Theme: I’m from Boston, and er, ah, you like how I pahk my cah? You take a phrase in the language and change the ER ending into A so it might sound like said by a Bostonian, but transforming the answer into a new and witty sound alike. Wicked cool. As a born and bred New Englandah, I enjoyed the theme, though I struggled with the first entry.
20A. Heavy metal mimic?: HARD ROCK MYNA, anyone ready to hear my story about the bird who sang like Pavorotti again? Did you know MYNAS (or MYNAHS) are members of the starling family? There really is a type of mining done by a HARD ROCK MINERS which I did not know.
28A. Nickname for a pharmaceuticals czar?: PILL PAPA. Sadly, we probably all know a PILL POPPER.
37A. Surfing-induced torpor?: BEACH COMA. Torpor is a nice word, and BEACHCOMBER is a single word which changes into a phrase.
49A. Sailor's pocket bread?: SALT PITA. Lots going on here, SALT as a sailor and bread as , well bread. When I was away at boarding school, the baker told me they really put SALTPETER in the food at our school. It does yield the interesting word anaphrodisiac.
56A. Heavenly food on the nightstand?: BEDSIDE MANNA. My uncle was a doctor, and the patients loved his BEDSIDE MANNER.
Heigh ho all, it is once again Freighday, and for the whole bunch of us with ties the northeast this was a really fun puzzle. In addition to the 5 theme answers, we had another twelve words ending in “A.” So let’s go…
Across:
1. Cape Cod feature: GABLE. Continuing with the New England theme, I grew up in this type HOUSE with the shed dormers.
6. Valentine trim: LACE. We are starting early with our frilly clues.
10. Embezzle: SKIM. I am not sure, but I imagine this comes from the cream rising to the top of milk, and someone stealing the best part.
14. Medicinal plants: ALOES. Our crosswordese of the day.
15. Comet competitor: AJAX. Cleaners, not things in the sky. I had a fish named AJAX, he was a red betta, named after the redheaded giant warrior in the Aeneid.
16. Plantation near Twelve Oaks: TARA. Looks like Gone With the Wind will follow me for a while.
17. Like ESP?: SIXTH. SENSE I enjoyed the movie; it had an unrelated Osmond as well.
18. __ avis: RARA. This rare bird is pretty common in puzzles.
19. Prince William's alma mater: ETON. Their major rival is HARROW, don’t ask me why.
23. Exotic guided tour: SAFARI. Oh my, back to planning a honeymoon.
26. Subway co. in a 1959 song: MTA. Of course the M is for Massachusetts, (Transit Authority) so it fits our puzzle, as well as giving us the KINGSTON TRIO .
27. Flop: DOG. This was my difficult corner, and frankly Scarlett, I do not get the clue. Oh, I just got it, the play was a flop, a dog, a bomb; okay.
31. Aim high: ASPIRE. Dream big.
33. Commotion: ADO. Much of it can become a play.
34. Chapeau's perch: TETE. The mandatory French lesson from my write ups, Chapeau being a HAT and TETE is head.
36. One bearing down: EIDER. Really cute use of language, and play on bearing down.
40. Williams of ''Happy Days'': ANSON. Potsie, who became a director.
43. Peevish, as a puss: SOUR. We all know some, but I will stop there to prevent getting in trouble.
44. One shooting the bull?: VET. Nice misdirection again, inoculating by a veterinarian, not telling stories or killing anything.
47. Sharp Italian cheese: ROMANO. Or annoying TV comedian.
52. 11th-century date: MVI. Oh no, the dread roman numeral clue!
53. Mantel piece: URN. I once made the mistake of picking up one on the mantelpiece when I was picking up a woman foe a date, only to learn I had just met her first husband.
55. Crankcase reservoir: OIL PAN. This should have been next to Gasoline Alley.
60. Bit of plankton: ALGA. While a whale may go through tons, a human cannot digest most plankton.
61. C-3PO worshiper: EWOK. Gotta love a robot with a British accent.
62. Where to see government programs: CSPAN. CABLE SATELLITE PUBLIC AFFAIRS NETWORK.
66. Nat or Card: NLER.I like baseball, but if I do not see and NLER or an ALER anytime soon I will be happy.
67. Sparkling wine city: ASTI. Don’t call it champagne.
68. Elicit a :-) from: AMUSE. Now even puzzles speak in emoticons. LMAO.
69. Dismally damp: DANK. I do loves me a good alliteration and this carries through the clue and answer.
70. "Lolita" star Sue: LYON. I am not sure what happened to this YOUNG LADY but I do know she dated Donovan Leitch; does that help?
71. Pram occupant's wear: NAPPY. A touch of old England to go along with our puzzle, with PRAM being what they call a baby carriage, and NAPPY is a diaper. NC, your thoughts? You can change your mind.
Okay, take a break, have another sip of coffee, and then…
DOWN:
1. State of matter: GAS. Boom, a quick clecho with 51D. State of matter: PLASMA. When was a kid in school when we spoke of STATE OF MATTER we had only gas, liquid and solid; then again the periodic table had only 4 elements, FIRE, WATER, AIR and BILE.
2. Fighter who was a dove: ALI. Muhammed who would not go to VietNam but did 3D. Emulate 2-Down: BOX.
4. Ruinous: LETHAL. I do not think of these as synonymous, but that is just me.
5. F equivalent: ESHARP. JzB, I defer to you on all musical stuff.
6. Blubber: LARD. Man all of a sudden I am the synonym police, while both of these relate to fat, I do not see them as the same thing.
7. Slightly gapped: AJAR. When is a door not a door?
8. Ricochet: CAROM. We had pool table when I was young, so I learned all about ANGLES .
9. Long-odds track wager: EXACTA. Actually a PICK SIX or even a TRIFECTA is harder.
10. Stalk: STEM. For some reason, my first thought was of stalkers.
11. Insect that can mimic a leaf: KATYDID. We had lots of these BUGS when I was growing up in Connecticut, they are kind cool.
12. Cargo on the Edmund Fitzgerald when it sank in Lake Superior: IRON ORE. I did not know that fact, is it mentioned in the SONG ?
13. Recipient of an annual baseball award since 1983: MANAGER. Did not know this easier and that corner was my only slow spot.
21. Rodeo prop: RIATA. ALI pioneered the ROPE A DOPE for his fight against George Foreman.
22. "Casey's Top 40" host: KASEM. He has a 6’ tall wife, Jean who was born in New Hampshire, and was very funny as the second Mrs. Tortelli on Cheers which was set in Boston.
23. Bad Ems attraction: SPA. In case you did not know it, this is a town in the Rhineland, now part of Germany, which I know was part of the Roman incursion into the area. Helps to have a son who studies this stuff.
24. Give a leg up: AID.
25. Showman Ziegfeld: FLO. He was a German immigrant and did great things for American MUSICAL THEATER .
29. Chest muscles, briefly: PECS. No more today girls.
30. Oldest musketeer: ATHOS. I did not ever think about which among this group was the oldest.
32. Zadora of "Hairspray": PIA. Like Sue Lyon, her early film role was in Butterfly as the object of affection of an older man, only Pia did one better, as her lover was her father. In real life she married a 54 year old man when she was 23, but he was rich, and she has had a nice life.
35. OAS member: ECUA. Once again and Ecuador reference, I hope one day to tell great Ecuador stories; I already can tell you about the cocal leaf teas they gave my business partner, but that isn’t very interesting.
37. Zookeeper's main squeeze?: BOA. Oh how cute, a nice change from our ASP.
38. Lassitude: ENNUI. Well here is the ultimate cracked clecho, because this also mean BOREDOM, which could be BOADOM, id from Bahston.
39. DuPont's Fiber A, now: ORLON. Why orlon or nylon or rayon?
40. Worn symbol of support: ARM BAND. Sadly the best know being those of Nazi Germany.
41. "Billy Budd," e.g.: NOVELLA. A controversial little novel, with homosexual undertones.
42. Wee bit: SMIDGEN.
44. Certain lounge frequenter: VIP. They exist in other places than strip clubs guys.
45. SFO listing: ETA. SFO is the code for San Francisco airport.
46. Soak up some rays: TAN. It was 81 today.
48. Tough test: ORDEAL. Related to ORLON?
50. Object of a kicking game: TIN CAN. Ah yes, when we were young and poor, we played kick the can.
54. Like a thorough update: NEWSY. Meh.
57. Cutty __: historic clipper ship: SARK. This is an interesting CLIPPER SHIP and malt whiskey.
58. Agent inspired by Chan: MOTO. Another inscrutable Asian detective, played by Peter Lorre in the movies.
59. Like, with "to": AKIN.
63. Minor crying wolf?: PUP. Yes, wolf babies are pups also.
64. Egyptian viper: ASP. Oh no, the damn ASP was here after all!
65. Napoleonic Wars marshal: NEY. He is becoming a pretty common visitor.
Answer grid.
Wow, I felt like a kid again, thanks for having me in your homes; until next time be sure and use a good hand sanitizer like GermX, and be kind.
Lemonade
Note from C.C.:
Today marks the 3rd anniversary of this blog. I want to thank everyone, esp my dedicated blogging crew and regular commenters for making this a fun adventure.
20A. Heavy metal mimic?: HARD ROCK MYNA, anyone ready to hear my story about the bird who sang like Pavorotti again? Did you know MYNAS (or MYNAHS) are members of the starling family? There really is a type of mining done by a HARD ROCK MINERS which I did not know.
28A. Nickname for a pharmaceuticals czar?: PILL PAPA. Sadly, we probably all know a PILL POPPER.
37A. Surfing-induced torpor?: BEACH COMA. Torpor is a nice word, and BEACHCOMBER is a single word which changes into a phrase.
49A. Sailor's pocket bread?: SALT PITA. Lots going on here, SALT as a sailor and bread as , well bread. When I was away at boarding school, the baker told me they really put SALTPETER in the food at our school. It does yield the interesting word anaphrodisiac.
56A. Heavenly food on the nightstand?: BEDSIDE MANNA. My uncle was a doctor, and the patients loved his BEDSIDE MANNER.
Heigh ho all, it is once again Freighday, and for the whole bunch of us with ties the northeast this was a really fun puzzle. In addition to the 5 theme answers, we had another twelve words ending in “A.” So let’s go…
Across:
1. Cape Cod feature: GABLE. Continuing with the New England theme, I grew up in this type HOUSE with the shed dormers.
6. Valentine trim: LACE. We are starting early with our frilly clues.
10. Embezzle: SKIM. I am not sure, but I imagine this comes from the cream rising to the top of milk, and someone stealing the best part.
14. Medicinal plants: ALOES. Our crosswordese of the day.
15. Comet competitor: AJAX. Cleaners, not things in the sky. I had a fish named AJAX, he was a red betta, named after the redheaded giant warrior in the Aeneid.
16. Plantation near Twelve Oaks: TARA. Looks like Gone With the Wind will follow me for a while.
17. Like ESP?: SIXTH. SENSE I enjoyed the movie; it had an unrelated Osmond as well.
18. __ avis: RARA. This rare bird is pretty common in puzzles.
19. Prince William's alma mater: ETON. Their major rival is HARROW, don’t ask me why.
23. Exotic guided tour: SAFARI. Oh my, back to planning a honeymoon.
26. Subway co. in a 1959 song: MTA. Of course the M is for Massachusetts, (Transit Authority) so it fits our puzzle, as well as giving us the KINGSTON TRIO .
27. Flop: DOG. This was my difficult corner, and frankly Scarlett, I do not get the clue. Oh, I just got it, the play was a flop, a dog, a bomb; okay.
31. Aim high: ASPIRE. Dream big.
33. Commotion: ADO. Much of it can become a play.
34. Chapeau's perch: TETE. The mandatory French lesson from my write ups, Chapeau being a HAT and TETE is head.
36. One bearing down: EIDER. Really cute use of language, and play on bearing down.
40. Williams of ''Happy Days'': ANSON. Potsie, who became a director.
43. Peevish, as a puss: SOUR. We all know some, but I will stop there to prevent getting in trouble.
44. One shooting the bull?: VET. Nice misdirection again, inoculating by a veterinarian, not telling stories or killing anything.
47. Sharp Italian cheese: ROMANO. Or annoying TV comedian.
52. 11th-century date: MVI. Oh no, the dread roman numeral clue!
53. Mantel piece: URN. I once made the mistake of picking up one on the mantelpiece when I was picking up a woman foe a date, only to learn I had just met her first husband.
55. Crankcase reservoir: OIL PAN. This should have been next to Gasoline Alley.
60. Bit of plankton: ALGA. While a whale may go through tons, a human cannot digest most plankton.
61. C-3PO worshiper: EWOK. Gotta love a robot with a British accent.
62. Where to see government programs: CSPAN. CABLE SATELLITE PUBLIC AFFAIRS NETWORK.
66. Nat or Card: NLER.I like baseball, but if I do not see and NLER or an ALER anytime soon I will be happy.
67. Sparkling wine city: ASTI. Don’t call it champagne.
68. Elicit a :-) from: AMUSE. Now even puzzles speak in emoticons. LMAO.
69. Dismally damp: DANK. I do loves me a good alliteration and this carries through the clue and answer.
70. "Lolita" star Sue: LYON. I am not sure what happened to this YOUNG LADY but I do know she dated Donovan Leitch; does that help?
71. Pram occupant's wear: NAPPY. A touch of old England to go along with our puzzle, with PRAM being what they call a baby carriage, and NAPPY is a diaper. NC, your thoughts? You can change your mind.
Okay, take a break, have another sip of coffee, and then…
DOWN:
1. State of matter: GAS. Boom, a quick clecho with 51D. State of matter: PLASMA. When was a kid in school when we spoke of STATE OF MATTER we had only gas, liquid and solid; then again the periodic table had only 4 elements, FIRE, WATER, AIR and BILE.
2. Fighter who was a dove: ALI. Muhammed who would not go to VietNam but did 3D. Emulate 2-Down: BOX.
4. Ruinous: LETHAL. I do not think of these as synonymous, but that is just me.
5. F equivalent: ESHARP. JzB, I defer to you on all musical stuff.
6. Blubber: LARD. Man all of a sudden I am the synonym police, while both of these relate to fat, I do not see them as the same thing.
7. Slightly gapped: AJAR. When is a door not a door?
8. Ricochet: CAROM. We had pool table when I was young, so I learned all about ANGLES .
9. Long-odds track wager: EXACTA. Actually a PICK SIX or even a TRIFECTA is harder.
10. Stalk: STEM. For some reason, my first thought was of stalkers.
11. Insect that can mimic a leaf: KATYDID. We had lots of these BUGS when I was growing up in Connecticut, they are kind cool.
12. Cargo on the Edmund Fitzgerald when it sank in Lake Superior: IRON ORE. I did not know that fact, is it mentioned in the SONG ?
13. Recipient of an annual baseball award since 1983: MANAGER. Did not know this easier and that corner was my only slow spot.
21. Rodeo prop: RIATA. ALI pioneered the ROPE A DOPE for his fight against George Foreman.
22. "Casey's Top 40" host: KASEM. He has a 6’ tall wife, Jean who was born in New Hampshire, and was very funny as the second Mrs. Tortelli on Cheers which was set in Boston.
23. Bad Ems attraction: SPA. In case you did not know it, this is a town in the Rhineland, now part of Germany, which I know was part of the Roman incursion into the area. Helps to have a son who studies this stuff.
24. Give a leg up: AID.
25. Showman Ziegfeld: FLO. He was a German immigrant and did great things for American MUSICAL THEATER .
29. Chest muscles, briefly: PECS. No more today girls.
30. Oldest musketeer: ATHOS. I did not ever think about which among this group was the oldest.
32. Zadora of "Hairspray": PIA. Like Sue Lyon, her early film role was in Butterfly as the object of affection of an older man, only Pia did one better, as her lover was her father. In real life she married a 54 year old man when she was 23, but he was rich, and she has had a nice life.
35. OAS member: ECUA. Once again and Ecuador reference, I hope one day to tell great Ecuador stories; I already can tell you about the cocal leaf teas they gave my business partner, but that isn’t very interesting.
37. Zookeeper's main squeeze?: BOA. Oh how cute, a nice change from our ASP.
38. Lassitude: ENNUI. Well here is the ultimate cracked clecho, because this also mean BOREDOM, which could be BOADOM, id from Bahston.
39. DuPont's Fiber A, now: ORLON. Why orlon or nylon or rayon?
40. Worn symbol of support: ARM BAND. Sadly the best know being those of Nazi Germany.
41. "Billy Budd," e.g.: NOVELLA. A controversial little novel, with homosexual undertones.
42. Wee bit: SMIDGEN.
44. Certain lounge frequenter: VIP. They exist in other places than strip clubs guys.
45. SFO listing: ETA. SFO is the code for San Francisco airport.
46. Soak up some rays: TAN. It was 81 today.
48. Tough test: ORDEAL. Related to ORLON?
50. Object of a kicking game: TIN CAN. Ah yes, when we were young and poor, we played kick the can.
54. Like a thorough update: NEWSY. Meh.
57. Cutty __: historic clipper ship: SARK. This is an interesting CLIPPER SHIP and malt whiskey.
58. Agent inspired by Chan: MOTO. Another inscrutable Asian detective, played by Peter Lorre in the movies.
59. Like, with "to": AKIN.
63. Minor crying wolf?: PUP. Yes, wolf babies are pups also.
64. Egyptian viper: ASP. Oh no, the damn ASP was here after all!
65. Napoleonic Wars marshal: NEY. He is becoming a pretty common visitor.
Answer grid.
Wow, I felt like a kid again, thanks for having me in your homes; until next time be sure and use a good hand sanitizer like GermX, and be kind.
Lemonade
Note from C.C.:
Today marks the 3rd anniversary of this blog. I want to thank everyone, esp my dedicated blogging crew and regular commenters for making this a fun adventure.
114 comments:
Good morning, Lemonade, C.C. and gang - I'm scrapping my puzzle post today; had an extremely late night and my post sucked, so I'd rather focus on today's event.
Today is National Hugging Day, and Squirrel Appreciation Day. I wouldn't suggest trying to combine the two.
However, much much more importantly, as C.C. points out TODAY MARKS THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY of her marvelous creation and I want to thank C.C. for the tremendous effort she's put into making this blog the success that it's become. I've been here for all but the first month, and I can tell you, even simply posting daily can at times be a chore; how C.C. has managed to do what she's done is simply beyond me. What's so impressive is that she's been the model of tireless dedication, consistency and perseverance over the past three years; unless there's been a blitch, we've come to know that the blog will be out there at its scheduled time each and every morning.
Additionally, many months ago, even after letting a few of us try our hand at blogging (which is by no means simple), she was there late into the evening for support with any problems and again early in the morning to make sure everything was ready to go. That's never changed, and only a few people are aware of how often there's been a serious problem that required even more hours of effort by C.C. to fix.
I know everyone will join me in congratulating C.C. for this stellar accomplishment. I for one am very proud to be part of this blog, and am equally proud to count C.C. as a friend.
Morning, all!
As a fellow New Englander, I also admired the theme of this puzzle. I have to say, though, that I've never heard of "hard rock miner" before, so I wasn't sure what was really going on for awhile, even after getting that initial theme answer.
The rest of the puzzle was great in spots and not so great in other spots. Like Lemonade, I wasn't fond of NEWSY, especially the way it was clued. My favorite clue/answer today was "Minor crying wolf" for PUP.
Congrats to C.C. for keeping this place alive for three whole years! I don't recall when I first started dropping by here (certainly not that long ago, but it's been awhile), but it has certainly become a part of my daily routine even if I don't always have time to leave a comment.
And speaking of time, I've gotta go get to work shoveling out the car. School is canceled today, so the little guy is staying home, but my wife insists on going into work and I need to get her to the subway station...
Oh -- I forgot to mention...
My one sticking point in the puzzle was at 27A where I had DUD instead of DOG. The initial D was totally solid and I couldn't imagine anything else it could be other than DUD. The perps finally convinced me otherwise, but--like Lemonade--it took me awhile to figure out what DOG had to do with anything...
Good Morning, Lemonade and Friends. Great write-up. As another former Bostonian, I appreciated today's theme. Thanks for explaining the Hard Rock Miners. That was the one pun I didn't understand.
I loved the musical interludes with Charlie and the MTA and the Edmund Fitzgerald. I didn't realize that shipwreck was so recent.
The Cape Cod feature threw me for a while. Since my sister lives on the Cape, I thought she might be the answer. She is well known, but probably a bit obscure for some in other parts of the country. How clever and misleading to have the Cape Cod refer to a house style. My parents live in one.
There were some great amusing clues in today's puzzle. I especially liked the ZooKeeper's Main Squeeze = BOA and One Shooting the Bull = VET.
Congratulations, CC on the third anniversary of your FABULOUS Blog! I discovered you and this group about 2 years ago. The blog has definitely enhanced my enjoyment of doing crossword puzzles.
QOD: I do not want people to be vary agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal. ~ Jane Austen (I guess she wouldn't appreciate this blog)
Hello Puzzlers -
I managed a 23-minute no-peeky today, something I usually can't do on a Friday. For once I caught onto the theme right away. The accent associated with Boston doesn't exist in western Mass., but of course we recognize it!
There are some words that you just have to say that way, especially CHOWDAH!
Happy Anniversary C.C. and congratulations! I have long admired your devotion to the Corner, and have supposed that it must take more time than most of us could spare. I am ever so grateful that this puzzle resource and social exchange exists, especially with its high standards of punctuality and civility.
To C.C. and all you guest bloggers, thanks so much for all you do. Cheers!
Now that the celebration has begun, I would refer you to the very first BLOG which ironically included EWOK. I was honored to be the one to begin the fourth year of this venture, and I too want to bow down to the awesome accomplishment which is the result of C.C.'s effort. Not only do we get a nice write up evey day but we have the eye of many in the industry who stop and support this endeavor. Plus we have such an entertaining and diverse group of cyber-friends, many of whom have become actual face to face friends. Do my CHAPEAU is off to C.C. and all the pioneers like Dennis, Razberry, Crockett 1947, then Jeannie, Carol, Lois, WM it has endured, with a few of the early efforts gleaning no comments, yet by February 20 or more were forthcoming.
C.C. persevered, and so we are here.
Wicked cool.
Forgot to add: the song says the Edmund Fitzgerald had a load of iron ore weighing twenty-six thousand tons. I've always been amazed by that figure, it sounds so huge.
Barry G - I posted this question too late for you to see the other night: is the Chrysler your AWD vehicle? You see, I had no idea it was available that way. Bet you're glad to have it today...
C.C. CONGRATS on the 3rd Anniversary.
Lemon, Wonderful write-up !!!
I really like that there are different folks who do these during the week, Argyle, Al, Jazz, Melissa Bee, Lemonade (I hope I didn't miss anyone) and then C.C. on the weekends.
The best part is the people here really like to do the LAT and don't snipe (too much) about whether a theme works or what-not.
It is positive and a friendly place to visit.
Kelsey, what a FUN Friday offering.
Liked the theme's, they brought on a few grins.
Fave was the BEDSIDE MANNA ...
Tried to get that "Certain lounge frequenter" to be MOI ... but then I remembered "Hey, Tin you really only "toast the Sunset ... then imbibe at Villa Incognito!"
Ruinous being LETHAL, well that about sums that up.
Time to hit the gym ... work on those PECS.
Cheer's to all later.
Barry G - I posted this question too late for you to see the other night: is the Chrysler your AWD vehicle? You see, I had no idea it was available that way. Bet you're glad to have it today...
Ayup! It's the Chrysler 300C AWD version. In fact, the AWD bit was the whole reason I could justify buying the car. I really bought it for the 340 HP Hemi engine, but I told my wife I needed it for the New England Winters. I just neglected to mention to her that the car was also available in AWD without the Hemi...
And yes, so far it has been a dream. Just got back from driving my wife to the train station with no drama whatsoever. It's especially nice to be able to pull back into the driveway without slipping, which is something I always had trouble with driving my previous FWD car.
Just finished today's puzzle which I thought was fairly easy. Just a couple of red letters and I even "got" the theme - a rarity!
Lemonade, love your write up for today, it cracked me up!
CC, a big THANK YOU for this blog. I've always admired the fact that you even had the guts to start it, given your non-English-speaking background.
Since Dennis clued us in, haha, that it's National Hugging Day, hugs to you CC. (As for Squirrel Appreciation Day? Some call them tree rats - now that's just mean!)
Good morning Lemonade and all, today’s puzzle really kicked my butt. Maybe it is because I never lived in Boston or New England, but today I had absolutely no clue as to theme or most answers. There were just too many problems to list. Having made the above comments, I will refrain from any further comments on the difficulty of today’s puzzle.
CC, I arrived here shortly after Dennis and have been a follower ever since, even though I do not comment every day. It has been a fun and very informative ride. I have even made face to face friends with Carol and JD and that has been another fun experience also. Congratulations on you achievements and I hope you will be here for a long time to come.
Barry, as to AWD my wife has and AWD car and on Tuesday she left the house in an ice storm and went up the driveway without incident. About a half hour later I tried to leave in my 4 wheel drive truck, I got half way up the drive and the truck slid backwards into the yard. Next truck will be AWD.
Get ready Dennis, we had 6 to 8 inches of snow last night and it is headed your way.
Hope you all have a great Friday.
I never realized there was a significant difference between all wheel drive and four wheel drive, but there must be since I just saw a truck commercial bragging about how their truck had all wheel drive unlike their competitor's truck that had four wheel drive.
I just did a quick check and discovered that I first posted here on April 30, 2008. So I guess It really has been almost three years for me as well. My, how time flies when you're getting old...
Good Morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
Great write-up, Lemonade! Thanks for the link to The Kingston Trio. But MTA is "Metropolitan", not Massachusetts Transfer Authority". Sorry - don't mean to pick! Either way, it was a great song.
Of course, I loved this puzzle, being from the areAH. I've lost my accent pretty much, since I have lived in CA, Italy, NH and back to MA. But it still spills out once in a while, like when I make CHOWDAH. The really weak theme entry was HARD ROCK MINA, IMHO. Is “hard rock miner” really a common phrase? NAH, don’t think so.
Maybe a more appropriate theme entry for that one would have been WOOSTAH DINAH ?? (The Worcester Diner Co was the biggest mfr. Of the original “diners” that are so common along the east coast). Oh well, I guess that one is just as obscure.
But my real nitpick is with 60A "Bit of plankton" for ALGA. Algae are plant, and plankton are animals. So I had a hard time filling that one in, even though the perps screamed for me to do so.
At 51D I put "liquid" instead of PLASMA . When I finally got that one straight, I put OIL cAN instead of PAN, so the whole southern cross was a real struggle. Long time today, but eventually got 'er done.
My favorite clue was at 36A "One bearing down" for EIDER. It completely threw me off for a while, but when it filled it was a real V8 moment.
Dennis, I was wondering what you meant by your enigmatic request to stop by today, but it is all clear now! I just want to add my sincere thanks to C.C. and all who do the daily write-ups, as well as those faithful followers who make such thought-provoking comments each day.
Since DH is on the road this week, I will have to settle for a hug from my two cats, who love to watch the squirrels. So it’s all good. Have a great day, everyone!
CC congrats on your third anniversary, and as everyone else has said, WELL DONE!!!
I have been having trouble completing the puzzles as of late. I am sort of out of practice as it has been so busy, but still like trying. I struggled with this, but enjoyed the theme anyway.
I have visited the lighthouse where they "lost" the Edmund Fitzgerald and it is a fascinating story. Yes, very recent. Lake Superior is brutal to ships. I have been there during a "November gale" and it is really best to just stay inside. The time I was there, a Greek freighter washed up on shore from the winds. Quite the sight I must say.
My DH is out of town, and I am sporting quite the cold, so don't think I will be doing much hugging today. I did give my son a quick hug before he left for school as he is taking finals today though. Everyone give an extra hug to someone for me please.
AM started out at -21 today, so for all of you battling the snow, at least the temperature is tolerable.
Good morning all! And happy anniversary to C.C.!I'm sending you a cyber hug in honor of the occasion and Hugging Day! I've been here since July 2008, but I can't remember the exact date.
We had minus 23 here this morning, though the official radio reading was higher. My Celsius reading was minus 26.9. The air outside was so dry, it brought on coughing but didn't feel too bad.
I had a DNF this morning, blanking out completely on much of the bottom half. After g'ing several I just decided my heart wasn't in it and gave up. Couldn't make sense of the theme at all, even missed NAPPY, read Bad Ems as bad (opp. of good) ems (the alphabet letter), and had OIL CAN, so it's probably good that I gave up, with my mind frozen stiff like that.
Al: look at the two blogs together (W and Th). They look different to me...just can`t put my finger on it...
Good Morning All, I was amazed that this Friday puzzle stacked up pretty quickly. Once I had HARD ROCK MYNA, the theme was set.
I've always thought of Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of Seven GABLEs when I think of GABLEd
Cap Cod houses.
I surprised myself by remembering (40A)ANSON Williams from Happy Days.
A few three letter words slowed me down. I didn't know (22D) Bad Ems attraction/SPA, and it took a while to get (27A) Flop/DOG. (32D) PIA Zadora forced me to stop and reminisce about the Pia Zadora Golden Buckeye 'Retirement' Home. I sure hope Buckeye is still uncomfortably ensconced in his 10 X 12 corner of the facility and that he is avoiding Nurse Rachet's doses of SALT PITA/
Congratulations to C.C. and all participants for the success of Crossword Corner. It was already growing strong when I tripped over it, but I'm sure it was sometime in the first half of 2008. It didn't take long to get hooked.
Catch up.. our Ladies' Murder Mystery Tea was lots of fun. The goodies were delicious, as was the tea. There were seven actors (I use the word loosely) who each made an "in character" presentation to convince the audience that she didn't murder the dastardly Duke. My part was Lady Tipton, heiress to the the Tipton Tea Fortune. As it turned out I wasn't the killer, but I stayed with my posh British accent the whole time. Had a little bit of a hard time dropping it at the end of the day.
The day ended wonderfully at our first chorus practice. We'll be singing songs like "Fascinating Rhythm", Our Love is Here to Stay" and "Anything Goes". Our director is really big on old show tunes. So am I, so I'll really be enjoying myself.
Clever theme. Did not really like it. Why not use french or yiddish next time. Never heard of 20a 37a or 56a. Pretty easy. Favorite was katydid. Reminded me of the story of the girl katy who did something bad and everyone asked who did it and all she heard in her mind was Katydid!
Anon @ 10:05,
Not sure if you meant you'd never heard the expressions for those clues/answers, but a BEACHCOMBER is someone who looks for treasure in the sand on a beach. My family tree apparently includes one way back. A relative on the posh side of the family researched and was dismayed to discover that one of the earliest traceable members was a beachcomber. It's the older equivalent of these days learning you have a relative who goes through dumpsters looking for anything of value.
CC, Congratulations and many happy returns.
Lemonade - PRAM and NAPPY - are yes, I remember them well.... All being well, I'm done diaperin' unless I should ever become a doting grandparent.
These words reflect 2 different historical trends in Brit- vs. US-speak.
DIAPER is on older English word (16th century) that was retained in US-speak after independence, but lost in Brit-speak, which (like the rest of the commonwealth (except Canada)) shifted to nappies - did you use them Kazie?
PRAM, a shortening of Perambulator, for BABY CARRIAGE, was a 19th century invention. It falls into the class of other 19th century inventions, notably the car/automobile** and railway/railroad, which developed very different vocabularies - since this was an age when mass transatlantic communication did not exist.
Compare late 20th century inventions onward, notably the computer industry, where vocabulary is (mostly) uniform.
** This site lists 70 vocabulary differences between car/autos:
HOODS AND BONNETS
NC
Hi all.
Yes! (insert fist pump here).
Congratulations to CC and all guest bloggers. You are more than welcome every morning.
Still have a MTA token in my object
box.
Puzzle was no problem for a Friday.
Three in a row. Whee!
Take care.
Good Morning C.C.,Lemonade and all,
Lemonade, Thanks for your write-up; as usual, I'll get back to it later!
My only bump was changing 'i' to 'y' for KATYDID{they are really loud, en masse}.
I'll take NLER any day for the great fill in this puzzle. The cluing was fun and fresh as well. My fav was 44A. Thanks, Kelsey.
HeartRx, I too did a pause for ALGA; just checked wiki:"any drifting organisms[animals,plants,etc]"
I must add my appreciation to C.C.,for this fantastic site and all the guest bloggers and posters, as well. I have been working the crosswords for many years,and not only has my ability improved, I now have buddies who share the same experience and whom I dearly love. Thank you all.
Congratulations, C.C. for this huge accomplishment!
Have a nice day everyone.
Rather easy Friday puzzle. Very enjoyable and I liked the theme. Didn't get the NE connection but I did get that the last word had an "a" instead of an "er". We are enjoying great weather out here on the West Coast with temperatures approaching 70F in the Bay Area. Good dog walking weather!
Forgot to add my thanks and congrats to CC on the anniversary of the blog. It is a great creation and one example of how modern technology can bring people together.
Hi All ~!
Well, I am honored to be a part of this blog, congratulations on 3 years - I just went looking to find my first post, but couldn't find it - I thought it was a Saturday, but might have been a Friday. Sometime in June, I think.
Cool puzzle, didn't get the theme until I came here, and I had a friend who had the Bahston accent -
Here on Lon - GUY - land, we swap our ER for A in other places, such as a glass of Wata, or a can of Soder.
TIN CAN OIL PAN crossing was cool; we had ASPIRE once this week; gaffed the second theme since I didn't know Bad Ems, had IDOL PAPA, didn't make any SENSE at all....
We got another 4" or so, no plow on my street, which is a hill, Bert the van said "no", and slid back down again - no accident, but had to go around to the lesser hill to get home from work - that's never happened in my life - not being able to get home to my house...
Take care, I plan to !
Splynter
Good morning, all. Happy anniversary and congratulations to CC and the daily bloggers that keep this thing going.
I'm a relative newcomer since I've only been posting for six months or so, but I was a lurker for about that long before I decided to join the fun. It's been a real pleasure gaining new cyber friends and learning new things in the process. It's a little early here, but it's five o'clock somewhere, so here's a glass raised high to all the wonderful people here.
Oh, the puzzle. Groked the theme fairly easily, but had a hard time trying to dredge up some of the names. I eventually perped them all and finished with no lookups needed. 'Ruinous'/LETHAL?... seemed pretty weak cluing to me too. On the other hand, even with 18 three letter entries, I thought some of them were very cleverly clued. It's probably a good thing I had the "O" already or I would have gone with DUD instead of DOG. I didn't like the Plankton/ALGA clue either, but put it in anyway.
Question? Did Poor Charlie ever get off the MTA?
Having lived in the Cleveland area, destination for many of the Great Lakes ore carriers at the time of the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking, I was very familiar with the ship, it's contents and Gordon Lightfoot's ballad. Having a long gimme helped that corner a lot.
How do you get down off an elephant? You don't. You get down off an Eider duck.
Lemonade - Your write ups are always a treat.
I tried to go solo on this one but had to raise the white flag and Google answers like MOTO, NEY, ATHOS, and ORLON (I was stuck on NYLON). My favorite clue was "One shooting the bull?" (VET).
C.C. -Thanks so much for your creation. You've assembled a brilliant cast of co-bloggers and friends who have become a cherished part of my daily routine.
By the way, I apologize for sending the comments on an excretion tangent yesterday. I hope I didn't piss anyone off.
Oh, I had 2 more unrelated comments.
1. DOVE - I note another flying critter allusion for Mr. ALI, although this was one not as complimentary as BUTTERFLY or BEE. I suppose we might add CLAY (PIGEON)...?
2. I had most trouble with PAPA. I could handle the second vowel shift. But the first (implied) vowel shift, O to A, is not Bostonian, which I think would sound more like POORPA. Isn't PARPA more New York? Can't no-one talk propa na more?
NC
Hi all -
Fun Friday puzzle....not that I didn't have a few problems with it, but I really enjoyed the experience.
27A FLOP/DOG - That is a new one for me...I've heard of someone's date being a 'dog', but just never heard it used this way before.
53A MANTEL PIECE/URN - This did not occur to me right away. I usually think of clock. Obviously that was not going to work in the space of 3 letters :) I could have but BOX there as we have the cremains of our 2 cats in their separate boxes, but that is not something one really puts on a mantel. (Not that I would put and 'URN' up there either).
I know you'll all laugh at me, but I read 30D as MOUSEKETEER and did remember the old guy 'Roy', but that didn't fit and I just stared at those 5 little spaces for the longest time until the ol' light went on and there went another dent in the V-8 can!
66A was a total unknown
C.C. many congratulations on this wonderful blog!! I joined 'for real' on May 14, 2008. I have enjoyed this addictive pastime ever since. Thank you and thank Lemonade, Al, Jazz, Melissa and Argyle too. You all make my mornings fun!
Good Morning folks. A special thank you to Kelsey Blakley and Rich Norris for a real good puzzle. Also great write-up Mr. Lemonade. I really wanted to hear the MTA, but, alas, my computer at work has no sound card. Oh well.
I had not realized that this was the tird anniversary of this Blog. Wow. What a milestone. I am not one of the old-timers, having been on this for only about a month or so, but I really appreciate the warm welcome everyone gave me. I look forward to this every day.
I had to jump around a little to get started on today's puzzle. I got started in the NW corner with ALI and ALOES. That's as far as I got there, for a while. I jumped around the puzzle and eventually got it all. My last fill was due South. Did not know Sue LYON. Perps got it.
My favorite clue was 34A Chapeau Perch/TETE. I happen to wear a chapeau throughout the year as a Knight Templar. My favorite fraternity.
Abejo
@Grumpy1 and HeartRX:
On the definition of PLANKTON:
Quote from Wikipedia:
"Plankton (singular plankter) are any drifting organisms (animals, plants, archaea, or bacteria) that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification."
NC
Congratulation and thanks to C.C. and the gang! I can only imagine how much effort it takes to keep this high-quality blog informative and fun every day. Thanks again. I'm glad I'm here.
I also had DUD instead of DOG. Also, I had BOB (as in bob and weave) instead of BOX for a while but it all got sorted out with the crossing words.
I've always loved The MTA. Without making any effort to memorize the lyrics, I can sing the whole song from memory. Most of our kids and grandkids don't know about music like that.
Do any of you remember Cosmos with Carl Sagan? I loved that show. Here's a video of Sagan explaining how one of my science heroes, Eratosthenes, figured out the size of the Earth to surprising accuracy over 2000 years ago. Wonderful stuff!
Hi gang -
Happy anniversary to C.C. and this really quite amazing blog.
Well done, Lemonade.
I have to second what Dennis said about what goes on behind the scenes here.
Thank you C.C. for being the guiding light and guardian angle, for cleaning up my messes, and forgiving my inexplicable gaffes!
I would have been mad at me.
Really.
IIRC, my first post was a kvetchy rant on a Saturday in late April of '09. I lurked for a couple of weeks before commenting, introvert that I am.
Good theme today, though "hard rock miner" was either over my head or under my feet.
Got a (fortunately soft and cushy) head-smack on EIDER - my fav for the day.
E Sharp is the same note as F - they are called "enharmonic equivalents," so the clue was quite precise. On a piano keyboard, there is no black key above either (EIDER?) the E nor the B, so raising those notes takes you to the next white key, and can thus change the letter name.
In jazz and pop music you will never encounter B# nor E# (nor A#, come to think of it) - they will always be written as C, F, or Bb, respectively.
In symphonic music, you see those odd sharp notes all the time. Just a different set of notation conventions and traditions - actually, a different vocabulary, rather like American and British versions of English.
There is more that could be said, but it's already boring me, so I can imagine you are all on the edge of a COMA.
Just one clarification - Cutty Sark is a blend of malt and grain whiskeys.
Bight sun and 15 degrees here, getting down close to 0 tonight. At times like this, the LW's grandfather would say, "Zero -- that's NOTHING!" Our Minn-Wisc contingent would probably agree.
Stay warm on National Hugging Day, and eschew the squirrels - or at least appreciate them from a distance, lest they chew you.
Cheers!
JzB who is not a VIP
Good afternoon everyone.
Never did get the theme even though I lived in Maine for about 6 years, and my youngest started out with that accent which is referred to as Boston. It lives in Maine too, although not as strongly.
One of my many downfalls was I wanted, and still do, THE CAN, not TIN CAN. The game, after all is "kick the can".
Most heartfelt congratulations to C.C. on creating and maintaining this wonderful blog. It is such fun. And a must for me every day. The alternate write up people are great fun too. Good job today, Lemonade. Very witty.
Cheers
Anybody else remember The ORLONS?
N.C. -
I wonder if PAPA/POPPER illustrates another British vs American difference?
I pronounce the "PAP-" of PAPA exactly the same as the "POP-" of POPPER. I guess this is schwa tendency.
Cheers!
JzB
Good day, Lemonade, C.C. et al.
Lemonade, as always, your comments make me laugh and inform me.
What fun! This seemed easy for a Friday and I especially enjoyed the theme because this week (yesterday the 20th, I believe) is the 50th anniversary of JFK's inaugural speech as commemmorated by Google. A great coincidence as his accent was spectacular!
I really enjoyed finding some xwd favorites: AJAX, TARA, ALOES, RARA, EIDER, ASTI, URN, ok, even ALER and MVI. I wrote M and let the others fill in.
Really made me smile:
one bearing down: EIDER
zookeeper's main squeeze: BOA
one shooting the bull: VET
This week the History Channel had a piece on the Edmund Fitzgerald but I had to leave so didn't watch it. Now I wish I had recorded it.
Really good entertainment value today; thank you Kelsey Blakley. I hope we see more of you.
C.C.:
Congratulations! Starting this blog was inspirational and I am sure, an ordeal for you. Words fail me when I think of your dedication and English being your second language. Believe me, as an ESL teacher I can definitely appreciate that! Thank you so much. I am completely addicted to the Corner and love the cyber friends here; I have even met Dodo in person. It is a wonderful ride every day.
Dennis, I intend to take full advantage of Hugging Day as I am a hugger by nature and culture. In fact I send you all a firm cyber hug!
Have a delightful hugging time today!
Congratulations on the 3rd anniversary of your blog!!! I visit it daily, but rarely comment.
Another thing: Cutty SARK always reminds me of the movie, The Associate, in which Whoopie Goldberg dresses like a man, uses that name on a whim and beats the pants off the male CEOs. I love that movie.
Also, next month I shall have been posting one year, February 2010. I love it!
I'm so happy to have found your blog. It really helps me complete the difficult end-of-week puzzles.
Creature and NC, thanks for the tidbit. (Insert V8 dent here).
Grumpy, I found this note about Charlie:
"Charlie might just have been able to get off the train at some point the '70s. From 1968 to 1980, the subway fare was 25 cents. In the mid 1970s, a senior citizen discount was introduced for "half fare". Rather than charge 12.5 cents, half-fare was defined as "10 cents". If Charlie was well into his 30s when he got on the train, he might just have been over 65 before 1980, and could have gotten off the train in Jamaica Plain. Getting back might be a problem..."
Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks, Lemonade for a great write-up.
C.C. Congratulations on the third anniversary of this wonderful blog. I'm somewhat late to the 'party' commenting only for the last 15 months. I discovered this site by googling puzzle answers, and came to realize what a rich resource was encompassed here. You have put in a lot of hard work to make this happen and I stand in awe of your passion for advancing the art of crossword creation and solving. You have also managed to assemble a great team of 'first' bloggers to help with the heavy lifting. Thank you for all of this.
I felt this cw was not too difficult except for the SW corner, but after finally getting BEDSIDEMANNA and ARM BAND, it finished up ok. WAGs included GABLE and NOVELLA. I thought the C-SPAN clue was clever.
EIDER is also a North Sea feeder. Here is a photo with Schleswig in the foreground and Holstein in the background. The river flow is left to right.
ARBAON, I noticed the different font, too, for Thu compared to Wed. No idea.
Enjoy the day.
Cool critique, counselor. Very funny, the urn story. I'm assuming the evening went down in flames.
C.C., a big ol' Norwegian bear hug to you! You've treated all constuctors with class, affection, and dignity. It is widely appreciated.
Congratulations, C.C.! When you started this blog, did you have any idea how many lives you'd be touching and enhancing?
Not only does this blog give us timely solutions to the puzzles, we learn so much more from the blogger's explanations and the group interations. And let us not forget the very best part, the compassion and cameraderie found in the individuals here.
You can tell by the enthusiastic and almost daily participation by so many people, that this blog has become a very important part of our lives.
Thank you, C.C., her appointed blogging team, and all you posters for making my day - every day!
Annette
Good morning C.C. and all.
Thanks, C.C. for this blog and congratulations on a good run. I haven't been blue here very long, but I lurked for quite a while, then posted as one of the "ANONs" for a short time. I finally decided that nobody would bite if I turned blue. Anyway, thank you for this blog.
I got off on the wrong foot with the theme today by putting HARDROCKmock at first. From that I surmised that the last three letters of the last word would be the same as one of the other words. That idea stuck even though I knew the E.F cargo was IRONORE. When I got BEDSIDEMANNA, the fog cleared. I knew ANSON and LYONS, but not ATHOS, which came from perps. I wanted shore for Cape Cod feature, so NW was last to fall. Not exactly a speed run at 35 minutes, but easier than unual for a Friday.
We did not have squirrels here until the last few months. Midland, 25 miles east of Odessa, has had them for years. I appreciate them for their cuteness, but I understand they can be destructive.
We had 27 degrees this morning, but it is 52 now. The OMG cold the weather folks predicted didn't happen. Still no rain.
I believe the best way to compliment C.C. is to mention that I bought a laptop and aircard. I have refused for years to allow any electronic intrusion up at the cabin, but have found that I just miss this place too much to forego it.
This was an absolute speed-run today. I think it went faster than Monday. I did finish with a cross of LYAN and MOTA, but I've been whining to you all about names for about 1 1/2 years now and I don't expect to stop.
Every NE answer was done as an across. So when I went back to see what the downs were, I was confronted with IRONURE and MANADER. I was mildly nonplussed. But I do use dog to refer to a flop, so the correction was easy.
Ironure: metallic waste??
I never paused with 20A, 'cause out west we have hard rock and placer mining. I guess I could quibble about a western term with an eastern accent, but in '49, most of our miners came from the east.
LizLee, if you can get the squirrel family out of my cabin wall, I'll improve what I call them to "tree rat." I did appreciate the squirrel stew the one time I had it.
I did a 360 on the highway one time. I commented on it to a CHP that I talked to a short time later and his first question was "AWD or 4X4?" When I said AWD, he replied, Well that explains it." Dick, consider that any truck has lousy traction compared to a car.
Off to find out the results of my MRI. The back is acting up, and the medico has some strange idea that I should stop skiing. Riiiiiiight.
NC,
Actually, despite knowing what nappies are, I had my kids here, so I called them diapers so as not to confuse the natives. Interesting mixture of terms between England and here. Some of each are used in Oz, which seems to fall between the two.
I also have noticed the influence of time of emigration in the local German speaking Amish and Mennonites. When we took one of our visiting groups of German sister school students to meet with a farm family of Amish in the area, they couldn't communicate with each other in German. It seems the emigration groups stick with the old habits, while those left behind advance with the times.
good morning c.c., lemonade, and all,
i'm up to my eyeballs in boxes, but had to drop in to say congratulations c.c. on such a stellar and successful blog. your dedication is unmatched, your work impeccable, and the loyalty of your followers speaks for itself.
i thank you from the bottom of my heart for your tireless efforts behind the scenes on a daily basis. only the most gracious and talented can make it all look so easy - i know it is not.
Lemon and fellow TGIFers, I found this site by accident and have enjoyed it ever since. As long as one resists using this as a soapbox (me included), the exchanges here are first rate. I think I am starting to catch on to the tenor of this place and applaud C.C. as well for making this site and shepherding it through to the Leather Anniversary (the mind boggles at the possibilities).
I do have a question for our lovely blogmistress that is generated by the visit of Hu Jintao, the erstwhile head of China. I Hu is a surname so when you see him on the street (yeah right), would you address him familiarly as Jintao or Jin or what. How ‘bout, “Wassup Jintao?”.
I filled in the NW corner in a few heartbeats which is very unusual for Friday and off to the races I went. VET, VIP, ETA fell last.
Musings-
-Eddie Murphy had a whole different meaning for the word trim in the movie 48 Hrs
-Skimming is one of the main activities that keep poor countries poor despite that we sent them gazillions of dollars
-Loved PILLPAPA, Bull Shooter and Eider
-Does anyone know the famous song that has the word ENNUI in the lyrics?
-Are you one of the peeps that watch CSPAN on a regular basis? I only watch Booknotes.
-Top 40 doesn’t work anymore since the music business is so fragmented. Now, when I was young…
-Wearing an armband or ribbon ain’t as powerful as actually DOING something. It might be just a smidgen sanctimonious in some instances
-I can’t recall how many summer nights I spent “Kicking the Can”
-The Qwest Center in Omaha is having a huge car show tomorrow and everyone is all atwitter about the electric cars.
Hi Lemonade, C.C. & gang,
A 3 year anniversary for this blog? Congrats!
For today's puzzle my normal method of copying and enlarging the puzzle from the paper failed because my HP printer had a paper jam. I finally got it working again but I had to clean the intake roller so it would feed paper again. So, This morning I powered on my wife's laptop and printed out a hard copy from the online puzzle on another printer.
That way my wife and I got ~50% done before she left for work. (I enlarge the puzzle from the paper to make it easier to write in).
I can still remember the Gordon Lightfoot song about the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
Loved the theme today, Kelsey Blakley. It's amazing how regional pronunciations have survived in spite of national news broadcasts which tend to flatten out all differences into a middle-of-the-road Americanese.
Congratulations C.C. You done good!
What Dennis said so well.
If you haven't done so, folks, check out Lemonade's link @ 6:16 to the first blog three years ago. What humble beginnings; what happy growth!
May this blog continue to thrive and develop!
Let's see:
Lou Reed did a song called 'Ennui.'
Hall and Oats did 'Ennui on the Mountain.'
Michael Nesmith did 'Grand Ennui.'
But I'm not sure any of them could be called famous, Lou Reed being the only one of the group I really cared for.
I think Hall & Oates was probably the best known. I'm not sur that Lou Reed's "Ennui" actually used the word in the lyrics.
HeartRX, I knew someone knew what happened to Charlie. That's the beauty of this blog. Almost any question gets answered. LOL
Husker Gary, I'm curious. I vaguely remember the Pete Townshend song, Exquisitely Bored had the word ENNUI in it, but was it famous, or just better known than the 1982 Clear Ayes version for whom Pete just played backup. Let us know what song you are thinking of.
Had to stop by today and congratulate CC on the third anniversary of this blog. Sometimes I forget how much work goes into this blog and just take it for granted that it will be there every morning. So a special thanks to CC and all the contributing bloggers for making my mornings complete.
Your hard work and dedication are truly appreciated. I have been here since May of 2008 and can't believe how this blog is as much of my morning routine as a cup of coffee.
Yes, I remember the Orlons, but I had to leave it for you to link them.
Gunghy, it LYON and MOTO that cross, no "A."
Jerome, praise from you is especially appreciated; it is the extra insight and effort from you and John L (hey JL) and Rich and others which have been invaluable in assisting C.C. in making this the most popular corner since Hollywood and Vine.
LizLee, two months in a row? Next thing you know you will get addicted to hearing your own voice and will be here like many of us.
Molly, welcome, one of my favorite names.
CA, can we get the mp3 of the Clear Ayes version?
Corckett1947, Buckeye and many others, stop by.
Bill G,
Regarding your question on why the Wednesday constructors pick up their respective name, I suppose it's just like how Nice Cuppa/Gunghy/Clear Ayes picked up theirs. Part fun & part mystery.
Husker Gary,
You say "What's up, Jintao" as Jintao is one unit. Booknotes for me too (podcast though).
Would someone please explain what AWD means? I am seriously technologically and automotively challenged. Thank you.
I just checked Lemonade's link to the first blog; wow! how much it has grown and that's an understatement. It takes vision and courage to start it and C.C. you obviously have both.
Dennis et al,
Thank you so much for your kind notes. This blog wouldn't be where it is today without your loyal support and informative & fun input.
CC,
you are welcome.
C.C., since you checked in here today on your third anniversary (congratulations again), I am still wondering about your impressions of Hu and the state dinner. Is he a good guy?
No comments about Eratosthenes from anyone? I thought his accomplishment was pretty impressive for a 2200-year-old guy.
CC, were you surprised to see the leader of China visit the USA ? Do you think Mao would have ever done so?
I think it is a step in the right direction for the people of China.
Also, thank for the three years that you provided this site.
Take A Bow
C.C. Thanks for that answer!
Clear Ayes and Gunghy, Here is the song I was thinking of: the wonderful Cole Porter song with ennui in it. How continental!
I Get A Kick Out Of You / Frank Sinatra
Gold (1992)
My story is much too sad to be told
But practically everything leaves me totally cold
The only exception I know is the case
When I'm out on a quiet spree, fighting vainly the old ennui
Then I suddenly turn and see
Your fabulous face
Chorus:
I get no kick from champagne
Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all
So tell me why should it be true?
That I get a
Kick! Out of you
HOla Everyone, I haven't read all the comments yet, but will get to those later today. I, too, wanted to add my congratulations to C.C. and her fantastic blog.
My puzzle ability has increased ten fold due to the blogging of our dedicated guest bloggers and C.C. My hat is off to all of you who get up early, stay up late for our education and enjoyment.
Best of all are all the "friends" that I have made through this blog. Those who are cyber friends, and those whom I have been lucky enough to meet face to face.
More later when time permits.
If you read the first blog, you can see C.C. is already looking for clechoes, with comment on Comic John, and single name comic. Obviously, she was born with a knack for this stuff.
I have done crossword puzzles for 50+ years, I come from a family which solves, my oldest brother is one of those who knocks out the NYT in pen in a few minutes, but the learning process hear has gone way beyond solving. Both because you have to think more to not only solve but blog a puzzle, and because all the infomation all of our visiting constructors have blessed us with.
meanwhile, come on down all ye lurkers, part timers and old guard, we would not be here without you
Bill G,
No, Hu is not a bad guy. Heck, I don't even think Mao was bad guy, despite what my family went through during the Culture Revolution.
I am certain Hu is satisfied with the pomp and pageantry he's afforded. "Face" is a big issue in China.
Sorry I was so lazy. Here is the link to that fabulous song and wonderful Sinatra arrangement
Sinatra - I Get a Kick Out of You without ennui
I had never heard of those other songs with ennui in it. Very cool! I think this is probably the most famous one.
A New England theme! Well, that explains it! Pardon my drawl, yall, but I was slow to get it.
Blubber confounded me the most since it means whale fat or sobbing. Lard, however is rendered fat. In the south, we know our rendered fats! Usually the lard used for cooking is that of the porcine variety. I do not use it but there are family members and cooks who swear by the stuff! To lard in cooking means adding fat or some other stuff to usually a piece of meat. I don't think those terms are alike, but then I am not a constructor.
At any rate, I enjoy this blog and appreciate all of CC efforts. How I stumbled upon it, I don't remember, but am glad I did!
Have a great and wordy weekend, yall!
ENNUI.
I do get a kick out of all my virtual friends here.
Lucina -
All Wheel Drive.
Here is AWD vs 4x4
for any one who's interested. I'll admit that I'm not, despite spending 40 yrs in or near the auto industry.
I think it's time for my monthly martini.
Cheers!
JzB
I'm surmising that the date each of us became part of this 'corner' is on our profile page.Mine is correct. As a matter of fact I remember starting on Monday,August 2, 2010. I also remember Gunghy's welcome to me. Thanks, again Gunghy.
Dennis' is sometime in 2006, so I don't know about him, but he welcomed Husker G and me a few days later- been on a trip or something. Thanks, again, Dennis.
Kazie,10:14, funny!
CA, your chorus sounds like a blast! Showtunes are so powerful,IMO.
Gunghy,as to 'riiight', try 'my foot'...
JimmyB, Lol
HuskerG, welcome back!
Husker,
Definitely more famous than what I came up with. Just a bit before my time. I got a little Sinatra because friends of my parents would put him on. My parents "didn't have time for that stuff."
Lou Reed's song does not actually have the word in the lyrics, just the title.
Lemonade, sorry, I thought it was clear that I knew that was an error. I was bragging about the speed I did it in, so I thought I ought to balance it out with a confession.
C.C., et al; Once again thank you for this wonderful site.
I'm headed for the slopes, so I'll just lurk until Monday or Tuesday.
First...Huge Congratulations to C.C. for bringing such enjoyment through all her hard work and a big thanks to all the "guest" bloggers who have become such a great part of the blog.
I continue to do most all of the puzzles with the exception of some Saturday and Sunday ones, so, I do check in as time allows and at least try to read through the actual blog which is always enlightening and occasionally allows for some head slapping V-8 moments.
Lemonade...as always a terrific blog for a fun puzzle. Caught the theme right off, although I had to go back and correct MYNA...but otherwise, I thought this was much easier than Thursday's which hung me up in several places.
Since I have mostly weaned myself from FB through necessity I will try to stop in once in a while. Very busy lately getting ready for a 2 person show in March(yes, locals, you will get postcards) so spend most free time painting.
Again...cheers and congrats to everyone who works so hard to keep us moving forward. :o)
Creature,
I love feet and I'd be happy to try yours.
Now I really am gone.
Today's puzzle seemed easy for a Friday. I got HARDROCKMYNA quickly but didn't see the theme until PILLPAPA. I've been a Boston Red Sox fan for many years and really enjoyed the Bostonian R---> AH words.
I feel fortunate to have found this blog last spring and as others have said it is now part of my daily routine. Puzzle solving is so much more fun and I've learned so much. Congratulations C.C. on this 3rd anniversary and thank you so much for this wonderful corner and all your hard work in creating it and maintaining it. Thank you also to the other bloggers and long-time posters. You are all so informative and entertaining!
Good evening CC, Lemonade, et al., Great write up, Lemonade. YOu always do such a superior job. Loved the links and all the info. Outstanding!
Short on time again...another date.. but couldn't miss congratulating CC on the 3rd anniversary of this outstanding blog and say 'thank you so very much for your remarkable stamina and dedication'. You, I swear, will always be my idol. You are a true mahvel, dahling, as they would say in the NE. And thank you for letting me share so much of this with you. It's enriched my life tremendously. Cheers!!! to you, CC. You are utterly amazing!!! I vodka you so very much, my friend!!!!
Enjoy your night...I sure will.
Lemonade, Alas.... the only known copy of the fabled Clear Ayes version of "Exquisitely Bored" was stored inside one of Pete's Gibsons. (Crazy Pete thought it improved the tone.) Here's what probably happened to it. The music world may be better off. ;0)
I agree with most of you - this was a fun puzzle for a Friday, but have to admit I just couldn't finish the NW - I scratched my head forever and just couldn't get gable until I came here. I got the theme answers with very little trouble.
Let me add my congratulations to C.C. on what an amazing corner you've created. I haven't been around very long and don't comment too often, but I read the blog and the comments every day. I can honestly say I've learned something new and informative every time! It's become as much a part of my morning routine as coffee and actually working the puzzle. Thank you all.
Hello folks,
CC, thank you for initiating this blog 3 years ago. I accidentally found it a few months ago. Thanks to your efforts I'm able to post here daily (well almost daily) and to cyberspace back and forth with so many wonderful people.
I dabbled with today's puzzle, but the theme entries did me in. A DNF in a BIG TIME way.
More snow today and the rumor is we are supposed to be kicked in the butt again next Tues/Wed. Pitchers and catchers report in three weeks. A good omen.
Gunghy, You imp! I love it!
I almost missed the chance for a poem today. Shel Silverstein has always been popular around here, so here's one that everyone can appreciate. (I have a tattoo, do you?)
Little Green Buttons
The honeymoon ended a decade ago,
If he still loves her, he don't say so,
So she's taking her blues to the House of Tattoos,
Getting little green buttons on her birthday suit.
Little green buttons all in a row
From her face to the place they ain't never gonna show.
Might sound crazy but they sure look cute,
Those little green buttons on her birthday suit.
She had supper in the oven when he came home,
Now he's snoring on the sofa to the Late, Late Show.
It was ten days later before he knew
'Bout those little green buttons on her birthday suit.
But now she's living in a house of love,
She's got his attention, he can't get enough
He spends every evening trying to undo
The little green buttons on her birthday suit.
- Shel Silverstein
I think I have said so before.
Yes ,I have blue for a tattoo; like you.
Love the poem; and you,too.
Evening All,
Lemonade, Great write up. I knew it was you from the staht!
Unfortunately coming off of a NyQuil haze and today's storm, I can't say much about puzzles. I think I would've figured out today's theme, but that may be taking more artistic license than I should.
Happy Anniversary CC and thanks for everything you do to make this the Wickedist blog around. Thanks to all of the guest bloggers as well. It's really brought new input to puzzling for me. Thanks to all!
Gotta hit the hay. Removing snow in the morning. There's 20 inches on the grill now. Gonna blow wicked tonight!
Congrats CC!
Good evenin', all.
First: Congratulations and appreciation to C. C. for founding, hosting, building, and nurturing this wonderful Corner.
Three calendar years are the equivalent of at least 12 years in the hyperspeed of the blogosphere. Such longevity---and success----is a tribute to the vision, wisdom, grace and stamina that C. C. has blessed us with. Thank you.
Second: a huge round of applause for the co-hosts/bloggers who bring such a variety of talents, interests & perspectives to us! Thanks to Lemonade's deft touch with today's blog. ¡Gracias a todos!
Last, there was a puzzle today, wasn't there? And a clever theme with some sparkly fill it was. Neither a "flop" nor a DOG. (I'm too "oldsy" to like NEWSY but, yep, it's used all the time)
The "New England shuffle" theme made me think of a restaurant near Cape Cod where my Boston-educated dad dragged out his leftover accent by asking for "Oystah Crackahs" to go with the soup. Say it that way in Chicago and they'll think you're foreign!
SMIDGEN is a great word; I hear the word shortened to "smidge" all the time. I'm glad we don't do that with 'pigeon"
PRAM: A couple months ago I saw a posh woman [VIP] on the street carrying a human infant swaddled up in what looked like the carrier used to bring a cat onto an airplane. I was hoping that was a temporary measure.... Or that she was going to the vet's to switch that back with the baby stroller! (True story.)
As someone who has sent the check for the gas bill to the electric company, I almost understand!
Will be back, I hope, within the week.
Puzzles are a great way to deal with weather-induced ennui.
Be well, everyone.
71A-(Australia)Pram occupant's wear answer is Nappy. If asked for a pacifier would not know what it is as a pacifier is called a dummy.
PJB -
Delighted to see you show up today. I was just thinking about you. Send me an email, if you would please.
Anon @6:46 reminds me that in Canada a pacifier is called a soother.
That sounds so strange to my State-Side ears.
JzB
Ans on the west coast of Florida, a pacifier is called a tumbler of Pinch. You have to know the crowd, they too often wear nappies.
Hi C.C., Lemonade and folk,
Lots of fun, Lemonade! Thank you C.C. for this great blog and thanks to all who make it possible! I've been involved here for a long time and even though I haven't been on track for a few months, I always think of all of you, yup, just like you're family!!! Again, thanks! Love you guys!
Today's favorite:
zookeeper's main squeeze: BOA
I'm out.
For the past 30 or so years, I haven't heard of a baby pacifier being called anything other than a Binky. It's a Playtex trademark, but like Kleenex, it has come to be the generic term.
Wow a Frenchie sighting! Where are you ladies, Jeannie, Robin, Tarra Jo, Aimee A and all the rest?
Kudos, C.C. and warm wishes on the 3rd anniversary of Crossword Corner, which I suspect is not only the most popular but the most respected of crossword blogs. I'm proud to be a member of the group. I don't always post, but I never miss a day of working the puzzle and then reading the blog and all comments. You have a wonderful team and thank you all for giving me much joy and the opportunity to learn so very many interesting things. I think my own anniversary as a participant must be almost a year to the day. I know it was in late January last year that I took the plunge and went blue instead of lurking. You are all such a fascinating bunch, I feel very fortunate to be a part of this. Thank you, everyone and especially you, C.C.
I enjoyed the puzzle today and caught on to the theme fairly early on. My one big error was putting in Hard Rock Mama, though I couldn't figure out how Mama was synonymous with mimic! duh! Once that was fixed the NE corner finally came together.
My favorite today was One shooting the bull?/Vet. My Granddaughter-in-law is a Vet in the Columbus, Ohio area. However, she avoids large animals and works on cats and dogs most of the time.
Gable was a long time coming as I was thinking geographical for Cape Cod feature. That V-8 can got a workout today.
Spitzboov, I was blocked from opening the Eider link. Did anyone else have that problem?
Thanks Lemonade for a very witty and enjoyable write-up today.
Your Eastern accent is superb!
Have a great evening, everyone.
Chickie, I just checked the link and it came up for me. Here is the web address if you want to try pasting it into your browser:
http://web02.city-map.de/img/02120000201.jpg
Quite late to the gathering today, which doesn't matter because Irish and I are snowed in unless we drive the tractor to the road, which I understand is now clear. But since she didn't work today I won't see this puzzle until Monday evening.
I stopped by to add my congratulations and thanks to C.C. and to the rest of the bloggers. I began working the Wayne Williams puzzles in the Lexington Herald-Liar about November, 2008, and bought the iPhone in Early December. As a neo puzzler I needed a lot Of Google help, and I soon found this blog. Argyle most likely knows that date. I think it was his "Where the hell is Buckeye" comment that drew my first post. I wasn't aware of our brother Buckeye, but the rural area I live in is called Buckeye, so I answered his question. The rest is history. There have only been 3 or 4 days since that I have not read every comment. It's a rare day I don't either learn something or get a laugh.
I do remember a stretch in 2009 where every few days a newbie would stop in and within a day or two question or challenge Dennis' position at the top. My favorite of those was the one who called him a "pompass ass", thus making two mistakes with two words. I recall that he later apologized.
It has been a lot of fun. Most likely the best is yet to come.
I am very, very late to the party today as the "suits" from the buying group from BK decided to visit our DC today. Meetings, meetings, and then dinner and drinks. It was fun to finally "meet" those folks I talk to at least once a day. Too bad about their timing! It never hit zero today and started snowing as they were about to leave for the airport...thus dinner and drinks.
C.C., this is just an example about what this blog brings to a person's everyday life, and I thank you for it.
Next....I didn't want this to go on too long, and the next post might. So.....
Good evening Lemonade, C.C. and all,
I haven't had time to read the 91 comments, but wanted to give C.C. a well-deserved shout out with a great big hug. I started doing the daily xwd in June 08 when I retired. DH spends much time on his computer and this was my way of crashing into his "space".It's been a good thing.As many of you, I became addicted to the blog, and relied less and less on Google, enjoying your input immensely. At 1st, I thought everyone on this blog was DF...and well, maybe we are in a good way.
Argyle, Melissa,Lemonade, Al and JzB have only made it more fun, although I do miss your input, C.C.I am amazed at the many friendships that have been formed for many of us, and we have friends that we have not yet met.
THANK YOU
Loved puzzle..lots of fun clues. Now I will "listen."
I forgot to mention they are all from Miami!! Ha-Ha.
My call outs...first to you C.C. as I started blogging here I believe in July of 2008 under the name Cokato, and consider myself somewhat a regular. Okay, there was that stretch when I was reprimanded and being a Taurus (bull headed) tried to stay away to no avail. It's addicting folks!
Al, you teach me a lot of things that I never knew.
Melissabee, when you blog there is always something "serene". I want a massage from you.
Jazz...you always provide some entertaining information.
Argyle, what can I say? You are the quintesstial Santa...always leaving me a present or two.
MFcounselor...your blogs always are fun as you cover every clue. I also enjoy your links but have to wait to open them when I get home as "big brother" won't let me access them from work.
C.C., I must admit I don't usually work the crossword puzzles during the weekend, and miss your blogs most of all. I like how you incorporate all of us regulars in your commentary.
Getting long...NEXT....later to my friends.
Kazie, you have taught me much about being a strong woman, and I envy your time traveling.
WM,
Happy third birthday to your blog, CC!
Were you asked to consult on the Chinese President`s visit?
Since other puzzle blogger`s solicit funds and you don`t, I`d like to "pay" you with a boat-load of good will and well wishes. All your "children" appreciate all your hard work. Long may you blog!
Finally able to get back to the blog. It's been great reading all the well-deserved tributes to C.C., and the outstanding turnout today. There's so much effort she puts in behind the scenes that no one sees, and as ARBAON points out, she's never tried to take monetary advantage of it. I really am proud to be part of this family.
Windhover thanks for the nice words; it always means a lot, coming from someone I hold in the highest regard. That really was a fun time.
Dennis:
Likewise, my friend.
C.C.
Thank you for this wonderful blog you have created!
My hat is off to you!
Happy Anniversary!
What a fun blog today!
Congratulations on three years of blogging, C.C. You've created a real treasure for countless crossword enthusiasts. I enjoy the guest bloggers too and feel better thinking that you (almost) get a day off now and then.
I've become much better at solving the harder puzzles with encouragement from the group and somewhere to go when I'm discouraged too.
I checked my first post, August 2009. Hugs to you all!
This is becoming a saga, but it must continue...
Gunghy, I enjoy talking sailing and skiing with you. Watch your back though! If you had to pick one sport which would you pick? Everyone thinks sailing is a piece of cake, but we know different.
CA, dear, thanks for putting up with my references to Jen, Mary, and my friend John as you continue to conquer your own quest. Love your poems and wit as well.
Windhover, you and Dennis have to meet over a few. I enjoy your simple yet complex outlook on life.
WM, had I not met you I wouldn't own and gaze at "Jeannie's Daisies" every day as I awake.
Carol and Lois, I believe we were named the first DFette's here on this blog. I am honored to be in such company.
DrDad, I miss your comments in the early stages of this blog and remember vividly the day your own "Big Brother" put a kabosh to them. Keep the e-mails coming!
Husker Gary, I enjoy your musings which are alway a "hoot".
I just can't name everyone...but you all hold a special place in my heart.
Thanks once again to C.C. for allowing me to post a recipe or two. It's a passion of mine and maybe someday down the line, I will start my own blog doing just that. I think I will have some followers...
Dennis, you know....
Carol, I also read the clue as mouseketeer and entered Nanet and it fit.
Jazz:
Thank you for answering my question about AWD.
That's what is so great about this blog; someone knows and responds. I have learned so much here.
Sptiz:
I couldn't open that eider lind either, but I shall go back and try it.
C.C.:
What well deserved and wonderful comments for you and the guest bloggers.
Carol and Dick, hand up for Mouseketeer. "Who was the oldest?" Darleen and Annette LOOKED like they were...compared to Karen and Cubby, but neither was a fit. A-ha! It must have been Bobby. No way- I already had tete.Geez....
HeartRX-LOL @ 12:30. You too, JimmyB!
Melissa, are you moving?
CA, cute poem.
Lemonade, a hug for all that effort you put into today's blog.
oh, favorite today was "one shooting the bull"= vet
When urn showed up on the mantle, I died laughing..only in the movies
Only in the movies? We are talking my life here, and the rest of the story was the poor man committed suicide. This discouraged any long term involvement as I did not want her to have a matched set on the mantle.
Great puzzle!!! But please tell me what blogging is>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
what is blogging?? tell me at hockeyguyrms@hotmail.com
Anon@6:46,
I'd forgotten about dummies. I never used them for my kids. Being a militant breastfeeding mother, I always had the real thing handy when it was needed, and didn't worry what anyone else thought either. A discreet blanket was all that was needed for privacy.
Maybe that's a part of me that Jeannie sees as "a strong woman", or maybe it's because we're both Tauri, despite the new astrology. Thanks Lo-li-ta!
When trying to find my first post today, I was amazed at how many posts there were that first July, and how long they were. Compared with the first few days, it was amazing growth in just a few months!
Congratulations again, C.C., and thank you!
Hockey guy, blogging is sharing information for those who seek it, and so much more. On this blog we start with the crossword puzzle and many times we go off on a tangent that may or may not interest you. I say, "Go blue" and enter into the fun.
I meant to say this earlier...you can post your angst, triumphs, etc...and someone will give you a nod. That is what makes this little bit of the corner of the world special.
Lo-li-ta.
Lemonade, you were probably urning to get out of there as soon as she introduced you.
BTW, MFcounselor...why didn't a nod to Lolita make a showing today/night? She did make an appearance in the puzzle afterall. Just sayahn.
Greetings All!
I worked the puzzle late last night but fell asleep before posting time. I forgot that I had not posted until an hour or so ago, when I began reading the entire blog!
So, I offer many congratulations to you, CC! I will tell you how I found this wonderful thing later! Many, many thanks to you!!!
Puzzle wrecked my record for the week but I slogged through it without any cheats!
fermatprime@gmail.com
It's so late now that some of you are probably working on Saturday's puzzle. But I did want to sy 'congratulations, to C.C. & thanks for the blog." I don't know when I first commented but for quite a while it was anonymously (although I always signed my name.) It took a long time for me to try to go blue. And I still don't have an avatar because I can't load pictures on to my computer. Maybe some day my IT son will come visit long enough to figure out what the problem is
Thanks too, to all the other bloggers.
Kazie, your temps are always lower than ours. Your thermometer must be in a more exposed area than mine. However, our temps are usually colder than the official and our snowfall is always greater. I'd rather not be able to brag about that! I'm ready for spring!
Everything that can be said about the puzzle has already been said so I won't even comment on it.
Dot
One hundred fourteen posts, is that a record?
Dot and others in the midwest have been talking about the freezing temperatures. I just found a map on MSNBC showing the temperature in Minneapolis to be -16F and International Falls was -46F. That's cold!
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