Theme: Game, Set, Match - The first four theme entries end in a term used in the sport that will give you the ailment in the fifth entry.
17A. Does some Web browsing: SURFS THE NET
24A. Coming-out gala: DEBUTANTE BALL
37A. Demand accompanied by a banging gavel: "ORDER IN THE COURT"
47. Illegal lottery : NUMBERS RACKET
58A. Lateral epicondylitis (and a possible injury hinted at by the ends of 17-, 24-, 37- and 47-Across): TENNIS ELBOW
Argyle here.
I did not start in the NW corner. 'Nuff said. Although the long entries were relatively easy, overall, this was one of the harder Mondays. But did you notice...the theme words (NET, BALL COURT & RACKET) were progressive in their length. Not a coincident, I'm thinking. Right, Donna?
Across:
1. Finalize, as a deal : SEW UP. I put in SHAKE and was slow to take it out.
6. "Let __!": "Start the ball rolling!" : IT RIP. I couldn't find a definitive meaning of the phrase but it relates to doing things quickly. It is much like how you can tear a fabric easily in one direction or if you are sawing lumber, ripping, or sawing with the grain, is much faster the cutting across the grain.
11. Sleep attire, briefly : PJs. Pajamas Adult Onesies.
14. Honolulu hello : ALOHA
15. NFL's winningest coach Don : SHULA. Now has a chain of steak houses.
16. Below-the-belt : LOW
19. "The Kids __ All Right": 2010 film : ARE. A book, a film, and a song(3:01).
20. Building wing : ELL
21. Photographed : SHOT
22. Brownish-green eye color : HAZEL. National Geographic.
28. Forever and ever : ALWAYS
30. Rolled grain : OATS
31. Clark's love : LOIS. And 12D. Superman's birth father : JOR-EL
32. "Me, too!" : "SO AM I!"
34. NFL six-pointers : TDs. Touchdowns
41. Casual shirt : TEE
42. La Virginie et la Caroline du Sud : ÉTATS. French for states (Virginia and S. Carolina)
43. La __ Tar Pits : BREA
44. Karate blow : CHOP
45. Restrain : REIN IN
52. Tibetan capital : LHASA
53. Bedouin, ethnically : ARAB
54. Eyjafjallajökull residue : ASH. Glad the Icelandic volcano is the clue and not the answer; it wouldn't fit anyway.
57. Get stuck for, as a cost : EAT
62. Regret : RUE
63. Furry "Star Wars" creatures : EWOKs
64. Track event : RELAY
65. Family Stone frontman : SLY
66. Thick : DENSE
67. Nerdy types : GEEKS
Down:
1. Submission encl. : SASE. Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope.
2. 12th Hebrew month : ELUL. The twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year. (I could use a little help here.)
3. Global : WORLDWIDE
4. 300 to 3,000 MHz : UHF. The channels are 14 through 83. Remember when you had an antenna on the roof?
5. Elapse : PASS BY
6. Enjoys faddish popularity : IS HOT
7. It precedes iota : THETA. It's Greek to me.
8. Pantyhose woe : RUN
9. Sight in the Seine : ÎLE. French alliteration.
10. Pitiful : PATHETIC
11. Eloise's hotel, with "the" : PLAZA. From a series of children's books written by Kay Thompson
13. Peachy : SWELL
18. Ergo : THUS
23. Crunch targets : ABs
25. Relax, as restrictions : EASE
26. __ Ark : NOAH'S
27. Like most pets : TAME
28. Scads : A LOT
29. Wisdom of the elders : LORE
32. Clothes fasteners : SNAPS
33. Baseball great Mel : OTT
34. Phonograph component : TURNTABLE
35. Eins und zwei : DREI. German 1 + 2 = 3
36. Ollie's partner : STAN. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
38. Readied the leftovers, say : REHEATED
39. "... believe __ not!" : IT OR
40. Big Apple theater award : OBIE. Off Broadway.
44. "Survivor" network : CBS
45. Some TVs : RCAs
46. Anita of "La Dolce Vita" : EKBERG. Image.
47. Cards and Phils : NLers. Baseball.
48. Amateur mover's rental : U-HAUL
49. Sailor's sobriquet : MATEY
50. Military levels : RANKS
51. Get up : ARISE
55. Hose down for a while : SOAK
56. Major rtes. : HWYs. In general, the interstates are even numbers for the east-west highways, increasing from south to north, and the odd numbers are north-south highways, increasing from west to east.
59. Woolly farm female : EWE
60. Rouen refusal : "NON". Rouen is the historic capital city of Normandy, in northern France.
61. Important name in Virginia history : LEE. La Virginie.
Answer grid.
Argyle
17A. Does some Web browsing: SURFS THE NET
24A. Coming-out gala: DEBUTANTE BALL
37A. Demand accompanied by a banging gavel: "ORDER IN THE COURT"
47. Illegal lottery : NUMBERS RACKET
58A. Lateral epicondylitis (and a possible injury hinted at by the ends of 17-, 24-, 37- and 47-Across): TENNIS ELBOW
Argyle here.
I did not start in the NW corner. 'Nuff said. Although the long entries were relatively easy, overall, this was one of the harder Mondays. But did you notice...the theme words (NET, BALL COURT & RACKET) were progressive in their length. Not a coincident, I'm thinking. Right, Donna?
Across:
1. Finalize, as a deal : SEW UP. I put in SHAKE and was slow to take it out.
6. "Let __!": "Start the ball rolling!" : IT RIP. I couldn't find a definitive meaning of the phrase but it relates to doing things quickly. It is much like how you can tear a fabric easily in one direction or if you are sawing lumber, ripping, or sawing with the grain, is much faster the cutting across the grain.
11. Sleep attire, briefly : PJs. Pajamas Adult Onesies.
14. Honolulu hello : ALOHA
15. NFL's winningest coach Don : SHULA. Now has a chain of steak houses.
16. Below-the-belt : LOW
19. "The Kids __ All Right": 2010 film : ARE. A book, a film, and a song(3:01).
20. Building wing : ELL
21. Photographed : SHOT
22. Brownish-green eye color : HAZEL. National Geographic.
28. Forever and ever : ALWAYS
30. Rolled grain : OATS
31. Clark's love : LOIS. And 12D. Superman's birth father : JOR-EL
32. "Me, too!" : "SO AM I!"
34. NFL six-pointers : TDs. Touchdowns
41. Casual shirt : TEE
42. La Virginie et la Caroline du Sud : ÉTATS. French for states (Virginia and S. Carolina)
43. La __ Tar Pits : BREA
44. Karate blow : CHOP
45. Restrain : REIN IN
52. Tibetan capital : LHASA
53. Bedouin, ethnically : ARAB
54. Eyjafjallajökull residue : ASH. Glad the Icelandic volcano is the clue and not the answer; it wouldn't fit anyway.
57. Get stuck for, as a cost : EAT
62. Regret : RUE
63. Furry "Star Wars" creatures : EWOKs
64. Track event : RELAY
65. Family Stone frontman : SLY
66. Thick : DENSE
67. Nerdy types : GEEKS
Down:
1. Submission encl. : SASE. Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope.
2. 12th Hebrew month : ELUL. The twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year. (I could use a little help here.)
3. Global : WORLDWIDE
4. 300 to 3,000 MHz : UHF. The channels are 14 through 83. Remember when you had an antenna on the roof?
5. Elapse : PASS BY
6. Enjoys faddish popularity : IS HOT
7. It precedes iota : THETA. It's Greek to me.
8. Pantyhose woe : RUN
9. Sight in the Seine : ÎLE. French alliteration.
10. Pitiful : PATHETIC
11. Eloise's hotel, with "the" : PLAZA. From a series of children's books written by Kay Thompson
13. Peachy : SWELL
18. Ergo : THUS
23. Crunch targets : ABs
25. Relax, as restrictions : EASE
26. __ Ark : NOAH'S
27. Like most pets : TAME
28. Scads : A LOT
29. Wisdom of the elders : LORE
32. Clothes fasteners : SNAPS
33. Baseball great Mel : OTT
34. Phonograph component : TURNTABLE
35. Eins und zwei : DREI. German 1 + 2 = 3
36. Ollie's partner : STAN. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
38. Readied the leftovers, say : REHEATED
39. "... believe __ not!" : IT OR
40. Big Apple theater award : OBIE. Off Broadway.
44. "Survivor" network : CBS
45. Some TVs : RCAs
46. Anita of "La Dolce Vita" : EKBERG. Image.
47. Cards and Phils : NLers. Baseball.
48. Amateur mover's rental : U-HAUL
49. Sailor's sobriquet : MATEY
50. Military levels : RANKS
51. Get up : ARISE
55. Hose down for a while : SOAK
56. Major rtes. : HWYs. In general, the interstates are even numbers for the east-west highways, increasing from south to north, and the odd numbers are north-south highways, increasing from west to east.
59. Woolly farm female : EWE
60. Rouen refusal : "NON". Rouen is the historic capital city of Normandy, in northern France.
61. Important name in Virginia history : LEE. La Virginie.
Answer grid.
Argyle
56 comments:
Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - boy, I didn't waste any time screwing this one up. Put 'close' for 1A, then of course 'aloha' for 14A, and sat there looking at perps starting with 'll' and 'oo'. Once I got that straightened out, the rest of the puzzle was about a four-minute run, with no real pauses. The theme started coming into view with the second theme answer and was pretty obvious by the third.
A decent Monday puzzle with lots of familiar clues, but as always, I appreciate the effort involved in creating any puzzle that makes it to publication. Oh, and I liked seeing Anita Ekberg clued - back in the day, she had a couple prominent features that were definitely attention-getting. (She probably still has them, but perhaps in a different area code.)
Argyle, good write-up, and no, I didn't catch the fact that the theme answers were progressive in length.
Today, in addition to being MLK day, is Ditch Your New Years Resolution Day. Too late for some?
Did You Know?:
- The word 'curfew' comes from the French couvre feu, or "cover the fire." A curfew was originally the time when you had to extinguish fires, candles and lamps.
- Despite being made famous by Dutch paintings and Spain's Don Quixote, windmills originated in Persia before the tenth century.
- Uh oh. Percentage of American men who say they would marry the same woman if they had to do it over again: 80%. Percentage of American women who say the same: 50%.
Off to the gym.
To Abejo: Yes, you did post on the wrong blog.
I'll retrieve them in a bit if you haven't done so.
Hello Puzzlers - Smooth sailing through this well-crafted Monday Matrix. Anita ECKBERG was unknown to me - too bad, in retrospect. I wouldn't have a prayer of knowing ELUL, and LHASA just hid in the cupboard. Perps took care of all that, of course.
Awareness of the Superman backstory is hazy, those names just don't stay with me. HAZEL was no trouble, as that happens to be my eye color.
A bit cool this morning, -4° hereabouts. Stay warm and Good Day!
I'm too depressed over yesterday's game to be my usual cheery self this morning., I'm afraid....
Definitely a challenging puzzle for a Monday. Like Argyle, I got stuck with a mistake at 1A. For me, however, it was CLOSE. Took me awhile to get out of that mess.
Percentage of American men who say they would marry the same woman if they had to do it over again: 80%.
I'm guessing the "same women" all those men want to marry is Angelina Jolie.
Percentage of American women who say the same: 50%.
Yes, but how many American women are actually married to women in the first place?
Good morning Argyle, CC, et al., Good job, Argyle...great catch on the length of the theme answers. I missed that too.
Dennis: interesting about Am men. I think we all need a 'wife'.
Barry: LOL! Depression becomes you. very funny!
Was loving this almost a speed run puzzle and then I noticed it was my favorite Donna Levin. No wonder I loved this puzzle! What wasn’t getable one way was very doable the other. ‘I-trip’ped in the SW for ½ a second but that was it. The only questionable entry I have is ‘hazel’ as brownish green instead of greenish blue. So, Dudley, do you have brown in your eyes?
Felt this puzzle was all about me what with Lois, Virginia, ‘turn – table’ (pool), shot, is hot (cue stick-wise), run (the table), plaza (my Fri margaritaville), oats (‘always’ wild, never
‘tame’), soak (the gullable), numbers rack-et (38 DD) rein in (not only the horse), and finally
‘lhasa’‘ewe’s are no longer nervous when I’m in OK since those handsome cowboys ‘arise’ to meet me. And as far as the ‘debutante ball’ goes? I took that ball to a new level. ‘ell, it ‘elped me learn ‘a lot’ about the ‘order in the court’ all right. Knowing the arresting officer really well kept me out of trouble and the P’s from finding out. His name was… wait for it…wait for it…ready?
“Clark”. Too true.
Enjoy your holiday.
Good Morning, Argyle and Friends. Back home and the old routine. I love Donna's puzzles. This was pretty easy after I got over 1-Across.
SEW UP was not the first thing I thought of for Finalizing a Deal. I initially tried CLOSE then SEALS, before finally settling on the correct answer.
1-Across was was further complicated by the fact that ELUL is NOT the 12th month. However, since Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year begins in the month immediately following ELUL, apparently some people believe ELUL to be the 12th month.
6-Down was filled in by the perps, so I read Enjoys Faddish Popularity as iSHOT, and tired to figure what that meant. Oh, IS HOT!
QOD: Politeness was invented by wise men to keep fools at a distance. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Good day all. Barry, LOL. I wouldn't wish you to become depressed more often but you wear it well.
Nice Monday puzzle. It had me thinking in a few areas, with quite a few unknowns but the perks took care of all of them. Oddly, I have tennis elbow right now. I think it is from using the mouse too much on the computer (sadly, but I work with pictures incessantly). It is a bear to get rid of, and my husband just got done with the same ailment. I told him he gave it to me.
Did anyone notice that "The Kids Are Alright" was in the puzzle and it won a Golden Globe last night?
Thanks to all for the nice Birthday wishes. We had a nice family dinner out b4 taking my son back to college. We had planned on seeing an IMAX presentation, but the snow kept us from getting there on time. Unprecedented amounts here, and the traffic is continually snarled as a result.
Dennis, your curfew brings me bad memories. Our son (despite being told not to speed if he missed curfew) was caught going 94 on the freeway trying to get home faster to not miss his:-( We just took it to court to try to keep it off his record and luckily were successful - primarily because of relationships between the prosecutor and our attorney. Expensive lesson though, and he will have to remain clean for 12 months, pay a hefty fine and take a class. So that is what curfew does!!!
Good Morning Argyle, C.C. et al.
Great write-up, Argyle. Who could forget those HAZEL eyes staring out from the cover of Nat Geo? I'm pretty sure that that SHOT did win a major prize. Anyone?
I didn't have any trouble with SEW UP, because I just skipped it until I could get it by the perps. But I had "Let 'er RIP" for 6A. WHich gave me "e-SHOT" and huh? Is that a new "E-" word that I missed???
Other than that, a speed run. For once, I knew all the name references. And I didn't have to guess whether it was ALERS or NLERS because the perps filled it in for me. Yay!
Barry G., LOL.
Have a great MLK Day everyone!
Good morning everyone.
I agree with Argyle; this was a harder Monday. But, Donna's puzzles are always fun to do. Didn't get the theme until the unifier at 58a. And for that wanted something like carpal tunnel ……. But then TENNIS took its bow. Last to fall was ELUL helped by the perps as was JOREL. Foreign words NON, ÎLE, ÉTATS, and DREI, are frequent visitors here. No searches were needed.
We had -10º here this am.
Stay warm.
Good Morning Argyle, CC and All,
I'm with Barry still reeling from yesterday's loss. I'm also foggy from attending the UMO Hockey game last night. Maine beat Boston College 4-1! We were invited to watch in one of the luxury boxes. What a treat! I think I have whiplash though spending the first period snapping my head from the Pat's game on TV to the live action on the ice.
Great puzzle from Donna. Typical Monday difficulty with a nice theme that I actually grokked with the second theme answer. Only problem I had was with 44A. Technically there is no such thing as a Karate "Chop". There is a shuto which is a strike with back edge (pinky side) of the hand. Very effective for strikes to the nose, neck, throat and groin. Stay away from the head though, it hurts.
Great write-up Argyle.
Happy MLK Day!
Good Morning C.C.,Argyle and all,
Great write-up, Argyle. Thanks for the note on the theme answers' length.
I always enjoy Donna's puzzles and this was no exception. The theme was fun for me; I used to love to
play tennis - how I met DH.
Belated Happy Birthday to KQ! Sorry, I didn't get to the corner til late last night. Hope you had a great day!
I worked yesterday's puzzle, but had no time to comment. Basically, I lked it; theme especially. My one dislike was 'route'; I spent too much time agonizing over it.
Thanks, Jonathan, for a very creative puzzle with some neat clue surprises.
Hahtool, I'm glad you made it to US soil. I missed that you were going anywhere. Welcome back; it feels better now that you are in your old routine.
Argyle, the larger puzzle was like gold to me. Thanks.
Have a nice day everyone.
Argyle, Wonderful Monday write-up.
Hand-UP for putting in SHAKE at first for 1A.
Always thought a hand-shake was better than a written contract.
A man's word should count for something.
FUN Monday, Thank-you Donna!
Yup, it was SWELL ...
Liked the theme progression. Not a tennis player ... more of a "Hit the gym" and "Walk on the beach" person.
Well today we are getting a nice, soaking rain.
May ruin the Sunset ... but not the "Toast."
Cheer's to one-and-all !!!
Happy Monday and if you are enjoying a day off, relax.
Donna's puzzles are always fun
The confusion caused by the Jewish New Year starting on the first day od the seventh month, is dealt with as explained by Argyle, with both a civil and religious place for the month ELUL .
The Kids Are All Right movie has an interesting cast including the Aussie girl who played Alice in the Wonderland movie MIA WASIKOWA .
Barry, as a native New Englander, I can sympathize with the despair of not only losing, but losing to the Jets, but what in the world was Belicheck thinking? Some of his calls and the Bears throwing a halfback option pass which was promptly intercepted, makes me think coaches do not watch their own games.
Have a great week all
Good Morning everyone. I am not sure if I am coming in under the wire, or what. I am leaving this comments on a different site.
I enjoyed this fun and easy puzzle by Donna Levin. Good job. I needed a jump start this week after the last part of last week.
Fortunately, I have never had TENNISELBOW. Of course, I do not play tennis, either.
I did not know the 12th Hebrew month, but the perps got it for me.
42A was not obvious either, not being a French speaker, but with a couple letters ETATS became obvious.
I am sure Argyle will have great comments to the Clues and Answers. I have just not seen them yet.
Abejo
January 17, 2011 5:54 AM
Good morning Argyle and all, a nice easy walk in the park this morning. Today makes two days in a row that I was able to complete the puzzle completely unassisted. There is not too much to comment about on today’s puzzle. I, like others wanted closed for 1A, but that was quickly corrected with the perps.
KQ, Happy belated BD to you.
Barry, I liked your comments on the marriage percentages. Funny!
Hope you all have a great Monday.
Hi All ~!!
Speed run, under five mins, tripped up only on SEW UP and IT RIP, otherwise, hit DEB BALL and COURT, figured it was a TENNIS puzzle.
I think I might have a variation of tennis elbow, from shoving boxes sideways down the shelves of the UPS trucks - hurts in just that right spot.
Sorry, BarryG, but I think NY used up it's sports credits on the Jets, as the NY Rangers couldn't pull it back against the Flyers at the Garden last night.
Dennis, thanks for the link yesterday - funny.
I did my 4hrs at Brown today, now I have the rest of the day to myself.
Splynter
I know we don't make a habit of posting jokes here, but I got this one this morning and had to pass it on after almost choking on my bowl of cereal:
Two rednecks are out hunting, and as they are walking along they
come upon a huge hole in the ground. They approach it and are amazed by the size of it.
The first hunter says, "Wow, that's some hole; I can't even see the bottom. I wonder how deep it is."
The second hunter says," I don't know, let's throw something down and listen and see how long it takes to hit bottom."
The first hunter says, "There's this old automobile transmission here, give me a hand and we'll throw it in and see". So they pick it up and carry it over, count one, two, three, and throw it in the hole.
They're standing there listening and looking over the edge and they hear a rustling in the brush behind them. As they turn around they see a goat come crashing through the brush, run up to the hole and with no hesitation, jump in head first.
While they're standing there looking at each other, looking in the hole and trying to figure out what that was all about, an old farmer walks up.
"Say there," says the farmer, "you fellers didn't happen to see my prize-winning goat around here anywhere, did you?"
The first hunter says, " Funny you should ask, but we were just standing here a minute ago and a goat came running out of the bushes doin' about a hundred miles an hour and jumped headfirst into this hole here!"
The old farmer said, "That's impossible. I had him chained to a
transmission!"
A great Monday, at the right level, I thought. I too started with CLOSE for SEW UP, but otherwise a smooth run. I did have some unknowns but as usual, perps got them. ASH was my last fill--I never would have known what Eyjafjallajökull is, but I should be aware of the impossible Icelandic spellings.
I've heard of tennis elbow being blamed on bending the elbow too much by BAR FLIES.
Dennis,
I got that joke in an email a while back too. Felt sorry for the goat and the farmer!
Interesting note on curfew--I didn't know that.
KQ,
Happy belated birthday!
About 4 inches of new white stuff so far here today.
Okay, Here are the Jewish months and their respective holidays in the proper order.
Consider, however, that in the calendar we use, the months begin with January through December. There can be different "years" throughout the calendar year, as school years, which generally begin in September, or fiscal years, which often run July 1 through June 30. January is still the first month of the calendar.
The same is true with the Jewish calendar. Although the Jewish New Year begins at Rosh HaShanah, this is actually the seventh month of Tishri of the Jewish year. The first month of the Jewish calendar is Nisan, which is in the spring. The Jewish calendar may have several different “new years” depending on its specific purpose, however, the number of the month remains the same.
The names of the Jewish months are of Babylonian origin and were named during the time of the Israelite exile in Babylon. Biblical Hebrew refers to months by number and not by name.
The Jewish months and their holidays are as follows:
1. Nisan
a. Pesach / Passover: 15 Nisan. This is an 8-day holiday
b. Yom HaShoah: 27 Nisan
2. Iyar
a. Yom HaZikaron: 5 Iyar
b. Yom Ha’Atzama’ut: 6 Iyar
c. Lag B’Omer: 18 Iyar
d. Yom Yerushalayim
3. Sivan
a. Shavout: 6 Sivan
4. Tammuz
5. Av
a. Tisha B’Av: 9 Av
6. Elul
7. Tishri
a. Rosh HaShanah: 1 Tishri. This is a 2-day holiday
b. Fast of Gedaliah: 3 Tishri
c. Kol Nidre: 9 Tishri
d. Yom Kippur: 10 Tishri
e. Sukkot: 15 Tishri. This is an 8-day holiday
f. Shemini Atzeret: 22 Tishri
g. Simchat Torah: 23 Tishri
8. Cheshvan
9. Kislev
a. Chanukkah: 25 Kislev. This is an 8-day holiday
10. Tevet
11. Shevat
a. Tu B’Shevat: 15 Shevat
12. Adar I / Adar II (seven times every 19 years an additional month of Adar is added to the calendar, making Adar the 12 and 13 month of the year.)
a. Fast of Esther: 11 Adar
b. Purim: 14 Adar
And to KQ, A belated Happy Birthday. Sorry the snow kept you from the IMAX, but it was nice you could spend the day with family.
Hi all and Happy Monday!
I love a Donna Levin puzzle on a Monday and it was not a real speed run for me, but even with the few stumbling blocks (1A), I finished just fine.
I put SHAKE in for 1A too, and it fouled up that corner for a few minutes.
I misspelled EKBERG as EKBERT so that messed up 67A and made it TEEKS. I found my error though.
57A would not materialize - but I finally figured out NLERS - whew!
Barry G: LOL
Lois, good to see you back and up to your usual hysterical :) posts!
Dennis: loved that joke!!!! Good thing I'd finished my breakfast and coffee or else I'd have to buy a new laptop.
Since I never make New Year's Resolutions, I don't have to break them. :)
Good day folks,
Been battling a case of the flu since Friday PM. First day out of the sack and it won't be for long. Slept thru all the play-off games except the Pats. What an awful performance.
Count me in as starting with close for 1A. The rest of it went OK, except for a spelling error here and there, mainly from lack of attention. Everything was corrected.
Argyle, your usual high quality write up. Thanks for the Ekberg pic. Made me feel better for a moment or two. Dennis, the joke was a riot, but laughing hurts today.
Tinbeni, it'll be a day or more before I join you in your daily toast again.
Be well.
Agree that this was a harder than usual Monday puzzle. I don't like Hebrew calendar months - how are we supposed to remember them? It's always a lookup or getting from the perps for me. Otherwise no complaints ;-).
Une femme de L'état de la Caroline du Sud
KQ: Happy belated birthday. Wish you many many more.
Carol: thanks. good to see you too. My friend reports to Ft. Lewis (sp?) tomorrow. See you this summer?
Dennis: that's sooooo funny! Really cute! thanks for sharing.
Hahtool: thanks for the list and the explanations. I saved it to a safe place - just have to remember where when I need it. That's the hard part.
thehondo: wish you a speedy recovery.
Tinbeni: Love your attitude! There's a break in the clouds right now. I see the sun so I'm not going to take any chances! Cheers! It's 5:00 somewhere.
I love holidays. I have a date for lunch and a different date for dinner. My 3rd date will be the longest one-my favorite boyfriend named 'gym'.
Hi gang -
HBD, KQ. Sorry I'm late.
Nice Monday puzzle, and a slow fill for me. "IT RIP" was last to fall. Saw TENNIS developing as the theme after NET and BALL, but ELBOW was a twist.
Don't recall seeing WORLDWIDE or TURNTABLE before.
Today, the LW and I have been married for 240 months, and yes I would absolutely marry her again. I just read her Dennis's stat and asked her if she would marry me again and she said, "Absolutely!"
After also chosing the same word, we're going to go have lunch at the Olive Garden to celebrate.
The kids had a surprise party for us on Saturday. It was pretty sweet.
Rehearsal tonight, performance next week. IMBO.
Cheers!
JzB
Have I ever mentioned that I love Donna Levin puzzles? Somehow, I am always on her wavelength. I made the same mistake as a lot of you with “shake” instead of “sew up” but perps helped straighten that up. Being a tennis player I got the theme right away…good catch Argyle about the progression of the number of letters. I also thought that she was giving a “shout out” to our Lois. I didn’t know Superman’s birth father – Jorel and had a couple of language lessons with Etats and Drei. I’m with you MH on the Hebrew calendar months, thanks Hahtool on the list.
Happy belated birthday KQ!
Hondo, I hope you start feeling better soon.
Jazz, Happy 240 month anniversary! I can just fill myself up with the breadsticks and salad at Olive Garden.
Dennis, I laughed at your joke. WH, what constitutes a prize winning goat?
Lois, I hope your “dates” are fun!
Hand up for "close" in place of "sew up". Didn't last for long, though. Nice, fun puzzle with an enjoyable theme. Most pleasant for a Monday. Thank you, Argyle, for a brilliant write up as always.
Sorry about your depression, Barry, but I agree that you wear it well and it definitely has no detrimental effects on your sense of humor! I could say something about the Pats, but I'm sure it wouldn't sit well here, so I'll keep my thoughts to myself.
Happy belated birthday, KQ.
Have a nice day, all.
Good day, Argyle, C.C. and all.
Wonderful blogging, Santa, thank you.
I love Donna Levin's puzzles and was on her wave length almost immediately. Since I scan first and saw SASE, WORLDWIDE and UHF, knew 1A was SEWUP then all the rest fell in place. Even grokked the theme quickly.
I don't play tennis but have had TENNISELBOW. It's painful!
I did have to wait for TDS because I have trouble recalling those German numbers.
PJS: my daughter and her family bought onesies for themselves for Christmas; I had to do some altering for her 6'4" husband and extend the feet. They do have fun.
LOIS, a nice shoutout to you in the puzzle today!
HONDA:
Get well quickly!
Hahtool:
Yes, thank you for that list; I, too shall save it for future reference.
Dennis:
Your funny joke made me laugh out loud!
No gym for me today because I go to the local Community College gym and they are colsed for the holiday.
My new Year's resolution this year is to write actual letters to friends. So far I have written two and mailed them. While e-mail is quick and some would say free, many of my friends do not even own a computer.
Have a lovely holiday everyone!
Jazzbumpa:
Congratulations on your 20th anniversary! How fortunate you are!
Oops. Sorry, thehondohurricane. I wish you well in your battle with he flu.
Given the season, I felt the first three themes, NET, BALL, BASKET should have misdirected people towards BASKETBALL. RACKET put a stop on that direction.
Speaking of the numbers RACKET, from all accounts, the mob gave you a lot better odds than the government. I guess they weren't as big of crooks.
Good afternoon everyone.
Great write up, Argyle, as usual. Fun puzzle, and I love Mondays because I can get the answers.
Jazzbumpa: Happy 20th anniversary. DH and I have our 13th today. But we're not celebrating at a nice restaurant because he has a miserable cold. We get them so seldom here in Florida that we forget how awful they can be. He says he'll make it up to me when he feels better.
Hondo, hope your flu isn't too awful and that you heal well.
Cheers
Australian Open is this week, so the theme is more "in season" than I thought. First stop for this year's Grand Slam.
Hi Everyone. Breezed through the puzzle this a.m. without problems. A nice way to start the week.
@ KQ: I noticed "The Kids Are Alright" too. In fact I just "red boxed" it online so we can watch it tonight. My daughter and I went to see "The Kings Speech" yesterday. WOW! Colin Firth, Helena B. Carter and Geoffrey Rush are all spectacular! What a story.
@ Abejo: I did see your post from quite a while back about working in Gilroy many years ago. I now work in the building that was the old ConTel telephone office back in the '70's/early '80's, probably where you worked. It's now owned by the Chamber of Commerce. What a coincidence!
I feel for all you cold-weather folks...we're expecting a sunny 60 degree+ day. May even get the old MG out!
As always, thanks to Argyle and C.C. for your dedication. I look forward to the blog every day!
Enjoy!
(Oops. Sorry for the extra, sxtra spaces.)
Good Morning All, whenever I see those blank 11, 12 or 15 letter Acrosses, I start with the Downs. (1D) was an easy SASE. With the exception of ELUL, I got the rest of the top row Downs, which filled in almost everything all the way down to (24A) DEBUTANTE BALL. I would have wanted Peachy KEEN for 13D, but was one letter short, so SWELL had to make do. The rest of the way, there were only a few empty pickets on my fence.
I always enjoy seeing Donna Levin's name as constructor. Today was a very nice Monday contribution. Easy enough for a Monday level, but not "ho-hum" at all.
GAH's eyes are a nice squinty HAZEL. (They almost "squinch" shut when he smiles.) I've gazed into them enough to know that they are light brown with touches of green.
I have to admit to the failing of seldom spelling (52A) LHASA correctly the first time around. It usually starts out as LLASA, then LAASA and maybe a LASHA thrown in for good measure until I finally get the sequence in proper order.
I would definitely marry GAH again, BUT, like many women, I doubt very much that I would marry again if he goes first. Two husbands was enough for me.
Even though Irving Berlin wrote it in 1925, for some of us 50's 60's (and over),(28A) Always is one of the essential WWII love songs. Frank Sinatra's version is so touching.
Good work as usual Argyle. I don't know if it was intentional, but I thought it was a sharp observation that the theme words (NET, BALL COURT & RACKET) were progressive in their length.
When "ash" appeared, I knew the long,
nordic? name had to be a volcano. The only other "problem" I had was "irrip", which probably should have been "errip' since the "er" stands for "her." But then, what else could you do with "irrip?"
Hahtool and Counselor, correct me if I`m wrong but since Jewish months are based on moon cycles (28 days), the extra month(s) is/are necessary to keep the months in sync with the seasons.
BTW and IMHO (not to mess with anyone`s theology) but Yeshua was more likely born in spring or fall since shepherds would not have had their flocks out by night in deep winter.
Mainly for Dennis
HH, good luck with your flu.
I'd always heard and read LET 'ER
RIP but it wouldn't work.
Sorry for you guys who were emotionally involved with a football loss. I get the same way with the Dodgers and the Lakers.
There's a great APOD, (Astronomy Picture of the Day) today. I don't think I fully understand how it was shot but it's sure impressive.
Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al,
Love Donna's xwds!! It was almost a speed run for me...very unusual, until I got to the SW corner and had to look up the meaning of sobriquet. Was I the only one??? NLERS did not come easily either, nor did the spelling of Lhasa.On the other hand, I remembered elul!
Actually saw the theme, and am familiar with tennis elbow. At that time it was called tendonitis, although I'm sure epicondylitis is probably the same. Acupuncture was a VERY effective remedy.
HeartRx, I also had "er rip" as that is the way I've always heard it.
Lois, you are fabulous!
When the fog lifts, it should be another great day.The other half of my roses are waiting their hair cuts.The tulip bulbs in my frig are yelling, "Plant us!"
Hi all.
Donna's xwrds are so smooth. Love them.
I am one who believes that Jesus was born in April. Rome had their
reasons in moving it. Magi would not have been there either.
Sorry, loved the Sunday game. Steelers get to play at home.
APOD is the first place I go to every morning.
Heavy fog this AM and now we have to worry about a super storm that
hits every 200 yrs.
take care.
Hahtool, thank you for the information on the Jewish months and holidays. I always get confused with those so I printed your information and will keep handy as a cheat sheet for the next time it comes up in a puzzle.
In Golf the term " let it rip " is usually said when someone is teeing off on a drivable par 4 or a long par 5 ,, so in reality it means " give it all you got " another term was " grip it and rip it " both terms became widely used shortly after John Daly became a pro and was one of the longest hitters on tour.
Hahtool,
thanks from me too. I saved the Jewish months/calendar in a Word file.
We now have snow drifts all over the path out front. Thankfully it's MLK Day and I don't need to get to the mailbox or anywhere else.
Yes, summer is tennis weather in Oz, but I always thought it silly, since it's really too hot to be out in that weather.
Here's the back story on the National Geographic Afghan Girl. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will see a photo of her that was taken 17 years later, holding the original photo.
Yes, ARBAON, an additional month (ADAR) is added to the Jewish calendar 7 times every 19 years to keep all of the Jewish holidays in their proper seasons.
Readers: Carlos Eire wrote a fascinating memoir entitled "Waiting for Snow in Havana" of his life as a young boy growing up in Cuba. He was about 12 when he was sent to the US in 1962 as one of 14,000 unaccompanied children airlifted out of Cuba.
I've had tennis elbow several times and it was tough to get rid of. Once it was so bad I had a cortisone shot. There are exercises you can do to strengthen those body parts.
I'm not a big fan of beauty pageants but the girls (women?) who I saw on Miss American were pretty, talented and smart. I wonder if Husker Gary had the winner as an ex-student?
Speaking of attractive women, I'm a big fan of Lara Logan on 60 Minutes. She's smart, a good interviewer and has a great accent (South Africa).
To supplement what Hatool said, Adar II is added; the original 12 months, including Adar remain.
Did anyone else watch the MISS AMERICA PAEANT ? I did not, and never understood why they moved it from Labor Day week end. Are pageants finally on their way out?
Hi all,
Thanks C.C. and Argyle for this blog and your posts. (Thanks to all of you who do the write ups).
This was fun but had a few look-ups.
Speaking of sporting events, how about those Packers Sat. evening. It was so amazing. It was especially great since the Falcons beat us in Nov., which we attended down there. Sat. made up for some of the points the Pack couldn't seem to get that day.
Kazie, we have had several inches of snow today too. I'm ready for it to quit. I had to go into the clinic for some routine Lab work this AM. My DH drove me in, thank goodness.
I was way into my adult years before I realized the Three Wise Men were never at the manger. It was a couple years before they ever got to where He was.
Clear Ayes- thank you for the Frank Sinatra version of "Always". It sure brought back memories and I actually remembered all the words.
Have a good evening all!
Marge
I believe theologians, Catholic ones anyway, now believe that Jesus was born in the spring and that it took at least three years for the Magi to reach him.
Still, I love the holiday!
Hola Everyone, A quick, but fun puzzle from Donna Levin today made my morning CW experience even better.
I had some of the same problems as everyone else has mentioned with the addition of Is Hip for Enjoys faddish popularity. That slowed my down a bit, but finally righted itself with Debuatante Ball.
Argyle, thank you for the great write up today. Also, I thought of Lois today when 31 across went in. Lois your write up was witty, as usual.
KQ, a belated Happy Birthday to you. Also Happy Anniversary to Jazz. May you both have many, many more celebrations.
My sobriquet is Chickie and was given to me by my father when I was just a few months old. The family has called me that ever since. It made a logical Blog name when I was setting up my account.
Peachy/Swell brought back memories of my FIL as he used that saying all the time. A throwback to his HS days.
Hahtool, thank you for the Afghan girl link. Also for the Hebrew month information. The latter went into my crossword dictionary.
Dennis, interesting information on Curfew. I count it as my learning moment today.
WOW! Sharks have won 2 in a row.
Sun broke through the fog @3PM.
eddy
JzB--Happy 20th!!
CA, I've always wondered if that fact about MM having 6 toes was true.
Hahtool, me 4..thx
Lucina, that's way too much time to keep my C'mas tree. Did anyone else used to keep everything as is until the wise men arrived?
Garlic Gal, e-mail me. Can we just be observers at the puzzle fest?
Re. Marilyn Monroe's extra digit, Snopes says it's not true.
Bill G. Your composite photo brought the hanging islands of Pandora (From "Avatar") to memory.
And as for windmills originating in Persia, it always blew my mind that spaghetti originated in China and was brought back to Italy by Marco Polo, although Sicily ("picture it, 1943...") also claims to have "invented" it. But it was the Italians who added the wonderful tomato based sauces!
Jeannie, who I believe doesn't have an Italian bone in her body, has given me the best organic marinara sauce I have ever tried. If you haven't...you should. I think you can access it by this blog site.
JD:
You made me laugh! It reminded me of my mother who insisted we keep our tree up until Jan. 6, feast of the Magi.
I would like to say no one keeps the tree set up for three years, yet I have met a person who loves Christmas so much he keeps a year round Christmas room. He continuously adds decorations,etc.
Have a good night, everyone! I'm looking forward to tomorrow's offering.
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