Theme: HORSE (67A. Word to add to 20-, 37- and 54-Across to make sense of the answers) - Horse needs to be fastened to the end of each common phrase to make sense of all the "uneasy" clues.
20A. Uneasy about a farm team member?: DODGING THE DRAFT(horse). Farm team member = Draft horse.
37A. Uneasy about a long shot?: AFRAID OF THE DARK(horse). Dark horse = Long shot. Nyctophobia refers to fear of darkness. I used to sleep with our closet light on all night.
54A. Uneasy about an aquarium fish?: CHICKEN OF THE SEA(horse). Aquarium fish = Seahorse. Used in Chinese herbal medicine.
We also have a cross-referenced SENATE (50A. Where Caligula reputedly tried to seat his 67-Across). A fact I was unaware of. But Galigula was an eccentric weirdo, so no real surprises.
A unique spin of our normal change letter string theme, in which the theme phrases often induce groan and only make sense when the letter string is dropped/added/substituted. Today, all the grid-spanning 15-letter theme entries are perfectly fine common phrases. You just need to tag HORSE to make horse sense of the clues. Loved the "uneasy" tie-in.
Also loved the side-by-side placement of GOLF (12D. Go for a Masters?) and SYST (13. CBS part). Golf fans all know that CBS has been covering the Saturday/Sunday Masters tournaments for years. But why "Go for a Masters" instead of "Go for Masters"? Why extra "a"?
Google shows that today's constructor Jascha Smilack is a Ph.D student in Chinese literature in Harvard. This seems to be his crossword debut. Gong Xi, Gong Xi!
Across:
1. Must: HAS TO
6. "Iron Chef America" chef Cat __: CORA. Needed crosses for her name. I did enjoy the few episodes of "Iron Chef America" I saw. Liked the Japanese flavor.
14. Dickens's mysterious Mr. Drood: EDWIN. Easy guess. I've never heard of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", Dickens' final novel.
15. Fidel's successor: RAUL. The Castro brothers. Quite a few names in this puzzle.
16. "__ Named Sue": A BOY. And A DROP (2D. __ in the bucket). Partials.
17. Israeli ambassador Moshe: ARENS. Again, his name emerged itself. Not familiar with this guy at all. When was he the ambassador?
18. Like some profs.: ASST (Assistant)
19. Web links: URLS
23. Michael Phelps sponsor: SPEEDO. OK, for Jeannie. Phelps survived his drug scandal quite well.
24. "Dies __": IRAE. "Dies Irae", the Latin hymn. Literally "Days of Wrath". Dies = Day. Irae = Wrath.
25. Humble: DEMEAN
28. Play footsie, say: FLIRT. Directly above TOE TAP (36. Shoe part for Astaire).
32. It may be up: JIG. The jig is up. Rich used the identical clue a while ago, still got me. Lethologica!
41. Maps: CHARTS. Verb.
42. Fair-hiring abbr.: EOE (Equal Opportunity Employer). EEO = Equal Employment Opportunity.
43. Hi or lo follower: RES (Resolution)
44. "Flowers for Algernon" author Daniel: KEYES. Rang a faint bell. See the book cover.
45. "Analyze That" star: DE NIRO
48. Top-shelf: A ONE
59. Winery prefix: OENO. Oeno is Greek goddess of wine.
60. Casual top: POLO
61. Stock phrase: AT PAR
62. Exploit: DEED
63. Etonic competitor: AVIA
64. Peachy: SWELL
65. Wood shaper: ADZE. Or adz.
66. Appear dramatically: LOOM. I associate loom with ominously rather than dramatically.
Down:
1. Call before the game: HEADS. "Heads or tails?". We had this clue before.
3. Stockholm native: SWEDE
4. Colored a bit: TINGED. Wrote down TINTED first.
5. Like some daring football kicks: ONSIDE
6. Steep outcropping: CRAG. The rugged rock.
7. Brewery feature: OAST
8. Act like fools?: RUSH IN. Fools rush in. Nailed it today.
9. Let out, say: ALTER. Oh, the hemline. Nice clue.
10. Honored with a crown of foliage: LAURELED.
11. Start of a spell: ABRA. The start of Abracadabra.
21. Roaming types: NOMADS
22. Green Goblin portrayer in Spider-Man films: DAFOE (Willem). I only remember Tobey Maguire.
26. Rock producer Brian: ENO
27. Newspaper revenue component: AD FEE
29. __-Tass: news agency: ITAR (Information Telegraph Agency of Russia).
30. Red inside: RARE
31. I-90 in Mass. et al.: TPKS (Turnpikes)
32. Magic harp thief: JACK. From "Jack and the Beanstalk" the fairy tale. I peeked at the answer sheet.
33. "__ hollers, ...": IF HE. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, /Catch a tiger by the toe./If he hollers let him go..."
34. __ matter: GRAY. Felt silly not getting this one immediately.
36. Believer: THEIST
38. First three numbers, in some directories: AREA CODE
39. "Not a problem!": IT'S OK
40. Cargo unit: TON
45. Again, to Gaius: DE NOVO. Latin for "From the beginning".
46. Talk out again: REHASH
47. "Old" punches?: ONE-TWO. One-two punch. Why "old"?
49. High country: NEPAL. High in the Himalaya. I hope you were not thinking of Tibet, because it's not a country. It's part of China.
51. According to: AS PER
52. Dabbling ducks:: TEALS. Teals belong to the dabbling ducks, which feed by dabbling in the shallow waters.
53. Bogart's "High Sierra" role: EARLE. No idea. I've never seen the movie.
54. Musical ending: CODA
55. Follow: HEED. As advice.
56. Don Juan's mother: INEZ. Spanish for Agnes, meaning "pure".
57. Random collection: OLIO
58. Fire suppressant: FOAM
Answer grid.
C.C.
20A. Uneasy about a farm team member?: DODGING THE DRAFT(horse). Farm team member = Draft horse.
37A. Uneasy about a long shot?: AFRAID OF THE DARK(horse). Dark horse = Long shot. Nyctophobia refers to fear of darkness. I used to sleep with our closet light on all night.
54A. Uneasy about an aquarium fish?: CHICKEN OF THE SEA(horse). Aquarium fish = Seahorse. Used in Chinese herbal medicine.
We also have a cross-referenced SENATE (50A. Where Caligula reputedly tried to seat his 67-Across). A fact I was unaware of. But Galigula was an eccentric weirdo, so no real surprises.
A unique spin of our normal change letter string theme, in which the theme phrases often induce groan and only make sense when the letter string is dropped/added/substituted. Today, all the grid-spanning 15-letter theme entries are perfectly fine common phrases. You just need to tag HORSE to make horse sense of the clues. Loved the "uneasy" tie-in.
Also loved the side-by-side placement of GOLF (12D. Go for a Masters?) and SYST (13. CBS part). Golf fans all know that CBS has been covering the Saturday/Sunday Masters tournaments for years. But why "Go for a Masters" instead of "Go for Masters"? Why extra "a"?
Google shows that today's constructor Jascha Smilack is a Ph.D student in Chinese literature in Harvard. This seems to be his crossword debut. Gong Xi, Gong Xi!
Across:
1. Must: HAS TO
6. "Iron Chef America" chef Cat __: CORA. Needed crosses for her name. I did enjoy the few episodes of "Iron Chef America" I saw. Liked the Japanese flavor.
14. Dickens's mysterious Mr. Drood: EDWIN. Easy guess. I've never heard of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", Dickens' final novel.
15. Fidel's successor: RAUL. The Castro brothers. Quite a few names in this puzzle.
16. "__ Named Sue": A BOY. And A DROP (2D. __ in the bucket). Partials.
17. Israeli ambassador Moshe: ARENS. Again, his name emerged itself. Not familiar with this guy at all. When was he the ambassador?
18. Like some profs.: ASST (Assistant)
19. Web links: URLS
23. Michael Phelps sponsor: SPEEDO. OK, for Jeannie. Phelps survived his drug scandal quite well.
24. "Dies __": IRAE. "Dies Irae", the Latin hymn. Literally "Days of Wrath". Dies = Day. Irae = Wrath.
25. Humble: DEMEAN
28. Play footsie, say: FLIRT. Directly above TOE TAP (36. Shoe part for Astaire).
32. It may be up: JIG. The jig is up. Rich used the identical clue a while ago, still got me. Lethologica!
41. Maps: CHARTS. Verb.
42. Fair-hiring abbr.: EOE (Equal Opportunity Employer). EEO = Equal Employment Opportunity.
43. Hi or lo follower: RES (Resolution)
44. "Flowers for Algernon" author Daniel: KEYES. Rang a faint bell. See the book cover.
45. "Analyze That" star: DE NIRO
48. Top-shelf: A ONE
59. Winery prefix: OENO. Oeno is Greek goddess of wine.
60. Casual top: POLO
61. Stock phrase: AT PAR
62. Exploit: DEED
63. Etonic competitor: AVIA
64. Peachy: SWELL
65. Wood shaper: ADZE. Or adz.
66. Appear dramatically: LOOM. I associate loom with ominously rather than dramatically.
Down:
1. Call before the game: HEADS. "Heads or tails?". We had this clue before.
3. Stockholm native: SWEDE
4. Colored a bit: TINGED. Wrote down TINTED first.
5. Like some daring football kicks: ONSIDE
6. Steep outcropping: CRAG. The rugged rock.
7. Brewery feature: OAST
8. Act like fools?: RUSH IN. Fools rush in. Nailed it today.
9. Let out, say: ALTER. Oh, the hemline. Nice clue.
10. Honored with a crown of foliage: LAURELED.
11. Start of a spell: ABRA. The start of Abracadabra.
21. Roaming types: NOMADS
22. Green Goblin portrayer in Spider-Man films: DAFOE (Willem). I only remember Tobey Maguire.
26. Rock producer Brian: ENO
27. Newspaper revenue component: AD FEE
29. __-Tass: news agency: ITAR (Information Telegraph Agency of Russia).
30. Red inside: RARE
31. I-90 in Mass. et al.: TPKS (Turnpikes)
32. Magic harp thief: JACK. From "Jack and the Beanstalk" the fairy tale. I peeked at the answer sheet.
33. "__ hollers, ...": IF HE. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, /Catch a tiger by the toe./If he hollers let him go..."
34. __ matter: GRAY. Felt silly not getting this one immediately.
36. Believer: THEIST
38. First three numbers, in some directories: AREA CODE
39. "Not a problem!": IT'S OK
40. Cargo unit: TON
45. Again, to Gaius: DE NOVO. Latin for "From the beginning".
46. Talk out again: REHASH
47. "Old" punches?: ONE-TWO. One-two punch. Why "old"?
49. High country: NEPAL. High in the Himalaya. I hope you were not thinking of Tibet, because it's not a country. It's part of China.
51. According to: AS PER
52. Dabbling ducks:: TEALS. Teals belong to the dabbling ducks, which feed by dabbling in the shallow waters.
53. Bogart's "High Sierra" role: EARLE. No idea. I've never seen the movie.
54. Musical ending: CODA
55. Follow: HEED. As advice.
56. Don Juan's mother: INEZ. Spanish for Agnes, meaning "pure".
57. Random collection: OLIO
58. Fire suppressant: FOAM
Answer grid.
C.C.
54 comments:
Didn't know Brian Eno, so I missed one. I wanted to put ADD for AND. Otherwise no difficulties. 16 minutes.
I liked the concept of ordinary phrases which changed with the addition of the word "horse." However I have never heard of a farm team member as a "draft horse".
Flowers for Algernon was a favorite growing up. It was the basis of the wonderful movie "Charly" starring Cliff Robertson.
Liked the jig was up and adze.
Another beautiful day here in the Big Apple -- 84 and sunny. One of the finest weeks we've had here in a long time.
Enjoy Thursday all.
Good Morning, CC and all. This wasn't one of my favorite puzzles this week, but after I finished it, I had a better appreciation for it. There were some great clues, and this is impressive for a first time published constructor.
Favorite clues were: It May Be Up = JIG
Act Like Fools = RUSH IN
I didn't like the Start of A Spell = ABRA (it could have been clued to be A BRA).
Moshe Arens was Ambassador to the US in the early 1980s. Of course, the first Moshe I thought of was Dayan. I had an opportunity to meet him back in my college days.
QOD: The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. ~ Flannery O'Connor
Morning, all!
I struggled a bit with this one. Part of it was, of course, that i had no clue (literally) what was going on with the theme answers until I got to the very end and saw the reveal. Even then, however, the clues didn't really seem to make much sense to me. I mean, I've heard of somebody being chicken in general and afraid of something, but being chicken of something just sounds off to me for some reason.
I ended up having to Google at the end when I got stuck at the intersection of ITAR and RES. Part of the problem was that I couldn't remember ITAR to save my life. Most of it, however, was because, while I live in Massachusetts and know full well that I-90 is the official designation of the Massachusetts Turnpike, I misread the clue and entered the singular TPKE instead of the plural TPKS. I could not figure out a three letter word ending in EE that could go with both "hi" and "lo." I had also never heard of a TOE TAP before, so I waffled between that and TOE CAP, which once again made ITAR completely ungettable. Once I Googled TASS to get ITAR, however, I saw my mistake and finished quickly.
Ah well...
@C.C., "the old one-two" is a sports (boxing) idiom. According to the OED, it dates back to 1811, and means rapid succession punches delivered with alternate hands.
Good morningH certainly an intersting debut, and an indication there are new puzzles ahead. Like many, I was mislead by thinking of a farm team in baseball. Rather than just a team of horses working on a farm. I also went too fast and was stuck with TPKE for a while (CEE was my foolish fill) but I did remember ITAR so it all worked out. Well enjoy the day all
Good Morning CC and All,
My experience this AM was a combination of Barry's and Bob's.
Crazy busy here so my interactions on the blog have been Blah.
7 & a Wake up
Have a great day.
Here's a nice team of draft horses. Wonder if Windhover has used a team?
Good morning, C.C. and pals,
This was a struggle for me today. I did not have much trouble with the theme or theme answers, but with some of the shorter clues. Unknowns or unremembered were Earle (C.C., you have got to see that movie; it's a classic), Itar, Edwin, Arens, Keyes, Inez, Avia, Deniro, denovo, Jack and coda. The perps helped with most, but I had to look up three of them, which I hate to do.
Favorite clues were "it may be up" and "act like fools".
I am looking forward to the Masters today. I hope it does not rain in Augusta.
Have a good day.
Other entries that could have been golf related:
10A. LAGS. A good lag putt positions the golfer to have a simple and easily makeable follow-up putt.
61A. AT PAR. Being AT PAR on the par-72 Augusta will not get you a green jacket.
1D. HEADS. Big Bertha ® is just one of the drivers(golf club) with an oversized HEAD.
2D. A DROP. A drop is returning your ball to the course by dropping it onto the playing surface after it has been hit out of bounds or into an area from which it is unplayable. Need not be a penalty.
32D. JACK. First name of the Golden Bear, JACK Nicklaus.
38D. AREA CODE. That is where some of my errant shots end up; in another AREA CODE.
This was a toughie for me today. I never did get the theme and hit the g-spot more than I would like to. It seems to me that the letter “O” was prevalent in all my perp help. Oeno, eno, Le Novo, coda, and olio. I didn’t like casual “top” polo as I think of a polo shirt being more of a man’s shirt than a women’s. I too, put in tinted for tinged. I liked “peachy” – swell. Cute.
C.C. you made my day with that pic of Mr. Phelps….what a specimen of the male physiche. WOW.
Good Morning C.C. and all. Great puzzle today. A little halting but eventually got it all without searches, but erred on AVIA. Thought that RUSHIN, ONSIDE, and ALTER were clever. If 'gong xi' means BZ, then I agree Jascha did a good construct.
C.C. re CHARTS. Sailors use maps which they call charts. So the word is a noun, too. I believe airmen also use 'air charts'. To me it's a culture thing, like a floor is a 'deck', a wall is a 'bulkhead' and a ceiling is an 'overhead'
Chacun à son goût
Hi all,
I also thought first of Moshe Dayan, and was not aware of ARENS. My hand is up too for TINTED.
I had a hard time with it, took over an hour, and finishing in the bathroom I used my CW dictionary rather than google, which made it more difficult than google would have, but more satisfying too, (I mean the puzzle).
For stock phrase, I thought of AXIOM and ADAGE before AT PAR. I got the theme early though, and it did help, although I didn't know Caligula tried to seat his horse in the SENATE. I agree about LOOM.
I think CHART is more common a synonym for MAP when used as a verb. I got that as soon as I changed my IF IT to IF HE. As usual the names were my main stumbling block, I guessed all of them.
Since Astaire used TAP shoes, I got that right away. And I would translate the Latin DE NOVO more literally as "anew".
I was really surprised when I got the last fill without google.
Fm Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry: 1 chart
Pronunciation: \ˈchärt\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French charte, from Latin charta piece of papyrus, document — more at card
Date: 1571
1 : map: as a : an outline map exhibiting something (as climatic or magnetic variations) in its geographical aspects b : a map for the use of navigators
2 a : a sheet giving information in tabular form b : graph c : diagram d : a sheet of paper ruled and graduated for use in a recording instrument e : a record of medical information about a patient f : a listing by rank (as of sales) —usually used in plural
3 : a musical arrangement; also : a part in such an arrangement
Good morning CC and all,
not peachy for me today, but always enjoy the struggle.Words like EOE, res, irae, oeno, itar and coda don't thrill me. On the other hand, speedo, toetap and flirt were fun, and I liked the clue for alter, "let out".
Kudos Argyle, for your golf list. I would add Teals to mine. Unfortunately, one of my errant shots skidded, instead of lifted, and whacked a poor ol' duck's leg.He immediately hobbled to the pond.sigh..not a good round.
Good Morning All, There were a couple of mini-stoppers today. I didn't know Moishe ARENS or Daniel KEYES. I had to circle around them both before the perps finished them for me.
After that, I thought I had this one wrapped up, but I still didn't get "Mr. Happy Pencil" at the end.
Turns out my error was at the cross of 29D ITAR and 43A RES. I had ITAD and DES. Why not? The clue for 43A was "Hi or lo follower". Both hiDES and loDES are perfectly fine words. Too bad I didn't know that ITAD was wrong.
Argyle@8:59, very clever golf connections. I'll have to show GAH. He'll get a kick out of them.
It's still spring vacation for the kiddies. I have a date in Modesto today to meet my daughter and grand daughter for a ladies lunch and some shopping. It's my treat, so we'll see how rich grand daughter Rachael's tastes are.
J.D., didn't you yell, "DUCK!"
As per Argyle's question, at right (I hope) are the Percheron draft horses at Windhover Farm. Four mares, one gelding. We finally retired the stallion after we figured out why there were more horses every year. It's not that easy in the house.
Good morning!
I just popped in to say hello; very busy today preparing for weekend guests from the U.K.
I haven't read the blog or your comments yet.
Have a wonderful, outrageous Thursday!
Gotta ask...is it gray matter or grey matter?
I'm not sure if science distinguishes gray from grey, but the former is American and the latter British spelling of the color.
Spitzboov,
I wasn't questioning the use of CHART as a noun. Just trying to answer C.C. about how I see it. The two are obviously used, it's just that in my mind, if you chart something, it's the same as mapping it, but a chart has broader applications than a map in the noun form.
What an outstanding Thursday.
This had great cluing, a bit of misdirection and total unknowns that could be obtained by the perps.
Last letter to fall was the 'R' in ITAR.
Argyle: Liked your GOLF related words.
I would add that POLO shirt.
ANON 11:31 I moved so slow through this one I'm not sure the old GRAY matter ever clicked in.
It scares me when I actually realize I know OENO, CODA, INEZ and maybe a few others, all from doing crosswords.
I look forward to this constructor's next offering.
Hello all.
The first hole was AT PAR. Can't
wait for the stroke by stroke coverage of the second hole.
At least, I got my first name in the puzzzle.
eddyB
Hello, again. You all are sparkling today. I love it.
C.C. as always your blogging is lovely and informative.
Congratulations to Jascha Smilack on his debut. I look forward to many more of his xwds.
At first glance this seemed impossible, but once started, not so much Inez was my first fill because I love the movie, Don Juan de Marco, with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando as well as Faye Dunaway. The sound track too.
I like the sounds of oast, oeno, and olio. They all withdrew from my memory bank and deposited themselves right onto the fill.
I had only to Ggl Iron Chef America Cat Cora, no idea since I never watch.
Hand up for initially filling Moshe Dayan and recommending the movie "Charly" with Clif Robertson and I believe Alan Arkin (not enirely sure about him).
Very clever cluing today with an amusing theme. Challenging and chuckling, what more can I ask froma xwd?
Now, to some baking.
The couple who are visiting are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. We met on a trip to Europe when they were on their honeymoon and we have been e-mailing for those ten years. They were in their 40s then so not young newlyweds, more an "official" rite as has been remarked here before.
Am I correct in guessing that everyone is out enjoying this remarkably lovely weather?
Meant to say, too, that "go for a master's" might be a deceit to make us think about a college degree instead of "golf" and yes, I got that!
Lucina, Mrs. Arkin was not too sure about him as well.
Argyle: LOL on 38D, and “DUCK!” You’re in rare form today. :-)
24A “Dies IRAE” spelling always gets me. Will try remembering it as similar to IRAtE = Wrath for next time…
4D Colored a bit: Tried SHADED and TINTED before getting TINGED.
45D Again, to Gaius: DE NOVO. This really threw me off. Looked up Gaius and ran an Italian translation on again, getting lots of options, with the closest being Di Nouvo...which didn’t fit. I just looked up “again” in 2 English to Latin sites and still didn’t come up with DE NOVO... I loved the rest of the puzzle, but found this frustrating.
It took me forever to see “CHICKEN OF THE SEA”, even though I knew the theme and had SEA filled in for quite a while.
Some of the other fill came from perps, guesses, or pure luck!
Crocket937:
Oooooh! I like that. Funny.
BarryG:
Didn't you like the play on "chicken" meaning afraid, and "chicken of the sea" tuna? I thought it clever.
Glorious Spring Day to C.C., Argyle and those of you trying your hand at the puzzle analysis. I know it is a huge albeit satisfying job and I learn and I laugh. Thanks!
Flowers for Algernon was our senior play in high school. Good clue!
Toe tap, loved the old
Fred Astaire song and dance and check it out, he's wearing spats!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFabjc6mFk4
Puttin' on the Ritz
First, a shout out to BUCKEYE, we all hope life at the inn is all good, and Nurse Ratchet brought you a new playmate.
As for the wonderful reference to Caligula and the horse in the senate, I strongly recommend you watch not only my link, but two fabulous shows, I CLAUDIUS which starred Derek Jacobi in a fabulous performance, and the recent HBO series over two years, ROME .
Interesting, after all of the new bloggers recently and all of the wonderful new constructors, we are so quiet.
Phil did well GAH, but how about 60 year old Tom Watson at five under, and 50 year old Freddie Couples at 6 under
Frenchie, your link was inspirational, not only to me, but to Mel Brooks .
I loved the I, Claudius series. Derek Jacobi is superb.
This is almost Puttin' on the Ritz, only with different words. They Might Be Giants!
@Lucina, lovely weather? I'm looking out at a deck full of snow with a 30% chance of more tonight.
In keeping with Argyle's golf theme today:
Birdie: one-under par
Eagle: Two under
Albatross: Three under, also called double-eagle
And in the "No, I'm not making these up" department:
Condor: Four under (recorded four times in history, but never in a pro tournament)
Ostrich: Five under (never achieved, but theoretically possible on a par 7)
Turkey: Three holes in one in a row
In honor of the weather today, I propose that we call a score of 10 on any hole a "penguin". That's where some of us take a bath and stop counting...
BarryG:
Didn't you like the play on "chicken" meaning afraid, and "chicken of the sea" tuna? I thought it clever.
Well, as I said, I've never heard anybody say they were chicken of something. They're either just plain chicken or else they're afraid of something. "Chicken of" to mean "uneasy about" just doesn't sound right to me.
Hello All--I had the same stumbling blocks as almost everyone else, and a few more besides. A good learning experiece for me. I didn't know Cora, Etonics, and Earle. After putting in Vats for Oast, I had erased, put in and erased again, before I finished up the top middle section.
There were some very good "out of the box" clues, such as Go for a Masters, and High Country. I was thinking of something Alpine for the last clue.
I didn't know the Itar part of Itar-Tass. I knew Tass and it seems to me that is all I've ever heard in regards to the Russian news agency. Tass really is a shortening of the full name, isn't it?
Hello, C.C. and all,
I really enjoyed the theme answers as such, but didn't totally "get" the theme until coming here. Thank you, C.C. The "uneasy" repetition in the clues had eluded me. Hopefully I'll remember some of the names in today's puzzle which were complete unknowns for me.
Also did the Newsday puzzle today, and even though they publish the theme, I still don't get it. Oh well....
Enjoy the evening!
I thought today must be Friday. I couldn't get any traction at all with the puzzle. Maybe because I have too much else on my mind. We are getting the family room in the basement carpeted tomorrow which meant move all the furniture out into other areas; corral some grandsons to provide muscle power, etc. And in the middle of the work, our youngest grandson arrived, just home from college in Cal. He was marooned somewhere along the way by a closed road because of a blizzard.
Our new carpeting comes 22 mos. after the flood and 18 mos. after the water stopped coming in. There is a sofa on order, so one of these days the room should look nice.
2D "a drop" I've had a bucket of drops in my eye in the last few weeks and will continue the regimen for four more weeks after I have the right eye surgery on Tuesday.
Lucinda, I was out and about today but NOT enjoying the weather. When we got up this A.M. the ground was white with snow. Its gone now but the air was cold and damp all day. Hopefully, this is the end of the snow for this season.
Dot
Lucina,
I apologize for changing your name. I can' just say, misspelling, because I made it different name. I've know of Lucindas before but you are the first, Lucina.
sorry,
Dot
Hi C.C. & gang,
A toughie today, Cat Cora was a gimme for us because we're fans of the Iron Chef series. But that was about the only easy thing. I think that we got ~50% of the top half done before my wife left for work. I finished online in 'Red' and after I corrected 4D Tinged vs. Tinted (we had Tinted) I quickly got 'Dodging the Draft' and the rest were easier since they are all common sayings.
Dot:
Please don't worry about it. I am called Lucinda about 50% of the time, by even someone whom I have known for over 30 years! it's an easy mistake and my name is rare; besides my grandmother, I've met only two other people with the name.
I hope your next surgery goes well. And I'm glad your grandsons will help you with your furniture moving. It's good to be able to commandeer them!
Argyle:
You are witty!
To you who are still experiencing cold weather, I send wafts of warmth. . .
Here is a weird twist to Cat Cora being in the puzzle today. On our local "Rock" station this morning they interviewed Paula Deen about her upcoming book. She mentioned that they were holding a contest in Philadelphia for recipes incorporating Philadelphia cream cheese. Anyway, our broker for Kraft Foods came in today and randomly picked 8 people out of the office. I was one. We were given $15.00 and 45 min to shop and make a dish using cream cheese and only 4 other items. There is a local Cub foods not far from my office. I won hands down and a nice Visa gift card of $100.00.
Recipe:
One 8oz tub of garlic/chive easy spread cream cheese.
one 8oz container of Top-O-Tator
One English cucumber (no seeds)
One of those little loafs of pre-sliced rye breads
1 sprig of fresh dill
I think I won for presentation using fresh dill which is hard to come by here in MN this time of year.
Combine the cream cheese and the Top the Tator, spread on the little breads, add a cucumber slice or two and sprinkle a little freshly chopped dill. Everyone loved it; and I can't decide if I want a new pair of shoes or bathing suit. I felt like I was in my own little Iron Chef competition. It was fun and am now urged by the broker to submit my recipe to the contest.
MJ Aussie Wilderness: The Outback is the remote arid areas of Australia.
The themed entries had OUT at the back(end).
Dot - Best wishes that your eye surgery is successful on Tuesday.
Jeannie - Kudos on winning the big 'cheese-off'. Recipe sound yummy. BH and I ate at Paula Dean's restaurant in Charleston 7 yrs ago. Picture of us at our table there still has an honored position on the refrigerator.
Jeannie: Congratulations! You should definitely submit the recipe. It sounds wonderful, and I can visualize how nice it must've looked! One question though, what's Top-O-Tator, and where in the grocery store would it be located? Frozen foods?
Jeannie, congrats on the win...you should be proud. I love the Food Network and have learned so much. I like the shows: Chopped and Ultimate Recipe. It's fun to see how chefs accomplish things when there is a time limit.
Just one comment. To me "chart"means to draw a course or show where you've been. In other words an imprecise rendering; whereas a map is meant to be accurate.
Argyle, Thank you for giving me the "back". I had seen the "out" part, but missed the rest! Thanks, as well, for the golf related facts, and esp. "DUCK!." Too funny!
Jeannie-Enjoy your spending spree!
Frenchie: Thanks for the Fred Astaire link. I haven't seen the film, Blue Skies (1946), so I hadn't seen this routine before. Everything that guy did was amazing--song, dance, acting--he could pretty much do it all and make it look effortless.
Jeanne:
Congratulations! I'm not surprised; the recipes you've given us have been outstanding and I can believe that you are creative as well.
Jeannie, sorry to misspell your name.
Annette, it is a bastardised take on mixing cream cheese w/chives and garlic. Hey, I wouldn't use it normally but it's a quick fix. You can find it in the refrigerated section near the sour cream. BTW, it's wonderful and usually in a green container. Maybe it's regional?
Still riding high on my win, and going to sleep on that. I'll talk to all my blog friends tomorrow.
C.C. one more THANKS for the Michael Phelps link today. Kept me going.
Dennis, and Buckeye, I miss you guys. We are part of the "old stock".
Finally the Dodgers won a game!
I was watching the Lakers game and heard the color commentator saying things like this. First, he pronounces length and strength as lenth and strenth. Not really wrong but not correct either. Then he pronounces height as heigth (like width and length). Height ends in a hard T sound, not a th sound. And he starts about half of his comments with "again" as in "Again, the Lakers need to pass the ball into the paint earlier" even though he hadn't said that before. It's just a verbal crutch like saying "like" in every other sentence. You would thing some of the bosses would try to correct those errors but maybe they don't notice them either. Geez!
CC -- How on earth did you become such an astute cruciverbalist in such a short time? It boggles the mind!
Also, I cannot figure out how to google you or enter info on my "page."
(Mac person)
CC--Gee, I clicked on my name once and it worked. Must have been double clicking before.
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