google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, December 7, 2010 Mark Bickham

Advertisements

Dec 7, 2010

Tuesday, December 7, 2010 Mark Bickham

Theme: Hare Hoax - Five theme endings that are when a rabbit isn't a real rabbit. Unifier is at the tail end.

18A. Procter & Gamble laundry product: IVORY SNOW. A snow bunny is a female that goes to the mountain with more than skiing on her mind.

27A. Keep America Beautiful concerns: LITTERBUGS. Bugs Bunny needs no intro.

35A. New England storm: NOR'EASTER. Neither does the Easter bunny. A nor'easter is a big storm of the North Atlantic coast and its counter-clockwise rotation brings water(or snow)-laden winds coming from the northeast to all New England. Actually. it can affect the whole eastern seaboard.

49A. Space particles: COSMIC DUST. If you don't know what a dust bunny is, then I want to meet your maid.

59A. Beach Boys album with bees and flowers on the cover: WILD HONEY. Here, I'll play the song for you, my little honey bunny.
Clip.(2:40)

68A. Critter that can follow the ends of this puzzle's five longest answers: BUNNY

Argyle here. While none of the themes are very long, they are interesting and the stacks of sevens in the corners are impressive.

I await your comments. Of course, I awaited a comment on the band, Phish, yesterday but only Seen spoke of them.

Across:

1. Prepared for pie, as apples : CORED

6. Skirt fold : PLEAT

11. 1,150, to Brutus : MCL

14. Speed skater __ Anton Ohno : APOLO. An unknown to me with an unknown spelling. US-American Olympic gold medal-winning short track speed skater who also won Dancing with the Stars in 2007. Here is a short(1:50)
clip that may explain the popularity of the show. Hot!

15. Get-up-and-go : OOMPH

16. Author Levin : IRA. He wrote the play, No Time for Sergeants and the novel, Rosemary's Baby.

17. What cats and bats do : RHYME

20. Earl Grey et al. : TEAs (weak link) 42. Rank below marquis : EARL

21. "The loneliest number," in a song : ONE.
Clip(2:56)

22. Nickel or cadmium : METAL

23. The works : ALL

24. Favorite : PET

25. Simian : APE-LIKE

30. Lawyers' charges : FEES

31. Craft that can be rolled : KAYAK. You can put your kayak upside down in the water and still roll it back upright, if you haven't lost your paddle.

32. "As ye sow, so shall ye __" : REAP

34. Country rtes. : RDs.

39. Bruin legend Bobby : ORR

43. Nutritious beans : SOYAs

47. Razz : JEER

52. Asks to the party : INVITES

54. King of France : ROI

55. 9-Down adviser : CPA and 9D. 30-day mo. : APR.

56. Kentucky county named for a trailblazer : BOONE. Daniel Boone.

57. It follows Wed. : THU.

58. Stride : GAIT

62. Beyond the fringe : OUTRE. We see this spelling frequently.

63. Columnist Buchwald : ART.
Snapshot.

64. Alleviated : EASED

65. __ mix: hiker's fare : TRAIL

66. Snake sound : "SSS!". Can make a hiker drop his trail mix.

67. Wipe out : ERASE

Down

1. NPR auto show : "CAR TALK". National Public Radio; The hosts of Car Talk are brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, also known as Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers.

2. Hamlet's love : OPHELIA. Spoiler alert: She dies...oh wait, they all die...never mind.

3. Writer's payment : ROYALTY

4. Shady bunch? : ELMS

5. Anonymous John : DOE

6. Destination in a two-part route : POINT B. After you start from point A.

7. "Many-splendored thing" of song : LOVE. In case you've forgotten the great
ballad.(3:02)

8. Comic Philips : EMO. Alleged comic.

10. Mint family herb : THYME

11. Toothpaste comparison word : MINTIER

12. Cried like a raven : CROAKED

13. Like anarchy : LAWLESS

19. Note to __ : SELF

21. Across, in verse : O'ER

24. "Orange" tea grade : PEKOE. We've had a big discussion about this before but if you want, we can go over it again.

25. A long time : AGES

26. 130-minute H.S. exam : PSAT

28. Beach lover's goal : TAN

29. Eurasian range : URALS. The range dividing Europe from Asia.

33. Joe of "GoodFellas" : PESCI. He played a whack-job(but don't tell him I said that).

36. Senate contest : RACE

37. God with arrows : EROS

38. Staff associate? : ROD

39. Lake Superior natives : OJIBWAs. The Ojibwa Indians, also known as the Chippewa Indians, lived mainly in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Ontario, Canada at the time of European contact. Good web site
here.

40. Some Impressionist paintings : RENOIRs.
Google page.

41. Sickens : REVOLTS

44. Mexican peninsula : YUCATAN.
Map. It has been hard hit by hurricanes before.

45. Bayer product : ASPIRIN

46. Majestic : STATELY

48. Melon exterior : RIND

50. Villainous literary alter ego : MR. HYDE. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the original title of a novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson

51. Promise to pay : IOU

53. Little laugh : TE-HEE

57. Golfer's pocketful : TEEs

58. Spiritual guide : GURU

60. Stick in the lake? : OAR

61. Govt. hush-hush org. : NSA. National Security Agency (NSA)

62. Bettor's hangout, briefly : OTB. Off-Track Betting. It was bad when the mob did it but OK now that our govt. does it.

Answer grid.

Notes from C.C.:

1) Today we celebrate the birthday of Windhover, our blog farmer and philosopher. I think the third picture there is what made Annette want to ride his bike.

2) Speaking of cool, click here and here for two terrific shots of Splynter. Obviously he loves guitar (He writes music) & hockey (a goalie). He is in construction/remodeling business, and he wants to "Make your home your castle".

Argyle

79 comments:

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. What a fun puzzle. There were so many clues that made me smile. I had a spot of trouble in the NE corner after I confidently wrote in IVORY SOAP instead of IVORY SNOW. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what a Soap Bunny was!

Some of my favorite clues included: Stick in The Lake? = OAR

What Cats and Bats Do = RHYME.

Shady Bunch? = ELMS.

Pet and Ray Magliozzi are the radio hosts of CAR TALK. Back when we lived in Boston, we would talk our old car to their Good News Garage. They were as nice in person as they are on the radio.

Stay warm, everyone. it reached 28F here last night, which was almost a record low.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Windhover, my friend. I hope you have a wonderful day. Stay warm!

Nice photos, Sylynter. Thanks, for sharing.

QOD: The real problem is what to do with the problem solvers after the problems are solved. ~ Gay Talese.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Where's Dennis? Hopefully this is a planned absence and he is all right...

Considering how tired I am from staying up late watching the Pats pummel the Jets last night, this puzzle was relatively easy. I just kept mistyping my answers, which slowed me down a bit. The only real surprise was CROAKED, since I was totally unaware that any animal other than a frog made that noise. I wanted CAWED, but of course that didn't fit.

Sorry I can't be wittier, but my brain isn't working too well right now...

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Great links Argyle.

A nice moderately easy puzzle; two passes and a few miscellaneous fills to complete. The unifier BUNNY came readily and helped with the 'cleanup'. Mark deserves a good ROYALTY for this one. Favorite clue was 'stick in the lake?' OAR. No searches were needed.

Welcome aboard to the new bloggers.

Happy Birthday, Windhover. Nice pix.

Have a nice day.

windhover said...

No puzzle comments (I won't see it until this evening), but I'll bet Splynter knows of Junior Brown, and maybe Argyle will link something for us.

Thanks for the shout out, CC, and although we often try, we can never thank you enough for creating this haven of (relative) sanity in an increasingly crazy world.

Tinbeni said...

Argyle, Thank you for a great write-up!
The WILD HONEY link was nice ... but I've gone back to yesterdays "Don't call us" (Hey, it's still rolling around the old bean).

Really enjoyed the BUNNY themes.
As to not having COSMIC DUST BUNNY's and meeting my maid ... well you've already met ... yup, it is I, the tinster.

Windover, Happy 65th.
You will be toasted at Sunset!

Just curious, I wonder how many here take a daily low dose ASPIRIN?
I don't since I like to donate blood every 8 weeks.

CPA really means "Certified Practically Anything" ... trust me on this one.

CAR TALK is a weekly addiction. It's a guy thingy.

lois said...

Good morning Argyle, CC, et al., Great puzzle. The theme - well you know- escaped me- oh really? Didn't get it until I came here, but the perps were perfect and the frustration level was zero. Santa darlin', you made me LOL w/some of your comments.. excellent job. Thank you for the links...loved all of 'em esp 3 dog night and Apolo! We'll be talking...soon.

Like Barry, I didn't know anything other than frogs croaked and now apparently ravens do. I just thought they said "nevermore"...
but what do I know? No experience w/ravens - just old 'coots'.

'Love'd seeing 'outre' here close to 'Mr. Hyde'. 'Car talk' from lying car 'ssss'alesmen put me in the same state. 'O-phelia' pain, Hyde, O-phelia' pain. Not even an 'aspirin' 'eased' that discomfort. I just turn to 'wild honey' provided by my local honey b's, Boone being one of them. It's all good.

WH: Great pix! Count me in for riding too. I'll ride whatever you've got to ride.

Splynter: fabulous handsome pix. Good job! Thanks for sharing.

Time to play like Splynter and get the puck outta here. Enjoy your day.

lois said...

Forgot:
WH: Happy Happy birthday!!! I wish you many many more. I'll toast to you continually tonight. We've got it goin' on this week!

Lemonade714 said...

Argyle and the elves:

For a Tuesday Puzzle, Mr. Bickham really had me hopping around looking for a theme.

Okay, I could not resist. I liked SHADY BUNCH:ELMS, STAFF ASSOCIATE:ROD, and the inclusion of RHYME and THYME. Also, like BUNNY and TRAIL together, don’t ask me why.

So many great versions of LOVE IS A MANY SPLENORED THING, I was wondering which one you would pick.

HBDTY WH, a PearlHarbor Day baby; pretty easy to remember. Thanks for the pics, very nice gentlemen; was it at RPI that Splynter played goalie? I watched a few games at that rink, a long time ago.

Up and at em, in the 40’s. Time to move south

creature said...

Good Morning C.C.,Argyle and all,

Thanks Argyle for your super write-up. You threw me a curve, when you said only Seen remarked on Phish. I'm sorry if I missed something, because you are one of my all-time favorite people, and I wouldn't want to disappoint you.

The puzzle had some nice new fill in the corner stacks, that I enjoyed and I too thought 'cawed' was what ravens did, not croaked.

Oh well, live and...

'Outre' is an interesting new form.
All in all, the puzzle was easy, but enjoyable.

Happy Birthday to Windhover, my fav Ky. blogger and many more.

Grumpy, really like your new pic; great couple shot. Definitely better than sunset.

Have a nice day everyone.

creature said...

OOPS- Splynter what accomplishments! and thrilled to see the handsome pics. Thanks.

Dick said...

Good morning Argyle and all, a fun puzzle this morning and just a tad harder than yesterday. I started in the SE corner and worked my way counter clock wise so the unifier was the first thing I got and this made the theme answers easier.

Not a lot to comment on, but I did have a bit of brain fade in the SW corner and it was the last to fall. Cored just did not come to mind as I wanted pared or peeled to go there. I did know Apolo as I have watched him race in the last two or three Olympics. It seems as if he has been skating forever. Like others I thought ravens cawed and not croaked. Oh well! Also, hands up for ivory soap.

I wish you a happy birthday WH. Nice pics of you and Splynter.

Stayed up to watch the Pats and Jets, that turned out to be a waste of time. Glad the Penguins were on as that gave me something to watch.

A bit late today as the snow needed to be plowed from the driveway before DW left for work.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday.

kazie said...

I admit to liking cartalk and to the daily aspirin thing.

I've never used Ivory and hadn't heard of IVORY SNOW, so that was the last to fall for me today. But what really did me in was having ONIEDAS (after changing from EI in the middle to fit with INVITE) instead of OJIBWAS. I didn't know NSA and so never got WILD HONEY. I guess I wasn't too impressed with it after hearing the clip, so probably never noted it back in the day.

Good blogging, Argyle.

Happy Birthday, Windhover!

Husker Gary,
I answered your Oz question last night.

MH said...

This was an enjoyable puzzle. Got the theme pretty quickly but I did have IVORYSOAP initially. Also started off with PARED instead of CORED but in both cases the perps corrected me. Don't think I would have gotten OJIBWAS without perps either.

Great pics of Windhover and Irish, and Splynter. It's cool to see pictures of our fellow solvers/bloggers. Nice blogging Argyle - I admire the person who can solve the puzzle and write the blog before I even get up at 5:30AM PST.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I have been AWOL lately, but am here today. Just in time to have Tinbini dis us former CPA's. Hmmmm. Really, most of us did our best at that job. It is more difficult than one may think.

Liked this puzzle and yesterdays too. Today took me longer than a usual Tuesday, which I think is more fun anyway. Make me think in the am.

I am in a particularly scroogy mood over Christmas lighting. I bought two of those "prelit" trees several years ago. One has been going strong for over 10 years now. The other is the "Nightmare before Christmas" model. After several years of changing out strings and lights (let me tell you it is definitely slave labor that puts those strings on, and what are they thinking when they go from one stray branch to another none of them in a row) I opted to pull the all the lighting off (3 of each 5 strings didn't work anyway) and replace with LED lights. SEVEN, yes SEVEN hours just to remove the 1,200 lights that were on the tree!!!!!!!!!!! Ouch. Now I am researching the LED lights and hearing that some of them are very problematic also.

Any takers on this issue? Anyone have the new LED's on trees and they are/are not working any better? Why spend the extra money? I know that the problem with the old ones were too many lights hooked together. But honestly, the house is a mess with my tree and lighting scattered all over right now.

The rest of my life is equally messy right now as well. But I do the puzzle daily and come here often just to catch up, even though I am not blogging as much.

Windhover - Happy Bday to you guy. What stellar shots. I love the one taken with your gifted camera. So nice. Have a great day.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

Enjoyable puzzle today with only a couple of goof ups that were quickly fixed. I initially entered ivory soap, but the perps got me to snow. What is Ivory Snow?

My original fill for Gov't Hush Hush Agency was CIA, then I went to NRA and ended up with NSA, an agency that I'm not familiar with. My confusion likely comes from having read too much Ludlum.

Atolo was a total unknown and w/o perps, it would still be blank.

Of all the types of bunnies, my favorite still is the Playboy Bunny.

Thankfully I fell asleep in the first half last night because the game was a stinko.

Happy birthday to those celebrating today.... have fun.

Tinbeni said...

KQ
No dis of former CPA's (which I am).
Just stating the facts.

More often than not, I experienced the Partners kissing their clients ass instead of giving them the advice they really needed to hear.

Then there was the Madoff CPA who certified what ...

Husker Gary said...

Argyle and friends, I had no inkling of the theme and the unifier at the very end took me a few seconds too but what a nice payoff and the write-up was enjoyable as well. I really enjoyed the pix of Splynter and Windhover at his Walden Pond in KY! The Hall side of my family comes from KY., maybe we’re…

Musings-
-I looked at the Apolo dancing video twice and I still can’t see him in there!
-RHYME came hard as the RH__ __E stared at me for a minute or so.
-Hand up for IVORYSOAP
-Outre is like Metre when you teach physics
-What is the limit of SSSSSS’s for a snake sound?
-OJIBWAS? Are they related to Johnny Carson’s favorite lost tribe, the FUGOWI’s who every once in a while stop, look around and say, “Where the fugowi?” He got away with that for years in his monologues.
-When did TEEHEE become TEHEE?
-I thought I knew the Beach Boys but I ain’t never heerd of Wild Honey, although anything could have come out of the brilliant/disturbed mind of Brian Wilson. Thanks for the clip!
-I take a low dose aspirin everyday
-Part of that pummeling of the Jets last night was a 5’6” kid from North Platte, Nebraska named Danny Woodhead. He never got an offer from the Huskers and that was when they were really suffering a few years ago. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog!
-Thanks for all the replies (comebacks, good buddies!) on the school year down under!

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning Argyle, CC et al

Thank you Hatool, Clear Ayes and Creature for the compliments on my new Avatar. I figured it was about time to introduce my better half to the blog. Blog, meet Slinky. We both had survived the "till death do us part" thing, found each other and decided to go around one more time. Her nickname comes from her former hobby as a breeder and shower of Oriental cats, known as 'slinkies' for their long tubular bodies.

Pretty easy puzzle today. I knew Apolo from the Olympics. There weren't any total unknowns, just a few entries that took a little effort to bring them up from somewhere 'outre'.

Happy B'Day, Windhover.

Husker Gary said...

My Friends,

As you know, I am usually bringing up Nebraska highlights and I can’t let the Christmas season go by without mentioning one of Omaha’s greatest artists Chip Davis. He formed a wonderful group called Manheim Steamroller and their Christmas Music is amazing and has become the trademark of the group. He had to form an East and West Coast version to play all the dates in cities that want him.

I had a horrible time deciding what link to put in but decided on Joy To The World. Enjoy!!

Anonymous said...

OJIBWAS was a gimme around here as we have so many commercials on TV for the "Milacs Band of the Ojibwas" Casino. Many of the Native American tribes have casinos in Minnesota, so we become familiar with their names only because of their advertising. Funny way to learn them I guess.

Lemonade714 said...

A.

I forgot to mention, for two years when I was driving my youngest to school in the morning, we listened to PHISH every day. They are one of the most inventive and entertaining acts I have heard, because of their humor. They are very interesting and talented. CLIP .

Splynter said...

Hi All ~!

Thank you for the wonderful comments, from each and every one.

windhover, I do know of Junior Brown, and I want one of these pedal steel guitars next!

Lemonade, I didn't skate - played deck hockey, so I wasn't able to play for RPI.

The NHL Devils farm team, the Albany River Rats, played down the road from RPI - those guys play rougher than at the NHL level!

As for the puzzle, I liked the RHYME of cats and bats, which leads to THYME, which leads to MINTIER, and ROYALTY & STATELY in there, too.

The theme tickled me, too, with imaginary BUNNY examples. There's a hint of a Nor'Easter coming at the beginning of next week - too early to say for sure.

thehondohurricane - yeah, the Playboy bunny might not be imaginary, but it's NOT real in my world.

And one last comment; the only Honey Bunny I can recall is from the opening scene of Pulp Fiction - I was going to add the link, but it's a bit "saucy", if you know what I mean.

See you all tomorrow !

Richie Splynter

Grumpy 1 said...

Decorating the Christmas tree was always a special time for my late first wife. I would set up the tree, string the lights and tinsel, put the angel on top and bring down the boxes of ornaments from the attic. Then it was her turn. She collected ornaments through out our 40 plus years together. I would watch as she retrieved each one from it's box and looked at it. Sometimes a smile, sometimes a slight frown, sometimes she would hold one close to her for a few seconds, often a dreamy look on her face. Then she would find that perfect spot on the tree for each one.

Some of the ornaments, I knew what the emotion was, some were known only to her. I never asked. It was her time to reminisce.

Now, we just pull a small pre-decorated tree from the box and set it up. The old boxes of ornaments were passed on to our sons, both of whom still do the ritual of finding the right "real" tree and decorating it.

mtnest995 said...

Good Morning, all. Enjoyable puzzle - just enough to get the juices flowing, but not so tough I needed a V-8 can to the head. Hand up for Ivory Soap. Loved the theme - very clever.

Favorite clue - what cats and bats do.

Thanks, Husker Gary, for the link to Mannheim Steamroller. We saw them in concert a number of years ago at the SF Opera House as part of a SF Symphony concert. They are fabulous. Must be time to dig out their CD's - and Transiberian Orchestra as well.

Happy B-day Windover, hope it's a great one!

Have a great Tuesday everyone.

Annette said...

Easy puzzle for the most part today, with fun, lively clues and entries. Cute theme too.

Windhover, I hope you have a beautiful day, enjoying the outdoors, the simple things in life, a good thought-provoking conundrum, a delicious dinner, a fun night of singing and dancing at the local watering hole, and a lusty night with The Beautiful Irish! There was even a Kentucky reference in today's puzzle for you. Happy birthday, my friend!

HeartRx said...

Good Morning, Argyle, C.C. et al.

An entertaining puzzle today - loved the "BUNNY" theme, and had my own mental images of each of the theme answers. I love it when a puzzle does that for me!

Great write-up, Argyle, as always. I snorted coffee out my nose when I read your comment on 66A SSS. You are too funny! And thanks for the pics of our Windhover and Splynter - very cool! HBD Windhover!

Like many others, I stayed up to watch the football game last night. It's a shame all those Jets fans came all the way to Foxboro just to watch the Patriots "practice". But I liked Tom Brady quoting Bill Bellichik in the post-game interview: "When you win, say little. When you lose, say less." So, that's all I'll say on the subject...

Tinbeni, nice to hear that you are a regular blood donor. I used to work in the blood bank at Mass General, and every year at this time we would run low on blood supplies. So this is a reminder to all you donors and potential donors - the best gift you can give is the gift of life. I salute all who take time out of their busy holiday schedules to make this small sacrifice!

Have a great day everyone!

Argyle said...

Why is it if you take a daily aspirin you shouldn't give blood?

Lemonade714 said...

Heart Rx: Mass Eye and Ear at Mass General is where I had my first corneal transplant back many years ago. Fond memories, sort of.

Anonymous said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy birthday, Windhover. The pix of you and the Irish are spectacular.

Splynter: the pix of you are great. Handsome man!

I am one who takes a daily low-dose aspirin. As a cancer survivor I cannot give blood, unfortunately.

My error in the puzzle was to have confused Aral and Ural. I couldn't figure out what a bag bunny was, but left it.

Great puzzle, great write up, Argyle.

Cheers

Penny Pantyhose said...

Argyle - dahling - I shore did not forget you - I am going to post my 'avatar' - as soon as I can get a photographer ( who doesn't charge me an arm and a LEG ) to click me, appropriately dressed. After all, I have a reputation to uphold. Having chosen my persona, I must now stew in it, or something like that.

One question - Do censorship rules apply to the avatar, just like it applies to posts ? - Or, it is the 'prevailing community standards' ( US Supreme Court decision, 1975 ) - which would mean that the standards would be the same as that previously posted and upheld by the blog commentators ( in short, anything goes - ) ?

I have been psycho-analysing, the people on this blog for some time now, and the only personal mystique I have not yet pierced is that of Hahtool. I have analysed the swaziland/swahili/bantu/Mau-Mau sub-blog - that she lists on her blogger page - and I have narrowed her down to one of 2 persons. hahtool - do you have curly hair ? ( Please feel free not to answer - and BTW, the chief blogger McGeewan is a riot ! - the poor Africans must be shuddering, like witch doctors, every time they hear that a do-gooder american is about to visit their country ! ( lol )

Windhover, you and 'the Irish' could start a revolution - hope you're not farming potatoes - - someone mentioned IRA's in Ky., and they were not talking retirement accounts ! You're one cute couple.

Penny Pantyhose said...

Argyle - about Aspirin and blood donations - Aspirin is supposed to de-clot the blood, and hopefully ( some of the - ) associated pre-formed-clots, as well. I suppose the theory, against blood donation, may be that donors may have 'low clotting' prone-ness in their blood, and that may present a risk to themselves, after the 'donation' part has been completed.( they may still continue to bleeed -). My sig other, uses, half a 325 mg tablet, every night ( the AH is too lazy to cut it further into half, - only 64 mg is required/called for -.)

The Red Cross is probably being overtly cautious, and tries to prevent 'any' risk to the blood donors themselves - after all, this is the USA, and we work under 'zero' risk tolerance, do we not ??

Common sense would probably indicate there is little, if any, risk to the donors - and ofcourse, there is some risk to the recipients ( but then, beggars cant be choosers ). The biggest problem, to blood donation, that I have found, is that the questions asked by the Red Cross are very very personal, and the restrictions, especially for foreign travel, other countries travelled, and residence in other countries ( You can't have lived in England , for the last 20 years - because of Mad Cow disease !@#! ) - make it almost impossible for any american traveller - to EVER donate any blood !!! Picky, picky, picky -

carol said...

Hi everyone,

Hahtool, I wrote LITTER BAGS in for 27A and wondered what the heck a Bag Bunny was :)

Loved the CAT/BAT thingy.

I have never heard of NPR auto show.

At first I thought this was one tough puzzle for a Tuesday, but once I got going, it wasn't that bad. I could not get 60D though...that really threw me and put another dent in the V-8 can. (I have to get more cans)

A very Happy Birthday Windhover!! I know you and the Irish will celebrate in style or wherever you end up ;)

We gave up on a real tree last year because we had just had new carpeting installed in all rooms on the main floor and I didn't want needles stuck in it. I decorated our fake ficus tree with lights and it looked very festive. Also put lights on the mantle and buffet. Lots of time, energy and frustration saved!

More later :)

Lucina said...

Hello, Argyle, et al.

Happy, happy birthday, Windhover! I hope that someday in the future I can take you up on yesterday's offer since our birthdays are so close and we can toast each other.

I love all those photos, WH, Irish and Splynter. We do have handsome people on this blog!

I hopped through this puzzle with the same miscues as many of you: IVORYSOAP and PARED, which really created a mess in the NE, then MINTIER came to the rescue.

Whoever asked about IVORYSNOW, it is detergent in a box and contains actual glossy flakes which when dropped into the washer looks like falling snow.

Mh favs, too, shady bunch? ELMS
what cats and bats do, RHYME
stick in the lake? OAR, which I did not even see until the blog because it just emerged.

I loved seeing APOLO Ohno in the Olympics. He is a fierce competitor and an awesome skater.

Hand up for taking a low dose of aspirin per day. For many years I donated blood until I developed high blood pressure and all that medication in the system forbids it.

WH, I hope you do something really special today. And all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Bill G. said...

I enjoyed the bunny puzzle. Very enjoyable writeup too, as usual. Lots of fun things to enjoy. Cats and bats, Car Talk, etc. I didn't care for the Beach Boys link 'cause I'm an old fogy. It can't hold a candle to Surfin' USA IMHO. I didn't care for the samba with Apolo but Juliane Hough is spectacular. She's even better looking than Art Buchwald! Maybe the discussion of Orange Pekoe was before my time; at least I don't remember it. Happy birthday WH!

Apropos of nothing, I found this quote interesting. It's from Stephen Hawking in Time Magazine. "Observations indicate that the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate. It will expand forever, getting emptier and darker. Although the universe doesn't have an end, it had a beginning in the Big Bang. One might ask what is before that, but the answer is that there is nowhere before the Big Bang, just as there is nowhere south of the South Pole."

windhover said...

PennyP:
Thanks for the compliment. If you have some pics you think might not meet "community" standards, just send 'em on over. I'll be happy to make the call, and might evenntrade you a few.
And if you have successfully psychoanalyzed moi, please send the results along with the pics. I've been trying to figure out what I was going to be when I grow up for 50 years. I recently read one should always seek a second opinion.

Lemonade714 said...

PP,

You are a trip, but you should assist your Dear Husband and let him know about 81 MG ASPIRIN , it even comes in Cherry so he can chew them.

Look forward to your semi-intelligible commentary on the characters of the corner.

Steven Haking may be smart but his guesswork about life is nothing more than guesswork; educated perhaps, but empirically only theories.

Tinbeni said...

Penny Pantyhose
When I first gave blood, on my 18th birthday (you can now donate at 16) there were eight (8) questions.

Now I think there are sixty (60).

I dont mind them, but jeez, they do get into everything.

I figure it is like having a quick "check-up" every two months, usually on the 23rd.
Since I gave before Halloween, I will donate on Christmas Eve, Eve.

Jeannie said...

Well this snow bunny really enjoyed this puzzle today. I guess I am one of the only ones that didn’t type in Ivory soap for Ivory snow. I vaguely remember my mom using that as our laundry detergent. My favorite clues were the same as everyone else’s today so no need to reiterate. I loved watching Opolo Ohno speed skate. He sure has some thighs on him! I am not a kayaking lover in the least. I don’t like the feeling of my legs being trapped. I disagree with you, Argyle on whether Emo Phillips is an alleged comedian. I have seen him a couple of times live and it’s all in his delivery. Ones I probably wouldn’t have gotten save the perps were Ira, and Roi but they filled themselves in.

Splynter, I enjoyed seeing your nice photos. Have you always played goalie? How about lost a tooth? That’s one rough sport. No matter how many times “icing” has been described to me I still don’t get it. I too thought of Pulp Fiction when I saw “honey bunny”.

Grumpy1, your story of your deceased wife and her emotions regarding her ornaments touched my heart. Each one of mine tell a story too.

Last but not least, Happy Birthday to my favorite farmer. May you follow your own advice given to others in the past celebrating their special day to do whatever you want today! Short of feeding your animals, you should do nothing regarding farming today!

windhover said...

Aah Jeannie,
Thank you dear, but farming isn't my job, it's my life. Nevertheless, I am sticking close to the wood stove today until something hotter brings my puzzle to solve.
And hopefully, the crossword, too.

john28man said...

Happy Birthday, Windhover!

As a farmer I suppose you wonder why SOY is always spelled SOYA. Maybe because the constuctor wants a four letter word with two vowels.

It bothers me though because I was involved in engineering of soybean processing plants.

HeartRx said...

Argyle,

Actually, aspirin is only prohibited if you are planning to donate platelets by "apheresis". In this procedure, blood is withdrawn from the donor, and goes into a machine which separates the plasma, platelets or other components desired. The unneeded portion of the blood is then returned to the donor using the same line.

One of the most important types of apheresis is "Platelet Donation". These donations are used for patients who have certain diseases (like cancer) that cause reduced platelet count. Because platelets (the small cells that help form clots) are compromised by aspirin, these types of donors should not take any aspirin containing drugs within 48 hours of donating. It has nothing to do with "protecting" the donor from bleeding after donation.

There is no time restriction when donating a pint of whole blood.

Robin said...

Fun puzzle and x 3 on Pulp Fiction for me.

Happy, Happy Birthday WH!

Splynter, love the pictures.

76 here in Phoenix and today I'm planning on baking gingerbread "men" for Christmas, to give to the girl friends. ;)

Jerome said...

Wow, a theme inspired by Warren!

Uninspired-

ROYALTY- Campanella, Kaline, Cobb.

"Where are you going, OPHELIA?"
"LA, I HOPE"

In some Old Testament translations OJIBWAS is Hebrew for I WAS JOB.

Bats and cats RHYME but MR. HYDE RHYMED.

God does have a sense of humor. Out of COSMIC DUST were created COMIC STUDS.

kazie said...

Carol,
I highly recommend Car Talk on NPR for a good giggle every Saturday morning. We listen often in the car on the way somewhere for the day. I think it starts at 9am here in the Midwest. Check your local listings. Don't forget to stay tuned for the credits at the end of each show--hilarious!

carol said...

Kazie, is Car Talk about cars?? or a comedy show? I cannot imagine listening to anything about transmissions, radiators, fuel lines etc. LOL - We do have a car talk show on a local radio station but I never listen, preferring to listen to the gardening program.

Rob said...

Hello everyone, thanks for the warm welcomes yesterday! This was a fun puzzle, growing up Bugsbunny was my favorite cartoon next to the Roadrunner.
I had no real problems and really liked the answer OOMPH to 15A. I also wanted to put sleep in for what cats and bats do since mine sleeps all day, my cat that is.
Hope everyone has a great day. And Remember Pearl Harbor.

Linda said...

WH (alias: The Farmer in the dell): Happy birthday and MANY more!

carol said...

Rob, I forgot to welcome you yesterday! We were all newbies here at one time. It's a great group of diverse people.
ps Roadrunner is my all time favorite cartoon, I would still watch it if I could find it :)

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone,
I just wanted to comment on Raven's croaking. There is a fantastic book out by Bernd Heinrich on Raven Behavior. "Croaking" is one of the Editorial comments that came up when I Googled. The title is "Mind of the Raven" and if you enjoy books about animals--even if that isn't your favorite topic, this book is a must read.

Also I wanted to wish WH a very happy birthday.

I'm off for another busy afternoon for a fund raiser tea. I'll enjoy the tea, but the Juvenile center will be the recipients of some very needed warm clothing and cash.

More later.

eddyB said...

Hi all.

Thises and thats.

Listened to Sharks game on WXYT-FM from Detroit. Sharks now tied for 8th seed in the West.

Pen's winning streak now at 10 games.

Hand up for Soap.

Hand up for daily, baby Bayer - 65 mg. Yahoo.com has article on aspirin and cancer.

Zooatlanta.org showing off baby panda. Cute little guy. Mother,
Lun Lun = ? Help here.

Clear blue skies. Maybe I'll get to see sun set and stars tonight.

Take care.

Tinbeni said...

Rob
I never forget Pearl Harbor Day.

Down here my Illinois neighbor (99, 100 on Jan.1st), a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, who does call my Scion Tc "a Jap Car" (go ahead Jerome, take your shot) ... just went out to get his mail.

We had a nice conversation. He said the news-reels and movies don't even come close to the events of that day.

It's 51 degrees currently, I had on sweat pants and sweat shirt ... He said he felt great in his shorts and t-shirt.

HeartRx
Here in Fla, if I had taken an aspirin within three (3) days of when I'm donating they will ask me to return after their 72 hour limit.

kazie said...

Carol,
It is about cars--sort of. People call in with their mechanical mystery problems and the two brothers, both mechanical engineers, try to come up with solutions, but do so with a lot of joshing back and forth, making fun of each other in the process. They usually have a riddle question too that people can call in to answer for the next week. There's a lot of punning and word play in the process, especially in the credit names at the end.

Penny Pantyhose said...

This is for Jeannie - Yesterday, you said you went thru school, in the normal way (!), and turned out just fine (!), with a career you liked -

J, if you can do the Monday Xword, you are in the top 10 percent of the literacy chart; atleast 25 to 30 percent of Americans are 'functionally' illiterate. The abysmal lack of basic math, science and english skills is killing this country of ours.

Last Jan 2 ( 2010), I was on the sidewalk of a store, in suburban DC, buying Godiva Chocl's at 70% off. The price was 5 for $ 89.00. The shop asst. was a HSSH - high school seasonal help. I bought 9 boxes. She said she would charge me $ 89 for the first 5, and then - $ 10 each for the remaining 4. Wow ! another discount ! It was not until I reached home, I realized why she did that. She couldn't divide 89 by 5, and round up the answer to the next dollar.( $ 19 each - )- So, she gave me break, so I wouldn't complain to the store, and 'covered' up her lack of skills by stiffing the management.

Thats why, we have hundreds of jobs, begging for applicants,- ( mostly in healthcare - radiology asst, resprty therapist etc., ) and an unemployment rate of 12%. The times, when 'anybody' could get a job, out of high school is long gone - and our tech advantage over the rest of the world is very very narrow - unless you are personally educated enough, you will never land a job.

Jeannie said...

Penny Pantyhose, geez sometimes I can even do the Thursday and Friday puzzles. I must be a genius!

I personally believe it is up to the parents to make sure that they are involved in the learning process of their children. Mine were and as a result my brother is a mechanical engineer, one sister is the quality control manager for a large baby food company, my other sister is a teacher and I am a buyer. I guess the point I was trying to make is that our K-12 school system seemed to work out just fine for my family. We all went on to college and although we were kind of nudged to do so, we all graduated in our fields of choice.

kazie said...

Not to disparage the achievements of anyone here, but have you ever wondered why the first year of college for most US students consists of general education type courses? In most western countries, an undergraduate degree is only 3 years versus 4 here, since those qualifying courses are all completed in high school.

I don't advocate teaching to a test, but in countries where a national or state matriculation exam is needed to enter college or uni, it ensures a uniform level of achievement for all who enter tertiary institutions, and they don't need the extra courses in the first year.

This could be a part of why we look so bad when compared with those countries. Standards for HS graduation here are local, and probably very few schools, rural and in poverty areas especially, reach the same level as the best schools in the country.

Committed Asian Woman said...

Penny ( For- ?) Pantyhose says she bought chocolates at 5 for $ 89.00, and that they should have cost $ 19.00 each, if they had been sold individually.

If MY math serves me right, $ 89.00 for 5 (boxes) is $ 17.80 each, or (rounded up to - ) individually at $ 18.00 a box.

Methinks, our math skills need more reinforcement than appears apparent to the naked eye. Penny wise - Pound foolish - as Nice Cuppa might murmur.

Hahtool, now WHAT is that red cigar your avatar cat is smoking ?

windhover said...

Uhh, PennyP, I'm still waiting for those pics, and BTW, here in Kentucky (49th in Education, thank god for Mississippi) the next dollar round up from $89 would be $90, yielding a per box price of $18, not $19.

And we have 12% unemployment and all the other maladies you mentioned not because we are a nation of stupid f@"$?!g idiots, but because that's the way the Masters of the Universe, i.e., our oligarchic ruling class, want it. Cheap food, cheap labor, work ethic, complacent with bread (cheap food) and circus (TV, primarily).

I now return you to your regular programming, and return to the relative serenity that was my birthday before you tripped my trigger.
Saving #5 for later. Much later.

Hahtoolah said...

Question: Who was the original baby on the Ivory Snow detergent box? Remember, the slogan for Ivory Snow was that it was 99 44/100% pure.

creature said...

WH- since today's your b'day and since I have only used 2 of my posts, I would like to donate 2 of my remaining posts to you, if the powers that be allow such a birthday present and feel that is fair. C.C., I hope this is not putting you on the spot. Maybe my 2could be cashed in for only 1 extra. I will understand, whichever way you rule and thanks for letting me post here.

Lemonade714 said...

Fishy:

Are you baking those anatomically correct (well perhaps out of proportion) gingerbread men again? Take some pics and send them to the ladies.

What in the world does Pulp Fiction x3 mean?

CAW and PP both on the same day, plus Rob came back; where are you Kath?

Education is such a complicated issue, especially considering the brighter high school students take ap classes and tests and avoid what Kazie refers to as the wasted year.

Tinbeni, knowing the use of perjoratives offends people, why would you go out of your way to do so again? Your comment about your friend was not enhanced in any way by your gratutitous nastieness. I had many relatives who died in Nazi death camps, and you do not see me using cheap shots to villify Germans. The world has changed and it is neither amusing nor inspirational to see such foolishness. Knock it off, please...

Anonymous said...

Marilyn Chambers
This anonymous post from a birthday celebrants trying to save his last post.

Hahtoolah said...

Windhover, You crack me up! Did you remember Marilyn or did you recognize her picture?

ltl (long time lurker) said...

creature, with dennis gone now, i think we can pretty much do what we want.

ltl said...

lemonade, i appreciate your comment about tinbeni's use of perjoratives again. there's no need for it.
and tinbeni, while i have the utmost respect for those who 'contribute to society', i.e. salvation army, giving blood, visiting hospitals, i have little respect for those who must tell others about it.

Lemonade714 said...

Hahtool and Windhover, you are spreading the false rumor that the baby was MARILYN CHAMBERS the porn star ( Behind the Green Door etc., but she was the mother not the baby

windhover said...

A quick trip to Snopes confirms that as is usually the case, my friend Lemonade is exactly right. I stand corrected.
Now, since this is my fifth and last (thanks for the offer Creature, but I don't think it works that way, or should)
Legitimate post, I'll take this opportunity to thank everyone for their warm birthday wishes today. Being a very small part of this blog has enriched my life in ways that I would have scoffed at before I discovered it. Other than Crossword Corner, my main activity on the Internet is checking the weather. I'm a reader and a tech Luddite, and the discovery of this blog and all of you brings me back daily. Thanks to all of you.
As for the anon's assertion that we can do as we please with Dennis gone, how ridiculous. Besides, we have LTL as our online conscience. He/she has reined me in several times, and rightfully so.
Good night to you. Let's do this again tomorrow.
Almost forgot - thank you, too, Linda.

HeartRx said...

Hahtool, I remember that Brooke Shields was an Ivory Soap baby. But I don't know if she was the "original" one?

Tinbeni, the American Red Cross does not prohibit aspirin ingestion for whole blood donors. I am not sure why your local blood bank in Florida has this restriction. If anyone is planning to donate, they should check with their local chapter.

Splynter said...

Hello Again ~,

Well, thanks again for the flattery, and I will see if I can't respond to some of the other comments;

First, I too would like to know Penny Pantyhose's take on my personality from here at the crossword blog (and pics, too);

Jeannie - no, started out as a forward, but back in 2000, no one wanted to play goal, so I stepped in and gave it a shot (or is that a save?) - still have all the teeth, but dislocated my shoulder about 2 years ago making a save...

We have a Pearl Harbor Memorial bridge at the intersection of 97 and 25, and I drove across it this morning (BTW, those are RTEs, for crossword's sake)

Pulp Fiction x3 is just that 3 people thought of the opening scene with Honey Bunny...

Have to agree with windhover, too, on our present system of government.

Waiting to see what his final will be....

See you all in the AM !

Splynter

carol said...

WH (4:14) I agree...when the people in this country begin to go to bed hungry things will change...until then nothing will change.
Sorry your birthday serenity was upset. I am sure the Irish will get you back on balance.

LTL: Dennis is not 'gone', he is busy with his business's. Gotta respect HIS work ethic. We also respect his MOREL attitude. :0

Committed Asian Woman said...

Hahtool - ( in re your question - How did you know it was Marilyn Chambers, etc., ? -)

Her name was printed - was in the 'picture credits', on the upper left hand corner of the page you led us to - ( I can read, just as well as the guy next door -). Except that I did NOT know who t-- H--- Marilyn Chambers is/was - I guess she was before my time.( I thought she might have been related to the 'Chambers' involved in the Alger Hiss espionage case - vis a vis Richard Nixon investigation )

So now I find out she is/was a porn star - whoo hoo - still does not make much sense - I guess she was photogenic - well, more power to her.

See you all later.

Windhover, try not to spend your birthday gift money all in one place. You are one hell of a decent man ( ofcourse, there are many others on this blog, as well - ) and you renew my faith in humanity - or atleast the humanity of most Americans.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Evening All, Sorry to be so late. We got home from "Tuesday In Modesto"about an hour ago. We got our newspaper before 8 AM, so I had the fun of doing the puzzle on paper while bumping along our two-lane roads.

I'm not a big Dancing With The Stars fan, but I did know who APOLO Ohno is. Even though they weren't all gold, he is the most decorated American Winter Olympic athlete of all time.

Jeannie, I agree about EMO Philips, "it’s all in his delivery". I did a "G" on him and found out that much of his humor depends on the use of...here's the word of the day... paraprosdokian (from Greek meaning "beyond" and "expectation") "is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part". That's definitely EMO.

Splynter@9:15 @6:00 I wondered how a hockey player could still be in possession of all his teeth. Thanks for the explanation and the great photos. Robin, we do love our hockey players, don't we?

There was a news article yesterday about a study that was conducted in England recently. There is evidence that taking a low-dose aspirin significantly reduces the death rate from several types of cancer. The researchers don't know why (isn't that often the case) and so the research goes on.

I used to donate blood regularly, but now, except for a weekly blood test, donation is a thing of the past. Too bad....I liked the cookies and juice.

itl, I don't think tinbeni was bragging. We all have mentioned various interests and charities we take part in. It did bring up an interesting conversation about "to aspirin or not to aspirin".

PennyP, looking forward to your analysis of the blog individuals. It should be thought provoking and make for some VERY interesting comments.

Last of all, congratulations of the day go to The Irish....lucky lady.

Bob said...

Another easy one (10 minutes). An interesting mix of diverse things: CARTALK next to a Hamlet reference. RENOIR next to OJIBWA. LITTERBUGS and COSMICDUST. You can't fault this puzzle for lack of variety.

Of course, I liked the BUNNY theme.

Bob said...

WH: Happy Birthday. I wish I had a good copy of Peter Schickele's classic "The Farmer on the Dole" to send you for your birthday, just for laughs, but all I've got to offer is a bad copy of him doing it live on an old episode of the Smothers Brothers show from the 1960's. Sorry...the best I can do. Hope you enjoy it:

THE FARMER ON THE DOLE

Jeannie said...

Pennypantyhose, Just being a Mon-Wed maybe Thurs, Friday solver, and somewhat of a math whiz...(Thanks Dad)! I did that one in my head and knew it was wrong. I followed my Mom's sense of "Southern Belle" (that was for you, WH) hospitality and just let it go. I did get your point however. I like to go into a store and if the amount is $5.41, I like to throw them off and give them $6.01 after they have rung in my $6.00 just to see if I have thrown them off. The problem is, their cash registers these days give them the amount to give back after the first amount is keyed in. I am happy to say that in rural MN, the clerks all seem to know how to give back the correct change. It seems I should shop where you are...I love Godiva chocolates, where-ever that may be, as your profile is not filled in. I am also interested in knowing more about you; where you live, what you do. I am also very curious about your take on Jeannie, (me, myself, and I) to see how close your physchoanalysis might be.

dodo said...

Better late than never! Hi, all,

Just wanted to add to the birthday greetings to you, Windhover. Happy Birthday and many more; at least 20, that I can recommend. After that, I can't say.

Penny Panty, Bear in mind that this group meets the qualifications for what Garrison Keiller says about the children of Lake Wobegon: " all above aveerage!"

Oh yes, I was an 81gm aspirin taker until a few weeks ago when my cardiologist took me off of them in favor of warfarin. It happens!

mtnest995 said...

To LTL - your comment about those who "give" and "do" is so right on the money. We have "friends" who are more concerned with telling about their "giving" than the actual act of giving, if you get my drift. Hope you don't mind, but I copied and printed your comment to hang somewhere. Amen, Brother, Sister, whoever. Thanks for putting into words what I've been trying to articulate for a long time!

Clear Ayes said...

Nope, ltl and mtnest995, I can't agree. Was Chickie@2:15 bragging? I sure don't think so. She is a lovely person (I've met her) who is genuinely devoted to the charities she supports. She thinks they are worthwhile mentioning. So do many other posters who support other, just as worthwhile, charities and causes.

mtnest995@10:37, not always annoying, it is pitiable when "friends" damn themselves with overabundant praise of their own good deeds and generosity. Even if you print out ltl's comments, and use them as place cards at dinner, they probably won't think you are referring to them. If they do take it personally, you will have hurt their tenderest feelings, which must be much in need of validation. Sounds like "lose-lose".

Here's a late night Dorothy Parker take:

Braggart

The days will rally, wreathing
Their crazy tarantelle;
And you must go on breathing,
But I’ll be safe in hell.

Like January weather,
The years will bite and smart,
And pull your bones together
To wrap your chattering heart.

The pretty stuff you’re made of
Will crack and crease and dry.
The thing you are afraid of
Will look from every eye.

You will go faltering after
The bright, imperious line,
And split your throat on laughter,
And burn your eyes with brine.

You will be frail and musty
With peering, furtive head,
Whilst I am young and lusty
Among the roaring dead.

- Dorothy Parker

Almost 10PM here, so it must be bedtime. Promise I'll be more upbeat tomorrow.

Lucina said...

It's quite late but I wanted to say how much I have enjoyed reading today's posts. What a lively discussion!

It's final exam week so "busy" is the watchword and I'll be scarce.

Good night, everyone!

Jeannie said...

Jeannie with insomnia....Re: prev comments WOW!! BTW, not liking it, not sleeping that is. Fermatprime I feel your pain, as I have to "attempt" to fall asleep and get up tomorrow, put my happy face on and do it all over again. At least there is a cutting tomorrow, which means "free lunch".