google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday June 29, 2010 Bruce Venzke

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Jun 29, 2010

Tuesday June 29, 2010 Bruce Venzke

Theme: P_T with Vowel Progression - Not much of a theme but, oh!, what a grid.

17. Dad's legal protection: PATERNITY RIGHTS.

23. Arizona tourist mecca: PETRIFIED FOREST.

39. Batting practice aid: PITCHING MACHINE.

49. One-room schoolhouse heater: POTBELLIED STOVE.

61. Using a euphemism: PUTTING IT MILDLY.

Argyle here.

Tough Tuesday. Five grid-spanning theme entries. Four nine-letter fills cutting down through three theme entries each and the center theme crossed by all four. Impressive. So what if the theme is weak, I say.

If you gave anybody yesterday's puzzle, you might want to steer them away from this one.

Across:

1. Pirate's booty: LOOT.

5. Lash marking: WELT.

9. One of the deadly sins: SLOTH. Sin of "laziness".

14. Sacramento's __ Arena: ARCO. Home to the NBA's Sacramento Kings. Image

15. Aglio e __: pasta dish: OLIO. A traditional Italian pasta dish. Image

16. __ Puffs: COCOA. Cereal.

20. Unborn, after "in": UTERO.

21. Manitoba native: CREE. About the only Canadian Indians I know.

22. Gazetteer statistic: AREA. A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas, with important references about toponomy.

26. On fire: LIT.

27. Reagan's "Star Wars" prog.: SDI. Strategic Defense Initiative.

28. Whale of a tale: SAGA. Whale Tail (The Devil made me do it.)

32. Iwo __: JIMA. Home to Mount Suribachi.

35. "Fine by me": "IT'S OK".

42. Love: ADORE. I had AMORE first.

43. Auto financing org.: GMAC. General Motors Acceptance Corporation. On May 10, 2010, GMAC Inc announced that it re-branded itself as Ally Financial Inc.

44. Cat call: MEOW.

45. Lode material: ORE.

47. Stephen of "Michael Collins": REA. Northern Irish actor who was nominated for an Academy Award for his lead performance as Fergus in the 1992 film The Crying Game. "Michael Collins" is a 1996 biopic about General Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the Irish Civil War.

58. Keds competitor: AVIA. They call them trainers now but they are still sneakers to me.

59. Boot out: OUST.

60. Like some basins: TIDAL.

64. __-Chalmers: onetime big name in farm machinery: ALLIS. Now they are Fiat-Allis part of New Holland Ag.

65. Physics subject: ATOM.

66. GPA spoilers: DEEs. Grade Point Average takes a hit from a "D" grade.

67. Bloodsucker: LEECH.

68. Upsurge: RISE.

69. 1920s Folies-Bergère designer: ERTÉ. Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, the French pronunciation of his initials, R.T.

Down:

1. Drink like a cat: LAP UP.

2. Go on the stump: ORATE. On a stump or a soap box, to give a speech.

3. Large chamber group: OCTET. Chamber music is a form of classical music , written for a small group, in this case, eight.

4. "__ is human ...": TO ERR.

5. Took the cup: WON.

6. Drawing out: ELICITING.

7. Unit of petrol: LITRE. British form in the clue and answer.

8. Trifled (with): TOYED.

9. Biol., e.g.: SCI.. Biology, science.

10. Slide rule number: LOGARITHM. Coined by Scottish mathematician John Napier, literally "ratio-number,"

11. Yellow shade: OCHRE.

12. Handy bags: TOTES.

13. Laces into: HAS AT. Not a common term.

18. Stir up: ROIL.

19. Flag throwers, at times: REFS.

24. South Pacific archipelago and nation: FIJI. On the lower right of this map.

25. Like Pindar's works: ODIC. Pindar was an Ancient Greek lyric poet.

28. Mud bath locale: SPA.

29. Assist: AID.

30. Potent '60s-'70s Pontiac: GTO. Image of an early GTO

31. Like trapeze artists: ACROBATIC.

33. Leo's studio: MGM. Leo is the MGM lion. Roar!

34. Almond liqueurs: AMARETTOS. Pour it on some good vanilla ice cream, yum!

36. Potsdam pronoun: SIE. Alliteration, German.

37. "Double Fantasy" artist Yoko: ONO. Back to just her last name.

38. London's __ Gardens: KEW. Actual name is Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, The name Kew is a combination of two words: the Old French kai (landing place; 'quay' derives from this) and Old English hoh (spur of land). The land spur is the bend in the Thames. The name was recorded in 1327 as Cayho.

40. "What have we __?": HERE.

41. Passed and then some: ACED.

46. North Carolina college town: ELON.

48. Sparkling-wine center: ASTI.

49. Like decrees from Benedict XVI, e.g.: PAPAL. He was a Pope.

50. Seed-to-be: OVULE.

51. Champ's prize: TITLE.

52. Dick __, Hoosier senator since 1977: LUGAR. This man.

53. Question about Biblical betrayal: "IS IT I?". During the Last Supper.

54. Señor's feature?: TILDE. The diacritic (~) placed over the n.

55. More off-the-wall: ODDER.

56. Parking helper: VALET.

57. "Family Ties" mom: ELYSE. This woman.

62. "Sorta" suffix: -ISH. Sorta-ish a bad word.

63. Bovary's title: Abbr.: MME.. Madame. Flaubert's "Madame Bovary".

Answer grid.


Argyle

77 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - well, I out-guessed myself right at the beginning, and really screwed up the NW. Had 'swag' for 1A, which led to 'slurp' for 1D, which led to........nothing. 4A, 'To err' was obvious, so I undid everything and started again.

From there on, everything was smooth, except for needing perps for 'sie', 'Kew' and 'Elyse'. Always like seeing my favorite muscle car, 'GTO'. Not so much 'leech' - I'd be very happy to never donate to one again. Thought I had the theme after the third theme answer, but needed the last ones to be sure; well done. Argyle, great job, right up until the 'whale tail' picture...
Welcome back, Kazie - sounds like you had a wonderful time. Looking forward to the pictures.

Today, obviously in honor of C.C., is National Camera Day. It's also BarryG's birthday. Happy Birthday, Barry, and many, many more. Anything special today?

Did you know:

- Galileo called Saturn "the planet with ears."

- The longest recorded interval between the birth of twins was 136 days.

- It's illegal to ship live mice through the U.S. mail.

Paolo said...

136 days between twins! Oh my!!

Muy buenos dias, amigos!

An easy 20 minute romp today. For some reason all the themed fills jumped out at me with few or no letters. Weird!

Ah, slide rules and logarithms! Now there's some pleasant memories from high school. Found my slide rule from high school a few weeks back while cleaning out a drawer. Just for "S&G", I demonstrated its use to my grown children. You can imagine their reactions!

Most fun for me today was to see aglio ed olio which is my absolutely most favorite way to enjoy pasta. My wife and I always enjoy it (homemade) on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas eve, St. Joseph's Day, and the Festa della Madonna della Civita. I'm not sure what the green in the posted link is (probably some kind of chard, spinach, mabye basil?). We always enhance ours with lots of anchovies, but never with basil or greens. And although it is considered a very big sin to ever use grated cheese on fish, we sometimes do cheat and top it all off with some freshly grated Romano cheese.

In any case, thanks to today's puzzle, I think I shall put in a special request for some Aglio ed Olio, perhaps with a little very chilled Asti to accompany it, and some Amaretto enhanced espresso to finish.

Dick said...

Good morning Argyle and all, a bit slow going today, but very doable. I did have one problem with the crossing of paternity rights and toyed. I just could not get my mind around paternity and kept thinking parenting. The other misstep was 28A where I had Moby in lieu of saga. Other than the above it was pretty easy going.

My neighbor has a 1967 GTO convertible and it is still a wild thing to drive.

Nice day today with temps in the mid 70’s and low humidity so it is off to the links.


Hope you all have a great Tuesday.

Dick said...

I almost forgot Happy Birthday Barry G.

Bill said...

Good morning all! Long time no see. Been really busy and I don't get much time for doing anything but repairs.
Been keeping up with the X words as best I can. Usually Mo, Tu, and Wed are OK. But later in the week I get bogged down and just recycle! Got all today, except I couldn't put ATOM in because I couldn't figure out what subject it was. I guess it must be the study of the ATOM. (Hey, I'm taking ATOM this semester)?? Oh, well, it's done any how.
Hope everyone is enjoying our weather and is ready for the fireworks.....
CY'All Later

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning. I was speed filling this morning until I got to the SW corner. I can never remember those AVIA running shoes and OVAULE is not a word that popped into my head.

Even after I completed the puzzle, I could tease out anything resembling a theme. Thanks Argyle, for pointing out the vowel progression on the P-T.

I didn't really like SAGA for Whale of A Tale (or Tail, as Argyle sees it). I was thinking more of the Moby Dick type of Tale, and really wanted OMOO. I've never actually read this Melville book, but it's a frequent xword fill and I figured it should be about a whale. It took the perps to finally convinced me to let go of OMOO.

Favorite clue today: Flag Throwers at Times = REFS

Happy Birthday, Barry G. Hope you have a great one and many, many more.

QOD: One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to beat him at politeness.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Another smooth puzzle for me today. the only momentary hangup was in the NE corner where I initially put in CREAM instead of COCOA for 16A. I had thrown in SLOTH at 9A without bothering to run through all seven of the deadly sins and almost removed it when it didn't work with CREAM (especially after I confirmed that the initial C was correct). Fortunately, I quickly saw the error of my ways...

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I'm feeling rather palindromic today (I'm 44). Strange how birthdays don't really mean much to me now that I'm married and have a kid. I want to make a big deal about my son's birthday (he just lost his first baby tooth, btw!) but really couldn't care less about doing anything for mine. Mostly, I guess I just don't want to be reminded how old I'm getting.

Barry G. said...

Oh -- and speaking of the GTO...

I always wanted a muscle car when I was young but could never afford one. So, now that I'm an old fuddy-duddy and finally have a V8 Hemi-powered Chrysler 300C (and after seeing way too many identical-looking cars on the road), I decided to dress it up a bit to resemble the cars I drooled over lo those many years ago:

The Black Beast

Yeah, the hood scoop doesn't really belong there, and neither do the side vents, but what the heck. It makes me happy... ^_^

Anonymous said...

Hi,

On 62 down today, it is not sorta ish. Any word that is indefinite like sorta kinda usually has "ish" at the end: i.e., "prettyish."

I don't want to be a nit-picker, but after all, puzzles are somewhat nit-picker(ish).

Love your pics and comments.

Ruth S.

Hahtoolah said...

Forgot to credit my quote. One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to beat him at politeness. - Josh Billings.

Argyle said...

Ruth, I'm not clear on what you think it should be.

Argyle said...

Oh, and Bill and Hahtool, good to see you.

Happy Birthday, Barry G.

Dennis said...

Hey Bill, great to see you again; sounds like things are going well.

Dick, great news about your weather, which will be our weather in a day or so.

Anybody doing anything special for the holiday weekend? We got comped a room at one of the casinos w/a pass to a rooftop buffet and open bar, overlooking Atlantic City's fireworks display. I guess they feel guilty about taking my money all the time...

Tinbeni said...

Argyle, Great write-up, as always.

For a Tuesday, this is "As Good As It Gets."
Wow, five 15 letter themes with the proper vowel progression.
Great job Bruce.

OVULE & (in) UTERO in the same puzzle. ELICITING PATERNITY RIGHTS. IT'S OK with me.
Then the grin at Leo's studio, MGM.
Write-over, for Love, had Amore for ADORE but aim for AID (Assist) made no sense.

HAS AT for Laces into; just wrote it in. I think the reference is from boxing and putting on the gloves.

SLOTH is probably my second favorite deadly sin.

Rose (the artist formerly known as PrinxxARBAON) said...

Dr.s appts today...have to be up and out earlier than usual.

Once the vowel progression became apparent, this was a cakewalk, except for how to abbreviate "madame." My French is long gone.

Argyle; You have a shoutout in NYT puzzle today!

Mr. Venzke; Thanks for the spelling lessons! (eliciting, logarithm, amarettos, allis, litre)

Arbaon said...

Evidently, "Rose (artist formerly known as Prinxx ARBAON) was too long for a name. :)

Bob said...

Missed one through carelessness. Put AMORE instead of ADORE at 42A. Should have double-checked 29D but didn't. 13 minutes.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - What an impressive construction, fitting the vowel progression into the grid spanners. Well done, Bruce!

Star Wars, aka SDI: This came easily because I worked on some of the prototype optics for SDI as a young engineer in the '80s. It was fascinating project but I left the company too soon to see everything tested in space.

H.B. BarryG.

Kazie, glad you're back because I'm fond of Oz and look forward to stories and photos!

Anonymous said...

let's don't get rid of him yet... Pope Benedict XVI is still with us as Shepherd of over 1 billion Catholics

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, everyone!

Great write up, Argyle. Didn't have a clue to the theme today. Nice work ferreting it out.

Happy Birthday, BarryG! Hope you have a bodacious day.

Hahtool, nice to see you back. I've missed the QOD.

Ruth S, Welcome. I don't really understand your nit. Looks like you've just made a good case for the clue and fill to match. Help me understand.

Dennis, sounds like you'll have a fun time. Our barbershop group has gigs on the 3rd and 4th. I'm sure my idiot neighbor will be terrorizing our street again with his patently illegal fireworks. If I can arrange it, I'll be far away when he does it. I am not happy with things that explode in the hands of amateurs, because I've seen the results of exactly that when I worked at the Shriners Burns Institute in college. End of rant.

Rose, welcome under your new moniker. I like your sense of humor.

Kazie, I also am awaiting the pictures. I'm sure they'll be great. Welcome back.

Have a great Tuesday!

Anonymous said...

Good morning everyone. Nice write up Argyle.
A tad more difficult than the usual Tuesdays. If my memory is right, we had the same vowel progression in one of the puzzles before. I had the same misstep as
Dennis, confidently putting in SWAG for 1A and SLURP for 1D. Put in OCHER instead of the variant OCHRE for 11D. Wanted ORCA for 28A.
I encountered the clue for 55D in two other recent puzzles. Overall a well contructed puzzle.

August

Dudley said...

Rose/ARBAON/PrinXX - Love the humor! I did the NYT on CrosSynergy, but I'm not sure it's the right one because I didn't spot the Argyle shout-out. Any help?

Dennis - Maybe not mice, but to my surprise it is (or was recently) legal to ship baby chicks by mail. Then there's honeybees. I worked for a few years at an orchard whose owner kept his own bees. One Sunday, he got a phone call from the U.S. Post bulk mail facility in the nearest city. They asked whether he'd be so kind as to make a special trip to collect his box of new bees, because the dozens of bees clinging to the outside were pestering the staff and it really couldn't wait until Monday.

Jerome said...

Sounds like a sting operation to me.

Raymond Bednarz said...

Good Morning: Used algorithm instead of logarithm at first, and this slowed me down some. Didn't know all of the deadly sines. Other than that I didn't have much trouble with this morning's puzzle. Theme answers were filled in fairly quickly. Good start to the day

Dennis said...

Pleaaaase don't anybody say that was a honey of a line.

kazie said...

G'day all!
...Quoting from yesterday's Melbourne greeting.

I had several unknowns today but as Dick said, highly doable with perp help. Also started with AMORE.

I'm still waiting for the computer to find its way. It seems a bit confused and hasn't settled down completely again yet, so no photos today. I have lots to get organized after a month away as well, making Dr. and dentist apps, sorting the mail that DH saved for me to go through (I think he can't bear to throw some of it away himself) and dealing with the things I brought back. I'm also trying to get back into a normal routine with the dog walking and contacting friends here.

When I do get the pix organized, I'll send C.C. a few so she can decide what to post here. I got some good close-ups of birds and crocs. My new Nikon has a wonderful zoom, which I would have liked to have two years ago in Alaska. But the scenery in general is fascinating in the Northern Territory. I had imagined "desert" to be much more desertlike, but there are "scrub" and gum trees everywhere.

What was truly amazing was the Aboriginal rock art in several locations. In one part of Kakadu, they had drawn depictions of people with swollen joints, showing the effects of eating plants from the area, which happens to be right near the big uranium mine. Our guide told us that for all practical purposes it's lying on the ground around there. This art was thousands of years old, the red ocher being the longest surviving color because it penetrates deeper into the sandstone surface and remains after aeons of weathering.

Happy birthday, Barry G. If you think they sweep past unnoticed now, wait twenty years--Oh maybe you won't have a chance to count the years, they go by so fast ;)

Jerome said...

I'm just droning on. It gives me a buzz. Hi've got to go in the shade now... it'swarm. But i'll comb back later.

lois said...

Good morning Argyle, CC, et al., I agree that this was harder than usual for a Tues but am excited that I got the theme and the sequence of vowels. That was my morning thrill besides just simply waking up.

I never heard of London's 'Kew' gardens. 'It's ok'. I'll just have to go back. Loved seeing amarettos
here -one of life's finer pleasures
I can 'lap up' that stuff. Never have gotten 'lit' off of it tho'. It's been an 'aid' for 'eliciting' a slow 'rise' on occasion but 'asti' is much more efficient as a 'pitching machine'. However, if it's too efficient, one could be facing 'paternity rights' or the resemblance to a 'potbellied stove' along with a new 'title' of daddy or mommy in a year-'ish'. 'O-NO' is 'putting it mildly' as an expletive for that development. So, the moral to the story is, drink 'cocoa'. 'All is' good.

Hope Carol's eye surgery goes well today. She's in my thoughts.

Happy Birthday BarryG. I wish you many many more. Great car too. I'm sure you look stunning behind that wheel.

Bill: So good to see you again. You sound busy but well. I agree w/you on the 'atom' entry. I prefer 'Adam' as a subject myself. Say 'Hi' to Nancy for me/us, ok?

Enjoy this gorgeous day. Hope those in the East cool down some today. I've been hearing about the miserable heat wave.

lois said...

Argyle: great write up. LMAO at the whale tale link. Loved the underwear tho'. That devil sure gets around. You rock!

Kazie: welcome back. Anxious to see those pix.

Dennis: sounds like a great time in A.City. Love a good deal.

Jerome: hilarious! You are the 'bees' knees!

Crockett1947 said...

Dennis, that would bee cruel.

Jerome, the wordsmith is blossoming.

Lois, you're a honey yourself!

windhover said...

Jerome:
I just broke out in hives.

A Billion? No wonder the oceans are fished out.

Lucina said...

Hello, puzzle people!

Argyle, great information and links today. Thank you.

It seems I was on Bruce Venzke's wavelength right from the beginning, LOOT, WELT, SLOTH. I'm embarrased to say SLOTH popped in first.

Awesome stacking in this grid as you pointed out, Argyle.

PETRIFIEDFOREST, of course, was a given though I had to wait for LAPUP to see exactly which AZ mecca was referenced.

SAGA came easily and naturally because of SPA.

Wouldn't ATOM, physics subject, simply be part of the physics curriculum, not necessarily a subject per se?

Hahtool:
It's great to have you back; I have missed your quotes and wise insights.

Welcome back, Kazie! Your trip sounds terrific and I can't wait for photos.

Happy birthdy, Barry G! You are in the prime of life, amigo; tell me in 40 years about old.

Rose, great sense of humor.

Today's buzzing sounds like a happy hive.

I hope your Tuesday is sensational!

Lucina said...

Jerome:
Love your stinging comments!

kazie said...

I forgot earlier to mention that I never would have got the theme either if Argyle hadn't sussed it out. I tried a couple of big Sunday puzzles in Oz, but the grids were more open and perp help was limited. I much prefer our format.

Hahtool,
I'm glad you are here. C.C. had emailed me with some updates and explaining your departure, so I would have missed you. I really enjoy your clarifications of some of the Jewish holidays. It's another of the learning experiences on this blog.

JD said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C. and all,

This seemed more like a Wed. with harder clues, but loved the longer words...except for logarithm.Needed perps to spell it.Theme words came easily, although I had to "see" putting it mildly to fill it. I had no idea there was a vowel sequence..knew they all began with a P.So Argyle, you rock again!

ixnay-sorta-ish Sorta-odder to me.

new: sie, Dick Lugar, Allis, and Kew Gardens.Have never used the adj. odic either.

Welcome back Kazie...definitely, you were missed, and it will be fun to hear about your trip.

Happy Birthday Barry G. Your Black Beast is a beauty!

I just can't wrap my mind around that 136 days!!! Yikes!

Should be beautiful here today; it is cooling down to the 80's- ahhh

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Thanks for all the info, Argyle.

Did I lose a day somewhere? This puzzle sure seemed more like a Wednesday than a Tuesday. ELICITING and LOGARITHM didn't feel Tuesday-ISH to me.

I am ashamed (not really) that I don't know all the senators. I'm sure Dick LUGAR is well respected in Indiana, but he was totally unknown to me. OTOH, I did know ARCO Arena which, unless you are a basketball fan, is pretty much a California thing.

I always love 15 letter entries and even though vowel progression isn't new, I enjoyed all the theme phrases.

I'm with Lois about AMARETTO. Over vanilla ice cream or ice, in COCOA or coffee, or I can LAP UP a saucer full, it is my favorite liquor.

How could we let 30D GTO go go by without Ronnie and the Daytonas? Waa waa.. Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out!

Dennis, Dudley and other apiary punsters, with lots of packaging regulations, bees and other insects like crickets and ladybugs are mailable via Express Postal Service. You can also ship day old poultry and some cold-blooded critters like baby alligators. Worms, snails and LEECHes (sorry, Dennis) are also OK. Care, feeding, shipping temperatures and danger of suffocation during transit prohibit shipping warm-blooded animals. Other than the day old poultry no warm blooded animals can be shipped. That includes mice and any other rodent, doggies, kitties and humans.

Hi Hahtool. Loved the QOD.

Happy Birthday to Barry G.

Clear Ayes said...

Ah, "candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker". Sometimes spell check doesn't help. I meant to say amaretto is my favorite liqueur. But if I were singing off Emily Dickinson's page, I could go with this...much less expensive! -

I taste a liquor never brewed

I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Frankfort Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!

Inebriate of air – am I –
And Debauchee of Dew –
Reeling – thro' endless summer days –
From inns of molten Blue –

When "Landlords" turn the drunken Bee
Out of the Foxglove's door –
When Butterflies – renounce their "drams" –
I shall but drink the more!

Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats –
And Saints – to windows run –
To see the Tippler
Leaning against the – Sun!

- Emily Dickinson

Jerome said...

Yeah windhover, Sarah Pollen does that to leftists. Just as Mao Tse Stung does it to rightists.

Anonymous said...

Great write up, Argyle. Good catches and info.

Nice to see Kazie and Hahtool back.

And happy birthday, Barry G.

Hand up for cream puffs. Never heard of cocoa puffs. And anything about a slide rule is a foreign language to me. Cream puffs didn't help there either.

Have a great Tuesday. After my fifth trip to my implanted bridge-making dentist (and one more to go, not to mention all the money) I am for a nap after a nice lunch with DH.

Cheers

Janet said...

I think this puzzle was difficult for Tuesday. It helped that the theme answers came pretty easily to me. PETRIFIED FOREST was the first one to fill in. After PATERNITY, I knew what was happening and I was able to get the rest.

I didn't know OLIO, CREE, SDI, ELON, LUGAR or TILDE. I mispelled OCHRE as OCHER to begin with. I finally finished, but I did have to check on the internet to get the unknowns.

Paolo, do you know why you aren't supposed to have cheese with fish? I've heard that on the FoodTV channel too. It seems silly to me. Is it just Italian food? I love fish tacos with grated cheese, and mornay sauce is a melted grated cheese sauce that is delicious on halibut or sole.

Marge said...

Hi all,
Did it on line again- lots of fun.
The puzzles all of you find so easy, I have trouble with. Strangely, I found this one fairly easy.

We are having mid-70s today.

My husband went to a one room school so I told him about the potbellied stove. He wasn't impressed. He did enjoy the school though. It seems if the school board realized the next year would only have 1 child in first grade, they started them a year early.

Have a good afternoon!
Marge

dodo said...

Hello, all. I liked this one but it did seem a bit more difficult than the usual Tuesday. For once I got the theme after the second theme entry and realized the vowel succession just before 'putting it mildly.' Maybe I've finally graduated from beginner status! I hope so after all this time!

Barry, have a great birthday. Everything's comin' up roses now, right?

Kazie, I'm glad you're back and look forward to your pix.

And Hahtool, Hooray! I'm glad you decided not to desert us. We need you, girl! Loved the QOD, too. Very appropo.

Now, if Buckeye would just show up!

GarlicGal said...

My goodness, you all are sharp as a tack this morning. My head is a buzz with all the puns.

I didn't have any trouble with the long fills, but certainly didn't key into the "vowel progression". I wrote in "has at" but it was a guess. I too jumped on "creme" for puffs so that held me up for a bit. BTW, Cocoa Puffs is a General Mills chocolate-ish cereal product. It might be ok if one was to splash a little amaretto on it...

A balmy 80 here today. Happy B-day to BarryG! Woo-Hoo

crazyhorse said...

Hi all
A little difficult for a Tuesday, but doable. Please don't feel bad about not knowing Dick Kugar. I'm ashamed to say I live in Indiana and I didn't know!

Dennis
From yesterday, I lurk because you are all so clever, I don't think I have much to offer, but love to read the blog everyday.

Dennis said...

crazyhorse, if you're 'clever' enough to have gone blue and post here, you're certainly as clever as any of us. Besides, half the fun is sharing your solving experience with others. Try it a couple times, see if you don't like it. You already got a laugh with the Dick Lugar line, and I feel better about not remembering him.

Dudley said...

CA - That's interesting, the variety of stuff that can "bee" mailed. Did you know all that off the top of your head, or did you look it up someplace?

As to the bees that were on the outside of the box, my former boss explained that it's a pratical impossibility to get a whole batch of bees into a box. Most get in, but a few stragglers will be airborne when the box is sealed up. Somehow the loose ones figure out where all their buddies are, and cling to the outside, either surviving the postal journey or not; such is their loyalty. I would imagine they get pretty confused.

daffy dill said...

Formerly known as DCannon. Something went wrong with my previous "blue" registration. I signed out and it wouldn't take my password after that.

Not too hard today. Most of my errors were caused by my bullheadly insisting on certain entries until perps corrected me. The first one was greed instead of SLOTH. After I fixed that, I knew LOGARITHM, but had to wait for the perps to get the spelling right. Then I spelled OCHRE with and "er" instead of "re."

The theme entries were easy enough, but I couldn't guess the theme. Also had ALLIS spelled with a "ys" and ELYSE spelled with an "i." I didn't watch that show very much.

Happy Birthday, BarryG. Many happy returns.

Temperature is 76 here at 3:00 pm. Quite a relief after the 100 degrees plus we have had recently. Got a good rain shower this morning.

Chickie said...

Hello All--I found this puzzle to be a bit more difficult than usual for a Tuesady. I did get the vowel progression after the pa in paternity, so that helped a lot.

I didn't have to Google, though, and that is a good thing. I didn't know Lugar, Elon, or Rea, but all were doable with the perps filling in.

I forgot the G in Saga, so I had one error. I hadn't even read the clue until I came here. All in all an enjoyable experience today.

HBTY, HBTY, HB dear Barry, HBTY.
To me you are a babe in the woods!

Welcome back Kazie and Hahtool. We missed you both.

Chickie said...

Jerome, Loved your comments. Such a "sweet" way with words.

I made my second batch of berry jam this morning so have been busy in the kitchen.

It has finally cooled down today. It seems that all the hot weather always comes when I'm busy in the hot kitchen trying to put up the fruits and jams for later on in the year.

Hatool, A perfect QOD.

CA, also a great poem today.

windhover said...

Well, I can see that we've got at least one guy fooled.
Crazy Horse, I believe you're up to it. And when you Hoosiers kicked Bob Knight out, you raised the level of civility of two states.

As for mailing critters, my next door neighbor grows and sells, mostly by mail, about a million crickets a week. Windhover Farm gets, free of charge except hauling and spreading, what we euphemistically call cricket "debris". Think of the clue a few weeks ago "soil amendment" or something like that. In a word: manure. All organic.

Jerome:
When you said a few weeks ago you'd have your vengeance, you weren't kidding. Drone on.

GarlicGal said...

Am I blue yet?

Lucina said...

Hello, again

Back in the day, and maybe JD, too, I used to order butterfly cocoons for my class. They sent about three dozen, we watched them develop and eventually emerge as butterflies, then in a grand ceremony we released them outdoors.

From a sign at the gym today:
Remember that all life is sexually transmitted.

Lucina said...

Yes, you are Garlic Gal. Congratulations!

GarlicGal said...

What a feeling of accomplishment!

melissa bee said...

good afternoon c.c., argyle and all,

about a minute longer to finish today's than yesterday's. thanks to c.c.'s tutoring over the last couple of years, i caught on to the 'vowel progression' theme right away, which helped fill in a few blanks.

great job as always, argyle.

i'm guessing that what ruth s. meant is that 'ish' is a suffix meaning 'sorta,' not that 'sorta-ish' is a word.

nice to see you, bill and lois, and welcome garlicgal.

we had 'to be' on saturday, 'to err' today, and now a swarm of bee puns. made me think of thist.

Jerome said...

Lace- Assail, Attack, Beat, Thrash.
"Laces into" simply means what it says. No story behind it.

Jerome said...

Lace- Assail, Attack, Beat, Thrash.
"Laces into" simply means what it says. No story behind it.

Hahtoolah said...

What a cute picture of your dogs, Garlic Girl. Welcome to the Blog Party.

Clear Ayes said...

Dudley, I worked for the Postal Service for 28 years, so I know a little bit about a lot of things. Although I never saw baby alligators being mailed, I did see chicks, bees, worms, ladybugs and crickets. I was pretty sure of the facts, but I double checked the Domestic Mail Manual (the "everything postal" book) that is available online. Things could have changed a lot in the eight years since I retired, but in this case it was still the same.

Lucina, I didn't know about the butterfly cocoons, but they're non-poisonous insects, so it makes sense.

Learning something new everyday. I always thought of crickets as reptile or fish food. Thanks Windhover for Cricket Poo.

Welcome to the Blue, crazyhorse and GarlicGal. Welcome back to daffy dill, the previous DCannon.

Melissa bee, love Eddie Izzard!

lois said...

Good to see you too Melissa BEE. Love Eddie Izzard. Thanks for the link. LOL My favorite of his is his take on world history...the need for flags...as the executive transvestite. very clever.

Crockett: thank you. Now if only I could 'beehave'.

Daffy Dill (DCannon), Hahtool: I too am glad to see you back.

Garlicgal: you look good in blue.

Crazyhorse: love your name. hope you stick around.

carol said...

Hi all -

I have returned from 'under the knife'...all went well. I am typing this with one eye open but I feel just great! Modern medicine is truly amazing!
Thank you all for your good thoughts.

Kazie, Bill, Hahtool: so good to see all of you here again.

Ah yes, the puzzle: I did the deed before I left for the hospital. I didn't have as much trouble with it as I initially thought from sort of skimming through it. Didn't know ELYSE or AGLIO ED OLIO or a few others I'd name here but Joe tossed the finished puzzle in the recycle bin.

Happy 44th Barry G!! You made me chuckle when you said you thought you were 'old'....tell us that in 20 years and maybe we'll listen. Meanwhile, enjoy your youth!

Hive been laughing at how clever everyone was beeing.

Anonymous said...

This was a harder Tuesday than usual for me. Favorites: ovule, tilde and Erte'. Disliked laces into/has-at. Being a musician i wanted to spell logarhythm. I'm also not sure that an octet is really a large chamber group. It would be more a mid-size chamber group.

xtulmkr said...

Paolo@6:09 AM:
After demonstrating my slide rule to my son his response was, "I don't get it. Why didn't you just use a calculator?"

Argyle said...

Melissa BEE, I see what you(and Ruth) mean and you're probably right. What didn't help is that, when I googled, people are using 'sorta-ish' as a word out there.

Paolo said...

xtulmkr:

You mean you didn't get the "rolling of the eyes" treatment and that look of "are you sure you're our Dad?" ("Mom, we're adopted, right?)

By any chance, are you from that era where every math classroom had a giant yellow slide rule that hung in the center of the room?

Janet:

I agree it's a silly "rule" if indeed it really is a rule. (Well, it was DEFINITELY a rule with my grandmother-in-law who would always chide me whenever she caught me using grated cheese on fish. The scolding was always accompanied by a face that is best described as that worn by someone who simultaneously stepped in dogpoop and bit on a lemon. But, consider the source, in that she drank red wine with fish, claiming that THAT rule was dreamed up by the French! She also claimed that one never drank cappuccino after 10 AM. Another random rule, I suppose.

Personally, I distinguish between fish and seafood. To me, cheese does not especially go well with "true" fish such as sole or flounder. But with "seafood" such as clams or anchovies? Pile it on! After all, one could claim that cheese may interfere with the more delicate flavor of "fish" (like lemon doesn't?), but with seafood? You gotta be kidding!

JD said...

Woo Hoo Garlic Girl..you bee blue. Are those your Saint Bernards? Do they fit in that snazzy little car?

Melissa & Argyle, I thought the clue sorta was asking for a suffix. That would be sortaish, but obviously not a word, but I did not crawl far enough out of the box to really understand the clue.
Melissa- funny guy!

Cricket poop...who knew?

Lucina, we were lucky enough to have milkweed growing in our area, so we gathered the caterpillars and the milkweed, and watched each one transform into a transparent crysallis.Amazing..Kids named each one starting with A....Chickie probably did that too.

Carol..good news. So glad it went well.You still have your quick wit intact.

JD said...

This link is for anybody who was shocked about Dennis's interesting fact about delayed interval birthing.I had never heard of that much of a delay.

ARBAON said...

It`s nobody`s beeswax...but I`m BLUE! Don`t know how long it will stay...
My head is abuzz from all the (routine) Dr.s. My honey took me to Chili`s for the spinach/artichoke dip...funny, I like neither of them alone but together with pepper jack cheese...SWEET! We bumbled around shopping a while until a swarm of teenyboppers over ran the place. Then we made a bee-line home...tired but full as a bee in a garden of Rose(s.)

Dudley: My NYT puzzle was #0525. If I understand it correctly...that`s the day it originally appeared in that great, all-knowing, all-wise, never wrong, completely unbiased, centrist NYT paper. We peons don`t always get it on time.
(When I regurgitate, it`s NOT honey!) Notice your number and it should tell you what day it first appeared. If I`m wrong, CC or Dennis, please put a bee in my bonnet.

Jayce said...

Happy birthday BarryG!

Clear Ayes said...

Paolo, I've seen master Italian chef Mario Batali get a bee in his toque (he doesn't really wear one, but it would be funny) about cheese on fish. I think you are right, grandma-in-law wise. It is more about tradition that anything else. I probably wouldn't ask for the cheese grater at a posh Italian restaurant, but at the neighborhood Olive Garden...why not?

GarlicGal, are your dogs Bernese Mountain Dogs? They are beauties! So is the MG.

ARBAON, good luck with staying blue.

Bill G. said...

Happy birthday Barry G!

We've been through Gilroy many times on our way up the coast to San Francisco. It's one of the few places you can tell by the odor. Does it ever get so you don't notice it anymore?

I had a big yellow slide rule in my classroom and a classroom set of inexpensive slide rules. Until teaching to the Standards took over, I enjoyed teaching the students how to use a slide rule. I carried one every day at Cornell.

My daughter ordered caterpillars with food and a net cage for grandson Jordan. He really enjoyed watching them grow and turn into butterfies. I highly recommend that as a great present for any of your grandkids.

I knew about the 'ears' on Saturn. Galileo is one of my science heroes.

Annette said...

Happy Birthday, Barry G!

2D Thanks Argyle - I always wondered where the term for politicians "stumping" came from. It always sounded so offensive to me. Now it makes sense.

Dennis, that sounds like a great way to watch the fireworks, then go in and create a few belated anniversary fireworks of your own.

Carol, I'm glad to hear your procedure went so well.

MJ said...

Carol, glad your eye procedure went well!

Barry G-HB, you aren't old until you "act old," . Beautiful Black Beast, BTW.

Hahtoola and Kazie, nice to see you back!

Night all!

kazie said...

Carol,
I'm very glad to hear of your successful eye surgery too.

My take on the "sorta -ish" clue/answer was that they wanted a suffix that had the same meaning as using the word 'sorta'. So if you said it was 'sorta late' it would mean the same as if you said it was 'late-ish'. I didn't think the two needed to go together in one word.

Good night to all.

Dudley said...

I remember the giant yellow slide rule! It hung in Mr. Mankowsky's classroom (High School). The school bought a calculator - it was the size of a hefty typewriter and was very complicated-looking, complete with a Hollerith card reader, ooooh! The yellow slide rule was taken down soon after.

Garlic - I was right! Woo-hoo! And yes, the dogs and the MG are an excellent match.

CA - Aha! I didn't know you were Postal. That explains it. Nothing wrong with your memory, apparently.

Eddie Izzard is simply unmatched. One very funny guy, and he does it without picking on people.

Cricket poo?

What does anybody do with all those crickets? Can I box up the little rat b@5t@rds that keep me awake all night with their chirping and send them to Kentucky?

Rose PrinXX - Now that you're blue again, does that mean you're keeping your Shakespearian screen name?

And last but not least, Paolo - I love a good cappuccino myself, and anytime after 10:00 is fine with me. The trouble is that finding a good one is pretty hard in the US. Italy is still the gold standard as far as I'm concerned. I fear that Dunkin' Donuts and others are teaching unaware Americans that lousy, weak drinks are the norm.

OK, that's it. Good Night Puzzlers.

Dudley said...

OOPS, sorry, I forgot one thing.

Rose PrinXX - The NYT I did on Cruciverb/CrosSynergy has today's date on it, and a title of "Letters to the Auditor". I haven't used Cruciverb before today. If that's the genuine NYT puzzle, then I'm surprised, because I thought it couldn't be gotten for free.

Chickie said...

Carol, so glad that your second eye is all fixed and you are feeling fine.

Melissa Bee, Thanks for the Eddie Lizard link. Very funny.

Our two slide rules are on display with the other "antiques" in our den. My husband used one almost daily, until the calculator took over.

JD, Yup! Monarchs and Tomato worms. It was a happy day at school when they would emerge.
Lucina, we always had a great "setting free" ceremony.

Garlic Girl, those are two big beautiful dogs,and one beautiful little red car.

Good night everyone.