google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 Ed Sessa

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Dec 28, 2010

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 Ed Sessa

Theme: A few words from the Chairman of the Board - The starred clues (I hope you had starred clues) end in homophones of Frank Sinatra's trademark scat.

17A. *Amount of money to pay: BALANCE DUE

24A. *Beach Boys hit with the line "the first mate, he got drunk": "SLOOP JOHN B"

30A. *Shaggy's dog: SCOOBY DOO

44A. *Aggressive African swarmer: KILLER BEE

50A. *Drops on the grass: MORNING DEW

62A. Trademark Sinatra lyric heard at the ends of the answers to starred clues: DO BE DO BE DO

Argyle here. Let's start with a couple of songs. Strangers in the Night(2:46) and Sloop John B.(3:00)

This seems like a bono fide Tuesday level puzzle for a change. I thought it was cute having ARREARS(21A) under BALANCE DUE(17A). Also, the SAY "BOO!"(29A) in front of SCOOBY DOO(30A). Scooby is a real 'fraidy cat, for a dog.

Well, better set to work; now that the wind has died down, there will be more shoveling to do. Plus, I want to find out what twinight is!

Across

1. Six-pack muscles : ABs

4. Gets to fit : ADAPTS

10. Farm country mail rtes. : RFDs. Rural Free Delivery.

14. Prefix with light or night : TWI. It seems a few of you already know TWInight. Baseball – adjective. Pertaining to or noting a doubleheader in which the first game begins late in the afternoon and the second in the evening under lights.

15. Cap'n Crunch, e.g. : CEREAL

16. Skin care brand : OLAY. That would be OIL of OLAY. 35D. Word with pan or paint : OIL

19. Rock group : BAND

20. Popular tattoo spot : ANKLE

21. Amount of money that should have been paid : ARREARS

23. "Divine Secrets of the __ Sisterhood" : YAYA. I understand it is a good film. I haven't seen it. It is based on a novel written by Rebecca Wells.

27. Chinese chairman : MAO. Oh, the other chairman.

29. "__ to the flu": vaccination slogan : SAY BOO

36. Muslim mystic : SUFI. From Arabic sufiy, literally: (man) of wool, from suf wool; probably from the ascetic's woollen garments.

37. Swiss peak : ALP

38. Supporter of Boris Godunov, say : TSARIST. Boris Godunov is a Russian opera based on a real ruler whose career began at the court of Ivan the Terrible. Boris Badenov is a fictional character and much more well known.

41. French article : LES

42. Reindeer herder : LAPP

46. Beethoven's Third : EROICA. Third what? 3rd symphony in E flat major (Op. 55), and we've seen it a lot lately.

49. Lumberjack's tool : AXE

54. Slop eaters : HOGS

58. Dovetailed, in carpentry : TENONED. Not right. Splynter, explain the difference.

59. "Stifle yourself!" : "CAN IT!". Thought of Archie Bunker? I did.

60. Ring match : BOUT

64. Latin moon : LUNA

65. Shady Records co-founder : EMINEM

66. Always, rarely or never: Abbr. : ADV.. They are all ADVerbs.

67. Theater section : TIER

68. Begins, as work : SETS TO

69. Caustic substance : LYE

Down:

1. Cornered : AT BAY

2. Master, in Swahili : BWANA. Call Me Bwana.(1:08)

3. Velvety smooth : SILKY. Granted they are both smooth but interchangeable?

4. Spots in high school? : ACNE

5. New Year's Eve mo. : DEC.

6. "It's been __ pleasure" : A REAL

7. California's San __ Bay : PEDRO. Port district of Los Angeles.

8. Bull: Pref. : TAURO

9. Goes to the land of Nod : SLEEPS

10. Scotch cocktails : ROB ROYs. It is a Scottish Manhattan and an affront to Tinbeni.

11. Outmoded camera accessory : FLASHBULB

12. "Angels & Demons" author Brown : DAN. Book.

13. Guitarist Barrett : SYD. Gunghy, here are all the names that were missing yesterday!

18. Texas mission : ALAMO

22. 1977 Steely Dan album : "AJA"

24. Tofu beans : SOYs

25. Credit card come-on : NO FEE

26. Capital south of Coeur d'Alene : BOISE. Idaho.

28. NYC dance company : ABT. American Ballet Theatre.

30. Witch town : SALEM

31. Mild cigar : CLARO

32. Perfectly timed : OPPORTUNE

33. Terr. now divided into two states : DAK.. The Dakotas.

34. "... __ quit!" : OR I

39. Shredded side : SLAW

40. Cowpoke's nickname : TEX

43. Batter's grip aid : PINE TAR. Brings to mind the "Pine Tar Incident".

45. Detox locale : REHAB

47. Reds, on scoreboards : CIN. More baseball reference.

48. Battery terminals : ANODESs

51. Garden dwarf : GNOME. We're getting overrun by GNOMES.

52. Credit counterpart : DEBIT

53. Idyllic sites : EDENS

55. Ryan of "Love Story" : O'NEAL

56. Lightheaded : GIDDY

57. Housewarming aid? : STOVE

59. "Hot Diggity" singer Perry : COMO. One more song.(2:24)

60. Brief lunch? : BLT

61. Mont Blanc assent : OUI. French? Yes.

63. Dick Tracy, for one: Abbr. : DET.. Detective.

Answer grid.

Argyle

71 comments:

Bill said...

Jeannie, Computer speakers are pretty much universal and can be found at most stores where electronics are sold. They are not really expensive unless you want them to be.
Xword done and I had no clue what ADV was till I saw adverb.....DUH.
Have a good day all!
CY'all Later

Lemonade714 said...

Good morning:

Argyle and followers,

As always you made most of the perceptive comments, I too loved some of the “OO” clues and the symmetry of it all. I really liked the theme, except, I would have preferred no unifying clue. I know it is a Tuesday, but part of the fun for me was getting the sound without being hit on the head with it. There were clues I did not know like TENONED and CLARO, but it wa fun, and I liked the subtle 61. Mont Blanc assent : OUI, using the homophone ascent. Other than that the clues were all over the cultural tapestry from classical music to rap, history, sports and Argyle even brought in the famous incident with GEORGE BRETT who almost batted 400 that year.

Thanks SC, the year is almost done

Tinbeni said...

Argyle, Excellent write-up.
Thanks for the tunes.

DOBE-DOBE-DO ... hmmm, makes me think about my college days.

Now ROB-ROYS ... well I wouldn't say "An affront" ... just seems like when you start with the perfect SILKY ingredient ... WHY would you need anything else?

Noticed the ROB ROYS stack lead to REHAB ...

Had EMINEM filled in by the perps before I even saw the clue. I guess when it comes to 'rap music' you could say that I'm clueless.

Things are getting "very interestin'" here at
Villa Incognito:
Both Moscow and my (currently working in) Muscat friend want to know if I'll come over from Mid-January through Mid-May.
Then I get a call from their Zagreb Office ...
SOOOO ... it looks like 2010 will end 6 hours sooner ... as I'm off for a "face-to-face" in Croatia. Leaving tomorrow at 3pm.

This will be my last U.S.of A. Sunset toast to
'One-and-All' at 5:43pm.

Cheer's

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Overdid the shoveling a bit yesterday, I'm afraid. Nothing broken, but my back is so sore I could barely make it out of bed this morning....

Fun puzzle today! I can't hear "Do-Be-Do-Be-D0" without thinking of that beer commercial from years ago featuring the menacing penguins.

Also, as a Philosophy Major in college, one of my favorite jokes involved a series of quotes from famous philosophers:

"To be is to do" - Socrates
"To do is to be" - Sartre
"Do Be Do Be Do" - Sinatra

Anybody else want JOCK STRAP for 38?

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. This was a good Tuesday puzzle. At first, I thought the theme might be variations on the word DOO / DUE / DEW, which it was, sort of, but I liked the addition of the B /BEE.

My favorite clue was Housewarming Aid = STOVE.

I did think, however, that Spots in High School = ACNE was as cruel as having do endure those spots as a teenager.

Stay warm, everyone. It may actually reach 40 here!

QOD: Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardor, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision. ~ Aldous Huxley

Abejo said...

To: Ed Sessa and Argyle. Nice job, both of you. I really enjoyed today's puzzle. Afgain, I worked it at home before going to work. I fiugured out how to print it from the Chicago Tribune Web Site. I don't have to wait for the paper now.

I was able to zip through it pretty easily (for a change). I did not get the theme until I got to the Sinatra lyric clue. I had them all filled in by then. I had to think a little about BWANA. I tried it as BUANA first.

This got my day started on an upbeat note. Abejo

Mainiac said...

Good Morning Argyle, CC and All,

Great write up as the norm Argyle.

Worked this one from the bottom up. Once the Flashbulb went off in my head things fell into place. Nice cluing for a windy Tuesday.

I'm a bit sleep deprived today. We lost power last night and the wind howled and is continuing. Snow blowing all over. I think we got a little better than a foot.

Tinbeni, Good luck with whatever it is you are pursuing, rather who is pursuing you. Sounds exciting! Safe travels.

Time to plow some more.

Have a great day.

windhover said...

Maniac:
Six inches would be a little better than a foot, if the subject is snow accumulation.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

Argyle, thanks for the write and the links to "Blue Eyes", Perry, and the Beach Boys. Takes me back to my undergrad days at the U.

I enjoyed today's puzzle a lot even though I made it more difficult with one major goof. I initially entered tsetsefly for 44A without checking any perps. Overall, I made the central east a grind.

Eminem was a result of perps. Total unknown. We've had tenon a lot, but I can't remember tenoned before. I guess it's proper English?

Favorite clue was "Spots in high school." Another reminder of "back in the day."

Like Barry, my back is aching, but thanks to the drifting, I've got more shoveling today. The wind kept up here until about 11:00 PM, but the power stayed on throughout. We were very fortunate.

Everyone enjoy your day.

Burrito34 said...

Great write up as always, thanks. Very well crafted puzzle.

Argyle, As to the puzzle themes, do you and the other bloggers have a source unknown to me or are these themes your own creation? In today's xword, once I had discovered the pattern, I guessed that the theme title was going to be "Ol' Blue Eyes."

24A, "Beach Boys' hit" I didn't remember until I mentally sang the song several times to shake off the thoughtwebs from the corners of my mind. And the last one to come to me was 38A, "Supporter of Boris Godunov, say"(Tsarist). The reference to Boris Badenov reminded me of one of my favorite cartoons as a kid, Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Have a great Tuesday, wherever you all are,

Burrito

Spitzboov said...

Good morning, all. Nice commentary, Argyle. Thanks for linking to the SLOOP JOHN B. I would call it a modern day Sea Shanty.

Agree with the Tuesday level comment. Crisscrossed my way top to bottom. Enjoyed getting the unifier and the theme words; Liked the clueing for BLT and OUI. No searches were needed. While our sojourn in EDEN, NY was not quite 'idyllic' it was where we lived when our family was young and it was a good time in our lives.

Tinbeni - Good luck in the future months as you take on new projects. Hope you have a chance to look in on us once in a while.

Enjoy the day.

Burrito34 said...

Just a little more on puzzle theme titles: I'd rather not see them as it makes the xwords more challenging.

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

Burrito34,
Except Sunday, LA Times & NY Times do not title their puzzles. Just a tradition.

What you see here is blogger's own creation. Believe it or not, sometimes it takes half an hour or more just to come up with a catchy title. Argyle is extremely good at this.

Dick said...

Good morning Argyle and all, a very nice Tuesday level puzzle today. I managed to complete the puzzle except for the center east. Boise just did not come to mind and I had no clue as to sufi. The remaining parts of of the puzzle were straight forward and not too difficult.

Argyle, I agree with you on dovetailed and tenoned, they are two completely different forms of joinery. The dovetail is formed with trapezoid cuts while tenons are formed with straight cuts and tenons mate with mortises which are straight sided cuts into a piece. Tenons are cut with a table saw while dovetails are cut using a router.

Good luck to Tenbeni.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I'd never heard of TWINIGHT before. Thanks for the explanation, Argyle.

Does anybody have an RFD address anymore? I worked for USPS for 28 years and although many cities have RR's (Rural Routes), I never saw a piece of mail made out to a RFD address. GAH and I have a Rural Route carrier, but all our mail is addressed to the street name and number.

Never a problem with remembering a mortise or a TENON because of master carpenter Norm Abram. "This Old House" and "The New Yankee Workshop" were great PBS shows.

I surprised myself by knowing that EMINEM founded Shady Records. It's amazing the stuff that sticks in your brain.

I was never a big Perry COMO fan, but I really enjoyed hearing "Hot-Diggity". Go figure.

Thanks for all the well wishes for sis and GAH. Both are sore, but recovering.

Husker Gary said...

Good Morning Argyle et al, fun puzzle and write-up for a sunny winter day on the banks of the Platte. Christmas lights come down today and temp approaches 40. Maybe I’ll wash and wax my idle snow blower. Last year I would have been on my 3rd tank of gas.

Musings-
-Tinbeni, what is taking you to all these exotic locales?
-Russian athletic supporter? Funny, Barry G.
-Sloop John B seemed more appropriate for the Kingston Trio than the Beachboys when I was 16.
-My wife’s twin sister got a butterfly tattoo on her ankle last year which my wife found amusing, her children loved and their mother found shocking!
-PIGS ate the slop first
-I can’t think of any sitcom that had a bigger effect on America than All in the Family!
-Could there be a less congruous crossing than Perry Como and Eminem?
-Wasn’t there a time when the clue for ATBAY would have contained the phrase (2 wds.) ?
-BWANA reminds me of a lot of horrible, racist entertainment fare of my youth!
-My camera accessory was a FLASHSHOE for a while (Shoe be do be doo?)
-We were in New York during the “Pine Tar Incident” and the media was full of that! Today George Brett would have been bought by the Yankees and never have spent a career in Kansas City! Ain’t no way!
-I love themes in the puzzles as it adds another fun element, Burrito, but hey, that's why things come in different colors!

creature said...

Good Morning C.C.,Argyle and all,

Argyle, you're able to anticipate and answer, with the least possible amount of words. Your visual of the puzzle is undeniably the best and very satisfying to me.
Thanks,again.

Ed, a super, fun puzzle.I liked being able to hum that tune, myself, at the end.Thanks. A genius idea.

Thinking of all my snow bird friends. Take care.

Tinbeni,hope you get what you want;
Cheers at 5:43!

Have a nice,toasty day everyone.

Clear Ayes said...

Did anyone know that MAO was a poet? I bet C.C. did, but it was news to me. This is a very politically prophetic poem. MAO obviously had an agenda and promoted it any way he could.

Yangtze River

I have just drunk the waters of Changsha
And come to eat the fish of Wuchang.
Now I am swimming across the great Yangtze,
Looking afar to the open sky of Chu.
Let the wind blow and waves beat,
Better far than idly strolling in a courtyard.
Today I am at ease.
"It was by a stream that the Master said--
'Thus do things flow away!' "
Sails move with the wind.
Tortoise and Snake are still.
Great plans are afoot:
A bridge will fly to span the north and south,
Turning a deep chasm into a thoroughfare;
Walls of stone will stand upstream to the west
To hold back Wushan's clouds and rain
Till a smooth lake rises in the narrow gorges.
The mountain goddess if she is still there
Will marvel at a world so changed.

- Mao Zedong

Husker Gary said...

Responses to yesterday’s comments

-Rivets are not allowed at our Y because the exercise equipment is padded and metal rivets tear the seats. You must wear something soft.
-I prefer “My Bad” from kids rather than “I don’t know” or “It wasn’t my fault”. Admitting culpability is refreshing and the phrase used is not important.
-Them danged taters are still a big culprit in my added poundage. Yeah, I know, grease, sour cream, salt, ad nauseum are the bigger culprits. The spirit is willing but the appetite is weak. My Bad!
-I do my blogging on my Sony Vaio running Windows Seven but I should have a bumper sticker that says, “My other computer is an iMac running Leopard!” because it is! Never a whimper out of it in 3.5 years.

Argyle said...

Burrito34, I almost went with "Ol' Blue Eyes". The Sunday puzzle has the theme listed but the others we get, do not. Some puzzles, the unifier makes it so obvious that a title is hardly necessary. Other times, we have to ask ourselves, "What the heck is the theme?".

I suppose you could liken it to a working title on a movie; it may not be the final title but it could be. Yesterday's "Stop the car!" was a last minute change.

Other editors do include a theme with their puzzles. I discovered that these puzzle competitions that they are provided with the theme but as we well know, it may not help and you don't get it until the puzzle is completed.

Splynter said...

Hi All~~!!

Good, cute,puzzle for a Tuesday, and I thought "beware the Penguins", too, Barry.

Yes, there is a difference in the cuts of wood;

Dovetail

and

Mortise and Tenon


Thanks for the explanation of TWI night, that was bothering me to start, and I didn't fill it in for that very reason.

Have to admit, I knew that EMINEM was Slim Shady, so I nailed it.

Just wanted to add in about yesterday's "My Bad" - I lived in Cincinnati OH for 3 years, and they say it constantly - I was told it is a poorly translated German phrase, as is their tendency to say "Please?" when they mean "Say again? [please]" - The city was predominantly German immigrants...I guess.

Thanks for the shout-out !

Splynter

kazie said...

I enjoyed both the CW and Argyle's take on it today. Thanks for the musical memories!

I actually missed seeing a couple of clues today: 4D ACNE, and 66A ADV, which caused me to not notice I had misspelled ONEIL and IDV which made no sense.

My other slip-up was TSARIST. Since I knew nothing of Boris Godunov, guessed American Ballet Company (ABC), had SOYA for SOYS, and OK I quit for OR I quit, I was left with CAAKIST, so I just frowned in puzzlement and moved on without paying much attention.

I thought it was about right for a Tuesday and other than the above, all the other names fell in with WAGS and perp help.

Tinbeni,
Good luck with the job choices. I hope the dilemma doesn't end up needing a coin toss to decide between them. And I hope the result doesn't mean we'll lose you.

Argyle said...

Thank you, Splynter. As per the illustrations, the main reason for dovetail is to keep the joint from pulling apart and a mortise/tenon joint is to prevent shearing forces from breaking the joint and is weak at stopping the joint from pulling apart.

Unfortunately, when old post and beam structures lose their foundations, pulling stresses are put on the mortise and tenon joints and down they come.

FYI: A lot of this stuff I look up for my self and then decide to share. LOL

Husker Gary said...

Jeannie, in actuality I did not make a scene at the Y yesterday. No one notices 64 year old men in sweat clothes any where! What makes a scene are the 19 year old coeds with sleeveless T-Shirts with arm pits cut down to their waists and only sports bras underneath! They draw the males to whatever part of the facility where they are, uh, working out! Is it bad manners to “ogle” them or not to “ogle” them? Which would they find more offensive?

Splynter said...

Hi again~!

Yup - you'll find most dovetails in high-end cabinetry, used in the drawers, so when you pull on the knob, the back of the drawer comes out, too.

Off the top of my head, most beds and cribs use the tenon joint for the same reason - so that you don't come "crashing down" with one's weight causing the shearing force on the joint of the rails to the posts.

I love woodworking....

Splynter

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Puzzle and write-up -- it's all good!

Great theme I.D. Argyle.

SLOOP JOHN B threw me off, with the "OO" sound in the first part. See how easy it is to confuse me. I wasn't going to suss this one without the unifier.

The puzzle had more classical moments than you might realize/ My mother loved that awful Perry Como song. Here is the antidote.

And Here is Boris.

MORNNG DEW and DOBEDOBEDO reminded me of an old Johnnie Carson (as Carnac, IIRC) Joke.

Dippity Doo - What you find on your dippity in the morning.


Cheers!
JzB

Bill G. said...

That was a fun puzzle! I got it all but couldn't quite suss out the theme until I came here.

No snow for me but it's supposed to rain again tonight and tomorrow morning.

Thanks for the info about the differences between dovetail and mortise and tenon joints. Very educational, this blog.

Jeannie, any powered (they will need plugging into a wall socket) external speakers should work OK with your PC if there's a place to plug them in to your computer or monitor, something like a headphones jack.

Speaking about slang yesterday, ('my bad'), another slang word that has sprung up is the portmanteau word Chillaxin'. It replaces two perfectly good words, Chilling and Relaxing, but is longer than either. Mostly I don't like it because it sounds as if the user is trying too hard to be cool.

carol said...

Hi all - Good Tuesday puzzle, hardly had to glance at the V-8 cans.

TWI NIGHT??? Argyle, thanks for clearing that up, I thought sure it was a typo in the puzzle.

Barry G (6:20) That was really funny!!!

29A "SAY BOO TO THE FLU"??? What the *&^%. I have really never heard that phrase.

Husker Gary, I had pigs eating the slop too. Guess there is a difference between 'hogs' and 'pigs'?
Google here I come!

Dick, thanks for the carpentry lesson, now I can enlarge the upstairs. :)
Splynter, thank YOU for the pictures of Dick's explanation. It all makes sense now.

46A I know we have seen this before, but not being knowledgeable in anything 'music', it was unknown.

More later, going to get our scuba gear and go for a bike ride soon.

Lemonade714 said...

Burrito:

Adding to what Argyle said, the naming of a Theme is often the most fun or the most irritating part of blogging a puzzle. Like today, there were a number of good choices, and I thought Argyle's showed some extra thought. However, there are days when there is no good way to phrase what the constructor did; and, there are days, they force the name by saying it in the unifier. I was never much on themes until I started blogging, now they pop up almost immediately. Like I said earlier, sometimes they really help too much, like today’s unifier.

JD said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al,

For a Tuesday, this was fun.Thank you Ed. Lots of a-ha's, like ring match.The perps helped with bwana, tenoned, AJA,ABT, and RFDs. Oh, and I never even saw sufi until reading Argyle's always clear/concise write-up :-)

I never thought of San Pedro as a bay, but of course it is.The Spruce Goose used to be docked at that port. San Pablo was my 1st guess.

Argyle, thanks for the tunes which I will go back to once Norah Jones is finished.Great CD-all duets or collaborations with such a variety of artists.

I'm looking at my bookcase and now I'm wondering if it was dovetailed or tenoned; must reread.

Going out to lunch and wine tasting with DH's best man and room mate before we all got married in 69.They visit from AZ once a year.The older we get, the more we appreciate these old friendships.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Fermatprime: I had no idea about Sinatra's trademark lyric, so DH entered it in his iPad and up came LA Times crossword corner! We both got a good laugh at that.
And I begged for the answer, which did help me on several unknowns.

As a teenager, I swooned at Sinatra, but surely didn't know that trademark.

Cheers

elli said...

'Day all; thanks Argyle! I do enjoy the write-ups. Dovetailed and tenoned bothered me because I know just enough about carpentry to think it didn't sound right (subscribed to Fine Homebuiling for years). Eminem I did not know, plus had debts instead of debit, so that spot was a bit messy, ah well :-) Also was not familiar with twi-night, but put it in because nothing else fit. A good puzzle overall. Thanks for all the explanations of things!

~ Ellie

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. I think this was an absolutely magnificent puzzle today. Such awesome fills! I just sighed with pleasure at the likes of ARREARS, FLASHBULB, OPPORTUNE, and PINETAR, not to mention the fabulous theme entries. I mean, SLOOP JOHN B, holy cow! Wonderful!

Best wishes to you all.

Mainiac said...

WH, 10-4 on that and on other topics six ain't quite 'nuff! Remember the thumb comparison? We got some good mileage out of that one!

I have to agree with the rest, tenon and dovetail are two different joints. Staying away from carpenter jokes!

Jeannie said...

I didn’t get the theme until I got the unifier but to be honest I didn’t know Sinatra’s trademark was do-be-do-be-do. I have never been a Beach Boys fan so didn’t know Sloop John B, but the rest of the theme answers came easily to me. I’m with Carol in never hearing the phrase, “say boo to the flu”. I too had pigs for hogs at first until the perps took care of that. My learning moment for the day was Tenoned.. Thanks Splynter and others for the detailed information. We also have my favorite album of all time, Steeley Dan’s Aja! Can someone please explain the Reindeer herder - Lapp? I don’t get it. I cringed at the “caustic substance” – lye as I believe that the nasty Lutefisk that is served up my way this time of year is actually treated by soaking it in lye. Yuck!

Husker Gary, I laughed at your description of those 19 year olds! If they dress that way, they probably do want to be “ogled”.

For those of you that are still experiencing bad weather, be careful out there! Just shovel a bit at a time.

Dick said...

WH and Mainiac, I had the snow depth discussion with my ex one time and I confidently boasted that I could measure depths to eight inches. She looked at me and said "you couldn’t measure frost. Words hurt!

Hahtoolah said...

Jeannie: Lappland is the northern most region of Scandinavia, primarily in Sweden inhabited by the Sami people, who are also known as Lapplanders or Lapps. They raise and herd reindeer. They were written up in a recent Smithsonian magazine.

carol said...

Jeannie, RE: lutefisk, you have to soak the damned stuff in lye, how else could one eat rotten fish? :) (My Grandmother made the stuff when my Dad was a kid, and he tried to hide in the yard so he wouldn't have to eat it).

Dick (1:35) LOL - but that was a mean thing to say. How many of you guys would dare to measure the snowfall that way? What, you just walk out your door in 'that state' and flop face down???? Hope the snow is deep enough, otherwise words wouldn't be all that was hurtin' ;0

Jalmar said...

It is amazing what government can come up with when they work at, such as SAY BOO TO FLU.

I am not sure I would volunteer delicate body parts as measuring devices in the snow; you never know what is underneath the puffy layer. I also believe a man who knows his morel mark probably spends too much time alone measuring.

eddyB said...

Hi all.

Loved this puzzle and theme.

Rain is much better than snow. However, the lawn mower went to the great repair shop in the sky.

Bring on the sheep!

My Rob Roys consist of placing a closed bottle of Vermouth next to a good blend and far away from my Macallan.

Re todays Dilbert. What is a dutch sanwich?

Will miss you Andy.

Take care.

Mainiac said...

Dick, Ouch!

Argyle said...

Dutch sandwich

Grumpy 1 said...

Hi gang,

Great puzzle, Ed, and nice writup, Argyle. I was up early this morning and did the puzzle but had to make a run to the airport to pick up DD, so didn't get a chance to check the blog until now.

By the time I got to SLOOP JOHN B I had already filled the perps in the first part. What came to mind and refused to leave? "Hang on Sloopy!" The JOHN B part just wouldn't rise to the surface. The music of both tunes were stuck in my head but the words wouldn't come.

I had FLASH SHOE too, until KILLER BEE caused the FLASH BULB to go off. I also tried to figure out how to get SHU or SOO or SO as the start of Sinatra's trademark. I guess I've seen that Geico commercial too many times. Perps and wags finally cleaned up the messy spots and all is well that ends well.

Tinbeni, good luck on your ventures. I'll have to put my alternate avatar up so you can see a Florida sunset if you check into the blog.

Since we don't see snowfall here in Naples, I won't be tempted to try measuring depths with my personal measuring stick. The ground was covered with frost here this morning, though.

I didn't look it up, but sort of figured the SAY BOO to the flu was intended to create an association between Holloween and the start of flu season so people would remember when to get their flu shots.

It wasn't a speed run, but I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle.

dodo said...

Hello, everybody,

Well let's see if this one will fly.My comments yeserday never made it because the powers that be wouldn't accept my password. I tried to save the comments but couln't seem to do it. C.C. gave me a couple of hints if I have trouble still.

Very nice puzzle today, Ed. Thank you. And hand up for all the good comments on your blog, Argyle. You never fail us!

J. D. the Spruce Goose was hangared at Long Beach Harbor, not San Pedro. I read a while ago that it was moved, but I forget where. Do you happen to know if they also moved the QEII? That whole area had been revonated, as well as downtown Long Beach, and it was all quite beautiful.

Like Jayce, I was impressed with the fills in this puzzle. They just get better all the time.

Argyle and Jazzbumpa, thanks for the music. What a spectacle is "Boris Godunov". I have only heard some of the music before, but the staging is incredible!
Once again I have to date myself and admit that I much prefer "The Sloop John B" performed by the Kingston Trio than that of the Beach Boys. The good ole days!

dodo said...

Hooray! It worked; Thanks again, C.C.

Argyle said...

OK. The Kingston Trio: Sloop John B.

thehondohurricane said...

Dodo,

I remember the Spruce Goose being moved into the Northwest... Seattle I think. It left Long Beach quite a while ago.

Dick,

Your ex really knows how to hurt a guy! Hope you had a chance to "you know what" to her.

To all,

What's so bad about being an ogler when the eyes are all that's left?

Bill G. said...

Dodo, the QEII is still in Long Beach. I saw it recently. I think the Spruce Goose is in a museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

OK, one of my favorite Kingston Trio songs, Scotch and Soda.

Since I'm in the mood for great music, here's another favorite, Canço del Lladre. It's a Catalonian folk song arranged for guitar by Miguel Llobet. I used to be able to play it well enough to enjoy myself but not as well as this fellow. Notice the beautiful use of harmonics. Canço del Lladre

Jazzbumpa said...

I don't know if a Rob Roy is an affront - I've never tried one. But I can assure you that none of the beautiful Glenkinchie that I got for Christmas (yes - I've been a VERY good boy) will ever be so adulterated!

Write up at the link is pretty generally informative. The folks in Edinburgh seem quite proud of their Pencaitland Malt!

Speaking of San Pedro Tiger - I think a might have been spotted (I know - they're usually striped.) there.

Cheers!
JzB (just warming up)

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, I had a hard time with the puzzle today as Sloop John B, and Yaya sisterhood were both unknowns. Cross those with Silky (I had Suave), and Pedro ( I had Pable ala JD) and the whole NW area was a disaster.

Twinight was not in my vocabulary, either, and Say boo to flu was a slogan that I've never heard. Thank goodness for perps, or I would never have finished.

I finally gave in and looked up Sloop JB and Yaya and things finally fell into place.

RFDS in the rural Arkansas area where many of my relatives live were all changed to street and road names as the 911 emergency system needed to have a better way of identifying the areas they were going. I thought this was a very good idea. Trying to find a relative's house with only a Rural route for an address was difficult.

HeartRx said...

Good Evening Argyle, C.C. et al.

Wow, I am really late to the party today, so all I can say is "Toast to all at 6:15 from cold windy Southern MA!!".

I have a good excuse for being late, if the "teacher" will accept it:
Because of all the snow and continued wind yesterday, we decided to wait until this morning before clearing the driveway (50 feet) and sidewalks (100 feet). Unfortunately, the snowblower decided that IT did not want anything to do with going out in the cold, and absolutely refused to even try to start. Siiiigggggh...Brought the uncooperative machine to our friendly repair shop (who told us it might be a week or so before it could be "looked at"). So, we ended up shoveling the whole wind-drifted mess by hand. Some spots were bare, and some had 2-3 foot drifts to dig through. Which of course led to a couple of severely strained backs. After taking a couple of Aleve, and a hot shower, we had to make our way down to the big box store to get party goodies for our gala on Thursday. (Don't know whether to call it a late Christmas Party or an early New Year's Party). Well, one thing led to another and then the dog ate my homework. REALLY!

All has been said about the puzzle today, so I don't have anything more to add, except thanks for a great write-up Argyle! BBs were my fave band in the 60's and Sloop John B brought back many memories...

JazzBumpa, thankyouthankyouthankyou for the Emmanuel Chabrier link. Now I will have that one gently floating in my head instead of the Perry Como version banging around the void. Whew, that could have gone on for days!

Have a great evening, everyone!

Chickie said...

Tinbeni, good luck on your journey. You will see 2011 before the rest of us. Give us a toast when you get there.

Argyle, thank you for the great write up and the fine music today. Both were very enjoyable. '

I've been off the grid for a couple of days as we've had a houseful of company. But now the house is quiet. However, the children will be missed and we'll look forward to the next big family get together. Organized chaos is the best kind.

eddyB said...

Hi. Thanks for the links Argyle and JzB. I and probably others
found them to be very interesting.

Please don't let vermouth any where
near your 12 yo.

Raining hard now.

windhover said...

Dick:
You did well to divorce that one!

Do we have to choose between the Kingston Trio and the Beach Boys? The first real concert I ever attended was the KT in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington in the Fall of 1962 (dating myself, but not in the sense Jalmar @ 2:24 meant), but for a car and girl crazy kid in the '60's, the BB's put forth quite a few anthem type tunes.

And the real rock and roll came along just a few years later.

Andy,
Hope there's a huge pot of gold at the end of that rainbow you're following out of paradise. Good Luck.

Jayce said...

I just want to say to you all, I got a book of NY Times xword puzzles for Christmas and have worked about a dozen of them by now, some "easy" ones, some "medium" ones, and some "hard" ones. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I thought all of them totally stunk. Looking at my notes for each puzzle, I see I wrote such adjectives as "Yuck" and "Phooey" to describe them. I'm convinced Will Shortz is a freaking sadist, even in the so-called easy ones. The clues are horribly impossible. I probably won't be doing very many more of the puzzles in this book, as I have, so far, felt very little pleasure and mostly frustration from them.

I pass this along to you all as my way of affirming the positive, encouraging, and upbeat approach that I see is taken to the LA Times puzzles (thanks to Rich Norris!) and amongst all the bloggers here. I vastly, hugely, massively prefer these puzzles to any others! (The USA Today ones are not bad either.)

Best wishes to you all, including the editors and all you constructors.

Jayce said...

I loved both the Kingston Trio, whom I was fortunate enough to see live, and the Beach Boys. All the performers displayed great talent and professionalism. (Well, all except that Jardine guy, who displayed some serious unprofessionalism after the breakup of the Beach Boys.)

Dodo, you rock.

Tinbeni said...

Spitzboov, Dick, Creature, Husker Gary, Kazie, Grumpy1, Windover, Chickie and of course eddyB.

Thank you for your very kind words.

Now here's the deal ... I use to live in Zagreb.
Other place's I was in a Hotel.
In Croatia I HAD an address.

I worked with two other American's.
One, the CEO Tom, went back to New Orlean's after Katrina.
The other, Russell, from Dallas, later worked in Moscow and is now in Muscat, Oman.
I was talking to him a few months ago about how, being 58, it was difficult to find a proper position here.
Very soon, he had the Moscow Office contact me for "Review work" that I can do from Dunedin.
Apparently they liked my, for lack of a better term, "Professionalism" and that is how the earlier trip came about (the week before, the week before Christmas).

I personally prefer to stay and work from my favorite Sunset location.

But he contacted our former location and they sent a ticket.

Unlike most of you, I'm not married, with children, grand-children, etc.

Therefore, a five day trip for an interview, to a place I like almost as much as here, sounds like a good time for me ...

But, unlike the NYT, the LAT puzzle IS available "On-Line" for 'free' ... for nothin' ...

I'll just do it a bit earlier.

In other words ... you can't get rid of me that easily.

I LOVE C.C.'s blog, and this eclectic group, WAY too much.

Jerome said...

Jayce- Are you sure these are puzzles from the last 20 years? Could they be old NYT puzzles prior to Will's being the editor, even though he might have edited the collection you have?

Could you list a few of the constructors?

dodo said...

posted on Monday's by mistake. A.

Clearayes, since my comments yesterday disappeared into cyberspace, you didn't get my wishes for good health for your sister and GAH.

I'm glad to hear the better news today and hope that things continue to improve.

So sad that these things happen when you should be enjoying the
holiday.

Hoping the New Year will hold better tidings for you and yours! dodo

Jayce said...

Jerome, sure. The book is titled "The New York Times little red and green book of crosswords," edited by Will Shortz, copyrighted in 2007 by the New York Times Company. It contains puzzles originally published between Christmas day 1996 through Christmas day 2005.

Constructors include Robert Dillman, Lynn Lempel, Nick Grivas, and Manny Nosowsky.

By the way, I don't really think Will Shortz is a sadist.

Tinbeni, good luck to you!

Lemonade714 said...

WH:

Pretty damn funny; I am impressed how quickly you grasped that comedic moment.

I do some NYT puzzles, many of which are also created by some of our favorites, and while they do use obscurity more than the LAT, they are usually doable, so the book may be an aberration.

Argyle,
Thanks for the Dutch Sandwich write up. I find stuff like that amazing.

I also agree the Beach Boys and The Kingston Trio each have their place in my heart.

Counting down cornerites, I wonder who will be the new year's eve constructor?

Dick said...

@ dodo, the Spruce Goose is at the Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville, OR.

Carol, her husband Bob, my wife and I visited there last year and Carol posted some pics.

carol said...

CA:(8:23) LMAO...that was just tooo funny. Dad said the smell was god awful, so I believe it could gag a goat. I thought of the old 'saw': Ten thousand Swedes ran through the weeds, chased by one Norwegian. Probably wanted to get away from the smell of Lutefisk. :)

carol said...

What happened to CA's comment at 8:23? or others that followed it???

Argyle said...

I think CA was deleted by mistake. It was right in the middle of a guy posting about a different puzzle. He appologized about his multiple post but was deleted anyway.

Here is my copy of CA's post.

Good luck Tinbeni. Keep us posted on how everything turns out.

Thanks Dodo, everything is settling down and sister and GAH are coming around.

Still love the Kingston Trio. My first concert attendance was theirs in San Bernardino CA in (probably) 1960. I have 5 of their oldest albums that I transferred from LP's to CD's. Thanks, Bill G. for "Scotch and Soda", one of my favorites too.

Loved the Beach Boys too. Even though I was 21 when "Surfin' USA" came out and I had never been a surfer, I was a "California Girl" who had hung out at many of the beaches mentioned in the lyrics.

Jeannie and Carol, lutefisk is pretty awful. I think the Swedes and Norwegians continue to eat it, so the Swedes can say, "We're tougher than the Norwegians", and the Norwegians can reply, "No, you aren't!" Why eating jellied fish should be a matter of national pride is beyond me.

Here's a quote via Wikipedia:

Quote from Garrison Keillor's book Lake Wobegon Days:

"Every Advent we entered the purgatory of lutefisk, a repulsive gelatinous fishlike dish that tasted of soap and gave off an odor that would gag a goat. We did this in honor of Norwegian ancestors, much as if survivors of a famine might celebrate their deliverance by feasting on elm bark. I always felt the cold creeps as Advent approached, knowing that this dread delicacy would be put before me and I'd be told, "Just have a little." Eating a little was like vomiting a little, just as bad as a lot."

windhover said...

Carol & Bob?
Wasn't that a bad movie in the '70's?

JD said...

dodo, you are so right; I had forgotten that it was LB.

funny about Sinatra- I thought it was "I did it my way" and that was another a-ha when the dobedobedoooos showed up.

boo to the flu-hadn't heard of it either. Hello Jalmar/thanks for the clip

Grumpy, my DH wants to know if you were a "Golden Eagle", but I told him you probably didn't go to HS in Naples.

CA,2010 will be gone very soon and I hoping for a rainbow on your side of the hill.

"Frosty", glad she is your ex!

Anonymous said...

It was not a different puzzle , rather another puzzle I thought you might enjoy if you had never seen it. Having to care for two mentally challenged family members, puzzles are my only escape. I just thought I would share them since I thought you might enjoy them. Sorry it warranted a deletion. I thought you welcomed newbies. Guess not.

Lemonade714 said...

bob & carol & ted & alice.

memories

Lemonade714 said...

Anonymous, I saw your post about puzzles by someone named Donna, but you gave no information or location. Many of us do other puzzles, so if you want to suggest one, please tell us more detail.

rock said...

Sure, on Sundays I find it at Athens newspaper on line