Theme: None
Total blocks: 30
Total words: 72
The maximum word counts for a themeless puzzle is 72 (78 for a weekday 15*15).
As soon as I saw Brad Wilber's byline, I immediately knew "we're not in Kansas any more". His puzzles are just tough. I did fill in more blanks than I first thought. Then I peeked shamelessly at the answer sheet. Quite a few unknowns!
Can't imagine how I would have fared if the original clues remained unchanged. The grid actually does not look intimidating at all, just lots of 9-letter entries, total 14 if I counted correctly.
Across:
1. Pretax sums, e.g.: : SUBTOTALS. Didn't come to me readily. My husband handles all the tax/money stuff in our house.
10. Hero at the Battle of Cabra, 1079: EL CID. Knew this 11th century Spanish hero. Was unaware of the Battle of Cabra.
15. Blackmailer in "David Copperfield": URIAH HEEP. Stumper, though I've seen URIAH clued as "Heep in a Dickens novel" before.
16. Actress Téa: LEONI. She's married to David Duchovyn of "The X-Files".
17. They reach very large audiences: MASS MEDIA
18. Agreements: PACTS
19. Yucatán years: ANOS. Alliteration often happens with foreign words.
20. Wall Street down time?: BEAR MARKET. Great clue. "Wall Street up time" would be BULL MARKET.
22. Jailbird: CON
23. Trains overhead: ELS. In Chicago.
24. Prof's aides: TAS (Teaching Assistants)
26. "Love Don't Cost a Thing" singer, familiarly: J-LO. One of my favorite J-LO songs. I wonder if anyone tried TLC.
27. City south of Fort Worth: WACO. And EL PASO (10D West Texas city). The Texas oil city is ODESSA.
28. Former Ger. currency: DMS (Deutsche Marks). Is it a common abbreviation? RMB is Chinese currency. It stands for RenMinBi, literally "people's currency".
29. Football boot that takes unexpected bounces: SQUIB KICK. No idea. Football terms are definitely my blind spots.
32. Newsman Huntley: CHET. He co-anchored "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" with David Brinkley.
33. Grinch creator: SEUSS. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"
34. Bird Down Under: EMU. It's on Australian coat of arms.
37. Foliage-eating pest: GYPSY MOTH.
39. Lush's sound: HIC. An onomatopoeic word. An imitation of hiccup.
40. Chatters: GABS
41. Western alliance: Abbr.: OAS (Organization of American States). Since 1948.
42. Luther opponent Johann __: ECK (Ek). No idea. Wikipedia says he's a 16th-century German Roman Catholic theologian who opposed the reforms of Martin Luther.
43. NASDAQ debut: IPO (Initial Public Offering)
45. Closest pal, in texting shorthand: BFF (Best Friend Forever)
48. Product sold below cost to attract customers: LOSS LEADER. New phrase to me.
51. Jezebel's deity: BAAL. Hebrew for "lord"/"master". It's just clued as "False god" yesterday. Jezebel was the wife of Ahab, king of Israel. According to the Bible, she encouraged idolatry.
52. Flannel shirt pattern: PLAID
53. Booming voice quality: RESONANCE
55. __ Carlo: MONTE
56. "Cogito ergo sum" philosopher: DESCARTES (dey-KAHRT). René DESCARTES: "I think, therefore I am".
58. Shrub with fluffy grayish flower clusters: SMOKE BUSH.
Down:
1. "Poison" plant: SUMAC. Highly toxic.
2. Seventh planeta: URANO. Spanish for Uranus I gather.
3. Plains bovine: BISON
4. Soviet news agency: TASS. Now Itar-TASS.
5. Resistance unit: OHM. Named after the German physicist G. S. OHM. The reverse MOH is "unit of conductance".
6. Amoebalike movie alien: THE BLOB. Nope. Have never heard of the movie. Wikipedia says it's Steve McQueen's debut performance.
7. Dreaded mosquito: AEDES (ey-EE-deez). The yellow-fever mosquito. Another new word.
8. Darth's daughter: LEIA. From "Star Wars".
9. Title gladiator played by Kirk Douglas: SPARTACUS. I guessed.
11. Goneril's father: LEAR. King Lear. He has three daughters: Goneril (oldest, bad), Regan (middle one, bad too) and Cordelia (youngest, good).
12. Old military topper with a turned-up brim: COCKED HAT
13. Fit together: INTERMESH. I only knew ENMESH.
14. Repugnance: DISTASTE
21. Big truck name: MACK
23. Yale Bowl cheerers: ELIS. Yale Bowl is the stadium of Yale University football team (the Yale Bulldogs).
26. Equitable: JUST
27. Timid types: WIMPS
29. Long-sentence punctuation: SEMICOLONS. The answer just leaped itself.
30. Marsh hazard: QUICKSAND
31. Rows on pianos: KEYBOARDS.
32. CNBC interviewees: CEOS. Sometimes CFOS.
33. "... on my honor": SO HELP ME. God, I had SOH???PME sitting there forever. Stupid!
35. Fed who tracks down money launderers: T-MAN. From the Department of the Treasury.
37. Rubberneck: GAPE
38. Exuberant modern compliment: YOU ROCK. Yep, our Lois uses this compliment all the time.
40. Word before Age or cage: GILDED. Gilded cage is new to me. Dictionary says to be like “a bird in a gilded cage” is to live in luxury but without freedom. What can I say? I've been living under a rock.
44. Gypsum painting surface: GESSO (JES-oh). Stumped many last time when it appeared in our puzzle.
45. African language group: BANTU. Includes Swahili and Zulu.
46. Looks toward: FACES
47. It's pressed on the campaign trail, with "the": FLESH. "Press the FLESH" = shake hands. Another new idiom to me.
49. Place to build: SITE
51. Cutting remark: BARB. Hey, Barb B!
54. Highland refusal: NAE. What's Scottish for "yes" then?
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total blocks: 30
Total words: 72
The maximum word counts for a themeless puzzle is 72 (78 for a weekday 15*15).
As soon as I saw Brad Wilber's byline, I immediately knew "we're not in Kansas any more". His puzzles are just tough. I did fill in more blanks than I first thought. Then I peeked shamelessly at the answer sheet. Quite a few unknowns!
Can't imagine how I would have fared if the original clues remained unchanged. The grid actually does not look intimidating at all, just lots of 9-letter entries, total 14 if I counted correctly.
Across:
1. Pretax sums, e.g.: : SUBTOTALS. Didn't come to me readily. My husband handles all the tax/money stuff in our house.
10. Hero at the Battle of Cabra, 1079: EL CID. Knew this 11th century Spanish hero. Was unaware of the Battle of Cabra.
15. Blackmailer in "David Copperfield": URIAH HEEP. Stumper, though I've seen URIAH clued as "Heep in a Dickens novel" before.
16. Actress Téa: LEONI. She's married to David Duchovyn of "The X-Files".
17. They reach very large audiences: MASS MEDIA
18. Agreements: PACTS
19. Yucatán years: ANOS. Alliteration often happens with foreign words.
20. Wall Street down time?: BEAR MARKET. Great clue. "Wall Street up time" would be BULL MARKET.
22. Jailbird: CON
23. Trains overhead: ELS. In Chicago.
24. Prof's aides: TAS (Teaching Assistants)
26. "Love Don't Cost a Thing" singer, familiarly: J-LO. One of my favorite J-LO songs. I wonder if anyone tried TLC.
27. City south of Fort Worth: WACO. And EL PASO (10D West Texas city). The Texas oil city is ODESSA.
28. Former Ger. currency: DMS (Deutsche Marks). Is it a common abbreviation? RMB is Chinese currency. It stands for RenMinBi, literally "people's currency".
29. Football boot that takes unexpected bounces: SQUIB KICK. No idea. Football terms are definitely my blind spots.
32. Newsman Huntley: CHET. He co-anchored "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" with David Brinkley.
33. Grinch creator: SEUSS. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"
34. Bird Down Under: EMU. It's on Australian coat of arms.
37. Foliage-eating pest: GYPSY MOTH.
39. Lush's sound: HIC. An onomatopoeic word. An imitation of hiccup.
40. Chatters: GABS
41. Western alliance: Abbr.: OAS (Organization of American States). Since 1948.
42. Luther opponent Johann __: ECK (Ek). No idea. Wikipedia says he's a 16th-century German Roman Catholic theologian who opposed the reforms of Martin Luther.
43. NASDAQ debut: IPO (Initial Public Offering)
45. Closest pal, in texting shorthand: BFF (Best Friend Forever)
48. Product sold below cost to attract customers: LOSS LEADER. New phrase to me.
51. Jezebel's deity: BAAL. Hebrew for "lord"/"master". It's just clued as "False god" yesterday. Jezebel was the wife of Ahab, king of Israel. According to the Bible, she encouraged idolatry.
52. Flannel shirt pattern: PLAID
53. Booming voice quality: RESONANCE
55. __ Carlo: MONTE
56. "Cogito ergo sum" philosopher: DESCARTES (dey-KAHRT). René DESCARTES: "I think, therefore I am".
58. Shrub with fluffy grayish flower clusters: SMOKE BUSH.
Down:
1. "Poison" plant: SUMAC. Highly toxic.
2. Seventh planeta: URANO. Spanish for Uranus I gather.
3. Plains bovine: BISON
4. Soviet news agency: TASS. Now Itar-TASS.
5. Resistance unit: OHM. Named after the German physicist G. S. OHM. The reverse MOH is "unit of conductance".
6. Amoebalike movie alien: THE BLOB. Nope. Have never heard of the movie. Wikipedia says it's Steve McQueen's debut performance.
7. Dreaded mosquito: AEDES (ey-EE-deez). The yellow-fever mosquito. Another new word.
8. Darth's daughter: LEIA. From "Star Wars".
9. Title gladiator played by Kirk Douglas: SPARTACUS. I guessed.
11. Goneril's father: LEAR. King Lear. He has three daughters: Goneril (oldest, bad), Regan (middle one, bad too) and Cordelia (youngest, good).
12. Old military topper with a turned-up brim: COCKED HAT
13. Fit together: INTERMESH. I only knew ENMESH.
14. Repugnance: DISTASTE
21. Big truck name: MACK
23. Yale Bowl cheerers: ELIS. Yale Bowl is the stadium of Yale University football team (the Yale Bulldogs).
26. Equitable: JUST
27. Timid types: WIMPS
29. Long-sentence punctuation: SEMICOLONS. The answer just leaped itself.
30. Marsh hazard: QUICKSAND
31. Rows on pianos: KEYBOARDS.
32. CNBC interviewees: CEOS. Sometimes CFOS.
33. "... on my honor": SO HELP ME. God, I had SOH???PME sitting there forever. Stupid!
35. Fed who tracks down money launderers: T-MAN. From the Department of the Treasury.
37. Rubberneck: GAPE
38. Exuberant modern compliment: YOU ROCK. Yep, our Lois uses this compliment all the time.
40. Word before Age or cage: GILDED. Gilded cage is new to me. Dictionary says to be like “a bird in a gilded cage” is to live in luxury but without freedom. What can I say? I've been living under a rock.
44. Gypsum painting surface: GESSO (JES-oh). Stumped many last time when it appeared in our puzzle.
45. African language group: BANTU. Includes Swahili and Zulu.
46. Looks toward: FACES
47. It's pressed on the campaign trail, with "the": FLESH. "Press the FLESH" = shake hands. Another new idiom to me.
49. Place to build: SITE
51. Cutting remark: BARB. Hey, Barb B!
54. Highland refusal: NAE. What's Scottish for "yes" then?
Answer grid.
C.C.
35 comments:
Highland refusal: NAE. What's Scottish for "yes" then?
Aye.
Martin
Good Morning,
Up early as my stomach hurts due to eating serrano pepper fries..well, I've only myself to blame. :)
The puzzle was OK: I did have a lot of blanks in my first try. Liked the BEAR MARKET clue. Never heard of "The FLESH" or "SO HELP ME on my honor" or "SUB TOTALS".
The other long fills were easy.
I think there is a typo in 11D: Lear's third daughter is Cordelia.
CC, Sorry about the Twins loss last evening.
Have a great weekend.
Good morning CC and Gang,
I did much better on this puzzle than I though I would. Also did not know El Cid. Had Leone instead of Leoni - which messed me up on distaste. I agree CC - "on your honor" completely stumped me also. Never heard of loss leader.
Jeanne - I did set up a google account. Having problems though because when I tried to respond on this site, the message says incorrect password. Since I wrote it down when I set up the account, I know it is correct. Not sure what to do now.
Had a trying day yesterday - I know all the cooks out there will appreciate this. I made spice cupcakes for a Halloween party today. I finished up and put the cakes in the oven. I started to clean up and, much to my chagrin, there, on the counter, sat two eggs! Wanted to beat my self silly with my spatula - can't imagine how I forgot the eggs! Had to start from scratch and remake the cupcakes. Talk about a "Duhh" moment! By the way has anybody noticed how expensive spices, like allspice and cloves, are? Wow!
Thanks for letting me vent, I needed that.
Hi All,
Well..... six for six this week!!!
I DID have my doubts about today tho!
But, as I am a rather stubborn person (and had nothing else to do) I stuck with it and after an hour or so the blanks were filled. Never heard of a SQUIBKICK, but that's what it says it is and who am I to argue?
NOW I've got things to do!
CY'all Later
Morning all -
Definitely more challenging today. Parts seemed pretty straightforward, but then I had to make some very lucky guesses in other parts. I ended up with several blanks and had to come here to finish. Unknowns were El Cid, cocked hat, Uriah Heep, and aedes.
My mom is making us her meatloaf for dinner tonight, with real baked potatoes in the oven, not the microwave. One of my favorite meals from my childhood - hope it lives up to the memories! It's also the very first meal I cooked for my Girl Scout cooking badge in the fourth grade.
Time to pack and hit the road. Go Badgers!!!
Andrea
21 minutes although I didn't pause while I was eating a bowl of Rice Krispies.
I had to use the "G SPOT" to get Descartes. I also struggled with cocked hat. For rubberneck I wanted Gawk. I also tried to use Gaze I even tried ogle. OY VEY!
RSD
Hi all!
Guess most of you sleep in on the weekend(?)
CC: The puzzle was fun and not very difficult for a person who has been around for a long time! Better than the rest of the week.
Thanks Bill G for referring me to AL 2.0!
This Hypatia was not involved in porn--forgot about that connection. Was math prof for many decades.
Jerome: One of the reasons that ancient Hypatia was killed was that, as head curator of the Library of Alexandria (after the death of her father, Theon) she was occupying a "man's job." Since all of her works were destroyed (in an attempt to eradicate her from history) we really know very little about her. Revisionist history has recently muddied up the story of the aforementioned library and her connection to it (and subsequent plunge of the Western World into the Dark and then Middle Ages.)
I have a burning question: what happens to comments that are submitted so late that the general population will probably not read them?
I loved this puzzle! It wasn't difficult, despite the several unknowns that I was able to guess. My one stumper was a real duh moment when I came here: I'd forgotten GESSO, which we've had before, and I put TESSO in. Then I was so married to that, I couldn't come up with GUN for shooter. But I actually guessed everything else successfully with no outside help.
One of my unknowns was ECK, though I've been to the places in Germany associated with Luther. "Ecke" means "corner" in German, so I guess Luther was backed into the corner in their dispute LOL!
The military hat with the turned up brim had me thinking of the Oz uniforms
Sorry. That link takes you to their main page, click on "uniforms" and then "1A" to get the best view of the hats.
Good morning,
I was fairly successful on this puzzle, even though I didn't know many of the answers. Some came to me with perp help, others were "aha" moments. I would never have gotten COCKED HAT, GILDED, AENES without other answers filling in. Some of the fills I never looked at the clue. They just appeared with the perps.
Been too busy hosting guests and such to comment. Looks like we have some newbies.
Carol2, I often have to log in twice. Since setting up an igoogle account, it seems like the logging in works more consistently. Look at the username also. I have found that I often have typed that in wrong which will give me an error message.
Hypatia1, comments tend to be less on weekends. I think people are busy and often don't get on the computer. As for late comments, many of the bloggers do go back and read late comments from the previous day, so don't be shy of commenting late. Some never log on until late in the day, and they banter during those hours. Just have fun with this.
Bummed as we have tickets to the Gophers Homecoming game, and I am too sick to go. With snow on the ground, didn't think I would enjoy hanging out outside today. I was so looking forward to it. And then there is the Twins:-(
Good morning, everyone!
Pledge drive is over, so I may finally get back into the routine. I've been solving and reading, but haven't taken the time to make comments.
This puzzle was fun once the intimidation was overcome. Looked at the grid and thought I was in for a real bear, but was able to work everything out.
C.C., hard to tell if the SQUIB KICK worked or not. Depends upon who recovered the ball.
@carol2 Bummer about the cupcakes. Good thing you discovered the error before they were baked!
@barryg Nice to see you back. I certainly hope your leg heals completely ad quickly.
@hypatia1 Rest assured that there are many who check out the late night posts. My routine is to check the late posts before looking at the current day's blog, so there's at least one!
@kq Snow on the ground? BRRR. Hope you're feeling better soon.
GO BUCKS!
Have a great day!!
Bill G,
Joe Krozel responded to your question at the Interview Comments section.
Hypatia1,
Yes, I do read each and every post, no matter how late/early it's posted. They are all forwarded into my mailbox. Welcome!
Jeannie,
The marinated salmon is very tasty. Thank you.
Good Morning All, I guess I should be careful of what I wish for, I just might get it! This puzzle was a doozy.
My first trip through the grid gave me URIAH HEEP, THE BLOB, LEIA, LEAR, SPARTICUS, EL CID, LEONI, SEUSS, CHET, QUICKSAND, KEYBOARD and DESCARTES. My picket fence of fills looked like it had been run over with a bulldozer. After that I chipped away with the perps, one word, and sometimes one letter, at a time.
That doesn't mean I didn't like it...I certainly did. It was chock full of interesting and challenging clues and fills I've never seen before. SQUIB KICK, GYPSY MOTH, LOSS LEADER and SMOKE BUSH were all new.
KittyB, thanks for the reminder. GAH and I saw The Gipsy Moth IV ketch in Greenwich about 10 years ago. It looks so small to have accomplished such a long voyage.
Hypatia1, that was an interesting story about the original Hypatia. It is also interesting to see that you were a math professor. Many of the blog contributors were and still are teachers.
As others have said, many of us check the previous evenings posts before starting on the current day's posts. There are a lot of west-coasters who post after the more easterly folks (except for PJB of course :o) have been tucked into bed.
Al,
I am still digesting your doubly linked ENOL. One more question, I eat plenty of veggies and fruits, do I still need to take multivitamin every day?
Jazzbumpa & Jerome,
I enjoy very much your witty comments. You guys have such a quick, clever and imaginative weaving mind.
This was the easiest hard puzzle I've completed in a while. When I first started, I got to 18A before I filled anything, but then when I got a few crosses everything fell into place. I actually saw The Blob first run in a theater, one of the few advantages of being old, and probably one of the reasons I still can't abide horror movies. I've never seen any of the popular ones (Elm St. etc).
Anyway, this puzzle was perfect for my skill level, which on this blog is about mid-pack.
Carol2 -
not to repeat the advice you've already received, but I also have to enter my password twice pretty regularly. And there is, if you go into Google Blogger, a "forgot your password?" icon you can click.
Hypatia1:
echoing what others have said, I read every comment, every day. When I log on in the morning, I read all the late comments from night before. I'd miss many of PJB's posts and the left coasters otherwise. And I am an occasional night owl, anyway, also a side effect of age.
Forgive the porn allusion the other day, please. As for the dark and Middle Ages and their cause, there seem to be elements in our society who would be willing to throw our accumulated knowledge overboard, or as in the original case, burn it.
A fun puzzle for a themeless one for me today. I liked "squidkick" "loss leader", and "smokebush" worked into the puzzle; such evocative terms/phrases.
Thursday's puzzle was also very enjoyable for me this week.
Well I'm off to my daily back yard digging drudgery now. I'm hoping to get in some drip irrigation and raised garden beds later this month. It's good outdoor working weather here in northern Cal, still dry and temperate for the moment.
Best to you all this weekend,
anon-hp
interesting puzzle and blog...usually work it out in the la times but the electronic version is even faster...surprised to read about hypatia in the comments but it is in obvious reference to a previous conversation...fascinating historical and tragic character: brilliant philosopher and teacher who later is tortured and murdered by the christians.
~miguel
@C.C. If you eat a wide variety of vegetables and smaller portions of small fruit, like berries, and a fair proportion of that is raw, then it is unlikely that a multi-vitamin will make much difference.
If you aren't getting the multi from a quality health food store, they probably aren't worth taking anyway. The big companies all use the cheapest compounds in those, so technically the nutrient is there, but not in a very bio-available form. Also, carefully read the label to make sure there is no magnesium stearate (chalk) or titanium dioxide (TiO2). Those actually prevent vitamins and nutrients from being absorbed and can cause other health problems.
Two important supplements, especially for midwesterners, are fish or krill oil, for omega-3 fats and probiotics to improve your immune resistance and aid digestion.
Most fish today is either full of mercury or is farmed, and full of pollutants, which is a shame, because otherwise fish would be an excellent food. If you eat real yogurt or kefir that hasn't been made from pasteurized milk, you can probably skip the probiotic. If you get prescribed antibiotics, it is especially important to take the probiotics to replace the good bacteria being killed along with the bad.
There are some necessary minerals that are depleted in the soil due to over-farming, like magnesium (not stearate), zinc, and selenium (especially for males), that you might want to take once or twice a week.
Otherwise, whole food sources in a good varied, colorful diet (unprocessed, no sugar or grain) and getting lots of sunshine (but not to the point of burning) will provide what you need.
Nothing really surprising here, but we hear it so often we don't really think about it seriously. It is unbelievable to me how we let the big commercial branded food, drug, and chemical companies (Monsanto!) decide what we are "supposed" to put in our bodies.
Here's a tribute to The Gipsy Moth IV, Frances Chichester and all sailors who love the sea.
That reminds me of my sis and B-I-L, who recently had to have their little (and old) Schipperke, Sailor put down. Sailor traveled with them from California,through the Panama Canal and then to Florida on their 33 foot trimaran, and later cruised the islands off Columbia on their charter yacht. He was quite a character.
The poet, Harry Kemp, who was known as "The Vagabond Poet", was acquainted with e.e. cummings, Eugene O'Neill and other bohemian and avant garde artists of the 1920's. He spent time in Paris after WWI with members of The Lost Generation. They were the predecessors for The Beat Generation poets like Allen Ginsberg, whom we discussed a few days ago. This poem isn't deep, angry, or thought provoking, but who cares? Sometimes a poem is just a poem.
A Sailor's Life
(written in 1920)
Oh, a sailor hasn't much to brag —
An oilskin suit and a dunnage bag.
But, howsoever humble he be,
By the Living God, he has the sea!
The long, white leagues and the foam of it,
And the heart to make a home of it,
On a ship that kicks up waves behind
Through the blazing days and tempests blind.
Oh, a sailor hasn't much to love —
But he has the huge, blue sky above
The everlasting waves around,
That wash with an eternal sound.
So bury me, when I come to die,
Where the full-sailed, heeling clippers ply;
Give up the last cold body of me,
To the only home that I have — the sea!
- Harry Kemp 1883-1960
Hi C.C. & gang, a challenge puzzle today but not very hard once we filled in the obvious ones that led to the long fills. I would have had more trouble without my wife's help, she knew most of the hard ones and I came up with El _id not knowing if it was a S or C until the final ah ha Cocked not Socked hat moment.
Here's all you ever wanted to know about El Cid
"in the Battle of Cabra (1079), the Cid rallied his troops and turned the battle into a rout of Emir Abd
Allah of Granada and his ally García Ordóñez. However, the Cid's unauthorized expedition into Granada greatly angered Alfonso, and May 8, 1080, was the last time the Cid confirmed a document in King Alfonso's court. This is the generally given reason for the Cid's exile, although several others are plausible and may have been contributing factors: jealous nobles turning Alfonso against the Cid, Alfonso's own animosity towards the Cid..."
Hi C.C. and all,
Today's puzzle had just the right level of challenge for me. I counted six complete unknowns (SQUIBKICK, ECK, SMOKEBUSH, AEDES, COCKEDHAT, AND FLESH), but they filled themselves in with the crosses. Favorite clue was "Wall Street down time?"
I've been out of town for over a week taking advantage of being seriously underemployed at present, so I have a lot of puzzles to catch up on. I stayed at B-I-L's cabin in the Rocky Mountains with no TV, computer, telephone, or radio. I must get an ipod or some such device before the next visit, but the first three I didn't miss. This is only the second time in my life that I've "seen fall." Some of the mountainsides and roadsides were simply ablaze with color! I did a lot of driving and hiking, and besides enjoying the colors of fall, found the elk herds in RMNP fascinating to observe. It's mating season, and there was much bugling by the males as they vied to dominate the groups of females. An added bonus was an early snow Thursday, about six inches, which I watched from the coziness of the cabin as I did jigsaw puzzles. The snow on the aspens (and other trees) was stunningly beautiful!
Enjoy the weekend everyone!
Good afternoon all,
Just waiting for the last IRL race
of the season to start. Champion is TBD.
Went back to the lable on my Centrum bottle. Darn if it doesn't have TiO2.
The most famous squib kick in college football has to be "The Play". Cal turned the return into
a Rugby game and scored.
eddyB
I got a very slow start with the puzzle today and was about to give up, but the Downs helped me get the top half filled, encouraging me to keep going. I used some red letter help, and eventually "got 'er done!"
Carol2, that's a shame about the cupcakes. I think every cook's forgotten an important ingredient at one time or another. You're lucky you realized it while there was still time to regroup!
MJ: I'm so envious! That trip sounds heavenly to me. Most of my family's in NC this weekend enjoying fall weather, and I'm down in hot Fort Lauderdale with a busted A/C, waiting on the 2nd repairman of the day. I wish I were there! Thanks for the beautiful images...
Hi everyone-Good puzzle today, did'nt need any help at all.
Still laughing about yesterday's comment on a clue for gelding.
Classic.
Scooter
Carol2,
I left eggs out of a pumpkin pie filling once and wondered why it looked such a strange color sitting in the shell waiting for the oven to warm up. When I realized, fortunately, it was still possible to pour it out so the eggs could be added. Luckier than you, I guess.
For Jeannie, today we finally made your recipe for tomato/basil soup. The way we did it was to use our kitchen aid attachment to parse out the tomato skins and seeds. We stored the resulting sauce in a vacuum tight container in the fridge until today (the tomato's were starting to go bad that's why). That was my first experience roasting garlic (but my wife's done it before on the grill). A slight variation on the basil, instead of removing it Ruth said just to remove the stems and put in the whole leaves. I used an immersion blender to chop up the basil. Then finally I accidentally made it extra rich by dumping in the entire 2 cup of heavy whipping cream. It turned out rather rich but still good and quite flavorful.
RE: forgotten ingredients? I remember once when Ruth forgot to put in baking powder or baking soda and the result turned out rather flat.
I've already forgotten the funny 'gelding' clue. Can somebody remind me please?
Bill, from Friday's Jerome:
Dan's an eternal fountain of cleverness and fun. I could stare at RECYCLE BIN until hell freezes over and fail to make anything funny out of it. I'm guessing it took him minutes... or way less. Here's a perfect example of Dan's warp speed wit. A few days ago I was looking for a humorous clue for GELDING. In about 30 seconds Dan e-mailed me this-
"Gone nuts, horsewise?"
@BillG: Gone nuts, horse-wise
Hello,
Great race. Dario came back from his Nascar season to win the IRL championship. It was a green flag for 200 laps.
eddyB.
Had Odessa first for West Texas town because that is where I live and it fit. I should have known better because very few people even know we are out here, LOL! Of course, as soon as I did the across clues, I got El Cid and that the down had to be El Paso.
Harder puzzle today. Fun, though.
Hi gang -
Nice puzzle today, but a bit easy for a Saturday. Still, I was unable to finish it. Like Carol2, I had LEONE. Alas, I never knew that British Army fedora was called a COCKED HAT. I always took that to be a chapeau at a jaunty angle, or a container for a hair-brained idea. I wanted CORKED HAT, for some reason. So I didn't get PACTS or DISTASTE either.
But I refuse to eat worms. The LW and I took a ride to Lexington today. Charming little town on Lake Huron. We had an early dinner at a place called Smackwater Jack's. Potato soup and a Rueben. Yum!
Hiya Hypatia. And welcome.
The (in)famous actress was Hyapatia.
Rene was known for his math and logic skills. But did you know that DESCARTES brought SEED CARTS?
Remember Maxwell Smart's silly cone of silence? You get more RESONANCE from a SANER CONE.
Speaking of sailing - I was discussing the MASS MEDIA with my aquatic friend. When we met, he said I AM SEA SAM. His prescription to cure the MASS MEDIA? SAME AS M.D.'S
Are SUB TOTALS figures on SLUT'S BOATS?
A BISON who is an only calf has NO SIB.
Cheers!
JzB the COCKED HATless trombonist
I don't do things like this very often, but I spent several hours in the kitchen today whomping up Boeuf Bourguignon for 12. GAH and I are having a dinner party tomorrow evening. At least it will be what passes with us for a dinner party... a help yourself buffet, all the way from appetizers to dessert. I have Julia Child's recipe and all the "Julie/Julia" websites say it tastes even better the next day, so that is my plan. It is a labor intensive recipe with lots of steps, but ever since I saw the movie I've wanted to try it. I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon, after all it is just beef stew with a fancy name. Luckily, Julia recommended boiled red potatoes and green peas as side dishes, so that will be easy. I'll let you all know how it went over with our gang on Monday morning.
When I looked at the puzzle and saw all the name clues, I was sure we would not finish it without help. But between the perps & those things that pop out of your brain even though you don't know when they ever got there, we managed to finish without any outside help. After reading the comments of those who had difficulty, I feel pretty proud of us!
Just recently, when I started putting away ingredients, I realized I had omitted the baking soda from some banana bread. And it is a recipe that makes 4 large loaves. In spite of its flattened condition and chewy consistency, my always starving grandson & his friends consumed most of it.
The week in the cabin sounds great. I could even enjoy 6 inches of snow if I had no place to go! I used to always say I wanted one day each winter of being snowbound. Now I'm not comfortable with it.
Dot
Just noticed a typo in my earlier comments: I'd meant to write "squiB kick", not "squiDkick". But I think my original "squidkick" has a funnier ring to it, and is more evocative of the meaning.
Clear Ayes: Boeuf Bourguignon, mmmm. Lucky guests!
Best,
-anon-hp
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