Theme: Before and After - Just like on Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy!, with the extra wrinkle that the first phrase leads into a state. If you haven't seen either of these TV game shows, the end of the first word or phrase becomes the start of the second word or phrase. The two words or phrases are unrelated otherwise.
17A. Having a sense of the Prairie State? : FEELING ILLINOIS (feeling ill)
27A. Webster's impression of the Natural State? : NOAH'S ARKANSAS (Noah's ark)
44A. Watch the Evergreen State? : EYE WASHINGTON (eye wash)
59A. Close to the Magnolia State? : NEAR MISSISSIPPI (near miss)
Argyle here. Now this is more like it. Two grid spanners and two near grid spanners. Cute theme. Two long perps crossing three of the themes each.
Across:
1. Crick in the neck, e.g. : SPASM
6. Exec's "I want it now!" : ASAP
10. Sci. class : BIOL. Biology.
14. Foil maker : ALCOA. Did they ever make an épée, I wonder?
15. The Big Easy, briefly : NOLA. New Orleans, Louisiana. Also, one of Chef Emeril Lagasse’s New Orleans restaurants. Associated with 47D. Mardi __ : GRAS
16. Golden rule word : UNTO
20. Retreats : EBBS. If you thought, 'noun', you might have put down 'spas'.
21. Pub quaffs : ALES
22. Between then and now : SINCE
23. "V for Vendetta" actor Stephen : REA. He portrayed Fergus in The Crying Game.
24. Mil. morale booster : USO. United Service Organization.
25. Scandinavian capital : OSLO. The capital and largest city in Norway.
33. '50s song, e.g. : OLDIE
35. Fr. holy women : STEs.
36. Not con : PRO
37. Soccer score : GOAL
38. En __: all together : MASSE
40. Like the Reaper : GRIM. Reaper is capitalized to indicate it is the black-cloaked, scythe-wielding personification of death and not one of these reapers.
41. Breakfast food : EGG
42. __ rug: dance : CUT A
43. Skip over : ELIDE
48. One-named Deco designer : ERTE
49. Mine output : ORE
50. Verizon forerunner : GTE
53. Test during pregnancy, briefly : AMNIO. Amniocentesis can give doctors essential information about the health of the fetus.
56. Start of a birth announcement : IT'S A. Hopefully, it's a healthy....
58. Potting soil : LOAM
62. Have to have : NEED
63. Sooner State tribe : OTOE
64. Staggering : AREEL
65. Estimate words : OR SO
66. Political org. until 1991 : USSR
67. Things to solve for, in some equations : X AND Y
Down:
1. Not so dangerous : SAFER
2. West Point rookie : PLEBE. Short for plebeian; I never realized that.
3. Injury treatment brand : ACE BANDAGE
4. Beethoven's fifths? : SOLs. The syllable used for the fifth tone of a diatonic scale.
5. Spring month in Paris : MAI. Our May, when I hope our snow is gone!
6. Latino's white American buddies : ANGLOs
7. Sorbonne silk : SOIE. The French word for silk.
8. What it takes, in an inclusive idiom : ALL SORTS. I tried to fit in "ALL'S FAIR".
9. Buddy : PAL
10. Toe inflammation : BUNION
11. Aware of : IN ON. ON TO is the more common answer for this clue.
12. Suffix with narc : OTIC. Narcotic.
13. Misplace : LOSE
18. Poet Ogden : NASH
19. __ Canarias : ISLAS. Canary Islands.
24. Its cap. is Abu Dhabi : UAE
26. __-Ball: arcade game : SKEE. Image.
28. Olive or peanut product : OIL
29. Very, in music : ASSAI. Italian.
30. Emulate a jack-in-the-box : SPRING OPEN
31. Saharan : ARID
32. Vague number : SOME
33. Architect's S-curve : OGEE
34. Feeling sluggish : LOGY
38. Has to : MUST
39. Nonbelievers : ATHEISTS
40. Mop & __: floor cleaner : GLO
42. Pool shot : CAROM
43. Lyon summer : ETE
45. Nut : WEIRDO
46. More snoopy : NOSIER
51. Recorded, in a way : TAPED
52. Most popular baby girl's name, 1996-2007 : EMILY
53. A.D. part : ANNO
54. The Mediterranean, to Hans : MEER. German for "sea". Here we start a little run of foreign words.
55. Scot's turndowns : NAEs
57. General __ chicken : TSOs
58. Old Italian dough : LIRA. Currency.
60. Debt acknowledgment : IOU
61. Clinton played one : SAX. Please hold any political comments.
Answer grid.
Argyle
17A. Having a sense of the Prairie State? : FEELING ILLINOIS (feeling ill)
27A. Webster's impression of the Natural State? : NOAH'S ARKANSAS (Noah's ark)
44A. Watch the Evergreen State? : EYE WASHINGTON (eye wash)
59A. Close to the Magnolia State? : NEAR MISSISSIPPI (near miss)
Argyle here. Now this is more like it. Two grid spanners and two near grid spanners. Cute theme. Two long perps crossing three of the themes each.
Across:
1. Crick in the neck, e.g. : SPASM
6. Exec's "I want it now!" : ASAP
10. Sci. class : BIOL. Biology.
14. Foil maker : ALCOA. Did they ever make an épée, I wonder?
15. The Big Easy, briefly : NOLA. New Orleans, Louisiana. Also, one of Chef Emeril Lagasse’s New Orleans restaurants. Associated with 47D. Mardi __ : GRAS
16. Golden rule word : UNTO
20. Retreats : EBBS. If you thought, 'noun', you might have put down 'spas'.
21. Pub quaffs : ALES
22. Between then and now : SINCE
23. "V for Vendetta" actor Stephen : REA. He portrayed Fergus in The Crying Game.
24. Mil. morale booster : USO. United Service Organization.
25. Scandinavian capital : OSLO. The capital and largest city in Norway.
33. '50s song, e.g. : OLDIE
35. Fr. holy women : STEs.
36. Not con : PRO
37. Soccer score : GOAL
38. En __: all together : MASSE
40. Like the Reaper : GRIM. Reaper is capitalized to indicate it is the black-cloaked, scythe-wielding personification of death and not one of these reapers.
41. Breakfast food : EGG
42. __ rug: dance : CUT A
43. Skip over : ELIDE
48. One-named Deco designer : ERTE
49. Mine output : ORE
50. Verizon forerunner : GTE
53. Test during pregnancy, briefly : AMNIO. Amniocentesis can give doctors essential information about the health of the fetus.
56. Start of a birth announcement : IT'S A. Hopefully, it's a healthy....
58. Potting soil : LOAM
62. Have to have : NEED
63. Sooner State tribe : OTOE
64. Staggering : AREEL
65. Estimate words : OR SO
66. Political org. until 1991 : USSR
67. Things to solve for, in some equations : X AND Y
Down:
1. Not so dangerous : SAFER
2. West Point rookie : PLEBE. Short for plebeian; I never realized that.
3. Injury treatment brand : ACE BANDAGE
4. Beethoven's fifths? : SOLs. The syllable used for the fifth tone of a diatonic scale.
5. Spring month in Paris : MAI. Our May, when I hope our snow is gone!
6. Latino's white American buddies : ANGLOs
7. Sorbonne silk : SOIE. The French word for silk.
8. What it takes, in an inclusive idiom : ALL SORTS. I tried to fit in "ALL'S FAIR".
9. Buddy : PAL
10. Toe inflammation : BUNION
11. Aware of : IN ON. ON TO is the more common answer for this clue.
12. Suffix with narc : OTIC. Narcotic.
13. Misplace : LOSE
18. Poet Ogden : NASH
19. __ Canarias : ISLAS. Canary Islands.
24. Its cap. is Abu Dhabi : UAE
26. __-Ball: arcade game : SKEE. Image.
28. Olive or peanut product : OIL
29. Very, in music : ASSAI. Italian.
30. Emulate a jack-in-the-box : SPRING OPEN
31. Saharan : ARID
32. Vague number : SOME
33. Architect's S-curve : OGEE
34. Feeling sluggish : LOGY
38. Has to : MUST
39. Nonbelievers : ATHEISTS
40. Mop & __: floor cleaner : GLO
42. Pool shot : CAROM
43. Lyon summer : ETE
45. Nut : WEIRDO
46. More snoopy : NOSIER
51. Recorded, in a way : TAPED
52. Most popular baby girl's name, 1996-2007 : EMILY
53. A.D. part : ANNO
54. The Mediterranean, to Hans : MEER. German for "sea". Here we start a little run of foreign words.
55. Scot's turndowns : NAEs
57. General __ chicken : TSOs
58. Old Italian dough : LIRA. Currency.
60. Debt acknowledgment : IOU
61. Clinton played one : SAX. Please hold any political comments.
Answer grid.
Argyle
71 comments:
Hi all,
Monday and Tuesday not as easy as usual?? No chance to write about the former. It poured here as if there were no tomorrow. Living room had quite a flood. Fortunately, Russian friend rolled up carpets and attempted to staunch the flow. Others came later. I am was no shape to help. So labored more on taxes.
Liked the theme today. Some cute clues. Had SOL again. Crunching teeth at AREEL.
Time to sleep. More rain anticipated. Nothing this bad for over ten years!
Morning, all!
Great theme today, and mostly a walk in the park. I say "mostly" because the very top section (especially in the west) ended up being a bit more challenging for me.
Even knowing the theme and having _______ILLINOIS, I couldn't get 17A right away. And that was mostly because I had TAMER for 1D. That also kept me from getting 1A for awhile. I also had no idea what 4D was supposed to be (I was thinking "fifths" was a reference to alcohol instead of musical notes and was trying to think of a German liquor with three letters).
I also struggled with the crossing of SOIE and NOLA, both of which I've seen before, but neither of which I could remember.
Once I finally figured out that 1A was SPASM, I confidently changed TAMER to SANER. Which, of course, didn't help in the least.
Anyway, I eventually did get SAFER, and that let me get the job done.
Good Morning, Argyle and Friends. I was in the right STATE of mind this morning with this puzzle. I loved the theme as well as the two Louisiana references.
My favorite clue was Nut = WEIRDO. Don't see that word in too many puzzles!
LOGY was a new word for me. I have never heard it used in conversation.
The temperatures are expected to hit the mid-80s today, and its still March!
QOD: A self-taught man usually has a poor teacher and a worse student. ~ Henny Youngman
Hello Puzzlers - Zoomed through today. Just five unknowns, easily perp-solved: SOIE, ASSAI, ERTE, MEER, and REA. Never knew how to spell LOGY, a word we used in high school whenever we were unsatisfied with our cars' acceleration. I'm surprised I never noticed ASSAI in all my years of music (something I gave up over time ).
I love the name EMILY, but had no idea it was so common for all those years!
Good Morning C.C., Argyle and all,
Thanks for your write-up, Argyle. The Brittanica reference to ‘plebeian’ is interesting; sounds familiar.
Kurt and Jan-Michele did an enjoyable job today. The theme was cleverly done. It, also, pointed out my ignorance of state nicknames; wish I knew where to find a list. Anyone?
LOGY was new to me; as was MEER. NOLA has become an everyday entry; within a week, or so, this is
the third usage, I believe. Emeril is getting a lot of press.
BillG, yesterday you offered a list of trig terms. I would love to copy it, if the offer's still open.
Had to get an early start today. Hope to get back later.
Have a nice day everyone.
Good Morning Argyle, C.C. et al.
Thanks for the concise write-up, and explanation of the theme, Argyle. I filled in the first one at 17A and got a chuckle. It also helped me get the others fairly quickly.
This was much more of a speed run that yesterday’s, and definitely more enjoyable.
I really liked “Beethoven’s fifths” for SOLS. It made a potentially awkward answer sparkle!
Hahtool and Creature, I say, “I’m feeling logy today”, especially after consuming too many SOLs the night before.
Lots of foreign words here: STES, MASSE, GRAS, MAI, SOIE, ISLAS, ASSAI, ETE, MEER. But nothing we haven't seen before.
Overall, an enjoyable romp for a Tuesday. Have a great day, everyone!
Good day folks,
After a walk in the park yesterday, today's offering was a forced march. Just a real slog. Even picking up on the theme early on didn't do me a lot of good, but eventually it came down to one letter and my wag was wrong. For amnio/meer I guessed G instead of M.
There were other unknowns such as Soie, Sols, & Assai, but the across clues were solid so I felt comfortable with them.
The constructors used another Pet Peeve of mine... Areel. If it were up to me, I leave it for the poets with Atilt. Going back to last week, my message to Dennis would have been, if you are going to get your rod out (to go fishing), don't forget areel.
In spite of all my bitching, I enjoyed today's offering much more then yesterdays. I'll take a challenge over a speed run every time.
Enjoy your Tuesday.
Nicely themed puzzle, with some challenge and thank you for a concise write up A.
I cannot think of : Mil. morale booster : USO, without providing a shout out to the great BOB HOPE who did so much for the troops.
Like the Reaper : GRIM, also brings to mine the black comedy series DEAD LIKE ME which deserves a look if you have never seen the show.
Also, since you mentioned CRYING GAME here is Rea admiring the androgynous Jaye Davidson.
This was not exactly a "speed run" for me, but it was far easier than most!
Since I have never developed a taste for classical music, the clues involving references to it baffle me. I am learning though, which is one of my goals in doing the puzzles. This blog is helpful, so thanks to all for the info on music and all the other topics.
Argyle, you did a fab job this morning. I always enjoy your comments.
The Carolinas will have beautiful day today with a high temp of 80! Spring, and my allergies , has arrived.
Happy Day too all.
LOGY may be an old Dutch word [Origin: 1840–50, Americanism ; perhaps < Dutch log heavy, cumbersome] and this area has a lot of Dutch-influenced words, like kill for creek and vly for swamp, so it is quite common for me. Remember, it is pronounced loh-gee.
Dudley reminded me of this lovely Simon and Garfunkel song, For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her.(3:04) It is sung by Art Garfunkel. This clip has an extensive and interesting write-up along with it.
Argyle; Great write-up !!!
Now this was a FUN Tuesday.
Not a speed run, but an awesome theme.
LOGY, ASSAI, SOLS, SOIE all via the perps.
I've always wondered why the Reaper was GRIM.
He likes death.
Loves to be there when it happens.
Seems to me he probably is in a great mood at the time.
HeartRx: Hmmm, the weather here is boring.
Cheers to ALL-SORTS at Sunset.
Tin:
Maybe, like many people, the Reaper actually hates his job. I've had jobs like that, hated them, but did them (well) anyway.
Not bad for a Tuesday, though I expected a lot of complaints about the number of foreign words, which so far have not materialized.
I didn't know REA, ASSAI or LOGY, and I still don't know all the state nicknames, but perps came to the rescue. My only look up was UAE, since I couldn't think what Abu Dhabi was capital of, and didn't grok the phrase part of the theme until I'd finished the CW. I've never watched either of the TV shows the before and after relates to. But the state names came easily. The slowest was ARKANSAS, after getting KANSAS, and looking for a verb for NO-HS, I wasn't sure if it was going to be KS or AR for the state. I hadn't understood NOLA in reference to Emeril when it came up before, so just spelled out the initials of New Orleans, LA, to get that today.
Good Morning, folks! Enjoyed this neat puzzle. Thanky you Kurt and Jan. Also thanks to Argyle and C.C. Great jobs.
Zipped through this on my way to work.
Never heard of LOGY before. After I got to work I looked it up in my 1956 Webster. It was there. (heavy or dull, especially in motion or thought)
ASSAI is also a new word. Checked it as well. Means Very, Italian origin.
Enjoyed 27A NOAHSARKANSAS. Noah Webster is one of my heroes. I am a spelling and word freak. I use my Webster continuously.
Enjoyed GTE. I worked for a subsidiary of GTE all my life.
Lots of favorite Crossword Answers: RBBS, ALES, ERTE, ORE, CAROM, NAES, ARID, and TSOS.
See you all tomorrow.
Abejo
Argyle, et al, 62F here at 8 a.m.! 14 yr old granddaughter is here today and 65 year old papa is teaching her how to make a movie in iMovie with dubbed music. She has to choose from my iTunes and found a bunch of OLDIES she really likes!
Musings
-Anyone else think of this silly song today - What Did Della Wear??
-Hard to believe a generation is growing up with no idea about the USSR, phone booths, etc.
-SOL and NOLA twice in a short time
-MASSE can also be the pool shot
-Avril showers bring MAI flowers
-Doctor told me to live with my BUNION as absolutely long as I could without surgery!
-Rosemary Woods knew a lot about TAPED conversations
-Golf today with me playing and Emma driving cart!
Hi There ~!
I always seem to hit the same problems as BarryG - I decided I was going to "try" for the speed run, (doing the down clues to start, Hondo) and ran into ACE BANDAGE at #3, so, oh well....and started with TAMER, too, and wasn't getting the _ _ ILLINOIS theme, either.
I got SOLs, but missed PLEBE for CADET, which wasn't working, and I had ARTE for ERTE, so I didn't get my Ta-Da when I thought I would.
I was thinking the same thing about MASSE, Husker Gary.
Never heard of LOGY, and I, too get my fair share of Dutch around here.
ARGH~! What's with the French ????
Splynter
Good morning everyone. Nice write-up, Argyle.
Did it in ballpoint today. Luckily, no strikethroughs. Not hard but such a fun puzzle to solve. Lots of lusty fill like ACE BANDAGE and ALL SORTS. I like the theme words, especially NOAHS ARKANSAS. A little foreign fill like ANNO, MAI, ÉTÉ, and MEER added some challenge. Visited OSLO a while back. At the head of a broad fjord. Attractive city. The cwd also had some of our old friends like OGEE and ARID. A good start to the day.
Be safe.
Good day, Argyle, C.C. and ALL SORTS of puzzlers.
Thanks, Argyle, for that great write up and nailing the theme; I'll check links later.
Another speed run today with very few bumps. Filling one across and one down really helps. I had INTO before INON and ELUDE then ELIDE and couldn't wait to hear the groans for AREEL.
SOIE was unknown but emerged and have never heard of LOGY.
AZ received a most welcome and desperately need rain yesterday. Back to the 70s today and back to class after spring break.
Have a delightful mardi, everyone!
No problems today, pretty easy solve. Thought logy was a little off. Liked the N.O. references.
Tin, after snow yesterday, and more tomorrow and Thursday, I really appreciate your, er, "discretion" in today's report...
Lemon and Argyle, thanks for all the links. I enjoyed every one of them! And Husker, the only line I ever heard was "If Mrs. Sippi puts on her new jersey, what will Della wear?" Ans: "Idaho, alaska..." Thanks for the whole song - very funny!
Good morning, Argyle and friends all.
Well... I shot myself in the foot, reloaded and shot the other one. ASAP was obvious, but took a glance at the downs, just to verify. 'What it takes', inclusive idiom? Well that's so obvious! A VILLAGE, of course. Do UNTO others. So easy, unless you write it down as ONTO. SINCE? No, I wanted HENCE. Needless to say, I had a bunch of correcting to do, but it all worked out.
The unknowns and foreign words filled themselves via perps and I didn't need to know the state nicknames as perps told me those also.
Lots of fun, in spite of a rather shakey start.
And I'm not even going to say what 10d became with my afore mentioned errors.
Mornin' Argyle, C.C. et al,
a typical Tues solve for me: some wags (meer,areel), some perp help, and always a learning experience. Got the states, but had to wait for other words to show up.
Thx for write up Argyle , esp. the theme explanation and links.
Enjoy NOT having to go to Mr.G to find answers;prefer the follow up research. Learned that Abu Dhabi means "father of gazelle".
Did anyone slip in gringo for anglos?
Husker,our parents loved Perry Como..funny song. Oh, we must have had the same doctor-very wise.
Good Morning All, another nice puzzle for me. The theme was not difficult and the answers made me smile. New word ASSAI came with the perps.
"19D ISLAS Canarias" reminded me of the Presa Canario dog. I'm remembering the attack in San Francisco about 10 years ago when Diane Whipple was killed. 2nd degree murderer Marjorie Knoller is in prison (good) and her ex is a baker on the outside (bad).
Peau de SOIE is a lovely fabric which is often used for wedding gowns.
I liked the right angle neighbors MASSE and CAROM. Here's that masse pool shot. I noticed the video was posted by "getlois". Coincidence?
LOGY goes along with coming down with a cold. I've felt that way AND used the word.
Thanks for the terrific links Argyle. Same to you Lemonade.
More rain and then some more rain!
I, too, thought it takes a village, and was so proud of myself till nothing was working. But, I do seem to be learning French, or is it Spanish, or is it...?
My hubby plays the uke and want him to learn that funny song. Great tune to share with grandchildren. (Will they get the humor?)
Spring is trying to be here in No. Ca., but think might be loosing. Need sun for my garden.
Husker Gary: Did you see Pearls Before Swine in today's paper?
GAH is suffering from golf deprivation, so we are heading to Sonora for a movie and an early dinner. We'll probably see "Limitless" with Bradley Cooper. Is it a good movie? Who cares?
Cherylptts, we have a lot of No. Californians around here. Do you feel comfortable telling us the general area?
Seen, I think the last time we used a pay phone was about nine years ago. They (working) are really difficult to find nowadays. I can't remember the last time I saw a phone booth.
JD, I already had ASAP at 6A. I probably would have thought of GRINGO if I hadn't.
Hi all - fun romp today...I actually got 3 of the 4 long answers, 27A was not clicking in my brain (loss of sleep can do that). I couldn't get the perps to help with it either because I didn't know 19,26 or 29D.
That *^#@ General's chicken was here again....Someday I will remember it. Hate that chicken!!!
CA: I thought of Lois when reading MASSE, CAROM and even BUNION..ouch! I know she had one removed a few months ago and it was extremely painful.
JD: GRINGO (for 6D) did cross my mind but I had just put ASAP in for 6A so that corrected my thinking.
Musings II
-Dave Letterman is famous for saying, “I feel a little logy (loh’ ghee)” when he pretends to be out of it.
-Doctor told me to NEVER cut into my foot until I am certain I can’t take another step. God Bless SAS shoes!!!
-Argyle, thanks for the S and G link. Art Garfunkel has the voice of an angel. It’s a toss up for me for best rock and roll ballad ever between, Bridge Over Troubled Water and You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
Seen, LOVED the cartoon! You can tell the time frame for Law and Order as the first episodes had them using the old police call in boxes, and then they went to phone booths, and then to car phones, and then to clunky cells and now the same cells we use today!
-My fellow Florida sponsor’s maiden name was OGEE
-Home from golf and now off to take Emma to ice skate at Y!
Hi Again ~!
JD, I did in fact try GRINGO in the beginning, since I was working the DOWNS today, and did NOT have ASAP to start ~!
Splynter
Hi gang -
Well stated theme today. Really struggled with the West equatorial region. EYE WASH was very slow to flow.
Definitley feeling LOGY. Two music entries, and I needed perps to get them both. I just don't think of Ludwig and solflege together. You will only see ASSAI in classical music. Now I finally know what it means!
Speaking of music this is what ISLAS Canarias
means to me. It's in 6/8 with idiomatically characteristic changing 1-2-3/1-2-3 and 1-2/1-2/1-2 rhythms. This piece was part of the long and painful process of learning that I would never, ever, ever be a guitarist.
I got me one of them EMILYs. She'll be 5 next month.
Winter storm warning tonight.
Cheers!
JzB SAFER with the trombone
A beautiful romantic ballad with a slight connection to today's (and many other day's) puzzle:
Ebb Tide.
Argyle, thanks for the Ebb Tide link. All I can say is memories are made of this.
Don't Fear the REAPER.
Argyle,
Thank you for the Ebb Tide link. It brings back a lot of good memories.
Hi Argyle, C.C. & gang,
My wife has to leave early every day this week for a class at SLAC so I've been doing the puzzle mostly online.
So many good songs today.
Here's my favorite Sax player, Kenny G.
Rich Norris came in 55th out of 655 competitors at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. This competition is based on speed and accuracy. 55th is outstanding. He was also one of only 36 people that made no mistakes in any of the 7 tournament puzzles.
The overall champ was Dan Feyer. By the way, Dan did today's puzzle in 4 minutes... USING ONLY THE DOWN CLUES!
I checked his time for my last LAT puzzle of 2/23/11. 1:47. That's sick.
Well, 'blogger' stole my comment! Something about my cookies, which I can never remember how to find.
I'll try to recap: Good work, Argyle. Good title, too.
I had ASAP so I put in 'amigos' which didn't stay long. "NOLA' gave me 'anglos'. I did think of 'gringo' after the fact.
This one was pretty fast for me, anyway. The perps did a lot of the work.
I remember my brother singing bits of 'What did Della Wear, Boys', maybe 75 years ago. A very fuzzy memory and I don't think he knew the whole song. I'd love to find the lyrics in print.
Kazie, isn't Ste. an abbr. for Sainte? Is it used in France for 'nun'? Can you clear me up on that. Every time we have it in xwds I think of that.
I had more in my first comment but I've lost it now.
Dodo,
Ste is indeed short for Sainte, but a nun is referred to as Sœur (sister). I doubt many become saints. Interesting point about abbreviations in French: if it ends with the last letter of the actual word it's abbreviating, no period is used, but if it's just some of the first part of it, then you do get one.
M. is for Monsieur, but Mme or Mlle don't get a period, because they use the end of the words Madame and Mademoiselle.
JD:
My immediate reaction was for GRINGO, but I already had ASAP.
Kazie and Dodo:
Ste. Madeliene Sophie Baratt (sp) was the foundress of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. They staff the University of San Diego, my first alma mater.
Hola Eaveryone, I'm with frematprine in that I thought the puzzles yesterday and today were a bit harder than most Mon. and Tues. puzzles. That said I did finish today, and thought the theme was very clever.
Cut a rug dance was new to me as was Rea. But both were filled in with the perps. I wanted Gringo, but ASAP was in and I had to wait for a few more answers to get Anglo.
I'm still not sure of the before and after reference that Arglye made to the theme answers. I just can't see the connection. I'm so dense today.
Hands up for Areel and (Atilt) being words that are grating on the ear.
I guess our new fence and sidewalk repair will be put off for another week or more, as it is supposed to rain and storm here starting this evening through the weekend.
Both projects have been in limbo for over two weeks.
Mother Nature has a way of interfering with best laid plans.
CA, enjoy your trip to Sonora. No snow that low, but my sister has had feet of snow, not inches, just above Sonora. More on the way.
And it is officially Spring, so they say.
OK, kazie, what is the proper puncuation of the plural of Sainte?
Chickie, you take a word or syllable that can be used as the end of one or the beginning of another separate word or phrase and combine them for humeous effect.
Hahtool, Of course you can’t mention Don’t Fear the Reaper without one of the most hilarious SNL skits ever Gotta Have More Cowbell
Shows displeasure with a traitor: Eggs Benedict Arnold.
Nobody has come up with another state one yet? I'll have to think about this. Probably shouldn't count the states with New, North or South though.
Pigpennsylvania, Hangtennessee
Joelouisiana
Anti Revolution Monarch
KINGGEORGIA
Farmer Refrain
EIEIOWA
Rough Seas
BOUNDINGMAINE
Compete Against Longhorns
PLAYTEXAS
Auto Bath
CARWASHINGTON
cerebral tissue:
cortexas
Must go to class now. What fun!
Here is one for you Argyle.(You didn't say we couldn't use West!)
What Horace Greeley told the Santa Claus letter writer.
Go West, Virginia.
Creature: you can find your list of state nicknames here:
My biggest disappointment today? Only that there weren't more theme entries. Absolutely loved 'em!
Press the Beaver State? : IRONOREGON (iron ore)
Show up the Volunteer State? : TOPTENNESSEE (top ten)
Battle the Old Line State? : BLOODYMARYLAND (bloody mary)
Nary a peep from the Golden State? : SILENTCALIFORNIA (Silent Cal) Since silence is golden, is it the golden state, too?
Seen, good one for a 2-word state! But, how 'bout this clue for your fill?
Try to move the Mountain State?
Go! West Virginia.
JVJ24601, most excellent.
JVJ24601, :0) maybe for the 30th President, but silence sure doesn't apply to the Californians at this blog.
Wikwak, thanks for the state nicknames.
How about "Multi-hued Centennial State"/TECHNICOLORADO, or "Hoedown in the Aloha State"/HEEHAWAII.
At the movies today, GAH and I got a $281 ticket for parking in a handicap space without displaying the placard. He has a valid placard, but we just forgot to put it up. We had to go to the Sonora police station to get it cancelled. First time for us, but the clerk at the police station said it happens all the time...embarrassing!
Wonderful wordplay JVJ24601, CA, Grumpy, Lucina,Seen,Argyle and Husker!!!!! Lots of great songs today too.
Thanks WikWak for that list.
Sorry to hear about your ticket, Clear Ayes, but glad you were able to get it cancelled.
How was the Bradley Cooper movie? would you recommend it?
Wow, you all are fantabulous! So creative! Thanks, Wik Wak for the list.
I'm going to reread some of your posts. So much fun.
Dodo, I lost a post a week or so ago. Such a pain. Hope I don't lose this,'cause I don't have it in words; and I won't be replacing most of it.
Barbie's Beau in the Bluegrass State:
Malibu Kentucky
I loved all the state nickname themes, especially the new ones created here. I wonder if some constructor will ever run a puzzle by the folks on this blog to get some ideas and suggestions? There are sure lots of creative people here.
Creature, here's that list of trig terms you asked for; first the full name of the ratio, then the abbreviation. If you want to be reminded of what they mean, that's another question.
Sine Sin
Cosine Cos
Tangent Tan
Cotangent Cot
Secant Sec
Cosecant Csc
Thank you, Argyle for the explanation of the word play. I was trying to read more into it than was there. I surely was dense. Trying to connect two of the state fills together somehow just didn't work. Duh!
Fermatprime, forgive me for misspelling your name the first time around.
CA, so glad that you were able to get your ticket cancelled. Whew.
I loved the other state wordplays. Such talented people we have here on the blog.
We just got back from our tax appointment. We've had a relationship with this CPA for about 20 years, a great guy. He has improved his operational procedure over the last couple of years. We bring in a filled-out tax planner (questionnaire) and all our records about a week early. He and his office staff fill in most of the pertinent information into his computer program. When we go in, he can deal with questions, differences from last year to this year, etc. Everything is much more painless than it used to be. Still, I'd love it if the tax code could be simplified so I could just do it myself. Simplified and fair.
Here's a link to a great video I just came across. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Hahtool, On the upside, Bradley Cooper does has a great smile. Sorry to say, it looked like Robert DeNiro was in it for the paycheck. Having DeNiro on the marquee doesn't guarantee much nowadays. Not exactly a "thumbs-up", but "Limitless" was an OK movie for a drizzly afternoon.
Bill G. :0) those crazy Québécois will try anything. Good video and a good reminder.
Having our ticket good humoredly cancelled was really nice. I guess law enforcement knows that dopey senior citizens can't be so severely penalized for being forgetful. ($281 isn't chump change!)
Minnesohta...the land of 10,000 questions of what the weather will be next. Last weekend I actually changed my "warm weather" office attire to the "spring/summer" attire. It seems I "sprung" too soon as it started tonight with freezing rain and has turned to snow. I AM SO DONE WITH WINTER!!
It will be a crawl into work tomorrow. To add insult to injury, I had to take a detour as the melting snow and the warmer temps put one of my major roads under water.
Tin, I second HeartRX. Thanks for your non-weather report today...
Fermatprime, thankfully you have good friends to help you with what you need to get done. What is your Russian friend's name?
Great blog today/tonight Argyle. I didn't have time again to attempt the puzzle but find myself reading the blog in it's entirety nonetheless.
Also, great links provided by all my cyber friends too.
I am leaving you with one of my favorite songs to go to sleep to.
Argyle,
That would be Saintes or Stes if abbreviated. There is a town on the Mediterranean called Stes Maries la Mer. According to legend it is where the two Marys landed in a boat after the crucifixion and established a settlement. Nowadays around May 24 each year there is a huge gypsy festival there, celebrating their patron(ess) saints, the two Marys. They come from as far away as Serbia to take part.
BTW, where is Dennis? Did I miss something over the weekend?
Just takin' it cuz....tired going to bed. Love you all.
Kazie. thank you for the info. I guess the "French holy woman" we're often asked for in xwds must mean saints, right? I don't recall if the clue has ever been "French nun". Interesting.
Thank you Argyle, JD, Creature, Bill G., and Chickie for the compliments on the suggested theme entries. For some reason, today's "puzzle-type" just came easily to me.
Tho I think I have a pretty good sense of humor, I wish I had the wit that you all exhibit here on a daily basis. All of you regulars blow me away with your often witty remarks/repartee.
CA, your lack of silence is one reason I love this blog!
Been lurking for "awhile". But since I'm not a morning person, by the time I get here, my ups and downs in trying to solve the CW have already been shared by others.
At the end of the day, I'll try to share if I think I have something to add.
Terry
End of the day is just the start of a day. Remember, "It's five o'clock somewhere."
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