google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday September 19, 2010 Jeff Chen

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Sep 19, 2010

Sunday September 19, 2010 Jeff Chen

Theme: Location, Location, Location or rather YOU ARE HERE (109A. Mall map phrase, and a homophonic hint to this puzzle's theme) - The first word of each common phrase starts with U, and the second word starts with R. Thus, U R HERE.

21A. Alternative media magazine since 1984 : UTNE READER. Named after the founder Eric Utne. Just a reprint of various articles. I've got no idea on how to pronounce Utne. You?

26A. City improvement program : URBAN RENEWAL

43A. Moving option : U-HAUL RENTAL

50A. "Song of the South" storyteller : UNCLE REMUS. Nice to see a complete name.

63A. Den controller : UNIVERSAL REMOTE

77A. Consumer Reports feature : USER REVIEW. Easy guess.

85A. Score after a 22-Down, usually : UNEARNED RUN

98A. Rot : UTTER RUBBISH

In addition to UNEARNED RUN, we also have:

116A. D.C. team : NATS. Nationals.

118A. League divisions : EASTS. And ARAB (92A. __ League). League clecho (clue echo).

22D. Diamond flaw? : ERROR. Think baseball whenever there's a question mark besides diamond.

Fun puzzle. When I first read the title, I thought of "under", "over", "beneath", you know, those positional prepositions. Got most of the U beginning theme answers, but did not grok the theme until I reached the unifier.

Total 19 Us in the grid. I mentioned before that unlike A, E or other vowels, U is a bit tough to place in the grid. So, there had to be some shuffling around of several theme answers to make the grid work smoothly. Of course, Jeff loves You! Who could forget his last *ULUS?

Congratulations to Jeff on his Sunday debut! Nine theme entries, great start. Do tell us how the theme was developed and what were some of the challenges you faced in constructing this first 21*21.

Across:

1. Game with triples and doubles : DARTS. Was picturing baseball.

6. Strike out : OMIT. Thought of baseball again.

10. Rogen of "Knocked Up" : SETH. Have never seen "Knocked Up". Sounds goofy.

14. Singer's syllable : TRA

17. On the ball : ALERT

18. Composer of the "Brandenburg" concertos : BACH. Got it via crosses.

19. Virile : MACHO

20. Scold, with "out" : CHEW

23. Woolf's "__ of One's Own" : A ROOM

24. Overhaul : RE-DO

25. Consequence of selfish acts, some say : BAD KARMA. Great fill.

29. Pulitzer category : DRAMA

31. Napa prefix : OENO. Prefix for "wine".

32. Old commercial prefix with mat : FOTO

33. Tabasco, por ejemplo : ESTADO. "State". I was thinking of the hot sauce.

37. Sully : SOIL

39. Gazed amazedly : MARVELED

46. Place : SITE

47. One way to swing : FRO. To and fro.

48. Driving __ : RANGE. Golf.

49. Swimming cap brand : VOIT. Unknown to me.

53. Food scrap : ORT. Also OAT (38D. Feedbag morsel).

54. Secure in a harbor : MOOR

55. Monopoly buys: Abbr. : AVES

56. Go with the flow : ADAPT

57. They're often not on the menu : SPECIALS. Some are.

60. Fluish feeling : AGUE. Learned from doing word.

61. Terse negation : IT ISN'T

66. Coke collectible : BOTTLE. It has become a huge industry, all kinds of Coke collectibles.

68. Cajun vegetable : OKRA. Have you tried fresh okra? Not so mushy at all.

69. Desert menaces : RATTLERS

73. Indian dignitary : RANEE

74. Calendar col. : TUES. And NOV (28. Calendar pg.). Calendar clecho. Click here and thumb up the definition, if you have not voted. We also have AUG (36D. What "8" may represent: Abbr.). In calendar too.

75. Short smokes? : CIGS. Cigarettes.

76. Droid : BOT

80. School in Durham : DUKE. Coach K & the lacrosse scandal are all I know about Duke.

81. Feudal lord : LIEGE

83. Rose-rose-rose-rose connector : IS A. Gertrude Stein. "Rose is a rose is a rose..."

84. Distillery vessels : VATS

87. "No prob!" : NOT AT ALL

90. Herr's partner : FRAU

91. Patterned marbles : AGATES

93. Bibliographic abbr. : ET AL

95. It eats shoots and leaves : PANDA. I've yet to read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves".

102. Recites effortlessly : REELS OFF

107. Quarter, e.g. : COIN

108. Like a stadium full of cheering fans : AROAR

111. Capital NNW of Santiago : LIMA. Harvested a few precious lima beans this year.

112. Illegal lending tactic : USURY

113. Chapter 11 issue : DEBT

114. Allied (with) : SIDED

115. Black and tan half : ALE. According to Wiki, Black and Tan is "a drink made from a blend of pale ale and a dark beer such as a stout or porter".

117. Memorable periods : ERAS

Down:

1. Smear : DAUB

2. Resort near Snowbird : ALTA. See this map. Utah ski town. I forgot again.

3. Tear to pieces : REND

4. Tough journey : TREK

5. Equivocate : STRADDLE

6. He bested Clinton in 2008 : OBAMA. I like how it parallels MADAM (7. Speaker's title, perhaps).

8. Curling surface : ICE

9. Unlike a dead end, briefly : THRU

10. Kitchen wrap : SARAN

11. Field involving scarcity and elasticity : ECONOMICS. Not a familiar references. Nice rhyme.

12. Superhero based on a god : THOR. Norse thunder god.

13. "Smooth sailing from here!" : HOME FREE

14. Chaney title role : THE WOLF MAN. Was shocked I got it.

15. Unwanted letter of fiction : RED A. "The Scarlet Letter".

16. MP's quarry : AWOL

19. Silents actress Normand : MABEL. Can never remember her name.

20. Minotaur's island : CRETE

27. Agitate : ROIL

30. Moving about : ASTIR

33. Continental money : EUROS

34. Astute : SHARP

35. Oncle's spouse : TANTE. French for "aunt". Oncle is "uncle".

40. View from Nantucket: Abbr. : ATL. Tricky clue.

41. Burst : ERUPT

42. "__ thou know who made thee?": Blake : DOST

44. Develop slowly : EVOLVE

45. Rope loop : NOOSE

46. Look of disdain : SNEER

50. Throat projection : UVULA

51. "Something to Talk About" Grammy winner : RAITT (Bonnie). Nice song. To answer Husker Gary's questions: No, I've never heard of "Now or Never". And yes, Elvis is known in China, but definitely not as popular as Eminem or Jay-Z. Kids now rap nonsense everywhere.

52. Comet brand before it was reassigned to Mercury : EDSEL. Unknown trivia to me. Whatever, flop.

54. "You've got __" : MAIL. So so movie.

55. Gelling agents : AGARS

58. More adorable : CUTER

59. Lay to rest : INTER

60. Cockeyed : ASKEW

61. Diagnostic machine : IMAGER. No idea. Diagnostic of what?

62. Rug rats : TOTS

64. Lecherous sorts : ROUES. Pronounced as roo-EY.

65. Eleniak of "Baywatch" : ERIKA. First encounter with this lady.

66. Low man : BASSO. low voice. I was in the serf style low man direction.

67. Revolving door recommendation : ONE AT A TIME. Gorgeous entry.

70. Film critic Roger : EBERT

71. Scoundrel : ROGUE

72. British guns : STENS

73. Bankrupt : RUIN

74. Boxer's dream : TITLE BOUT. Is this like boxers's Superbowl?

75. Get ready to play, as a CD track : CUE UP

78. Noted WWII bride : EVA BRAUN. Hitler's bride. Got me.

79. Kilmer of "The Saint" : VAL

80. Chromosome component : DNA

81. Language involving fine print? : LEGALESE. Nailed it.

82. Wash. neighbor : IDA

85. www addresses : URLS

86. Four-time presidential candidate : NADER

88. Combat zone : ARENA. We often see ETO clued as DDE's arena.

89. Sailor : TAR

90. Godmother, at times : FAIRY

94. Uphill pullers : T-BARS

96. CuraƧao neighbor : ARUBA

97. __-foot oil : NEATS. No idea. What's commonly used?

98. Winner of seven straight NCAA hoops championships : UCLA

99. Labor : TOIL

100. __ Minor : URSA

101. Fictional alter ego : HYDE. Jekyll's alter ego.

103. Sunni relative : SHIA. How they keep fighting each other is beyond me.

104. Weighty refs. : OEDS

105. Stew : FRET

106. Some raiders : FEDS. Was quite scared when conducting my first raid with Pinkerton.

110. Anthem preposition : O'ER

Answer grid.

C.C.

41 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Nice puzzle today. I got early on that the them answers followed a U-R pattern, but had no idea why until the theme reveal. Knowing the pattern didn't really help much, except it did give me the first letter of 98A, which I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

I think the only unknown today was VOIT, but the perps were easy enough to get. And my only minor hangups occurred when I initially had DOTH for DOST at 42D and ASIA for URSA at 100D. Oh -- and I also hesitated a bit with NOTATALL at 87A, simply because I didn't think it really matched the clue, "Not a prob!" Does anybody else think those phrases are not exactly equivalent? I keep trying to use them in a sentence interchangeably and keep failing...

Have a great day, everyone!

Argyle said...

Good Learning Morn,

I always wondered about Black and Tan(115A) and I never knew that the Comet was to have been an EDSEL(52D). And me a car guy!
Note: The EDSEL was a flop, not so the Comet.

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

Barry G,
Do you mind if I pick up a few apples from your apple tree?

I hope the answer is "NOT AT ALL!" (or "No prob!")

Argyle,
Thanks for pointing out my R error. Nice to "see" you again.

Argyle said...

If anyone wants to see an amazing story about a Comet and its amazing owner, go to YouTube and search for Rachel Veitch and her incredible 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente.... She bought it new and is still driving it, (she is in her nineties!).

Argyle said...

Oh, and another baseball connection; NEATSfoot oil is used on baseball gloves.

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - just a couple minutes to check in; we're in day two of a community-wide yard sale and I've literally got a small warehouse of stuff I'm trying to move. Excess inventory from the stores, furniture from our former shore house, fixtures, and just a ton of the stuff I bought on a whim and never used. It's nice to convert stuff to cash (made enough yesterday for a mini-vacation) but damn, it's exhausting. Slept 10 hours last night, so I know I'm getting old. What doesn't sell today will go on tables that say "help yourself", 'cause I'm sure as hell not putting it back.

As to the puzzle, it was great. As with Barry, didn't pick up on the theme, other than the obvious U-R connection, until the unifier. And like Argyle, I'm a huge car nut, but didn't have a clue that Edsel and Comet were connected. Argyle, Rachel Veich was featured in a segment on Sunday Morning; great story.

Back to it; have a great Sunday.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, CC and all. I had no severe problems with this puzzle. I realized early on that each theme clue had U R in the response.

Duke is not the only school in Durham. Anyone in the northeast knows that the University of New Hampshire is also located in Durham (NH, not NC).

Argyle, I like your new avatar.

Barry G. I wasn't bothered by No Prob = NOT AT ALL. I have heard both when thanking someone for doing something. Both may be said by the individual being thanked.

QOD: Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice"? ~ George Carlin

Dennis said...

Argyle, your new avatar is labeled 'haircut'; is that before or after picture?

Hahtoolah said...

Did anyone else notice TOIL, ROIL and SOIL in this puzzle?

I, too, thought of Tabasco Sauce instead of the Spanish word for "State" for 33-Across. The pepper sauce is made in Avery Island in Louisiana.

I knew that is it the Panda that walks into a bar and eats, shoots and leaves. (95-Across),

Argyle said...

That was the before picture. The barber is my autistic first cousin, once removed, who just loves to snip things off. It has grown back enough now that I will get a new picture. I'm not showing the right after pictures. No way.

creature said...

Good Morning C.C. and all,

C.C., thanks for your write-up. It indicates that you have a vegetable garden; how large is it?
what did you plant?
"Neat's Foot Oil' makes leather pliable and preserves it. It is commonly used on baseball gloves,saddles and shoes,etc.

Jeff- You have made a very pleasant and rewarding Sunday morning for me. A nice effort!

Your theme is novel. I caught on to it at the second entry- a natural to my 'memory ear'.

Your wordplays and remotes[for some of us] were not unattainable, just surprising and fun to bump into.

Thank you {Listen up other constructors], for only cluing off another clue once. This, along with small print,is doubly hard and unless its creative [a progression, say] is a drag; often, giving headaches.

After the last two days,we were due this gift. Congratulations on this step- I always enjoy your work. This is Sunday, after all.

Have a nice day everyone.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning C.C. and all

Straightforward puzzle today. No help needed. As usual, didn't get the theme before coming here, but didn't need it to solve. Liked NEATSfoot, a gimme. Thought the PANDA clue was clever; my mind went elsewhere, at first. Liked YOU ARE HERE.

Enjoy your day of rest.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning C.C. et al.
"NOT AT ALL" with this puzzle today...or, do I mean to say "No prob"... ?

Thanks for the wonderful write-up C.C ! For 61D "IMAGER", I thought this was a bit of a stretch. I was familiar with MRI (Magnetic Resonance IMAGing), so I filled in "IMAGER" because the clue referred to the diagnostic machine itself. But, I never really heard anyone refer to it as such. Maybe a bit of "crossword license" .

78D "Noted WWII bride" - I already had "EVA" from perps, so filled in "Peron" without thinking about it. But of course "BRAUN" eventually came when I couldn't make sense of "ARAp" and "rROAR" or "oSURY". Such is the way of crosswords.

Have a great day everyone!

Nice Cuppa said...

Mornin' all (Trust UR well)

Thanks CC and Jeff

Loved to see the punch-line from the old PANDA joke. Jeff, I am sure you were tempted to pun that one.

Talking of which... the ancient city of UR ("of the Chaldees") is written firmly into Brit-cruciverb lore, being so useful in word play/construction, so your crossword brought back many memories. Clues such as:

Relic found north of the old city? (URN)

...spring to mind (no Greek jokes please..that one doesn't work so well in the EURO era anyway).

Talking of which.........

..I checked OENO, since I thought that Americans had generally dispensed with the Greek Diphthong thing. Seems it's one of the few you guys (and gals) hang on to. Maybe not surprising since "oeno-" as in oenophile is really quite pretentious in the first place - "OENO" being so little changed in pronunciation from WINE....O.

Talking of which:.....I discovered this morning that there is indeed a "Wine Institute of New Orleans" that proudly uses the acronym "WINO" (a school for them, no less - www.winoschool.com....!!). Which brought to mind my many happy years in Boston, where the the medical schools are nowadays located in the less salubrious parts of town. And yes, there is indeed a Boston University Medical School.... (any more, anyone??)

CC: EVA BRAUN is the ONLY famous WWII bride that I could think of. One of the SHORTEST marriages too (~40 hours).

Jeff: One very light tap on the wrist: "No Probs!" for "Not at All" - Sense is fine, but too much clue in the answer - No vs. Not ??

And yes of course I wanted FAGS for CIGS.

TTFN

NC

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Thanks, Jeff Chen...a Sunday puzzle that was right on target for my ability and trivia knowledge (10A/SETH, 19D/MABEL, etc.)

I surprised myself by understanding the theme after 26A URBAN RENEWAL and 43A UHAUL RENTAL. I had to go back to fill in UTNE READER at 21A. I think we've seen that fill only once before and it didn't come easily.

My innards have been run past an IMAGER several times over the past year and a half, so 61A was a gimme.

NC, I too thought of FAGS for 75A CIGS. That's what comes of knowing the lyrics, "While you've a lucifer to light your fag, smile, boys, that the style." from "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag". My parents knew many WWI songs and I learned them during our frequent family sing-alongs.

Favorite fill today were 5D/STRADDLE, 25A/BAD KARMA and 67D/ONE AT A TIME.

What? no Bonnie Raitt yet? We can't have that. Something To Talk About.

Dennis, yard sales are exhausting, but the relief at clearing out all "the stuff" (and the extra cash of course) is really rewarding.

Back in a little while with some William Blake.

Lucina said...

Hello, C.C. and all puzzlers.

Just a few minutes to comment as it's time for church and then all family September brithdays.

Lovely, Jeff Chen, just lovely and very doable.

I breezed along with only one error, sports, of course, EARNEDRUN which I didn't even notice until checking the blog. I had UMANNEDRUN for some reason.

Otherwise a quick run. Lots of fun.

Have a fantastic Sunday you all. We are still in the throes of a heat wave. I apologize if I rant about the weather too much; I'm just venting and between the AC and the water, it's survivable.

Lucina said...

C.C., I believe UTNE would be pronounced, ootnee.

Clear Ayes said...

We've read William Blake's "The Tyger" here before. That poem is a companion piece to "The Lamb", which is quoted in today's puzzle at 42D...

"This poem, like many of the "Songs of Innocence", accepts what Blake saw as the more positive aspects of conventional Christian belief. But it does not provide a completely adequate doctrine, because it fails to account for the presence of suffering and evil in the world. The pendant poem to this one, found in the "Songs of Experience", is “The Tyger”; taken together, the two poems give a perspective on religion that includes the good and clear as well as the terrible and inscrutable."

The Lamb

Little Lamb who made thee
DOST thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee

Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.

Bill G. said...

Lucina, I've been thinking about the weather a lot too but from the other direction. It's been unusually cool here, seldom getting above 70. The only downside is that it's been overcast more than usual.

My vote is for uht nee Reader.

Husker Gary said...

Good Afternoon All (I would ask my online French tutors how I say that in French)! What a nice write-up and pleasant solve. I did not know ALTA and still don't know what UTNEREADER is, but once again, in the recesses of my mind alTa appeared and I got a 100% (that and $5 gets you coffee at Starbucks!) which felt good after yesterday's slice of humble pie.

Thanks for the reply from yesterday's post C.C., of course I am now going to put in a link to The King Singing It's Now or Never. The haunting O Sole Mio is in there and it is a nice adaptation to American lyrics. Listen to the great Latin influence and of course his big voice. Has anyone ever seen stage presence like this?

The King is dead, the King is dead, long live the King! As you probably know, Elvis still sells millions of records and makes billions of dollars decades after his death! Well at least his over-botoxed former wife and talentless daughter do!

Famous WWII bride was my real favorite today! I have been at the base of the Eagle's Nest near Salzburg, Austria and can imagine Adolph and Eva gettin' together under a Bavarian moon. Yikes!

windhover said...

I was a charter subscriber to Utne Reader, and I'm pretty certain I recall an instruction early on the the correct pronunciation is Uhtnee.
I finally stopped subscribing because at the time I subscribed to 25+ weekly, monthly, and quarterly magazines, and by the time it hit my mailbox I had already read most of the articles.
I'm down to 17 these days.
Lucina,
It's a very pleasant mid-80's here in the Outer Bluegrass region of Kentucky. I also am weather obsessed, so your reports are always welcome.

Dilbert said...

Ahoy mateys. Today is Int. Talk Like a Pirate Day. We also have The RAIDERS and Rams playing for the #1 draft pick.

Wound up liking this cw very much.

Hattie's Dad said...

My first post. Been lurking for months. Fairly easy puzzle even for Sunday. Thanks to all you regular posters!!

Dennis said...

Hattie's Dad, welcome, and thanks for joining us. We look forward to your contributions.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. What a pleasant puzzle today! Thank you, Jeff Chen, for giving so much relaxing fun to so many.

Like Barry G, once I got the UR pattern I could confidently put U in as the first letter for many of the fills. All but 2 of the "R" words started with RE, as well. The 2 others started with RU. Okay, now that I've stated the obvious ...

I actually didn't even see some of the down clues because I had filled in the acrosses already.So I didn't even notice RED A and NOV, for example. I hope Mr. Norris doesn't take that as an indication the puzzle was too easy!

So is it oot-nee or yute-nee?

Oh, I love uvula. haha

BACH was a gimme but SETH was not. And I actually pencilled in ESTADO right away! VOIT is familiar because that name was plastered all over every sports item we played with at home.

Really cool clue/entries were BAD KARMA, ONE AT A TIME, and FRO.

Lately we have been cooking a lot of okra; it must be in season or something. My wife buys it fresh at a local farmer's market and it is actually crisp. Still slimy, though, so we fry it, not boil it.

I also didn't know the Edsel as anything other than a Ford. Frankly I thought it was a really cool car. Perhaps it flopped because it was too far ahead of it's time. Was it really a bad car?

Never heard of Neats Foot Oil, but it was gettable from the perps.

Hey Argyle, nice haircut! Best wishes to you all.

Jayce said...

Adolph and Eva, sittin' in a tree ...

Shudder!

Bill G, glad the little fella is getting better. Hooray for penicillin.

Lucina, wish we could trade some of our weather, cool you off a bit and warm us up a bit.

Annette said...

Jeff, wonderful job with your first Sunday puzzle! A lot of fun clues and fill.

I didn't catch onto the theme, but after the first 2, I forgot to even look at it; I was too busy solving.

My favorite was the clue for ISA.

Bob L. said...

Great puzzle and just my speed! This was the first time I got everything fairly quickly. I got that all the long clues started with "U" but I didn't realize the second word starting with "R" until the end, since I got them fairly easily.

My favorite clues were 'rose ISA rose' and FRO.

I was briefly stuck on the answer to quarter, e.g. as I put CURR for currency, thinking e.g. meant an abbreviation, but then figured it out as COIN after a few more fill-ins.

Anonymous said...

Supposedly true story about Ms Braun, She was a bit of a prude...but wanted people to know she was "Herr Butcher`s" main squeeze. She would have guards sneak her in at night but then she would leave her shoes outside the devil`s door.

dodo said...

Bonsoir, C.C. et tout le monde,

I too enjoyed this puzzle. I had decided not to do the Sunday puzzle henceforth, because of its small print, but habit brought me to my p.c. and here I am! As I've said before, I don't enjoy solving online.

No real comments other than what you all have posted. Heart8x, I don't object to imager. MRIs, Cscans, Xrays, etc. seem to all be grouped under Imaging Machines, so why not shorten it to imager?

Neatsfoot oil popped out of the nooks and crannies. Surprise! The Blake was a gimme, but there really were quite a few of those. I'm with whoever it was who said he hadn't looked at many of the down clues because the fill fell so fast! (Alliteration).

We seem to be out of our really hot spell; down to the low 80s today with even a chance of rain.
I'm keeping fingers crossed that we don't have another hot spell. This has really be an unusually mild summer, so I'm told.

Lucina, Frenchie also lives in Scottsdale. Of course I have no idea how large your town is so that maybe meaningless! We both know what a small world we live in!

A bientot, amis.

dodo

John Lampkin said...

Hey Jeff,
Congrats on UR first Sunday.
Hope many more will follow!

bestbird said...

Sunday's are my new favorite crossword days! Thanks, Jeff Chen, for a wonderful, witty puzzle.

Hi, everyone! Great write up and I agree with the comments. I messed myself up by putting in 85A RUNS BATTED IN, 50D APPLE, and 88D FRONT before I got the theme, but it all worked out.

TTFN

Spitzboov said...

EDSEL - We knew it as a Mercury sucking a lemon!

HuskerGary: Thought of you when I saw this by McPherson in yesterday's paper. He lives about half-way between Argyle and me. Near Saratoga.

creature said...

OK -I'll give it a go and say
Uht Nee.

creature said...

Oh! Welcome Hattie's Dad. Glad you decided to join us.

I have a Hattie in my world, too.

Husker Gary said...

Spitzboov, Loved your cartoon! I've never lived on a farm in my life but it's all around me and some of the farm girls I know could kick the snot out of any 2 or 4 legged creature that upset them! How 'bout them there upstate New York women folk?

Valerie said...

I'm in the Uht-nee camp. I've never read the Utne Reader but have heard the name spoken a few times and that's how it has been pronounced.

Lucina said...

Thanks, all, for the weather reports. Naturally, I am envious of the 70s and 80s temps, but ours will be there in about two months.

At the party all the kids spent the afternoon in the pool. We do have a slew of them ranging in age from 7 mos to 17 years.

Dodo:
Scottsdale has about 250,000 people so it would be unlikely that Frenchie and I would meet except by mutual arrangement.

Bill G. said...

It looks as if I was too optimistic. Jordan is feeling better but still has a fever. So he will be spending at least one more night in the hospital. Bonnie doesn't seem to be getting much information and she isn't very forthcoming with us, acting as if we are overly concerned. Aargh!

Bill G. said...

For all of you who follow major league baseball (CC?), isn't it time that MLB outlaws maple bats? A player got badly injured today by a shard from a shattered bad and could have been killed if the bat had hit him a few inches differently. I don't know why MLB hasn't acted before this.

Jeff Chen said...

Thanks all! I'm glad I could provide a little entertainment in your days. Creating a Sunday puzzle was definitely a challenge for me. Rich was a huge, huge help.

Best,
Jeff