google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday August 6, 2009 Dan Naddor

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Aug 6, 2009

Thursday August 6, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: PALLING AROUND (34A: Out with the guys, and an apt title for this puzzle)

17A: City Slicker's getaway: DUDE RANCH

19A: Like some sharks: MAN-EATING

27A: Honoree in Don McLean's song "American Pie": BUDDY HOLLY

43A: Kraft Dinner contents, familiarly: MAC 'N CHEESE

55A: Maker of Flava-Craze lip balm: CHAPSTICK

58A: Casual wear item: SPORTCOAT

All synonyms for PAl, hence PALLING AROUND. I've never heard of SPORT used in such a way before.

Pal is originated in the Gypsy word for "brother". FELLOW is missing, so are LAD, MATE, BLOKE, or are they too British/Australian?

I only learned DUDE RANCH a few months ago. Madonna's "American Pie" was very popular in China around 2000. I liked its rhythm, but did not really understand the lyrics and its coded references until after I came to the US. I've never had MAC 'N CHEESE. Love strawberry CHAPSTICK.

Great puzzle, seven theme answers, heavy themage in Dan Naddor's own term, nice overlapping of the first two theme answers and the last two. I really liked PALLING AROUND. Always nice to have a unifying answer spelled out clearly in the grid.

Across:

1A: Products sold with earbuds: IPODS. Now I don't miss any "Fresh Air" interview any more, thanks to IPOD & podcast.

6A: Rudiments: ABCS

10A: Four-time ABA/NBA MVP familiarly: DR. J. Nickname for Julius Erving. I had no idea that he once played for ABA, which was merged with NBA in 1976.

13A: As yet: TO NOW

14A: City where "The Night Café" was painted: ARLES. Van Gogh did over 300 paintings and drawings while staying in ARLES. "Bedroom" is my favorite. Here is "The Night Café".

15A: Fair-hiring letters: EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity). Sometimes the answer is EOE (Equal-Opportunity Employer).

16A: Emulate Sarah Palin, nuptially: ELOPE. Wow, I did not know this fact. What a strange conservative she has been!

21A: Griffin's rear: LION. Someone mentioned Griffin the fabled monster on the blog before. But I forgot. It has head and wings of an eagle and the body of a LION. Griffins are used to guard treasure.

22A: LAX: Los Angeles:: __: Chicago: ORD. I forgot also. It's the code for the O’Hare Airport, which was known as Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (hence ORD) during WWII.

24A: Annoying spot: STAIN

31A: Highest-ranking Boy Scout: EAGLE

33A: Basie's "__'Clock Jump": ONE O. No idea. See this clip. Count Basie.

41A: Prepare for a dubbing: KNEEL. Dub here means to "confer knighthood".

49A:: He sang of Alice: ARLO. "Alice's Restaurant".

50A: Drawn-out substance: EDUCT. New word to me. Looks like a verb, doesn't it? So close to EDUCE.

51A: Tall runner: EMU. Yep, they are tall and they can run (but can't fly).

53A: Divine one, to da Vinci: DIO. Italian for "God". DIOS in Spanish.

54A: California county or its seat: NAPA. Wine, wine, wine.

62A: N.L. East city: ATL. Atlanta Braves.

63A: Part of a TV feed: AUDIO. Literally "I hear" in Latin.

64A: Édouard's exploit: GESTE. No idea. Dictionary defines GESTE as "a notable adventure or exploit". Why Édouard then?

65A: Govt. deciphers: NSA. And CODE (55D: Cracker's target). Had problem interpreting cracker, one who cracks.

66A: Cold one, so to speak: BEER

67A: First name in cosmetics: ESTEE

Down:

1D: Agenda opener: ITEM ONE

2D: High-latitude formation: POLAR CAP. Misread the clue as "High altitude".

3D: Six Nations tribe: ONONDAGA. Literally "on the hill". I can never remember this tribe name.

4D: Info: DOPE. Wrote DATA first.

5D: Incense the censor: SWEAR

6D: Score __: A RUN. And YER 30: "__ out!". Baseball.

7D: Skyline part: Abbr.: BLDG

8D: Clamp shape: CEE

9D: Ukr., once: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic)

10D: Common defense mechanism: DENIAL. I was in the military defense direction.

11D: Display horror, perhaps: RECOIL

12D: Host before Jay: JOHNNY (Carson)

14D: Continental farewell: ADIEU. The other French fill is TRES (57D: "__ chic!").

18D: Prefix with cumulus: ALTO. Gimme for Lois, I hope. She played with this word "cumulus" before. I was stumped. Cumulus is Latin for "mass"/ "pile". ALTO/Alti is "high".

20D: Scow: TUB. Clumsy boat.

24D: Offered a paw: SHOOK. So simple, yet I struggled. Did not think of paw as human "hand".

26D: SNAFU part: ALL. SNAFU = Situation) Normal) All F***ed Up. Another military acronym is FUBAR - F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition. Have not seen our fellow solver Miss Fubar for a long time.

28D: Roper's target: DOGIE

29D: Chain letters?: DNA. Lovely clue. I got D easily, then I filled in EF immediately, the DEF alphabet string.

32D: Fall bumper sticker word: ELECT

35D: Suffix with bull or bear: ISH. Great clue too.

36D: "Go jump in the loch!": NAE. Scottish for "No". Loch is "lake".

37D: Acapulco article: UNA

38D: Least cool: NERDIEST. The nerds might disagree.

39D: Easily broken: DELICATE. Glasses.

42D: Gander: LOOK SEE

43D: Certain brainic: MENSAN. Oh, Dennis is one. I only know the word MENSA, which means "stupid" in Spanish. Tonto means "stupid" too.

44D: Changes, in a Darwinian sense: ADAPTS. Thought of EVOLVES.

45D: Feature of many a capitol: CUPOLA. We've seen OLA clued as "Cup suffix" before, haven't we? But this CUPOLA feature completely escaped me earlier.

46D: Tenn. neighbor: N CAR. The Tar Heel State. Thanks for the origin, Katy/Hahtool.

47D: Cold War acronym: SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization). 1954-1977.

48D: Old Mex. ruler: EMP (Emperor)

52D: Copy editor's concern: USAGE

56D: "Aquarius" musical: HAIR. I guessed. Not familiar with "Aquarius".

59D: PC key with two arrows: TAB. Nice new clue.

Answer grid.

C.C.

90 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - well, Dan Naddor never disappoints. I loved the theme, loved the puzzle.

I moved right across the top, filling in nicely, and confidently put 'Carson' for 'Host before Jay'. So much for a smooth run. Had unknowns in 'The night cafe city', 'Drawn-out substance' and 'Edouard's exploit'. I liked seeing 'Onondaga' as I went to a Camp Onondaga in upstate NY a couple summers when I was a little person. And 'SEATO' was the reason I spent a year in a tropical wonderland dodging bullets and eating dog food...

Today is Wiggle Your Toes Day. Make it for a good reason.

Today's Words of Wisdom: "When you know you're right, you don't care what others think. You know sooner or later it will come out in the wash." -- Geneticist/Botanist Barbara McClintock

Couple more quotes:

- "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. That is the difference between dog and man." -- Mark Twain

- "Golf and sex are the only things you can enjoy without being good at them." -- Jimmy Demaret

Katy said...

Good morning C.C., Dennis and all who will follow. Cool that NCAR made the puzzle today, on the 'heel' of discussing NCAR Tar Heels yesterday. Thanks for the mention in this morning's original post, C.C. -- I'm basking in the milestone!

In regard to C.C.'s comment re 24D: Offered a paw: SHOOK. So simple, yet I struggled. Did not think of paw as human "hand".

To the contrary, I took the clue as totally referring to a dog's paw, having responded to the command "shake."

Have a great day!

Barry G. said...

Hey all!

Drive by posting today. Got everything except for the crossing of ORD and ONODAGA. I pretty much went through every letter in the alphabet until I finally typed in "D" and the applet rewarded me with a "TADA!"

*meh*

Oh -- and while I have heard the phrase PALLING AROUND before, I don't think I've ever seen it written out before. It just looks wrong to me. I keep thinking that, as written, it should be pronounced "pawling," but if it only had one "l" then it would have to be pronounced "pailing." I guess there's a reason why you don't see it written out very often... ^_^

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, ALL: A great challenge for a Thursday. In my first pass, I was only able to fill in a few blanks and thought I was in trouble. By the second pass, things began to click for me. I struggled with the NE corner, though. I thought "Griffin rear" was "tail", which didn't help with that side of the puzzle.

My favorite clue: "Least Cool": NERDIEST. American Pie was one of my favorite songs back when I was in Junior High School. I listened to it over and over again.

CC: Thanks for the explanation of ORD for O'Hare. I fly through Chicago often, but never knew the derivative of the city code.

On this date in 1991, the World Wide Web was officially released to the world. The line-mode browser (www) was released on alt.hypertext.

QOD: Cynics know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. ~ Oscar Wilde

Dennis said...

C.C., I think 'mate' and 'bloke' would both work, since we have 'chap'. And I can't believe you never had mac 'n cheese; my very favorite dish is macaroni and cheese casserole. Anybody have any interesting recipes they'd like to share?

Forgot to mention, I thought 'chain letters?' and 'Go jump in the loch!' were outstandingly clever clues.

Katy said...

Barry G: You are so right about the weirdness of palling's spelling...

G-spotted it and came up with yet another variation -- Palin. Check out her charge that Obama was palling around with terrorists.

I know this blog is not intended to be a political arena but just too good to resist!

Hahtoolah said...

I must say, I was a bit surprised to see "SNAFU Part" (26D) as a clue, since one of the "parts" can "incense the censor" (5D).

Dennis said...

Hahtool, the sanitized version uses 'fouled'.

Dick said...

Good morning C. C. and all, great puzzle, but a real struggle for me today. Most of the problems were of my own doing as I wrote down answers without doing a perp check.

Several mistakes I made were, 4D “Data” in lieu of “Dope”, 44D evolve in lieu of adapts, 19A “Maneaters” in lieu of “Maneating” and 30D “Get” out in lieu of “Yer”. I did not like the clue /answer for “yer”. Nice puzzle overall and it got the mind awake.

Hope you all have a great Thursday

windhover said...

Hahtool,
you're right, AP is a great song, right up there with Free Bird. I think a lot of the few live on-air DJ's like to play one or the other when they need a bathroom break. You must be younger than I because I remember going to see Don McLean live in Lexington in the early seventies. He admitted to being coked-up, and a lot of his between song comments were about how tough life on the road was. It got a little old, as I was working at a boring factory job at the time. I was on the front row, and after one extended whine, I finally yelled up, "Why don't you just get a damned job then?". The only thing that got more applause from the audience was "American Pie". They were tired of hearing it, too.
Oh, and just kidding about Free Bird being on a par with AP. But it is kind of an anthem for us Southern rednecks. A lot of requests on my local rock station start with, "Can you play me some Skynyrd, man?"
you may return to the puzzle, now, per PJB.
Hay cutting day here the Bluegrass.
Jassb:
thanks for the GMH "Pied Beauty" last night. MY kind of religion, composed by a nature loving, bead-counting dead white guy. My contribution to political correctness

Mainiac said...

Good Morning,

Onondaga got me and made the NW corner a supreme struggle because I had no idea of O'Hare's previous name. Thanks for the explanation CC. A slow starter for me today, put it down for a bit and then things clicked. Very enjoyable.

Volunteering with the football camp for a couple hours today. The kids can't have all of the fun!

Have a good one.

KittyB said...

Good morning, all.

I do love Dan Naddor Thursdays! C.C., I've read your interview with Naddor before, but it was interesting to revisit. I think I may enjoy his puzzles because of the "non crossword-ese fill." He's spoiled me for the Monday and Tuesday puzzles.

EDUCT, DRJ and EMU were among the last to fall. EMU held up USAGE which held up GESTE. I had the J in 10A, but I am SO not sports oriented that it took the fills to complete.

I read "latitude" as "Altitude" so POLAR CAP was slow to fill.

"Cracker's target" was my favorite clue, and the last word to be completed. I couldn't squeeze "mouth" or "stomach" or "digestive tract" into four spaces.

This was a great way to start the day.

I hope you all have a good summer day coming your way.

Bill said...

Wow! 4 for 4 this week! What's the world coming to?
POLARCAP filled from the crosses but I still wanted to figure out what the h*** it had to do with Altitude!!! Then, I looked at the clue a little closer!! DIPSTICK!!!!!!
Madonna did American Pie?? She should stick to what she knows. Sorry, but ............. 'nuff said.
Speaking of Freebird, I heard a bluegrass version on the radio the other night. Different, to say the least.
CY'All Later

Argyle said...

Hi, Good Morning,

64A: Édouard's exploit: GESTE

French name and a French word(that isn't all that French, derived from middle English). I remember a time when Beau Geste was used a lot in puzzles. It does seem certain words will have a run and then disappear for awhile. The Otoe Amerindians come to mind.

I'm not sure that even Louis L'Amour ever heard of them!

Alice's Restaurant was another DJ's break record.

kazie said...

G'day all,
This is the most enjoyable/doable Naddor XW I've done yet. (to now?)--I didn't like that answer, would prefer to date. I also didn't know EDUCT, NSA, ONONDAGA or ATL, but they fell in. I started with DATA for DOPE, and had MENSAR for MENSAN at first.

The SW was my last corner to fall. But the rest was surprisingly easy. No g'ing or looking up today though--a first for Thursday since the changeover.

c.c.,
The word GESTE is also French, which is why it was a gimme for me with Édouard.

CUMULUS is a bunched cloud formation. I assume ALTO refers to its altitude.

Thanks Dennis, for your SEATO help.
We in Oz were led to expect imminent attack if the red hoard was not stopped in Asia. We appreciated the help, though the premise was flawed.

I'll be seeing ARLO in Madison October 20th. I love his explanation for the 18+ minute break in Nixon's tapes.

WH,
I think you are only a pseudo redneck, aren't you?

Barry G and Katy,
If PALLING lost an L, it would be PALING, or part of a fence. Double letter, short preceding vowel.

Anonymous said...

I did amazingly well for a Thursday, and really liked the theme. Printed out the puzzle, which always makes it more fun. Just a few letters I didn't get until the end. Never heard of ONONDAGA so that made MANEATING hard to finalize. Was surprised that my first thought for least cool was NERDIEST, and that turned out to be the answer. Had EDUCE rather than EDUCT and that made ELECT ELECE - kept wondering what I was missing there.

Generally was one of those days where things clicked. When I filled in ITEM ONE immediately, I knew things would go well. Funny how some days the words just come, and other days nothing fills in.

All in all a good puzzle for me today.

Hope everyone's day is wonderful. I am going scrapbooking this afternoon for the first time all summer and very excited to start working on those pics again. Looking forward to seeing Julia Child movie tomorrow also.

kazie said...

Here's the clip of Arlo's story about Nixon.

Dick said...

kazie, in this case alto refers to high, as in high cumulus clouds.

Barry G. said...

Barry G and Katy,
If PALLING lost an L, it would be PALING, or part of a fence. Double letter, short preceding vowel.


Errr... Yes. That's why I said, "if it only had one 'L' then it would have to be pronounced 'pailing.'"

The problem is that "short preceding vowel" in this case could either be a as in "pal" or a as in "pall".

Katy said...

I'm with you Barry G. Understand the rules but still looks wEIrd (which, btw, breaks the "i before e except after c" rule).

kazie said...

Dick,
That's what I meant--altitude means height, so there must be another term for cumuli that are lower.

Barry G.,
I guess I was overstating things a bit. Sorry.

lois said...

Good morning CC et al., Good puzzle for a Th. CC LOL at your comment about 18D cumulus. Alto was not a gimme today tho' but the perps got it.

Had the same fav clues as Dennis. Loved the Mac n Cheese entry. It is a staple here,still. Started getting excited when 17A Duderanch and 28D Dogie showed up thinkin' about my 'beer' lovin' cowboys in OK. When they call me a 'shark' w/ my pool 'cue' in hand, I just say 'thank you' and continue 'a run' on the table while they 'rue' ever starting the challenge. But I 'swear' I lost it when
'maneating' showed up in the same puzzle w/'delicate' 'areas'
'chapstick' and 'kneel'. Holy Holy Hotwick! That'll leave a 'stain'! One doesn't have to be a 'mensan' to break that 'code'. With that I am leaving the 'bldg'!

Thank you all for the sweet comments on the bride. Thank God she looks like her dad. Am workin' on the Windhover pix.

Kazie: thank you for that Arlo clip. Kept lookin' for Windhover in the crowd. No luck.

Enjoy this gorgeous day.

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c. and all,

great puzzle today, not easy. had to scratch around for ONONDAGA and EDUCT. too bad EAGLE wasn't clued as 'griffin's front,' to match LION. loved seeing BUDDY HOLLY and ARLO in the same puzzle.

wiggle your toes day, i'm all over that.

just learned yesterday that the therapist i'm covering for will be out all of august - maybe longer. won't leave much puzzle time but i'll look in when i can.

windhover said...

Hahtool again,
the O. Wilde quote is one of my all time favorites.

Linda:
did you get my reply? Is it possible to reply to you in that venue?

Lois:
you have sold those pics, haven't you? I just hope it wasn't to some website that features harmless guys. My reputation is already shot. I hate it when a girl fakes it, but maybe you can help me out just this once.

Dick said...

Kazie, I don't want to get into nit picking, but alto in this case means high and not height. In all the years I flew and received weather reports I never heard of alto cumulus, it was always high cumulus or low cumulus.

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & gang, a typical tough Thursday in red for me again. I remembered 12D: as Here's ... Johnny! from Ed McMahon's intro.

Here's the intro to the movie:Hair but beware, the age of Aquarius song can be an ear worm.

Jerome said...

I've been happily riding on Dan's band wagon since he was first published. It's been a great trip and I suspect there's a hell of a lot of miles to go and a ton of puzzle scenery to enjoy.

Aside from seven real, in the language theme answers I liked the wide open corners. That's the sign of a guy willing to roll up his sleeves and get some hard work done.

Just an observation- duDerANch, pallingArouND, onoNDAga, DNA, DeNiAl.

On this date in 1909 explorer,Admiral Robert Peary was asked what kinds of problems dog-sled teams created. His now famous response was short and to the point. "Polar cap Alpo crap"

Anonymous said...

I always kind of dread clicking on the Thursday puzzle to open it, but was pleasantly surprised by the ease I had with this one today. I must admit I hit the g-spot for Geste, and Onondoga. Perp help included Arles, dio, nsa, alto, nae, and seato. The answer lion for Griffin’s rear was a mere guess. Learned a new word today in educt. Like several others, I too typed in data for dope. Favorite clue today was “chain letters” – DNA.

Kazie, I too thought immediately of a dog offering his paw to shake.

Mac n cheese is a staple in my house, but never out of a box. here is a good recipe.

Dennis, I don’t agree with your last quote, as I don’t enjoy golf in the least :).

treefrog said...

Typical Thursday for me. Just couldn't get a grip on any of it.
I think SNAFU asked for the wrong word.

Kids coming to swim today. All 6 boys, ages 3-10. Not very warm. Think they will have the pool to themselves. Sure is nice to have it cooled off for a change.

Have a great day.

Jerome said...

Forgot to say... Mr. Naddor has accomplished a rare feat. Today's New York Times puzzle is also his.

Anonymous said...

I've been away from cc's blog of late after finally settling into the new puzzle routine. I thought I'd drop by just to say how delighted I was today to see a tie into one of my own websites in Naddor's "feature of many of a capitol" clue. Coincidence? I wonder!

-maybe not so anon-hp now

Jazzbumpa said...

Hey Gang -

I actually was a bit confused yesterday (Surprise!) and posted the wrong Hopkins poem.

Here is the correct one. Something about a Free Bird, if I'm getting it right.

The Windhover

To Christ our Lord

I CAUGHT this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.

Hopkins long lines don't fit this format well. I love the way his words roll off the tongue and tickle the ear.

Gotta cut some grass.

Cheers!

Jazzbumpa said...

Aha - the lines do fit!

Looked all chopped up in the preview.

Double cheers!

Warren said...

For C.C. sorry for posting a duplicate link.

Here's a good
beer song

"in heaven there's no beer, that's why we drink it here"

;-)

Linda said...

Windhover: Got it...just haven`t done the puzzle...other, more pressing things...now look what you`ve gone and done...made me break my promise to CC!
I do appreciate your Kentucky gentleman respect, though.

lois said...

OK, here ya go! Windhover and I are at a quaint bar in Lexington last Fri. Really a great time! He introduced me to Kentucky Bourbon Ale. ummmm ummmm good!

Windhover: the 'harmless guy' website refused your picture, but the 'hot and sizzlin'' one didn't. You know I'll help you out anytime I can. I could give a whole new dimension to Farm Aid.

carol said...

Hi group,

Typical Thursday - my poor prat! I did get about 2/3's of it though. Missed or didn't know most of the same words as the rest of you (plus a few more).

Lois, what a terrific picture! Both of you look like you are having a good time.
Windhover, I cannot get over how much you look like Joe's (my hubby) brother! It's eerie. You don't look the least bit harmless to me.

Tarrajo, thanks for the mac and cheese recipe, sounds delish all except for the onions. That's just me though, I have the palate of a 5 year old..Joe would probably love onions in it.
That dish (casserole) is one that can have so many different recipes it's dizzying. Just Google it sometime it's fun to read all the variations.

Xmas Card said...

The NW corner was intimidating me today, and I thought this was going to be a big struggle, but it turned out ok. I figured out the theme early on, which was a tremendous help in filling in the rest of the clues.

Dennis said...

Lois, just an outstanding picture, but one question:

Windhover, where the hell is your left hand and why is she smiling like that??

MJ said...

Hej folks!

Had no idea SNAFU was an acronym. Always thought a "snafu" was a mix-up or glitch. In researching the history, I learned that the sanitized version that Dennis referred to has been "bowdlerized," after Thomas Bowdler who, in the early 19th century, cleaned up Shakespeare's writings to make them more acceptable for women and children. Also, my TAB key doesn't have arrows. Maybe because we have a mac?

@MelissaBee--Beautiful photo of jelly fish! We visited the aquarium about five years and the jelly fish exhibit was my favorite part.

@Tarrajo--Thanks for the recipe! Have never used paprika or bay leaf in mac 'n' cheese, but will try them next time.

Ten degrees cooler today! A good day to get some chores done.

windhover said...

Three already. I'll never get this hay cut at this rate.

JazzB:
Thanks for posting my eponymous verse again. ClearAyes put it on here a while back, but I never tire of rereading it.
I'm slogging through a biography of Hopkins. It's more rewarding reading him than reading about him

Lois:
I'll leave it to the guys here to decide where the sizzle is in that picture. And I'll bet that if I just have one less beer, you won't escape so easily next time.

Dennis:
you might notice that I have somewhat of a s---eating grin on my face as well, and the three beers had nothing to do with it.

Chickie said...

Hello All--I couldn't finish the puzzle all on my own today, though I did get the theme answers in a surprisinly short time. It was all the other "short answers" that gave me trouble. A typical Thursday for me.

Didn't know that Sarah Palin had eloped, and put in Maneaters for Maneating shark, also data for dope. This really gave me a problem im the NW corner of the puzzle. It was the last to fall. I had to Google, and then come here to finish up. Thanks again to C.C. for her excellent explanations.

I did think that the Chain letter clue and rudiments clue were both excellent. My bent was toward a cracker you eat, not a code, so I had a hard time trying to fit mouth, etc. into that space. but loved the clue once code was revealed.

Coincidence for me was that I served Mac'N cheese for dinner last evening and am taking a casserole over to my sister tonight. It is one of our family favorites. It is an Americana staple, I think.

Chickie said...

Tarrajo, A heads up. I read that Aug. 8th is National "leave extra zucchini on your neighbor's porch day". I kid you not. I'm wondering if some poor soul just made that up so he could legitimately leave his neighbor a zucchini gift?

Lois, I loved the picture of you and WH. You seem to BOTH have big grins on your face!

Anonymous said...

Lois, great picture of the "harmless" one. I hope you got a good grope!

Chickie...shoot, you're on to me!

WM said...

Tarrajo...I had to laugh at the Mac and Cheese link...That is my most favorite recipe after trying many over the years...I tweaked it a bit. I upped the flour and butter to 4 Tbsp @ and I sautee the onions in the butter to soften and sweeten them, then add the flour. I have also, on occassion, added 1/4 cup of organic sour cream...this is a terrific recipe!

Channeling C.C. today on the puzzle. whipped in IPODS, DRJ out of nowhere, JOHNNY(first name because Jay is a first name), ARLES, LION, NCAA, EAGLE, then started to bog down. Wanted MAC (something) CHEESE but had put in EVOLVE so I left that alone for a bit. Had to walk away and when I got back to it things seemed to fit in.

Still never knew ORD, didn't know the ELOPE factoid, wanted EDUCE but already had ELECT so left it alone.I agree that PALLING looks just weird. I know Dan Naddor designs and builds awesome puzzles, but everytime I see see his name, I groan and know I will have a tough time. Great satisfaction when it is done though.

Dennis...love the Wilde quote...read a great biography on him years ago...I believe he is buried in Paris in Pere Lacasse cemetary, same place as Jim Morrison and many other famous people.(sorry on the spelling, didn't look it up).

Been to Arles and, in our wanderings, came across the exact square where the Night Cafe was painted...was a suprise, and easy to tell as they keep it the same yellow color...had my first Pastis there and love it still...summer beverage.

Woke up to light rain...absolutely lovely...have a great day all.

Lois...Thank you so much for the photo of you and WH...He looks like a Wild and Crazy guy and you are just charming, but probably not harmless. ;o)

kazie said...

Lois & WH,
Great photo!

Tarrajo,
Thanks for that recipe. I've never made it from scratch. Only heard of it after moving here, and used boxed versions for the kids. When they moved out never bought it again and never serve it. But this looks good, and I plan to try it.

WM,
I also added your improvements to try. They sound good too.

BTW, it's Père Lachaise cemetery. Another famous artist there is Edith Piaf, perhaps not so well known in Anglophone circles, but a legend in her own time in France. It's for her that I always let my students go there, but they always spent more time looking for Morrison.

Barb B said...

Nice surprise for a Thursday. Just enough easy perps to keep me going, and I got through it all except for the EMP/EMU cross. I loved MACNCHEESE, LOOKSEE, BUDDYHOLLY, and ARLO was a nice throw-in. He’s still good. Kazie, I’m so jealous! Be sure to report back to us. Exactly 18 minutes and 20 seconds - works for me. Must be true. ☺

Interesting to see Gov’t decipherers and Crackers targets close together.

I agree with Barry G about Palling Around. Looked weird to me, which is what made it such a good entry.

Kazie, re plumbers, mine charges $100, with a one hour minimum. The job took 15 minutes, so we talked for a while. And I was still happy to have him. I have a hard time getting anyone to take on a small job.

Melissa Bee, save some of that Dogfish Jin for me!

WM said...

Kazie...thanks for the spelling, knew it wasn't right. Mac 'n'Cheese is definitely American comfort food...kind of like beef stew when the weather first turns cool. Definitely know who Edith Piaf is. Another semi famous person is the woman who was the subject of the play La Dame aux Camelias...Sarah Berhardt played her and there is a beautiful Mucha poster...there is also a famous opera about her but I am in CRS mode and can't come up with the name...anyway she was a real person, died very young of "consumption" and is also buried there.

Dennis...I can also think of a few other things that you don't have to be good at to enjoy! ;o)

JD said...

Good morning CC and all,

Lovely lovely gentle showers this morning, but short-lived. Smells divine!

Glad to see I was not the only one who thought palling looked odd. I DO know the rule, and it does follow it, but it threw mw so I didn't grok the theme until CC pointed it out.Made me think of pall bearers. sigh

G'd just once for onondaga, because I wanted Iroquois, but I already had the O.Also, at first, I had Paris, not Arles... should have known because of his style. I like most of his later work, like Cafe Terrace.

Got lion right away, but sometimes a griffin is depicted with a long snake for a tail. Most of the time females have wings, and the male has spikes on their backs.. It was said that they found gold in the mts. and built nests from it, and, of course, guarded it. They devoured any man AND his horse who came near.In Harry Potter, the hippogriffs were the offspring of a griffin and a horse.

CC, thanks for explaining ORD.

Kazie, enjoyable Arlo clip; never had heard that story.

Dennis, always enjoy your quotes. I do tend to put my foot in my mouth when I think I'm right. It doesn't always turn out OK.

Tarrajo, good recipe, and I added WM's touches to it. I made a similar one last week (no onions) for my daughter because I knew Truman would love it. So far, Grady is a terrific little sleeper, and he squeeks. LOL

Jerome, you are so sharp!!

Lois, a super picture. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Melissa, stunning jellyfish. They photograph so much better than the cute little seahorses.

JD said...

addendum to yesterday

Crockett, I meant the north entrance; didn't know it was called Mammoth.There were so many moose up there, and all those beautiful springs. Do you enter from the town of West Yellowstone? Are their roads paved yet?

MJ, sounds beautiful.Lucky you! If we ever get back to Boulder(a favorite place ), we will check it out. That town has the BEST 2nd hand bookstores.

KittyB said...

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Boil 7-8 oz. macaroni and drain.

Make two cups medium white sauce:

4 Tbsp. butter, 4 Tbsp. flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, dry mustard to taste (1/2-1 tsp.) 2 cups whole milk.

Melt the butter over low heat in a heavy saucepan. Blend in flour and seasonings, stirring until mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in milk. Return to heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Boil one minute.

Add 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar and stir until blended.

Mix cheese sauce and macaroni and pour into a 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish. Bake in a 350 degree oven 35-45 minutes or until golden brown on top.

During the last three or four minutes of baking time, cover the macaroni and cheese with French onion rings, and heat until browned.

Lois and WH, great picture!

Hahtoolah said...

After seeing the Mac 'n Cheese clue, and reading all the recipes today, I decided to have Mac 'n cheese for lunch. Hmmm!

Was Sarah Palin' around when she ELOPED?

KittyB said...

Oddly, Onondaga was easy for me, even though I'm not a New Yorker. I used to travel from the Chicago suburbs to the Branson area of Missouri to vacation with my parents, and we would pass billboards advertising the Onondaga Cave near Leasburg, Missouri. I never expected to see this particular word in a crossword puzzle, but it was fun to pull it out of the deep recesses of my memory. Onondaga Cave.

And, ORD is a gimmie for those of us who fly through O'Hare airport. I'll gladly take answers like these if it makes the puzzle a bit easier to finish.

Dennis said...

tarrajo, WM, Kittyb, great recipes (minus the onions) - I'll definitely try both SOON. Thanks.

Argyle said...

KittyB, I found this somewhat tempestuous history of the Onondaga cave you might find interesting. 1904 - A name for the cave was chosen from the names of three Indian tribes by Myrtle Land. The cave was named after a tribe of the Iroquois. Onondaga means "People of the Mountain.".

It is now the Onondaga Cave State Park, officially dedicated on June 13, 1982, and at the same time, received a plaque designating it as a National Natural Landmark.

WM said...

One more thing on that Mac and Cheese...Slightly undercook the macaroni or penne...that way it absorbs the creamy cheese mixture better...it IS very soupy, but it will absorb into the pasta. I also use an aged 3 yr old white Vermont cheddar...Costco for those of you on the left coast...adds a nice tang. And Dennis...I really don't think the onions are essential to the overall taste of this recipe...but the Panko is better than regular bread crumbs...it is really yummy. Thanks Tarrajo!

#3

embien said...

11:21 today. I don't know what took me so long because all the way through solving I was going "Dan Naddor? This is a Dan Naddor puzzle?" It just seemed too easy.

Then, after solving I took some time to look it over and marvel at the construction. Besides the theme (elegantly done), what's not to like about entries such as MAC 'N CHEESE? Wonderful puzzle.

As for ALTO Cumulus, they are not high clouds, but actually middle atmosphere clouds. I guess they are "high" relative to the stratocumulus clouds that are at a much lower altitude (these are the common, puffy "summertime" clouds.) clouds

That was a very nice pic of WH and Lois. Interestingly (to me, anyway), Kentucky was the last of the 50 states that I visited. I spent years circling around it, but for some reason never went to southern Ohio or Kentucky.

I finally got there a few years ago when I routed myself on Delta on a return trip from DC and went to their hub at the Cincinnati airport. You see, the Cincinnati airport, CVG, is in Covington, Kentucky. Ta da! All 50 states!

Jeannie said...

What a fun puzzle today. I also had to check my calendar to make sure it was indeed Thursday. Very clever cluing and what’s not to like about a theme around men?

Tarrajo, that sounds like a very good recipe. I will leave the onions in but follow WM’s direction of sautéing them first.

Lois what a nice picture of you and our resident farmer. I’m with you, he is sizzling hot! The luck of the Irish.

Dennis, I second what Tarrajo said about golf. I do not find that particularly enjoyable. The other…yes. Tell me Dennis, are you really going to attempt that recipe or hand it off to your wife to try?

Anonymous said...

MelissaBee, your photo of the jellyfish makes me think of the movie Seven Pounds which we just watched last week. You should get it in honor of your trip. A good one.

Lois and Windhover, great pic. Send some more out Lois!

Embien, did you get to transfer planes in Cincinnati? I love how they bus you to the next terminal through the area where the planes taxi. We actually stopped at a cross section to wait for the plane to go by. It was a little daunting for me the first time around.

PALLING around sounds like Tina Fey talking about Sarah PALIN with her midwestern accent.

Jazzbumpa said...

Oh - there's a puzzle today - and a darned fine one, too!

No whining. A couple of quibbles. IPODS getting old. ABCS is lame - always. TO NOW - meh!

Great theme and execution. Lots of fresh fills, esp the 8-letter non theme entries. ONANDAGA is a wow.

Jerome - is a word like that with alternating vowels easy to work with?

Grilling some salmon tonight. Here is my take on baked Mac. Full disclosure - a good Hungarian like me puts paprika on EVERYTHING.

After tomorrow - which is iffy, I'll be out of touch for a week or so. See y'all around the 15th-ish.

Cheers!

kazie said...

Jazz,
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing the recipe and the accompanying comments, very cute, and I'm glad it worked out. Re ****, I also have constantly wondered why grammar check hates the passive voice. Sometimes it not only sounds better, it works better too!

As far as I know, the Palins eloped to "avoid too much fuss for the family and to keep it simple", or sentiments to that effect. Truth be told they were pregnant and wanted it to be quick.

Embien,
Thanks for the clouds. I still will never be able to identify them, but it's a good reference with clear explanations.

Barb B,
Yes, I suppose my memory of the $60 plumber was colored by the fact that he was only here ten minutes too. It hurts. I do understand their costs for insurance and SS etc., but that's another story.

It also hurts when a student says he doesn't have to study because he'll get a factory job and be paid more than I was making. It was probably true then, but I wonder now if that kid still has that job.

Jerome said...

Jazzbumpa- Vowels are a constructor's best friend... usually. Onondaga is a very uncommon word but it's obviously not a tough fill word to use because it's fifty percent vowels and the N and D aren't difficult letters to cross. Because Dan has so much theme in this puzzle he had to rely on a lot of vowel friendly words for his fill. In other words, he didn't have a lot of left over space to play with scrabbly fill words. The grid is vowel heavy as a result. Examples- LOOK SEE, ITEM ONE, DENIAL, USAGE, ONE O, EMU, SEATO, RUE, DIO, etc. This is not a flaw by any means. Scrabbliness does not a puzzle make. And this puzzle is a dandy.

Clear Ayes said...

It is definitely too late to say much about today's puzzle, except that I liked it a lot. I had to depend on the perps to get me past the unknowns, but that is business as usual for a Thursday.

Some songs are just too iconic to be messed with. I don't recall ever hearing Madonna's version of American Pie, so I checked it out on YouTube. Madonna. It's OK, but it isn't THE song.

How about Iron Butterfly's 17 minute version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida for a DJ break? The Doors Celebration of the Lizard is also 17 minutes long, but seems soooo much longer. The winner in my book is the live 26 minute version of Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused. You have to be a big Led Zep fan to get through that one. (GAH is, I'm not.)

This recipe for Marvelous Mac and Cheese Muffins was featured last year on a GMA recipe contest. Onion could be left out. It is a little on the spicy side, but it is delicious. I also like it because the individual portions can be frozen "for later".

Nice photo of both WH and Lois.

MamaRuth said...

Had a problem with TUB for scow--wanted TUG but that messed up BUDDY HOLLY. Like many of you, I put in EDUCE, didn't know EDUCT. I don't usually know sports clues but had the J for JOHNNY so I guessed DR.J. Googled Six Nations tribe and got IROQUOIS but it didn't fit with the across answers. Didn't know ORD; always heard of O'Hare and didn't know the abbreviation.
Thank you all for your help. Will have to try macn'cheese again. We use 1% milk so it never comes out creamy. Will have to remember to get a different, higher fat content milk next time.

Chickie said...

MamaRuth,
I use 1% milk in my Mac and Cheese. If you make your white sauce w/cheese melted in and pour it over, per Tarrajo's recipe, it should taste just fine. I do use real butter, however. Don't like margarine for cooking and baking.

carol said...

Thanks Tarrajo and Kitty B for the mac and cheese recipes. I will try Kitty's tonight.

Chickie, we use skim milk exclusively too, also use real butter in recipes.

Dennis, had to laugh when you asked Windhover where his hand was in the picture with Lois. Where was her's? Maybe their toes were wiggling!

Dick said...

Warren, really liked your beer song.

LUXOR said...

carol, where is this picture of Lois?

KittyB said...

Argyle, thanks for finding the information on the naming of Onondaga Cavern. It's odd that the woman chose a tribe that wasn't local.

On the subject of comfort food, you might want to think about stuffed green peppers. With all the peppers available now, it would be inexpensive to make. If you don't care for green pepper, you can use the same Spanish rice stuffing with red peppers. And, if you find your family leaves a lot of pepper on the plate, consider cutting the peppers in half from top to bottom, and stuffing them "on the half shell."

Carol and Dennis, I hope you enjoy the macaroni and cheese recipe.

carol said...

Luxor, check out Lois's post at 11:55 today.

Kitty, I'll let you know how it turns out...I will have to use skim milk in it but I think it will be ok.

LUXOR said...

carol,
thanks for the info.
lois,
give an account of yourself. where are the hidden hands? hmmm. what if we could see the back-view of that picture? (chuckle)

Linda said...

Clearayes: Just got my new printer/scanner installed...just in time for the "FRIDAY" puzzle. It`s a nice, clean copy and easier to read than our yellowish newspaper! Thanks for the tip! My printer has been on strike for days. When I told my techie what it was doing he said, "might as well buy a new one..."

Windhover: You look Irish but your name sounds Jewish...nice pic.

Jimbo: Are you alright?

Just "limed" my garden and picked the cukes while my printer installed. Wonderful! I eat them skin and all...squash full of blooms...tomatoes and peppers just blooming...planting late means I`ll have vegetables late, I hope.

Linda said...

Lois: I`d be remiss if i didn`t tell you how nice you also look in the picture. Thanks for sharing.

PJB-Chicago said...

Good evening! Not much to say about the puzzle that's not been said, but it was a delight to solve. In some of the old Sinatra duets he'd use the word "pally" in the verbal riffs with his singing mate. The word 'pal' seems old-school now. I hope its replacements, "bro" and its surfimg equivalent "brah" will be replaced with something with more zing.

Used to have a couple of friends that were great fun but terrible food snobs. Dinner at their house was always an ordeal and a costly production and there was no way I could reciprocate without hiring a caterer.
Being kind of heart, short on cash, and devious to the core, I gathered my master plan. I don't 'cook' so much as 'assemble' meals, but had to carry something off.

When they called, per their custom, to inquire as to the menu so they could pick "just the right wine," I said, completely seriously, "Mac 'n Cheese."
And I meant it.
Full three seconds of dead silence after that, with muffled sighs of disappointment....If dread makes a sound, well, that was it.

So, I polished up my best dinnerware, crafted up a plan and hand lettered the menu. What I made was "Mac 'n Cheese Quattro Stagioni'" the last two words meaning "four seasons" (like Vivaldi's work or a common set of toppings for pizza.)
Nothing hoity-toity or hotsy-totsy really. I just made the pasta as usual, divided the casserole into four equal parts with folded up tin foil and used whatever I had on hand--or could afford--to make four different sauces. Used four kinds of cheeses, including, you betcha, Velveeta, blue cheese, mozzarella and herbed up cheese. Did one very traditional American corner, one with carbonara-ish sauce including bacon, one with pesto & sun dried tomatoes, and one with the gorgonzola and chunkettes of some cured meat. Sour cream was there somewhere.

How, you may wonder, did it go? They (we) went through two pans of that stuff, two bottles of their wine, plus whatever salad and dessert I could throw together. We had good music and good lighting and they DID get the joke.
All for under twenty bucks.

Sad to say that I didn't record the details. Subsequent attempts to recreate it have failed spectacularly. I'll just say that dinners at their house got lots less stodgy after that.

Bored yet? Lol

Kazie, at 8:33 a.m, said;
"I would prefer to date..."
Don't worry, your secret is safe with us!

I have a bunch more shout outs but my thumbs are 'tarred' so will save them for a later time. 'Night all.....

Liz said...

I get so hungry reading this blog. Someone should do an all-food puzzle and let the recipes fly. We like salsa mixed in to our mac & cheese, with taco seasoning mixed in with the bread crumbs. Will even improve the blue-box version. Also love Hungarian food. A favorite fall dish is red peppers stuffed with rice/ground meat/paprika, baked covered with paprika gravy. The whole house smells of paprika, umm.
BTW, fun puzzle.

MJ said...

Jazz--Do you use a particular type of paprika, or vary? I recently found a great recipe on myrecipes.com for Grilled Chicken Kebabs which called for pimenton, a Spanish paprika. The recipe said it was essential to use the Spanish paprika. I used what I had, "Sweet Paprika" from The Spice Hunter in San Luis Obispo, CA. Worked for me. Wherever you're going for a week, hope it's a happy time!

carol said...

Kitty B, I just took the mac and cheese out of the oven...what a wonderful smell! I used skim milk and the sauce was still perfect. For the cheese, I had sharp white cheddar and some medium cheddar. I am sure it will be delicious, we eat a little later than now, but wanted it ready..it will stay hot for a while. Also wanted to say I fix stuffed green peppers for Joe the way you do...on the 'half shell'. I use my canned tomatoes in the Spanish rice filling. He really loves them! Thanks so much.

PJB-Chicago said...

Egg on my face; sorry that was soooo long. I promise not to do it again! Mea culpa.
Tomorrow should be "play with your food" day.
....[trying to bow out gracefully]

Anonymous said...

Lois,
Very nice picture of you and your honey. I wish I was in your class at school. Do you teach high school.... or college maybe?

Kelev said...

PIN-Chicago: loved your mac 'n cheese story. Too bad you can't recreate that dish. Otherwise I'd be right over!

WM said...

PJB...Ab-fab story...Most of my life I have been able to cook good things with what is available...tonight was the rest of the side of BBQ salmon with espresso rub, sliced up celery, onions, zuccini(aha!) and tiny tomatoes...Sauteed the hard veggies with secret spices, cooked some really good fettucini and tossed it altogether in vegetable stock...If you way undercook the noodles they continue to cook by absorbing the stock...instant sauce...a glass of wine and Voila! Salmon Fettucine Prima Vera.

Loved all the fun food talk and recipes set off by MAC N CHEESE...

MJ...the main difference with the Spanish Paprika is the that the peppers are smoked before being ground...a slightly less sweet and a bit stronger, but worth trying out...Also used in Basque cooking.

Anon...9:06..That is Lois and WH...two xword blog fanantics...

Anonymous said...

With all this food talk, anyone going to see Julie and Julia tomorrow? We actually have a midnight showing tonight (I can't stay up that late), and my friend said we could only go if we wore our aprons and brought a whisk and frying pan.

MJ said...

WM--Thanks! See that I can order pimenton on-line.

Jazzbumpa said...

MJ -

A food snob I ain't. I think I have a can of red stuff that says PRIDE OF SZEGED, or something like that. Or whatever they have a Kroger.

The next week will definitely be fun and pleasant. No worries there.

Jerome -
That's what I thought. Looking back at my question, it seems a bit ignrnt. Oh, well.

KZ -
That passive voice should to be avoided is believed by me. Still, perfection is not to be attained. Sometimes one discovers one's self to have faltered. Thusly are Navajo rugs woven.

It's late. I'm stupid sleepy. 'Night all.

Cheers!

Elissa said...

At about 8 this morning I wrote this brilliant comment - insightful, clever, sensitive. Then it began to rain (which it never does in August in California) and then the electricity went out and stayed out for most of the next 11 hours. That sure cuts into the 21st century way of life.

So now I think I will catch up on reading the comments and all the other things I couldn't do today without electricity.

Tomorrow I will head out for the weekend. My 83 year old father is celebrating his bar mitzvah. He didn't have one when he was 13 because of an extended illness. Now that he has achieved 3 score and 10 and hit 13 again, he decided it was time. The whole family will join in. My father, my sister, my nephew and I will all read from the torah and the rest of the family will have parts in the service.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

windhover said...

Linda:
While I would be very proud to be one of God's
chosen people, I must inform you that I
am not Jewish. Three quarters of my pedigree is originally from Bavaria, and the fourth is most likely some degree of what was called in my mid-Ohio River hometown "shantyboat Irish", probably because of the way most of them arrived in the area from upstream. It's difficult to say for sure because my great-grandfather left for parts unknown after knocking up my greatgrandmother. The guy I thought was my GGF actually married my GGM when
my GM was a year old. My cousin discovered this juicy factoid while doing a geneology of our family.
I do have a friend by the name of Schultz who lives in that upper-upper Midwest state that also harbors all the bad (in a good way) women on this blog. He is so Irish he bleeds Guinness, and a Catholic to boot. Turns out there was a large migration of German Catholics to Ireland several hundred years ago and the name Schultz survived down through quite a few generations.
So let's analyze this post: Just a little religion, no
politics, a little family scandal, a shout-out to the blondes, and a little history lesson, which may or may not be true, which, come to think of it, is true of most of what has been
written in History books.
And good night to you all.

Clear Ayes said...

Unexpected company this afternoon AND it got so late we had to invite him to dinner. I wish we had some mac 'n cheese, but had to settle for one of GAH's favorites, baked potatoes topped with homemade chili and shredded cheese; coleslaw on the side. Nothing fancy, but it was tasty.

KQ, We'll be seeing Julie & Julia next Tuesday. We have free tickets, and Tuesday is .50 cent popcorn day, so we really have no choice. Let us know how good it is (I hope), so we'll look forward to it even more.

Linda@8:27 I just have to ask, what does the comment to Windhover mean??

PJB, Terrific story. We have a few food snobs where we live too. How nice to show them that it doesn't have to be expensive or exclusive to be delicious.

Jazzbumpa, Have a wonderful vacation.

Elissa, Sorry about the loss of electricity, but wasn't the cool breeze lovely? We had a high of 78 degrees today, no rain, but so refreshing. Mazel Tov! to your father.

MJ said...

Thanks, Jazz--Enjoy your week!

WM said...

Will be seeing Julie and Julia on Sunday with foodie friends...after which we are celebrating Julia with Wine and Muchies...Really looking forward to seeing Meryl Streep as Julia...

This is 5 and G'nite

Crockett1947 said...

@elissa Mazel Tov! to your father. That sounds like it will be an incredible day. May you and the extended family enjoy and have marvelous memories!!

@lois Quite a picture of you and windhover. You both look terrific!

Had no internet for about 20 hours and just getting caught up.

See you all Friday.