google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday March 13, 2011 Jack McInturff

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Mar 13, 2011

Sunday March 13, 2011 Jack McInturff

Theme: I Before E's - I (short I) is replaced by EE in each familiar phrase.

23A. Meek Jolly Roger crewmen? : PIRATE SHEEP. Pirate ship.

42A. Polish protector? : SHEEN GUARD. Shin guard.

51A. Red-costumed actor in "Veggie Tales"? : BEET PLAYER. Bit player.

59. Take really short catnaps during a Henny Youngman routine? : SLEEP BETWEEN THE CRACKS. Slip between the cracks. I remember Youngman's "Take my wife, please".

76A. Tiny nestling's cry? : MICRO CHEEP. Microchip.

88A. Ownership dispute? : DEED BATTLE. Did battle.

109A. Meryl as a coquette? : STREEP TEASE. Striptease.

16D. Drug money? : EVIL GREEN. Evil grin.

74D. Fund for hammer parts? : PEEN MONEY. Pin money.

The straying I's in 23A, 76A & 16D are not short I, so their appearances shouldn't be bothersome.

I like the title, you? Caught onto the theme gimmick rather quickly, but still struggled in various spots. Names always give me trouble, and obviously Jack and I don't know the same people.

Neat stacks of 9s in NE & SW corners. We've seen a few Dan Naddor puzzles with similar design, where non-theme entries have the same number of letters as the themed ones. Quite a challenge to pull if off.

Across:

1. Like good jokes : RETOLD

7. Night music : TAPS. In military bases.

11. Focus at a boxer's school? : OBEDIENCE

20. Brought out : EVOKED

21. Got off : ALIT. Shouldn't it be "Got down"?

22. Source of a vital supply : RESERVOIR

25. Rear-ends, say : SLAMS INTO

26. Theater aisles, usually : RAMPS

27. NASA's "Go" : A-OK

28. Some reality show winners : IDOLS

30. Flowery welcomes : LEIs

31. R.E.M. hit, with "The" : ONE I LOVE

33. "Games People Play" author Eric : BERNE. No idea. Was he or his book very well-known?

34. Hang behind : LAG

36. One-million link : IN A

37. Old strings : LYRES

38. Sporty Italian wheels : FERRARI

45. Spent the cold season (in) : WINTERED

46. Pro foe : ANTI

48. How some soccer games end : IN A TIE

49. N.J. neighbor : DEL

50. Selection word : EENIE. Eenie, meenie, miney, mo.

53. Moses sent him into Canaan to spy : CALEB. Learned from doing Xword.

55. Misses some of the lecture, perhaps : NODs

56. Swedish city connected by a bridge to Copenhagen : MALMO. Not in my knowledge zone. See this map.

57. Root vegetable : PARSNIP

69. Failed flier : EASTERN. Eastern Air Lines, 1926-1991, a la Wiki.

70. Culture: Pref. : ETHNO

71. Collar victim : PERP

75. Spin-off starring Valerie Harper : RHODA

81. Sets straight : TRUES

83. Mil. spud duties : KPs. KP = Kitchen Police

84. Paddled boats : CANOES. This clue works for OARED also.

85. Raw rocks : ORES

86. Mineral involved in much litigation : ASBESTOS

90. "Casey at the Bat" autobiographer : STENGEL (Casey). Fun guy. As quotable as Yogi Berra.

91. Barrage : SALVO

92. "To Kill a Mockingbird" Pulitzer winner : LEE (Harper)

93. Boston transit syst. : MTA

94. Londonderry's river : FOYLE. In Ireland. I've never heard of the river.

95. R rating cause : VIOLENCE

100. Mideastern pastry dough : FILO. Flaky..

103. Kurdish relative : FARSI. Oh, language Kurdish.

104. Confectionery collectible : PEZ

105. Hair cover : SNOOD. Another classic crosswordese.

106. Cry of anticipation : I CAN'T WAIT. Nice one.

112. Check before cutting : REMEASURE

113. Stadium stratum : TIER

114. Oriole Park at __ Yards : CAMDEN

115. Words before an important announcement : STAY TUNED. Good one too.

116. 1974 CIA spoof : SPYS

117. Hotel meetings, perhaps : TRYSTS

Down:

1. It's not an original : REPRO

2. Water source : EVIAN

3. Crooner Mel : TORME. "The Velvet Fog".

4. Giraffe relative : OKAPI

5. Leaves alone : LETS LIE. Fun when you parse the answer as "Let's lie".

6. Pres. during Brown v. Board of Education : DDE. Was unaware of the this trivia.

7. Chevy SUV : TAHOE

8. Supermodel Wek : ALEK. Here she is.

9. Dessert choice : PIE

10. French isl. south of Newfoundland : ST PIERRE. Guessable.

11. Bean and Welles : ORSONs

12. Ball girl : BELLE

13. Those, in Tenerife : ESAs

14. Obama, e.g.: Abbr. : DEM. First thought: CIC?

15. Form letters? : IRS. Tricky clue.

17. Zip : NONE

18. Credit card name under a red arc : CITI

19. Cupid's counterpart : EROS

24. Tropical grassland : SAVANNA

29. Stowe novel subtitled "A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp" : DRED

32. NBC newsman Roger : O'NEIL. Stumped me last time.

33. One way to get to Paris : BY AIR

34. Novelist Deighton : LEN

35. Prado pictures : ARTE. Art in Spanish.

37. Old strings : LUTE

38. Boston department store founder : FILENE. Well, I bet Barry G knows. I've got no clue.

39. River of Tuscany : ARNO

40. Nevada senator : REID (Harry)

41. Time to beware : IDES. Ides of March.

42. Stone marker : STELE. Haven't seen this word for a long time.

43. Request to a dealer : HIT ME

44. Coming-out party? : GAY. Party here refers to the person.

45. Like Tom Jones, by birth : WELSH. Ah, remember this clip Melissa brought to us?

46. SDI weapons : ABMs

47. Oscar winner Patricia : NEAL

49. Missile with a feathery flight : DART

52. Benedict XVI, e.g. : POPE

53. Half a dance : CAN. CHA too.

54. Pen name : BIC. Saw this clue before.

57. Proverbial sword beater : PEN. The pen is mightier than the sword, probably the only way to get PENIS in a puzzle. Duplication with clue for 54A.

58. Occurring before: Abbr. : PREC. Preceding I presume.

60. Block : BAR

61. '60s Israeli prime minister : ESHKOL (Levi). Total stranger.

62. Some 'Vette coverings : T-TOPs

63. Unites : WEDS

64. Jazz __ : ERA

65. Dramatist Fugard : ATHOL. An South African. Sometimes we see ALOES clued as his "A Lesson from Aloes".

66. Dear, in Dijon : CHERE. Feminine form.

67. You can get down on one : KNEE. Nailed it.

68. Illegal payments : SOPs. This little word often poses trouble for some. Not to me.

71. Class-conscious gps.? : PTAs. Class in school.

72. Formerly, formerly : ERST

73. Bumpkin : RUBE

76. "Circle of Friends" author Binchy : MAEVE. No idea. Irish author.

77. __-European languages : INDO

78. Corn holder : COB

79. Accomplish : REALIZE

80. Bone: Pref. : OSTEO

82. Certain NCO : SSGT

84. Orchestra members : CELLISTS

87. It may be taken in a parlor : TEA

88. Popular shift : DAYS

89. Early communications satellite : TELSTAR. Launched in 1962.

91. Put into groups : SORTED

94. Elizabethan expo : FAIRE. I don't get this clue. Isn't FAIRE a French word?

95. Turns : VEERS

96. Ones against us : ENEMY

97. Wikipedia policy : NO ADs. They just ask for donations once a year.

98. Math subgroup : COSET

99. Blissful settings : EDENS

100. Douglas and others : FIRS

101. Gangsta rap pioneer : ICE-T

102. Tibetan priest : LAMA

103. Satyr's kin : FAUN

104. Hunted : PREY

107. Make lace : TAT. Not tattoo today.

108. Northwestern sch. where Cougar Gold cheese is made : WSU (Washington State University). Their sports teams are called Gougars. Not familiar with the cheese.

110. Inside info : TIP

111. Pie chart fig. : PCT


C.C.

50 comments:

Lemonade714 said...

Hey C.C.

A fine sunday puzzle, really nothing distinctive, but some nice fill and the theme was logical and fun.

Eric Berne, and his theory of transactional analysis were very popular in the 60’s when I was studying psychology in college and graduate school. He had studied under Erik Erikson, who coined the phrase “identity crisis.”

Clocks ahead all, it is 200 am in the east

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Went to bed early last night, so I managed to not lose any sleep due to the time change.

Loved the theme and theme answers today. Struggled with some of the completely obscure fill, however (ESHKOL, MAEVE, BERNE, MALMO, FOYLE). Seems like my blind spots always involve names of some sort, whether of people or of places.

Ran into a spot of trouble up north when I put in VIOLS instead of LYRES at 37A. That messed things up for quite awhile until I finally saw the light. Or the LUTE, as the case may be.

Finally saw an OKAPI at the London Zoo last year. Was surprised it looked nothing like a giraffe...

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - A bit wobbly in the biorhythm department today...

With a ton of patching-up all over the grid, I managed a no-peeky. I don't connect AOK with NASA; in my memory the buzzword was always "go". Switched around the R's in FERRARI again. Had Fields before FILENE.

C.C. - FAIRE is one of those old words like "olde" (in addition to being a French infinitive verb).

SOPS still doesn't ring for me, hope I can remember it.

Need coffee.

HeartRx said...

Good morning C.C. et al.

I’m glad to see you didn’t miss a beat this morning, C.C. Even with an hour less, you still managed to come up with a great write-up and explanation of the theme. The theme was clever, and there was some great fill, as you noted. I also liked SLAMS INTO.

Did anyone else think the clue for 42A should have been – “Agent to stop Charlie from losing it?”

For 91D “Elizabethan expo”, I liked how it used the kitschy spelling, as in “Ye Olde FAIRE”, where they play LYRES and LUTES.

Have a great day, everyone!

Splynter said...

Hi There ~!

A cute puzzle, got the theme, but had to wait until I had most of SLEEP...CRACKS before I got the author's intent. I had _ _ _ STREEP to start, but had to change it for STREEP TEASE, and that's funny - so is your explanation for SHEEN, HeartRx, I was not on that wavelength - as a hockey player, I am way too familiar with shin guards....

Not happy with the R in DRED/BERNE, had to red-letter to find that; two unknown names, ugh.

Also not terribly enthusiastic about the cluing for 44D.

Thanks for the re-link, C.C., I have never seen that skating bit b before, and I don't much care for the "sport"

Tom Jones TWICE this week - my mother is English; I grew up listening to him and other British acts of the 60's and 70's. He rocks.

Splynter

Abejo said...

Good Morning, folks. Enjoyed Jack McInturff's puzzle. It came together easier than most Sunday puzzles. However, it had some tough answers as well. Thank you, C.C., for all your hard work.

I was able to pick up on the theme early. This really helped with the solve. Got me established all over the grid.

I goofed on 100D. Had SIRS instead of FIRS. Oops.

My last word to get was OBEDIENCE. I was not thinking of the dog "boxer." Got it with perps.

Speaking of PERPs. I got that answer (71A) via the perps. kind of a joke, but the truth.

Thought 37A and 37D were clever clues (Old Strings) and answers (LYRES and LUTE).

This puzzle got my day started on a happy note, even though I lost an hour of sleep.

Abejo

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, CC and friends. This was a good Sunday puzzle. I did figure out the theme early, but still had some fun with it.

My first ink pen in elementary school was a BIC. Are they still made?

Although PTA makes frequent crossword appearances, I liked the fresh clueing in today's puzzle.

I'm surprised all you New Englander's haven't had more to say about FILENE's. The store and its basement was an institution in my childhood.

Enjoy the extra daylight!

QOD: Take me or leave me; or, as is the usual order of things, both. ~ Dorothy Parker

Spitzboov said...

Good morning C.C. and everyone.

Not much to add. The theme kind of helped it along with the EE substitution, ie. PEEN MONEY and STREEP TEASE. WSU was a complete WAG. MALMO and ST PIERRE were good 'anchors' for the surrounding squares. No searches needed. I agree with Lemon's first paragraph, but I do like Jack's puzzles.

Beware the Ides are coming.

Hahtoolah said...

Is the Boston transit system still called the MTA? I thought it was now the MBTA.

Also, isn't it the PEZ DISPENSER that is the collectible and not the candy itself (104-Across)?

Bessy said...

I loved this puzzle, nitpickers notwithstanding. Thank you, Jack.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I enjoyed the theme today...I always enjoy it when I catch on early!

11A..Oh, canine boxers! I had KNOCKOUTS to start with, but 11D/ORSONS was a gimme and saved me from going too far astray.

42A clue "Polish protector" could have been "Charlie protector". Nowadays, I'm sure Charlie SHEEN has a body GUARD on duty at all times.

I'd never heard of it, so thanks for the link to 38D/FILENE's, Hahtool. I don't usually shop for shopping's sake, but a great bargain looks like fun.

The crossing clechos "Old Strings" for LYRES and LUTE were clever. I think Dennis' "clecho" term has caught on very well.

GAH and I are going to a matinee performance of "Spamalot" at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto this afternoon. I loved "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", so this should be fun.

Dick said...

Good morning CC and all, a somewhat difficult puzzle today because of all the names, but it was doable with lots of perp help. The theme exposed itself early which really helped with solving.

Like Splynter I did not care much for the 44D clue/answer. I had lyres and lute reversed for quite a while which caused me problems in that area.

Overall a very nice Sunday puzzle.

Have a great Sunday.

Lemonade714 said...

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE in her follow up novel to UNCLE TOM’S CABIN introduced a radical and revolutionary escaped slave, who did not accept the horrors of slavery as Uncle Tom had, but fought the slave catchers. It is thought she was sensitive to the criticism of Tom, which became an intraracial insult during the 60s. She was a Connecticut girl, who lived out her life in Hartford, next door to Mark Twain. The houses remain for view.

Since C.C. had mentioned Barry G., I deferred to him to comment on Filene’s and its “basement” store (nice link H.) but we often drove up route 9 to Framingham to check out the bargains and stop at Jordan Marsh.

Lemonade714 said...

Easter Airlines had its main hub at Miami International, and was the first airline I ever flew. It was made successful under the ownership of Eddie Rickenbacker, the World War I flying ace. When Disney World opened, Eastern became the official airline of Disney, and even had a free ride (when the rest required tickets) called If I had Wings . When deregulation brought too much competition to Florida, Eastern hired ex-astronaut Frank Borman to save the company, which did not happen.

Clear Ayes said...

11A clue "Focus at a boxer's school" got me wondering about whether a dog breed name should be capitalized.

Of course, Jack McInturff was technically correct.

From the web: "The rule for capitalization of dog breeds is that if the breed is named after a place name or a person, the breed is capitalized. Thus: Great Pyrenees, German Shepherd, Maltese, Labrador, Chihuahua, Jack Russell, Saint Bernard, Doberman."

OTOH, capitalizing all of them saves "wondering if Samoyed is some place in the frozen tundra or if there is a city in Japan called Akita. Who knows what or where Dalmatia is? And what about Malamute? Is that a place, a tribe, a musher?"

It’s definitely easier to capitalize them all. It's confusing to separate cocker spaniels from King Charles Spaniels. It's also fairer to the low(er case) poodle, boxer and mutt.

Jeannie said...

Well, for some unknown reason, my internal clock didn't spring ahead and I actually woke up early. This is my first Sunday solve in a while. I felt I did pretty good considering all the proper names. My favorites: "focus at a boxer's school" -obedience; "one million link" - in a. I did have naps typed in instead of nods, but perps helped me out on that one.

I have a big pot of marinara sauce on the stove begging for some plump Italian meatballs to come take a s(w)immer. I hope y'all enjoy your Sunday.

Thanks C.c. for a nice write up. Are you anxiously waiting for a sign of spring just like me? There is still a foot of snow on the ground out my way :(

Lucina said...

Good morning, C.C. et al. It's so nice to "see" you C.C. and I agree with your assessment of the amusing clues.

What a fun puzzle from Jack McInturff, fun surname, too.

I loved SLEEPBETWEENTHECRACKS! As usual for Sunday I slid downward and the middle filled easily followed by the center. Haven't seen SNOOD and STELE for a long time as C.C. mentioned, classic crosswordese.

When I returned upward REALIZED that LYRE and LUTES were transposed so changed that saw SHEEP (hey, WH) but had STMARTIN, erased and saw STPIERRE. Whew!

The convergence of STENGEL, ESHKOL and MTA gave me fits for a while but TEA saved that spot. Fun!

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

Seldom Seen said...

I was a corporate travel agent in the late 80's and early 90's. I seem to remember that Eastern was never able to compete after deregulation. A devastating labor strike forced the airline into bankruptcy and forced us to stop selling seats. They never recovered. I did sell a lot of seats on their very successful LGA/DCA/BOS shuttles.

Dennis said...

Seen, do you remember their "Weekender Club"? Back in the 80s, if you were a member (and it was cheap to become one), you'd get something similar to a telegram each Thursday with ridiculously low fares for the weekend eight days ahead. It obviously was designed to help fill planes, and as I recall, the R/T airfare to Miami was under $80, something we took advantage of many times. I was sad to see them go.

Seldom Seen said...

Dennis: I was new to the biz in 1988 so I was a little late to the Eastern party. I handled travel for NCR, Mead, Standard Register, Monarch Marking, WPAFB and many others. I do remember my veteran travelers and fellow veteran agents were very disappointed to see Eastern go. Much more so than TWA and others.

p.s. I worked for TV(Top Value) Travel which became Wagons-Lits Travel, then Carlson Wagonlits. We were the largest agency in the world when I left.

Anonymous said...

C.C. said: “Londonderry's river : FOYLE. In Ireland. I've never heard of the river.”

Me either until today, however, here’s the really weird thing. I had fallen asleep last night with the TV on. As I opened my eyes this morning, Rick Steves was on. He was standing in Londonderry with a friend next to him that was pointing and saying “And before us lies the Foyle river”. Little did I know I would need this information a few hours later. Eerie coincidence for me.

Bill G. said...

This puzzle took me a while with a nap in the middle. It seemed harder than a usual Sunday offering.

"Games People Play" was an 'in' book back in the day. I read it but it didn't leave a lasting impression.

I don't care for the time changes but I have an easier time with this one than the one in the fall.

Husker Gary said...

C.C. et al, took a day off as babysitting 3 grandkids, in Lincoln, shopping, home repair for my daughter and Hairspray last night ate up my day. I appreciated the kudos from Dodo and assure C.C. I have never had an eagle. I was 5 feet short once and then choked on the birdie putt too!

Musings
-There must be a gazillion political blogs and I hate to see one here and I pledge to stay true to C.C.’s vision as much as possible! She is our hostess and political food fights never change anyone’s mind.
-EE’s today were fabulous and even helpful! Like Marti, I think we all need some SHEENGUARD. Sad for the kids!
-We live 25 miles from MALMO, NE.
-I thought ICARUS was failed flier at first, CELLOISTS? Nope!
-I slipped THROUGH the cracks first
-CDT crept in on cat’s feet as I overslept (no big deal on Sunday) when the Sun had not risen, arisen, arose. Yikes! Sub tomorrow and so I’ll do better!
-Off to the Y!

Lucina said...

It's 87 degrees here at the moment and a gorgeous day; time to shake out the shorts.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi Everyone ~~

Today's puzzle seemed to go more quickly for me than usual Sunday puzzles. I jumped around a bit before catching the theme with STREEP TEASE. Loved all the theme answers! I ended up with three blanks which later filled as ADEK, MALMO and SOPS. I feel the same as C.C. ... 21A--ALIT should be 'got down' instead of 'got off.'

HeartRx ... I really like your clue for SHEEN GUARD!


C.C. ... thanks for the Tom Jones--skating clip. I hadn't seen it before. Well worth re-linking! ;-)

Enjoy the extra hour of daylight ~~

Lemonade714 said...

I do have one Eastern Airlines Ionosphere Club story. When I was traveling regularly between Florida to New York and LA doing entertainment law, I flew mostly Eastern for the miles and the perks. I checked in at LGA Ionosphere Club one Sunday, and sat down to do the NYTimes puzzle, when I saw a fellow solver. It was Buddy Hackett, who was quite gracious and friendly. I had seen his live stand up show when I was ten, which at the time had embarrassed the hell out of my mother.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Eenteresteeng puzzle today. Deedn't need no steenking Google to get eet done. Liked eet a lot. Fun theme.

Tired thees morneeng; deedn't expect the clock change to affect me so much, but for some reason LW and I both had a hard time wakeeng up thees morneeng.

Eenteresteeng cross of LYRES and LUTE. Liked FERRARI, OBEDIENCE, WINTERED, PARSNIP, and other long feell with sleeck clues. Deedn't like so many proper names.

Gonna have our roof reeped off tomorrow, weather permeeting. Roofer has assured us we weel not get wet. Don't know how he's goineeng to make good on that assurance.

More later.

Jayce said...

By the way, although I know a lot of thought goes into how to clue a "chaff" fill like KPS, I have to say I have never known of KP duty being expressed in the plural. You have KP or you don't. A group of us (plural) has KP or we don't. Nobody has ever had "KPs" duty, and I doubt they ever will. Does anybody ever say, "Look at all those KPs in there"?

More later, but not on that subject :)

Jayce said...

My first thought for Obama, e.g.: Abbr. was also CIC. When that didn't work I erased it and the perps filled in DEM without my even noticing it.

I'm too lazy to look it up: where is Tenerife anyway? (Besides, if I looked it up I wouldn't have the opportunity to say anything about it here.)

Speaking of Welsh people, I have the impression that very black hair is prevalent among them. It's stunningly pretty.

JD said...

Good morning C.C. and all,

I have yet to see a Sunday xwd that I could do easily. Had lots of laughs, and lots of learning in the one today.

Hahtool, enjoyed the Filene's clip. My sister was a "coffee, tea or me" gal for E.A.L., based in Boston. She raved about that place...and Marshalls.As was mentioned, EAL is no longer, but she goes back annually for a Silver Liners get together.

Maeve Binchy is one of my favorite authors, similar to Rosamunde Pilcher..warm,fuzzy

I would think the candy is called Pez, as those cute little collectibles are called pez dispensers..museum nearby.

CA, always wonder about dog, cat, bird,etc names. You made it somewhat clearer.

eddyB said...

Hello.

Joe Morello - RIP. Very glad I have some of your recordings.

Don't remember flying with Eastern.
Mostly TWA - Pit to Bos.

There was a MTA stop in front of
Filene's.

Daisy, the boxer, is about half her adult size.

Still use the Pauling text as a chem reference.

Take care.

Lucina said...

Hahtool:
I really enjoyed the FILENE's article and didn't know they originated that system of markdowns which some stores still use today.

A copycat in Phoenix was the Diamond's Bargain Basement situated under the upscale store. It's good to know the history.

Clear Ayes:
Thanks for the doggie explanation. It is often confusing to discern when or not to capitalize.

Barry G. said...

Since C.C. had mentioned Barry G., I deferred to him to comment on Filene’s and its “basement” store (nice link H.) but we often drove up route 9 to Framingham to check out the bargains and stop at Jordan Marsh.

Yeah, I would have said something, but didn't want to exceed 20 lines.

Grew up in Natick, just next to Framingham and shopped there all the time growing up. Figured the answer had to either be FILENES or LECHMERE...

Abejo said...

To Nice Cuppa:

I gather you are English. My wife and I saw the movie "The King's Speech" the other night. It was outstanding. I have a lot of respect now for George VI.

Abejo

HeartRx said...

Barry G., thanks for finally commenting on Filenes! Now I can tell my story...

My girlfriend and I were in Filene's basement trying on clothes, when I dared her to run up to the main floor in only her slip. She charged up the stairs, and ran smack dab into a gentleman coming down. Needless to say, the rest is history and she ended up marrying him.

Naturally, she bought her bridal gown in FILENE's basement!

Bill G. said...

Did any of you enjoy the movie "Circle of Friends"? It was the first time I'd ever heard of Maeve Binchy and saw Minnie Driver in a movie. We really liked it and I've enjoyed Minnie Driver ever since.

I went to get a double macchiato this afternoon. Everybody at the coffee shop was on an iPhone or a laptop. They were looking very cool as usual but I was just there drinking my coffee. Dang, next time maybe my friend who's ordered a new iPad will come with me. Then I would feel much cooler.

HeartRx, fun slip story.

Lemonade714 said...

Marti,

Great story. I heard you could get anything in Filene's basement, never thought to look for a mate.

Lucina said...

Bill G:
Yes, I saw Circle of Friends many years ago and have loved Minnie Driver ever since. I ordered it from Netflix to watch it again but apparently it is unavailable.

I've read two books by Maeve Binchy and agree with JD about her.

HeartRX:
LOL Are they still married?

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

Barry G,
What a lame excuse!I give everyone 5 posts. Not one.

Grumpy 1 said...

Good evening, all. I didn't get to the puzzle until late this afternoon. We were out of town for the weekend. I still haven't done the Saturday xword.

I really enjoyed the theme on this one and caught on with BEET PLAYER. There were several names that needed perp help and I had to swag the 'R' in the DRED/BERNE crossing. I just kept chipping away and it all worked out.

Nice alternate clue for Sheen Guard, HeartRx.

Re, PEZ, yes, the dispensers are the collectible, buut they are worth more if they are still sealed with the candy inside. In that sense, the confectionery is a collectible also.

If I have KP today and KP tomorrow, I have had two KPs. That's the only way I can come up with a plural.

HeartRx said...

Lucina, yes, they are still happily married, and will celebrate their 40th next year! Unfortunately, the original store is now defunct...

Barry G. said...

Barry G,
What a lame excuse!I give everyone 5 posts. Not one.


So it's OK to post 4-5 messages in a row as long as each one is under 20 lines? I didn't realize that, sorry. I'll be sure to break up my long posts into chunks from now on, although I don't quite understand the rationale behind the request...

Bill G. said...

Regarding KPS, I wasn't in the military but I'm guessing it would be more likely to say, "I've had KP twice" or "I've had two KP duties."

JD said...

Does anyone use the word rube, or is that just in xwds?

Bill, isn't that happening everywhere, even in movie theaters waiting for the movie to begin.People who haven't communicated with anyone for years are coming out of the woodwork.It's amazing to watch this new society unfold.I travel without a phone,etc.

HeartRX...best story ever! :))

JD said...

Barry,
C.C. reads every single post, and I get bored reading my own if I go on and on.She needs to take a breath.

but.....I have to admit

your posts are never boring!

Clear Ayes said...

I didn't have time to check all the links this morning, but I have now.

Thanks for the Evgeni Plushenko clip, such marvelous skating and so funny too.

Lemonade, a thanks to you for the Harriet Beecher Stowe link. I had no idea that she had written so many books.

Wonderful time with friends at "Spamalot". The program describes it as "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". It is a very funny and irreverent show with some great songs. I was surprised to see quite a few people with small children in tow. It is definitely not a show for kids. Language and themes are for adults. If you get the chance, any Monty Python fan here would love it.

Topped it off with dinner at a great little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant. Fun day.

Clear Ayes said...

JD and Bill G., I am always amazed how often we hear phones ringing in movie theaters, in spite of the on-screen requests to turn them off.

Today the pre-show "no phones, photos or recordings" announcement was something on the order of "be aware there are armed knights on stage who could drag you on stage and impale you." We saw several people reaching into purses and pockets to turn their gadgets off. You would think they should already know to have done that.

Bill G. said...

CA wrote: "I am always amazed how often we hear phones ringing in movie theaters, in spite of the on-screen requests to turn them off."

I'm guessing that there are plenty of young adults that would interrupt themselves in the middle of having sex to answer their phone or see who the text message was from. Cellphonius Interruptus!

Anonymous said...

Elizabethan expo - faire...I was thinking the author intended Faire as in Ye Olde Renaissance Faire

Anonymous said...

Why the question mark after 11a? Made me think it was one of the theme answers.