google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday November 11, 2009 Allan E. Parrish

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Nov 11, 2009

Wednesday November 11, 2009 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Hit List - The first word of each # 1 hit song title is a synonym of "permanent".

20A. 2002 #1 hit for rapper Ja Rule: ALWAYS ON TIME. I've never heard of the the song or the rapper. Ja Rule's real name is Jeffrey Atkins.

36A. 1989 #1 hit for Paula Abdul: FOREVER YOUR GIRL. Know Paula Abdul from her previous gig with "American Idol". The song faintly rings a bell.

56A. 1989 #1 hit for the Bangles: ETERNAL FLAME. Someone just linked the Bangles on the blog the other day. The song is a total unknown to me.

Were all the above hits familiar to you?

This theme reminds me of David W. Cromer's "Always Faithful" puzzle, but with a tighter structure. Only three 12-letter theme answers, which allow for plenty of sparkling long entries (I counted 22 non-theme fill with 6 letters or more). And only 32 blocks. We often see 38 on weekdays.

Great to see Allan E. Parrish's byline again. Like Barry Silk, he likes to use scrabbly letters, though not much in this puzzle.

Across:

1. Taylor of "The Nanny": RENEE. She played Fran Fine's mother.

10. Patsies: SAPS

14. Are: EXIST. ARE is often clued as "Exist".

15. ''Star Wars'' royalty: LEIA. Princess Leia, played by Carrie Fisher. I am surprised that her mother, Debbie Reynolds, is still alive. Tough luck in men.

17. Senate minority leader McConnell: MITCH. From Kentucky. His wife is Bush 43's Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. Contemporary political names are normally my gimmes.

18. Enchilada wraps: TORTILLAS. And REESE'S (51D. Popular candy pieces). Hmm, food is always welcome in our blog. By the way, care to share with Jeannie and all of us your thanksgiving stuffing recipe? A bit of Minnesota wild rice can flavor up the taste immensely.

22. Lake Wobegon creator: KEILLOR (Garrison). Ah, Minnesota reference. Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average...

23. Without any help: UNAIDED

27. "¿Cómo ____ usted?": ESTA

28. "__Cop": 1987 film: ROBO. Always wanted "Mall Cop".

30. Sugar coating: GLAZE

31. Thrice, in Rx's: TER. Again, no TID (ter in die), Latin for "three times a day".

33. Bone: Pref.: OSTE. As in osteoarthritis.

35. Rural area: LEA

41. Milne marsupial: ROO. Kanga's kid in "Winnie-the-Pooh".

42. Airline to Ben-Gurion: EL AL. Ben Gurion International is EL AL's home base. Named after Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.

43. 1950s-'60s "Man on the Street" comic Louis: NYE. Learned his name from doing Xword.

44. Radio station alert sign: ON AIR

46. Academia VIP: DEAN. The clue seems to be asking for an abbreviated answer, doesn't it, Jerome?

48. Apt. balcony: TERR (Terrace). I am inured to the "territory" clue.

52. He shared a Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk: MANDELA. In 1993. For their work in ending the apartheid in South Africa.

54. Will beneficiary: LEGATEE. With TEE in place, I mindlessly wrote down TRUSTEE.

58. Ploy: STRATAGEM. Awesome entry.

61. Country singer McCann and others: LILAS. No idea. Here is her "I Wanna Fall in Love". Do you like her bangs?

62. Mil. no-show: AWOL

63. Heavyweight bout?: SUMO. Heavyweight indeed.

64. Blazing: AFIRE

66. Grandson of Eve: ENOS. Son of Seth.

67. Hardwood trees: TEAKS. The wood is used in shipbuilding.

Down:

2. Forces out of the country: EXILES. Stupid Saddam should have accepted exile offer. War would have been avoided.

3. Jerk: NITWIT

4. Intensify: ESCALATE. Another great entry.

5. __ alcohol: ETHYL

6. Corrida charger: EL TORO. Spanish for "the bull".

7. Quite a long time: AEON

8. Master performer: VIRTUOSO. Italian for "skilled".

10. Cirque du __: SOLEIL. Literally "sun" in French. Has anyone seen a Cirque du Soleil show in person?

13. '60s activist gp.: SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)

19. Mental pictures: IMAGERY

21. Chestnut horse: SORREL. And ROAN (38D. Colorful horse).

24. Mustachioed Spanish surrealist: DALI. Most famous for his melting clock ("The Persistence of Memory")

25. Former Israeli president Weizman: EZER. Wanted EBAN. Confused him with Abba Eban.

29. Peter of "Everybody Loves Raymond": BOYLE

32. City NNE of Seattle: EVERETT. Obtained the answer from crosses. What's Everett famous for?

34. Prison escape route, perhaps: TUNNEL. Love "The Shawshank Redemption".

36. Gift tag word: FROM. Christmas is coming.

37. Chaplin's last wife: OONA. The "Alley Oop" character OOOLA.

39. Speed trap device: RADAR GUN

40. "Mind your own business!": GET A LIFE. Oh, I had the wrong understanding that "Get a life" means "Don't be so obsessed with something".

45. Role models, say: IDEALS

47. Los __: Manhattan Project site: ALAMOS. In New Mexico.

49. And others: Latin: ET ALIA. Neutral plural of et al; et alii is masculine plural, et aliae is feminine plural.

50. Comment: REMARK. Here is a detailed explanation on this "How to Post a Comment" on our blog. Come and join us for the daily crossword (or non-crossword topics as the day goes on) discussion.

53. Purchase alternative: LEASE

55. F-sharp equivalent: G-FLAT

57. Verne captain: NEMO. Literally "no one" in Latin. From Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea".

59. Pan Am rival: TWA. Once owned by Howard Hughes.

Answer grid.

Happy Veterans Day, Dennis, Argyle and all those who have served in the military.

C.C.

69 comments:

Anonymous said...

The perps took care of the songs.

Barry G. said...

*ugh*

I managed to get through this one, barely, but only with a lot of edumacated guessing.

I did not know RENEE or MITCH, which made the NW corner a tough place to start the puzzle today. Plus, I don't consider NITWIT and "jerk" to be particularly synonymous, so that took me awhile to get as well. I've also never heard of Ja Rule's ALWAYS ON TIME. Oh -- and I can never remember how to spell Garrison KEILLOR's last name, so that whole section was a bit of a nightmare for me.

Then, I confidently put in ELIE instead of EZER for 25D (I misread Weizman and thought it was Wiesel -- I've never heard of EZER Weizman before). That messed up that while section of the puzzle for awhile as well.

Despite the fact that we just had it the other day, I still opted to put in TID instead of TER for 31A, which didn't help things any. And I also went for OSTI instead of OSTE for 33A. I finally resolved all my mistakes, but for awhile there I was wondering whether the puzzle was written in a foreign language or something.

On a final note, with all due respect to the lovely Paula Abdul, I just have to say Ms. Abdul has had exactly one "hit" in her entire career and it certainly wasn't FOREVER YOUR GIRL. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I don't care what the "charts" say -- I was there! ^_^

Martin said...

Almost did this one by myself: it was the crossing of KEILLOR and SORREL that did me in: I knew it was a vowel but I wrote E instead of O. It helped that I was looking for a theme: I got ALWAYS after I saw FOREVER and ETERNAL pop up.

I was a member of the Paula Abdul fan club back when I was living in Montreal: I used to have posters of her and Celine Dion all over my walls. Nowadays I have posters of Cyndi Wang and Jolin Tsai up instead.

Martin

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning. Not a bad one for today.

I don't like "Get a Life" for "Mind your own business." I agree with C.C.'s interpretation

Peter Boyle - the monster in "Young Frankenstein."

I liked 7D = Aeon because it goes in hand with the them of Always, Forever, and Eternal.

Have a good Wednesday. Remember our Veterans.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, CC. A good challenge for a Wednesday. I wasn't familiar with any of the songs. The perps helped fill in those blanks. The first song I got was ETERNAL FLAME. Once I got that, I realized that I needed to look for something that lasted a long, long time in the other titles. That helped fill in ALWAYS and FOREVER.

It's my turn to help support my local dentist today. The permanent cap/crown is being placed on my back molar.

Happy Veteran's Day to all of you who have served our country.

QOD: Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. ~ Douglas Adams

Dick said...

Good morning C.C. and all, a great puzzle today, many unknowns, but all obtainable with perps. A few lesser used words in today’s puzzle, i.e. stratagem and legatee.

C.C. I think Everett, WA is best known for the Boeing Aircraft Co.

As for the songs I did not know any of them.

Hope you all have a great Wednesday

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

Barry G,
Now you piqued my curiosity. What was the Paula Abdul song you referred to?

Crockett & Chickie,
Thanks for Carat/Karat (and Caret) distinction. That's my question. Argyle probably knows it.

Al,
FYI, all the porn comments in that Nora Pearlstone posts are in Japanese.

Clear Ayes & Hahtool,
Ouch! Boomer is having dental problem too.

kazie said...

No need for help other than perps today, despite not having a clue about any of the song titles. I was about to say I knew hardly any of the other names as well, but then went through and marked all that I did know: MITCH, KEILLOR, ROBO, ROO, EL AL, OONA, ALAMOS, NEMO, TWA, ENOS, MANDELA, LEIA, SOLEIL, SDS, DALI. I must be getting better, or else these were just less obscure!

I agree about JERK/NITWIT, though most jerks are nitwits, not all nitwits are jerks.

Have a great day everyone!

Barry G. said...

Barry G,
Now you piqued my curiosity. What was the Paula Abdul song you referred to?


That would be "Straight Up" (which I just happened to have playing on my computer as I was doing the puzzle). I was familiar with ETERNAL FLAME by the Bangles, btw, although I much prefer their "Walk Like an Egyptian" (which also played on my computer as I was solving).

Yes, it's true -- my taste in pop music developed in the mid 1980s and I'm a bit stuck there at times...

Spitzboov said...

Perps helped get the song titles. Still managed to goof up ETALIA.

Don't remember 2 horses in a cw before; SORREL and ROAN; both having to do with their coloring.

Thank you C. C. and others for the Veteran's Day good wishes. Fair winds and following seas to you all.

philope said...

Great puzzle

JIMBO said...

Good morning all

Except for a couple of single letter misfires, I was able to complete the puzzle-----in about 2 hours.

Anon, that's a brag, because 6 months ago I would'nt have done half of it.

PJB-Chicago said...

Good morning! This puzzle worked itself out neatly: I was able to fill the grid with no assists because things and people I don't know (e.g. Renee Taylor, Lila McCann, the name of ANY Ja Rule songs, etc.) were cozy with items I do know.

I tried to think of a fourth theme item, just for fun, and couldn't. Anyone else got one?

CC: Yes, I have seen Cirque du Soleil just once and it was magical. It felt like entering an alternate universe. PBS did a special on the creation of the show awhile ago, and clearly these are people dedicated to all aspects of their craft. There are some fans who follow the some of the touring companies wherever they go. It's an expensive night out, to be sure, and maybe too "out there" for someone expecting something more akin to a "circus" but I would go again even if it meant eating crackers and peanut butter for lunch every day! Plus a piece of fruit, of course.

Why did Princess LEIA wear Cinna-Bons so close to her ears. Never understood that.

LEGATEE and STRATAGEM were good to see, albeit unexpected. I wasn't crazy about the EL affixed to TORO, and I think the clue for GET A LIFE missed what I hear the expression to mean. I didn't care much for Mr. Keillor's NPR show years ago, but either it or I have changed, so I enjoy it more now. Something tells me that I was the one who grew into the show, instead of the other way 'round!

Enjoy your day, everyone! Remember our Veterans, please, as well as those who are serving and those who will be serving. Remember their families as well.

Anonymous said...

Hello C.C.,

I am new to crosswords, and am beginning to understand the concept of a puzzle's theme; and your solutions have helped greatly in this understanding. Thanks for the wonderful explanations!

The puzzles you explain here are printed in my newspaper, but with just "Today's Puzzle" as the title. My question: Do you figure out the theme as you solve the puzzle, or does your source for the puzzle provide the author's wording for the theme?

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi Gang -

Bit of a slog through the puzzle today. This might be VIRTUOSO construction, but I found it long on tedium and short on fun. I guess sparkle comes, in large measure, from the clues, and these struck me as being rather pedestrian.

Don't know any of these songs. Got them with lots of perp help, and sussing the theme make ETERNAL easy.

"Jerk" for NITWIT and "Mind your own business" for GET A LIFE are glaring non-equivalencies, and therefore flaws.

Kazie gave a partial name list - 15 examples, plus REESES and NYE - 2nd class fill, every bit of it. And a pluralized proper name, LILAS, which is 3rd class fill.

The TER OSTE LEA line is in keeping with Barry's foreign language idea.

Not a lot of fun with this one.

But, it's bright and sunshiny here today, and my carpet is clean.

Cheers!
JzB the fun-loving trombonist

Anonymous said...

I've seen several Cirque de Soleil performances. When I taught French, the French Club would raise money to go see them when they were in either Santa Monica or the Orange County Fair Grounds. I bought tickets one year for my daughter and her family. Her son, who was three at the time, was terrified of the performers. He had to be taken outside.


Doreen

Carol2 said...

Hi CC and Group,

Special thanks to all our vets and those in active service.

It was good to see an Allan Parish puzzle, but it was a struggle. I also did not know any of the songs. Had to google a couple of names. I liked the intersection of ever and everett and oona and roos. I think the clue for mind your own business means if you had a life of your own, you wouldn't be taking my inventory!

Best wishes to you Lorraine on your shoulder surgery.

CC - is Boomer your husband?

Hope everyone has a bright and beautiful day!

Andrea said...

Morning all -

I remember hearing Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" at a pool party when I was living in Phoenix back in 88/89. One of the guys commented that Paula would be a one hit wonder and we would never hear from her again. Twenty years later, she's I'd say she's still going pretty strong. May be a little wacky, but still around.

I've seen Cirque de Soleil twice, including the O show in Vegas. Pretty incredible. Fortunately (from a budget standpoint) it was a work outing.

I have to dig out my favorite stuffing recipes and figure out which one I want to make this year. I have a couple favorites that I rotate through. I just love to spend time planning the menu for The Big Feast. YUM.

Happy Veteran's Day - thanks to those of you and your families who have served our country.

Enjoy the day!

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & gang, my wife and I finished today's puzzle without help (but I couldn't have done it without her help). The unknown song titles were solved by the perps.

I'm with Barry G. on not liking most pop / rock music past the late 80's, the only exception might be Eric Clapton and such... I especially despise Rap music.

Bill G. said...

Hi everybody. I agree with Jazzbumpa and several others. I am not into popular music much and with all the names, the puzzle was a struggle for me and not much fun. This is the first time in a while I've felt that way about an LAT puzzle. But I got finished with some Googling and no red letter help.

Jeannie said...

I found this puzzle a bit of a struggle as I have never heard any song by Ja Rule and the only song title I was familiar with was by the Bangles. Now had they all been rock and roll tunes….it would have been right up my alley. I struggle with all things Latin so et alia came via the perps as well as ter, and aeon. I guess my favorite clue today was “heavyweight bout” – Sumo. I actually googled what the garment is called that they wear and it is called a “mawashi”. Kind of a fitting name don’t you think?

Happy Veterans day to all of you who served and those who continue to.

Stuffing recipe to follow....

Jerome said...

C.C.- VIP stands on its own as a word. There's no reason to think of it as an abbreviation. The same could be said for VCR.

DCannon said...

I thought it was going to be a bad day when I saw that the first clue was from pop culture. However, it was also one of those days when perps took care of perps, so to speak. I was surprised how quickly it went. I did not time it, but once the fills started falling into place, it almost finished itself.

Did not know any of the songs.

As a current events follower, political names are easy for me,so Mitch was a given, as was Mandela. Liked stratagem and legatee. Did not like the nitwit/jerk twist or the get a life/mind your own business. Both seemed tortured to me.

Hubby is off to Lowe's. They sent the wrong part for the RO unit. Guess we'll have another two-week wait for the right one - if it exists.

Y'all have a good 'un.

Anonymous said...

Good morning everyone.

Solved this one with a few mistakes. That's a lot better than before.

My son who lives in Manhattan took me to, I believe, the first Cirque du Soleil. We left from the World Trade Center on a ferry. I've been back twice, but in obviously different locations; it's such a wonderful show.

I agree with comments about get a life.

Cheers

eddyB said...

Hello all.

And here I thought this one was fun and easy. No problems and I didn't down-load the answeres at 11
PM.

The one in the Onion took about 3 hours with breaks.

Our ship had teak planking on the main deck. Btw. Our birthday is 13 Oct.

eddyB

Anonymous said...

Good straightforward theme and fun puzzle. The only problem I have is classifying any rap "song" as music.

Argyle said...

Anonymous said @ 9:38 AM
Hello C.C.,
...Do you figure out the theme as you solve the puzzle...


Yes, she does, except Saturday doesn't have a theme and the big Sunday does have a theme given, although it may be cryptic.

Neverending Story

Jerome said...

Nitwit= Stupid person.
Jerk= Stupid or foolish person.

One great thing about the Net is that it makes information available to all who seek it. There are dictionaries at our fingertips. Hey, you can actually look up words and find out precisely what they mean!

To any fledgling constructors out there- Even when you THINK you know what a word means, look it up before you clue it. It'll save you a lot of grief.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I took one look at the clues for the song titles and was sure I was in for "a slog". But, as anon@5:37 so tersely put it, "The perps took care of the songs." I'm still partial to CCR, so that dates me.

I've enjoyed Garrison KEILLOR's radio shows for years. Although Lake Woebegon is populated with hardy Norwegian stock, as a hardy Swede I can relate to many of his stories.

Dot, were we in the same audience when Cirque du SOLEIL played in a big-top tent on the beach in Santa Monica? I think it was in the late 1980's, but I could be off by a few years. As I recall, the tickets cost about $25 each.

I don't understand why testing cultural or historical knowledge with proper names is any different than testing musical knowledge with VIRTUOSO, legal knowledge with LEGATEE, or Mexican food knowledge with TORTILLAS. Aren't all nouns names for people, places or things? Other than the proper names, there are about two dozen other names of things in this puzzle. It would be pretty difficult to create a puzzle without nouns. Jerome, Fred, want to give it a try?

Jeannie, Hahtool, JD, Carol, Chickie and everyone else, who sympathized with my dental malfunction, I only wish my former tooth had been as supportive as all of you are.

Have a good Veteran's Day everyone.

Hahtoolah said...

Jimbo and Sallie, Glad to see you back here today. I missed you and was worried about you.

I have seen two Cirque du Soleil shows and was totally blown away by both.

Today's puzzle constructor, Allan Parrish, is also the name of a Parish in Louisiana, albeit with a different spelling (Allen Parish).

kazie said...

I hope all veterans are able to enjoy their day. Unfortunately, many of their memories will not be enjoyable. They should at least get the day off to remember them.

I've never understood why so few "holidays" are days of rest for most of the population in this country, where government workers seem to be the only ones so fortunate. As a child in Oz, I was lucky to have my birthday on their equivalent of Veterans' Day--ANZAC Day, and it was indeed a public holiday, so I had it off every year.

When I listed the names I knew, I forgot to include REESES. Interesting comments on the names and on the definitions of JERK. I still think it implies more than stupidity, for example, acting in a nasty way towards someone else, totally unaware of how obvious it makes one's stupidity.

Clear Ayes said...

Today is GAH's birthday. (How did I wind up with a 68 year old man?) Although my Fred is very well liked by my friends, I love this poem about the poet's Freddy. I admire many of the quirky poems of English poet Stevie Smith, who was a friend (and possibly a lover) of George Orwell.

Freddy

Nobody knows what I feel about Freddy
I cannot make anyone understand
I love him sub specie aeternitaties
I love him out of hand.
I don't love him so much in the restaurants that's a fact
To get him hobnob with my old pub chums needs too much tact
He don't love them and they don't love him
In the pub lub lights they say Freddy very dim.
But get him alone on the open saltings
Where the sea licks up to the fen
He is his and my own heart's best
World without end ahem.
People who say we ought to get married ought to get
smacked:
Why should we do it when we can't afford it and have
ourselves whacked?
Thank you kind friends and relations thank you,
We do very well as we do.
Oh what do I care for the pub lub lights
And the friends I love so well-
There's more in the way I feel about Freddy
Than a friend can tell.

-Stevie Smith

kazie said...

CA,
Here's one from my distant past, quite different from the one you quoted, but nevertheless, is about another "Freddy".

Little Fred's Remark

Within the pleasant dining room
The Thompsons were at tea,
And all the good things on the table
They ate up hungrily.
But Mr. Thompson was this night
Not in a happy mood,
And seemed inclined to quarrel
With his family and his food.
And when the eldest Thompson
Asked for buttered bread and jam
Pa’s temper broke upon the lad.
He said in accents warm:
“What! Bread and butter, also jam?”
And oh! His tone was ripping,
“When I was a boy of your age
We had only bread and dripping,
No luxuries like you have now,
No ham, nor pork, nor cheek,
We had no sugar in our tea
And meat but once a week.”
Then up spoke baby Freddy
He never caused a fuss.
“Muvver! Muvver! Isn’t Father lucky
To be living now with us!”

--Author unknown

JD said...

Good morning CC,etalia,

This puzzle seemed so much easier than yesterday's, but probably not as much fun.I knew none of the songs, but were easy to fill with the perps. There were a lot of great words. Had no idea what a corrida was, but the answer answered my question.
As usual, I leave 1 or 2 open boxes. Today I could not fill the g for legatee/g flat.

Shouldn't it be an eon? I laughed at "Get a life!" teenagers!

There are many different Cirque du Soleil shows going on in Las Vegas. We've never seen the one with water,O, but we saw LOVE, an extraordinary tribute to the Beatles and loved it.

My girls would rebel if I were to make a different stuffing from the one they grew up loving. How about your kids?

JD said...

Happy birthday Fred!
Bob turned 68 last Wed., but we can't celebrate until he loses his ugly cold/cough.No one wants to come visit.LOL!

PJB-Chicago said...

CA and Kazie: Thanks for the double shot of poetry. Since I can no longer start the afternoon with a shot of espresso, the verse is a fine way to get revived. Hap-Hap-Happy Birthday to CA's GAH.

One of my favorite poem titles is Stevie Smith's "Not waving but drowning" which wasn't one of her best works, but that title is wonderful. There's a good movie in there, just waiting to break free!

Jerome: thanks for the reminder about dictionaries being two clicks away. I have a friend who is a wonderful guy--fun, kind, quick, thoughtful, and honest but he LOVES to correct other people. It's his only known defect or blind spot. Problem is that usually when he corrects someone he's very often wrong, and moreover he often corrects people who would be considered semi "experts" in the topic at hand.
Since the advent of the smartphones and whatnot, it's become common among our group of friends that when he looks poised to shoot down what someone just said, we pull out our phones and furiously begin googling away. Since then, he is a changed man, I'm telling you. The power of information changes lives. He even has a found a woman he will likely marry after 16+ years of post-divorce adventures. We like her a lot and will get her year subscription for an IPHONE for the wedding present, no doubt!

True confession: I don't like stuffing. Had one that was good with wild rice and nutty objects and some berries and I forget what else, but it wasn't really stuffing so much as a side dish. JD: I make squash soup with sausage (better the next day!) or drunken cranberry/orange relish that we spoon on icecream the next day. Adults only!

Jeannie said...

WILD RICE, CORNBREAD, SAUSAGE, CRANBERRY STUFFING

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup uncooked wild rice
3/4 pound (12-ounce package) bulk pork sausage
2 cups chopped onions
1-1/2 cups chopped celery
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
8 tablespoons butter
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 ½ cups cornbread cubed
¾ cup dried sweetened cranberries
½ cup chopped parsley
½ teaspoon dried sage
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt

Cook wild rice according to directions. Brown the sausage and drain, set aside.
In large cooking pot saute onions and celery in 4 tblspns of butter with the fennel seeds until translucent. Add the chicken broth and rest of the butter and heat until butter is melted.
Stir in the cornbread, spices, sausage, parsley, dried cranberries and rice. Transfer to a buttered 9x13 baking pan. Bake covered for 30 min and uncovered for 30 min more.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone else hate celery?

Anonymous said...

I don't like raw celery, but don't mind it cooked in recipes.

Robin said...

Happy Veterans Day to all that have served and their families.
This puzzle was a little more difficult, but I did know all the songs. I am going to see LOVE, in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving. I am glad you liked it JD.
Love the poems Clear Ayes and Kazie. Argyle, what was the dragons name in NEVERENDING STORY?
Jeannie, you have the best recipes. Are you a chef or in the food business?
Jerome, will you have a puzzle coming to print soon?
I can't wait for the challenge.
Have a great day all.

Love celery, only when stuffed with really fattening stuff......

Jerome said...

Clear Ayes- Yes indeed, names are simply nouns and will always be fair as a puzzle entry just as verbs and adjectives are. I do, however, try to limit their use to a max of 4 or 5 at most. I think you will find that names in a puzzle just happen to be the best fitting word for that spot. In today's puzzle, Allan put in DALI at 26 down. When you look at that area it's obvious that DALI is perfectly apt and fit nicely.

PJB- I sent out a puzzle with the word FOO FOO in it. All my life I thought Foo Foo was a real word meaning "Gaudy" or "Overly decorated". Turns out, no such word exists! Talk about eating crow and looking foolish in the eyes of an editor! Miracle of miracles though. I discovered in my frantic search that Foo Foo is the name of Miss Piggy's poodle!

Robin said...

Jerome, also according to Wiki, a little bunny in childrens rhyme....Little bunny Foo Foo

Chickie said...

Hello All--A difficult puzzle for me as I have a hard time with names. Many were unknowns today, especially the songs, but as with others here I managed to get almost all with the help of perps.

That said, I had put in some silly answers and had to erase and redo. I had pats for dabs so the lower left corner was a disaster.

CA and JD a very happy birthday to both of your hubbies.

C.C. I'm not sure this would fit your criteria for another theme entry, but Enya has a song entitled "Ever After". But, the word ever would be repeated which is usually a no no.

Happy Veteran's Day to all who have served and are serving our country. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

tfrank said...

Hello, C.C. and gang,

I had the same hangups with names and song titles as did just about everybody, but managed to finish in 29 minutes online at 6:30 AM. I used to think redlettering was cheating, but now I am not so sure.

Happy Veterans' Day to my fellow veterans. I look back with pride on my three years of active duty.

Re Thanksgiving meals, I have heard the terms "stuffing" and "dressing" used interchangeably over the years. What's the difference? In the bird or out?

Jerome, have you ever heard the term "foo foo juice" used to describe men's after shave lotion?

A tooth story: I have a crown on a lower left molar which was first put on in Chicago circa 1960. I have since had so much work done on that tooth that I guess I have spent about $20,000 on it: a crown lengthening procedure, two root canals, two replacements, etc. Today, it is probably the soundest tooth in my mouth.

Jeannie said...

Robin, no I am not a chef I just play one on tv. I am a buyer for a food distributor. My mother was a home economics teacher so I learned how to cook at a really early age. It’s just something I am pretty good at and enjoy. Also thanks to you, now I can’t get Little Bunny Foo Foo out of my head.

Little Bunny Foo Foo hopping through the forest, scooping up the field mice and bopping ‘em on the head….

Anonymous said...

Mitch McConnell my biggest complaint with him is he wrote legislation preventing disabled veterans from drawing their veterans benefits check while drawing disability.

As a veteran I understand the struggles that veterans face daily. I would not do anything to prevent our men & women who served from getting any help from the government that they require to survive.

I expect more from our politicians when it comes to taking care of our veterans. We gladly serve our country and all we ask when we return is give us all the help we need to function in society.

BISCUITS & GRAVY

Anonymous said...

I prefer this picture of Mitch a lot better.

He has done nothing for the people of this state, unless you give him a large campaign contribution. He's the reason that we can't have real political reform corporations should be forbidden from funding any political campaign.


Mitch McConnell

FIREMAN FRED

lois said...

Good evening CC et al., Puzzle was a little difficult but perpable. Not a speed run but decent. I agree w/the 'get a life' clue but see how it could fit.

Jeannie: you are hilarious. Thanks for the stuffing recipe. It looks delicious. I think I will do this one this year...'unaided' too. Of course by the time we eat, the 'glaze' over my eyes might have the kitchen 'afire' and shut down my not so 'eternal flame'. That would certainly take care of the 'remake' and we would not 'eat in'.

We're having a monsoon - huge nor'easter and my electricity is about to go out. Might have to resort to another form of 'eternal flame' quickly.

Take care.

Anonymous said...

From Vern:

Garrison Keillor's writings about Lutherans & Norwegians hit home as I have attachments to both. Seeing his name brought to mind a visiting all black Baptist choir who were invited to sing at our Lutheran Church. The choir rocked & rolled and tried to get us Lutherans to join in. The best we could do was move back and forth--about one inch each way and we thought we were really into it!

carol said...

Hi C.C. and everyone -

Not my puzzle today, too many pop singers and songs I never heard of.

How many times are we going to see EAVE and AWOL????
Also, we were just talking about Thrice in RX's and here it is again...to say nothing of good ol' Capt NEMO.

Is ROO a real word? I say it is a lazy version (once again) of the real word. We went through that a while back too..croc, rhino, orang.

Jimbo - good to see you back and you too Sallie!

CA and Kazie, thanks for the poems.

CA and JD, say 'Happy Birthday' to Bob and Fred.

Little Bunny Foo Foo???? Geez, I never heard of him/her/it. Bet we see it in a puzzle in the not to distant future.

Stuffing or dressing (I say dressing), is tradition with us and if I changed the recipe (my Mother's) I would get strangled by Joe. I am not fixing for company this year (yea), but am fixing 'the dinner' the day after Thanksgiving for Joe (we like the left-overs) and won't get them as guests. :)

I watched some of the Veteran's Day parade that goes through our neighborhood each year. It was touching to see a WWII vet in a wheelchair and the people who gently shook his hand. There are so few of that 'greatest generation' still with us. Thanks to all who served and are serving.

Clear Ayes said...

Jerome, perhaps you originally misheard "froufrou" (showy or frilly ornamentation) as "foo foo". Maybe "foo foo" was a long held family mispronunciation. I'm telling tales here, but my dear mother-in-law once made a lovely crocheted afghan blanket for me. After I had admired it, she told me how long it had taken her to crochet the "african". Nobody else in the family ever had the heart to correct her and neither did I. The crocheted blankets remained "africans" to her until the day she died.

Kazie, very cute poem.

Vern, I have moved far afield, but my great-grandfather was a Lutheran pastor. Your story reminded me of my great-aunts and great-uncles. They never called attention to themselves unnecessarily.

Carol, ROO is the name of Kanga's child in the Winnie the Poo stories.

Jeannie, I'm not a cornbread fan, but I may try your recipe with dry bread cubes instead. The cranberries sound like a particularly delicious addition.

Jazzbumpa said...

Google "foo foo" and you'll find quite a few definitions.

"Jerk" in the urban dictionary is quite different from NITWIT. Not my typical favorite reference, but I'm into cherry picking today, and we are talking slang. Kazie nailed it.

The key of G FLAT has 6 flats. The key of F sharp has 6 sharps. Neither one is a breeze to play in.

Kazie can comment on ROO being a word. My guess is yes. But in the context of the clue, it is the proper name of one of Winnie the Pooh's friends. Kanga is the mother roo, Roo is the joey roo.

I heard on the radio today there are 130,000 veterans who are homeless, and over 1.4 million with no health insurance. I would sure like to see them honored with something other than lip service.

Off to rehearsal. Sibelius Symphony #2. WoW!

Cheers
JzB the Pooh ROO ROO trombonist

kazie said...

The problems of veterans were just being discussed on MSNBC as well. True, they need more than just one day of respect.

My take on Kanga and Roo is that they are both just parts of the word Kangaroo, chosen for the fictitious names in the story. But "roo" is often used in Oz as a shortened form of the word kangaroo, simply because we are a weird mob when it comes to speech, and shorten lots of words such as arvo for afternoon. Then there are the many cockney borrowings of three word rhyme schemes and various other local terms for things that don't really need special words, but which are referred to in what seems totally foreign to the uninitiated.
If it is still in print, a copy of "Aussie English" by John O'Grady would be a good reference.

Jerome said...

Clear Ayes- Yeah, Foo Foo, for sure a word I grew up with and considered to be a real word. Hah,those damn Norwegians! Baptist Norwegians though. They knew how to rock and roll with gospel music... Not!

Jazz- You can make up a word and get Google hits. The google world is looked at with a critical and careful eye by editors. They're not going to accept words solely because there's a reference to it on a website. It always comes down to dictionary backup.

lois said...

Ok, power on.
Wanted to say thank you to all the Veterans, and their families, past and present for their service and sacrifice.

Jeannie: Thanks for the Little Bunny Foo Foo memory. Now I too can't get it out of my head....
"Down came the good fairy and said...Stop! Make it stop!

I think we're getting blown away here. But we'll probably still have school tomorrow come hell or high water. Oh wait. If we do have school tomorrow we'll have hell AND high water. I think that's their plan.

MJ said...

A late shout-out to veterans and those currently serving our country. THANK YOU!

carol said...

CA - thanks for the 'duh' moment on ROO.
I went back and looked at the clue again and was embarrassed to realize that I mis-read Milne, I took it to be a city in Oz....ooops and there I go abbreviating Australia. My bad. I have read enough of Milne to my grandkids and surely should have known better.

Clear Ayes said...

Froufrou is more common than I thought. Le Frou Frou was a humorous magazine in France in the early 1900's.

Carol, Funny about how we read things differently. At least you didn't misspell Pooh as Poo...a totally different word!

Argyle said...

click click

fufu (variant: foofoo)

Annette said...

I guess I get to be the dissident of the day...

It's a minor issue, but does anyone else think the timing of AWOL was tacky to appear on Veteran's Day? I'd hoped it would be a military themed puzzle today.

I'm not familiar with any of those songs. I've heard the name Ja Rule, but wouldn't be able to ID his music or photo. Thanks to perps, not knowing the songs didn't slow me down much though.

I seem to be in the minority, but I don't care for the cirque du soleil type genre in general. But then I don't care for magic acts or Moulin Rouge either.

I agree - NITWIT and Jerk don't mean the same to me either.

Clear Ayes: I'm with you on the usage of proper names though. Things that are gimme's for other people certainly aren't for me! Examples are anything political, musical terminology, geography, foreign languages and baseball terms.

"Get a life" is valid to me. I see it as 'Get a life of your own, and stay out of mine!'

Jimbo: Congratulations on the improvement!

Jerome: LOL! The term our family used for what you describe was FROU FROU. However, FOO FOO was a term used for a very intimate part of the human body! Imagine my surprise when I first heard my college roommate singing "Little Bunny Foo Foo" for the first time...

JD said...

CA, well that cleared up the foo foo issue. I have always thought it was synonymous with fancy. For example I hate going to those "foo foo restaurants" where the violinists parade about and the waiter puts that white napkin on your lap. Now I see it should have been frou frou. Gadzooks!BTW, I did not bring back an African.

Annette said...

Stuffing Recipe:

Jeannie, I’ll be darned if I can find my recipe with the measurements, but I was winging it when I created it last year, so I'll wing it again here.

Cubed american bread, left out to dry a few hours or overnight after being cubed. Stir occasionally.

Saute onions, celery and carrots in oil and butter. Pour over bread crumbs.

Add canned mushrooms to the mixture.

Melt lots of butter. Add chicken broth to the butter and blend. Pour over bread and vegetables to moisten.

Salt and pepper

Optional Items I've added in the past:
Chestnuts
Dried cranberries

Jerome said...

Argyle- Fufu, Foofoo. It's a West African word for a yam-like FOOd. Hardly the stuff of a decent puzzle. I can hear the complaints now about "Them foreigner words".

Fooey!

Jeannie said...

Lois...Robin started it. Little Bunny Foo Foo would find a harsh reality if he/she didn't stop bopping those field mice. Speaking of Foo-Foo, Annette I see by your profile (yes ANON's read a profile) that you are from the south as is my Mother. My Mother always taught us young women to keep our "Foo-Foo" clean. You are coming around.

For those of you that don't like cornbread in their suffing, celery or whatever. What I wanted and C.C. asked you today is what is your favorite stuffing recipe. If it's a guarded recipe (I hate that, but respect it) I understand. I personally share every recipe that is good. Okay, I am holding one back as I hope to get chosen as one of the 100 peeps in the Pillsbury bakeoff in 2011, missed the cutoff in 2010. It's hard for me as you HAVE to use at least a couple of "finished" Pillsbury products. One of the ingredients I will use is their pie dough as it's almost as good as mine...minus the vodka.

Dennis....hoping you are sleeping a good one off. Don't mean to leave you out DEM in a RED ST. I believe you are a retired Marine as well.

C.C. I know you don't like long posts...sorry.

Robin said...

LOVES Jeannie :)

Clear Ayes said...

C.C. asked for favorite stuffing/dressing recipes. Mine just isn't very original and it certainly isn't a secret. In the past, I've just taken mine off the Pepperidge Farm package. I usually add chopped water chestnuts and chopped cashews as well as the standard chopped celery and onions. For a from scratch recipe, Jeannie's sounds pretty darn good and I like the addition of dried cranberries. BTW, good luck with the Pillsbury Bakeoff. That is really a high pressure contest.

PJB-Chicago said...

Wow, I leave for just a few short hours and all kinds of cool stuff happens!
CA thanks for the pick up on frou-frou. I hear people say foo-foo all the time, but that means sumthin' difference so it seems! The "foo-foo water," as TFrank pointed out means cologne, although I can't tell if that's related or not. The Foo Foo Water reference was found at the library in a NTC "dictionary" of American expressions, but I don't know if that counts as a dictionary or not, per se. Either way, it's fun to learn new "old" stuff.

Don't forget frou-frou's cousin CHICHI, pronounced with the SH sound. I knew a poodle names Chichi once. Not the same as the Mexican restaurant chain of yore, pronounced with the hard CH. Dang, I forgot a lot!

Kanga and Roo were featured in the Winnie the Pooh song on a Disney album we got from a gas station when I was about 6. Mom saved up stamps from filling up, if I remember OK. One of the lines was POOH POOH POOH POOPIE, which never failed to make me laugh so hard I could't stay standing up.

Jeannie: Great, doable dressing recipe. Very similar to what my friend D. made a few Thanksgivings ago. Hers had a little more sage and a little more butter, I think. She cut back on the Onions a bit because I was the "guest of honor" (translate: I put the Christmas decorations up on the roof the next day). I love your version with the fennel seeds. I think she had raisins in it, but whatever it was, it was good, and she isn't a big sharer of recipes because she improvises so much. I have made a simplified version of it just for dinner all by itself a couple times. It's honestly the only kind of dressing/stuffing I enjoy, so I was so glad to see your nicely organized and clear recipe, so I can take a stab at it. It would be heretical to bring anything other than my usual to the family gathering. If Mom stopped making the Comes-with-a-referral-to-a-cardiologist-Smashed-Potatoes, the family would cease to function and splinter into a thousand tiny pieces! I'm sure our family isn't alone in that kind of tradition!

In the words of Miss Stevie Smith quoted by CAyes, "We do very well as we do... and "World without end, ahem."

Happy Birthday Mr JD: AKA "Bob." We adore your wife around these parts.

Jimbo and Sallie, glad to see and read y'all, and glad Lois hasn't lost her touch.
Finally, Robin, your enthusiasm is catching.

Time to get my paperwork together for tomorrow. G'night!

Chickie said...

We've never had a recipe for my turkey dressing, but my father-in-law made this every year and I've inherited the job since he passed away. We just call it Oyster dressing.
Ingredients are seasoned dried bread cubes--I like Pepperidge Farms brand. I add onion, celery, apples, raisins,and walnuts. I have used water chestnuts if I don't have walnuts on hand. I cook the giblets and strain the broth to which I add enough chicken stock (canned, lite)to moisten all. I add 1-2 raw eggs, the chopped giblets, dried sage and last, oysters. the dressing is put into the turkey cavity, with the extra in a casserole to be baked.

I think if I made anything else, my family would have a fit, as this is the only dressing they've had forever.

Anonymous said...

JA RULE with Metallica crossover.


JA RULE/METALLICA