google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday January 9, 2010 Brad Wilber

Advertisements

Jan 9, 2010

Saturday January 9, 2010 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total blocks: 29

Total words: 70

Our average black square count on Saturday seems to be 31.

Hard puzzle for me. I just froze at seeing Brad Wilber's name. He's well-known for his tough themeless. Now looking at the finished grid, I wonder why I struggled since there were only a few unknowns. Tricky clues and wicked wordplay! For example:

1A. One making a brief contribution?: PARALEGAL. Legal "brief". Noun.

28A. One who refuses to take an oath?: CENSOR. "Curse" oath.

30A. Sub builder?: DELI. Sub sandwich. I nailed this one though.

62A. Where you might see a cop aim a gun: SPEED TRAP. Radar gun.

14D. Something a Parisian might get stuck on?: IDEE FIXE. Nailed this one also.

31D. Big-headed?: SUDSY. "Head" here refers to the foam at the top of beer. Put a head on the beer.

Quite a few lively multi-word entries. My favorite is GO ROGUE (21D. Deviate from team strategy). Can never understand Sarah Palin's appeal.

Across:

10. Missile Command game company: ATARI. The answer for "game" company is always Atari.

15. Writer painted by Manet: EMILE ZOLA. OK. Here is the painting. I was thinking of Gertrude Stein. But she's painted by Picasso.

16. Went wild: RAVED

17. Family racing enthusiast: NASCAR DAD. Would be nice to pair it up with Soccer Mom.

18. Island where Icarus was imprisoned: CRETE. He did escape from Crete, but his wings melted when he flew too close to the sun.

19. The Jonas Brothers, e.g.: TRIO. Nice contemporary reference.

20. Panini cheese: ASIAGO. Named after the Italian town.

22. Northwest Passage explorer: RAE (John)

23. Actress Paquin et al.: ANNAS

25. Prefix with skeleton: ENDO. Meaning "within". Have yet to see its opposite ECTO.

26. "You wish!": AS IF

27. Nobelist Hammarskjöld: DAG. The second UN Secretary General. U Thant is the third.

31. Examine closely: SIFT. Sift through data/evidence.

32. Parka material: GORE-TEX

34. Place to pick up a cat: SCRUFF. Oh, I had the wrong understanding of "pick up".

37. Aplenty: GALORE

38. Fawners: TOADIES

40. Madrigalist's accompaniment: LUTE. Did not know the meaning of madrigalist, singer of madrigal, which is defined as "A song for two or three unaccompanied voices, developed in Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries".

41. Items in a modern bibliog.: URLS

42. Charmers: CUTIES

44. Clock-setting std.: GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

47. Tim of "Private Practice": DALY. No idea. He's the younger brother of Tyne Daly.

48. Steady: TRUE

49. West Indian sorcery: OBEAH. Surprised to see it can also be spelled as Obi.

51. It may be at the end of the line: FLY. Fishing line end.

52. Vivacious wit: ESPRIT (e-SPREE). I love Esprit clothing brand. It's huge in Asia.

54. Erato's instrument, in some depictions: LYRE

55. "My Fair Lady" race site: ASCOT. The British racetrack.

57. Cádiz's region: ANDALUSIA. A region of southern Spain on the Mediterranean Sea. New name to me.

59. Put on again: RE-AIR. Very few RE, or ING, NESS affixes in this grid.

60. Smooth, lustrous quality: SILKINESS. Gimme for any Barry Silk fan.

61. Bowling pin wood: MAPLE. Yep!

Down:

1. Group of five: PENTAD

2. Historic Nile excavation site: AMARNA. Should I know this? I've only heard of Luxor.

3. Heading up: RISING

4. Metal industry acronym: ALCOA (ALuminum Company Of America)

5. Grazing ground: LEA

6. Book after II Chronicles: EZRA. Drew a blank.

7. Miraculous: GODSENT. Wow, I had no idea that "godsend" has an adjective form.

8. Delon and Resnais of French film: ALAINS. Only familiar with Alain Delon.

9. Classic man's-best-friend novel: LAD: A DOG. Man, I've never heard of the novel.

10. Chevron competitor: ARCO

11. Seaman: TAR. Slang for sailor.

12. Against: AVERSE TO

13. Mall tenant: RETAILER

24. Netflix genre: SCI-FI. Not my type.

26. Jane Eyre's charge __ Varens: ADELE. Got the answer from crosses.

29. Personal or special things: EFFECTS. Nice clue.

33. Joe Buck's friend: RATSO. From "Midnight Cowboy". I was picturing the sportscaster Joe Buck. Adore his voice.

34. Breeding center: STUD FARM

35. The Great Barrier Reef borders it: CORAL SEA. Adjacent to Kazie's Australia.

36. It's usually a regular one worn backwards: RALLY CAP. Silly.

39. Outdo: SURPASS

40. Get no use: LIE IDLE

43. Root crop high in vitamin C: TURNIP. Gimme for Frank/DCannon, I hope.

44. Yellowstone attraction: GEYSER

45. Actress Tomei: MARISA

46. Daddy Warbucks's hired muscle: THE ASP. The henchman in the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie". Got me, Argyle!

50. Not pulling any punches: BLUNT

52. Infinitive with a circumflex: ÊTRE. Circumflex above E. Somehow I am not fond of the clue.

53. Receipts: TAKE. Wanted a word ending in S.

56. Drum filler: OIL. Drum can mean "barrel"?

58. Soup-to-go need: LID. I wanted CUP.

Answer grid.

C.C.

67 comments:

Anonymous said...

15 writer painted by Monet I wanted Hemingway.

33 Joe Buck's friend. tough one only JB I know of is a sportscaster for FOX baseball.

FUN FACTS

The first pair of binoculars had a 1x magnification.

For a short amount of time, the rock band The Who broke up, and formed two new bands called The When and The What.

enjoy a clip of fun facts from Dave Letterman.

Dave Letterman

Anonymous said...

Ouch!

Barry G. said...

Wow, this one was a slog from beginning to end. Fun and, for the most part, fair. But still a slog.

I managed to get through most of the puzzle slowly but steadily until I hit the south central portion where everything just stopped. I had ANDALUSIA and SPEEDTRAP, but couldn't get much else to work. Finally, after staring at it for five minutes, I realized that GATE was not correct for 53D. Once I replaced it with TAKE, I was able to finally get ESPRIT for 52A (I just couldn't figure out any word that ended in IG) and the rest fell quickly after that. Who knew that TURNIPS were high in vitamin C?

Anonymous said...

54 across is LYRE, not LUTE.

lois said...

Good morning CC et al., This was a tough one..like chewing leather, but enjoyed the cleverness of some. 1A 'brief' sent me to boxer shorts and that didn't work. Gave that section up when my idea of 1D group of 5 'menage...' didn't work either. Got 20A Asiago b/c of Jeannie's recipes and LOL at 34D Stud farm being in the same puzzle w/ Go Rogue, geyser and Godsent. Never heard of gore-tex and 'fly' was clever but fishing was hardly where I went w/that one! Love how that is postitioned next to
'esprit'.

Good luck, Left Coasters, with all the shakin' goin' on. I'll try to keep it down.

Off to Carpe Diem...or whoever!
Enjoy your day.

Dick said...

Good morning C.C. and All, another difficult slog for me today. I just could not get on Brad’s wavelength today. Some fills came quickly, but others required trips to Mr. G. I struggled from the beginning and finally got paralegal which allowed me to fill the NW section; I did not know Emile Zola and had to get it from the perps. But, it was still downhill the rest of the way.

This is the first morning in awhile that I did not need to get u early and plow snow. However, it looks like there is more snow coming today. UGH!

Hope you all have a great Saturday and wonderful weekend.

kazie said...

Almost gave up like yesterday, but then started cheating at the g'spot and after a few of those were there the others fell in.

I was on the wrong track for a few: for IDEE FIXE I wanted another term for périfique--the beltline road they might be stuck on. I did know ANDALUSIA, and SCRUFF was an early "aha!" guess. Also have never heard of LAD A DOG or OBEAH, and Manet must have painted a lot of writers, going by the number of others mentioned at the G. I do recognise the one of Zola now you linked it, C.C. I didn't know THE ASP, DAG or RAE.

I started with SHININESS for SILKINESS and REDON for REAIR, then AIR for OIL, before cleaning that up.

I think PARALEGAL was the cleverest today.

I also think C.C. is incredible for the way she gets these done day after day with far less US cultural background than any of us.

As crossword enthusiasts, we are all constantly reminded of the importance of spelling accuracy. But have you noticed how sloppy it is in print or on TV now? Even more of a problem when you realize over 300 people almost lost their lives Christmas Day because an immigration official couldn't be bothered spelling a name correctly on a visa application.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

Anonymous said...

21D RE: your comment, read her book. Tex.

Anonymous said...

I enjoy Saturday's puzzles because they are a bit harder than the week's, but this one was a bit too hard. Barely got 30% filled in before checking the blog!

Dick said...

Kazie, glad to see you back after yesterday. Don't ever give up!!!

Bob said...

A nice challenge with some tricky clues. No errors. No help. 25 minutes.

Spitzboov said...

A hard one but finally nailed it without strikethroughs or asking Mr. G. Saw ANDALUSIA early, which helped. Many clever clues - ie. SUDSY, SPEEDTRAP. FLY. Nice to see TURNIP. LYRE was just a w.a.g. GOROGUE also neat. RAE was a guess. Never heard of the Dr. but guess he had quite a career in the Arctic.

IDÉE FIXE is feminine :-)
ÊTRE ou n'ÊTRE pas? To be or not to be, (that is the question.)

-3º tonight

tfrank said...

Good morning, C. C. and all,

This was like pulling teeth today. The only ones I nailed (right on, C.C.) were turnip, Ezra and GMT. Unknowns were Amarna, Lad a dog, obeah, Emile Zola and Marisa. Somehow, I was able to complete it with a lot of red letter and perp help.

As someone said recently, 1 across is usually a good harbinger of what to expect. Today was no exception. It, plus the stacked nines below, made for a tough start.

As usual, however, after looking at the completed puzzle, I found myself saying, "That was not so hard". I regard that as a tribute to the constructor.

I am looking forward, with some trepidation, to tonight's Cowboys - Eagles matchup. I hope Tony Romo does not suffer Colt McCoy's fate.

Have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

Totally mean-spirited. Lad: A Dog, Joe Buck's friend? Go rougue, maybe that explain's your puzzle culture, you think Sarah Palin is the answer. Some of us like to stay off the computer and use old fashioned crossword dictionaries. Have some heart for us!

Anonymous said...

I asked for Daddy Warbuck's whatever it was and found all the answers - this is fun, but I'd better not remember where you are!

Anonymous said...

Goody. Another wandering apostrophe Anonymous.

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - a bit of a slog for me today; filled in here and there, then went back and slooowly worked my way through it.
Emile Zola popped into my head for 15A, although I have no idea why I knew that. Never heard of 'Amarna'; never saw 'My Fair Lady'. As with RSD, I was thinking of Joe Buck the sportscaster.

A good, challenging puzzle; most enjoyable.

anon@7:52, who had lute? C.C.'s write-up is correct.

Today is Play God Day. A touchy subject, but if you could play God for a day, what one thing would you do? Me, if it were two weeks earlier, I'd have cured Dan.

Hope it's a fun weekend for everyone, including the Eagles.

MPK said...

Did mean to be Anonymous on that last one. MPK

MPK said...

Doggone my trigger finger.

DId NOT mean to be Anonymous.

Argyle said...

Anon said...I asked for Daddy Warbuck's whatever it was and found all the answers - this is fun, but I'd better not remember where you are!

Not sure what you are getting at. I know on AcrossLite, I have wanted to Reveal just one word but revealed all of them. Is that what you're talking about?

MJ said...

Good morning C.C. and all,
Very clever, often sly cluing today. Besides all the clues C.C. cited in her write-up, I also liked 51D "It may be at the end of the line." Never heard of AMARNA nor the term RALLY CAP. Also, had no idea who Joe Buck was, but did recognize RATSO which I was able to fill in after getting the first three letters from the perps.

C.C., the reason you probably didn't know LAD A DOG is that it is a children's book from nearly a century ago. It was still popular in the 1950's when I was a child, but children today might not be familiar with it.

Enjoy the day!

Belle said...

First time through on across, got so few that I considered quitting. Although I did get 23A, 59A and 61A. Down was a little better but I wanted Lassie for Lad: A Dog but it didn't fit. All in all, tough but doable.

JD said...

Good morning CC and blog buddies,

Whew! I'd like to say I finished this..well, I did, but I actually went thru all of the keys to come up with the e in idee fixe.How bad is that? I thought I was doing better at figuring out the long perpendicular fills, but also had trouble with lieid--. After writing it out, it finally came to me.doh!


Enough of the longer answers miraculously came to me, like Emile Zola, so I had some usable perps, but it was a slow slog.

Amarna was Akhenaten's capital city; he was the pharoah that believed in 1 god and was married to Nefertiti, a VERY weird looking guy.During his reign he destroyed many temples, but then, his city was also destroyed during King Tut's reign.

RSDem, loved the opening clip this am. Had a good belly laugh and am now wondering where Dennis's deadly cocktails are.

Anonymous said...

This puzzle is for the elite speed solvers, not us.

Diane said...

Pretty tough today--especially when I started with 1A filled in as "bit player"! Didn't know Daley or Andalusia but after a little help from Google I was able to finish!
Cold (40) and rainy here on Sanibel--as my neighbor said this morning, "The world is ending!!!".

Diane said...

oh, and being in Florida I wanted Fla for 51A (end of I75??)

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Saturday's non-theme puzzles are always the roughest for me. There is a lot of going back and forth to get everything to mesh. Today was a long battle.

At first, I wanted QUINTS for 1D, had never heard of AMARNA and had to "G" that one. I started with LASSIE for 9D, but it didn't fit. I was pretty sure "LA" was right, so what other doggie-style (I know I'm leaving the door open here) book was there, except LAD A DOG?

It all helped because once I had 6D EZRA and LAD, 15A EMILE ZOLA fell into place easily.

Then, I started 14D with LE METRO. It's a great subway system, but I did get stuck for about 15 minutes
once. Oh well, it didn't fit anyway.

For some reason I did know 49A OBEAH, but wanted HARP instead of LYRE for 54A. CATALONIA seemed like a cinch for 57A. Silly me, it seems that a lot of Spanish regions end in "IA".

A very nice, tough Saturday puzzle.

Anon@11:52, There aren't any true speed solvers here. Some people keep track to compare to previous solving times, but not just to race through as fast as possible. I don't think times from 15 minutes to a half hour AND more would be unusual for today's puzzle. I just checked another crossword blog and the time for this puzzle was posted as 3:57. Now THAT is fast!

kk said...

usually enjoy your comments. Not the Palin remark, though. One is either passionate about Palin or petty. I'll fall in the passionate. Love her. Just wanted to rebut.

JimmyB said...

Another day where putting the puzzle down and going for a walk helped reset the brain. I never did figure out IDEE FIXE, although other unknowns like AMARNA, LAD A DOG, and OBEAH eventually fell with the perps. Finally got it done in about 45 minutes.

I only got ASCOT because I remember that's where they wear the crazy hats. Plus it's probably one of the more humorous scenes in the movie.

Charlie said...

I thought this was a crossword blog... maybe tomorrow you can take a swipe at Cheney?

Jeanne said...

Good Afternoon everyone,
This one was a struggle and once again reverted to doing it online with a long break in between my two efforts. Funny how many of us thought of Joe Buck, announcer, when trying to fill in that slot. He is such a cutie as is Tim Daly. I know we had Obeah before because I had it written in my little “cheat” notebook which I had to refer to. Really tough one but enjoyable.

@Dick, how much snow have you been getting in western PA? We had a 4” snowfall earlier in December and three 1” or less coatings in eastern PA. Not bad so far. @tfrank, I am an Eagles fan but may find myself cheering on the Cowboys tonight. All the sport newscasts around here are saying if the Eagles lose, McNabb will be gone. IMO, he should have been gone a long time ago. Go Cowboys!!

All my running around is finished, so I will wrap up in a soft throw, drink some warm spiced tea, and read a good book. That’s my plan until game time.

Spitzboov said...

@Anon 11:52

What Clear Ayes said is true. If you have the time, why would you want to rush through a crossword, especially if it is well clued and has interesting fills. You don't rush thru a meal that you like or hope that a movie you like will end quickly. Just try and have a little more fun and relax.

Clear Ayes said...

kk, "Passionate or petty". Not fair to say that you are petty if you aren't passionate for Ms. Palin's point of view. That would be like saying if a person doesn't care for Mr. Obama's policies, he or she would be petty. I'm sure you would agree that wouldn't be fair :o). "Agree or disagree" would be the fairer assessment. Certainly, "not understanding the appeal" is not personally insulting, as is calling someone petty.

Charley, I've never known C.C. to take a "swipe" at anyone.

BTW, this comment is not political, it is in defense of C.C.'s right to voice any, always gentle, opinion she wants. It's her blog!.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon, CC, any chance for a Clear Ayes guest-blog? I enjoy her take on puzzles very much.

JK

Clear Ayes said...

JK, Thanks for the vote. Maybe one of these days, but, believe it or not, GAH and I are pretty busy right now . (You might know how frantic being retired can be.)

BTW, Charlie, sorry I spelled your name wrong.

Argyle said...

Sorry, Charlie

I'm betting you are a regular who has created Charlie just for that comment.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the response, Clear Ayes, I am a huge fan.

JK

john28man said...

I thought maybe Lad: A Dog might have something to do with Lassie Come Home. When I googled it I found that Wiki-pedia says the later was a Saturday Evening Post story, lster a novel and in 1943 a movie with many sequals. They do not have the same authors so my thought was incorrect.

DCannon said...

Particularly hard for me today. I G'd many of the clues. Sometimes it is not that the answer is an unknown, but is new in the context of the clue given.

I knew Ezra, so once I had the 'z' I knew "Zola." I could not remember his first name, however, so I had to google after all. The only "...nip" vegetable I could think of was parsnip, which wouldn't fit. Perps had to get that one in the end. I love turnips. Wish I had some.

I do like Sarah Palin, but it is OK if someone else doesn't.

tfrank said...

Robin,

Your beige bikini is really hot!

C.C., kk, CA, Charlie, et al re Sarah Palin:

IMO, few liberals can understand her appeal, just as few conservatives can understand Obama's. Differences of opinion are what make a horse race and this country great. Intolerance of others' opinions is what makes concentration camps. I believe political and religious opinions are best suited for other blogs, however.

Anonymous said...

Anon, I don't think Dennis is the only one who can delete offensive posts.

Clear Ayes said...

tfrank, you are so right. The right to disagree is the bedrock of what makes this country great. Let us all hope that tradition continues.

I hope you understand that when I addressed kk about "passionate or petty", I was talking about name calling, not politics. I could just as easily have put in the names George Clooney and Brad Pitt and their sex appeal for comparison. (Now, wait a minute...I could get riled about that one!! :o)

C.C. is absolutely not "small-minded", "having little or no importance", or "marked by or reflective of narrow interests and sympathies", all definitions of "petty".

Oh Dennis, about Play God Day, I'd command that nobody could ever again pray to me for victory in battle, or declare that I am on their side. Wars might have a tendency to piddle out.

Robin said...

I just wanted you all to know that I did not do well on this puzzle. I must go and pray on it. BTW, the hot tub is bubbling and it is 71 degrees at the pool.
Have a nice evening.
PS I only have the utmost respect for C.C. and the people on this blog with names. God Bless You All.

Chickie said...

Hello All--Well today WAS another day, but that doesn't mean I was able to do the puzzle any better than yesterday. It was a slog for me. I put in too many wrong answers, then erased, and put in another wrong answer! Had raged, then raled, finally raved for example.

Kazie, I also had Redon for Reairs, and air for oil. This really fouled up the SW corner for me. However, I did know Ascot, so knew I was wrong with Air.

After all was finally done, with the help of Google and C.C. I really wondered why I had such a very hard time today. Even though it was a slog for me, I enjoyed the overall puzzle.

Charlie, C.C. was voicing an opinion, not taking a swipe at Palin. Not everybody can be everything to everyone--therefore our right to differences of opinion. Best to keep religion and politics out of the blog.
'Nuf said.

Chickie said...

T-Frank, and CA I think our ideas were all on the same wave length regards to our right to voice differences of opinion. Thank goodness we have that right here in the U.S. and aren't censored if we do express our opinion.

PJB-Chicago said...

Good evening, C. C. and puzzlefriends.
I took Jimmy B's wise advice and took a brisk, slippery walk after my first round of solving resulted in only 12 completed clues. My second walk got the brain going enough for me to get the grid done.

Viva ANDALUSIA, IDEE FIXE and EMILE ZOLA. Doesn't it just figure that three foreign words would unlock the secrets to revealing toughies AMARNA, RALLY CAP, & LAD, A DOG. [I wanted "supermodel" instead of PARALEGAL, although I'm sure a person could be both!]

What's up with the cranky anons? Yeesh!
@ClearAyes from 1:12 pm---Well said!

I'm doing 7 minutes on stage tonight, the topic is "voicemails from Moms" and then pairing up with L-J P. for a brief "bit" on TV crawls a.k.a crawlers (those horrible unbidden lines of text that snake across the bottom of the screen when you're watching something totally unrelated.) All good clean, family fun. Now it's time to fix what's left of my hair! A guy's gotta look presentable, right?

Dennis said...

entropy, I abhor censorship of any type. However, personal attacks have no place here, and those of us who have been so empowered will delete them as soon as they're caught.

'Densis'. Cute.

Dennis said...

No apology necessary. I kinda like it, and it is a rather apt description.

windhover said...

kk @ 12:50,
almost always when I am given a choice between two options, I would like a third. If the only choice in opinions about Palin (or anyone else) is passionate or petty, then I suppose I would choose to pet her, dispassionately, of course.

Charlie,
Glad you stopped by to take a swipe at the blog owner. I have a suggestion for you about tomorrow: Start your own blog.

tfrank @ 3:10,
I'm sure it's clear to both of us that we are pretty far apart in our political and social views. After some earlier dust-ups, I have come to respect your views and the way you express them here. I particularly respect your call
for tolerance of opposing perspectives. I do have a mild objection to the statement that liberals can't understand Palin or conservatives can't understand Obama, unless "understand" is a euphemism for "agree with".
Part of the problem is that both liberals and conservatives insulate, almost innoculate, themselves from any information that would give them any insight into the thinking and motives of the "other side". This shows in the choice of TV networks, magazines, commentators etc that each side gets all it's information from. I'm quite sure that there are many liberals and conservatives who
have only the best and long term interests of the country (as they see it) in mind. For the record, I do not believe Palin is one of those people. However, although I literally despise the man and his views, I
believe that Cheney is one of those who thinks he is acting in the best interest of our nation
I said all that to say this: I don't think brief conversations or comments about controversial topics are or would be damaging to this blog. I'm sure that intolerance and sarcastic remarks and personal attacks on other posters or the blog administrators are damaging and should not be done, particularly by those who are making their first appearance.
As I said at the outset, you and I may never agree politically, but we can respect each others opinions, knowing that they were formed somewhat thoughtfully.
If kk and Charlie would like that same respect, they could start by not insulting the person who provided them
with the forum to comment.

Anonymous said...

As I`ve often told friends, watch MSNBC/CNN/FOX/CBN...ALL of them. THEN you MIGHT get most of the truth...but you can never be sure. We all tend to watch networks we agree with...tell me your favorite network for news and I can just about tell you your political philosophy, but NONE of them are unbiased.

kazie said...

The problem is that if you are bent in one political direction, it makes your stomach turn over to hear the (what you consider to be) crap that comes from the opposing side. I know that's true of me anyway.

I have in fact criticized my own unwillingness to watch a news channel from the other end of the spectrum, but it doesn't make me more able to do so.

That said, I am wondering why no one even reacted to my comment about spelling earlier @8:50am. It wasn't even political. Especially when I murdered the spelling of périphérique in that same post. Sorry.

windhover said...

Anonymous @ 6:44,
Right! A writer I admire a great deal, Derrick Jensen, said in one of his books, "All writing is propaganda, including what you are reading right now". The same is true (more true) of electronic media. Reading (or watching or listening widely) doesn't assure that you will get at the truth, but it gives you a better chance.
For the record, when asked, I describe myself as a Democratic Socialist Anarcho-Primitivist Libertarian Independent. I not only do not watch Fox, I don't watch CNN or MSNBC or whatever other alphabet soup is out there. I don't own a television. My radio is tuned to music only. I used to listen to NPR, but they got much too conservative for my taste. I'm also a beer snob and I drink only from the top shelf, on an income that is probably less than most of you pay in taxes.

Robin,
Takes one to know one. Sexy is as sexy does. I'm
sending the picture of the sisters to my Catholic brother. My favorite avatar ( We should have a contest) is the one with the leash. I recall that several others liked it as well.

kazie said...

Robin,
What happened to your kind thoughts in my direction from 7:24? I was flattered. Did you feel it was too much over the top? Never mind.

As a teacher I had to battle the inaccuracies of student spelling all the time--especially important in foreign languages. So now I can point to an incident where a little more care and accuracy would have averted a near disaster that could very easily have been a real one.

Anonymous said...

Please, please, PLEASE get off the spelling jag, kazzie. You got your flattery, and now you're upset because it's not still there for others to see?

PJB-Chicago said...

Kazie:
I agree with your concerns on spelling. The screens behind TV newscasters very often mess up captions with names of people and places; "Libiya" and "Alex Baldwin" come to mind. Our local paper has confused "pique," "peak" and "peek" often enough that I start doubting myself when I write them. It's a "plauge!"

I'm a pretty good speller, but a horrible typist. This phone doesn't have spellcheck, and the tiny screeen makes catching errors a battle.

The Périphérique does get called and spelled as Périfique as Google will attest to. It's a mouthful to say and a nightmare to drive.

Transliteration of foreign names from non-Western scripts has long been a problem for intelligence agencies. Think of all the ways to spell the first and last names of Libya's leader, or the name Mohammed. I know a family from Egypt; members of their extended family spell their last name 3 different ways. Two of the males have the identical first name: one ends it with a Q and the other with a K. Add in the problems of prefixes to the names (al- versus el-, bin- versus ben, etc.), the use or non use of middle names, and the lack of standardized forms of ID for residents of many nations, and we're up against a lot of variations. That said, there are good solutions to generate and parse alternate spellings in the databases but human error still creeps in.

Sorry this is so lengthy. Time to change buses.
Jbp (!)

Anonymous said...

Dallis leading 27 to 7 @H.
PHI has 101 yds in penalties.
McNabb is 4 for 10 for 39 yds.
Love it!!!

tfrank said...

Windhover,

Well said; I agree with most everything you said. We all seek opinion and news sources that agree with our own views. You have many more than I do to choose from, however. Luckily, conservatives pretty much control talk radio.

I have enjoyed the discussion today. Right now, it's back to football. 27-7 Cowboys at halftime.

See you at the Superbowl!

Robin said...

Ah ,Thanks WH, leash it is. PJB get home safe. Kazie I hope u got my email xoxox to all!

HUTCH said...

Wow!!!Listening to you all makes my day and refreshes my mind.Even, if I dont get the puzzle.I'd like to get you all in a bar and just listen. What a ball it would be.

Dennis said...

Just saw that there was a 6.5 off the coast of N. California. You guys out there ok?

anon@8:52, you're exactly right - McNabb has to go.

windhover said...

Hey, Hutch,
I know what you mean. I've never bought a round for the whole house before, but if I could get this group together I'd do it in a heartbeat. Second round is yours.
Thanks Robin. Owe you one now. What'll your first one be?
Hittin' the hay here in the Bluegrass. I've got a sick neighbor and I've got to get up at 3 and fill his wood-burning furnace. See you Sunday.

Robin said...

Im telling you Dennis, the west coast sounds very unstable....scares me to death.

WH Good morning @ 3:00 am if you check the blog!

Bill G. said...

Robin said:"the west coast sounds very unstable....scares me to death."

Hi Robin. I'm too far south to have felt this one but is it any scarier than a severe blizzard in the NE, a hurricane in the SE, a drought or a tornado in the midwest? The two bad earthquakes I've experienced were scary but nothing worse than that. Nature can be tough on any of us. That said, I don't want to have to experience any earthquakes bigger than the two I've gotten through so far.

~ Bill G.

Dennis said...

Robin, as ClearAyes or one of the other leftcoasters said, they're still having growing pains. I hope everybody's damage-free.

JD said...

The quake and 5+ after-shocks were off of the coast up near Oregon, so most of us are much too far south to even feel a twinge.BTW, that is close to where the sea lions have regrouped..maybe the anchovies know something.

JD said...

oops, just checked. There have been 13 after-shocks after the 6.5 One was a 4.5, but the others were small.We have not heard of any damage in or near Eureka. Thanks for your concern Dennis et al.

windhover said...

Robin:
Of course I checked it, I'm addicted. :-}
Thanks.
No quake here, but I'm feeling damned shaky.