google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday May 17, 2010 Jack McInturff

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May 17, 2010

Monday May 17, 2010 Jack McInturff

Theme: A Man and his Horse - Celebrity cowboys and their horses.

17A. Cowboy who rode the end of 25-Across: ROY ROGERS. And 25A. Sensitive gun-firing mechanism: HAIR TRIGGER. Trigger was Roy's horse and his dog was Bullet.

31A. Cowboy who rode the end of 41-Across: LONE RANGER. And 41A. Anti-gold standard policy that climaxed in the Bryan-McKinley campaign: FREE SILVER. Some might say that the Lone Ranger wasn't strictly speaking, a cowboy and they'd be right. "FREE SILVER" policy can't be really explained in a few sentences. The gist of it was that it would promote inflation, which would make it easier for the little guy to repay loans and debts. The big financial institutions were against it.

46A. "Good Morning America" weatherman: SAM CHAMPION. And 58A. Cowboy who rode the end of 46-Across: GENE AUTRY. I'm partial to Gene because he sang "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer". I'm not familiar with this weatherman.

Argyle here.

Although I liked the theme (total 60 theme squares), I find many problems with the puzzle on the whole. The Lone Ranger not being a cowboy, I mentioned already. It would have been nice if Champion/Autry order could have matched the first two, the rider then his horse. But of course, the total number of letters of the pair dictates their order symmetrically.

There are obscure people, at least, obscure by Monday's standards. And then there is the glaring (because they are so close together) answer as part of a clue. 6D. Fragrant resin: ELEMI. /37D. Varnish ingredient: RESIN.

An ambitious effort with heavy blocks in two corners but I feel it falls short of a good Monday puzzle.

Across:

1A. Diagnostic procedure: SCAN.

5A. Potatoes' partner: MEAT. (meat and potatoes)

9A. Robert Burns and Sean Connery, e.g.: SCOTS.

14A. Inner Hebrides isle: IONA. Off the western shore of Scotland. Nice echo.

15A. Et __: and others: ALII. (masculine plural)

16A. Seer's card: TAROT. The whole deck is known as tarot, also

19A. Santa __ racetrack: ANITA. Horse racing, appropriately.

20A. Hustlers: CON MEN.

21A. Underage one: MINOR.

22A. Place to wipe your shoes: MAT.

27A. Three, in Tours: TROIS. French

29A. Enero begins it: AÑO. Enero / AÑO, today; año / ENERO, yesterday.

30A. Early bird's victim: WORM.

38A. Pat down, as dirt: TAMP.

39A. Came to: AWOKE.

40A. Flying shore scavenger: ERNE.

43A. Gen-__: post-baby boomers: X-ERs.

44A. One quarter of M: CCL. 1000÷4=250

45A. 10th-century emperor known as "the Great": OTTO I. 912-973 Considered by many historians to be the founder of the Holy Roman Empire.

53A. __ Arbor, Michigan: ANN.

54A. Golf tournament kickoff, often: PRO-AM.

55A. Basketball big man: CENTER. Big means tall; the player closest to the basket where his/her height helps in getting rebounds.

57A. Acrobat software creator: ADOBE. Founded in December 1982 by Charles Geschke and John Warnock, it was named after Adobe Creek which ran behind Warnock’s home in Los Altos, California

62A. Croatian-born physicist Nikola: TESLA. The only Nikola I know.

63A. Always: EVER.

64A. Olin of "Chocolat": LENA. I've never seen this movie. Is it any good?

65A. Legree-like look: SNEER. Another Simon. Simon Legree was a slave owner in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

66A. Designer Saarinen: EERO. Son of Eliel, also a Finnish architect and furniture designer.

67A. Test: EXAM.

Down

1D. Knight's title: SIR.

2D. Whisper sweet nothings: COO.

3D. "__ questions?": ANY.

4D. Drug cop: NARC.

5D. __ Carta: MAGNA. Briefly, the first document forced upon an English King to limit his powers by law and protect individual privileges.

7D. Broadcaster: AIRER.

8D. Old-fashioned denial: 'TISN'T.

9D. Endurance: STAMINA.

10D. "My turn?": "CAN I GO NEXT?".

11D. Round sealing gasket: O-RING.

12D. From head __: TO TOE.

13D. Ringo of the Beatles: STARR.

18D. Fireworks cries: OOHs.

22D. Workweek sequence: Abbr.: M T W T F. Tricky.

23D. Like a cheering crowd: AROAR.

24D. Velvet-voiced Mel: TORMÉ.

26D. Harder to find: RARER.

28D. Flawless: IMPECCABLE.

31D. Boxer Ali: LAILA. Muhammad Ali's daughter.

32D. "Wise" bird: OWL.

33D. Turkey mo.: NOV..

34D. __ out a living: EKE.

35D. Reclusive actress Garbo: GRETA.

36D. Bankrupt energy giant: ENRON. ENRON's leaders are reclusive now.

42D. Lay on thick, as cream cheese on a bagel: SCHMEAR. Most reference this as a small amount.

45D. Fit to serve: ONE-A.

46D. Tiffs: SPATS.

47D. Shakespearean forest: ARDEN. The setting for Shakespeare's play "As You Like It".

48D. Maine's state animal: MOOSE.

49D. Fibber or Molly of old radio: McGEE.

50D. "Pet" irritation: PEEVE.

51D. Kind of tube or ear: INNER.

52D. Alamogordo is its county seat: OTERO. In New Mexico. (Map) I think we've had it before but I don't know why!

56D. Occupy the throne: RULE.

59D. Stereotypical cowboy nickname: TEX. A slight echo.

60D. Genetic transmitter: Abbr.: RNA.

61D. Candied veggie: YAM.

Answer grid.

LA Times website does not work. You can download the puzzle here.

Argyle

72 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - well, this one was a real speed run, right at four minutes just doing the acrosses, but I really thought it was an ingenious, enjoyable theme. And I enjoyed seeing some childhood heroes, Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger and Gene Autry, although Gene seemed to lack the 'edge' of the typical cowboy back then. Argyle, interesting observation about the Lone Ranger technically not being a cowboy; I never really thought about it, but you're right, he didn't really fit the definition.
I believe this is the second time we've seen 'schmear', but there were certainly a lot of more frequent visitors as well in this one. I agree with Argyle that seeing 'resin' as both an answer and a clue was disappointing. And yes, we have seen Alamogordo/Oteri before.
Did anyone else think of temper when they filled in 'Hair trigger'? I, unfortunately, had one of those in my younger days, and it didn't serve me well.

Today is National Pack Rat Day. Being in the collectibles business, I'm there already.
Off to the gym; have an outstanding Monday.

Barry G. said...

Hey, all!

I usually do the puzzle directly from the LA Times website, but it's still showing Sunday's puzzle for me right now. Is there some other place I can access today's puzzle (for free)?

Mainiac said...

My Monday isn't starting off to well. I'm having the same problem as Barry G.

Have a good one!

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

Barry & Mainiac,
Try Cruciverb website. It's in Across Lite.

Bob said...

Easy puzzle. 10 minutes to complete.

Lemonade714 said...

Good Morning

Just back in town

ENERO is January and ANO is Year; trying to catch up. Enjoy the week.

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

Barry & Mainiac,
I've uploaded the puzzle here . It's in PDF, in case you do not have Across Lite and can not access Cruciverb. Looks like U-Click is down across the board, so LA Times, USA Today and other U-Click supported websites do not have updated puzzles today.

Barry G. said...

Cruciverb.com has a link to the LA Times puzzle, but that just goes to the main LA Times page showing yesterday's puzzle.

All right, so no puzzle talk from me today. Hey -- I almost ran over a wild turkey on the way to work this morning! He started crossing the street right in front of me, so I slowed down. He then sat down directly in front of my car and refused to budge even though I honked at him. I suspect he was waiting for me to get out of the car so he could attack me, but instead I just drove around him.

Stupid turkey...

Barry G. said...

Typed too fast! Thanks for uploading the PDF, C. C. I'll have to decide if I want to register for account in order to view it, though...

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

Barry,
Try again. Can you open it now? I forgot to pick the "Open to Public". You don't need to register to view and download.

Barry G. said...

Yes, it works now, thanks.

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

Barry,
Good! How do you solve NY Times puzzle? Via Cruciverb? Or in Java? I just realized that you must access your Cruciverb account to view LAT in Across Lite, otherwise it will link you to LAT website.

Barry G. said...

I solve the NYT puzzle using Across Lite, an application that I installed on my computer. You can also (usually) solve them directly on the website using a built-in application, but I find it easier to download the .puz file and open it using Across Lite.

Barry G. said...

Oh -- and I should mention that I don't have an account with cruciverb.com, but I do have a paid subscription to the NYT puzzle.

Hahtoolah said...

Morning, CC and all. I am in Birmingham without I newspaper and can't do the puzzle on my phone. I read your write-up, Argyle. We've had lots of conversations about famous horses and their riders.

Happy Monday.

QOD: the season of pain is never over until the sky begins to rain. - Hatian proverb.

Dick said...

Good morning Argyle and All, I found this puzzle sort of boring today. The theme was seen early, but wasn’t needed to complete the fill. The SW corner slowed me down for a bit as I did not know Sam Champion and I was drawing a blank on Laila for awhile.

Even though I found the puzzle boring I thought the theme was creative.

Hope you all have a great Monday.

Barry G. said...

All right, I finally did the puzzle. Not particularly difficult, but not quite the walk in the park I was expecting, either. I knew neither the name of Gene Autry's horse nor the weatherman, so that area was a bit tricky. The fact that I've never heard of OTERO (or, if I have, I've forgotton it) didn't help matters any.

I've also never heard of the FREE SILVER policy, so I needed all the crosses to get the first part of that answer. Oh -- and I made the classic error of putting in ALIA instead of ALII for 15A, which had me scratching my head at TASN'T for awhile...

lois said...

Good morning Argyle, CC, et al.,
Let's try it again.
Great job, Argyle and interesting point about the Lone Ranger being a true cowboy. I always considered him as much a cowboy as Roy and Gene. He just didn't sing but he rode a horse, carried a gun and saved the world. What more does a cowboy hero have to do? Riding the range or cattle drives weren't exciting. Man, has being a cowboy changed. Now the cowboys I know mostly drive big trucks with a minimum 350 horses. Riding a cowboy to save a horse used to be so much more noble.

Loved seeing Tex here. My Yankee cousins used to call my dad Uncle Tex - he played the part too. He was such a fun character.

CC: thank you for the c/w link. I was in the same boat as BarryG. You saved my Monday. Actually, you make everyday better for all of us. Thank you.

Ok on Pack Rat day...I'm on it! I'm packin' 'em in, 30 to a room in a few minutes, "MTWTF' -'Any questions?' .....perfect! Quiet. Little 'stamina' today - a wedding party to beat all wedding parties. Limo girl got married...we'll be doing essential quiet things today.

Enjoy your day.

kazie said...

Happy New Week to all!
I missed checking in all weekend because of being gone, but I did do Saturday's CW with only one g'spot for kestrel. Not bad for me.

Today was a lot harder than my normal Monday experience. I screwed up the north with MASH for MEAT, HASN'T for TISN'T, and having started with SIREN for broadcaster, didn't notice that SIRER wasn't a word when I got HAIR below it. Never heard of ELEMI, so that wouldn't have made a difference even if I'd seen ALEMI there.

Then in the SW there was PROAM (WTF?), TESLA and MOOSE, which I flubbed completely. Who knew there were meese (yes, I know, moose), in New England? Not I! I argued with myself over SCHMEAR and SCHMEER, reasoning that if they were going to use a Germanic spelling at the start of the word, why would they switch to anglicizing it at the end?

Well, anyway, maybe Tuesday will be better.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Thanks C.C. for the PDF link, that saved the morning!

Same experience as Barry, plus a few others. Was too slow to recognize the Roman numeral at OTTOI. Was baffled at SCHMEAR - but it does make me want a bagel, MMMM.

The TV cowboys were just before my time. I grew up watching Gilligan's Island instead. My older BIL had to explain the Lone Ranger backstory - why he's alone, why he's masked, etc. Bonanza was still being aired in prime time with new episodes when I was a kid, but it wasn't as much fun as Star Trek.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C. and all. Argyle, thanks for posting today's puzzle. I was lost at sea just like Barry and some others. Nice little puzzle today. Liked the cowboy theme. Agree with the earlier comments. Did not know SAM CHAMPION, ELEMI and OTERO. Not knowing the plural form ALII prevented me from seeing TISNT. Perps were more than sufficient.

kazie said...

I'm never certain whether to put ALII or ALIA: masculine or neuter plural. It's never ALIAE, which would be feminine.

I grew up in a TV-less home. My parents' rationale was "not before you finish high school". They were right--I have been rather addicted to it at times, though now it's really difficult to find anything worth watching other than news channels. So I used to go visit my neighbors and watch things there on weekends sometimes. But I don't remember the Lone Ranger or Roy Rogers on TV. Also, I think the Oz channels only got things later than when they were new here.

Dudley said...

Kazie - Yep, We've got meeses in New England, even here in Mass. They turn up in surprising places. Turkeys are more common now, just ask Barry, as are bear and deer. We have lots of coyotes here these days - noisy rascals - that moved in from somewhere over the last 20 years. Pets sometimes go missing.

Only Elvis sightings are diminished.

Tinbeni said...

Argyle, Excellent write-up.

I agree that the Lone Ranger was not technically a cowboy. But neither were Roy Rogers or Gene Autry. All three were entertainers.

This was easy, too easy.

Only unknown was the weatherman on Good Morning America, Sam Champion (real name? yeah, sure!) since I watch either CNBC or ESPN.

Kazie: That is more like Pro-Am, the professionals play golf with local big-wig amateurs, usually on Wednesday.

Cute moment, Ano clued exactly opposite of yesterdays Enero & vice-versa.

Liked the OOHS, that go with the crowds AAHS on July 4th fireworks.

MJ said...

Good morning, Argyle, C.C., and all.
I always enjoy Jack McInturff's puzzles, and today's did not disappoint. It was a fun ride down memory lane with the "cowboys" and their mounts. Liked the addition of TEX. All unknowns were perp friendly, so no problems there.

Enjoy the day!

Andrea said...

Morning all -

I thought this was a bit tough for a Monday, although I got the theme early which helped. Eventually it all came together without outside help, but it took some guessing on a few of the crossings.

I preferred the book Chocolat over the movie. That's usually how it goes for me.

Haven't done any puzzles for several days - we had an explosion of Princesses over the weekend to celebrate Zoe's 4th birthday. Lots of fun with friends and grandparents and a bouncy castle. One tired little girl today!

I think Einstein bagels calls their deal a Bagel and Schmear. I don't eat there often, but remembered it from past visits.

Re: Pack Rat Day - we've had a garage sale and sold a bunch of stuff on Craig's List over the past couple weeks. LOTS of baby stuff to get rid of, plus other odds and ends. Feels good to get some of it cleared out!

Enjoy the day!

Anonymous said...

@Argyle, thanks for the puzzle link.

Jim

Jeannie said...

C.C. thanks for the link to the puzzle as I always do it online. I thought this one was fairly simple. Only snafus for me today were Laila, Eero, and Tesla but I got them all from the perps. Dennis, I thought of you right away with meat and potatoes. I had a full weekend as I got my garden in and managed to sail both Saturday and Sunday. The weather here was phenomenal. But here were are back to MTWTF…

Warren said...

Hi Argyle, C.C. & gang, the only unknown for us was 6D ELEMI but 15A had to be ALII and I got it that way.

I think that this is the first time that the LA times online puzzle hasn't worked? Perhaps the web master is out sick or?

I was too busy to comment on yesterday's puzzle but I thought of this song with a hank of hair when we got the Hank answer.

ARBAON said...

Which toon character always said, "I hate you meeses to pieces!"? (meaning rodents, of course.)

lizlee said...

Hi all. I'm an every day lurker but I just had to comment today.
Argyle, thanks so much for the link to download.
I usually do mine at work from the newspaper (wow is it a lot harder!) then check online when I get home.
I'm off today and not only does the online crossword not work, but my printer doesn't work! You should see the freehand version I drew just to get my daily fix! Looks rather warped and leans to the left. It took me longer to draw than to complete.
Anyway, thanks again Argyle. Let's all hope everything is up and running properly tomorrow!

Jeremy said...

Thanks for uploading the .pdf

JD said...

Good morning Argyle, CC and all,

I had to rape my DH's sport page to do the puzzle which seemed a bit harder than a usual Monday. Looked up about 5 unknowns, like the weatherman.Filled in immaculate for impeccable and had to inch my way out of that.Brought back memories of my catechism days.

25A-I put hair_ finger for hairtrigger, until I filled the t for tisn't.

Enjoyed the theme. Loved those shoot 'em ups, although I think they used they chased each other around the same rock.

Have had larygitis AGAIN. Havedone all the c/w's but was too tired to respond, but fun to read.

Good job Argyle, merci.

news flash: a Japanese couple got married by a robot. lol!

Eddy, I feel your pain..maybe next game.

Al said...

@Arabon, Jinx the cat said that. The meeses (mice) were Pixie and Dixie.

JD said...

Mr. Jinx, the cat

Dudley said...

Close enough. The cat was Mr. Jinks, one of a whole bunch of Hanna Barbera characters. This one was featured in Huckleberry Hound, which I saw only in re-runs on Saturday mornings.

Gunghy said...

Argyle, Enero is January and Ano (Tilde on the n) is year.

Gunghy said...

Dennis, hand up for temper and the trouble it caused, but in an attempt to speed run this one, I was putting in wrong entries and misspellings all over the puzzle, so the clue fit me as well.

Oops, Argyle, another example of my hair trigger, I missed L714's 6:25. Sorry about the duplication.

JD, immaculate is so much better. How could Jack have screwed up that badly?

Tesla is my hero, but he really slowed me down because I don't know any Croatian PHYSICIANS.

Curse you Warren, no I have to go shopping for some Jimmie Rodgers tunes.

Is anyone else concerned that after Tuesday, even the week says, "WTF??"

Lucina said...

Good day, Argyle, C.C. and solvers.

I'm sorry you are having such a problem finding the puzzle and hope it all works out for you.

Fun, quick puzzle today. A western theme is always agreeable to me; Roy Rogers and Gene Autry bring back memories of Saturday morning at the movies, 5 cents and 10 cents for popcorn. Or perhaps the reverse. I'll have to ask my siblings.

They may not have been real cowboys, but they were good entertainers. At least it kept us enraptured for a few hours.

Now, my dad and uncles were real cowboys and they would tell you it was hard work.

I thought the choice of "Laila" instead of her dad was interesting. And we have visited with "Eero" and "Lena" before. I love the movie Chocolat as much for Lena as for Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche.

Hi, yo, everyone. I hope you are having a wonderful Monday!

eddyB said...

Morning all.

This was a speed run. Fast and easy. Downloaded it last night from the archives @ cruciverb.com.
We had most of these ans before.

I would like to see a puzzle with
civil war generals and their horses. But please, NO RE Lee.

Sharks (SJ) will try again tomorrow. Hope that Neimi (Chi goalie) isn't as good this time.

Phillies routed Mont. (6-0)

Must go to the PO and mail my June ballot.

eddyB

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon, Argyle, thank you for making the puzzle available to us.

Anne

eddyB said...

Hi again.

Forgot to mention that Free Silver and Cross of Gold speech were on the Econ 302 final. Googgle Hans Senholz if you have a free minute.
He taught the course.

I apologize to the Royal Yacth Club for saying FU. Darn RYC.

eddyB

Tinbeni said...

Lemonade and Gunghy
Argyle, in his write-up was pointing out the following:

Sunday xword, 62D Clue was "Start of a new ano"
answer ~ ENERO (January)
Monday xword, 29A, Clue is "Enero begins it"
answer ~ ANO (year)

or, like I said at 9:02
"Cute moment, Ano clued exactly opposite of yesterdays Enero & vice-versa."

Gunghy said...

OK, so hand me the V8.

Tinbeni said...

Gunghy
I would rather hand you an Avatar.

When I worked in Zagreb a few years ago, I had one one of my kidney stone episodes. The Croatian Physician, Medical System was excellent.
Drove through Smiljan, TESLA's birthplace, small town very proud of their native son.

dodo said...

Great write-up, Argyle. This was a pretty easy one. Never heard of Sam Champion but worked it out from the perps. Many, many words from other cws, but pretty good clues. At least it was fast.

Bob, I'm trying to understand why a plural for 'et alia' would be needed. Isn't it already plural? Or even why it has gender at all, although since most languages (save English) do. Maybe you can tell me.

Jazzbumpa, your girls must be very talented. That music was something my daughter used to practice when she took piano lessons and she played it that fast. Choreographing a dance number for that would be daunting, I should think. Would you like to see one or both of them pursue ballet as a career? How exciting!

Since the title for today's puzzle was "Man and his Horse" the subjects need not be cowboys. Or was it "Men and their Horses"? In any case, Jack could have used a jockey, or a bandit or any famous horseman, I suppose.

windhover said...

BarryG:
Your turkey story (and your "stupid turkey" comment) reminded me of a few years ago when a ewe started loudly Baaing under my bedroom window at two in the morning. I was lying in bed (laying, lieing? Help, English teachers, although I have done all three, occasionally at the same time) trying to resist getting up, but she wouldn't stop. When I went outside I found that her lamb had gotten under the house and gone to sleep and wouldn't wake up. I crawled under and got it, they trotted quietly off together. I went back to bed and said "Stupid ewe". The Irish said, "She's not stupid, she got you to get up and find her lamb, didn't she?" Can't argue with that.

Dudley:
Elvis sightings? I used to be very certain Elvis was dead, because Michael Jackson was still alive. Now I'm not so sure.

Kazie:
Still no TV in my house. I pulled the plug in 1973 when my children were 1, 5, and 8. Haven't watched much since. They do, of course, and I have to admit when I go somewhere and its on, I'm like a crack whore in a back street pharmacy, can't keep my eyes off it. Resistance is futile, unless you get it out of the house.

Chickie said...

Hello All--I agree with JD that this Monday puzzle was a tad harder for me than usual. Especially since I didn't know Laila or Sam Champion. I did get everything done with some good guesses and the perps. However, I put in Alli for Alii and so "Alrer" for Airer was not corrected until I came here. I thought maybe it was a broadcasther's name. Doh!

Nice writeup, Argyle.

I used the M-F configuration on my lesson plan books for almost 40 years. The days on the vertical and the hours on the horizontal part of the page. That one fill was a given for me.

Gunghy, LOL at your observation for days WTF.

Welcome Lizlee. New voices are always a plus.

Back to my Monday chores. Errands, and house cleaning, UGH.

Chickie said...

Turkeys are stupid. My summers were spent on my cousin's turkey farm in the valley. We preteens were deisgnated to sit on the turkey roosts and call the turkeys so they would roost where they were supposed to. They would come and roost, if we were there, but most of the time they preferred just to sit on the ground. Now, whose stupid. My cousin and me or the turkeys!

We had a hard time sneaking off the roost after it got dark! I think my Uncle was pulling our legs, or just wanting to get us out of his hair for a while.

Lucina, Saturday cowboy serials were what we waited for all week. Our theater charged a dime to get in and a Nickel for popcorn.

Chickie said...

OOPS, It should have been written, Now who is stupid?

Jerome said...

Being a cowboy in the 'Old West' was a job few aspired to. It was hard, often brutal work, and paid the lowest wages. About half the cowboys were poor whites. The other half, Blacks, Mexicans, Spaniards and Indians. Of course, if one weren't exposed to Ethnic Studies you'd think they all looked like Roy Rogers.

kazie said...

Dodo,
Alius is an adjective, which is why it has different gender forms according to what is referred to. At 8:44 I mused over whether it could have been allii (masculine), alia (neuter plural), or probably not aliae (feminine plural) because a mixed group would always be referred to in the masculine form. In the anglicized usage I would assume that inanimate objects would be assigned the neuter gender (aliud in the singular, alia plural), although alia can also be feminine singular of aliae. I checked my Latin dictionary and found that I was wrong in thinking the neuter singular was alium. I've never seen this aliud with the 'd' ending before.

Windhover,
'Lying' should work for either being prone or telling fibs. 'Laying' would require a direct object, such as an egg, or more likely in your case, the Irish.

lois said...

Argyle: Do you sign on as CC? Anyhow, thank you for the link. It wouldn't have been a good day w/out the c/w. Also, great job as usual.

Lizlee: that is hilarious! Love your determination in getting your
'fix'. very cute. Hope you stick around.

Warren: thank you for that Jimmie Rogers link. Lordy that guy had a gorgeous voice. Reminds me of Marty Robbins in range. Both are favorites even still.

Gunghy: funny WTF. Really fits, at least where I work.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Got to the puzzle late, and avoided all the technical difficulties. OTOH, I can no longer get puzzles to download from Cruciverb on the Mac, and have to have them emailed, instead. Small annoyance, but a big puzzle puzzle.

I think MT-WTF is lame, lame fill.

dodo -

Full disclosure, Amanda and Rebekka are the LW's granddaughters. I share the pride, but cannot claim any contribution to their talent. Amanda definitely wants to be a dancer. 'Bekka is not so certain. But it seems she can do anything. Samantha, the youngest has gone into cheerleading.

On my side, 10-Y-O granddaughter Alexa fell at Irish dance last Monday and got a small fracture in a wrist bone. She seems quite proud of her Kelly green cast.

The Hebrides Islands are so impressive and beautiful, you'd think somebody would have written some music about them by now.

Yesterday morning we had to wait for a mamma duck and her brood to cross the road in front of us. about 8 little fur balls, smaller than my fist. Cute, but no smarter than turkeys. I guess that's why "bird brain" isn't a complement.

Symphony season is over. Jazz band continues, preparing for the MI Jazz Fest in July. Off to rehearsal tonight.

Cheers!
JzB the less than IMPECCABLE trombonist

Clear Ayes said...

Good Afternoon All, I didn't get going until noon today.

ROY ROGERS was known as "King of the Cowboys". Why? I have no idea, except that it was a great handle.

None of the theme guys were real cowboys, but they certainly were western heroes. LONE (John Reid) was a former Texas Ranger, who was apparently unrecognizable with that little eye mask on. GENE and ROY usually didn't have any obvious means of support, except for singing with the band and saving the homesteaders. I guess they were all independently wealthy, so they definitely weren't real working cowboys.

I think of 42D SCHMEAR as a "dab". SLATHER cream cheese is what I "lay on thick" on a bagel. Don't forget the lox, onion and tomato!

6D ELEMI and 52D OTERO didn't seem like Monday words to me.

Speaking of 22D, honest, no criticism here, but I think it is interesting that we would probably never use the unabbreviated version of WTF, or FU on the blog, but they do pop up as acronyms. We all know what they stand for and when I see them, I read/think them as the unexpurgated original. Just me?

Sporty stuff..At least I know enough about boxing and golf to get 31D LAILA and 54A PRO-AM without a problem. eddyB, I had to smile at your expanded sports names. I appreciate it on behalf of all of us sport deficient people. Maybe we will pick up some interesting information.

Jazz, congratulations to Amanda and Rebekka.

WM said...

Just wanted to thank Argle for a stellar write up and I have to agree on many points...Lone Ranger was a pseudo lawman and who exactly did he think he was fooling with that mask and riding a big white horse...duh. I once had a pinto(paint) toy horse that looked like Champion and was so named and Roy Rogers was a pretty wussy cowboy although I did love his horse...a better actor than Roy.

Too many obscure clues for a Monday and McInturff is usually a later in the week cruciverbalist and should have been moved to maybe Tuesday or Wed. Didn't get the O on OTERO because I didn't remember EERO and had never heard of ELEMI and wasn't sure of the missing L. Have never not completed a Monday swiftly. Frustrating to leave a letter open here and there. :oP

And farm-raised turkeys definitely had all the smart bred out of them...also used to spend time on a friend's turkey farm in the same valley and every day they tractored around to feed and collect dead turkeys, who often wore canvas "saddles" to protect them from the massive pile ups that occured anytime there was a disturbance or loud noise...they also we're smart enough to keep from drowning themselves when it rained from looking up at the rain with open beaks...now wild turkeys are different story...

Printed the puzzle off last night so no issues.

WM said...

sorry...Argyle...and the turkeys weren't smart enough...and I even proof-read...

Annette said...

I had a little trouble in the N central region, but finally saw “TISNT”, which helped me see CONMEN. ELEMI and ALII were lucky guesses. I didn’t know the weatherman either, but the perps filled him in pretty easily.

28D - I briefly had IMMACULATE for flawless, then corrected it to IMPECCABLE. But my first answer fit lengthwise AND with the only perp I had at the time, one of the “C”s! How could it be wrong?

Gunghy, thanks for the laugh from the remaining days of the week. It’s definitely a phrase used often during Friday puzzles!

Has anyone else ever heard of an “H” being used for Thursday, so it would be unique and not confused with Tuesday? I swear I’d seen/been taught that in grade school, but haven’t seen it used since…

Warren, “Honeycomb” is such a fun song! Thanks for reminding me of it.

Kazie, thanks for the laying vs. lying info. When I’m unsure, I usually rewrite my sentence to not use either!

dodo said...

kAZIE, if it means 'others' or 'other people' wouldn't 'alia' be a noun?

**I have a feeling I'm 'cavilling'!

I really like 'slather'! Is 'schmear' a Yiddish term or German? For 'smear', I s'pose.

Jazz, Isn't 'Fingal's Cave' about the Hebrides or is it some other islands? I've never been there, much to my regret.Only Scotland and not long enough there!

ARBAON said...

Jerome: Correct me if I`m wrong but I seem to remember from cultural studies that the term "cowboy" originated with trail bosses calling the blacks the offensive term "boy" (often used for a black male of any age.)

Kazie: ROFLOL! (re:"Irish" quip)

Annette said...

I enjoyed the movie “Chocolat”, but I remember feeling as though I was missing an artsy message in it somewhere. The first scene seemed as though there was some symbolism that I just wasn’t getting (I think the scene was monochrome, except for a red scarf or coat).

I remember a critic saying the same thing about the opening scene of “Mamma Mia!”, which I did see the symbolism in - well, at least my interpretation of it.

Spitzboov said...

Jazzb - Isn't this about the Hebrides [Hebrides Overture]? Believe Fingal's cave is on one of the uninhabited Inner Hebrides Islands.

Jerome said...

ARBAON- I believe the "boy" of "cowboy" is more literal than a racial slur. It was a guy's job and most cowboys started when they were boys. Many linguists think "cowboy" is simply a translation of "vaquero", a Spanish word for someone who tends cattle from a horse. Before North Americans were cowboying the Spanish had a long tradition in that trade. The Arabs even longer. There's an argument that "vaquero" has Arabic roots as a word.

Language, a pretty cool thing. Ain't it.

eddyB said...

Hi.

Everything seems to be working at this time to down load tomorrow's puzzle.

CA. Happy to bring a smile.

I do hope someone googled Hans Senholz. Besides having a brilliant mind, he could teach.
I'll always remember filling those
blue books for his essay tests.

Funny but true story. When he came to Grove City, he met the AF officer with whom he had a dog fight over France.

eddyB

ARBAON said...

Jerome: I think I heard the origin of "cowboy" on the Discovery channel, too...nd ur so rite..Language iz ever evolving...specially with e mail and txting

Lucina said...

Hello again, though it's quite late.

Chickie, thank you about the prices; it makes sense that the movie would be more than the popcorn. I just recall each of us having 15 cents and happily walking into town to the Fox theater for our movies which were double features.

Gunghy, you are one funny guy! WTF! Something, as CA pointed out, I too would never utter out loud.

I also recall the endless lesson plans with MTWTF across the top and STOP (subject, topic, object and project) down the side.

Where I teach now at a Comm College they use TR for Thursday and if you want to see confusion, that's it! Especially so among those who are just learning the language, since their classes indicate T & TR or M & W.

Jerome, I believe you got the cowboy derivative correct. My grandfathers were fortunate enough to own their own spreads, but my dad, his cousins and friends started as teens to ride the herd. At the end of the season, they rode the entire herd from northern Arizona (perhaps you have been to Concho near St Johns) down to Tucson to sell them.

Those were hard times. No wonder that Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and others chose pretending to be cowboys instead.

Dot said...

Annette, Th is a very common way of abbreviating Thursday. It is given in a list of abbr. for teachers. Webster's Dictionary lists Th., Thur., or Thurs. as acceptable. Tuesday is abbr. either T., Tu., or Tues.

I did not know the weatherman or Laila but the perps filled them in. I did know all the cowboys and their horses. Is that a clue to the age bracket I'm in?

Dot

Jazzbumpa said...

dodo and spitzboov -

Re Hebrides - I had my tongue way up in my cheek. We played Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture Friday night, and I linked here to both the music and a video of wave action in Fingal's cave on Saturday.

I'm being a bit loose with the word "we" since there are no trombone parts, and we lowly sliders watched and listened from the wings.

Terrific piece of music, aint it?

Cheers!
JzB who actually can't play when he has his tongue in his cheek

kazie said...

I'm pretty sure I've seen R used on its own for Thursday too.

Dodo,
Yes, technically, but if we use an adjective as a noun, it can still take the different agreement inflections to show the gender of the noun it replaces. Even in English, if we say 'others', we really mean 'other (ones)'. Since in most languages, 'other' is an adjective, it would still behave/be parsed like one. So in the Latin phrase we were discussing, 'alii' is representing 'alii homines' = other men. Latin never wasted words, so if the idea was clear without the noun, it was omitted. They never used any definite or indefinite articles either, unless stress was needed.

Bill G. said...

I even remember the name of Tom Mix's horse and Robert E. Lee's horse. They would be Tony and Traveller respectively. Don't know why I remember stuff like that but I do.

Bob said...

I didn't have much time to blog this morning and I'm just now catching up on the day's posts.

Dodo: In regard to "alii," Kazie covered it nicely. In a puzzle like this you'll always have the choice between "alii" ("other people") or "alia" ("other things"), so you'll have to work the crosses to figure out which one makes sense.

Barry G: The free silver issue was a hot topic of debate, especially among farmers and ordinary folk, in the late 1800's. If the government minted more silver and put it into circulation, it meant greater buying power for most people. Northeastern bankers particularly opposed the issuance of more silver as too inflationary, sought to keep the money supply low, and clung to the gold standard. William Jennings Bryan, whom most people remember from the Scopes Trial (evolution) in Dayton, Tennessee, was a national champion of free silver (also called bimetallism) several decades earlier. His "Cross of Gold" speech is a famous relic of the era. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 1896, 1900, and 1908.

Otis said...

Hello.

Enjoyed the puzzle; seemed Monday-ish to me, although the bottom half was tougher than the top.

Windhover, great TV analogy(?). I'm in a house with a TV for the first time in many years (rental pipes froze, house flooded this winter), and I CANNOT tune out the TV or relegate it to "background noise". It feels like an addiction, but I don't even enjoy it. (It's not my house, so I can't turn it off.)

Annette/Lucina/Dot/Kazie - I've used 'R' for Thursday for over twenty years, and it really confuses (and/or annoys) people. I picked it up in college, where it was used to differentiate Thursday classes from Tuesday classes. Presumably, the school wanted all class days to be a single letter (Saturday classes were designated as S, and no classes were held on Sundays).

Gunghy - Very amusing WTF observation. I think it'll be even funnier after retirement!

Good night, all.

OtB