google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday August 10, 2010 C.W. Stewart

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Aug 10, 2010

Tuesday August 10, 2010 C.W. Stewart

Theme: Outer Clothes - The first word of the first four themes and the last word of the unifier are articles of outerwear. If you experienced déjà vu, it's because of this, just two weeks ago.

17A. Southernmost tip of South America : CAPE HORN. The Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa.

21A. Smacked someone when they least expected it? : STOLE A KISS

40A. Deadly squeezers : BOA CONSTRICTORS. No image, I know how some feel about snakes.

57A. Family crest : COAT OF ARMS . (28D __ of arms : COAT: just yesterday)

66A. Director's shout, and hint to the starts of 17-, 21-, 40- and 57-Across : "IT'S A WRAP!"

Argyle here.

Déjà boo, not nearly as tight as Harvey Estes' 27 July offering but it does have a grid spanner in the middle. (Our local paper had a story about the big snake but called it a boa restricter. A neighbor herpetologist wrote a scathing letter to the paper, upset that they could make such a basic mistake.)

Across:

1. Box-office smash : HIT

4. Hug and smooch : NECK

8. Robbins's partner : BASKIN. Baskin-Robbins premium ice cream. With more than 6,000 retail shops in 35 countries, they’re now the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops.

14. Wrigley Field feature : IVY . Go Cubbies! Image

15. "No lie!" : TRUE

16. It can be formal or informal : ATTIRE. Or outerwear.

19. Jolly-good mates : BLOKES

20. Fort with billions in bullion : KNOX. Located in
Kentucky, the United States Bullion Depository, commonly called Fort Knox, is a fortified vault building located adjacent to Fort Knox. It holds about 4,603 tons of gold bullion. It is second in the United States only to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's underground vault in Manhattan, which holds about 5,000 metric tonnes of gold in trust for many foreign nations, central banks and official international organizations.

23. Gender-neutral possessive : ONE'S

25. Besides : ELSE

26. Sew with loose stitches : BASTE

29. Thanksgiving veggie : YAM

31. It's plighted in marriage : TROTH . Old English trēowth ; related to Old High German gitriuwida, meaning loyalty, truth

35. Mid-size Nissan : ALTIMA . Automobile.

37. Have dinner : SUP

39. Arthur of "The Golden Girls" : BEA . Passed away last year.

44. Young newt : EFT

45. La Brea goo : TAR

46. Like many CIA ops : COVERT

47. Dance components : STEPS

50. Building site : LOT

52. Actor Davis : OSSIE

53. Edible Andean tubers : OCAS . Has anyone tried one?

55. Reason to swear : OATH

61. Track figures : ODDS. Racing track. Number figure.

65. Pressing : URGENT

68. Ghostly gathering : SEANCE . A ghostly gathering only if the seance is successful.

69. Like some dorms : CO-ED

70. Gold, south of the border : ORO . Spanish

71. Luggage lugger : PORTER

72. CPR experts : EMTS

73. Stroke lovingly, or the object of a loving stroke : PET

Down:

1. Hayseed : HICK

2. "Terrible" 16th-century leader : IVAN

3. Goof for good, e.g.? : TYPO. Letters DF are together in the keyboard.

4. Utmost degree : NTH

5. Jagged, as a leaf's edge : EROSE

6. Respectful bow : CURTSY

7. Numbers game : KENO

8. Biblical tower site : BABEL

9. Finally : AT LAST

10. Furnace room worker : STOKER . I don't believe they exist anymore. Their job was to shovel coal or coke into the furnace.

11. Singer __ Dee : KIKI . And now, a musical interlude.

12. Tees off : IRES

13. Suffix with kind or fond : NESS

18. Like some dancers : EXOTIC

22. King Julien XIII in "Madagascar" : LEMUR . Madagascar is a 2005 computer-animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation. Sacha Baron Cohen is the voice of the king. What a lemur looks like.

24. Verne captain : NEMO

26. Innocents : BABES

27. Floating on high : ALOFT

28. Country division : STATE

30. N.L. Central player : ASTRO . Baseball's Houston Astros.

32. Bassoon relatives : OBOES

33. Country singer Gibbs : TERRI . No relation of Special Agent Gibbs. "Somebody's Knockin'"

34. Impulsiveness : HASTE

36. Critter on a hill : ANT

38. Snapshot, briefly : PIC

41. Lively Cuban dance : SALSA

42. Old geezer : COOT

43. NBC offering : TV SHOW

48. Strong : POTENT

49. Decorative wall light fixture : SCONCE

51. Source of oater drumming : TOM-TOM . Not only in Westerns but in jungle movies, too.

54. Later than : AFTER

56. Liability offset : ASSET

57. Zodiacal border : CUSP

58. One may be dipped in milk : OREO

59. Lab gel : AGAR

60. Paddy product : RICE

62. Lead-in for cloth or kick : DROP . Drop cloth - to catch paint spatter. Drop kick - to catch the offense off guard (football).

63. Challenge : DARE

64. Brit's bit of tea : SPOT

67. Super Bowl highlights? : ADS

Answer grid.
Argyle

69 comments:

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, CC, Argyle and all. This was a good Tuesday puzzle. I got all the theme clues before getting to IT'S A WRAP.

Despite the spelling of ROBBINS, I really wanted Batman instead of BASKINS. That made the NE corner a bit of a challenge.

I also thought of Samba instead of SALSA for the Cuban dance. I guess I was thinking of Brazil instead of Cuba.

There is a beautiful sculpture on CAPE HORN. It is supposed to depict an albatross.

I have never eaten OCAS. I don't think I want to, either.

Goof for Good (TYPO) was a great clue!

Your story of the Boa Restrictor reminded me of someone I know who insists upon saying Heimlich Remover instead of Heimlich Maneuver!

QOD: At 18 our convictions are hills from which we look; at 45 they are caves in which we hide. ~ F.Scott Fitzgerald

Argyle said...

I have never eaten OCAS. I don't think I want to, either.

Hahtoolah said...

Thanks, Argyle. This photo of the Ocas looks even less appetizing.

EROSE is another word I can never remember

lois said...

Good morning Argyle, CC, et al., Good job, Argyle. LOLd at and enjoyed your 'musical interludes'. Didn't recognize Elton John until he started singing even tho' his name was right there. He's my fav and Kiki has a very nice voice but I've never heard of her.Great duo. Thank you.

This puzzle was easier than yesterday for me and I flew thru yesterday's. Didn't have time to even think of a theme. Love the ref to Baskin and Robbins. Ice cream cakes are one of our favorite bday staples. Had no idea they were that prolific tho'. Good. Hope they're here to stay. Still miss tcby yogurt. I thought I supported them just fine, but look what happened to them! Funny story about Boa restricter, Argyle. I'm impressed w/the word herpetologist.
Sounds like an STD researcher to me. And it's always good to see Wrigley Field and the ref to the Cubbies. My 93 yo mom still's a huge born and raised Chicago Cubbies fan.

Learned 'ocas'. Never heard of them. Thank you Hahtool for the links, altho' that one didn't open for me. The Cape Horn one did and it took me a sec to find the albatross. Interesting sculpture.

I do have one question. Is a drop kick the same as a punt? That drop kick is something I've always threatened to do to some wayward students but I think it's against the law. Not sure, but I think it might be. Such prudes around here.

Enjoy your day. Hope Dennis gets his chili dogs today. Bet he can't eat just one.

Anonymous said...

Argyle, Correction if you would.
The southern most tip of Africa is
Cape Agulhas.

Raymond Bednarz said...

Saw ROBBINS AS ROBINS and wanted BATMAN for BASKIN. This slowed me up a little bit. But finally figured it out. Easy puzzle except for this little SNAFU.

Argyle said...

Doug Flutie drop kick 1st drop kick in 64 years in the NFL.

Argyle said...

I stand corrected: Cape Agulhas. If I had known that, I wouldn't have Cape Horn and Cape Hope mixed up.

creature said...

Good Morning C.C.,Argyle and everyone

I gave BLOKES what I like to call a 'personal' spelling,since I used
IRKS instead of IRES and didn't know KIKI.

...andI thought this was easier than yesterday..considering perps..

No OCAS for me,either, especially after eating humble pie.

Thanks for a great start to my day;the music is always fun and your remarks stretch my brain.

Spitzboov said...

Good Morning, all. Nice write-up, Argyle.

A real smoochy puzzle, today. Just a hair less easy than yesterday. Got all except 2 words on the first pass but had to be very mindful of the perps. Somehow flirted with 'oval' before ODDS was apparent. Like Ray, was thinking 'robin/Batman' before seeing the obvious BASKIN/Robbins connection; d'uh. Also considered 'secret' before COVERT. BOA CONSTRICTOR was a WAG. Thought TYPO was quite clever.

Have a good day.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Another smooth early-week puzzle. A couple of initial missteps as usual (OVAL for ODDS and ALSO for ELSE), but nothing major.

I liked the theme, but I thought that COAT [OF ARMS] didn't really belong since it isn't actually a "wrap." Or is it?

Today is my first official day working from home. True, the commute is much shorter, but I was in the habit of leaving for work early in the morning and actually enjoyed driving my new Chrysler 300C on the mostly empty roads. Now it's just gonna sit in my driveway until the weekend. Ah, well. Still beats unemployment...

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Argyle et al.

I liked this puzzle today because of all the smooch-y clues sprinkled in. I guess it’s because my husband has been traveling for 10 days and will return tomorrow, so I am getting into a “NECK”-ing mood ;-D

I also really liked 73a “PET” because of the way it was clued. Isn’t it funny how such a small word can have such different meanings, depending on how it is used?

My only hiccup (or hiccough, as some would say it) was putting “SAMBA” instead of “SALSA” for 41d. But “BOT” didn’t work for “A Building site”, so that was speedily changed.

@BarryG,
I have worked from home for the past 13 years, and love it. My office is in the basement, but our “LOT” slopes downward from the front of the house, so I have full sized windows and can look out over the gardens in the back. My only traffic jams are when the cats are lounging on the cellar stairs !

Anonymous said...

There weren't too many unknowns today and they all came easily with the perps. Never heard of ocas either, but they look rather like a large radish. I am sure when cleaned up they are much better.

Back to the oppressive heat today after a nice trip to San Diego - where the high was around 70 or so. Very pleasant weather, and in the sunshine was even great at the beach. We hit Dodger stadium in LA and asked the boys what they wanted to do there. We ended up touring the LA BREA tar pits - imagine that. We googled what was around the stadium and that is what came up. Of course, I knew about them from xwords, but funny that they were then referenced again today. Fascinating tour. It is worth seeing. Here are some pics of the pits. You can see the tar bubbling, and they still are excavating in the pits themselves.

Does anyone know any songs that KIKI Dee does by herself? My only reference to her is this song, again with Elton John.

Argyle said...

Released in 1974, "I've Got The Music In Me" was written in 1973 by Bias Boshell, Kiki Dee Band's keyboardist.
The song entered the UK Singles Chart on 7 September 1974, reached number 19 and stayed in the chart for eight weeks.

Tinbeni said...

Argyle, Great write-up.
Better than this puzzle.
Too easy for Tuesday.

Hahtool: OCAS are quite tasty.
Somewhat like the cross between a potato & a YAM. (If you take a photo of these, right out of the ground, without cleaning them up, they look pretty bad also).

Had no idea who/what King Julien III in "Madagascar" was/is. Got LEMUR off the 'L' in STOLE A KISS.

Some good 6's, Curtsy, Blokes, Exotic, Seance, Sconce & Urgent.
Potent was the best since it reminds of my later quaff.

ONE'S as gender-neutral possessive was good.
Equaled the 'Star' this offering earned.

bestbird said...

Good morning! Easy puzzle for my husband and I today. I only had to erase two of his answers; he had dinner for attire and eat for sup.

Ocas are new to me. Not sure I could eat something that looks like, well, to be polite, a larva. My Googling led me to this: more weird edibles.

Have a great Tuesday!

Bob said...

About the same level of difficulty as yesterday's puzzle. 11 minutes. Didn't know OCAS at 53A but had no trouble working it out.

I'm just beginning to process some photos from the London trip. Here's a link to an image of the Millennium Bridge, a footbridge across the Thames from St. Paul's to the Tate Modern gallery, taken from the top floor of the Tate Modern.

Millennium Bridge

Bob said...

FYI
King Julien III is an animal character (a lemur) in the 2005 animated film Madagascar. Incidentally, lemurs (found only on the island of Madagascar) get their name from the Latin word for "ghosts" ("lemures" in Latin).

Frenchie said...

Good Morning C.C, Argyle and folk,

8a. Robbin...I thought anything but the ice cream connection! Like Christopher (Christofer?)/Winnie the Pooh...at any rate, it obviously didn't fit. I don't eat ice cream, though I used to like it when I was younger.. I bought dog ice cream for my dogs and neither of them ate it! ...and, no, I don't have them on a vegan diet! Sadly enough, I have an appointment at 10 am today to have my husband's Boxer euthanized. He is 13 years old and his health has been declining. It's a sad day in our household.

I'm out.

Frenchie said...

BTW, My Google Account information isn't saved here and I have to re-enter it each time I want to post a comment. How can I change this to it being saved? I want to have my information there so I can post unimpeded...help anyone?
Frenchie

Crockett1947 said...

Well, let's see if the blitches are working today. My post of yesterday played hide-and-seek and eventually went away completely.

Jeff Chen stopped by yesterday's comments this morning.

Bestbird, that's quite an interesting list. Thanks for the link.

Bob, looking forward to more London pics. BarryG, got any yet?

Frenchie, I'm sorry that you need to make a courageous decision for your hubby's boxer. It's never easy to do the right thing, but it sounds like you have had the time to consider carefully and take the correct step. Sad indeed.

Have a great Tuesday!

Argyle said...

Link to yesterday's blog.

Argyle said...

Yes, Bestbird, thank you for that link. I have bookmarked it for future reference. I know I have some of those plants growing wild around here.

Vidwan827 said...

Argyle ... I had no problem with the puzzle ... but your blog was even more interesting.!! ... a cute, very clever puzzle though.

I was just going to comment on 'Oca's ... but Bestbird beat me to it.

Bestbird: Many, many thanks for your wonderful website linkup ... tho I notice, a lot of the writing has been plagiarized ... ad verbatim ... from the wiki... still, very informative. I have the site, marked as a 'favorite'.

Some random comments on 'unusual' veggies...

1. Try them, ... nature favors and encourages diversity.
2. They will have some minerals, vitamins, flavinoids and alkaloids ... not found elsewhere ...
3. Experiment with all sorts of recipes ... soups, salads, entrees, desserts, appetisers ... how can you go wrong ? ... if its never been tried before...
4. Since some of them, may have some ( partial ... ) poison or allergy risks, ... like most mushrooms ... better to buy them at an ethnic supermarket... chinese, japanese, south-american etc... and read on the wiki, before you cook.
5. ( Important for me ... ) ... Since these are unusual veggies, you are much less likely to overeat or gorge on them. I gorge only on the familiar ...


I have never tried Ocas ...but, please dont knock starch(es) ... three fourths of the world cannot afford animal protein... and does very well on these 'scraps'.

Hahtoolah said...

Frenchie: I am so sorry to hear that you have to euthanize your dog. I know how difficult that decision is. My thoughts are with you.

Bill G. said...

Hi everybody. I enjoyed the puzzle, especially because I didn't use any red-letter help or Googling. I just now figured out the cleverness of Goof for Good. :>)

Frenchie, I'm sorry about your dog. Our old sheepdog could walk up stairs one step at a time and often had to be helped to her feet when lying down. When she injured her leg, there was nothing left but that final trip to the vet. That was a very sad day around here. Best wishes for you.

I really enjoyed the link to the song, "Somebody's Knockin'." Thanks very much.

We went out for lunch for Barbara's birthday yesterday at a nice little Cuban restaurant. I had ox tails. Really good! The meat fell right off the bones.

John Lampkin said...

Good morning all, and thanks Argyle for having fun at the helm.

For me, the kudos for this one go to both Harvey Estes and C.W. Stewart for finding complementary ways of treating the same idea. If you've forgotten what Harvey's theme list looked like, check out the link that Argyle so thoughtfully provided at the top.

The big applause from me though goes to our editor Rich Norris, and God I hope that doesn't sound like sucking up! How many editors would run both puzzles to begin with? How many would run them so closely together as an echo? Wow.

Did we all notice that ITS A WRAP shifts the theme word WRAP to the "incorrect" right side? It's a sly way of putting a final exclamation point to this idea. We won't be seeing anymore clothes for a while, is my guess!

Husker Gary said...

Thanks for the words of welcome yesterday! This site is feeling very comfortable and today was an easy but clever chore.

I had to adjust Smacked to a more benign meaning and had never heard of an EFT or an OCA or the adjective EROSE. I also put HOOVES for source of oater drumming.

Here is my BOA CONSTRICTOR STORY: Our school had an 11', 100 lb. Boa and we always had it crawl out of its cage periodically so we could clean up its substantial "waste".

One morning he did not want to come out and I foolishly thought I could reach around and grab him from head-on. Then I found out why they are such great hunters. He had me by the thumb/index finger web of my right hand in less an heartbeat.

It's amazing how this can clear your mind and I did remain calm. My first thought was, "What else can he do to me?" Realizing he was a non-venoumous constrictor, I knew this was all he could do as long as I did not let him coil. I backed up against the counter so he could not get around me and not wanting to rip out his mouth or sever my hand tendons, I had a colleague pry open his mouth and I threw him back in the cage (in front of 100 stunned adolescents) I gave him away the next month!

Dodo from yesterday's puzzle? Thy name is Gary!

Anonymous said...

Good morning everyone.

Great write up, Argyle.
I like this puzzle. I, with the help of my DH, could do it! Even got the theme, which is very unusual for me. Of course, as far as I know, directors only yell "It's a wrap," or "Cut". Cut wouldn't fill up the spaces.

Frenchie, my condolences and best wishes for you and your husband on having to put down the Boxer. When I held my dog and had her put down, I think I cried more than when my first husband died. It's tough, but the right thing to do when the time has come.

Grumpy 1 said...

Good Day, everyone. Good write up Argyle.

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!

Breezed right through the top row, never even considering anything except BASKIN. Got to the third row and wrote in CAPE FEAR. Why? I have no idea! I've been around Cape Hope and Cape Horn. I know where Cape Fear is. I wrote it down anyway. My usual procedure after about 3 or 4 rows across is to start filling Downs. That's when FEAR got changed to HORN, but then I put in IRKS instead of IRES. OH, I also had STOLEN KISS instead of STOLE A KISS. OK, I should have realized I needed an action, not an object there, but like I said... too big a hurry.

A quick glance told me I had messed up pretty badly, so I jumped to the bottom and started working my way back up. That turned out to be a good move and everything else fell in place. The NE straightened itself out 'at last'. My 'irks' became 'ires', my Jolly Good Mates became BLOKES instead of BLORKS, and KIKI was no longer KIRI.

Fav clue 31A "It's plighted in marriage". 'Plighted' (engaged to be married) from the old English 'pliht' meaning endanger. Hmmmm.

Lucina said...

Good day, Argyle, C.C. and fellow puzzlers.

I'm still chuckling over the GOOF/good clue. That's very clever and I didn't see it until I read your explanation, Santa, dear.

This was a nice wrap and all fills were first pass except LEMUR because I had ALSO instead of ELSE.

NECK, PET and KISS set me thinking about good times in the past.

MJ:
That is the song I best remember with KIKI Dee and Elton John. Thanks for the link. I'll have to include it in my neew MP3 player. It will be a mix of 70s rock and classical.

Frenchie:
What a sad task you have and I wish you the best. It is one of the most difficult things a pet owner must do. Our papillon lived to be 17 and it broke to my heart to take her for that final trip. I'll be thinking of you.

About OCAS and YAMS. Did you know that the Incas developed a variety of potato for every 1000 feet of the Andes? That allowed for the change in temperature and altitude.

According to anthropologist Jack Weatherford, they grew three thousand types of potatoes.

Have a lovely Tuesday, everyone; I'll be preparing for my next trip. That will be Hawaii for my niece's wedding.

Jeff Chen said...

(Copy from yesterday's blog)
Hi all! Sorry for stopping by late. Anyone there anymore? =]

Wish I could take credit for the UTURN mini-theme, but alas, no. I had originally conceived of this as an ULUS theme, but Rich wanted to run it as a Monday, and ULUS isn't a very Monday-ish word. HE helped me figure out what was straightforward enough and what wasn't (UNRUH, as in Jesse Unruh, was part of my first pass, what was I thinking?).

Anyway, glad it provided some entertainment!

Jeff

Tinbeni said...

Bestbird: Thanks for the link.
Now I want to try some of those purple taters.

Vidwan827:
"tho I notice, a lot of the writing has been plagiarized ... ad verbatim ... from the wiki..."

This begs the question:
What came first, the chicken or the egg?

Actually, it was 'probably' copied from the website to wiki.

Wiki gets sited as "the source" for a lot of discussions.
Whereas, it has a plethora of information, it is not an authoritative, definitive encyclopedia.

"Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. ..." (per google, their quote!)

creature said...

Gunghy and Chickie...thanks for the greetings..I feel so honored

Bestbird..that's a neat site..I saved it,also

Oh,Frenchie, they are like members of the family...my thoughts are with you all

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the nice wrap-up, Argyle. I had to read your blog to figure out the clever typo clue.

Mary

Jayce said...

Hello everybody.

Well dang, I got caught up in the Robbins entry, too. The first thing that came to mind was the actor Tim Robbins, whose partner is Susan Sarandon. Nope, that didn't work. So I thought of the choreographer Jerome Robbins and couldn't think of who could be considered his "partner" other than maybe Stephen Sondheim. When I asked my wife she immediately said "Batman!" I never would have gotten BASKIN without the perps.

I'd eat ocas. I'd probably eat most of those other edibles too. Heck, I'll eat almost anything. We grow Pattypans in our garden and they are really good. My wife always calls them "Peter Pans." Her and Peter Pan and Batman, LOL.

I make a wicked cream of parsnip soup, too, if I may say so.

Favorite clue and entry was TYPO.

Thanks for a good writeup, Argyle.

I hope you can find some good places and reasons (excuses) to drive that 300C of yours, BarryG. A car like that needs to be driven!

Best wishes to you all.

lois said...

Argyle: Great Flutie link...now I see it and also understand why I'm so confused...it's rare - uh, the drop kick is rare not my being confused, which is not rare. Thank you for that. I see the dif btw a punt and a drop kick. Did Flutie's drop kick count for anything in that game link? I couldn't tell. The announcers were going nuts over the fact that he did the drop kick at all. You rock, Santa, baby.

Jayce said...

Wow, Husker Gary, that's a heck of an experience! Do you have scars?

Husker Gary said...

Jayce,

I have no visible scars but I no longer underestimate what animals may do and despite 40 trips to Disney, I don't much stock in anthropomorphism or my ability to circumvent millions of years of evolution!

It was also traumatic to have to explain to my friend and doctor how I got the wounds on hand so he could give me a tetanus shot. He has kidded me about that event for 20 yrs.

The reporter who wrote up my retirement, led with this little event: http://fremonttribune.com/news/local/article_c7751780-6d91-11df-99b3-001cc4c03286.html

Jeannie said...

At first I thought this was a duplicated puzzle! Thanks John for pointing out the “wrap” reference. I wouldn’t have noticed it. Who doesn’t like a puzzle with “stole a kiss”, “neck”, and “pet” in it? I didn’t know Ossie Davis and have never heard of “oca’s” before. I’m not even sure I could find it in the grocery stores around here, but if they taste like a yam/potato mix, I’m in. It’s still unbelievably hot here in MN. KQ, 70 degrees sounds heavenly.

Frenchie, I am sorry for your loss of your boxer, but if he’s suffering it’s for the best.

Gunghy said...

Hand up for Cape HOPE and SAMBA. And of course, I didn't know KIKI or OSSIE. No other problems, although I wanted ACTION for 66A.

I'm amazed that Lois passed on PET, NECK, STOLE A KISS and EXOTIC dancer. Must consider it too easy.

Argyle, I had to research One's. I always assumed that one's possessive form behave like its. I hate discovering I'm wrong.

Husker Gary, Get used to EFT and EROSE. They are what we refer to as Crosswordese. Words that one can't avoid due to their combination of letters. Having said that, this was refreshingly devoid of that sort, even the a---- word was ALOFT, one I actually use occasionally.

Actually, the Oca sounds pretty good. But then, I love Jicama and Daikon.

I always confuse Terri Gibbs with Terri Garr. and wondered why Ms Garr never performed in musicals. It's strange to consider after 'Somebodies Knocking" that Gibbs ended her career as a Gospel singer.

Have a good day, y'all.

Lucina said...

Husker Gary:
I'm glad your story had a happy ending! Quick thinking on your part. BTW, welcome.

Barry G. said...

Bob, looking forward to more London pics. BarryG, got any yet?

Not until I get my main computer back up and running. I'm using my work laptop right now, but I don't want to load my personal stuff on it...

Gunghy said...

Jayce, don't mention soup without providing the recipe.

I had snakes of all sorts in the classroom at different times. I never mistook them for pets. The rule of thumb in zoos is 'At six feet, there must be 2 people present. After that add another person for every 3 extra feet." Gary's 12 footer should have had 4 people working on it.

One day when I was absent, the sub ignored my directions and let the kids handle the snake. One got bit on the lip. Immediately upon my returned, there was a big sit-down to determine how to fight the lawsuit the admin was sure would follow. The kid came running into class and yelled out, "Check it out, Mr. T!! I got bit!! Do you think it'll scar up good??" The parent called to see if he could buy the snake.

Frenchie, I'm sorry. I went to the pound yesterday. I think I'm finally ready to try again. It does hurt.

On the other hand, why is it that we can end the suffering of a pet, while my mother has to lie in a bed drooling in diapers? This wonderful and once dynamic lady should not be required to suffer such indignities.

Not sure I should have added that last, but she's suffering small strokes, has lost most speech, movement and control and has told all her children and the caregivers that she wants to die.

daffy dill said...

Bestbird, some of the vegetables on your "weird edibles" list are not so weird to me. I've eaten rutababas all my life and love them. Ditto the "button" squash. I've eaten purslane, as well, but didn't like it. I will try anything that grows once - even ocas - as long as I know someone else has eaten it and didn't die!

Easy puzzle today. I got bound up because I did not take note of the past tense of the STOLEAKISS clue and put "stealakiss" instead. I knew BABEL, KENO, and LEMUR were right, but sabotaged myself with the incorrect entry of steal instead of stole. Was I the only one that got BASKIN right the first time? I'm not a comic book or movie enthusiast, so Batman never entered my mind.

I used to go to Baskin-Robbins on my lunch break to get a coffee drink that revved me up for the rest of the day. Talk about a kick!

Bill said...

Hi all,
No daily anymore so I get to do the x word online when there's time.
I liked this one. Didn't get TYPO meaning till way later. I saw it but it didn't click. SUP? There's a word you don't see anymore.(Unless you are asking a teenager: What's up?) OCAS? Well, cleaned and cooked they probably look a lot different.
And I thought a PET was a domestic animal.

daffy dill said...

Frenchie, I'm sorry you have to do the humane thing about your dog. We've had to put down two cats and a dog and it never gets easier. My thoughts are with you.

Al said...

Frenchie, I also know what it is like to have to bring a pet in, my condolences as well.

As for your question on saving your blogger settings, there's a couple parts to the answer.

First, go directly to the main blogger.com site, enter your id and password, but before clicking on the sign in link, also click the box for "Remember me". That will save a necessary cookie, but that still isn't quite enough to do an "auto" login after you have shut down your browser and want to come back later.

You could just set your homepage to be the main blogger.com site, or make sure to directly visit blogger.com first before coming here, and then that would be enough. However, if you want to keep your existing home page or don't want to have to remember to manually visit blogger.com first, then the instructions become browser-dependent. Basically, what you need to do then is to create a "dual" homepage tab that starts every time you open your browser. In addition to your regular homepage, the second tab should have blogger.com in it. Once the browser opens, you can either just leave the second tab there or click it away if you want, but the important thing is that the connection directly to blogger.com gets made to activate the cookie every time you start up your browser.

lois said...

Husker Gary: What an outstanding article on you and what an utterly remarkable man and teacher you are. I'm so glad you've joined our motley crew. Never heard of detasseling. Who knew! Welcome aboard.

Hahtoolah said...

KQ: If you want oppressive heat, come south. Sunday afternoon my AC died. We called the repair company and were promised that a repair man would come out. Four hours later, when he arrived, the temp had reached 89F inside the house (and that was at 8:00 p.m.) Since we didn't know when he would be coming, we couldn't leave to go somewhere cooler. Then, late yesterday afternoon, strong thunderstorms swept through. Six hours later the storms apparently kicked out transformers and we lost electricity, and AC.

Let me formally welcome our newbies ~ Vidwan and Gary Husker. You look good in blue! (You too, Grumpy 1).

Chickie said...

Hello All--An easier puzzle today than yesterday. I had it all filled in while eating my lunch.
I also had figured out the theme before the Director's Shout clue.

I had Eat instead of Sup, and I didn't know Kiki. I also put in two z's for Ossie. All of these blips were soon corrected as I filled in around them.

I didn't get typo until coming here. Thanks, Santa!

I thought Critter on a hill and Source of oater drumming were clever clues.

Frenchie, I'm so sorry about your boxer. It is never easy to put a beloved animal down. I know.

Hahtool, Heimlich remover would work! LOL

Chickie said...

My grandson is on his way to Senegal this afternoon. He just called from the airport to say goodbye. He said there were 60 new Peace Corp volunteers in his group all on the same plane. About 50% equally male and female. Two years looks like a long time looking at it from this end, but it will go fast as he will be very busy.

As an Agricultural Consultant (that is his official title now) he may be coming across and introducing some of those veggies that we think are uncommon.

One of our delights and best memories of living in Colombia was the chance to try different foods. We found fruits that looked VERY odd and tasted delicious. Also UGLY vegetables and roots which became daily staples. Yucca root, and Platano are two that readily come to mind.

Thank you bestbird for the link to the veggie site. Some weren't so odd and we've eaten them for years.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Frenchie - My condolences! I have made that decision, and that voyage to the vet, more times than I care to remember. I still maintain that it is the humane and reasonable choice.

Gunghy - Hear, hear! I hope we mere humans can someday sort out the murky details, and allow peaceful, painless, and dignified endings.

Husker Gary said...

Lois,

Thanks for the kind words and if you would like some insight on detasseling seed corn, I'm your man!

ps The main reason for detasseling is that corn is bisexual!

Spitzboov said...

Husker Gary, welcome aboard. Here is the link to your article. Very nice write-up. I assume 'detasseling' is part of hybrid corn seed production?

Husker Gary said...

Spitzboov,

I'll bet there is a story behind that moniker!

Yes, detasseling is part and parcel to the production of hybird seed corn. I hired 360 kids every summer and had all the headaches that dealing with them and the federal government could generate!

Lucina said...

daffy dill:
BASKIN was also my first fill because BABEL made it obvious.

Husker Gary:
I would like to read your article, but it isn't blue. Is it only my site or does everyone have to copy and paste?

bestbird:
Great link to weird edibles and another shout out to those clever Incas!

Husker Gary said...

Luciana,

After brushing up on my HTML, I think this will work - Gary

Tinbeni said...

Frenchie
My condolences.

Gunghy
Contact Hospice.
They were wonderful with my Mother.

Lucina
Click on the blue link Spitzboov put in his 4:58 comment (two above yours) and Husker Gary's article will appear.

Husker Gary
Congrats on a long teaching career.
Detasseling was my learning moment of the day.

Argyle
Cheers !!!

Jayce said...

Gunghy, oops sorry I didn't give a recipe for cream of parsnip soup. I don't really have a formal recipe, but here is basically how I make it.

Get about a pint of light cream out of the fridge and let it start to warm up to room temperature.

Peel 2 or 3 or 4 parsnips, cut them into half-inch cubes, and boil the cubes in just enough water to barely cover them. In about 5-10 minutes they'll be tender; you can test their tenderness by poking one with a fork.

Pour the cooked parsnip cubes, and the water in which they were boiled, into a blender and blend at slow to medium speed intil you you have an almost smooth puree. A little "coarseness" in the puree is good, but completely smooth is okay too.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and onion powder and/or garlic powder if you like. (I'm too lazy to chop onions and garlic, but if you do, cook them with the parsnips.)

Finally pour the cream into the mix, blend real slow just to mix the cream in, and pour into serving bowls. If the cream cooled the soup too much, feel free to nuke it,

As a variation, add cubed leeks (white and pale green parts only)to the cubed parsnips and cook them together. You'll end up with cream of leek & parsnip soup.

Cheers.

crazyhorse said...

Frenchie
My condolences to you on your friend. When I moved back here almost5 years ago in December, I had to put my dog down 2 days before Christmas and it was devastating. I have another friend now, but it took me awhile.

Ghungy,
I totally agree with you about our loved ones. I have been an Rn for many years and even a hospice nurse for a short time. They are wonderful and will offer you a great service for your mother. Please look into it.

HuskerGary
My kids detasseled for several summers in central Illinois. It is a hot nasty job, but goodmoney for young kids and an excellent lesson!

bestbird said...

Frenchie, please accept my condolences as well. Tough, tough decision that breaks your heart, but you know it's the right thing to do.

Gunghy, I wish I knew the answer.

Bill G. said...

Husker Gary, I enjoyed your article. I am a retired middle school math and science teacher so I can certainly relate.

Hahtool, sorry about the high temps and lack of AC. Maybe I can bottle up some of the cool sea breezes here and send them your way.

Tomorrow night (the later the better) would be a great time to go out and look for shooting stars (Perseid meteors). If it's clear where you are and you are in a location away from city light pollution, you might get to see 20 or more per hour.

Chickie said...

Husker Gary--Just wanted to add my praise for a job well done. My husband was a biology and General Science teacher in the 50's to the 70's. We are attending a reunion this Saturday for the class of 1960. It is always a great reward to see what your students have gone on to become and do with their lives.

And, snakes have been a part of his classroom experience, also. What is it about keeping a snake in the lab?

Lucina said...

Husker Gary and Tinbeni:
Thank you and the article was certainly worth reading! I add my congratualtions, Gary, on a glowingly successful career!

Anonymous said...

Gunghy: Have you and your family told your doctor your mom's wishes? Two of my friends were also ready, and I gave each one a copy of a Hemlock Society letter which says, "I wish to inform you that I believe in and fully support the concept of Physician Aid-in-Dying for individuals who are terminally ill." It goes on to state that I choose to end my suffering.
In both cases, my friends died about two days later.

I personally believe in such also.
Best to you and your mom.

Anonymous said...

Husker Gary: Wonderful article. It's so good to read about truly good teachers.

Cheers

RN said...

Sallie and Gunghy, I have been a caretaker for many terminally ill patients.

As I'm sure you both know there is a big difference between a person who is suffering from a seriously debilitating illness and one who is terminal. Gunghy's mother is obviously seriously ill, but that doesn't make her terminal. With only a few exceptions, not only is euthanasia illegal in the United States, but most doctors would have a difficult ethical decision to assist with end of life for someone suffering from stroke disability, even when the patient asks for such aid.

In such instances, an advanced care directive, or living will can advise caregivers regarding what end of life treatments are acceptable to the patient. It is a tragic situation and I wish Gunghy and his family best wishes in caring for his mother.

Bill G. said...

Regarding Ocas, Parsnips, etc., I am willing to try anything that somebody else says is good to eat and has cooked knowingly. Most of those things I would be willing to eat again.

Things I eat: Seafood and fish of all kinds, shad roe, sweetbreads, frogs legs, beet greens, chicken livers with bacon and onions, scrapple and many more things I haven't been able to think of.