google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday September 10, 2009 Bruce Venzke

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Sep 10, 2009

Thursday September 10, 2009 Bruce Venzke

Theme: Yarn-spinning

20A: Start of an investor's quip: I BOUGHT STOCK IN A

39A: Quip, part 2: BLANKET

41A: Quip, part 3: FACTORY

55A: End of the quip: BUT IT SOON FOLDED

The BLANKET FACTORY was closed. It FOLDED. Not the BLANKET. I don't know. Quip puzzles often fail to amuse me because I don't always understand the pun & the humor.

I'm convinced that our editor Rich Norris loves alliteration. Look at the amazing number of alliterative clues in today's clues:

14A: Absolut alternative: STOLI. Vodka brand.

15A: Caramel-filled candy: ROLO. Hershey's candy. Produced by Nestlé outside US. I've never tried it.

17A: Hawk's hook: TALON

64A: Source of a suit: TORT. Law suit.

66A: Fill fully: SATE

9D: College in Claremont, California: POMONA. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says POMONA College has ranked in the top ten of liberal arts colleges nationally since their inception in 1887. Sagehens is their nickname. POMONA is Roman goddess of fruit.

11D: Mine, in Metz: A MOI

27D: Big board: PLANK

54D: Leading the league: ON TOP. Twins' Joe Mauer is ON TOP of the AL leaderboard in several categories. What an extraordinary year! Joe Mauer = AL MVP, whether those writers vote for him or not.

60D: Far from flashy: DRAB

Some are probably an unconscious effort.

Dennis pointed out that the clue for LOOIE (31D: Certain NCO, slangily) is wrong. Lieutenant is a Commissioned Officer, not a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO).

Across:

1A: Syrian president: ASSAD. Bashar al-ASSAD (since 2000). His father ASSAD ruled Syria for over thirty years.

6A: 1/2 fl.oz.: TBSP

10A: Copacetic: JAKE. Both meaning "fine". Both new to me. Copacetic sounds toxic.

18A: Reason to cram: EXAM

19A: Kentucky Derby entrant: COLT. Filly too. I wonder why Rachel Alexandra did not enter Kentucky Derby this year.

25A: Pleasing breeze: ZEPHYR (ZEF-er). Greek god of west wind. This puzzle is quite scrabbly, with two Z's, one J, one X and several K's.

29A: Asian inland sea: ARAL. It's shrinking.

31A: Butcher's units: Abbr.: LBS

34A: Gallic she: ELLE. Gallic (GAL-ik) is related to Gaul/France. I often confuse it with the Celtic Gaelic (GEY-lik).

37A: Words on a desk box: IN/OUT. I used to have a PENDING tray when I worked.

43A: Dentist's request: RINSE. Thought SAY AH first.

44A: Pool table boundary: RAIL

48A: Sensible: WISE. Wrote down SANE first.

47A: One way to get directions: ASK. Men seldom ASK for direction.

48A: "Serpico" author Peter: MAAS. Here is the book cover. Vaguely remember seeing Al Pacino's movie sometime ago. I've never heard of Peter MAAS. He looks like a mafia consigliere, the advisor to the Don.

50A: Good-sized chamber ensembles: OCTETS. Pieces for eight.

52A: 45 or 78, e..g.: Abbr.: RPM

53A: Elmer Fudd, for one: TOON

63A: Western team that beat the Crimson Tide in the 2009 Sugar Bowl: UTES. The University of Utah. I could only think of UCLA.

65A: "Chestnuts roasting ..." co-writer: TORME (Mel). The Velvet Fog.

67A: 20th century basso Pinza: EZIO. He played the French plantation owner Emile in the musical "South Pacific".

68A: Cyberletters: E-MAIL

69A: If's partner, in logic: THEN

71A: Weaselike mammal: SABLE. So curious. Cute too. No fur, please!

Down:

1D: Piedmont wine region: ASTI. The Italian province or its capital. South of Turin.

3D: With no help: SOLO

4D: Any of three baseball brothers: ALOU. Basta! Let's honor the BOONE family for a change. I liked Bret BOONE.

5D: Lifeboat, perhaps: DINGHY. My god, I thought DINGHY is a garbage boat.

6D: Old waste allowances: TRETS. The "Container weights" is TARES.

7D: Premium opera house spot: BOX SEAT. "Premium stadium spot" too.

8D: Blind part: SLAT

10D: Athletic types: JOCKS

12D: Ceramics baker: KILN

13D: Place whom Sundance liked: ETTA. ETTA Place, Sundance Kid's girlfriend. I could only remember her given name. Loved "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Thought the "Place" was referring to an actual place.

21D: Golden __: Mongol invaders: HORDE. Faintly remember the Mongol Empire was divided into Golden/White/Blue/Great HORDE after Genghis Khan died.

22D: Baby's ailment: COLIC

25D: Striped equine: ZEBRA. I might watch some ZEBRA in action this football season, now we have Brett Favre.

26D: Perry of fashion: ELLIS. He died of AIDS.

28D: Coop moms: HENS. What do you call a female pigeon? HEN also?

30D: Get a new mortgage on, briefly: REFI (Refinance)

32D: Pop: BURST. Verb. I was thinking of soda pop.

36D: Gillette Machs3 predecessor: ATRA

38D: Food-minus-pkg. measure: NT WT. This and AT NO used to stymie me. Not any more.

40D: Neat and trim: KEMPT. More familiar with unkempt.

42D: Standoffish: ALOOF. Like Senator John Kerry.

45D: Oregon city near the mouth of the Columbia: ASTORIA. See this map. It's named after John Jacob Astor, who founded a fur trading post there in 1810.

49D: Dutch brew: AMSTEL. Stumper for me, Windhover/Jerome. It belongs to Heineken. Named after the AMSTEL River. What's so funny about this commercial?

51D: Bills with Franklin on them: C-NOTES. Slang for a hundred-dollar bill.

52D: Up from bed: RISEN

55D: Narc's arrest: BUST

56D: Westernmost D-Day beachhead: UTAH. I guessed. Have never heard of the code name UTAH Beach. Omaha Beach, yes.

57D: Chapeau's perch: TETE. French for "head".

58D: Move like sludge: OOZE. Always associate OOZE with running liquid. Sludge sounds thick and muddy.

59D: __ Linda, San Bernadino suburb: LOMA. No idea. It's to the south of LA. LOMA means "hill" in Spanish.

61D: Jannings of old movies: EMIL. The first guy to win Best Actor Oscar.

62D: Take out, editorially: DELE. Then a STET can cancel the DELE.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our fellow LAT solver KQ, flanked by her daughter and husband at a golf tournament. Her daughter was a member of the University of Iowa golf team. Here is another picture of KQ, her two sons and husband at an Angels game a couple of weeks ago.

C.C.

60 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. & gang - without doubt, my fastest Thursday crossword yet, since the switch. No pauses, but there's a definite mistake in it. 31D, 'Certain NCO, slangily' should be 'Certain Officer, slangily'. A 'Looie', or a Lieutenant, is a commissioned officer, not a non-commissioned officer; non-commissioned officers, or NCOs, are enlisted. A surprising error.

It's been a while since we last saw a quip - a nice change of pace. On the other hand, or claw, we just saw talon. Best clue for me was 'Place whom Sundance liked'; 'whom' was the giveaway.

Today is Sewing Machine Day and Swap Ideas Day.

Today's Words of Wisdom: "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." -- Winston Churchill

Couple funny quotes regarding sex:

- "I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy." -- Steve Martin

- "Erotic is when you do something sensitive and imaginative with a feather. Kinky is when you use the whole chicken." -- Elmore Leonard

Lemonade714 said...

Good morning:

I thought I awakened months in the past and we were back in the quip Thursday routine. It was an okay puzzle, but like the rest of the week, not too hard.

Copacetic was a big word in the sixties, our version of being chill, Jake predated that word.

Enjoy the day.
Great pics once again

Mainiac said...

Good Morning CC and All,

Certainly was an easy run. My only pause was in the SE corner when I had to erase Dull for 60D and I have no clue why I wrote Edit for 62D. Duh! I got Jake with the fills but have never heard it in reference to copacetic.

We're having a great stretch of weather. A Canadian high pressure system is sitting on top of us. Cool nights for sleeping and mid 70's during the day. Perfect!!

LOLs on the quotes Dennis!

Nice looking family KQ!

Have a great day.

Dennis said...

KQ, what a great-looking family! Your husband looks just like a certain baseball player, but I can't put my finger on who it is; I'll email you when I think of it.

Hahtoolah said...

Morning, All! I generally don’t like puzzles where the theme is a quip. This one was no exception. It took a while before I could get into this one. I will say, however, that there were a lot of clever clues.

I especially liked: Cyber letters (68A): EMAIL and Blind part (8D): SLAT. My favorite clue was Source of a suit (64A): TORT.

I also liked how UTAH crossed UTES.

Thanks for explaining ETTA and JAKE, CC. I didn't understand those responses. Both were new to me.

September 10 Birthdays:

1941 ~ Stephen Jay Gould (d. 2002); paleontologist and writer.

1937 ~ Jared Diamond, scientist/physiologist and writer who has written some fascinating books, including “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.”

1934 ~ Roger Maris (d. 1985), baseball player who broke Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1961, when he hit 61 home runs for the Yankees.

1933 ~ Karl Lagerfeld, Fashion designer.

1931 ~ Philip Baker Hall, Actor who was the Library Cop on a Seinfeld episode, who tracked Jerry down for an overdue book.

1922 ~ Yma Sumac (d. 2008), Peruvian sopranoPeruvian soprano. She had an amazing vocal range.

QOD: What worries you, masters you. ~ John Locke

Dick said...

Good morning C.C. and all, a nice easy run this morning. Not much to comment about on the puzzle, but I did especially like 13D and like Dennis whom was the aha moment.

Dennis, it is probably my warped sense of humor, but I really liked your quotes today.

KQ , you have a great looking family.

Hope you all have a great Thursday.

Hahtoolah said...

CC: Kempt is an odd word without the "un" in front of it. Not sure I've ever seen it used. Rather like "gruntled" and "disgruntled." We all know what a disgruntled employee is, but is there such a thing as a gruntled employee?

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Embien,
You are partly right. Yes, 9 is an unlucky number for Japanese because it's pronounced the same as "agony". They also regard 4 as unlucky number, the same as Chinese do, since 4 has the same pronunciation as "die". 8 is a lucky number to Chinese/Japanese and most Asians, since it's pronounced the same as "prosper".

Chickie,
No need to apologize. Blogger glitch occurs from time to time. Hope those kids won't tire you out.

Irish Jim & WM,
Congratulations on your wedding anniversaries as well. De Beers for the ladies please!

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Hahtool,
Good point on gruntled and disgruntled.

Crockett/Carol,
I think your new puzzle is by the un-retired Wayne R. Williams. What's the theme today? Is it on-line somewhere?

Linda,
Good to see you back.

Jerome,
Yes indeed, morel compass is a great tool for finding mushrooms.

Elissa said...

I've been doing the puzzle and checking the blog, especially to look at the pictures of fellow solvers, but haven't had the time to comment this week. Woke up very early this morning, so I thought I'd jump in.

This puzzle was a mixed bag for me. Many things just jumped into my head (ASSAD, JAKE, ETTA, UTAH), but there were also sports and name references that just wouldn't come. And LOOIE really threw me. In past years I would have thought I was not getting it, but having improved in doing the puzzle, I was annoyed that this clue was just plain wrong. And finally, I generally don't like 'quip' puzzles because there is little help to me for solving, but once the quip is revealed I find them clever. Not today - I thought this quip was especially lame.

Sorry to whine - late to bed and early to rise apparently makes me cranky.

kazie said...

I have to disagree with most here. I definitely didn't like this one. Not because of the quip--that fell in OK eventually, but the west coast place/college names and the Amstel escaped me, also for some reason, 78 and 45--I thought of hwy, rte, but not RPM--even when I had the RP-.

I didn't remember ROLO because I've never liked caramel,(it's like glue on my teeth), didn't know TRETS, MAAS, EMIL, TORME or LOMA, had STOAT instead of SABLE for the longest time.

TBSP was a surprise when I got it--I was looking for some old fashioned measure word like "dram" that I didn't know. If I'd given it some thought, I'd have got there sooner. I also started with SANE for WISE. Just didn't hit a chord with me, I guess.

I also thought we might be back to Williams puzzles with the Thursday quips.

c.c.,
A dinghy is generally a rowboat, perhaps with a small outboard motor.

Dennis,
I also wondered about NCO and LOOIE, but since so much of this was a mystery to me, I took it without too much worry.

KQ,
Good looking family!

I will be meeting Dot and Andrea in Madison next week on Friday, so hopefully we'll have a photo to submit after that.

Anonymous said...

I flew through this one today, and a good thing as I have a super busy day. I liked the quote, and they are fun to do, but sparingly. It is a nice change once in a while.

I love ROLO's, but always think they will last the whole day and I polish off the entire roll in no time as they are soo good. STOLI is one of my favorites too, but have switched to Grey Goose more recently. I wanted WIDER vs. RINSE as I just went to the dentist the other day.

Dennis, interested to hear what ball player he resembles. We used to get that he looked like Frasier but no more.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I thought we had seen the last of The Quip. I could only have been more surprised if today's theme quip had been by Evan Esar.

I don't think the quip/pun was particularly clever. What saved the puzzle for me were some other interesting fills like ZEPHYR, COLIC, AMSTEL and ASTORIA.

I liked the addition of both POMONA and LOMA Linda too. I lived not too far from either of them when I was in my late teens and early 20's.

POMONA College is one of the eight Claremont Colleges in the Claremont CA area. They are all top rated schools. I took a tour of Scripps College when I was a high school senior, but even though my grades were very good, I (or my parents) could never have afforded the tuition...very pricey.

LOMA Linda CA is the home of both Loma Linda Children's Hospital and Loma Linda University, which is a Seventh-day Adventist educational health-sciences institution. They are both very well known and respected.

KQ, Looks like you and your good looking family know how to have a good time!

Dennis, Very funny quotes today.

Happy Day, WM!

Dennis said...

KQ, I also was a STOLI fan before switching to the Goose, but then I discovered Chopin vodka; absolutely the smoothest I've tasted in a somewhat-reasonably priced vodka. Highly recommended.

carol said...

Good morning C.C. and all - I was so surprised to see a quip today and like CA, I thought I had fallen into a time warp. I put SARGE in for 31D but soon realized that was wrong. I have never heard of 'Looie'.

53A would have been a mystery a year ago, but I now know the word cartoon has been replaced by 'toon'. Shortening words seems to the the trend now and I find myself doing it too. (Pics or pix for pictures, zines for magazines and others I can't think of just now).

The word kempt really brought me up short! I feel a bit stupid but I always thought the word was KEPT. If you had things neat and tidy you had things 'well-kept'...does that work for a 'kept' woman/man? Sometimes when you don't see the word printed out, you cannot know how it is spelled. C.C., I am astounded by your knowledge of English and it's usage.

KQ - such a nice picture of you and your great looking family!

Dennis - loved the sex quotes! LOL

C.C. I have not solved today's 'A Daily Crossword' in our Oregonian. They never show who the constructor is.
Perhaps Crockett has done it. I will let you know later if he does not.

Anonymous said...

31 Down Clue "Certain NCO slangily" can't be correct. The answer ended up being "Looie" The slang word "Looie" refers to a 2nd or 1st Lieutenant i.e. 2nd Looie whichis a officers grade not NCO

Moon said...

Good Morning!
Wow! All of you flew through this.
And I struggled even with G help.
So many unknowns. Took more than 30 mins to complete it.
I actually like having a quip once in a while and this reminded me of the old Tribune days with Alan P Oschwang on thursdays.
Didnt know STOLI or ROLO as I dont drink vodka or eat candy. However AMSTEL was an easy fill as I love beer.

Need to rush now..the better/thinner (he used to be fatter) half is coming home after 7 months in India. Got a lot to do: tidy the house, fill gas and go pick him up at the airport some 50 miles away.

KQ: Such a good looking family.

CC: Thanks for all your explanations as usual.

Have a great Thursday!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad Dennis caught that error. I thought I was seeing things. I read that three times to make sure I didn't misread the clue.

What is the origin of Jake in regards to copacetic? I've never heard of that.

The quip took time to figure out it was the first quip I've seen since the end of the Daily Puzzle by Wayne Roberts.

Thanks to AL I can now hyperlink!

In honor of 25 Across Pleasing Breeze ZEPHYR I present to you Summer Breeze by The Isley Brothers

SUMMER BREEZE

treefrog said...

Hi All,
Did the puzzle last night while vegging in front of the TV. An OK puzzle. Had to g several, but that's the norm for Thurs.

Will celebrate Sewing Machine Day. Will probably use 3 of my 4 modern machines. Will take a pass on the hand crank portable.

Have a great day.

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & gang,
It was a hard one for me today, I think that we only finished 1/4 of it before my wife left for work.

Dennis, thanks for the definition of 'Looie' that one had me stumped.

Kemp isn't a word I'd think of for neat and tidy.

On a aside note:9/9/9
This is a weird hijacking, the priest thought there was danger ahead because the numbers 9/9/9 were the opposite of 6/6/6 the numbers associated with the AntiChrist.

What's the world coming to?

Crockett1947 said...

C.C., yes the "new" puzzle in the Oregonian is Wayne Williams'. He is self-syndicating and does not have online solutions yet, but is looking to do so. Yesterday we had a quote and today we have the word TWO hidden in the four theme entries. The puzzles started on Monday.

IMBO

kazie said...

Treefrog,
Wow! So many sewing machines!

Moon,
I also had trouble today, so don't feel alone in that.
Have a great reunion with your DH!

Red State Dem,
I also forgot to mention I've never heard of JAKE in that sense.

Bill G. said...

Like CC, I don't care for quips much. They are seldom funny and they don't help me solve the puzzle.

I never used to like vodka except as a mixer. Then I got a bottle of fairly expensive vodka and put it in the freezer. It would pour thickly into a shot glass and was delicious when sipped.

Speaking about 'kempt' and 'gruntled' brought to mind a wonderful essay by Jack Winter that appeared years ago in the New Yorker. I thought you might enjoy it.

How I Met My Wife

By Jack Winter

It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate.
I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way.
I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it, since I was traveling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do.
Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion.
So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads or tails of.
I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen. Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated — as if this were something I was great shakes at — and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings.
Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself.
She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently, The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.

Anonymous said...

Good morning everyone.

As soon as I saw quip, I didn't even try to solve it. Did get stock and blanket, but couldn't make those words into a quip.

I erased looie because I knew it couldn't refer to an NCO.
And I haven't heard a dentist or tech say rinse for years. They use some equipment, and a sink isn't even there to spit into. And I agree about the shortening of words. Toon isn't in my vocabulary.
Hmph.

On a brighter note, the pictures of KQ and her family are wonderful. I especially love the blue eyes. Bet KQ does too.

DH is off buying ingredients for him to make a chocolate zucchini cake for a dinner we go to tomorrow. We don't eat cake, but I thought Tarrajo would appreciate that he has to go buy a zucchini.
Where is she?

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Bill G, the New Yorker article is delicious. Thank you for posting it.

Anonymous said...

While I found the quotation on the lame side as well, I was pleased to see a quotation puzzle for a change. This is the second one that I recall we've had since the editorial change. Published on a Thursday no less, just like old times under the ancien régime!

-anon-hp

Anonymous said...

Kazie,

Mel Torme was introduced to me on the old NBC comedy Night Court. Judge Harry T. Stone was a fan of Mr. Torme.

Night Court

MEL TORME

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi Gang -

Quip themes are not my favorite, either. Decent enough puzzle, but not a lot of sparkle. We now have the Wayne Williams puzzle in the Freep, so I worked his "TWO" puzzle as a warm up. Hidden words don't do a lot for me either.

"LOOIE" is an astounding error.
I am nonplussed. Perhaps even minused.

OTOH, having gotten a long overdue haircut yesterday, I'm now about as KEMPT as I ever could be. And as a happily married man, I can say that nothing will gruntle you quite as much as requited love!

Cheers!
JzB the sipid, savory trombonist

Dennis said...

I am nonplussed. Perhaps even minused.

Jazz, funny line.

In fairness to Rich Norris, 31D was a last-minute change requested by an editor, and as such, didn't get the same scrutiny as the other clues.

On a lighter note, I have to share this, a funny but true bit:
Male Brain/Female Brain

MJ said...

Good morning, all.
The puzzle came together more easily for me today than I thought it would when I began. It helped being a left coaster as POMONA, LOMA, and ASTORIA were all gimmes. The only total unknown was JAKE. My dictionary defines it as slang for satisfactory, whereas "copacetic" is defined as slang for fine or excellent. Wikipedia gives about a dozen slang meanings for "jake." Like others, my favorite clue was 13D with the subtle hint "whom."

C.C.-I also don't get the humor of the Amstel commercial.

Moon-Congratulations and best wishes on your reunion today with DH.

WM-Happy anniversary!

Bill-Thanks for sharing Jack Winter's very clever essay.

KQ-Lovely, handsome family!

Enjoy the day!

Hahtoolah said...

We've now seen TALON twice in a row. Yesterday's clue was more clever, however.

I just came from a meeting where the room is kept so cold that the organization has actually made a purchase of BLANKETS to hand out. They must have BOUGHT STOCK IN A BLANKET FACTORY.

kazie said...

MJ and c.c.,
The joke is that the guys felt that only a guy would know that sports answer, and they must have been arguing about whether the "girl" was really a guy.

Red State Dem,
I did know who Torme was, but never would have associated him with writing that song--it seemed much older. I also used to love Night Court.

Sallie,
I always have the same thought about the dentist/rinse clue which crops up often.

WM,
Happy Anniversary to you too!

Jerome said...

It can be real dangerous territory to enter when you make a quip puzzle. A lot of solvers just don't like them no matter how clever the quip may be. So when you create one, right off the bat you've got to deal with a whole slew of disgruntled folks. But, I liked it because it was something a tad different and humorous enough to give me a smile.

Fun stuff (to me)-

I know a blog host that often uses C.C. OIL to cure COLIC.

Yoko finds POMONA with an ONO MAP.

Are you AS SAD as ASSAD?

In a BOX SEAT you might hear someone yell BEAT SOX! In the hot Southwest there certainly is a lot of TEXAS BO. That's not as fun to think about as BOAT SEX. Is it, Dennis.

Cool fill- JAKE, LOOIE, DINGHY, KEMPT, ZEPHYR, and ZEBRA.

embien said...

11:55 today. Bah, humbug. Back to "quip Thursday" are we? If you thought I was crabby last Sunday (and I was), you should have seen me solving another stupid quip puzzle.

Quip puzzles don't make a theme, and they rarely are clever enough to cause me to smile. Bah.

On the bright side, I'll be racing out the door soon to meet buddies at a local watering hole for my annual NFL football pool draw party. (My blog photo is from a previous draw party.) I'll be cheered up by that and will have long since forgotten about a stupid quip puzzle.

As I like to say: there are only two seasons in the year. NFL season and waiting for NFL season. (I am pretty sure my wife doesn't share in the air of elation around the embien household on this point.)

@KQ: wonderful pix! We sure gots us some beautiful women on this here blog. And smart too (else why would they be doing xwords?) Hubby and sons look quite handsome, as well.

embien said...

@KQ: my bad. I totally forgot to mention your lovely golfing daughter. Please excuse me.

I used to golf a lot but can no longer swing a club pain-free (torn rotator cuff).

Chickie said...

Hello All--Another day with no Google help. Is it really Thursday? I didn't know Jake for copacetic, but the perps gave me the answer. I had to come here to make sure it was correct. Looie was another unknown, so I had it "correct" even if it was "incorrect".

I really did groan outloud when I saw that this was to be a quip puzzle. But things began falling into place and I actually thought the pun was fun. C.C. you had the exact idea for the pun.

I made several errors in the fills in the bottom 1/4 of the puzzle, so it took me a while to correct those mistakes. I had Nos, for RPM's, Dull for drab, and Stet for dele. I left the puzzle alone for a while and came back and the aha moment came when I pulled Torme out of the recesses of my old brain.

The college kids will all be here tonight. I'm getting ready today. Breakfast casseroles are terrific for a big group and tasty, too.

Argyle said...

Re: Zephyr

This is a 12 cylinder classic owned by a friend of mine.

1941 Lincoln-Zephyr 4-door Sedan

Anonymous said...

Dennis, thanks for the vodka recommendation. I rarely drink any longer, but when I do a good vodka on the rocks with a twist is sooooooo nice.

Bill G - that New Yorker article was something special. Thanks for sharing. Wish I could do that with words.

Thanks for all the nice compliments. We all have blue eyes, but our middle child's are an incredible ice blue. He told me in seventh grade how lucky he is to have them because "all the girls like them a lot".

Hahtool, I am in the opposite boat. We were supposed to have a cool front go through, and it is 81 degrees, the painters started the outside of my home today and I didn't turn on the air. Every window is covered with plastic and we are sooooo hot in here. Oops. Time to fix that problem. No BLANKETS around here.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and KEMPT made me think of VERKLEMPT (not really the same but sounds so much like it) with Mike Myers in SNL. Then Barbra Streisand enters "like butter".

kazie said...

KQ,
Interesting word. Although it's Yiddish, it's rooted in German, and Klempner in German is "plumber". The prefix "ver-" often changes the normal meaning of the word it's attached to to the opposite. So when the pipe is plugged up, it's verklemmt, and the plumber plumbs it and it's cleared. If a person is verklemmt, (no it doesn't mean constipated), he's inhibited. Those Yiddish jokes about it, like Mike Myers', imply confusion and inability to act normally.

Bill G,
I love the Jack Winter essay. Thanks for sharing it.

Luxor said...

It appears as tho Bruce Venzke made a mistake on 31D.
In the U.S. military, there are two types of officers, commissioned and non-commissioned (nco's). Commissioned officers are:1st & 2nd lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, 1, 2, 3, 4,& 5 star general. Non commissioned officers are: private, private first class,corporal, buck sergeant, sergeant 1st class, master sergeant, sergeant major, warrant officer 1st & 2nd class and there might be another sergeant but im not sure.
You can receive a commission in several ways. graduate from west point, take 4 years of ROTC in college, attend officer training school in the military, or take a correspondence course.
Any of these methods will earn you a commission as a 2nd lieutenant.
And of course there is also the battlefield commission which could be any rank at all.
The term 'looie' is used in the military to refer to a 'lieutenant' which is a commissioned officer.
So it would appear as tho the clue or answer for 31D may be a mistake.

Chickie said...

Bill G., A clever poem by Jack Winter!

KQ, A lovely family. You and your husband don't look old enough to have children as grown up as those in the picture.

WM, Happy Anniversary and Moon Happy Reunion Day.

A small world incident: Yesterday at a San Jose State U. event a man came up to me and said, "You don't know me, but you do know me."
My response was, "And how is that?"
He replied, "I'm on the Crossword Corner Blog, so you know me, kind of". It was Jimmy B. We had a nice chat and come to find out he is the SIL of a good friend whose mother we were honoring yesterday. It is indeed a small world.

Also, we haven't heard from Tarrajo this week. I hope everything is ok.

Dennis said...

luxor, check the posts at 5:30am and 10:12am.

Argyle said...

Not to mention C.C.'s original post!

Dennis said...

Not sure how I missed it, but WM, Happy Anniversary!! I hope the fact that you haven't been on here means that you're having a great time.

Jerome, right you are; it's the motion of the ocean.

Moon, Happy Reunion Day! Boy, that's a helluva long time - if you're not here for a day or two, we'll understand.

Hahtoolah said...

WM: Happy Anniversary. You, also, Irish Jim.

KQ: Beautiful family you have.

Chickie and JimmyB, How nice you could meet in person.

KQ and Kazie: Your comments about the Yiddish word from SNL was interesting, and I realized that I had never actually seen this word spelled out in transliteration in the English alphabet. The word in Yiddish would be written in Hebrew, and the first letter of the word corresponds to "F", not "V." The word is pronounced more with a "fakh" sound rather than a "ver" sound. Sort of like "fakhlempt" in a transliteration.

The word actually means a sort of overwhelming excitement.

Anonymous said...

There were several things we did not know but managed to get them from the perps. We refused to use looie for a long time because we knew it was wrong. My biggest problem was putting in rec for record for 45's & 78's which messed up kempt & the Dutch brew which I did not know. When I checked the blog for the brew, I realized my mistake.

I really enjoyed Jack Winter's article.

Belated congratulations to Kazie & Irish Jim. And congratulations to WM for 35 years today.

Anyone in the Madison area who wants to join us at Andrea's Brasserie V on Monroe Street on the 18th is welcome. We're going to be there at 1:00 P.M.

Dot

WM said...

Quick stop in to say hi...and thank you so much for all of the congratulations and warm wishes, and I pass them along also to IrishJim.

KQ...what an absolutely lovely family, you must be terribly proud of them all. A very good looking bunch.

Moon...what great news for you and your husband, that is a very long time...much joy and happiness in your "reunion".

Chickie/JimmyB so much fun that you met, the world, or at least the bay area is really a village...now maybe when we do the locals get together we can get Jimmy to join in...heard from eddyB and we will set a date and location soon.

Having a wonderful, enjoyable, and much deserved relaxing day. It did start off with coffee and a lovely visit with Elissa who wasn't really crabby at all ;o)...I went to pick up a scarf that she custom designed for me based my sunflower painting...absolutely stunning! A very talented lady...and a good time was had by all.

Quickly on the puzzle...for no known reason I got the silly quip with a very few letters in place and then the rest of the puzzle pretty much happened on its own with the big exception of JAKE which I altered a couple times, when it still didn't make sense I left it. I had even changed the J in JOCKS to an S thinking of Athletic Socks...but alas, it still made no sense. Some fun words and nothing was really boring or typical of uninspired xword fill so no real complaints. I did think this was going to be tougher than it was, so either the puzzles are getting a bit easier or we are, at long last, getting smarter...;o)

Great evening to everyone and we have some great stuff to go on the BBQ...saving dinner out for a later date. Had too much running around this past weekend and want to enjoy staying home.

Cheers and all

WM said...

Ooops...and Jeannie, I haven't "published" your daisies yet...will wait until later

carol said...

Kempt is a word that's unknown to me.
It means your hair is where it should be.
But if we're in bed,
and I mess up your head
will you holler and change your house key?

JD said...

Good evening CC and all,

Just got home from seeing a good friend who came to town for her HS reunion. While sitting in the bar savoring a delicious Lemon Drop, we were keeping an eye on anyone who came in, and then wondering, do I know you?So many changes from those teen years to 65.LOL!

I had a hard time getting started on the C/w today, so immediately switched to the "downs." I looked in my atlas for Astoria, and left 1 hole for any evil spirits to escape, box 31. Looie? Should have gotten the l in lbs-doh!All I could think of was abs-so dumb!

For source of suit, I wanted lamb..like in lamb's wool.And for chamber ensemble, I kept thinking heart or aorta. But it all worked out, and I don't like quotes in puzzles either. I get a hmmmm, instead of an a-ha!

Kazie, it was too late last night to wish you a happy anniversary, and to thank you for the link and info on Octoberfest. :)

WM, I hope when you celebrate that you have the best meal ever.

KQ, your family is picture perfect! What a darling daughter; for a minute I didn't know which one was the daughter.As was mentioned, you look soooo young.

Dennis, I always love your wows, but the sex quotes today were a kick! BTW, whom gave you an edge, it confused the h... out of me!:)

IRISH JIM said...

Good evening all.

A big thank you to CC WM DOT HAHTOOL for the good wishes.Hope I didnt omit anyone.

Kq, you have a wonderful looking family. You and your daughter are like two peas in a pod.

Slan.

IRISH JIM said...

Wm
My apologies . Best wishes to you and your husband on your anniversary.

JD said...

Dennis, just watched the male/female brain clip. What a hoot! Thanks!

Bill, also enjoyed the Jack Winter story; wish I could come up with a clever word to describe it :)

Jeannie said...

Sorry I have been absent of late, but my big Foodshow is coming up and it is all customer booth driven. That means that I must collect all the allowances vendors give, enter them into the computer, plan a layout, and assign booth numbers. The madness should be over or HAS to be over September 16th as the customer's foodshow books go to print. I promise to forward pics when the big day is over. Sometime after October 20th.

Oh, and tomatoes are coming in. I am trying to keep up, but I am spending about 12 hrs at work right now and when I add my 2 hour commute back and forth, I can't really justify the time to work with them. Things should settle down after Sept. 16th with a little cooperation from the other buyers in my department. I am not looking for sympathy here as I value my job and responsilities. I just wish everyone else had the same ones as mine!!

I really haven't had the time to read all the comments; but C.C. your new addition of peeps pics is the only thing I take the time to check out. It's a great addition.

Jeannie said...

WM, I am buried at work right now and haven't had the decency or time to check the blog. I could really use your daisies about now...I haven't forgotten. It would be a real day brightener before the 16th. PUULLEEZZEE

Jeannie said...

I have had some e-mail messages from Tarrajo and it seems she is having some issues with the "sperm donor" that is the "non" father and she is trying to keep a low profile. Evidently somehow he found this sight and has had some issues as to sharing "his" son's life. She told me to tell you all to just keep her in your well wishes. From what I understand they are fine, and Brady is a running back on his football team and doing well.

Argyle said...

Please tell Tarrajo to keep us informed about how our boy is doing. I miss the updates.

tobylee said...

I really enjoyed today's puzzle and didn't have any trouble with it. (except for the weird 'looie' answer. The Oregonian was another story. I had a lot of trouble getting traction and it is a pretty messy page at the end. I knew they were changing, but was unaware of the day. The rest of the week was easy.

Great pictures KQ. Looks like your family enjoys a lot of great times, wonderful smiles.

And to all those celebrating the anniversaries. Congratulations, and enjoy every moment you have together, even if you just have to laugh at yourselves.

I know it is late, but I read most of the posts and I am again heartened by how much this group cares for each other.

Hang in there Tarrajo. I hope everything comes out well.

Dennis, Elmore Leonard is just weird. He sounds like someone you would have heard on Hee Haw. Made me laugh though.

I wonder in what context Winston Churchill made that comment. That would be the rest of the story.

Goodnight.

treefrog said...

Great photo Bill. Nice looking family.