google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, February 18, 2011, Dan Naddor

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Feb 18, 2011

Friday, February 18, 2011, Dan Naddor

Theme: It is a Punderful Presidential Friday. Each of the theme answers is a sound alike pun, clued with the continuing clecho of “Presidential” replacing a word or two in a common phrase with the last name of a president, to make for a silly and humorous new phrase. Interestingly, all but Madison were Republican presidents. I guess in honor of the impending President's Day holiday, we have gone from Presidential Pets two days ago, to Presidential Puns; put on your seat belts because here we go.

18A. Presidential putdown? : GRANT SLAM. (Ulysses S. Grant, our 18th) from the baseball term GRAND SLAM, a bases loaded home run.

23A. Presidential advisers?: MADISON CABINET. (James Madison, number 4 and our shortest at 5'4") MEDICINE CABINET.

32A. Presidential ATM sign?: FORD DEPOSIT ONLY. (Gerald Ford, number 38) FOR DEPOSIT ONLY, which is what I put on my checks; I never sign them in case they are lost.

48A. Presidential university?: COOLIDGE CAMPUS. (Calvin Coolidge, number 30) COLLEGE CAMPUS.

53A. Presidential belt-tightening?: NIXON CUTS. (Richard Nixon, number 37) NICKS AND CUTS.

Happy Friday all, Lemonade here, and I WAS RIGHT, a NADDOR for me and a quintessential example of his wit and skill. We have his recognizable humor, heavy themeage, and fixation with deception both in cluing and using multi word fill; look for the number by each example.

Across:

1. Timeworn observation: ADAGE. Direct from the Latin adagium, meaning proverb.

6. "Pronto!": ASAP.

10. Party person: HOST. C.C, is our party person.

14. Paganini's birthplace: GENOA. I wonder if this reference was deliberate, as the pioneer of the modern style of playing the violin, had at one time as his patron, Mary Louise, Bonaparte's second wife. He was very conceited about his music and wrote his compositions to perform himself; I would say he was a ham, but Jerome would probably threaten me with a salami.

15. One of an historic seagoing trio: NINA. Along with the PINTA and the SANTA MARIA.

16. Not deceived by: ON TO. (1)

17. Los __: city near San Jose: ALTOS. Los Altos a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California.

20. 1926 channel swimmer: EDERLE. GERTRUDE was the first woman to swim the English channel, after only five men had accomplished the feat, and she did it 2 hours faster than any man up to that time.

22. Bernardo's girl in "West Side Story": ANITA. Brilliantly played by RITA MORENO in the movie version.

26. Trademark cousins: PATENTS. Names rather than processes.

27. Trains on supports: ELS. ELevated trains, still popular in Chicago.

28. "Discreet Music" composer: ENO. Brian is my recurring theme this week, as he and his Airport Music were in my recent blog.

29. Movie beekeeper: ULEE. Peter Fonda's gold.

30. People person?: CELEB. Very fun, PEOPLE magazine.

39. "Contact" author: SAGAN. Carl was a very popular scientist who did all he could to bring science to the masses with his books and his Cosmos TV show. He also was involved in SETI. Seeking extra-terrestrial intelligence.

40. "Uh-uh": NOPE.

41. Ex-Saudi ruler __ Saud: IBN. Son of like, Ben.

44. Managed: RAN.

45. Onetime California gubernatorial candidate Huffington: ARIANNA. She is now selling out, by letting AOL purchase her HUFFINGTON POST .

51. Biblical words before and after "for": AN EYE. AN EYE FOR AN EYE, kind of eerie considering my current situation, and the ever present need to atone. (2)

52. Title subject of a G.B. Shaw play: ST JOAN. Jean D'Arc, our favorite military martyr. (3)

56. Blitz attachment: KRIEG. The massive German all out attacks of World War II. Literally lightening war.

59. Prefix with "Language" in a 1993 comedy best-seller: SEIN. Jerry Seinfeld at his best. For example, the number one fear people have is public speaking, with death the number two fear. That means if you are a funeral it is easier to be the corpse than to deliver a eulogy.

60. Gaston's god: DIEU. Oh goody, my French lesson, Mon Dieu, that was easy.

61. Perform penance: ATONE. Man, you think because I get this word every time, a higher power is telling me it is time to admit my sins, and change? Nah.

62. Scraps: ORTS.

63. U. of Maryland athlete: TERP. Short for Terrapin.

64. Streisand title role: YENTL. A rare public performance by Barbara at the Grammy.

Down: Down we go:

1. Turkish honorific: AGA. Not to be confused with the cooker so popular in Europe.

2. Wilmington's st.: DEL. Delaware, the type of Indians near Staten Island, as well.

3. Lover of armies?: ANTEATER. Really fun was to clue the army of ants.

4. Acts of kindness: GOOD DEEDS. (4)

5. Enter cautiously: EASE IN. (5)

6. Americans in Paris, e.g.: ANGLOS. I do not recall hearing this expression from any of my relatives, but hey, maybe because I spoke French with them they were nice.

7. Femme fatale: SIREN. We had SIREN as Vixen recently.

8. Book collector's suffix: ANA. This is used denote a collection of writing by a single author or a single topic, like AMERICANA, or DICKENSIANA. Not a collector like Dennis, but one who puts things together in a single volume.

9. Put down in writing?: PAN. The critics often Pan the blog for too many links.

10. Mubarak of Egypt: HOSNI. Isn’t amazing Dan used fill so current even though this puzzle was written more than one year ago; here is one perception of MUBARAK .

11. Surfing without a board, maybe: ON LINE. Web surfing. (6)

12. New York's __ Island: STATEN. The smallest population of the five boroughs of New York city, this was named Staaten Eylandt (literally "State Island") by Henry Hudson, sailing on behalf of the Dutch government.

13. T in a sandwich: TOMATO. The "T" in BLT.

19. Typewriter feature: TAB SET. (7)

21. Queue after Q: RST. An innovative play on words to spice up the letter string Q R S T.

23. Opposite of bueno: MALO. BUENO=Good, MALO=Bad in Spanish.

24. Psychic couple?: CEES. A new variation, as there are two "C"s in the word Psychic.

25. "That's __ ask": ALL I. Yeah right, beware when anyone ever says this to you. (8)

26. Sta-__: fabric softener: PUF. Have not heard of this brand in awhile. Maybe it will be the new Ipana.

30. Hoodwink: CON. From the CONFIDENCE MEN who gain that from people and then bilk them.

31. Ruling family name in 19th-century Europe: BONAPARTE. If you want more, I provide this LINK .

33. Connecticut coastal town near Stamford: DARIEN. One of the many small town near Manhattan which attracted the successful New Yorkers looking to escape from the city. The opposite end of the state in every sense from where I grew up.

34. "Yikes!": EGAD. Veddy British, in preparation for RAJ, I guess.

35. Qualm: PANG. Pangs of guilt.

36. Like some workers in an open shop: NON UNION. So Wisconsin people, what do you think of the teacher union stuff? (9)

37. HMO employees: LPNS. Licensed Practical Nurses; one level below Registered Nurses. Sort of like an AA degree compared to a BA.

38. Thumbs-up vote: YEA. Or nay.

41. Response to a doubting Thomas: I CAN SO. (10)

42. More scrawny: BONIER. How many of you thought of this SONG .

43. Prohibitive door sign: NO EXIT. (11)

45. Misbehaves: ACTS UP. (12)

46. British rule in India: RAJ. From this period of BRITISH RULE as we can see from the comments of our now anonymous friend Vidwan, there remain bad feelings among Indian and Pakistani citizens. On a happier note, I strongly recommend the book MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND .

47. Post-fall reassurance: I'M OKAY. Not fall autumn, but faw down and go boom fall. (13)

49. Interpol headquarters: LYONS. I was getting psyched for my second French dispute with Dan of the puzzle, when I read the town of LYON (French name, pronounced lee ohn) was anglicized to Lyons. International Police, now with 188 countries signed on.

50. Glyceride, e.g.: ESTER. Organic chemistry was impossible for my limited vision; my professor wrote with one hand and erased with the other.

54. Setting on the Mississippi: Abbr.: CDT. Your clock setting, Central Daylight Time. A toughie in February.

55. A lost driver may hang one, briefly: UIE. We have debated the spelling of a U Turn before.

57. M.D.'s specialty: ENT. No, the Doctors do not work on animated trees from Tolkien, but Ear Nose and Throat.

58. Styling stuff: GEL. Hair styling; I am just too lazy.

Well, it has been an up and down week, but it was great to finish with me and Dan trying to entertain. Have a great weekend, especially those who get Presidents' day off.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

66 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Lemonade, C.C. and gang - my write-up just disappeared, so I'll post later, but I wanted to point something out this morning: Today is National Battery Day, and also LOIS' BIRTHDAY! Coincidence?

Seriously, a most HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our resident DF queen! Lois, you're the best!

More later.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Lemonade. You are so lucky to get a Dan Naddor puzzle. What a fun and punny puzzle. Interesting to have both FORD and NIXON in the same puzzle. Too bad the Ford clue couldn't follow the Nixon clue. (Since President's Day isn't a holiday in my State, I didn't make the connection until your write-up).

My favorite clues were:

Put Down in Writing = PAN

Lover of Armies = ANTEATERS

Louisiana civil law is based on the Napoleonic Code, so student here learn alot about the BONAPARTE's.

Thanks for the reading recommendation, Lemonade. I see Major Pettigrew's Last Stand all over the bookstores ~ to the point of overkill.

Happy Birthday LOIS!

QOD: The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. ~ Anna Quindlen

creature said...

Good Morning C.C., Lemonade and all,

Thanks for your write-up, Lemon; glad you enjoyed it. Also, loved hearing that news about your retinas. Hope your second day at the docs was also good.

Well entertain was exactly what Dan Naddor did. It was one of the best. The 'sound-alikes' in his themes really pushed the envelope for me. Each one was an enigma that kept me off balance until the last letter. Then, there it was poof! My favorite{and hardest,IMO}
type of theme; must be the hardest to construct.

fav clue 9D: PAN.
I didnt think COOLIDGE was spelled with an 'i', but finally put it in anyway.

My biggest problem was with 56A:
Blitzkrieg. The perps got me all but the 'e' and I wagged the 'e'.

Have a nice day everyone.

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

Lois,
Ditto what Dennis said: You're the best (and the sweetest)! Happy 30+20+4-10+20-5+1-9+3-5+6+7-2+1+1
Birthday! Thanks for the laughter you bring to us every time you alight here.

Spitzboov said...

Good Morning all. Great commentary, Lemonade.

What a nice treat to do one of Dan's tougher but doable puzzles having the features Lemonade described. I usually can get on Dan's wavelength and this was no exception. Quite a few holes at first but then criss-crossing back to get the skips. It helped to be able to get the 'Presidential' theme-play early. No searches needed.

The HOSNI entry was prescient.

STATEN Island - Probably named after the States-General, the ruling body of the Netherlands during the period of discovery. Strangely, there is also a Staten Island off the coast of southern Argentina along the approaches to Cape Horn from the Atlantic side.

Enjoy the day.

Spitzboov said...

Happy Birthday, Lois. All the best to you and have a great day!

Pete L. said...

Good Morning all, Lemonade, C.C., I loved our puzzle this morning, but appreciated the write-up even more. Earlier this week, one of the regular bloggers asked whether or not the links were a good or bad thing, and I do believe today's comments definitely show that they are great! Not that I need to be entertained, but it certainly extends that after puzzle completion glow...

creature said...

Lois, what's wrong with me- Happy Birthday, and many more.

I think you charge all our batteries, so there's always a long anticipatory hand wringing, until you appear.

Hope all is exactly as you want it.

Mikey said...

I also had a chemistry professor who wrote with one hand and followed with the eraser in the other... is this something they teach in chemistry-professor school, or did you go to UR also?

Grumpy 1 said...

TGIF Solvers all. Lemonade, thanks for your very witty write up. I enjoyed it almost as much as Dan's masterpiece.

Happy birthday, Lois!

National battery day? Do you know what happens to the Energizer Bunny when you put his batteries in backwards?

I really enjoyed Dan's wit and all of the puns in Dan's puzzle. Who else would use a book title that is a pun as one of his clues? I must be starting to think like Dan, though, as I sailed through this one much more quickly than the usual Friday.

Fav clue: Lover of armies.

Have a great weekend!

Tinbeni said...

Lemonade, Great write-up.

Lois, Happy Birthday !!!
21 Again ???
I'm not surprised !!!

Now this was wheelhouse city as I hit my GRANT-SLAM on today's FUN Dan Naddor offering.

ANTEATER got my best grin.
And I always like a ripe TOMATO ...

Probably the thing that slowed me down, I could picture his face, his voice saying "billions & billions" but it took a few seconds to remember his name ... for Carl SAGAN, the author of "Contact."

Well its off to the beach ... again.
Yeah, I know, I'm "in-a-rut" but it is a nice rut to be in.

A Birthday "toast" to Lois and y'all later.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

A fun puzzle and a terrific write up by Lemonade. Loved all the presidential puns, especially Grant Slam. There were several fills that I was unfamiliar with... Ederle, Arriana, & St Joan... but perps and/or swags solved my dilemma

Favorite clue was Staten Island because 50 years ago this July, I convinced my wife that life in the Ct suburbs wasn't all that bad and got her off that island. I'm one lucky guy.

I got a nice laugh from Lover of armies/anteater and Grant Slam. The presidential theme made this a fun solve. finally, I kept wanting pen for Put Down In Writing, but I didn't think Columbus had renamed the Nina!

Had one goof, Deiu instead of Dieu. Still think Uturn s/b UEE, not UIE. But if I had caught ESTIR........

Happy birthday Lois.

Enjoy the weekend and be safe.

Jim said...

Hey everybody. Love to see another Dan Naddor puzzle, he is one of my favorites. I just wanted to say that I love the links embedded in the answers. I don't know why any critic would pan the inclusion of links. They provide daily enlightenment, facilitating your education and improving your solving skills through pictures, articles, or videos. Plus the fact that if you don't like the links don't click on them!!

windhover said...

Grumpy1:
Yes, I do, especially if they are AA batteries.

Happy Birthday to Lois,
who apparently (and happily) has no need for such appliances. Many happy returns, darlin'.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Lemondae, C.C. et al.

Happy Happy Birthday, Lois! You are a brilliant light on this blog...oh, wait, maybe those were just the candles on your cake?? ( Just kidding!!!)

Thanks for the great write-up Lemonade, and for explaining MADISON CABINET (duh!).

Just a few comments, as I could probably go way over the limit on this one:

19D TAB SET ?? I haven’t thought of those for a very long time, and vaguely remembered “tab stops” but not tab SET. When I looked up “Tab Set” online, there were a bunch of hits with “vintage” in the title. Makes me feel so old..

55D UIE (uey…uee…)

28A ENO – His full name is “Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno”. I guess he had such a short last name, his parents had to fill up the space on the brith certificate somehow...

29A ULEE’s gold was on TV lst night, and I watched it for the first time, after seeing his name in so many puzzles. Mixed feelings about it. Anyone else?

Have a great day everyone - TGIF!

Husker Gary said...

Thanks for all the lovely wishes yesterday on Joann’s and my 44th anniversary. As she is so often says, “The circus ain’t so much fun when you LIVE with the clown!” We persevered through a lot of adversity to get this far and are glad we did. Musings to follow anon!

Lemonade714 said...

Happy Birthday Lois, and many more. Maybe we could have a Corner brithday calendar among the front page links so we can prepare for thes momentous days. I also encourage those who have not yet sent Dennis their arrival dates to please do so along with sending C.C. some pictures.

More later

Husker Gary said...

What a fun puzzle and enlightening write-up, Lemon! HBD, Lois! Marti, today’s computer language also contains Carriage Return (Enter) which is as dated at TABSET.

Musings
-Grant Slam hit me like a ton of feathers and off I went!
-Betelgeuse in ORION is 500 light years away and I always tell my kids that if you had a very powerful telescope that could see Earth from there, you might see the NINA, Pinta and Santa Maria headed to the New World.
-Thought our swimmer was Florence Chadwick
-Hey, you thought it was MARIA and PEN too, didn’t you?
-STA SOF came to me for some reason. I PUFed soon enough
-ANEYE & RST very clever
-I listened for the siren LORELI as we boated on the Rhine. Not a peep!
-Stay Puft problems? Who ‘ya gonna call?
-I thought Party Person might be a HACK as they are all over TV spouting and spinning!
-If a beekeeper forgets his lunch, would he throw a ULEE UIE?

kazie said...

Lois, a happy Birthday to you/1

I had the far east done in no time flat, but many of the rest needed much help from the g'spot today. Typical for me with Dan, too many geographic and cultural unknowns.

I was thinking of three men in a boat for NINA, and couldn't remember if any would fit--was it a butcher, baker and candlestick maker? Anyway, I guess I now know there were only three pilgrim ships, I was aware of how many there were.

With family visiting for the last week, I have had limited computer time. Depending on my luck with the jury duty starting next week, I may still not get here too much for a while.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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

Lemonade,
I prefer Dennis keeps his list and announces the birthdays in the Comments section. There might be unintended consequences if we put the dates & names in the front page.

carol said...

Hi all -
A Dan Naddor puzzle on a Friday spells trouble for me. He was brilliant, and I'm not :)

I want to wish Lois a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We will stay tuned to any news alerts from your area...this being a Friday, I know you'll have no trouble finding fun. Don't wear him out!!!

More later.

Anonymous said...

Good morning everyone.

Fun puzzle, but I missed the pun on presidents' names. So I have many blank spots on the lower half. Sigh.
When I had cabinet and a few letters, I kept trying to fit medicine in.

A most happy birthday Lois. Tell us how you were celebrated.

Lemonade, your write up was very informative and enjoyable. Thank you. How fortunate you got a Naddor.

I don't see a lumber for length of post in PREVIEW.

Cheers

Lucina said...

Good morning fellow puzzlers!

Happy, happy birthday, Lois!

Thank you, Lemonade, for your zesty blogging and great links which I thoroughly enjoy.

For some reason I thought today was Saturday and was confused to see a theme, but a Naddor one!

Yowza! This was clever with so many puns, misdirection and double meanings. Great stuff!

lover of armies, ANTEATER
psychic couple, CEES
queue after q, RST

were my favorites but really, I would have to list the entire gamut. What a mind we lost in Dan's passing.

ULEE's Gold was too slow.

JD, from last night, what a fabulous story about your sister! Is she still and actress?

Have a fun-filled Friday, everyone!

fermatprime said...

Salutations Lemonade, C. C. and solvers!

A real treat for Naddor fans. How sad that he is no longer with us. Puzzle doable sans look-ups. But I couldn't see NICKS AND CUTS. Not a phrase that I could remember. Favorite response was also ANTEATER. NO EXIT (Sartre) always disheartens me.

HBAMHR Lois! Hope you are sleeping in (unlike previous very, very early risers).

Fell asleep for approx. one hour last night after my contribution to this blog. Should have taken phone off the hook. Couldn't get back to arms of Morpheus until 4 AM. Dog got up at 7 AM. Decided to read blog and here I am. (A bit later now here in PST.)

I thought ULEE's (short for ULYSSES) gold was an absorbing movie.

Time to try to get a few more winks. (Phones on-what is for me-night mode.

Happy Weekend!

fermatprime said...

Oops! Forgot to mention Lemonade's fabulously detailed write-up.

Lemonade--having eye problems is almost the last straw for me. Have macular degeneration. Just found out that blue lights contribute to worsening condition. Have several such devices, for de-ionizing room and going to sleep. Aargh!

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Thanks to Dan Naddor for a delicious puzzle and to Lemonade for blogging and linking. The lovely thing about links is you can take 'em, or leave 'em alone. I usually take 'em.

I love Dan Naddor's punny themes and this one was no exception. Happily, I caught on early.

A few weeks ago, I would have had a tough time remembering 10D/HOSNI Mubarak...not now.

No problem with 12D/STATEN. I just hummed Ella's Manhattan and got the line.

46D/RAJ was fine. I'm almost finished reading "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie. It's about India's transition from British colonialism to independence.

I ran into a little trouble with the SW crossings of 51A/AN EYE and 59A/SEIN with 49D/LYONS. I thought PARIS was Interpol headquarters, but I finally got it.

Huge Happy Birthday to Lois!

Vidwan827 said...

I wasn't going to touch a 'Friday' - but I saw Dan Naddor - and have learnt a lot about him in this blog - so I decided to give it a try. Nice Puzzle - but a little too sophisticated for me. (For instance, I had 'Grand slam' and was very happy with myself...) I enjoyed the exercise though.

Lemonade, your commentary was sparkling as always - and the gentle soul that you are, permeates through your writing like a cool summer breeze. Trust me, I relate to you in many ways, ( ... and just not our BD's), but I differ too - Organic Chemistry was my absolute favorite subject, bar none.

Thank you for the 'British raj/Empire' link in Wiki, I read extensively on Wiki, but there are many pages, that I have no idea of. Also for 'Major Pettigrew's' book - I will try to get hold of it.... and while I have one line left, Thank you again.

carol said...

Back again - had a nice bike ride!

Lemonade - did want to mention that I enjoyed your write up! I always learn a lot from you (and all others). Like CA said about links, one can partake or not...I usually do too unless it's some singing group.

Vidwan827 said...

Lemonade, much as I would rather not post again, I think you have, perhaps misunderstood my attitude as a former Indian Citizen towards Pakistan and its people.

Speaking of myself, and other indian expats I know, I do not hate Pakistanis. Perhaps I feel sorry for them - they have the same DNA haplotype as us, speak essentially the same language, eat similar food, have the same problems - but in these 60 odd years ( much like Israel, and Palestine, for instance )- they had an opportunity to build their nation - and I personally think they have squandered it. India may be a poor country, but it is by and large tolerant, at peace, progressive and trying to improve itself. And it is a vibrant, sustaining democracy - and such ingredients can only lead to progress and happiness, however slowly. Most indians, see the chaos to the west, with some worry ( because it sometimes runs over ... ) and a great degree of sadness.

Clear Ayes said...

Even though it was written "in the masculine", this reminded me of Lois. Just change the "He" to "She" and "pure women" to "men" and you'll have it.

Success

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;

who has enjoyed the trust of pure women,

the respect of intelligent men and
the love of little children;

who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;

who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem or a rescued soul;

who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;

who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;

whose life was an inspiration;
whose memory a benediction.

- Bessie Anderson Stanley

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - Another sparkling Naddor! Loved the puns. First theme fill was COOLIDGE CAMPUS, and the trend was easy to spot.

Darien can be a snooty place. Some former in-laws live there; before they became former, I had a chance to sample the lifestyle at the obligatory Noroton Yacht Club. I like sailing well enough but you can keep the social side of it.


I have trouble remembering ULEE, known only from crosswords. I guess I should see the movie, despite mixed reviews here. ENO is even harder to recall.

HBTY Lois!

Splynter said...

Hi All ~!

Had fun with this one from Dan, took a moment to grasp the theme (had VETO POWER for pres. putdown, but knew it needed to be a punny answer).

NIXON CUTS got me, didn't grasp "nicks and cuts" (I was in 'nix on nuts' - 'go on a diet' train of thought) since I had the U for U-turn right, but I thought we agreed it was going to be U-ey. OH well.

When Boney-Maroney comes up, I think of that one scene from "Christine" - the possessed car from Stephen King....the car used to pick "music to die by" - and this one was for the chubby character....who was crushed.

I have Monday off ~! just found out today - "IM OKAY" with that~! woo-hoo!!

Happy B-day to Lois - I need to hear what you have to say...about batteries ~!

Splynter

Hahtoolah said...

I rather liked ULEE'S GOLD.

Contact by Carl Sagan was made into a movie starring Jody Foster.

Re: 59-across. Len Lesser, the actor who played Jerry Seinfeld, died yesterday. He was 88.

Bill G. said...

I had my usual enjoyment of a Dan Naddor puzzle and fun write up. Nothing much to add except I too thought I had learned to spell the slang name for a U-turn. (When I was young and driving my first car, a 1950 Ford, I had a 'necking knob' on the steering wheel to aid in hanging 'Uees.' I had a Bermuda bell too. I loved that car.)

There was a knock on the door a few minutes back. The plumbers were in the neighborhood and asked if they could come earlier than our appointment. OK but Barbara's not home. I hope I remember everything. Very nice and competent Mexican fellows.

I'm guessing no bike ride for me this afternoon. Rain is on the way. I may have to drive to get an espresso.

Happy birthday Lois!

Frenchie said...

Hi C.C., Argyle and folk,

Dan Naddor did it again and Lemonade714, well when it comes to Dan, "Nobody Does It Better!

@Lois, Happy Birthday to you!
“Whatever with the past has gone, the best is always yet to come.”
Lucy Larcom

I enjoyed the puzzle and each and every blog. Thanks all!

I'm out.

mtnest995 said...

What a delightful way to end a near perfect week. Loved this puzzle, but at the same time I get a bit sad when I see Dan's name, knowing we're near the end of the legendary constructor's masterpieces.

Thanks, Lemonade for a great write up.

I add my cheers to Lois for a very happy birthday.

eddyB said...

Hi.

Had to chuckle last night when I went to the archives and saw that it was a Naddor.

Sharks have another chance on Sat.
Both teams won last night.
Get to watch the Rangers and Devils
play tonight.

Rain, rain. Go away.

Take care

Jeannie said...

Thank you MFCounselor on a wonderful blogging experience. I for one love the links, but some I have to wait to open from the home computer.

For once Carol and I didn’t think alike on the puzzle. I caught on to the theme right away when I got Grant slam so knew I was looking from past president’s names for a punny answer. My other favorite was “Ford Deposit only”. I am not saying I finished the puzzle unaided however, as I had to hit the G-spot for Ederle and Arianna. Perp help included Ibn, Sagan, Hoshi and ester. Sorry Husker Gary but sciences are my weakness….but then I never had you as a teacher! My favorite clues of the day were “lover of armys” – anteater and “psychic couple” – Cees. Clever!!

Lois, let me add to your Happy Birthday wishes! What are the big plans of the evening? OMG, I just realized it’s a full moon tonight!! Lookout Virginia!!

Bill G. said...

Jeannie, I wrote this late last night. Dunno if you saw it. "I think you may have posted a link to 'Harvest Moon' once before. I wasn't familiar with it before but I really enjoy it. Very lyrical. I didn't know they still wrote music like that in 1993. Nice video too."

Clear Ayes said...

24D/Psychic/CEES, I finally nailed the two letter connection.

Sorry, 63A/U of Maryland people. I put TOAD instead of TERP the first time through. I corrected it with perp help.

I liked 3D/ANTEATER a lot, but my favorite was 26A/PATENTS.

Dan Naddor liked using proper names, one of the many reasons I like his puzzles. I had no problem with EDERLE, ANITA, SAGAN or ARIANNA.

I liked "ULEE's Gold". Peter Fonda's understated acting reminded me a lot of his father Henry.

Hahtool, sad news about Len Lesser, who played Jerry's Uncle Leo.

There was a "Seinfeld" episode in which George was reading the self-help book 47D "I'M OK, You're OK". Jerry's opinion?...."Loser!"

I'll have to put "SEIN Language" and “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” on my books-to-read list.

JD said...

Good afternoon Lemonade,C.C. et al,

Wow-what a mind! As usual, I can rarely finish a Naddor xwd, but I do love 'em."Madison Cabinet" was my favorite.Had just enough fills to get me rolling...very slowly.

Seeing "an eye for an eye" reminded me of the discussions we had while learning about Hammurabi's Code of Laws. Kids were wide-eyed when I read this one:" If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off."

I also thought of Florence Chadwick who swam the Channel in the early 50's; although not the 1st, she broke a record. Big news in CA; she was from San Diego.

Lemonade, your write ups always make me smile. Loved your red c's in psychic. Bony Marony... one of our early silly songs we all sang.
I do enjoy all the extras everyone adds to this blog.Hahtool, I rarely tell you how much I enjoy that QOD.

CA, enjoyed Ella's link; listened to many of them.Also,lovely poetic tribute to our Lois.

♪♩♬♫•*¨*•.❤.•*¨*•♫♪•.¸¸.•´♫♪♩♬*¨*`•.♥.•´*♫♪♩♬ HBTY, Lois!!

Just returned from the annual check-up where they siphoned my blood, stole my dignity,and smooshed my girls.

Husker Gary said...

I showed the movie Contact last week and the first 1/4 of the movie is great as it deals with SETI - Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.

The first two minutes show Earth and a cacophony of noise radiating out from our humble little blue marble. Contact Introduction

As the "camera" draws back from our Solar System the radio/TV signals get older and older (Rap --> Disco --> Elvis --> Sinatra --> FDR's day of infamy speech etc that is a stunning device to show how signals from us get older and older as you move out into the universe. Listen to the 3 minute opening and see how many events you can pick out of the video segment and imagine someone "out there" is hearing them for the first time.

Finally the sound goes blank as we start seeing some near stars and get out into our arm of the Milky Way and then see a gazillion other galaxies, each with a gazillion stars in them whiz by. It is a wonderful device to engage kids about the size of the universe.

HeartRx said...

Husker, "Ulee Uie"?? LOL !!
I dunno, "return" on the computer keyboard doesn't seem so dated,
because
when
you
hit
it,
you
always
"return"
to
the
edge
of
the
page.

Bill G. said...

JD, sorry about your 'girls' getting smooshed. I had a physical on Monday and what that damned finger did to me was just as indignified, maybe worse.

Husker Gary, I loved Carl Sagan and Cosmos. I read Contact and saw the movie. Good stuff. Thanks for the clip.

lois said...

Good evening Lemonade, CC, et al., Thank you all so much for the fabulous fun birthday wishes. You make me LOL.
CC: thank you so much especially for your kind words and wishes. You are phenomenal and you rock! Jeannie, I noticed that gorgeous full mooon last night in the clear evening Dallas sky...howling was caused by something else however. I had to leave Dallas this morning (out of necessity...but under my own power anyway). Oklahoma is already in full party mode and the same full moon! Howling will be louder b/c of a bigger crowd. What a way to go! I think the batteries are included tonight.
WH- why the limitation on fun? The more the merrier. 3 AAA's, Splynter. CA, thank you so much for that wonderful "Success" poem and the tribute. Really sweet. My lunch class gave me a party Weds which knocked my socks off. It was such a surprise and so touching. Good kids....misdirected but good none the less.

Enjoy your night and again thank you each and every one.

dodo said...

Greetings, friends,

Lemonade, your blog and Dan's puzzle were equally dazzling! (I was going to steal Vidwan's 'sparkling' but Dudley got it first!)

A very enjoyable puzzle. Two lookups: Ibn and Lyons. There were many names to choose from for Ibn, which I'd thought was the answer, but also it was the only 3-letter one. It took a bit longer for Lyons, because the first HQ was Paris but it didn't work, so I had to look farther. The rest I knew or got from perps. A real triumph for Friday. This week has been a roll for me. Love it.

A very Happy Birthday to you, Lois!

And HeartRX, a belated one to you!

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, I thoroughly enjoyed Dan Naddor's punny puzzle today honoring the President's day holiday. A great job of blogging,Lemonade. Your explanations are always enjoyed.

My breakthrough came with Grants slam. After that fill I was off and running. My one problem came at the end of Ford Deposit only. I couldn't think of any other HMO workers besides,DOCS, RNS, and LVNS. None of those made any sense with the perps. I had to come here for Lemonade's help to finish NOPE. It all makes perfect sense once I had the explanation!!Duh!

Sta-Puf Fabric softener came from the back and beyond of my little grey cells. I think it was one of the first liquid fabric softeners, way back when.

Anonymous said...

Marti, when some of were young and on a manual typewriter, we had to reach up and hit the lever (when the bell rang) and physically throw it so the carriage/paper roller returned the page back so the type head was in front of the left hand side of the page. This was called a “carriage return” and that concept has stayed in modern computer lexicon even nothing physically moves, the cursor simply repositions to the left hand margin.

When I taught Word at the Master’s level, the texts still called hitting the key as a “carriage return” and has the paragraph symbol show up when you turn on hidden characters.

It’s kind of like saying “dial” a number when a cell key pad is nothing like the old dials.

Husker Gary said...

Marti, when some of were young and on a manual typewriter, we had to reach up and hit the lever (when the bell rang) and physically throw it so the carriage/paper roller returned the page back so the type head was in front of the left hand side of the page. This was called a “carriage return” and that concept has stayed in modern computer lexicon even nothing physically moves, the cursor simply repositions to the left hand margin.

When I taught Word at the Master’s level, the texts still called hitting the key as a “carriage return” and has the paragraph symbol show up when you turn on hidden characters.

It’s kind of like saying “dial” a number when a cell key pad is nothing like the old dials.

Chickie said...

A very busy day kept me from the CW until late last evening. A belated Very Happy Anniversay to Husker G. Forty-four years is a great accomplishment.

Also, a Happy, Happy birthday to Lois. Your posts are anticipated with glee and you don't disappoint!

JD, I'm so sorry that your dignity was stolen today.

Carol, we may have to grow webbed feet like you Oregonians if this rain keeps up much longer.

Have a lovely evening, everyone.

Abejo said...

Good Afternoon, folks. To: Dan Naddor. Enjoyed your excellent puzzle. Great write-up, Lemonade. To C.C., the poster girl, keep posting. Thank you.

I got through this puzzle slowly, but did finish after work.

My toughest clue/ answer was 54D Setting on the Mississippi/CDT. That gave me NIXONCUTS.

Great theme, and obviously because of Presidents' Day.

So, its National Battery Day? Never heard of that before. I used to install battery cells that weighed over 1500 pounds apiece, and produced only 2.17 volts each. Of course they would put out that voltage for a long time.

To Anonymous: The original dial telephone was a push button phone. That was before the circular dial was invented.

Happy Birthday, Lois.

See you all tomorrow, after I clean up the water damage I got in my basement last night. What a bummer.

Abejo

carol said...

Chickie, I am so sorry about sending you our rain...looks like you're in for more of it too. The webbed feet are ok, but watch out for mold, fungus
and rust :) we know how to deal with these things, but you Californians - not so much.

Lois, you devil...out there with those hard bitten cowboys again. You sure know how to have fun, batteries or not. I can hear you singing "Back in the Saddle Again" clear out here.
YeeHaw yippie K-Y !!

Chickie said...

I just read that Will Shortz will be on the Martha Stewart show on Tuesday, the 22nd. Should be an interesting show about Memory boosting exercises.

Abejo, sorry to hear about the basement flood.

Also, when I was growing up we had neither dial nor pushbuttons. You would pick up the receiver and a voice would say, "Number, please."
We have come a long, long way, haven't we?

Oh, Carol, mold, rust, and fungus, too. What are we to do? Webbed feet won't take care of those problems.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Great puzzle today. I love puns but Dan reached beyond me today. COOLEDGE CAMPUS is pretty far out, NIXON CUTS even farther.

Caught the theme with MADISON CABINET. Took me a long time (less than 2 1/2 days, though) to get through this puzzle, but I was determined.

HBD, Lois.

Great job, Counselor on a great puzzle by Dan

Bill G. said...

I just glanced at my wife's Facebook page. Most of the posts from family, friends, and friends of friends. They were trivial little notes like:

I officially have a chauffeur.

Take that away! LOL

I'm craving Jelly Belly's in a big way.

Poor Uncle Leo, dead at 88.

I love those moments with you Bubba.

I guess if you want any thoughtful comments and conversation, Crossword Corner is a much better place than Facebook.

Argyle said...

Lois, it's your birthday, you can be as naughty as you want to be.

Santa

Lemonade714 said...

You all are such a fun group, your kind words are the teaspoon full of sugar that makes the work of blogging go smoothly.Thank you all again. Lois, as they used to say on Hill Street Blues Be careful out there.

Vidwan, thank you for stopping by and saying hello. It is amazing how many people from all over the world come by the Corner everyday, with most too shy to post, but all should know this is a safe place to be, and we welcome all comments, and will translate if needed.

To those who have not said hello in a while, I will be back next Friday if the creek don't rise, so come on by and make me smile. The rest of you already did.

HeartRx said...

Lemonade, lookin' forward to your next write-up, "If God is willin' "!

Gary, isn't it funny how the old words stay with us, even though they no longer have the traditional meanings? Like "Dialing" on a cell phone, as you mentioned. Or "write" which used to mean to take a pen and actually put it on paper. Now we "write" emails and memos, on computers. But are we really "writing"? As I "write" this, I wonder....

dodo said...

From yesterday's comments, none of which I made due to being very late, I want to second Lemonade's recommendation for MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND; A lovely book!

And, I liked ULEE'S GOLD very much.

Annette said...

Happy Birthday, Lois!

My sister was just finishing Major Pettigrew's Last Stand when she was visiting about this time last year. She recommended it highly, too!

Argyle said...

Crossword in the comics:
Mother Goose and Grimm.

Marge said...

Hi all,

It's late so just a couple comments. I found this puzzle very hard and totally couldn't get most of it.

Lemonade, being from Wisconsin, I find the whole situation with teachers and other government employees sad but I totally suport the teachers. That's all I'll say.

Goodnight all,
Marge

Lucina said...

Well, it appears that Major Pettigrew's Last Stand will be on my reading list! Thank you, all.

JD and Bill G., I'm sorry to hear of your indignities; oh, such a price we pay for good health. But it's inspiring to see your good humor because laughter is the best medicine as we are often told!

I see that I'm in the minority about Ulee's Gold. Guess I'll have to see it again to reassess it.

Husker Gary said...

Sorry for the double post! I am having trouble linking to Husker Gary sometimes!

Chickie, thanks for the sentiment and our number was 132J and my grandmother was on the switchboard saying "Number Please."

Chickie said...

Husker Gary, We must have been on the same party line. Our number was 347J and my Aunt was one of the operators.

Some how that telephone number has been in my head all these many years. I learned it in Kindergarten to earn my star for knowing my address, phone, and birthday!

Anonymous said...

I want to thank everyone for ignoring the question posed by Lemonade714 in the explanation for 36d.

That topic is very polarizing and any discussion of it would be harmful to the blog.