google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday January 21, 2010 Gareth Bain

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Jan 21, 2010

Thursday January 21, 2010 Gareth Bain

Theme: BREAK THE ICE (65. Warm things up, and what 17-, 28- and 50-Across literally do) - The word ICE is broken and spans across each two-word common phrase.

17A. One that creates a current in the current: ELECTRIC EEL. It generates "electric current" in the "water current".

28A. DNA researcher: GENETIC ENGINEER. I forgot what's the difference between DNA and RNA again.

50A. Fitness staple: AEROBIC EXERCISE. Swimming, jogging, etc. Improve your body's use of oxygen.

This "split a word" theme idea itself is not novel. We've seen a few since the LAT switch. But Gareth Bain brought the whole concept to a new dimension by placing the unifying answer BREAK THE ICE in the grid. A bit similar in concept to his NIXON puzzle where ON is nixed in each theme entry and NIXON itself is gridded at the lower right corner.

Quite a few sparkling clues in the puzzle. I especially like the following "They":

73A. They must be met: NEEDS

12D. They may not be speaking: EXES

63D. They're barely passing: DEES. Grades.

Across:

1. Colorado resort town: ASPEN. The ski resort.

6. Roman commoner: PLEB

10. Who blows thar?: SHE. Thar she blows!

13. "April Love" singer: BOONE (Pat). Here is the clip.

14. Talks deliriously: RAVES

16. Witch's specialty: HEX. Thought it's BREW.

20. Floor model: DEMO

21. __ alcohol: fusel oil component: AMYL. No idea. From Greek ámylon (starch).

22. Shakespearean feet: IAMBS. Poetic feet.

26. Kissers: YAPS

35. Horror filmmaker Roth: ELI. Have never heard of this guy. Welcome to the crossword world, new ELI!

36. James Brown's genre: SOUL. James Brown is "The Godfather of Soul".

37. Allow: ENABLE

38. A flat one may evoke a wince: NOTE. Wrote down JOKE first.

42. Starting line advantage: POLE. Car racing starting line?

43. Puccini works: OPERAS

46. Wilson's predecessor: TAFT. The only president who also served as Chief Justice.

49. Actress Ullmann: LIV. Norweigian. Used to think she's from Sweden.

53. "The fool __ think he is wise ...": "As You Like It": DOTH

54. Silver encouragement?: HI-YO. "Hi-yo Silver, away!". The Lone Ranger's shout to his horse Silver.

55. Duke __: video game hero: NUKEM. I had NUKE? sitting there forever.

58. Ireland, poetically: ERIN. The answer seems to be ERIN instead of EIRE whenever there is "poetic" involved.

60. Ale feature: HEAD. Foam.

64. Ace's value, at times: ONE

68. Beverage suffix: ADE. Lemonade.

69. Barracks VIP: SARGE. Why is Barracks in plural form?

70. Rubber duck-loving Muppet: ERNIE. "Sesame Street".

71. Short flight: HOP

72. Tints: DYES. Plopped HUES.

Down:

1. Between the sheets: ABED. Bed sheets.

3. Housman work: POEM. A.E. Houseman the British poet. I misread the clue as Houseman.

4. "More!": ENCORE

6. Butcher's best: PRIME CUT

7. Like some negligees: LACY. Do you like the color?

8. "Brideshead Revisited" novelist Waugh: EVELYN. Not familiar with the book at all.

9. Buzzer: BEE

10. Ersatz: SHAM

11. Basil or chervil: HERB. Nice rhyme.

15. Add sneakily: SLIP IN

18. Sine or cosine: RATIO

23. See 25-Down: A SNAP. And IT'S A (25. With 23-Down, "Duck soup!"). "Duck soup" is a slang for "piece of cake".

27. Census datum: AGE

28. Italian port: GENOA. A bit south of Milan.

29. Sneak off to the altar: ELOPE

30. Compound in some explosives: NITER. In TNT.

31. Enrapture: ELATE

32. Where Christ stopped, in a Levi title: EBOLI. Levi's "Christ Stopped at Eboli".

33. Hudson River's __ Island: ELLIS

34. "Still Me" autobiographer: REEVE (Christopher). Katharine Hepburn's autobiography is simply titled "Me".

41. Unpopular legislative decisions: TAX HIKES

44. WWII enders: A-BOMBS

45. Take a load off: SIT. Good clue too.

47. Épéeist's ruse: FEINT

48. Shot: TRY. Give it a shot/TRY.

51. Heartening: CHEERY

52. Stick together: COHERE

55. Ararat lander: NOAH. Noah's Ark landed in Mount Ararat.

56. Edit menu command: UNDO

57. Don't let go: KEEP

59. Fashion: RAGE. In rage. Did not come to me readily.

61. Mozart's "__ kleine Nachtmusik": EINE. "A Little Night music".

66. "Far out!": RAD

67. Barnyard bird: HEN. Owl too.

For those who do not visit the Comments section, Rich Norris (LA Times Crossword editor) told Dennis yesterday that starting in February, we'll only see Dan Naddor's puzzles every other week. "At that rate, his puzzles will last for the entire year and perhaps flow over into 2011--a fitting tribute to one of the finest constructors I've ever had the pleasure of editing."

Also, from Don "Hard G" Gagliardo: "I just received my February issue of The Crosswords Club, and Dan has a puzzle in there! So you might want to pass that on to your readers in case they do not know this. There is also one by Rich, recent LA contributor John Lampkin has one, veterans Alan Olschwang and Fred Piscop are represented, and there is an intriguing-looking one by Mark Bickham. Contact number is 1-800-433-4386."

Answer grid.

C.C.

82 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - I always look forward to Gareth Bain puzzles because they're typically very clever, and this one was no exception. Great theme (which I didn't get until the unifying 65A) and some very clever cluing, highlighted to me by 'Silver encouragement'. My one unknown was 'Eli' Roth, but the perps quickly took care of that. A most enjoyable solve today.

C.C. even a single building is called a barracks. I have no idea why the word 'barrack' is never used.

And 10A --- ah, 10A. I'll be good and just say that my answer wouldn't fit. Also, had 'all' for 40A...

Since several people have used their pets as avatars, but especially since it bugged some anons, I thought I'd throw mine out there instead of my ugly mug. This is Kita, who was my buddy and constant companion for 8 short years. She always had the same 'wait till you find out what I did' grin you see in the picture.

Today's Words of Wisdom: "Never mistake motion for action." -- Ernest Hemingway

And a couple more 'Never's:

- "Never fry bacon in the nude." -- H. Peter Miner

- "Never try and teach a pig to sing; it's a waste of time, and it annoys the pig." -- Robert A. Heinlein

Argyle said...

Good Morning, C.C. and Dennis,

You're right; your little buddy looks like he's saying, "You know that $50.00 collectable you just got? It was delicious!"

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

Dennis et al,
Just got this email from Don "Hard G" Gagliardo:

"I just received my February issue of The Crosswords Club, and Dan has a puzzle in there! So you might want to pass that on to your readers in case they do not know this. There is also one by Rich, recent LA contributor John Lampkin has one, veterans Alan Olschwang and Fred Piscop are represented, and there is an intriguing-looking one by Mark Bickham. Contact phone number is 1-800-433-4386". Thanks, Don.

Lemonade714 said...

The mind is a dangerous thing to waste, and this morning I felt like my mind was still ABED. I could not focus on the NE corner, and kept misreading the SW clue as SHORT FIGHT. I had no problem with the theme answers, but did not understand the concept until I came to read the write up. When I used to do the puns and anagrams in the NYT, run on words were always my least favorite; you agree Al?

Brideshead Revisited was a very successful BBC series that has been replayed on PBS. It had a wonderful cast.

Liv Ullman was one of director Ingmar Bergman’s discoveries, and often his inspiration.

Ironic that my ending ADE made the grid after I was LEMONAID yesterday; Jeudi Heureux

Anonymous said...

bar·rack 1 (brk)
tr.v. bar·racked, bar·rack·ing, bar·racks 1. A building or group of buildings used to house military personnel. Often used in the plural.

From French baraques, barracks, from Spanish barracas, soldiers' tents or huts.

barracks


Rita Hayworth negligee

Rita Hayworth

tfrank said...

Good morning, C.C. and all,

I agree with Dennis's plaudits about today's puzzle. It has a crisp feel to it, and was a lot of fun to solve. I also did not know Eli, but the rest flowed smoothly.

Your link for lacy was very enticing, C.C., and will get all the old fogeys' attention as it did mine.

I am off to the dentist to have a gold crown installed this morning. I already have several, and have found that the ceramic crowns, while cheaper, have a tendency to crack.

I rented the PBS film version of "Brideshead Revisited" from Netflix last year, and found it to be fascinating. I am currently going through their collection of films of P.D.James's novels featuring Adam Dalgleish. Also fascinating! I also recommend the film versions of the late Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone novels. He passed away Tuesday.

Be well and enjoy life today!

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, CC and Friends. Wow! BETWEEN THE SHEETS (1D), what a DF way to start the day!

What a fun puzzle. I got the the responses, but couldn't figure out how three of the responses literally broke the ice until I read you explanation, CC.

Lemonade, this puzzle was made for you and your suffix! (68D)

The video hero is actually NUKEM (I had to hit the G spot for this one).

My favorite clue was Silver Encouragement ~ HI YO! That was d D'oh moment for me once I figured it out, but it made me smile.

QOD: There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it. ~ Mary Wilson Little.

Lemonade714 said...

I will never be able to look at Rita Hayworth without thinking back to Shawshank Redemption such a wonderful movie, and story by Stephen King.

Speaking of stories, I was very saddened by the death of Robert B. Parker who provided me so many hours of entertainment from his books. If you have not tried him, it can be addicting.

Anonymous said...

I am sorry but 55A cant be "Dukem" if 55D is "Noah"

Mainiac said...

Good Morning CC and All,

Perp help Enabled me to finish this one with pencil, but quite a bit of erasing. I really liked the cluing and can't wait for Lois' post. Very much fun.

Breaking the Ice with some Dfness..........I can't remember what color the Lace was but the idea of staying Abed for a Demo of Aerobic Exercise and au naturale Genetic Engineering with that beauty will surely turn me into one of the Exes.

Have a great Day!

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

Hahtool and Anonymous @7:35am,
Sorry, typo on NUKEM.

Democrat,
Thanks for barracks. Did not know it's always used in plural form.

Annette said...

Dennis: I like today's WOW. Nothing special being honored today? Or do penguins deserve 2 days since they've been so neglected of late? ;-)

Dennis said...

Annette, good catch. Yes, today's celebrations are twofold: it is National Hugging Day, as well as Squirrel Appreciation Day. I'd suggest not trying to combine the two.

Argyle, yeah, that happened more than once.

kazie said...

I got hung up in the mideast today. For some reason simply didn't see ENABLE, would never have got POLE (?), and couldn't come up with EBOLI, though the line was rolling around in my head, I simply didn't remember it.

The rest fell easily, but like Dennis, caught the IC but not ICE until the unifier.

In Oz, one "BARRACKS" for the team, not "ROOTS" as here. Where that comes from I don't know either, because my dictionary says it means to jeer at them. Maybe I had it wrong all these years, being a non-spectator sport follower. But I remember being asked who I was barracking for, not against. The dictionaries I have both say the noun can be used in the singular too.

I now see that RSD's link takes care of all the above.

But root has a much more DF meaning there--think of the F word here.

MamaRuth1950 said...

It is after 2 a.m. the day after Dan Naddor's puzzle appeared. I'm surprised that no one mentioned the link to the Russian YouTube of Witchy Women. I could sight-read some of the Russian but didn't know any of the words.

Got a kick out of Jon Stewart's intro of Bruce Springsteen. All of you from the middle of the country and west coast may not know that people from New Jersey don't ask each other what town they are from but ask what exit on the NJ tpk.

After 4 years of college bibliographies and 2 years of grad school papers, I never heard of Et Seq. Used Ibid and Op Cit all the time but don't remember what they mean now so many years later.

Haven't visited here in quite awhile. I fell and hurt my wrist about 6 weeks ago and couldn't write or type for the first 2 weeks. I rarely watch t.v. without working on a craft project of some kind (beading is my main interest now but I always have a knitting or crochet project going too) so having an injured wrist was really hard for me. I finally went to the doctor last Wed. and found out that I didn't break any bones but it is still sore at times.

Didn't have too much trouble with this puzzle but didn't get BEDS or LEW. Filled in a lot from perps because I didn't know some of the sports references, like Tiger's first name or Yogi's.

VTQUILTMOM said...

Enjoyed the puzzle today but I didn't understand the theme until I came here. Like some others, I was trying to figure out what they all had in common. I'm always surprised when I can finish any Thursday to Saturday puzzles with no help so am feeling good today!

I changed my avatar to join all the other pet lovers. This is Rascal, a Portuguese Water Dog. He's been my best friend for 12 years and always happy.

Spitzboov said...

Good Morning. A more challenging cw today. Many clever clues. Solving experience similar to Kazie's. With E falling last. Sort of knew EBOLI, but had to g'l the spelling. Labored over 10A for the longest time until the d'uh moment came.

Saw 'between the sheets' and 'like some negligees' and said "here we go again" - off into the tall grass, comments wise.

Dennis, like your avatar and your last 'never'

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi Gang -

Mama R - glad you're on the mend, and won't have knitting to interfer with your knitting.

The color of negligee is negligible, IMHO, as long as it doesn't clash with the drapes or the carpet. I do prefer Rita Hayworth, though.

April Love might be for the very young, but in 1957, even I was too young to have a clue. I was 10. Rita was 39.

Two of my four guest blog entries here have been Gareth Bain puzzles, including just two weeks ago, so I have some special affection for his work.

I was all over the place with this one, lots of entropy at the beginning, until order emerged from the chaos. I especially appreciate SOLE being properly clued.

Did anyone else have ADHERE for COHERE? "Stick together" is not specific between those two words. COHERE means stick to itself, ADHERE means to stick to something else. A good glue needs both adhesive and cohesive strength.

Cloudy here today, but should clear as the day goes on. It is a bit brighter now. Off to perform some menial tasks.

Cheers!
JzB

Lurker #1 said...

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Crossword Corner,

Happy Birthday to you!

Dennis said...

Well, now that "Lurker #1" spilled the beans, yes, it's been two years today since C.C.'s first 'Crossword Corner' blog. I know C.C. prefers to have these milestones pass unnoticed, but obviously someone else remembered.

I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say that we're all extremely proud to be part of this great community you've created.

Congratulations, C.C., on one hell of an accomplishment!

kazie said...

Yes indeed,
Happy Birthday to the blog!
Herzliche Geburtstagsgrüße!
Bon anniversaire!

Jazz,
COHER--Latin prefix co(n) (originally CUM, but later on: CON) meaning TOGETHER
ADHERE--Latin prefix AD meaning TO, TOWARDS, ONTO

VTQUILTMOM and Dennis,
Both really cute dogs. They certainly become part of our families, don't they?

MamaRuth,
Sorry to hear of your accident. Hope the pain goes away soon.
OPCIT--work cited
IBID--same place (as previous cite)
ETSEQ--and following (or something close to that concept)

Jeannie said...

How appropriate that on a day of freezing rain causing a nice bed of ice to maneuver around in it should have something to do with the theme. Alright, I didn’t catch the theme until coming here but it is kind of coincidental. I didn’t have to hit the g-spot today which is always a good thing on a Thursday. Perp help included Amyl, Iambs, and Eli. On a trip to New York, my dad actually went to Ellis Island and found the travel records of my Grandma when she came over here from Poland. She traveled by herself at the ripe old age of 18 and made it to Chicago where her sister was living. The rest they say is history.

Lots of good DF fodder today with abed, thar she blows, lacy negligees and needs that must be met. Thought of my favorite counselor when I penned in ade for lemonade :) Those of you traveling in inclimate weather please be careful.

Spitzboov said...

Ditto; Congratulations C. C. Great little group that has adhered/COHEREd to this blog

"SPLICE THE MAINBRACE"

Hahtoolah said...

Congratulation, C C on having achieved the 2 year mark on your blog. May it continue for years to come do that we may be entertained with knowledge and trivia. This blog is something I look forward to after my daily dose of puzzling.

MamaRuth. "et seq." is a Latin phrase meaning "and the following". I think it's most common usage is in legal documents. I see the term used nearly every day, especially when referring to statutes. The first statute would be listed followed be "et seq." to alert the reader to also read the statutes that come after.

AmieeAya said...

Wow, two years? This blog feels like an institution already! I too, and thankful CC!

Didn't have much time for this morning's puzzle--the little guy was up early. Did appreciate it though, HIYO and EXES (my husband has an EX and sometimes she feels like my ex too, I kind of wish we weren't speaking!) and POLE. The best thing about stopping at a yellow light is being in POLE position if you ask me. Totally didn't get SARGE until I read it here; read it like a certain president's VP... Arg. Again, so glad for this blog. A highlight of my day, and you guys too :)

Bob said...

Very easy puzzle for a Thursday. Fun but not much of a challenge. No help or errors. 11 minutes.

Bob said...

Incidentally, I never pay much attention to cw themes, unless I get stuck and need a hint. A lot of times I never even try to figure out what the theme might be (or care). It sounds like cw constructors generally start out with the theme words and build the puzzle around them, so maybe they help the constructor more than the solvers. That seems to be true for me anyway.

carol said...

Hi C.C. and friends,

I made it through with some help from the on line puzzle's 'solve' button. Did not know 55A as I have never played a video game. 21A stopped me cold as did 54A (and we just had this not long ago).
I also had no idea about 8D (Evelyn Waugh).

The term 'Duck Soup' never made any sense to me. I would not call making that soup easy. (I would not make it at all! - Yuk, doesn't even sound like eating it would be easy)

Dennis - love the picture of your beloved Kita. She just looks like a sweetheart.

Jazz - I did put in ADHERE for 52D at first.

Well, as to the DF'ness of this puzzle, I cannot wait to see what Lois does with it. ;)

Hope the California people are all ok..very strange weather pattern for them and we are getting some of the effects clear up here in Northern Oregon. I know they needed rain, but geez, at this rate the western part of the state will be washed into the Pacific!

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -
The thing about Xes is, if there's children involved, you can never get them completely out of your life. We're al;ways running into them at grandchild event. The LW's X will not acknowledge my existence. My X can be a bit too much of a chatty Kathy at times.

One of my most surreal experience was just before Nate's 1st birthday party. He was sleeping in my arms, and I was watching the Tigers lose on my daughter's TV. Somebody arrived, but I was a bit zoned out and didn't pay any attention. Then this hand, at the end of a very freckly arm, reached down and touched Nate. I thought, well, that's kind of forward, and looked up to see who it was. After a count of about 1, 1000; 2, 2000, 3 . . . I recognized my X. Yikes. She is - or was, gone quite grey now - a flaming red head, and a living embodiment of all the stereotypes. Yep - all of them.

"Oh . . . hi," I said.

Even the other grandmother deserves to be recognized, I guess.

While I was at rehearsal last night, you all were having a beer and single malt party. Sorry I missed it, but you did inspire a new avatar.

Bought a case of Kirlkland beer at Cosco for $18 - six each of IPA, Hefeweize, German Lager, and Amber Ale. Very grainy, intensely flavor brews with lots of character. Real beer - Not for Bud drinkers.

Geeeze - talk about chatty Kathy . . .

Cheers!
JzB the loquacious trombonist

IRISH JIM said...

Good afternoon CC and all.

Congratulations CC on your 2nd Anniversary.

Re Pole position. The leading qualifier in Auto races gets the No 1 position in the front row at the start. Dont really follow auto racing but cannot avoid where I live.

Easier for me today than normal Thurs.
Jazz, I also had Adhere initially.

EIRE Is the Gaelic name for Ireland. ERIN is the poetic name.

CC, when I saw 7A could hardly wait to see what picture you would have. Was not dissappointed.

Lemonade, I also enjoyed "Brideshead" very much. Too bad there are not more of those BBC series like "Upstairs Downstairs" on TV anymore.

Good to see some fresh blood on the blog.No offense to the regular posters.

Getting an El Nino rain storm today.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to CC's blog. Who was that Lurker that pointed that out anyway?

Jazz, I too had ADHERE first.

Good theme today, and appropriate for the season. Yes, we have lots of ice on our streets. It is just starting to get better with the thaws, and I suspect that it will get much worse over the weekend where they predict lots of freezing rain.

Dennis, nice shot of that doggy. My avatar is in fact not my pup but my daughters. He is Murphy the Morkie. I absolutely love him, and love that fact that I can visit him or he can stay with me anytime, but I don't have him fulltime. As much as I love dogs, I travel too much and am gone too much to want that added responsibility.

Murphy is such a sweet pooch but a little devil. My daughter is trying to train him, but apparently they are one of the most difficult breeds (the Yorkie part I think). One day she called and said he is such a s**t that when it got cold he would go outside, fake peeing right away and come back in and pee all over the floor right in front of her. I told her if he was smart enough to fake it, he was smart enough to do the right thing. She got a little harder on him after that.

That's my story for now. Have a great day.

Argyle said...

JzB - "SPLICE THE MAINBRACE!"

Chuck of the West said...

G'Day CC & all,
Fun puzzle w/ only a few hang-ups. Loved 54A - hi yo. Couldn't make any sense of the theme entries 'til I came here. 58A threw me as I was sure it was EIRE. Also, wanted 7D to be SEXY, but then LACY can be SEXY.

Out of a combination of respect and disrespect, I have changed my Avatar to my Borgi, Cora- 1/2 Corgi & 1/2 Border Collie. She lives to chase the ball!

Jazzbumpa said...

Argyle -

Aye, aye, Cap'n.

I hear and I obey. Sampled the Wasmund's, from the great St. of VA. Light, smooth, fruity with a sweet finish. Not peaty like the imports, but quite pleasant.

Cheers! (#3)
JzB the sipping trombonist

JimmyB said...

I'm not sure why BARRACKS is always plural, but I bet there are some in Washington who think a single BARACK is plenty.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

lois said...

Good afternoon CC et al., Loved this puzzle! Very clever!
Holy Hotwick! 'El-I' almost lost it from the get go with 1D btw the sheets crossing 'electric eel'. Never heard it called that before but guess that works with the 'rite' kind of batteries. Don't think a 'demo' is necessary but if that doesn't 'break the ice', nothin' will. How they 'slip in' is 'a snap' usually, but never use your 'yaps' to test them. The 'acid' can spill and that 'doth' make you talk like thith. So, 'keep' the 'head' down
and do 'try' this at home. It's a 'rad' 'as-pen' with ink that does not clog and a nib that does not skip. What were you thinkin?

Pulled an all 'niter' last night and have another 'one' to go. Who 'needs' sleep! I'm going to a dance performance. 'Its' a Scotch Irish dance...wonder if they use 'poles'? Maybe I'll get some 'aerobic excercise' at some point. Should be fun.

Enjoy your night.

JD said...

Good afternoon CC and all,

Wow! Two yrs and we're all still together gathering more and more blog buddies. Thank you CC. It's always a pleasure stopping by.

Welcome Kita, Rascal, and Cora!
KQ, cute Murphy story.

I loved the difficulty of this c/w , even though I couldn't fill in ratio/amyl til coming here.Filling in "its a snap" was pretty funny as I had it written down:asna-it-.When filled, it was still backwards and unreadable. D'oh!So, it was not Duck Soup!

Explain how iambs is poetic feet.I know iambic pentameter..how is that feet? Yes, I'm pretty much tredding water here, but so enjoyed the ride. And yes, it is still raining , but not as windy as yesterday. Lots of flooded streets.

Must run...5th period!

kazie said...

JD,
There are probably others who know more than I about iambs, but if I remember correctly, they are named according to where the stress falls in the foot: one short (unstressed followed by a long/stressed). The pentameter part comes from having five of them in the verse/line. (This after no Latin poetry since 1962!)

ipo said...

Irish Jim---thanks for welcoming new solvers:-) All of your pet icons/avatars are great. I would love to share my pet, Ricki, but he is a Ball Python. So, I will give you time to get to know me before introducing him! He is very sweet, with a great disposition. (Like me)
Now for the puzzle--- ADE, was that a set up because I spelled Lemonade's name wrong yesterday? Knew nothing of Jesus visiting EBOLI or the video game NUKEM. My son runs half marathon's and I was stymied by POLE.

Frenchie said...

C. C.,
Congratulations on a successful two years. It is quite a grand accomplishment!

I found the answers to be comfortable. The challenge was in the clues as they should be. I was able to move round and round solving what jumped out at me just the way I like it. All fell into place until I got to the SW corner and I couldn't see nukem and was looking for a geographic location for Noah, not the person. I had to get Eli Roth. My son, Calder is a huge fan of the horror genre. Remind me sometime to tell the story about a role Calder had in a movie that put me in a state of horror...

I bequeath any and all Latin to lemonade714's son. I'll let l. explain why.

All the dog avatars are wonderful!

@KQ your daughter's Yorkie is darling! My daughter, Annie, was given a Yorkie for Christmas (by her boyfriend.) She is training him from a 5th floor loft!

@mamaruth, I love Bruce Springstein and enjoyed your quip about the turnpike exits!

Congrats. to Ipo whose son is graduating from law school in May.

Content Jeudi à vous aussi.

Frenchie said...

@ Dennis, Kita looks so cuddly...I love that grin!
A few weeks ago you reported it to be dress your dog day and the next day was wear a hat day.
My avatar is my Chihuahua, Tia, dressed in a damsel outfit, wearing a hat...2 birds with one stone, eh?
As for today I took "hug day" to heart and hugged a tree!

ipo said...

To all, if you read my profile you will note that my pass time is Not Paying Attention... I did not mean Jesus visiting EBOLI I meant Christ. I will take the time to look it up....

Robin said...

Congratulations C.C. on your wonderful achievement in this blog. All of you, I know I do, feel proud.

We are having record rainfall and snow in AZ and under a tornado watch in Phoenix until 11PM.

I love the animal avatars. I have my buddy Noah, sweetest dog on earth. Have a lovely evening!

windhover said...

CC:
I would like to add my congratulations to
the others who have posted today. While I'm sure that some of us are occasionally vexing to you, you really have created a very nice venue, a haven for a certain type of misfit, and a very comfortable Corner of the Web. Thank you for all you do. The occasional lurker might misread the flow of conversation, but a regular visitor will understand that for all of us, it's really about you. Salute!!

Time for the farm report. Goats started kidding yesterday afternoon. So far seven does have given birth to eleven kids. We will be checking about every two hours through the night, which is pretty simple because we actually live in the barn, and the goats are right down the steps and out the door. Nineteen more to go, plus 12 yearlings in Late March. The sheep will begin lambing about three weeks from now. When it is all over there will be about 125 kids and lambs.
In other news, I learned today that I am not as flexible as I once was. Must start stretching.
Countdown:69

Dot said...

I determined (not a resolution)that I would "go blue" this year. I printed out the instructions and have tried twice to get an identity. Everything seems okay until I have to type in the odd letters to prove I'm legitimate and it always says I haven't copied them correctly. I will try again now and see if I am successful.

Dot

Annette said...

Dennis: I only noticed the omission because it's the first thing I look for when I log on in the morning!

Hatool: I like your QOD!

C.C.: Congratulations, and Thank You!

Windhover: Sorry, You said goats earlier, and I envisioned sheep when I replied. I still had other "images" I was still trying to get my head around... ;-)

Other DF terms in the puzzle were: exlposives, enrapture, bottom line, kissers, take a load off, shot... And, when I couldn't figure out 44D with ABO_BS filled in, all that was coming to mind was "A BOOBS". Can you tell where my mind's travelled to today?!

And with that, my mind's "shot", and I'm heading home!

Dot said...

Okay, I think it worked this time. I'll see how this shows up.
Dot

Robin said...

Yeaaaa DOT YOU ARE BLUE!!!! Good job, now a picture is in order!

MJ said...

Good evening all,

C.C.-Congrats on two years for your blog! It is an excellent site, and you are a wonderful hostess to all of us.

Mama Ruth-Continue to heal!

Excellent, Dot! You're blue!

Robin said...

OMG they are declaring a state of emergency in parts of AZ! Flights cannot land due to wind. They think that Sedona's river will crest 20 feet above flood level. They are in a state of emergency. Roads are blocked between Phx and Flagstaff due to snow fall. They say this storm will go down in history. All of you in the mid west are probably thinking WTH?

It is raining but I just saw someone head out to the hot tub......

Lemonade714 said...

Two years, wowee. When is the reunion show?

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & gang, happy 2nd anniversary C.C.! You are the best at finding the theme.

My wife and I managed just to finish today's puzzle before she left for work. She knew the tricky ones like iamb,pleb,eine etc.

I got the theme answer but never figured out how it applied until I got here.

It was a very racy URL for Lacy C.C. I didn't know you had that in you...

Here's the scoop on DNA vs RNA


"DNA is a long polymer with a deoxyribose and phosphate backbone and four different bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine

RNA is a polymer with a ribose and phosphate backbone and four different bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil

Jeannie said...

Winhover, is that 69 seconds, 69 minutes, 69 hours or 69 days? Inquiring minds want to know.

Annette, good to see you haven't lost your touch.

C.C. being a long time contributor (in my mind) to this blog, let me add my kudos. I have learned a lot and made a lot of friends here.

Robin, hot tub in that weather? Are you a midwesterner by heart, or just rubbing it in? We have the weirdest weather here in MN as well. Freezing rain and way above normal temperatures. To tell you the truth I would rather face a good old snow storm.

Argyle, try any frozen Jeannie today?

Dennis you mentioned another countdown and a wakeup the other day. Where you heading?

Dennis said...

Jeannie, back to Boca. I left my drink at the pool bar.

Jazzbumpa said...

Why am I suddenly seeing Blue Dots?

JD - the pentameter in iambic pentameter indicates that there are five metric units to a line of poetry. But here is where it gets dicey. Even thought the metric unit is the meter, poetry uses the English unit, foot.

So, the line has five rhythmic (e.g. metric) units, aka "feet." they can be iambs, trochees, or even anapests, if you're into that sort of thing.

Windhover - Well said, sir. When the goats are done kidding, do they go back to being serious?

C. C. - congrats from your humble trombonist. Now the Corner is in its terrible twos. I might throw a tantrum.

Agyle - I am now sampling the Talisker. Anyone who wonders why drinking is necessary tonight can refer to my blog.

I gave in to peer pressure, and posted a picture of my sweet little doggie as my avatar. His name is Kutya Paprikas. I named him after a dog in a story I once wrote. It means Paprika Dog in Hungarian.

Cheers!
JzB the peer pressure trombonist

MR ED said...

Dennis,
I love your new avatar. It looks a heck of-a-lot better than the other ones. (grin)

Lemonade714 said...

Hi

I am changing my avatar to a pic of Winston teaching me to chase. Come on down, Florida is great

windhover said...

Jeannie:
Sixty-nine days. As a person who views Winter as something to be endured, is only truly happy when the sun is on my back and the wind in my face, I view April 1 as the beginning of life for another year. For as long as I can remember (up to 15 minutes on a good day) I have counted down to April 1.
Also, I have moved three times in my life on April 1(have to wear that Robin-like leash the last few days of March), and the Irish and I tied the knot on April1, 2006, after 15+ years of "living in sin". We still do that, but now we have a license for it, so I guess it's OK.
Being former Baptists, we are still only allowed to dance horizontally, a la Bob Seger.

HUTCH said...

Some years ago. I was corrected as follows--" Scotch is a whiskey. Scottish is to be a Scot."

Argyle said...

Ok, I'm going to the dogs, too. This was Chipper; he was hauling leaves while I raked the lawn. He was a working breed and proud of it.

The frozen Jeannie is still in the freezer...but I sneak a lick once and awhile.

Jeannie said...

Dennis, I am sure your drink by the pool is long gone. I am sure it can and will be replaced.

Argyle savor your Jeannie licks.

Lemonade, catch, retrieve and laydown.

Windhover, no wonder you are counting down. I would love to see pics of your new babies.

DCannon said...

I didn't finish the puzzle today. I was too busy. Did most of it while waiting for hubby to get back from therapy on his hand. Then had to leave right away. Just too tired to finish tonight.

I did get the theme. After filling in 65A, I backed up and looked at the theme answers, and *poof* there it was! Had "adhere" instead of "cohere" and "hues" instead if "dyes."

Had a little trouble reading the clues for two reasons: I printed on fast instead of standard, so the ink was light. Also, my big lamp on my desk quit working and I'm using one that is intended more for mood lighting than for seeing.

Loved the QOD, Hahtool. How true, how true!

Since I was a teenager in the 50s, I was quite familiar with Pat Boone and "April Love." He was one of my many "favorite" singers. We had so many good ones then. Thanks for the link; I enjoyed that.

Crockett1947 said...

Good evening, everyone!

C.C., I want to wish you a Happy 2nd Anniversary! You have been steadfast in setting the tone and keeping this endeavor going. You have my admiration.

I vodka you!

Jerome said...

C.C.- Thanks for making the world a more beautiful, fun place.

Dennis said...

Jerome, so very good to see you. How're you doing?

Robin said...

Jerome, darling person, Oh Blah di Oh bla dah life goes on.....and we are so glad to hear from you!!!

JD said...

Hooray for you, Dot!!!

Kazie and JzB, thanks for explanation.Makes sense now that I know how a foot got in there.

Hugs for all

JD said...

Jerome, an extra big hug to you. Welcome back

MJ said...

@Clear Ayes-Missed you today. Was watching for your A.E.Housman poem. One of my favorites:

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my three score years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

A. E. Housman

tfrank said...

C.C., before signing off for the night, I want to congratulate you on the two year anniversary of what I like to call "our" blog. It is a great place to come from time to time to keep up on what is going on in our extended family. Bless you!

A.R.E. said...

C.C.

Good Job and Congrat's on creating and expanding this excellent Blog. Your interviews are wonderful.

Happy 2nd Year!!!!!!!!

A.R.E.

Lemonade714 said...

Even when I finally get to sleep early, I get telephone calls and here I am... glad to see you Jerome, our world has been missing your wit. Windhover, I too found April 1 an interesting day, sometimes wonderful, others not, but I remember them

carol said...

Jerome - nice to have you back...sincerely hope you are doing well.

C.C. congratulations on your 2nd anniversary! This is such a special place and I have learned so much, met so many good people and enjoy knowing each day is going to be full of crossword fun and 'comment-sharing'. I hope you are still enjoying it too.

Night all.

Crockett1947 said...

@rsd Your late post last night caused this Cincinnati area born and raised Oregonian to spend some time investigating the various Cincinnati cuisine articles at Wiki. Thanks for the memories!

Jeannie said...

TFrank, you cheering for those Vikings? Annette, you, secretly?

I am having a few friends over for the night and am making some of my favorite appetizers. I am hoping they don't tailgate too much before the game, but it seems we might get inches of snow over this damned ice, so we'll see.

The commute might be interesting tomorrow as there is about an inch of ice on the siderails to the front entrance of the house. Trees are being weighted down as well. they are also calling for fog too. Weird, weird weather for this time in MN. I'll check in with you tomorrow.

Jeannie said...

Here is what I believe is my fifth....Jerome good to see you on this blog. I am looking forward to hearing from you much more often. Your comments are always witty and straight forward. I like that in a man.

PJB-Chicago said...

I can let the day pass without commenting on the puzzle, but can't let it end (in Central time) without congratulating C. C: on the two year anniversary of this blog: Your contagious enthusiasm, steady hand, sharp wit and deft parsing of clues/themes/LIFE are what keeps this community vital and fresh.

A day without stopping by the Corner is like a day without --- among many other things --- sunlight, cheese, laughter, peanutbutter, camaraderie or bread!

Thank you!
pjb

Anonymous said...

Where is Clear Ayes?

PJB-Chicago said...

Two point five quick add ons:
1. Y'all are REALLY making me wish I had a dog, with those avatars. Love them. (allergic to cats but not unfond of them otherwise!)

2. Everyone's favorite trombonist-cum-philosopher, Mr JazzBumpa himself, had a great quote on 10/08/09 which I noted: "At certain critical moments, I ask myself,: 'What would Jerome do?'." A classic.
2.5 Jerome, we've missed you and your insights/humor here. Be well, amigo. Visit us when you can, please!

Good night all.

Anonymous said...

@Pjb-Chicago, I always look forward to your comments. Night Owl

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

MamaRuth,
In case you do not go back to the Barry Silk post, the blog is in Central time, that's why it does not match yours.

Merc said...

I check this from time to time, but have never previously commented.

Though "pole position" is now used in auto racing, it originated with horse racing, referring to the number one starter on the inside next to the pole. It migrated to auto racing, where it is used to refer to the driver at the front of the grid, referred to as the "polesitter" or having "pole position".