like she might have been seen talking to a cute guy on the street with no chaperone available. lol Some teen girls now will call their close friends "hussy" as a nickname, similar to calling each other "heifer" or "ho." The "ho" thing is so they can say, "Hi, ho."
Fun, huh? And the comment about Golden Girls being politically incorrect is so funny: I doubt that Bea Arthur or Rue McClanihan would care at all, and Betty White wouldn't know what they were talking about, so I hope they don't give up that funny clue.
Couple more things...PJB...Stole my thunder on the Challah french toast...the BEST ever. I do make Challah and Brioche and other breads and the Challah is bit more dense than Brioche because as the water evaporates from the butter in the Brioche during the cooking it creates steam inside the bread so it seems lighter. I had an interesting Brioche in France that is typical of the Brittany area...It is either balls of dough or sausage shapes placed next toeach other in a traditional loaf pan...makes it easy to pull apart sections for devouring...Yum.
That same steam principle is what makes good pie crust light and puff pastry and croissants light and flaky...and that is your Julia moment for today.
For those of you who don't look all that closely at the food packaging, you may not have noticed certain markings that are very important if you keep kosher. You will sometimes see a "D" which means dairy or a "K" which means kosher, a "U" in an "O" for Union of Orthodox rabbi inspection, or the word "Pareve" which has already been mentioned. With better living through chemistry, you can get many surprising pareve items, including pareve ice cream, pareve margarine, pareve cheese. When I was growing up we only used pareve margarine (NUCOA brand in the gold box is one that I use now) so we had more flexibility. But you have to look closely. For instance, not all non-dairy creamers are pareve, because they might have whey or other dairy by-products in them. You must be observant in more ways than one to keep kosher using prepared foods.
Challa french toast is the bomb; Kosher is really complicated, just as all religion is complicated. There are different types of Kosher, just as there are different expressions of every belief system.
I liked the puzzle. Too busy.
Al, such a clear explanation of PC and UNPC.Thanks!
Crockett, what a trip!
CA, mule was my choice too.Loved the poem. Fresh blueberries have become an addiction for us this summer.Eating so much fruit has helped us both take off some pounds.
@ hussy- when I started teaching in '65, mini skirts were just arriving on the scene.At this time we were mostly wearing matching polyester pant suits(when Dupont was king!). I was 21 ,so of course I started wearing mini skirts and the new sensation, panty hose! WELL! According to the older teachers, we were considered hussies. Of course, the ol' "battle-axes" didn't say that to my face, but instead, criticized the young parents and called them hussies.They were sure that their children were doomed. Looking back, I don't know how we did it without our fannies showing.
CA- I'm looking for one that shows their sweet faces.Grady is still pretty much a papoose. :)
WM, Great Julia moment!French Toast sounds yummy.
I'm back from a wonderful day with extended family. This was the cousins from my father-in-law's side. They are really just getting to know each other again after the older generation is gone. There always seemed to be some sort of feud going on, so after they were adults, they hardly ever saw each other and now are delighting in doing so.
A word about Quai D'Orsay: As c.c. explained, quai just means a wharf or river bank. The streets in Paris that run alongside the Seine are all given names with "quai" in them. The Musée d'Orsay is of course on the Quai d'Orsay. But it was originally a train station built around 1900, which however was closed down in 1939 because its platforms were too short for the modern trains. It remained unused until it re-opened as the Musée after much adjustment to its innards in 1986.
I forgot to say, I always use honey in my whole wheat bread--so much healthier than sugar, at least that's what I tell myself when I'm consuming it!
Linda:
My vision is problematic; I had an eye disease that led to multiple corneal transplants, only one of which was successful. A side effect of the transplants, the first of which was 41 years ago, is a predispositon to cataracts and glaucoma, which has reduced my vision in my "good eye." However, I did learn to fake it well, so I seldom use my glasses. I actually have a good pair for reading and if I remember they do help.
I do have one kosher story. My wife and I were in Tel Aviv (staying at the Tel Aviv Hilton) when I was there on business. I knew nothing whatsoever about what constituted kosher but I did ask the concierge about it one time. He said that few Israelis keep strict kosher, except on the sabbath (which is Saturday in that country).
American Jewish tourists, however (many of whom stay at the Hilton) expect that things in Israel will be kosher, so the Hilton's restaurants and kitchens are strictly kosher--because the tourists expect it to be that way, not because that's how the ordinary citizenry actually live.
Well, that's what the concierge told me anyway--I don't know if it's really true.
The other curious thing I remember about Israel is seeing "veal" on all the menus, but when you order it, you're served turkey. Something gets lost in the translation.
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