google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday February 13, 2011 MaryEllen Uthlaut

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Feb 13, 2011

Sunday February 13, 2011 MaryEllen Uthlaut

Theme: English Lessons We Never Learned - English grammatical terms are reinterpreted literally and humorously clued with question marks.

23A. Legal dispute over personal property? : POSSESSIVE CASE. The 's ending, as in Dennis' new car.

39A. Oratorical elements? : PARTS OF SPEECH. Verb, noun, pronoun, etc.

52A. Santa's minor children? : DEPENDENT CLAUSES. Sweet clue. Also known as subordinate clause. Incomplete when standing alone. We also have ELF (30D. Yule aide).

69A. Settlement negotiated by one's ancestors? : ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT. Pronoun must agree with its antecedent.

88A. Part of a broken-up prison term? : SENTENCE FRAGMENT. Again, incomplete when standing alone. Subject or verb is missing, or prepositional phrases beginning with although, because, etc.

98A. Rosy answer in a seer's crystal ball? : FUTURE PERFECT. For example: By next May, I will have been living in the US for 10 years.

120A Philatelist or numismatist? : COLLECTIVE NOUN. Words like cast, team, crowd etc. Can be either singular or plural, depending on context.

Hope my understanding of the above grammatical terms is correct. As I mentioned before, I've never received formal education here and my grasp of grammar & common idioms is pretty shaky.

Favorite today is DEPENDENT CLAUSES (52A), thinking of our Dear Santa Argyle, who should be very happy to see how MAGIC (67D. What Muggles can't do, in Harry Potter books) is clued. He's really into those Harry Potter stuff.

Fun theme & smooth solving for me. I grokked the gimmick immediately after I got my first theme answer.

Across:

1. Bojangles specialty : TAP. Bill (Bojangles) Robinson.

4. Gets into : DONS

8. Plains tribe : OMAHA. Hi there, Husker Gary!

13. If all goes well : AT BEST

19. __ mode : A LA

20. CINN-A-STACK seller : IHOP. Hmm, pancakes. What's your regular order there?

21. Unskilled work : McJOB. Added a bit of scrabbly action here.

22. Combat mission : SORTIE

26. Crew and golf : SPORTS. Crew refers to rowing I presume.

27. Map of Hawaii, often : INSET. We also have OAHU (81D. Interstate H-1 locale) & LEI (122D. Wreath of welcome).

28. Film feline : ELSA. "Born Free".

29. Sports car quality : SLEEKNESS

31. Rod's associate : REEL

32. Liquid-Plumr maker : CLOROX. Isn't it too lazy to have the "be" dropped?

35. Aspiring atty.'s challenge : LSAT. And LLB (121. Legal deg.)

36. Generic pooch : FIDO

45. Wyo. neighbor : IDA

48. What the fourth little piggy had : NONE. Does this refer to the "This Little Piggy" nursery rhyme?

50. Some avant-garde art : ARPS. Jean Arp.

51. Playground response to 111-Down : IS TOO. And 111D. Playground response to 51-Across: IS NOT.

58. Cause trouble to : AIL

59. Skipped over : ELIDED

60. U.S. currency : DOL. Chinese currency is called Ren Min Bi, the primary unit is Yuan.

61. As one might expect : NATURALLY

64. Flight segment : STAIR

65. Equip with weapons, old-style : ENARM. OK, old-style.

68. "Hamlet," e.g.: Abbr. : TRAG. Have never seen "Tragedy" abbreviated this way before.

76. Lugs : OAFS. Noun lugs.

77. Smooth move : SEGUE

78. God-fearing : PIOUS

80. Bourbon with a floral logo : FOUR ROSES. First encounter with this brand.

85. Follower of Samson? : ITE. Samsonite.

86. He overthrew Batista in 1959 : CASTRO

87. James's creator : IAN (Fleming). James Bond.

92. Online recruiting site : eHIRE. Was ignorant of this website.

95. Stand up to : DEFY

96. Bold Ruler, to Secretariat : SIRE. Should be an intuitive guess.

97. Reptilian warning : SSS

103. Beer holder : CASK

105. Detective Wolfe : NERO

106. "Tristram Shandy" author : STERNE (Laurence). Stumped me last time. See here.

108. "__ Not Seen the Sun": Dickinson poem : HAD I

112. Committed : DEDICATED

117. Hurt badly : MAIM

118. Peacock and rooster : MALES

119. Real estate hires : AGENTS

124. Walk softly : TIPTOE

125. Euripides play in which the title heroine never goes to Troy : HELEN. Really? Helen never made it to Troy?

126. Lamb alias : ELIA. Charles Lamb.

127. Sgt., for one : NCO

128. Fur fortune family : ASTORS

129. Heavenly path : ORBIT. Heavenly clue.

130. Prog. listing : SKED. Schedule.

131. "__ a life!" : GET

Down:

1. Piglike forest dweller : TAPIR. Hi, there.

2. How the cheese stands? : ALONE. Got me. "The Farmer in the Dell": ... The cheese stands alone.

3. So last week : PASSE

4. Japanese lawmaking body : DIET. Nailed it. Often constructors use "Diet" in clues to trick solvers.

5. Sounds of surprise : OHs.

6. Rocket section with a heat shield : NOSECONE

7. Tell, slangily : SPILL

8. 1998 Masters champion : O'MEARA (Mark). Tiger's best friend. Nice person.

9. Turn-of-the-century year : MCC. 1200.

10. 1977 Steely Dan album : AJA

11. Cartwright son : HOSS. "Bonanza".

12. Genesis shepherd : ABEL

13. Evaluate : ASSESS

14. Palace of the Ottoman sultans : TOPKAPI. Well, maybe Hahtool & Lucina know. Both have been to Istanbul. I've got no idea.

15. 19th-century literary sisters : BRONTES

16. Raison d'__ : ETRE. Also 71. Latin being : ESSE. Two "Be".

17. Is sidelined : SITS

18. Hardy heroine : TESS. "Tess of the D'Urbervilles".

24. Righteous beginning? : SELF. Self-righteous.

25. Cognac initialism : VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale)

33. Like some surgery : ORAL

34. More, in adspeak : XTRA

37. Bony labyrinth : INNER EAR. Tricky clue.

38. Longtime publisher __, Mead and Company : DODD. Stranger to me.

40. Twisted into thread : SPUN

41. Mount south of Olympus : OSSA

42. Series ender : ET AL

43. Curl up : COIL

44. Word with cats or cow : HOLY. Have never heard of "Holy cats".

45. Bad day for Caesar : IDES. Ides of March.

46. Mouth formation : DELTA. River mouth.

47. Beelike : APIAN

49. Put a stop to : ENDED

53. Time management figure : EDITOR. Time magazine.

54. Ring __ : TONE

55. Highland families : CLANS

56. Major addition? : ETTE. Majorette.

57. Unfailing : SURE

62. Mob activities : RAMPAGES

63. Senioritis? : AGEISM. Fun clue: -itis.

66. GPS suggestion : RTE

70. Money-managing execs : CFOs. Real money, not Money magazine.

72. "__ Nacht" : GUTE. Good night.

73. Perils at sea : REEFS

74. Staff additions? : NOTES. Musical staff.

75. They might be left on the road : TURNS. Great clue.

79. Ones sitting tight? : SOTS. Why?

80. Feudal estate : FIEF

82. Army detachment : UNIT. New definition of "detachment" to me.

83. "Momo" author Michael : ENDE. No idea. Was this guy very famous?

84. Joke ending? : STER. Jokester.

86. Siena sweetie : CARA. Cara Mia.

89. Pair of officers? : EFFS. Two letter F in officers.

90. Medvedev's denial : NYET. Just Russian for "No". Medvedev is Putin's shadow.

91. Vegan beverage : RICE MILK. Have never tried it. Soy milk, yes!

93. Meet by chance : RUN INTO

94. Builder : ERECTOR. And 101. Builder's material : CEMENT.

99. Undoes : ERASES

100. Proverbial kettle critic : POT. The pot calling the kettle black.

102. Ford Explorer Sport __ : TRAC. No Gillette razor today.

104. Top Tatar : KHAN. As in Genghis Khan or Kublai Khan.

107. Dark times, informally : NITES

109. How a noted spider came? : ALONG. "Along Came a Spider".

110. Tennis tie : DEUCE

112. Bank deposits? : DATA. Don't get this one either.

113. Sponsorship: Var. : EGIS. Variation of Aegis.

114. Part of LAPD: Abbr. : DEPT

115. Return from the canyon? : ECHO

116. One who walks the walk : DOER

118. Subject of an annual Colorado brewing festival : MEAD. Not familiar with this Mead Festival. A quick Google search shows it's held in Denver.

123. "No mortal could __ with Zeus": Homer : VIE. Easy guess.


C.C.

77 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

A fun and mostly smooth solving experience today, but there were some bumps. As C.C. pointed out, who says "HOLY Cats"? Not I, that's for sure. I also had trouble with TOPKAPI, first because I simply don't know the word and second because I had SHORTS instead of SPORTS for 26A. I've never actually heard of crew SHORTS before, but then again I've never heard of HOLY cats before either, so I figured what the heck.

I also had trouble with the crossing of CASK and KHAN down in the SE. For CASK I had COSY, thinking one of those things you use to keep your beer can cold while holding it. I don't actually drink beer, but it seemed to make sense. Despite the fact, of course, that it's actually spelled COZY. Whatever...

Finally, I've never heard of FOUR ROSES and thought I was looking for a single foreign name. I had LIEF instead of FIEF for some bizarre reason, and that didn't help any.

Regardless, these were all minor bumps that I managed to resolve in the end. As I said, fun puzzle!

Splynter said...

Hi There ~!

I thought this was a clever and enjoyable puzzle, too - I didn't get much on the Across pass, but the Down pass I banged out - Nailed TAPIR, ALONE, PASSE, DIET, NOSECONE, etc., and felt good about the whole thing - I grokked the theme, too, with the opening "POSSESSIVE CASE", and only had trouble with ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT. Computers are "DATA BANKS", in a sense.

I had SHIRTS for Crew and Golf (hey, they are shirts) and AM TOO for the 'retort' - leaving me with TOHKAPA (I didn't know, sounded good) and BRINTEM - hey, again, sounded like an "authorish" name....

Hesitated to put in TURNS for left on the road, which cost me some time staring at the blank mid-right. TRAG and AGEISM?
meh for me...

Still, very fun, and I can identify with "Muggles", too, since to date, I have not been able to preform MAGIC - hey, it might be latent....

I am a BUILDER, but not quite an ERECTOR (in the building sense, Lois) and I like working with CEMENT.

Going to MSG for the Rangers today - a B'day present ~!

Splynter

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C. and Friends. I enjoyed this puzzle, but there were also a lot of clues that I am not really keen on, such as Samson Ending? and Righteous Beginning?

Thanks for the Shout-Out, C.C. Yes, the Topaki Palace was a gimme. It is also the title of a movie, which is not so wonderful, but does show marvelous scenery of Istanbul.

Lots of nursery rhyme references today: The Little Piggy who had NONE, the Itsy-Bitsy Spider who came ALONG and the Cheese standing ALONE.

For the readers out there, CASTRO reminded me of the memoir I recently read entitled Waiting For Snow in Havana, which recounts the transition of the Castro regime through the eyes of a young boy.

As young kids, we used to write in autograph books: 2 Young 2 Drink 4 ROSES.

I wanted SAUVE instead of SEGUE.

My favorite clue was Flight Segment = STAIR.

QOD: Success is getting what you want; Happiness is wanting what you get. ~ Ingrid Bergman

HeartRx said...

Good Morning C.C. et al.

Holy cats! Between the lesson on parts of speech (you nailed it, C.C. !), and the nursery rhymes (as Hahtool mentioned), this made me feel as if I were ("hypothetical form of 'to be' ") back in grammar school!

The clueing was rather straight-forward, with a few exceptions:
53A Time management figure for EDITOR
63D Senioritis? For AGEISM
74D Staff additions for NOTES
79D Ones sitting tight for SOTS. (C.C., there are hundreds of slang expressions for being drunk, and “tight” is one of them. As in, “He got really tight last night, and is suffering for it today.”)

-but I wasn’t so keen on
112D Bank deposits? for DATA because you don’t “deposit” data, you “enter” it. We had this clue not long ago for “silt”, which I thought was really clever. In today’s context, not so much.

Have a great day, everyone!

Argyle said...

What would make Santa happy would be if all those Muggles at the IRS approve all my DEPENDENT CLAUSES !!

Anonymous said...

An IRS auditor informed an old lady that she could not claim her dog's puppies, as her dependents.

'You must be mistaken, young man,' said the lady - 'I have been claiming their mother for years'.

Argyle said...

112D Bank deposits? for DATA because you don’t “deposit” data, you “enter” it.

But you enter it into a data bank.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning C.C. and all.

A fun, relatively easy Sunday puzzle. Love the English lessons theme phrases which revealed themselves with just a little perp help. No significant hangups and no lookups needed.

TAPIR - I disagree with the description piglike in the clue. The tapir is an odd toed (3 toed) ungulate, while the pig is even-toed (cloven hoofed). As such it is a close relative of the rhinoceros, and arguably, somewhat related to the horse. (I don't think anyone would think of a Shetland pony as 'piglike'.)

The sun 'came up like thunder' (Kipling) over the Everglades this morning, a great sight.(7:03am)

Enjoy the day.

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

Dudley,
No relationship. Like you, we just download LAT puzzles from their Archive section. Cruciverb is the exclusive host of LAT Across Lite file.

Dudley said...

C.C. - Thanks. Now, because I've benefitted from CV, I feel I ought to make a contribution.

Lucina said...

Good morning, C.C. and all Sunday solvers. Never worry about your grammar, C.C., you know it better than many native English speakers.

Being a grammarin, I sashayed through this easily, and chuckled at the humorous clueing of the theme answers.

Yes, TOPKAPI is a sprawling palace, now a museum with enormous emeralds and other possessions of the sultans on display. Thank you for the link, Hahtool. I didn't know it was a movie as well.

Dodd and Mead published school textbooks for many years so that came immediately to mind.

Some very clever clueing today:
flight segment, STAIR
heavenly path, ORBIT
they might be left on the road, TURNS
return from the canyon, ECHO

i believe the Liquid Plumr spelling is acually a logo that represents that brand.

You all have a super Sunday!

Lucina said...

Oops. Grammarians should know how to spell!

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning CC and Sunday Solvers all. This one was not too bad except for a couple of crossings of unfamiliar names that took some time to do the mental gymnastics and come up with something reasonable. Last to fall was ARP_/O_SA.

TOPKAPI (I've been there twice) was a gimme and BRONTES just popped up with only the 'T' in place. That opened up that corner and gave me my first theme entry, PARTS OF SPEECH. I knew where this was headed at that point. Thank you, Mrs Trask (7th & 8th grade English) for insisting we learn all of those terms. I may not always use them properly, though.

I didn't find any clues that I didn't like except beer holder/ CASK. Easy enough to figure out, but beer belongs in a keg or case, not a cask.

creature said...

Good Day C.C. and all,

Thanks,C.C., for great write-up.
48A refers to a game played with a baby's toes, to make them smile:
{Starting with the big toe}:
This little piggie went to market
This little piggie stayed home
This little piggie had roast beef
This little piggie had none
This little piggie cried wee wee wee, all the way home.

80A If its made in Ky, whiskey's
called Bourbon.

CARA is the name of one of our dogs.

Loved the puzzle. I'm still going to have to read "Harry Potter". Will the first book be enough to take me out of the O-Zone, Argyle?

fav clue: uskilled labor:MCJOB

Not quite GUTE NACHT.More than 20!

Lemonade714 said...

Hahtool, I thought the movie Topkapi was fun, with Peter Ustinov who won the Oscar as best supporting actor for the film, and Akim Tamiroff and the Greek beauty Melina Mercouri in a caper movie like Ocean's Eleven

Lucina, isn't life fun how it makes us do silly things like Grammarin? We can never get too serious.

Lemonade714 said...

With a son who is now officially employed as a brewer in Orlando ( as well as continuing his education) I suggest you all read about CASK ALE which is also known as Real Ale, and is the method of many microbreweries. This article is from a few years ago, and the Real Ale popularity in the US from even big brewers like Sam Adams, is still increasing.

Argyle said...

creature, depends; what the heck is O-Zone?

The first book is a quick read, unless you get the English version, although the Americanized one has quite a few terms you might not reconize. But it's fun to look up those terms and, who knows, we might get them in a puzzle.

HP Lexicon can help.

Anonymous said...

One of the most fun puzzles ever. Challenging but encouraging, satisfying, even edifying. Definitely a playful intelligence behind it. And it all came together nicely.

windhover said...

Creature:
Almost, but not quite. Whiskey can't be called Bourbon if it isn't distilled in Kentucky, but there is quite a bit of whiskey distilled here that is not bourbon.

daffy dill said...

Top-o-the-morning, C.C. and puzzlers! C.C., I don't think you need to worry about your English skills.

I didn't believe TOPKAPI was right, even though I knew all the crosses were. I was going to go back to it, but I got the TaDa!, anyway. I wanted HOLY at 44D, but didn't put it in at first because I had never heard of HOLY cats. We've had MCJOB before. I like the word, but any work is honorable, even if it is menial.

This was a puzzle in which the answers came easily from knowledge or WAGS. Even on the ones that gave me trouble, I wondered why they did when they fell into place -- except TOPKAPI, of course. Not an "easy-peasy" but doable.

Husker Gary said...

C.C. Thanks for the shout out! It was 50F in Omaha yesterday and might reach 60F today. I’m glad the tribe wasn’t the Sioux as I have trouble with those pesky vowels! C.C. I am very glad you will have been here 10 years!!

Sunday Musings
-Generic pooch is not a MUTT. SOTS not NOTS.
-ARPY? Nope, ARPS?
-No shot at ELIDED, OSSA, TOPKAPI or ENDE without perps
-NOMINALLY? No. NORMALLY? No. NATURALLY! Why can’t I guess right on these things like HOSS and not ADAM the first time?
-Best Righteous beginning? You Never Close Your Eyes Any More When I Kiss Your Lips
-Remember Seinfeld debate as to whether 1999 or 2000 were the last year of the 20th century?
-Liked Left on the road and Bony labyrinth
-Cara Mia? Jay and the Americans! Bella!
-Thought Muggles couldn’t MIMIC even after my visit to Harry Potter World last month. No clue!
-Nice Sunday Solve and blog!

Husker Gary said...

ps WH and I probably have many relatives in Kentucky who make less than pristine Bourbon! Theirs can sate your thirst or provide fuel for your car or take paint off a wall!

creature said...

WH, I knew I'd get your attention. Please give me some examples so I am better informed.

What would preclude the use of 'Bourbon'.

mtnest995 said...

I loved this puzzle. Just enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. Finished in under an hour - which is pretty speedy for me on a Sunday.

Senioritis gave me some trouble until I quit thinking about bored high school seniors.

Hope this is an omen for the week to come - last week beat me up one side and down the other and there weren't enough V-8 cans in central California to make it better.

Thanks, C.C. for a great blog - and your English skills are better than most, so no worries.

Have a great Sunday, all.

kazie said...

I echo to praises for C.C.'s English grammar skills. I would venture to guess that most Americans would not be able to define so well the terms as you did here. Often those who learn a language as a foreigner have a better grasp of its grammar than do the native speakers. My students of French and German often thanked me for teaching them grammar, so they could understand the functions of their own language.

I resorted to red letters often, but as a grammarian, found the grammar theme most enjoyable and helpful in getting the pickets of my "picket fence" linked up with palings. Many of the clues went unnoticed until I came here and read the blog. I didn't know FOUR ROSES or ASTORS, still don't like SKED, and wondered about cartoons for ELSA until she took shape.

kazie said...

Of course I echo THE praises...
Haste really does make waste.

creature said...

Argyle, O-Zone:I know nothing in that area.

Would the first book introduce you to the characters and their roles? and that would be that; or is there a new list in each book? any repeating?

WH, I guess I should have said distilled and aged for X years.

HG, I'm not talking about White Lightening. It does sound as if there is a big market for it,though.
Maybe it would complement Dennis' bug dinner.

Bill G. said...

Happy Sunday. I'm listening to yesterday's Prairie Home Companion on my computer with (external speakers) as I type. He's doing the show from Bemidji, Minnesota. Sounds like a nice place. What can you Minnesotans tell me about Bemidji?

I enjoyed the puzzle. These big Sunday puzzles are fun but they take me a long time. I remember "this little piggy had none" and "the cheese stands alone" though I haven't heard that in a long time. I remember the movie Topkapi from many years ago. I've seen it once since. It's a fun heist movie.

Re. bourbon, Jack Daniels is made in Tennessee and isn't called bourbon. You can't get samples there because it's distilled in a dry county.

This grammar theme reminded me of diagramming sentences in eighth grade and high school. That's fallen from favor and isn't taught much any more. It wasn't much fun at the time but I sure learned a lot of English grammar.

Gunghy said...

Hi, all

My brand new Mac Air took a dump on Friday, right as I was about to post. I write slowly, so it magically erased about 15 minutes of work. I'm home from Whistler, and typically, a big storm started the day before we left there. Oh, well , it's due to hit here tomorrow. So that's what?? 3 days to the East Coast??

Am I the only one that doesn't like MCJOB? It ranks right in there with EHIRE. (Oh boy, another one!) Like Hahtool, I could do without the 'beginning' and 'ending' clues. They are becoming 3D.

That said, it was a good puzzle and a great theme, so as has been said before, I'll tolerate some chaff to get to the wheat.

Spitzboov, you should have met the Shetland that my parents accepted when I was young. Pig was far better than anything we called it. A vicious brute.

Mr Bojangles, by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and by Sammy Davis Jr. And the Real Thing.

windhover said...

Creature:
Over the last couple decades there has been a lit of consolidation in the spirits business. Brown-Forman, one of the bigger companies, now owns several "name" brands. I'm not a big consumer of liquor, being primarily a lover of the brewing arts. One exception: top shelf tequila, especially Patron.
But one example is that several distillers now market "blended" whiskeys, in the style of Canadian Club, as well as Rye whiskeys. Also, at least one and probably several brands labeled as "London Dry Gin" are actually distilled in Kentucky.
And of course, the Tennessee favorite, Jack Daniels, is very similar to our bourbons but is not labeled as such since it's distilled in Lynchburg, Tennessee.
Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

Just curious, Since when is "Sked" an
abbr. for schedule?

Husker Gary said...

Creature, I saw a Discovery Channel show that says marijuana is the new cash crop in Appalachia with the same zealousness of hiding the crop and defending the intrusions of revenooers. I'm about ready to legalize it and tax it.

I remember buying Jack Daniel's cakes and cookies soaked in the whiskey and every possible souvenir of the distillery in Lynchburg but the liquor was most readily available across the state line in northern Alabama.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Afternoon All, it isn't that I never learned the English lessons, I just forgot what they are named. Perps to the rescue and I finished them all.

HOLY Cats! I've never heard of that expression. "Momo" author ENDE was also unknown.

RICE MILK doesn't sound very appetizing, but then neither does bourbon. I had an unpleasant youthful experience with FOUR ROSES...never again!

51A/IS TOO and 111D/IS NOT could have gone either way. I don't like that type of non-clue.

I wanted HUDSON (as in Hudson's Bay Company) for 128A. ASTORS took awhile.

Here's Emily Dickinson's 108A poem. Is it about a lost love, or a religious experience? Lots of debate on that one.

Had I not seen the Sun
I could have borne the shade
But Light a newer Wilderness
My Wilderness has made --

Clear Ayes said...

Husker Gary @2:15, looks like Appalachia's new cash crop is giving our Sierra foothills some competition. Your post reminded me of one of the few TV series GAH watch regularly. FX Network's Justified is based on a couple of Elmore Leonard books.

This season it is following the crimes of Harlan County Kentucky "reefer growers" and their interaction with Marshal Raylan Givens. Just like Leonard's books, the series is sharp, action packed and funny too.

Not only that, but Timothy Olyphant as Raylan is very sexy!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Not much to add to what has already been said about the puzzle, and I agree with most of your opinions about some of the cluing and fill. As Gunghy said, some chaff with the wheat.

LW and I never go to IHOP, so we have no favorite order there. At other breakfast joints we usually order eggs Benedict, 'cause we don't make that at home.

I think the spider that came ALONG is the one that sat down next to Little Miss Muffet, and may or may not have been itsy bitsy.

Never read the Euripides play, but maybe in his version Helen never made it to Troy.

Out of lines. More later maybe. Will continue to communicate in sentence fragments :) Best wishes to you all.

stombs said...

On Bourbon: The main requirements are being made from at least 51% corn spirits, being aged in new, charred oak barrels, and it has to be made in the United States.

[I recall being given a brand from Pennsylvania, and seeing supermarket brands from Los Angeles.]

On the turn of the century: The old Y2K debate hinges on the fact that our calendar started with the year One, not Zero.

Ironically, the Roman number system has no zero - MCC can only be the end of a century, not the start of the next.

HeartRx said...

Argyle @ 8:27, yes you're right. But it wasn't "bank" I had an issue with, it was "deposits". I like the idea of misleading clues, but they need to really fit the idea behind them. As in the clue I mentioned: A river "deposits" silt on the "bank", so the clue for SILT as "Bank deposits" makes perfect sense, and is cleverly misleading. I probably would have liked this one better if it were "Bank records", because data (plural) are "records" (read: "entries") in a computer "bank"

Or maybe I'm just being a crotchety old lady today...

Hahtoolah said...

Jayce: You're right, the Spider was Miss Muffet's friend. ALONG came the Rain to wash down the Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

Jayce said...

Been thinking about it for a while now and still don't get the clue "Pair of officers?"

C.C. said "Was this guy very famous?" What guy? hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Lucina said...

Lemonade:
Whew! Thank you. But, really, joke about grammar? Will the grammar police give me a complete sentence or a fragmented one?

HeartRx said...

Jayce, don't even get me started on THAT one.

Lucina, LOL!

HeartRx said...

OH, what the heck:
89A.
Bluffer’s pair?
Office couple?
Daffy duo?
Toffee center?

Jayce said...

HeartRx, thanks and LOL.

Jerome said...

Anon- I don't know if SKED is a true abbreviation, slang, shortened form, or simply informal usage, but it is legit. It gets a boatload of Google hits and a Wiki page. Variety magazine has been using it for a long time.

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks! I really enjoyed this puzzle. Thanks MaryEllen and thanks to C.C. for reviewing it.

I usually start in the NW corner and try to spread East and South simultaneously. No way, today. I had to jump around. The NW was my last area to fill.

The theme answers came easily, once I got DEPENDENTCLAUSES. Very clever theme.

I learned a new word today SEGUE. Got it with the perps. After I finished I looked it up. It is a musical term. I guess I should have known it, since I am an amateur musician. (Very amateur, I guess)

I thought 37D Bony Labyrinth/INNEREAR was a great clue/answer

I also had a problem with 89D. I got it, but after a lot of stewing and with perps. If it had been worded "Officers pair," it would have been simpler. But, I guess being simple is not always the goal.

Thank you Lemonade 714 for your excellent link to the cask-ale page. I really enjoyed the article. I will also check out CAMRA. Sounds interesting.

Abejo

Dudley said...

CAMRA was a good resource for me during several visits to England. The organization maintains lists of pubs which offer real ales, and those pubs are generally more interesting than the plain old ones that have a narrow range of the same old labels.

I am not aware of CAMRA activity in Australia, but I hope it gets there and thrives.

Gunghy said...

I forgot about C.C.'s question. The only reason to go to IHop is for a stack of pancakes. I just don't like mine as much.

My daughter started life with a milk allergy. We fed her Rice milk and rice ice cream for years. She still doesn't drink milk, and typically orders horchata by preference in Mexican restaurants.

Years ago, I stopped on a bike trip at a small local fair in England. It was a really hot day and I had been pedalling hard. I entered the tent that the local pub had set up and ordered a beer. It was ladled out of an open cask. Warm and flat. Almost enough to make me start drinking scotch.

Bill G. said...

I don't like IHOP very much. Too generic. Gunghy, I like my hotcakes much better than ones I typically gets at restaurants. You can make great hotcakes with Bisquick, buttermilk instead of regular milk and a little baking soda. I love the real buttermilk smell when they are cooking.

Dennis said...

Good evening, C.C. and gang - a bit late to the dance tonight. Did absolutely nothing this morning, worked this afternoon, and spent the rest of the day playing with the new toy, which is even quicker than its predecessor.
Just started on the 300+ page Owners Manual and the 200+ page Nav system manual; did you know that driving at night with the lights off is dangerous?? Who knew?

As to the puzzle, this was one of my favorite Sunday puzzles - loved 'dependent clauses' and of course thought of Argyle. Had one error, putting ring 'toss' instead of ring 'tone', but 'enarm' took care of that. Overall, a very enjoyable solve; clever clues, fun theme.

Re IHOP, I really like their pancakes, very good flavor, but both the IHOPs near here are, shall we say, far from spotless. Anyone else have the same experience?

Lemonade714 said...

I find the IHOP experience very spotty, in both senses of the word, with some very clean and some not. But I will always have a place for IHOP from my high schools days, when we had an away wrestling meets, we would generally stop at IHOP to eat (having not eaten to make weight) yummy pancakes. My weight fluctations were ridiculous.

There are many old tried and true grammar jokes, like:
What's the difference between a cat and a comma?
One has claws at the end of its paws and one is a pause at the end of a clause.
Or, A Texan professor and an Oxford professor are chilling at a conference bar. The Texan professor, bored, looks to the Oxford professor and strikes up a conversation. "So there partner, where y'all from?" Oxford prof. replies, pushing his glasses to his nose: "Well, in reply to your query, I hail from Oxford. In addition, where I come from, we never end our sentences in a preposition." The Texan prof. blinks once, shrugs his shoulders and drawls, "My apologies! What I mean to say is 'where y'all from, asshole?'"

Jayce said...

My wife and I like the so-called "Swedish" pancakes at Holder's Restaurants, a chain that is similar to Denny's and IHop. The pancakes are vey thin, almost like crepes, and have that tart, buttermilk flavor. We slather them with strawberry jam, not that fake maple syrup stuff, and they go ever so well with eggs Benedict or just plain eggs, hash browns, and sausage.

We go out for dim sum almost every Saturday morning, too. Expensive but yummy.

Dennis, what is your new toy?

Jayce said...

Lemonade, good joke.

Barry G, please take some pics of you in your car and share them with us. Thanks.

Good night, all.

Husker Gary said...

Jayce, I have enjoyed your discourse on pancakes but never took you for a slatherer. Do you sashay as well?

I like anyplace where you can order bkfst anytime. Cracker Barrel here in the midwest is very good and Village Inn never disappoints (they have great oatmeal too!"

Does anyone remember the Michael Douglas movie where he tried to order breakfast at McDonalds 5 minutes after they quit serving and went nuts when they said no? It wasn't Pulp Fiction but it was good!

windhover said...

Dennis:
It's funny what can trigger very vivid memories. Your post flashed me back to a warm summer night in 1963, and a Seamist Green 1954 Chevy that would only do 95 mph flat-out. It was after a date and after midnight, the moon was full and I decided to see how much of my 12 mile drive down US68 I could make with the lights out. About 5 miles from home I was on a 3/4 mile down hill stretch if curvy road. At the bottom was another 3/4 mile straight where I could get that Bel-Air up near 90. Right at the end of that I met a Ky. State trooper. We all knew his car well, it was a '63 Chevy with the 409 engine. I don't think he saw me until I went by. By the time he got turned around I was far enough ahead (and the lights still out) that I made the last 3 1/2 miles, rolled into the country road I lived on without touching the brakes, and watched him go by at well over a hundred. I walked on air for days.
Thanks.

creature said...

RPS, If its Bourbon its from Ky.

Jayce said...

I like the word sashay, almost as much as the word nostril, but I don't think I do it. Besides, that's Lucina's "trademark" word. And yes, I slather often.

Dennis said...

Windhover, great story - when we eventually get together, it sounds like we'll have a lot of similar stories to share. It's truly a great feeling when you get away with something like that.

Husker Gary, I believe you're thinking of Falling Down. Good movie.

Jayce, it's a little Mercedes 2-seater w/a retractable hardtop. My fourth one, and just a great car to play in and explore 'the envelope'. This one's dark blue w/a beige interior, after I realized my last six cars were black, red, silver, black, red, silver. Thanks for asking.

Gunghy said...

Lemonade,
My Sr. year, Coach asked me to try 191 lbs against a rival school on the day before the match.. He thought my JV could beat the other 175 and I could beat the 191. At weigh ins the coaches suggested that I just skip the process, but I said I'd better be checked. I was a quarter pound over after being at 175 the day before. That was the first clue that my coach had that I needed to watch my weight. After the season ended, I went from 178 to 205 in 2 days.

Argyle said...

Creature, re: Harry Potter

The same core characters are there from the start. There is some repetition of basic facts in the first books which I think was so that anyone skipping the first books wouldn't be totally lost.
It isn't like the Lord of the Rings trilogy which was one story in five segments in three books.

HeartRX, since deposit can be either a noun or a verb, I didn't see a problem equating it with data.

I get my pancakes at a local sugar house, open all year and using their own maple syrup. Never cared for chain restaurants.

HeartRx said...

Windhover, yes, it's funny what "triggers" memories. And this is an absolutely true story:

I had my first experience driving a V12 Lamborghini (borrowed from my friend "Annie get Y'er Gun", who's name came from the fact that she always carried a derringer in her purse, to dissuade ex-husbands from messing with her).

I was doing about 190 down the straightaway and passed a cop sitting on the side of the road. He didn't even turn on his lights, or try to follow to stop me. I guess he knew the car, and that he would never catch it. So he just went back to enjoying his IHop take-out food, and hoped he didn't have to respond to a 419, LOL !

Husker Gary said...

OMG, Now I've got WH with his lights out, Marti speeding at close to the speed of sound and Jayce slathering!

I have to teach tomorrow but have some great images to get me through the night.

BTW Jayce, I put those anti-snoring strips on my nostrils in lieu of slathering spray inside my nose from those bottles.

Bonne Nuit!

windhover said...

HeartRx:
I'm burning number 4 to ask: kph or mph?
In a borrowed car? Very cool.
The fastest I've ever been (on 4 wheels) is 145mph. My cousin managed a Ford dealership in Columbus, Ohio. He came to my (first) MIL's funeral in a SHO Taurus with the Turbocharged V6 Yamaha engine and 6-speed transmission. He asked if I wanted to drive it.
We should go for a drive sometime. You can drive.

Dennis said...

160 here, in my first Corvette, a 1964 327/365 (in 1970), on an access road in Atlanta. Pegged the speedometer. My passenger, a good friend, joined a seminary three months later. Never saw him again, and always wondered if that was just a coincidence.

Fastest in a boat was 95 (as a passenger); loved it, but scared the hell outta me.
Fastest in a plane was 740 (indicated), just past the speed of sound, in the backseat of an F-4 Phantom. By far, the greatest thrill of my life in that 40-minute flight.

Gunghy said...

You all are far braver than I am. I ran the Men's downhill course at Whistler. It took me 112 turns and I didn't time it. Hard to believe that the racers average 80 mph on ice.

Oh, 100 on 2 wheels (just once, thank you very much) and 15 faster in a car.

Lemonade714 said...

Well, I certainly cannot top 740, in fact my 148 in my 280 Z on the Homestead Extension pales in comparison. It was nice back before the place was all developed. I guess we all try speed at some point.

My junior year in high school, I wrestled 133. We wrestled twice a week, Wednesday and Saturday, Monday mornings I weighed 145, but I never missed a weigh in. In the off season I was 155. We were silly.

Spitzboov said...

36 kts in a Fletcher class destroyer built in 1943

Dennis said...

Spitzboov, outstanding!

Dudley said...

Umm...60 MPH in a 1939 Piper Cub with a Lycoming O-145. With the doors off, of course.

windhover said...

#5
Spitzboov:
Very impressive, and that ship weighed about 2498 tons more than the Taurus or the 'Vette.

Dudley:
If you cut the engine @ 5000 ft., couldn't you get the Cub up to 120 (TV) before impact?

Spitzboov said...

WH: and 60,000 HP on 4 boilers and 2 screws

Dennis said...

Spitzboov, such a great setup line, but I'd be banned for life. I know WH's biting his tongue as well.

Clear Ayes said...

Is it safe around here? The testosterone is rising faster than Bill G.'s hotcakes.

I once got up to 60 mph in a 1954 Chevy 4-door sedan....yee..haw!! (and that was in the back seat)

dodo said...

Dear ones,
I know it's late and I agree with just about everything that's been said about this absolutely wonderful puzzle. I found it delightful and really a smooth solve! Am I stealing a phrase from somebody? I think so but I don't remember who.

Even though it's late I have to respond to all of you hotcake lovers. For many years I fed my famuly sourdough pancakes made from a 'starter' that was given to my daughter at one of her bridal showers in 1976.There is nothing comparable to sourdough pancakes, IMO. I used that starter until I moved to my present res. in 2005. I kept it in and out of my freezer all that time. It never failed me. Unfortunately it was one of the things I felt I could 'unload' when I moved where I needn't ever cook again! Oh, how I wish I still had that starter!My daughter abandoned hers many years ago, so there's not a chance of retrieving any from her. Moral: When you decide to downsize, think very carefully about what to keep!CA, yet another similar experience! I, too, had a nasty experience with bourbon and have been a diehard scotch drinker ever since! Well, now it's mostly wine, since I can't really trust the hard stuff any more!

Oops!, way beyond line limit! Sorry, C.C.

dodo said...

Also,CA. if I don't comment on your poems, please know that I haven't read one that didn't delight. It's just that keeping in mind all the comments taxes my poor old memory! So Thank you, my dear!

Clear Ayes said...

A quick return Thank You and nod to Dodo, always a gracious lady.

GAH and I were up late last night (nowadays, anything past midnight IS really late for us) at the Valentine dinner/dance. We had a terrific time and it was worth a couple of lost sleep hours. I'm yawning now, so it is time to sign out for the night.

Thanks to Cruciverb's Archives, I was able to get Monday's puzzle done by 8 PM California time. I sure am glad it is up and working again!

Dudley said...

Find myself awake again...

WH: yeah, I think you could just about get a Cub up to 120 with the nose straight down. Much beyond that, the wings would probably fold back.

HeartRx: you've done some fun things! I recall riding in VW Vanagon on an Austrian autobahn at 91MPH. There were 10 people on board so the thing was working. Our pace was relatively sedate, though...everybody was passing us, including a Shell petrol tanker.

stombs said...

Creature: See http://www.harrisonbourbon.com/ for "the first Indiana bourbon since prohibition."

But they are a bit questionable. Their product is currently bottled in Missouri, and they make no claims as to being the distiller.

Also, for 70 years, Indiana has been the home of one of the world's largest distillers - LDI (see http://www.lawrenceburgdistillersindiana.com/). LDI produces a variety of spirits - including bourbon - for private labels.

BTW, if you have about $300 to spare, you might want to pick up a bottle of 16 year old A H Hirsch Reserve. It's bottled in Kentucky, but was distilled in '74 - in Pennsylvania.