Theme: Noshes - Common two-word phrases in which the second word is a SNACK FOOD. (35A: With 63-Across, this puzzle's theme: and 63A: See 35-Across).
20A: Microprocessors: COMPUTER CHIPS.
27A: Shipping thingies used as a filler: PACKING PEANUTS.
43A: Bits of user information created by Web sites: BROWSER COOKIES.
51.A: Contortionists: HUMAN PRETZELS.
All the snacks are in plural forms and are contained in a non-snack context.
Argyle here with a Barry Silk puzzle just one pesky 'J' away from a pangram.
I think we may have a wide range of opinions on this one but I'm a little under the weather so I could be wrong. Well, it's getting late, I better get to it.
Across:
1A: Caesar's reproach: ET TU.
5A: Plays a trump card, in bridge: RUFFS. New to me. The word comes from an old card game.
10A: #2: VEEP. (Vice President)
14A:. Caution: WARN.
15A: 1946 high-tech unveiling at the Univ. of Pennsylvania: ENIAC. Electronic Numeral Integrator and Computer
16A: On Hollywood Blvd., say: IN LA. (in Los Angeles)
17A: Way out: EXIT.
18A: Mizuno Corporation headquarters: OSAKA. Mizuno Corporation is a Japanese sports equipment and sportswear company.
19A: Sty resident?: SLOB.
23A: Poet Lowell: AMY. Amy Lowell (1874—1925) was an American poet of the imagist school who posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926 for her collection, "What's O'Clock".
25A:. Tennyson's twilight: EEN. Echo. Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign.
26A: Beginning: ONSET.
32A: Persian Gulf ship: OILER. I see they are still being hijacked.
34A: Court response: PLEA.
37A: Water color: AQUA. Misleading clue?
41A: Grammy winner Braxton: TONI. Pic and 29D: "Why Can't I?" singer Liz: PHAIR. Pic
42A: Subjects for searching or saving: SOULS.
48A: "Me, too!": SO AM I.
49A:. Buddy List co.: AOL. Formerly known as America Online, they reinvent themselves every few years and this is one of their gimmicks, like CBS Radio online.
50A: Eastern discipline: ZEN.
56A: "Back __ hour": store sign: IN AN.
57A: Budapest-born conductor: SOLTI. I haven't made him a gimme yet but I am able to fill him in with perp help.
58A: "Good heavens!": OH MY.
61A: 15th century date: MCDI. 1401
62A: Place for a bracelet: ANKLE.
64A:. Wet expanses: SEAS.
65A: Shocking weapon: TASER. Taser "shocks".
66A:. Rare bills : TWOS.
Down:
1D: Farm mom: EWE.
2D: It's based on purchase price: TAX. Okay, if you have a local sales tax, what is it? Mine is 7%.
3D: Scooter kin: TRICYCLE.
5D: Get back in business: REOPEN. Where is Dennis going this time?
6D: Like heroes who deserve more credit: UNSUNG. Nice clue.
7D: Italian automaker: FIAT.
8D: Counterfeit: FAKE.
9D: Fight memento: SCAR.
10D: Hindu god incarnated as Krishna: VISHNU.
12D: Runs off to wed: ELOPES.
13D: Beer with a blue ribbon logo: PABST.
21D: Subject of the play "Golda's Balcony": MEIR. Golda Meir was the fourth prime minister ('69-'740 of the State of Israel.
23D: Per unit: A POP. I had EACH; shoulda known better.
24D: E or G follower: MAIL.
28D: Mauna __: KEA. (An inactive volcano in Hawaii.)
30D: Common Market letters: EEC. (European Economic Community)
31D: Biblical refuge: ARK.
35D: "Mayday!": SOS.
36D: D.C.-to-Albany dir.: NNE. Okay so long as you didn't think Albany, GA.
37D: Just fine: A-OK.
38D: '50s TV scandal genre: QUIZ SHOW.
39D: Title beekeeper played by Peter Fonda: ULEE. Ulee's Gold
40D: Part of PGA: Abbr.: ASSN..
41D: Mattress size: TWIN.
42D: Step on it: SOLE. Awkward clue.
43D: Dribble: BOUNCE.
44D: Holiday Inn rival: RAMADA.
45D: Muscat residents: OMANIS. Muscat is the capital and largest city of Oman.
46D: Ranch roamers: CATTLE. with 59D: 46-Down call: MOO.
47D: More slime-like: OOZIER.
48D: Leveling wedges: SHIMS.
52D: Jr.'s exam: PSAT.
53D: First name in gossip: RONA. (Rona Barret)
54D: Fraternal group: ELKS.
55D: Room at the top: LOFT.
60D: Gridiron gains: Abbr.: YDS.
Answer grid.
Argyle
20A: Microprocessors: COMPUTER CHIPS.
27A: Shipping thingies used as a filler: PACKING PEANUTS.
43A: Bits of user information created by Web sites: BROWSER COOKIES.
51.A: Contortionists: HUMAN PRETZELS.
All the snacks are in plural forms and are contained in a non-snack context.
Argyle here with a Barry Silk puzzle just one pesky 'J' away from a pangram.
I think we may have a wide range of opinions on this one but I'm a little under the weather so I could be wrong. Well, it's getting late, I better get to it.
Across:
1A: Caesar's reproach: ET TU.
5A: Plays a trump card, in bridge: RUFFS. New to me. The word comes from an old card game.
10A: #2: VEEP. (Vice President)
14A:. Caution: WARN.
15A: 1946 high-tech unveiling at the Univ. of Pennsylvania: ENIAC. Electronic Numeral Integrator and Computer
16A: On Hollywood Blvd., say: IN LA. (in Los Angeles)
17A: Way out: EXIT.
18A: Mizuno Corporation headquarters: OSAKA. Mizuno Corporation is a Japanese sports equipment and sportswear company.
19A: Sty resident?: SLOB.
23A: Poet Lowell: AMY. Amy Lowell (1874—1925) was an American poet of the imagist school who posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926 for her collection, "What's O'Clock".
25A:. Tennyson's twilight: EEN. Echo. Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign.
26A: Beginning: ONSET.
32A: Persian Gulf ship: OILER. I see they are still being hijacked.
34A: Court response: PLEA.
37A: Water color: AQUA. Misleading clue?
41A: Grammy winner Braxton: TONI. Pic and 29D: "Why Can't I?" singer Liz: PHAIR. Pic
42A: Subjects for searching or saving: SOULS.
48A: "Me, too!": SO AM I.
49A:. Buddy List co.: AOL. Formerly known as America Online, they reinvent themselves every few years and this is one of their gimmicks, like CBS Radio online.
50A: Eastern discipline: ZEN.
56A: "Back __ hour": store sign: IN AN.
57A: Budapest-born conductor: SOLTI. I haven't made him a gimme yet but I am able to fill him in with perp help.
58A: "Good heavens!": OH MY.
61A: 15th century date: MCDI. 1401
62A: Place for a bracelet: ANKLE.
64A:. Wet expanses: SEAS.
65A: Shocking weapon: TASER. Taser "shocks".
66A:. Rare bills : TWOS.
Down:
1D: Farm mom: EWE.
2D: It's based on purchase price: TAX. Okay, if you have a local sales tax, what is it? Mine is 7%.
3D: Scooter kin: TRICYCLE.
5D: Get back in business: REOPEN. Where is Dennis going this time?
6D: Like heroes who deserve more credit: UNSUNG. Nice clue.
7D: Italian automaker: FIAT.
8D: Counterfeit: FAKE.
9D: Fight memento: SCAR.
10D: Hindu god incarnated as Krishna: VISHNU.
12D: Runs off to wed: ELOPES.
13D: Beer with a blue ribbon logo: PABST.
21D: Subject of the play "Golda's Balcony": MEIR. Golda Meir was the fourth prime minister ('69-'740 of the State of Israel.
23D: Per unit: A POP. I had EACH; shoulda known better.
24D: E or G follower: MAIL.
28D: Mauna __: KEA. (An inactive volcano in Hawaii.)
30D: Common Market letters: EEC. (European Economic Community)
31D: Biblical refuge: ARK.
35D: "Mayday!": SOS.
36D: D.C.-to-Albany dir.: NNE. Okay so long as you didn't think Albany, GA.
37D: Just fine: A-OK.
38D: '50s TV scandal genre: QUIZ SHOW.
39D: Title beekeeper played by Peter Fonda: ULEE. Ulee's Gold
40D: Part of PGA: Abbr.: ASSN..
41D: Mattress size: TWIN.
42D: Step on it: SOLE. Awkward clue.
43D: Dribble: BOUNCE.
44D: Holiday Inn rival: RAMADA.
45D: Muscat residents: OMANIS. Muscat is the capital and largest city of Oman.
46D: Ranch roamers: CATTLE. with 59D: 46-Down call: MOO.
47D: More slime-like: OOZIER.
48D: Leveling wedges: SHIMS.
52D: Jr.'s exam: PSAT.
53D: First name in gossip: RONA. (Rona Barret)
54D: Fraternal group: ELKS.
55D: Room at the top: LOFT.
60D: Gridiron gains: Abbr.: YDS.
Answer grid.
Argyle
74 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - always great to get a Silky, even if it does seem like one of his simpler ones. As Argyle pointed out, one 'j' away from a pangram
The theme became apparent with the second theme answer, which made the remaining two fall quickly. 15A, 'Eniac' was a no-brainer as I spent my career in the mainframe world. Not familiar with Liz Phair, and of course needed the perps to get the random 15th century date. Never, ever liked those; there's no feasible way to get the answer without perps.
It's an outstanding week that has puzzles by both Messrs. Naddor and Silk, huh?
Argyle, to answer your question, 7% sales tax here in NJ. And feel better!
Today is National Buttercrunch Day as well as Penguin Awareness Day. I have to admit, I've not done a good job of being aware of penguins here.
Today's Words of Wisdom: "Don't marry for money; you can borrow it cheaper." -- Scottish Proverb
A few words on food:
"Food is an important part of a balanced diet." -- Fran Lebowitz
""Who was the first person to drink milk, and what were they thinking? 'Oh boy, I can't wait till those calves get done so I can get me a shot of that.'" -- Jerry Seinfeld
Dennis,
Simple but tasty puzzle. Simple things done well. One of my favorites from Barry. Have never heard of Liz PHAIR either. RUFFS is also new to me.
Argyle,
I loved all those crunchy inedible food entries, esp BROWSER COOKIES. Don't see any of those full theme phrases in grid often. I thought the theme is quite focused. Not fond of "Step on it" for SOLE either. Certain "it" clue fails to bring an "Aha" from me. Thanks for the write-up. Hope Jeannie "brings" you some hot soup today.
Liz: PHAIR was quite an indie music success in the 90s, but what I find amazingly subtle was Argyle linking a pic of her showing she has a Place for a bracelet: ANKLE.
This honestly was an unusually simple Barry Silk, though the theme was fun.
Newbies, send those pics into C.C. so you too can be seen full size on Blogger Photos, and we can include you in our collage.
Peace out.
Lemonade,
Rich probably edited many of Barry's original clues to make the puzzle Wednesday-ish.
Spitzboov,
What's that phrase you introduced to me last time? Zulu something? It's been bothering me the whole morning.
JK,
As KQ and Clear Ayes mentioned, I read but don't reply to every email or comment.
Good Morning, CC, Argyle and Friends. What a great puzzle today. I just flew through it, but enjoyed every minute.
As soon as I filled in COMPUTER CHIPS, I knew the theme had to do with snack food. I also noticed a mini-computer theme (ENAIC, BROWSER COOKIES, and my favorite clue: E or G followers: MAIL).
I also liked the intersection of SOULS and SOLE.
We have a state sales tax of 4% and a local sales tax of 5%. We also had a governor a while back who tried (successfully, unfortunately) to convince the populace that a sales tax is progressive because rich people by more things, hence pay more in taxes.
I hope everyone in California is okay. I read some of the CA posts from last night, and it seems all is fine, but my local news is still reporting tragedy there.
QOD: Great minds have purposes; others have wishes. ~ Washington Irving
Pretty easy today. No help or errors. 18 minutes.
Hey C.C.
Yes, I forget about what editors do. It still was great to have a new barry Silk.
Our sales tax is 6%.
Good morning C.C., Argyle and all,
I agree that this was an easy stroll through the park, with the theme coming in early and simply. My only unknown was Phair; best clue was water color. Why did he not clue ruffs as trumps to make it a little harder?
We are finally warming up down here. Forecast is for 80 today. Hope you California folks survive the downpours without any mudslides.
Texas has a combined state and local sales tax of 8.5%, but no income tax. I think Florida may be the only other without an income tax.
Have a great day.
Tfrank. New Hampshire has neither a sales tax nor an income tax. Property taxes, however, are through the roof. The State Motto of NH is "Live Free, or Die."
It's based on purchase price: TAX. In Kentucky it is 6%. Which is six cents on the dollar. Prior to 1960, (?) It was 4% until then Gov. Louie Nunn thought it was too low and it was raised. He said later in life that was the worst mistake he ever made. groceries in KY are not subject to tax which is a good thing. I wish clothing wasn't either. In PA it's not. (Is that right Dick or did it change?)
So...
Did anybody else want to put in POOP for 10A?
^_^
Ezra Pound called Amy Lowella hippo-poetess.
Good Morning Argyle, CC and All,
The theme answers fell right into place without much work. I was thinking Finger Food for the theme (Wrong again). I had some snags in the bottom half. Wrote King instead of Twin, I always write Wrist instead of Ankle and had Gooyer instead of Oozier. I didn't like Step On It as a clue for Sole. Baked Stuffed Fish would have been a gimme.
Smooth as Silk! Fun puzzle that was a bit easier than our recent Wednesdays IMHO.
Still snowing. Temps are hovering around freezing and its snowing just enough to keep everyone working. Its also Oozier than normal so they canceled school. My youngest called me at 6:AM to check on the road/school status. He was so excited he went downstairs to tell his mother (Glad I wasn't there for that!)
Have a great day!
Barry G, Another one I had to erase. Being in the Wastewater business our motto is "We're #1 with your #2"! Pooped right into my head.....
RSD, neither PA nor NJ tax clothing, fortunately.
Salty. Sweet. Crunchy. Satisfied.
Hungry in Chicago
I did Barry G.
Amazingly easy for a Silk puzzle, but good solid fun theme entries.
MN state sales tax is now 7.25% I believe. It has gone up in the last year I think, however, food and clothing are exempt.
Off to scrapbook. Headache abounds, so hopefully hanging with the ladies will help.
Get better Argyle. Nice write-up, but you didn't ever tell us how you felt about the puzzle?
You have made cyclopean spike I hope I intention be able to fins related articles on your blog!
Good morning Argyle, C. C. and fellow human beings. Today was silky, Mr. Silk!
I've come across ENIAC before, but needed perps to refresh my memory. I didn't know Liz Phair, but plan on looking her up. Indie music and films tend to be fresh.
@Dennis, snack theme,buttercrunch day, Lebowitz' mention of food...I am vegan, gluten free and avoid sugar. You're killing me here!
@Hahtool, My son lives in LA (Hollywood). He called me from the train station and it was raining so hard, I could barely hear him. He said so far, things are going well with the deluge situation.
Lemonaid714, first you recommend
putting in a blog profile, which I'm in the process of doing...now sending C. C. a photo for enlargement and for collage??? I think we are moving fast and need to take it a bit slower for now!
@Bob, you still rock. You are my cw hero!
TTFN,Friends and family.
Put it down in the annals of history.I'm going back, wish me good dreams.
@Maniac, really amusing tag line...is it real?
Barry G,
I did think of it!
Fairly easy today, but I got hung up in the Midwest--had to g'spot AMY and couldn't come up with A POP/OILER for some reason. Was married to LOA for KEA for some time too. I agree about SOLE too--it fell via perps, but I don't much like it.
Good morning ye merrie bande of Silkye solvers. Most of you seem to be in fine fettle.
Relatively easy; no lookups needed. Got a little double-clutched in the W sector. Had Loa for KEA, and couldn't get the e-g follower at first. Also wanted OIL*R. But the change to Kea allowed the rest to fall.
With Barry G originally thought of poop before VEEP. Hahtool commented on the soul/sole homonym cross.
@ C. C. Believe you are thinking of Bravo Zulu " a naval signal, conveyed by flaghoist or voice radio, meaning "Well Done"; it has also passed into the spoken and written vocabulary."
Mr. Silk deserves a BZ
Other than 1A, didn't catch any foreign fills today.
Be safe.
Looking ahead to the theme clues I noticed that 35A and 63A would be critical, so I did those areas first, which facilitated the theme entries. After that, every thing sort of fell into place.
I'm not a bridge player, so I never heard of RUFFS, but the perps helped with that.
Santa Clara County sales tax rate is 9.25%.
Barry G. - I thought of that also. CRAP works when your first down fill is PABST.
Good Morning All, I enjoyed this puzzle a lot. As C.C. pointed out, not only were the theme food entries inedible, they were crunchy as well. Nicely done by Barry Silk.
I had to depend on the perps for much of the top center section. RUFFS, ENIAC and OSAKA could have been blanks otherwise.
I rather liked SOLE for "Step on it". I even wondered how a fish could be the answer, until the bottom of the foot finally snapped into place. It was an "Aha!" moment for me.
RSD, Mainiac and all, we have a local plumber whose business name is "Shitt Happens". We know him personally, so when we called to have a pipe cleared out, we didn't have to ask "Is this Shitt Happens?"
Yay!! California wins. It's a rather dubious honor, since our base sales tax is 8.25% and can go up to include county and/or city taxes. Our county pays 8.75% and I think Los Angeles is the big winner with 9.75%. Groceries are not taxed, but restaurant food is. Yet, our state budget problems consist of a $6.3 billion projected deficit for 2009–10. Ouch!
It's raining quite hard here with 30-ish MPH winds. Definitely a day to stay inside.
Hope you feel better soon, Argyle.
Good morning all! Flew through the puzzle today except for a couple I absolutely couldn't get without help. Liked the theme well enough, and might have to eat a reeces or two this morning. Forget the snacks, I go right to the sweet. Especially with coffee. Question... Who is RONA? Know I could google it but I prefer the answers I get here :)
Also wanted to add my fav Liz Phair song. Was pretty into her in high school but thought she sold out in the last decade. So funny the things we relate to when we're young!
Got a note this morning from Rich Norris, responding to our frequently-expressed hope that we would have Dan's puzzles for some time to come.
Rich had made the decision, shorty after Dan's passing, to, as he put it so well, "extend Dan's legacy" by slowing down the frequency. The ones we've seen so far were already scheduled. As far as future scheduling:
"Starting with the February schedule, you'll only see his work 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."
I'm sure we're all equally pleased that a) there's still that many Naddor puzzles in the pipeline, and b) Rich reads our blog and took the time to address our concern.
Nice to know we have at least a year with Dan's puzzles, huh?
Good morning Argyle,CC,and all,
There was a lot of soul in this c/w today-soul, soul,solti. CA, thanks for sharing your a-ha moment on "sole",a double d'oh for me.
Argyle, bravo zulu!
Barry, best laugh of the morning!
Dennis, the Wow is excellent advice
I had forgotten how smooth a silkie was, but I had no clue why or what these answers were that showed up via perps:omanis,een, ruffs,and eniac. Am I considered vocabulary deficient?
taxes..grrr..just paid property tx
So what is your favorite snack? For me it is the time of day that I'm snacking, but usually celery with peanutbutter is a yummer.
CA weather report for today via Pooh:
Hum dum dum ditty dum
Hum dum dum
Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily
And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it's rather safe to say
That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a rather blustery day, today
It sounds that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
Looks like a rather blustery day today
Dennis, it was nice to hear that Rich Norris will be allotting Dan Naddor's puzzles carefully. It was also nice to hear that he reads this blog. Knowing that is another reason to remember not to feel the trolls.
AimeeAya, RONA Barrett is (was?) a famous print gossip columnist and television celebrity interviewer. I haven't seen her on TV for years, so I don't know if she is still working or not.
JD, "Blustery" is a perfect word to describe our northern California weather. California rain danger usually comes from landslides and land/cliff collapses. There is also danger from flash floods in usually dry desert areas. Then too, because we have a large population, there is a certain percentage of really foolish people who will drive like the streets are dry, or who will try to wade or drive across what looks like a shallow stream of water.
Congratulations to Hahtool, and her avatar, for being aware of penguins.
Ditto what C.C. said. Nice puzzle, Barry. However, step on it and SOLE are syntactic mismatch.
CA, I'm not about to feel these trolls.
Great slip (or was it a slip??)
Dennis, LOL, how Freudian can I get? OTOH, I'm sure the trolls need their "egos" stroked too.
Anyhoo, about Amy Lowell. Yup, she was a large woman, who smoked cigars and wore a pince nez. She figuratively tromped on Ezra Pound's toes (a real tromping would have been painful) with her publication of imagist poems and he threatened to sue her for trying to take over his milieu. So judge for yourself if you like her poetry.
Generations
You are like the stem
Of a young beech-tree,
Straight and swaying,
Breaking out in golden leaves.
Your walk is like the blowing of a beech-tree
On a hill.
Softly struck upon by a South wind.
Your shadow is no shadow, but a scattered sunshine;
And at night you pull the sky down to you
And hood yourself in stars.
But I am like a great oak under a cloudy sky,
Watching a stripling beech grow up at my feet.
- Amy Lowell
Thank you, CA, for the Lowell poem; that's my kind of poetry.
Thank all of you for concern for my health though it is more a malaise than an illness. I am like our weather today, a bit unsettled.
Hi gang -
I'm a big fan of Barry Silk, but found this puzzle disappointing, despite the clever, crunchy, tasty theme.
A Roman numeral and A POP are very poor fill. OMANI is tired. "Step on it" for SOLE really is a mismatch of a verbal phrase with a noun, and just plain wrong.
That said, though, there's a lot here to like, VISHNU, SOLTI, RUFFS, ANKLE, and QUIZ SHOW - that's a wow!
So my assessment - this puzzle has its ups and downs - a lot like life.
Dennis - Thanks for sharing the info from Rich. We can savor the sapid Dan Naddor legacy.
Here in MI, sales tax is 6%.
Has anybody heard from Jerome? I'm suffering from a lama drawing wrath. I mean anagram withdrawal.
Just a guess, but I suspect feeling trolls is like hugging cacti.
Cheers!
JzB
Hi Argyle, C.C. and gang -
I loved this puzzle ('cause I could do it:) )...Really though, it was smooth and just tricky enough. I did not know PHAIR or BRAXTON and I never can figure those Roman numerals.
Argyle, Hope you feel better soon and hope it is not the flu. Take a shot or two of good whiskey and have a bowl of chicken soup.
Dennis, loved the Fran Lebowitz quote:
sounded like a Yogi Berra statement.
Oregon has no sales tax, but the grab you on the income and property taxes.
Barry G (7:16) LOL...no I really didn't think of 'poop', I had already filled in Pabst and Elope so that probably was why, I am sure it would have popped into my mind otherwise.
Anon (8:30) WTF ???
CA: LOL...feeling up the trolls could cause health problems....warts and all!
Carol, I think Argyle would be better served with a shot or two of chicken soup and a bowl of good whiskey.
zounds good t'me
Good Day, Argyle, C.C., & Co.!
If we add "Dennis" to the list, which I should, it sounds like a prestigious lawfirm!
What a solid, crunchy puzzle for a Wednesday! Tasty theme, low on crap fill, high in not- often-seen midweek culture: poetry (AMY L.), religion (VISHNU), music (SOLTI, PHAIR, TONI) and agri-culture (CATTLE). Let me not forget Golda MEIR, whose former Denver residence I once toured. [It became an office on University of Colorado's Denver campus.]
Throw a little Toni Braxton on the CD player and make your next "date night" a little braZEN....Do stay away from the Pabst beer, however. Oh my!
Only rough spots I had were mentioned above: VEEP and KEA. RUFFS wasn't top of mind but the lucky puzzle pen figured it out for me.
@Dennis: thanks for the info from Mr. Norris. He's a class act. You too.
@Argyle, speaking of classy people, I hope the malaise passes.
Dennis - LOL - your 'menu' choice for Argyle sounds much better for treating malaise. I hadn't read his diagnosis before I wrote my Rx. After a few bowlfuls, he won't give a s..t anyway.
Argyle, don't bother with a spoon!
On a more serious note, Dennis, thanks for relating the info about Dan's puzzles. We will all be able to enjoy them that much more, even if I do tend to loose a lot of hair while trying to solve them :)
Jack Bauer is trying to save the world again on the new season of 24. Or, just maybe, the bad guys will win this time.
It's been raining constantly for several hours. I enjoy it. I hope the two kids I am scheduled to tutor this afternoon can make it here without problems. Also, I'm concerned about those folks in the burn areas, especially with more rain in the forecast for tomorrow.
~ Bill G.
TFrank, I thought 8.25% was the highest we could go in Texas. We have a combined 8.25%. I don't know what the % split is, but ours is state, county, economic development, and hospital district. In August, we have a tax-free weekend, but going out and being in line at 4 am (or earlier) is not worth it to me.
Hope you are better, Argyle.
This was not quite as easy for me as for most of you. Had the theme after the second theme clue. The top part went very quickly, except for "ruff." I had "riff" until the very end when I realized that heroes are not "insung," but sometimes "unsung." Oh, yes, I misread the clue as "beef with a blue ribbon logo" at first, so "Papst" didn't pop into my head until I had the rest of NE.
Center down was a slog in all sectors. I knew "Toni" and "Solti," but not "Phair", which was my only "G." Stuck with "gameshow" until I just couldn't justify it any longer. I had "sole" for a long time before it made a connection.
Barry G., I had a synonym of poop in mind, but I knew it couldn't be that!
We are supposed to have a high of 71º, but it is only 63º at 4:15pm, so it probably won't make it.
I must say that when I read 10A (#2), my first thought was Hertz, the car rental. POOP never entered my mind. Post-Katrina, however, people were told there were 2 reasons not to drink the water in New Orleans: No. 1 ... and No. 2.
Sales taxes here are on everything ~ food, clothing, groceries, etc. There are 2 tax holidays: No. 1 a day for purchasing school uniforms and supplies, and No. 2 to stock up on guns and ammo.
Hello CC and all y'all, Not too hard a time on this c/w. Pabst popped into my head immediately as, for some unknown reason, it was the beer of choice when I was in college. I actually still have an empty can I use as a pencil holder in my kitchen with the date of consumption written on the bottom: "Summer of 1966." Strange what I hold onto. Most of the unknowns like eniac filled in with the perps. I always forget to hook up with the themes, so it makes it a bit harder for me. Not noticing that I had mis-spelled pretzels hung me up in the SE, and trying to make "so am I" a single word hung me up in the SW.
Cheers
Argyle: I hope you’re feeling better!
My only trouble was in the West. I never heard of Mauna KEA (wanted LOA too) before or AMY Lowell, and had a brain malfunction putting in MEIN instead of MEIR… So none of the perps were making sense until I G’d Lowell and came here for OILER. Then I was able to clean up the mess in that section.
Barry G: One of my friends works in our county’s Environmental Protection Wastewater group, and at times will introduce herself as the “Poop Patrol”!
Spitzboov: "Roman" numerals and Mauna KEA don’t count?
Dennis: Great news about the puzzles! I’m happy to hear there are that many left to look forward to. Thanks for sharing the info.
On that "poop" theme, I was in charge of manure removal at our community horse stables for a year. My official title: Doo Doo Dude.
Chuck of the West,
We've had German visitors swear that Pabst was the best of the American beers they tried while here, including the micro-brews available locally. So DH has gone back to it after never having had any for years. It's cheap and if recommended by Germans, we figure it's got to be good.
Crunchy, munchy, yummy Puzzle! Loved it. Did not know Ruffs. I do like Barry Silk work.
Thx Dennis for the information on Dans puzzles. It is good news.
Hoping you all have a yummy evening. Please remember our friends in Haiti :)
Hello All--A smooth as Silk puzzle today. I enjoyed the snack theme and that helped with the fills after the Packing peanuts and Computer chips filled in.
I didn't know Amy Lowell or Liz Phair, but both names filled in with the words around them.
Since I've never played Bridge,
ruff was also an unknown. This was my new word for the day.
I enjoy doing the Roman numerals. I had an elementary math teacher who had drilled in the basics way back when. It is amazing what sticks with you forever.
Our sales tax here in our county is 9.250%. Clothing, and restaurant food is taxed, but not food at the grocery store. Thank goodness for that. It depends on where you live in CA what your sales tax will be. Each county is different, and in some counties an individual city may vary from the city next to it. I used to do the sales tax report for our business every month and I had to refer to a tax schedule and fill in individual counties depending upon where our sales had taken place. UGH!
Finally a subject I know something about!
Beer, aka Windhover's drug of choice.
For a long time, probably up into the late 50's, early 60's, the best selling beer in America was Schlitz. Then Joseph Schlitz (or one of his bean counters) figured out that he could make a few mils (tenth of a cent) more per bottle or can if he substituted some cheaper grain (rice and/or corn) for a portion of the barley normally used to brew beer. The taste (and the reputation) of American beers has gone downhill ever since. The only real difference between the so-called "premium" beers (Budweiser & Miller) and the second line beers (Pabst, Old Milwaukee) is the amount they spend on advertising and those damned Clydesdales.
The color (light, dark) of beer is mostly determined by how much the barley is roasted before fermenting and somewhat by the variety of barley and the percentage of cheap grains used, and to a great extent by the hops used to flavor the fermented mash.
How anyone can believe that Budweiser is a great beer is beyond me. I mostly drink medium to dark beers brewed with 100% barley grain, with the occasional wheat beer in the summer. My "barn beer" rotates between
Old Milwaukee (which has won several international beer tasting contests), Pabst, and Carling Black Label. When I pull 5 or six of those out to refresh a haying crew, I invariably get at least one advertising-gullible comment like "How can you drink this stuff?" I answer, "because I like beer. Some of you may have heard the Canadian joke, "How is American beer like sex in a canoe?" Answer: "It's f------ next to water".
I will now retire to the couch to enjoy a nice American Porter, a dark ale brewed with dark roasted six-row barley, water, and yeast, just like god intended. As Ben Franklin once said, "Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy."
For a while this afternoon we've been under a tornado watch. As long as I've lived here in this area (and that is a long, long time) I've never been aware of a Tornado watch in our area. The TV special news kept us apprised until the watch was over. I was trying to think of someplace to go in case it got bad. No basements in our homes here!
Good evening, all,
As this puzzle was clued, it is the easiest Barry Silk I've ever completed. Same comments as most folks, so I won't repeat. I did think the theme was wonderfully clever, a hallmark of Mr. Silk's crosswords, so it was still an enjoyable adventure.
Dennis-Thanks for passing Rich's news on to us. It will be a pleasure to savor Dan Naddor's ingenuity for a year (or more?) to come.
The rains and winds here have picked up big-time in the last hour or so. Glad to be indoors, with a fire to warm the hearth.
Stay warm and healthy, everyone. Argyle, I hope you're feeling better soon. Thank you for rising to the occasion and giving us a great write-up today!
So, for a new solver this was not my best day. There were some that were quickly solved and others that were not. I was wearing a tee shirt with M. Kea on it and put M. Loa in the cw! What is with that? Such is the life of a new solver. Frenchie---a son in LA and Lemonaid a son inducted into Phi Betta Kappa.
Long day today and just now had the time to comment. A "Silky" and a food theme to boot. Didn't know ruff or Phair. Perps took care of ruff and Mr. G took care of Phair.
Argyle, did you get your soup? I just made a fresh batch of chicken noodle last night (from scratch) so the timing was perfect. However, if you got into the whiskey before my special delivery, you may not remember the soup. Hope all you CA guys and gals are okay. I guess we are looking at some "weather" tonight through Friday. They are calling for freezing rain. I'll take the snow over ice any day of the week. The commute could be an interesting one tomorrow.
Dennis, good to know that you don't feel the trolls. I don't either, those poor souls; they don't know what they're missing.
Chicago sales tax on non-food items: 10.25%. Number of Chicagoans who leave Cook county to buy cars, appliances and jewelry, etc.? Countless!
53D's Rona Barrett? "Still alive", per C.C. on 10/1/2009 and confirmed via Wikipedia today. For reasons unknown, that line/comment made me laugh so hard that I incorporated it into a very short humorish piece (on the macabre and so-called "celebrity deathwatch") that I threw together and have caused applause with ever since.
Same goes for other "bon mots" appearing here: I have a few pages worth of quips taken from this blog,
and which may end up "re-purposed" elsewhere. I know better than to spill the beans all at once, but I promise you that if I ever borrow and rejigger a line and sell it [90% of what I write doesn't get put up on the auction block], I will be ethical and share a portion of earnings with the original writer or designated appointees. You may be able to purchase a can of generic, no-name soda with the windfall---or a first-class postage stamp!
Gearing up for icy rain here in Chicago. Seems trivial for me to complain about that with West Coasters dealing with excessive precip and Haitians scrambling to find food, shelter, and potable water.
Be well, all.
Check my avatar. Oh yeah, I'm feeling better. Much better.
Argyle, I love the new chicken soup can! Glad you are feeling better.......
Argyle, and here I thought it would be my homemade chicken noodle soup...disappointed.
Can I freeze the soup? I can have a little taste of Jeannie on ice.
Windhover: There's a country music song that's been playing for several months whose refrain is "God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy!" My apologies to all for the religious reference in the quote I'm sharing.
Chickie: I think the advise for a tornado is similar to a that issued for an earthquake or hurricane when there's no basement.
Argyle, by all means it is freezable. Just think of Jeannie tomorrow as she is skating on ice on the way to work tomorrow.
Windhover,
I haven't seen Black Label in years. My Dad allowed me sips while building our camp. I loved it and started snagging a can or two to have with my buddies in high school. Then we moved onto Old Milwaukee, Schlitz (nicknamed Shits)and settled on Pabst, which is still my brand of choice as well as my Dad's. Neither of us can handle Bud, so I think its hereditary. It still has a hearty flavor to me. Maybe they haven't messed with that recipe too much.
Yes, I could talk beer all night!
Frenchie, we did make T-shirts with that as a logo. Town manager thought we had used sewer funds to make the purchase but we all chipped in. What a mess that turned into.
Still snowing, time to sleep.
After all this rain, I'll bet the wildflowers along the bike path will be spectacular in a few weeks.
~ Bill G.
@Argyle
Welcome to the Dark Side.
I've always thought if your avatar wasn't a picture of yourself it should express an intermost insight into the commenters mind set.
PINCH, a 15 year old Scotch and life long love.
I feel so fortunate. I am heading out to the hot tub, it is 68 degrees with a clear sky tonight. The forecast predicts rain in torrents from California the next few days. I cannot wait for a change........
@PJB-I think you win the prize for the highest tax rate--10.25%! Oh my! BTW, do you have any clips of your improv/stand-up on U-Tube? I'd love to see you perform, and I'll bet I'm not alone.
me too PJB
Frenchie: Sorry, but I went to prep school, and we were notorious for going too fast. It is interesting that you and another new member of our little troupe spell my name with an "AID" instead of an "ADE." Do you all think I need assistance?
Today was one of those days in South Florida when you know why so many people are here now, 75, dry, not a cloud in the sky and
50s over-night.
Speaking of beer, have I mentioned both of my sons are home brewers? I have 4 bottles of Devin's IPA fermenting in my hallway. Oh, and by the way, I am not a beer drinker; and some question the existence of a divine being. What a sense of humor; anyway, they produce usuall 42 bottles in a batch with an all in cost of about 70 cents, so....
I agree PJB, let us see some You Tube of you in action. Humor is such an important part of life.
Jeannie, the puzzle was obviously written for you, considering you are in the food business, as well as our resident recipe repeater.
Ipo, why do you have a M. Kea t-shirt (was it too much of a struggle to type the remaining "auna?"
It is nice to see many new young people, wonder what inspires the action? Which reminds me to send welcome to all new ones, and especially Tinebeni, who is another Florida solver. Maybe we will have enough including visitors to have a little get together in the Sunshine
T FRANK!! The great State of Washington has no income tax.Only a sales tax and real estate taxes and personal property taxes. It is also currently broke!
Lemonade 714
Thanks for the greeting, but I have stopped by before from time to time.
Life long Floridian. Up here in Dunedin, it was COLD!
Never got over 73, damn near freezing now at 59!
LOL at the "to much to enter 'auna' comment."
Oh well, it is time for that Scotch.
And trust me, it is not only my avatar, but Scotch, like the crossword puzzle is something I Do mention ... a lot.
Aqua Vitae, the water of life.
Robin:
Nice pic, but damn that pom-pon
Annette:
No need to apologize; beer figures heavily in my religious practice, and I don't mind discussing it at all. I am an occasional prosyletizer. For beer, that is.
Re your tornado, hurricane, earthquake advice:
Does that advice include kissing the rear portion of your anatomy good-bye? That's the same advice we got as school children in case of a nuclear attack.
Lemonade714:
For those who question the existence of a divine being; au contraire; I live with one. Beyond that, I too am a skeptic. (Except for beer. I believe in beer.
Tinbeni
I know, I see you pop up an many CW blogs, but I had neglected to ever offer welcome.
Windhover, I knew you were apcial, now I know you are lucky as well
nice, but you messed up 10D and completely ignored 11D.
10D: Hindu God incarnated as Krishna: VISHNU (not VISHNU.T)
11D: Join the Army: ENLIST
kind of obvious, but thought you might like to know.
Annette, Guess I'll just have to crawl under my desk if we have a problem with tornados again. That's where I usually end up when we have an earthquake.
My classroom had regular earthquake drills and the children all knew that they were to duck, cover their heads and hold onto a desk leg with one hand.
After one drill as the children were all taking their seats, one child asked me where I had gone during the drill? I replied,"Under my desk". He said that he thought I had left the room, because he couldn't see me. My desk was an old fashioned wooden desk that had a back wooden panel clear down to the floor. Comodious for me, but the children couldn't see me and worried that I had left them!!
Windhover,
I like any Miller product, but since my local watering hole raised the prices on Miller. I have now started drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon it's only $1 during happy hour.
Remember this beer?
hudepohl
Gregory Hardman plans to relaunch Hudepohl 14-K in late 2009 or early 2010.
Cincinnati beer
another old beer is Wiedemann
Wiedemann
Old KY Beer
PA doesn't tax grocery store food but does tax restaurant food at 6%. Also clothes aren't taxed but things needed to make them like thread, buttons, zippers, etc. are. I'm not sure about fabric but I think it isn't taxed.
Philadelphia has a higher tax rate; Pittsburgh may too. Property tax rates are set by the school district so they vary widely. The state of Delaware has no sales tax so many people in this area (Phila. suburbs) shop in DE, especially for big ticket but portable items like electronics.
I got most of the puzzle but groaned at some of the clues like 41D (step on it) and never heard of RUFFS or Mauna Kea or Liz Phair. Generally went pretty easily, though.
I don't know why the time on my comment never matches the time on my computer. Any ideas?
MamaRuth,
I live in Minnesota. So the blog time is Central time. Hope your wrist is getting better.
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