Theme: None
Total blocks: 40
Total words: 70
Are you surprised that HOSTILE TAKEOVER (31A: It might involve a proxy fight) is Mr. Wiesenberg's seed entry? I'd have guessed JAVA APPLET (16A: Small program with a browser interface), my favorite out of the 9 long & lively Across entries.
I was actually thinking of the Board of Directors control, you know, like the proxy fight William Achman launched against Target, so the answer did not jump to me immediately.
Pleasant solving experience today. I was able to fill in most of long fills on the first pass, thanks to the accessibility of the crosses. Normally I feel lost and hopeless on Saturdays without theme as my Sherpa. Those multiple-word entries just do not pop up as easily to me as they do to others.
But then I struggled mightily with HAS A SHOT AT (54A: Might achieve) and lower right corner. Still cannot believe my eyes that THIRTY NINE is the answer for 59A: 78 half. How could it be so simple?
Across:
1A: Largest oceanic dolphin: ORCA. Yep, it's not really whale.
5A" "__ consummation devoutly to be wish'd": Hamlet: 'TIS A. No idea. It's from his famous soliloquy "To be, or not to be".
9A: Hi-tech battler: BOT. Short for "robot". It's "a software program that imitates the behavior of a human, as by querying search engines or participating in chatroom or IRC discussions."
12A: Wood finishing tool: BELT SANDER. Here is an electric Bosch BELT SANDER.
15A: Brooklyn, say, briefly: BORO (Borough)
17A: Surrealist Tanguy: YVES. Obtained his name from Down fills. I don't get his "Indefinite Divisibility" at all.
18A: Long-distance messages?: SMOKE SIGNALS. Great clue.
20A: Prepare for a storage, as a carpet: ROLL UP
23A: Barry who played Lt. Gerard on TV's "The Fugitive": MORSE. Complete stranger to me. I've only seen Harrison Ford's "The Fugitive".
24A: "Rumor has it...": I HEAR. "Rumor has it..." is also a Jennifer Aniston/Kevin Costner movie.
25A: 1876 Twain hero: TOM SAWYER
29A: Health insurance giant: CIGNA. Thought of AETNA first.
30A: Incredulous dying words: ET TU. Caesar's last words" "ET TU, Brute?".
39A: Memory principle: MNEME. Muse of Memory as well.
40A: Ice cream flavor: PISTACHIO. Have you tried mochi ice cream? It has PISTACHIO flavor as well.
45A: Minor, legally: PETIT. Same as "petty"?
46A: When Ovid's "Ars Amatoria" is believed to have been published: ONE BC. Just fill in ONE BC whenever you are not sure of those Roman years.
47A: Notable show biz sisters: GABORS. Zsa Zsa, Eva & Magda.
48A: Home of NBA's Thunder: OKLOHOMA CITY. Completely unknown to me. They were Seattle SuperSonics before 2008.
53A: Landing: PIER. The clue just does not feel complete. Shouldn't it be "Landing place"?
58A: Letter-bottom abbr.: ENCS
60A: "Silent Spring" subj.: DDT
61A: River to the Seine: OISE. See this map. It's pronounced like wäz.
62A: Singer born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin: ENYA. Well, 4-letter singer, who else could it be? Maybe SADE. Wikipedia says ENYA is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in her native Irish.
Down:
1D: Part of a propositional phr.: OBJ (Object).
2D: "The Crying Game" actor: REA (Stephen).
3D: XXXI x V: CLV. 31x5= 155
4D: Obliquely: AT A SLANT
5D: About 1/3 of Maine's I-95D: TNPK (Turnpike). Big stumper. No idea, sir.
6D: Hanging out, say: IDLE. Had trouble understanding the grammar of the clue/answer.
7D: Spies: SEES. Verb.
8D: Drawing intro: ART I
9D: Flaubert heroine: BOVARY. "Madam BOVARY". The only Flaubert novel I've actually read. Don't we all want things we can't or shouldn't have?
10D: Words implying consequences: OR ELSE
11D: One pitching: TOSSER
13D: Japanese warrior: SAMURAI. Japanese kanji for SAMURAI 侍 is the same as Chinese character, simply means "servant" (noun) or "to serve" (verb).
14D: For one: A POP. And ANY (56D: At least one). Clue echos.
15D: Yet: BY NOW
19D: Early ABC show, for short: GMA. D'oh, "Good Morning, America". I had G?A sitting there forever.
21D: First state admitted to the Union from the Northwest Territory: OHIO. Again, 4 letter, it's either OHIO or IOWA.
22D: Longevity: LEGS. Tricky clue.
25D: Saw things? TEETH. I feel so clever to have nailed this one. The question mark indicates that "saw" is not a past tense of "see" here.
26D: Emperor who deposed Pope John XII: OTTO I. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Easy guess.
27D: Mindanao peak: Abbr.: MT. APO. Dan Naddor clued it as "Philippines' highest peak: Abbr." last time. APO simply means "master" or "grandfather".
28D: Czech composer Josef: SUK. Nope. It's pronounced like "sook". And Josef is "yaw-zef". He looks like a politician.
32D: Europe's __ de Genève: LAC. LPGA's annual Évian Master is played on the shores of Lake Geneva. Very pretty golf course.
33D: Vicarious feeling: EMPATHY. This word is bandied a lot during Justice Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.
34D: Singly: ONE BY ONE
35D: Nix: VETO. Latin for "I forbid".
36D: Qatar dignitary: EMIR
37D: Soaks, as flax: RETS. Learned RETS and the "Nerve network" RETE from doing Xword.
40D: Exhausted: POOPED
41D: How many Colonial debts were paid: IN KIND. Have never heard of the phrase "payment IN KIND". The Wikipedia entry says KIND (or sometimes kine) means "cattle". Kine is an archaic plural of cow.
42D: Choose: SELECT. Penned in OPT FOR immediately.
43D: Slope contractions: T-BARS
44D: Bavarian beef?: ACH. German for "Oh!" /"Oh no!"/"Alas". I was stumped.
47D: Nub: GIST
49: "__ Be Back With You"" Steve Forbert song: OH, TO. No idea. Could not even find a YouTube clip.
50D: Half a fish: MAHI. Literally, "strong" in Hawaiian. Red Lobster's seared MAHI-MAHI is pretty good.
51D: Just like that: AS IS. The sale tag words.
52D: Supervision: CARE
55D: Woodsman's makeup: TIN. The TIN Man in "The Wizard of Oz". Did anyone think of the hot-tempered Welsh golfer Ian Woosman first?
57D: Hot spot?: TEA. Mine was SPA.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our fellow LAT solver Embien standing by part of wood pile. He and his wife heat their house with a wood stove. Here is a beautiful view of his front deck. Embien said: "Doesn't look its best this time of year as the crop out there (purple vetch) was harvested in July and it's too dry to plant winter wheat yet. We live waaay out in the country, about five miles west of Banks, Oregon, in the foothills of the Coast Range."
C.C.
Total blocks: 40
Total words: 70
Are you surprised that HOSTILE TAKEOVER (31A: It might involve a proxy fight) is Mr. Wiesenberg's seed entry? I'd have guessed JAVA APPLET (16A: Small program with a browser interface), my favorite out of the 9 long & lively Across entries.
I was actually thinking of the Board of Directors control, you know, like the proxy fight William Achman launched against Target, so the answer did not jump to me immediately.
Pleasant solving experience today. I was able to fill in most of long fills on the first pass, thanks to the accessibility of the crosses. Normally I feel lost and hopeless on Saturdays without theme as my Sherpa. Those multiple-word entries just do not pop up as easily to me as they do to others.
But then I struggled mightily with HAS A SHOT AT (54A: Might achieve) and lower right corner. Still cannot believe my eyes that THIRTY NINE is the answer for 59A: 78 half. How could it be so simple?
Across:
1A: Largest oceanic dolphin: ORCA. Yep, it's not really whale.
5A" "__ consummation devoutly to be wish'd": Hamlet: 'TIS A. No idea. It's from his famous soliloquy "To be, or not to be".
9A: Hi-tech battler: BOT. Short for "robot". It's "a software program that imitates the behavior of a human, as by querying search engines or participating in chatroom or IRC discussions."
12A: Wood finishing tool: BELT SANDER. Here is an electric Bosch BELT SANDER.
15A: Brooklyn, say, briefly: BORO (Borough)
17A: Surrealist Tanguy: YVES. Obtained his name from Down fills. I don't get his "Indefinite Divisibility" at all.
18A: Long-distance messages?: SMOKE SIGNALS. Great clue.
20A: Prepare for a storage, as a carpet: ROLL UP
23A: Barry who played Lt. Gerard on TV's "The Fugitive": MORSE. Complete stranger to me. I've only seen Harrison Ford's "The Fugitive".
24A: "Rumor has it...": I HEAR. "Rumor has it..." is also a Jennifer Aniston/Kevin Costner movie.
25A: 1876 Twain hero: TOM SAWYER
29A: Health insurance giant: CIGNA. Thought of AETNA first.
30A: Incredulous dying words: ET TU. Caesar's last words" "ET TU, Brute?".
39A: Memory principle: MNEME. Muse of Memory as well.
40A: Ice cream flavor: PISTACHIO. Have you tried mochi ice cream? It has PISTACHIO flavor as well.
45A: Minor, legally: PETIT. Same as "petty"?
46A: When Ovid's "Ars Amatoria" is believed to have been published: ONE BC. Just fill in ONE BC whenever you are not sure of those Roman years.
47A: Notable show biz sisters: GABORS. Zsa Zsa, Eva & Magda.
48A: Home of NBA's Thunder: OKLOHOMA CITY. Completely unknown to me. They were Seattle SuperSonics before 2008.
53A: Landing: PIER. The clue just does not feel complete. Shouldn't it be "Landing place"?
58A: Letter-bottom abbr.: ENCS
60A: "Silent Spring" subj.: DDT
61A: River to the Seine: OISE. See this map. It's pronounced like wäz.
62A: Singer born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin: ENYA. Well, 4-letter singer, who else could it be? Maybe SADE. Wikipedia says ENYA is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in her native Irish.
Down:
1D: Part of a propositional phr.: OBJ (Object).
2D: "The Crying Game" actor: REA (Stephen).
3D: XXXI x V: CLV. 31x5= 155
4D: Obliquely: AT A SLANT
5D: About 1/3 of Maine's I-95D: TNPK (Turnpike). Big stumper. No idea, sir.
6D: Hanging out, say: IDLE. Had trouble understanding the grammar of the clue/answer.
7D: Spies: SEES. Verb.
8D: Drawing intro: ART I
9D: Flaubert heroine: BOVARY. "Madam BOVARY". The only Flaubert novel I've actually read. Don't we all want things we can't or shouldn't have?
10D: Words implying consequences: OR ELSE
11D: One pitching: TOSSER
13D: Japanese warrior: SAMURAI. Japanese kanji for SAMURAI 侍 is the same as Chinese character, simply means "servant" (noun) or "to serve" (verb).
14D: For one: A POP. And ANY (56D: At least one). Clue echos.
15D: Yet: BY NOW
19D: Early ABC show, for short: GMA. D'oh, "Good Morning, America". I had G?A sitting there forever.
21D: First state admitted to the Union from the Northwest Territory: OHIO. Again, 4 letter, it's either OHIO or IOWA.
22D: Longevity: LEGS. Tricky clue.
25D: Saw things? TEETH. I feel so clever to have nailed this one. The question mark indicates that "saw" is not a past tense of "see" here.
26D: Emperor who deposed Pope John XII: OTTO I. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Easy guess.
27D: Mindanao peak: Abbr.: MT. APO. Dan Naddor clued it as "Philippines' highest peak: Abbr." last time. APO simply means "master" or "grandfather".
28D: Czech composer Josef: SUK. Nope. It's pronounced like "sook". And Josef is "yaw-zef". He looks like a politician.
32D: Europe's __ de Genève: LAC. LPGA's annual Évian Master is played on the shores of Lake Geneva. Very pretty golf course.
33D: Vicarious feeling: EMPATHY. This word is bandied a lot during Justice Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.
34D: Singly: ONE BY ONE
35D: Nix: VETO. Latin for "I forbid".
36D: Qatar dignitary: EMIR
37D: Soaks, as flax: RETS. Learned RETS and the "Nerve network" RETE from doing Xword.
40D: Exhausted: POOPED
41D: How many Colonial debts were paid: IN KIND. Have never heard of the phrase "payment IN KIND". The Wikipedia entry says KIND (or sometimes kine) means "cattle". Kine is an archaic plural of cow.
42D: Choose: SELECT. Penned in OPT FOR immediately.
43D: Slope contractions: T-BARS
44D: Bavarian beef?: ACH. German for "Oh!" /"Oh no!"/"Alas". I was stumped.
47D: Nub: GIST
49: "__ Be Back With You"" Steve Forbert song: OH, TO. No idea. Could not even find a YouTube clip.
50D: Half a fish: MAHI. Literally, "strong" in Hawaiian. Red Lobster's seared MAHI-MAHI is pretty good.
51D: Just like that: AS IS. The sale tag words.
52D: Supervision: CARE
55D: Woodsman's makeup: TIN. The TIN Man in "The Wizard of Oz". Did anyone think of the hot-tempered Welsh golfer Ian Woosman first?
57D: Hot spot?: TEA. Mine was SPA.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our fellow LAT solver Embien standing by part of wood pile. He and his wife heat their house with a wood stove. Here is a beautiful view of his front deck. Embien said: "Doesn't look its best this time of year as the crop out there (purple vetch) was harvested in July and it's too dry to plant winter wheat yet. We live waaay out in the country, about five miles west of Banks, Oregon, in the foothills of the Coast Range."
C.C.
48 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - not much time for comments today; busy shopping day, and about an hour drive to our 200+ store enormo-mall.
Tough puzzle for me; took a while to find traction, and I had several unknowns, including Barry Morse, the Hamlet quote, Josef Suk (boy, how'd you like to go through life with that name?) and a couple others. My favorite clue was 'saw things', and my least favorite, '78 half'. A most enjoyable experience overall; plenty challenging for me.
Today is More Herbs, Less Salt Day.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "If you risk nothing, then you risk everything." -- Geena Davis
More Fun Facts:
- Tom Hanks is a direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln's uncle.
- Robin Williams' senior class voted him "Least Likely to Succeed."
Good morning, C.C. et.al.
Not a bad one today. Once I got a couple of the longer ones, the rest fell in easily.
A pier is also called a landing.
I used to watch 'The Fugitive' TV series. Also starred David Jannsen as the fugitive. He also played the skeptical reporter who went to Vietnam in the John Wayne movie, 'The Green Berets.'
I still have an album of Steve Forbert's from the '80's entitled Little Stevie Orbit. Hadn't heard of the mentioned song however.
Ugly fish that mahi mahi. Hard to believe it's also called a dolphin fish.
Didn't like tin for woodsman's makeup. Buddy Ebsen was originally slated to play the Tin Woodsman but had a reaction to the paint used. The role, as we all know, went to Jack Haley. Here is a picture of Buddy Ebsen as the "Tin Woodsman."
Here's hoping everyone has a great Saturday.
I just can't let tosser go without comment. I wondered if it was just me, but the first five links google returns all have the same definition that came to my mind as I filled it in. A better, but less PC clue would have been "wanker", a synonomous Brit/Aus slang word.
I had to G. Steve Forbert last night after completing the puzzle to see why he had any significance. I found lyrics, but not a recording of that song. Eventually I found Romeo's Tune, which I finally did remember as one of the songs that always had me scrambling to change the dial whenever it came on. It wasn't his singing especially, but that annoying intro just grated. Maybe his other stuff was better, but after hearing that song play on the radio ad nauseum, I went out of my way to avoid him in the music store.
Well, that sounded crabby, sorry. I think I should go and take my happy pills now.
Good morning C.C. and all, a very pleasant walk through the puzzle today. It was not as difficult as I would expect for a Saturday. There were several unknowns, but most of those were obtainable from the crosses.
I particularly liked 59A as the answer was so obvious that it wasn’t. Did not know 9D or 17A, but with the other crosses that section fell easily. For some reason I have found Michael Wiesenberg puzzles to fit well with my thinking process and they are very solvable.
Overall this was a nice doable puzzle.
BTW Dr. Dad that was a very nice picture of you and your family. You look different that I imagined you would. You look much younger.
Embien, nice picture, scenic view, but nasty looking work load behind you. I know as the primary heat at my camp, when I am there, is by wood. I appreciate the work involved.
Hope you all have a great Saturday
Romeo's Tune
20 challenging minutes for me today, offline in my usual way while having breakfast. I flitted about quite a bit before I got much of a hold on the thing, this time in the center. Top left was last to fall. A good week of xwords overall.
I'm off to go plein aire painting with some of my art friends now. First time in ages for me, and am looking forward to it. Enjoy your weekend, all!
Best,
anon-hp
Good morning CC and all,
yip-yip-yip (that is the sound of a dog running with his tail tucked tightly between... I can't even finish 1D prep phrase-ob...). I completed the NE corner and rolled up for the day.Will go back and read what I missed.LOL.I commiserate with poor Josef and think he is the theme of this c/w for me. Great placement Mr. W.
perhaps a little history instead?
708- copper coins minted in Japan
1825- Portugal recognized the independence of Brazil
1862- the Battle of Bull Run
1898- Goodyear Tire Co. was founded
1908- NY gave a ticker tape parade for the US olympians returning from London ( remember those newsreels at the movies?)
1911- Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with Euro. Americans, emerged from the wilderness in NE California- interesting book
1929-(for Dick who loves airplanes) German airship Graf Zeppelin ended a round-the -world flight
1944- 15,000 American troops liberating Paris marched down the Champs Elysees
1966- Beatles last public concert at Candlestick Park, SF
* 1967-final TV episode of "The Fugitive"
2005- Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the US Gulf Coast killing more than 1836 people.
JD...it continues to say there are errors in this form...any idea what is wrong?
I started this one filling in the NW corner easily, thinking I was going to just cruise right through it. Then I came to a complete halt. After a bit, things finally started clicking.
Al, I think I was thoughtfully using your principles today. As soon as I saw the singer, I thought like CC - 4 letters, have no idea, foreign name, must be ENYA. That process really helps. I think on good days I do is subconsciously, but maybe on the more difficult ones you just have to consciously think that way more.
A lot of unknowns for me today, but most came alive with the perps. The long fills were all completable with several letters filled in.
Complete stumper was MNEME, and PETIT had me going too. I have only seen PETIT used in Petit fours - those dainty sandwiches. THIRTY NINE was just so obvious that it is almost tricky. And I am intimately familiar with the BELT SANDER from when I had to sand my entire deck as it had too much gook from years of putting finishes on it. Back breaking work. Never again.
Embien, nice photo. Looks like a lovely place. Is that the wood pile that your errant teens helped you create the weekend they were grounded?
Well, I got about half of this one on my own. But I’m learning. We haven’t had A POP for a while, so I had forgotten. HOSTILE TAKEOVER was a gimme, so that help enormously. I googled OKLAHOMA CITY (I’m obviously not a sports fan) and worked from those two keys. If it weren’t for this group I would never put in the time, so thank you all for the inspiration, starting with CC.
Never heard of Mochi ice cream. In the picture it looks like cake.
My agenda today is attending a Friends Fest at the library, then a birthday party for a family member. Nice change from Saturday Errand day.
Embien, you look so happy by that woodpile. Not at all like you just chopped it. My first thought was, ‘I wonder how much a cord of wood is going for right now?” LOL Your place looks very peaceful.
Well, so much for an "eased up" week. Blocked by wanting AETNA for CIGNA, and TOLL for TNPK. Had to Google to learn about Tanguy, Otto, and soaking flax.
Hope to be back later. Gotta go help some friends bottle wine.
A couple of weeks ago a constructor posted on CRUCIVERB-L, a constructor's forum, requesting help. He had a puzzle coming up but had moved recently to a small town in Oregon and there was no place that carried a paper that the puzzle would be in. He asked if someone would send him a copy of the San Francisco chronicle on the day his puzzle appeared because the Chronicle carried it. I e-mailed him and said I'd be glad to.
Michael Wiesenberg, your puzzle of Saturday, August 29 is on the way!
Hey Embien, the guy who chopped all that wood took a great picture!
testing...
Today is Truman's 2nd birthday
Embien,
Great pix! What a glorious view you have (either admiring your handiwork in that woodpile or from the deck!)
Today was complete guesswork for me. Many unknowns, and couldn't come up with JAVA at all. Also had MNEMO because I didn't know RETS, and thought if you soaked it too long it might ROT. For OBJ I was trying to think of two words like ON A, or OF A. Whe I guessed BELT I didn't reconsider the two perps at the beginning. I did get the long clues fairly easily though, and with no g'ing, felt really good about this as a Saturday CW.
Have a great day!
Lois,
Just read your impressions and suggested treatment of your new principal from last night. May I suggest my method of treatment? Total avoidance of all contact, wherever possible. Also keep a file of all correspondence/dealings with her.
We had a principal a while back who used to send out memos all the time. I had them all in a file and one day he was in my room asking about something and I went searching through the file drawer. He spotted the "KEN'S MEMOS" file and exclaimed in horror: "You have a file of my memos?" I just said yes and closed the drawer. He never bugged me after that!
Good Morning All, Thankfully I got the first five Across fills. I would have been up a creek if I hadn't had them as a base to work on the perps.
Fortunately, PISTACHIO (one of my favorites) was the first ice cream flavor I thought of.
I wasted some time with LENNON sisters, instead of GABORS and also with AETNA for CIGNA
By chipping away at the letters (my usual Saturday and Sunday MO), I got everything except the crosses of IN KIND and ENCS and OH TO and OISE.
I've never heard any Tom Forbert song, including the "hit" Romeo's Song. Maybe OH TO was a little too obscure.
Overall, I really liked this one as a tough Saturday puzzle, even if I gave up on a couple of fills. It certainly wasn't the constructor's fault that I got tired of thinking (don't you hate it when that happens?) and came here to finish up.
It is still too smoky around here to send SMOKE SIGNALS. We'll be spending the day inside again.
Embien, You look like a guy who is definitely the boss of that woodpile! You have a beautiful view from your deck.
KQ, Wasn't it Mainiac who had the wood chopping teens?
Happy Birthday Truman!
Hi all - can't comment about the puzzle as it is resting comfortably in my recycle container. Sigh.
Embien, you handsome devil! Heck of a wood pile - and what a wonderful view you have. How many acres do you have? Do you 'farm' it yourself? Any acreage in wine grapes?
Lois, Kazie has an excellent point about keeping away from the new 'Hun' at school. Keep a record of everything..I know from past experience that a position of power cann bring out the very worst in certain types of people. At least in your case, you know what she is like and don't have to find out the hard way.
Enjoy your weekend everyone!
@embien Nice picture. Good to see your entire face!
SUK was a gimme -- dennis, it's pronounced (sook).
C.C., there are organized robot competitions where the object is to have the last robot standing. These "battle bots" are quite fearsome machines, slashing, smashing, crunching, stomping, exploding -- you get the idea. I think that's where 9A is headed.
@anon-hp And just what is plein aire painting ? And you do it with friends?
@kq Wrong person with the errant teens -- that was mainiac. Looks like embien is more than capable of creating that woodpile himself.
@jd Happy birthday to Truman! Have an enjoyable day with the little guy!!
@kazie Great ideas for dealing with the new principal. And strengthen your ties with the main office secretary -- they are the ones who really run the ship!!
23A: Barry who played Lt. Gerard on TV's "The Fugitive": MORSE. Complete stranger to me. I've only seen Harrison Ford's "The Fugitive".
The Fugitive 1967
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U-uAQN-KgE
The Fugitive 2000
A short-lived TV series remake (CBS, 2000-2001) of the same name also aired, filmed in Everett, Washington starring Tim Daly as Kimble, Mykelti Williamson as Gerard, and Stephen Lang as the one-armed man. CBS canceled the series after one season with a total of 22 episodes. The show was the very first lead in to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on Friday nights, which became a hit when it debuted the same year. This incarnation was produced by Warner Bros. Television, the TV division of Warner Bros. Entertainment which produced the 1993 film.
Tarrajo from last night. Keep doing what you're doing. You obviously have a wonderful bond with LGJ.
Langston Hughes was an early innovator of "jazz poetry". This one is one of the most powerful poems I've read about the determination of a mother's love.
Mother to Son
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
- Langston Hughes
@clearayes Thanks for the poem
Good to see some of the old crew around here:nytanimino and red state democrat, haven't seen you in a while!
Now, where the Heck is Buckeye??
Crockett...Pleine Aire is literally in the air...outdoor painting where you work to capture the existing light. A style of painting popularized by the Impressionists. Most painting up til then had been in-studio only. That's why with the Impressionists you often see many paintings of the same subject or scene over and over...the establishment at the time thought it was outrageous.
Embien...what a wonderful couple of photos...great to see you and your property and view is gorgeous. I love that everyone is sharing. So nice to put faces to our family.
Now...the puzzle. I really thought I was up the proverbial creek today. Did not start out well. Did the Roman numeral math and picked up AT A SLANT which eventually gave me some head scratching and ORCA and when I really pictured what they looked like it made sense...new fact for today. With a few perps I managed BELTSANDER but had JAVA A_____for a terribly long time, being a computer illiterate and all...
The bottom half was much easier and I was able to work back up easier than down. Had OVER with the HO and so zinged that in, had CITY with a few other letters that gave the OKLAHOMA...whole puzzle got finished just like that...although MOCHA CHIP does fit in the ice cream clue and I had TRAM for TBAR which slowed me down.
Really had to work at this but found it more doable than most Saturday puzzles...finished about
1 am when it had cooled down enough to sleep.:o(
Hot here again today...The weather people are sticking with 86 again today after a high of 100 yesterday and it was 86 at 11 this morning...I'm wondering which part of this temperature forecasting thing they don't understand? At some point wouldn't you just throw caution to the wind and say "hey folks...regardless of what the Nat'l Weather Service says, based on yesterday's temperatures, it's going to be another hot one".
A good day to all.
Happy weekend everyone, I actually slept late and went to the pool and breezed through this puzzle like it was Wednesday. Some days just click.
PETIT is just from the French meaning little, but in the law it means minor (like PETIT LARCENY, which became americanized to petty larceny, but you will see it both ways) or a PETIT JURY as opposed to a GRAND JURY. It is GRAND being used for the French meaning large, not great or wonderful. (Likewise, grand larceny just means a big theft.
BARRY MORSE is one of the most prolific actors of our time, with more than 3000 appearances. He is another British born and bred actor who played Americans so well no one knew his background; he is said to have been discovered by George Bernard Shaw. He died only last year.
More great pictures of our cast of characters, looks lovely in Oregon. Ta ta all
Good afternoon everybody. It is so satisfying to read the comments. I should have figured out aneme because mnemonic is part of my usual vocabulary. And 78 half being thirty-nine was so simple I discarded it. Shouldn't the 78 be seventy-eight if the spelled out number is what is wanted?
Good picture, Embien. It truly is so great to have faces to put with names.
Lois, Kazie's suggestion is excellent. I too have lived through having an impossible principal. So I empathize and agree that you should keep a record.
ClearAyes, that is a beautiful poem. And am glad you could answer Tarrajo so well. Tarrajo, you're doing a great job. This whole blog is entranced with your stories.
And I loved whoever said he had a giant bag troll food that he wasn't using. (Good for him.)
Have a wonderful rest of Saturday and all of Sunday.
Ah, Clear Ayes, someone else who loves Langston Hughes. I discovered his work when I was a young man. Such simplistic beauty.
Just read last night's posts.
Tarrajo, mucho thanks for the special delivery, complete with flowers attached! Your week with Brady sounded wonderful; I love your stories.We can feel that motherly love; makes us all smile.
CA, loved the L. Hughes poem.. read it several times.
Carol, you are the queen of limericks! We are going to want them more often.. so much fun.
Embien, wonderful pictures! I envy your wide open space. Ah, for a book and a glass of iced tea on the ol' porch swing.
Lois, I will pray for you as I have been there with a power hungry demanding principal. More later.. it bothers me to even think about those 10 years.
TT..Truman time. I love Grady too, but he's still attached.. no bottle yet.LOL
JVN,I only mentioned it because HW50 is known as the "loneliest road in America".. the 300 miles between Ely and Carson City. We've driven it several times and I love rocks, but it is not a geologist's dream trip.
JD - Give Truman a big Happy Birthday hug for me.
CA - Moving poem!
WM - Loved your comment about the weather forecasters! So true... they miss it by a mile but they never say anything about it! Arrrghhhh!
12:01 today. The "easier" puzzle stream continues, as that is a reasonably good time for a Saturday themeless for me. I'm embarrassed to say that JAVA APPLET was my last fill (I used to do computer programming in a former lifetime).
Since I solve "downs first" nearly all the long acrosses were gimmes (a couple letters at least filled in each one by the time I got to them). JAVA APPLET excluded. I had TOLL instead of TNPK for I-95 and that was hard to recover from. (We don't have toll roads or turnpikes here in the west.)
@KQ: No kids here at all. You're confusing me with someone else who had errant teens.
BarbB: Wood (fir, the cheapest around here) goes for $160 per cord here, split and delivered. We usually buy 3-4 cords and I put up another 1-2 cords myself (getting too old to do it all myself). My own wood usually comes from trees that are blown down in winter storms.
The old saying about wood heat is that it warms you three times:
1. When you cut it
2. When you stack it
3. When you burn it
@carol: Only five acres of that view are mine. A local farmer does all the crops (for several hundred acres around here), so I don't do any actual farming anymore. I did used to do a giant vegetable garden and our raspberries were well-known in the local farmers market (best flavor of any raspberry I've ever tasted).
Thank you all for your kind comments.
JD...loved the Grant comment! LOL
Carol...several of the local weather forecasters have actually apologized for the continually errant forecasts saying they they were using data from the Nat'l Weather Service(obviously not located anywhere nearby, unlike the USGS)because so many people were emailing them to complain. One guy even showed a NWS weather map that said it was raining in the bay area when there were only high clouds and no rain in sight.
Now my question to them would be...you have computers, you can can make weather models and you actually live here...so, open your window and look outside, if your face gets wet it's either raining or heavy fog and if it was 100 degrees yesterday and you aren't expecting fog then it might just be at least 100 again today. Even qualify it and say "the Nat'l Weather Service says...but we are going to modify that and say...I mean really, it is THAT hard to think outside the box a bit?
Sorry for the rant but this has been ridiculous all summer. Average error has been 8-10 degrees too low. BLEH
And for Lois...good advice...document everything and then it won't come back to bite you in the backside. There's an old book about dealing with these kinds of people called Dinosaur Brains...if you can find it, it is really quite helpful in diffusing situations created by out of control people.
Also...my guess was Turnpike(TNPK) but I didn't really see anything in the clue indicating an abbr...unless you consider the I(Interstate) as the abbr????
Embien and Maniac, so sorry to confuse you two. I think I just saw that stack of wood and was thinking of the teens working off their discretions. I am so bad at keeping every one straight on the blog. I'll keep trying though.
My daughter brought home some mochi recently. Kind of doughy on the outside, ice cream on the inside. As I have trouble eating ice cream, I only took a sample. I think it would take getting some used to but my daughter loves it. Pistachio would be one of my more favorite ice creams - when I do risk eating it.
Happy Birthday Truman.
Oops, Tarrajo, if you red today, I posted something on Friday's blog by accident, but don't want to retype it. Check there.
Lois,
More on the principal: Keep in mind that you'll probably outlast her, and that small minded people like to throw around what little weight they have. If she's tough on those under her, it is probably due to her insecurity, so if you present a challenge, she'll get worse, as a defense mechanism. Hence my advice to steer clear. I always got too mad to hold my tongue if I didn't, and that definitely won't work.
JD,
Wish Truman a Happy Birthday!
Tarrajo,
I wish I was as outdoorsy as you. My boys would have been deprived for sure if that side of their youth had been up to me. I get insect-bitten, sunburnt and generally miserable when outdoors too much. LGJ is fortunate indeed!
I had a Saturday to myself as LGJ went with Sierra and her parents to the State Fair. I hope I sent him with enough money as that place is expensive! I spent most of the day in my garden and finally pulled all the zucchini plants except for the one harboring our "biggin." I have about 30 tomatoes and am looking for a way to preserve them without canning as I don't have the equipment.
The rest of the day I spent fulfilling the school supply list and at garage sales for bargains on clothes for LGJ. He grew about 2-3" this summer! You can't believe the perfectly good clothing you can find at those.
Thanks to you all for your kind comments on my parenting. It makes me feel tingly inside. Clearayes, your poem was spot on.
As far as the puzzle goes, I am in Carol's corner, minus the recycling bin as our paper doesn't get the puzzle, and I usually do it on line.
Finally, Embien, I think your homestead is beautiful and you are one handsome devil, and I covet that wood as I have a woodburning fireplace.
WM,
"e.g." in 5D indicates the answer should be an abbreviation.
JD,
Happy Birthday to Truman. Look forward to the pictures.
Embien,
Fascinating information on the asylum resident's construction of the Oxford English Dictionary at the Interview Comments section. Thanks. Most of prisoners in China are illiterate, so I was shocked by Mr. Wiesenberg's point that "the main constructors of crossword puzzles were prison inmates" in the '60s.
Good afternoon Cc et al., this wasn't as difficult as I expected b/c of the perps, but it wasn't easy. I know! I know! Dennis,
"it was just hard enough and fun!" LOL It would be difficult to go thru life w/the name of Suk but there was a family in my neighborhood w/the name Fuchs... now, that's a real toughie.
Kazie, JD, Carol, Crockett, WM, Sallie, thank you for the advice on dealing w/the wicked witch of the East..she's upgraded from a broom to a vacuum cleaner tho', so maybe over time she will get over her insecurities and become more confident and reasonable as the upgrade will not demand so much of her energy. Thank you all for the advice. It is excellent and will be taken to heart. I'll label a file cabinet drawer in huge letters w/her name and if she bugs me,the letters will just get larger and more visible. I'll invite her when we have some fun things happening and I'll also find out what her favorite cookies are and just happen to have those on the occasion. We'll see. We only have 2 things to worry about -it'll either work out or it won't. Thank you for the great advice.
Have a hot date tonight...a former AF pilot....oh, so many lines! Gotta get ready, but have been mesmerized by the Kennedy Tribute. Just amazing.
Enjoy your evening. I'm sure I will.
Lois, make sure you have your landing gear ready. Enjoy your night
Lois, enjoy your 'flight' er..date. I wonder if you'll get to tour the cock pit? Interesting area.
Hi C.C. & ..., My method for Saturday's is to hard copy and enlarge and print the puzzle from the paper. We then scan it together and usually get stuck so I go to the online to check and fill in what we did. I think we managed to finish it that way in 16 minutes and change.
Without Ruth's help it would have taken me over an hour. She's a much better speller than I am.
Hej C.C. and all!
We've been enjoying time with out-of-town relatives the last couple of days, so I just now caught up on reading recent posts.
Carol, Jazzbumpa and pjb--Thanks for the laughs! Loved the limerick , plays on words, and all.
Lemonade--Thanks for the enlightenment of the legal use of PETIT and GRAND.
Tarrajo--When we used to grow tomatoes, and had mega amounts at a time, I made spaghetti sauce and froze what we couldn't eat at the time. Home grown tomatoes make THE best sauce ever! I also saw a cooking show recently that showed how you can freeze whole tomatoes after peeling them.
Lois--You've received much good advice about keeping both a distance and a file. The same goes for any other "irregular" person one has in one's life. We once had a neighbor who was out to get any family that had boys about the same age as her son. She pulled some incredible stunts! Thank God she finally moved away.
C.C.--Thanks for continuing to post the pix. A handsome, talented group of people!
As for the puzzles...Friday was a breeze for me the way I solve, block by block, starting in the NW. Today's was YIKES! I refused to concede, and after a lot of hop-scotching it came together. As I solve in the newspaper, I once again had to come here to find out what some of the fills meant. Thank you, C.C.!
C.C. Thank you on the e.g...I will remember it next time. :o)That is interesting that no painters or artists are crossword constructors. Maybe we're too flaky to do all the research. I would have fun with making the grid and putting in the words, but as much as I like looking things up I probably would give up on the amount of research necessary to do the cluing...so I just work at being a better solver.
To add to Embien's book suggestion is another by the same author on the same subject...The Professor and the Madman about Dr. William Chester Minor, an American surgeon originally from New Haven,Conn., who over 2 decades submitted nearly 10,000 hand written submissions. When they finally met, Murray learned that Minor was a murderer and clinically insane and housed in Broadmoor prison, England's most severe prison for the criminally insane...quite a story and though occasionally gruesome, a great read. I will have to look into Embien's recommendation.
Tarrajo...freezing tomatoes is always a good option...either skinned or not and seeded. With Italian tomatoes I usually skin and core them and cut them up, occasionally, if I have a lot, I cook them down into sauce and freeze them flat in freezer bags...even though they are best for sauces after freezing, that summer taste is still there.
Hello All--I did finish the puzzle today, but made so many false starts that it took me a long time to do so.
I started the puzzle over breakfast, put it aside to do some cooking for birthdays tomorrow, then went back to it a couple of times. With Googling the Small program with browser interface, and several other unknowns, I was able to fix mistakes and finish up.
I had put in toll for tnpk, and started with hurler for tosser. Also had ramps in for the longest time for t-bars. I didn't get my mind around a ski slope! So the eraser got a workout today. That's life for a Saturday!
Embien, it is good to see you. The mountains from your deck are beautiful, but that woodpile looks like it was a LOT of work!
C.C.I have really been enjoying all the pictures. Thank you.
Happy Birthday to Truman. Watch out Grandma--he's two!
Tarrajo, you are one plucky mom. Keep up the great work with LGJ.
Crockett, plein aire painting is pretty much what WM said. Put a slightly different way, it's a standard French art term referring to paintings the artist creates in an outdoor setting (in the plain air). Frequently plein aire art has an impressionistic or abstract bent (although it doesn't have to), and it usually is based on a real life subject.
Today some of my artist friends and I headed out to a park in search of an inspiring view. Once found, we set up our art supplies so we could paint the view on the spot. Normally I'll paint the scene using transparent watercolors, but sometimes I'll simply sketch it out using some kind of writing instrument instead.
This is a leisurely activity that can be done alone (as I sometimes do), or with a group (as I did today). I find it an enjoyable, meditative, and leisurely pasttime myself. I think I'm exercising different parts of the old brain than the ones I use for solving crosswords. I've noticed my language processing skills take a big hit when I'm operating in my painter mode, maybe because I'm thinking more in images then than in words.
Anyone else here of an artistic, painterly bent? No underlining reason for asking, just curious.
Best,
anon-hp
Embien, I loved your old saying about the three times wood warms you. Once when you cut it, again when you stack it, and finally when you burn it.
I have a fourth way wood can warm you. In 1932 my father cut 16 ricks of wood (I think that is 2cords if I coundted correctly) to pay for two tables for my mother's wedding gift. A wonderful woodworker in the Arkansas town where he was born made solid walnut tables. He made a library table and a dining table for my dad to give to my mom. It warms me EVERY time I dust that library table which I inherited. I found a little notebook in my Dad's trunk after he passed away and he had written this all down with the cost, etc. I think I treasure the notebook almost as much as the table.
I'm sure that my dad got very warm cutting that wood for the furniture maker. This was truly a bartering contract which isn't done much any more. I had put in the word "barter" for "in kind" to begin with today.
Chickie...that is an absolutely wonderful story and to have all the background information is even better. I think that tie to past generations is important. I finally, after all these years got back my grandmother's teacups and even the ceramic coffee pot that matches two of the cups, it really brings back a lot of memories for me having them now where I can see them every day. My sister-in-law was exceedingly gracious about...I think that over the years the idea of bartering has caught on again...makes a lot of sense.
Anon-hp....me, me, me...* jumping up and down and waving* Even though I am primarily a studio painter I always have my camera and travel with a sketchbook...just in case.
Ummmm...I think this is #4
WM et al,
Not to labor the point, but en pleine air means literally "in FULL air". I would translate it as "in the open air".
We are going to be a mentor family this year for a student from Belgium at our local 2 year campus. He speaks French at home, so I'm hoping he'll need mentoring enough that I can use at least a little French during the year.
Before the Impressionists made painting outside popular, most artists painted inside. They may have gone outside to sketch or do a quick painting but the finished piece of art was almost always finished inside in the studio.
I make jewelry as a hobby and to sell. I always have a small notebook in my pocket book that I use to record jewelry designs that I see or think of when away from home. I had a teacher who always said that it is o.k. to "copy" the work of other jewelers because it will never come out the same but will be filtered through your eyes and brain and ability.
About freezing tomatoes--I've been making and freezing sauce for years but I also freeze plum tomatoes whole to use for cooking all winter. A few minutes in warm water and the skins pop right off. Don't think I'd cut them up for a salad or other uncooked dish but they are great to throw into soup or other sauces that need a little bit of tomato taste.
I couldn't even start this puzzle but my husband did a small part of it at work and I was able to finish most of it. Got belt sander but had to change a lot of other answers to make it work.
WM, I'm so glad that you received your grandmother's tea cups AND the coffee pot, too. When we had our get together you mentioned that you were hoping your Sister-in-law would give them to you. I really feel a connection when I use the things that belonged to my parents and to my husband's parents. I'm hoping my children will appreciate them as much as I do.
Kazie, will the student you are going to mentor live with you? You are to be commended for taking the time to help in this capacity.
WM, MamaRuth: Great to see some other artists represented here in cc's group.
Kazie: re plein, I was taking a little creative license with the precise French to English translation, but yes, you are right that the literal translation of the French "plein" is "full." I was only trying to make the connection more memorable for those unaccustomed to French. Hence plain air, or out in the plain/ open air / or even more simply, outdoor. I believe the English word "plenum" and the French "plein" both come from the the Latin "plenus". Note that "en plein air" translates nicely to "alfresco" as well.
Best,
anon-hp
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