google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday April 3, 2011 Doug Peterson

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Apr 3, 2011

Sunday April 3, 2011 Doug Peterson

Theme: The Play's The Thing - The starred answers are eight Toy HOF items.

23A. *They're educational and stackable : ALPHABET BLOCKS

38A. *Construction set invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son : LINCOLN LOGS. Interesting trivia. 

47A. *Street hockey gear : ROLLER SKATES

68A. Rochester, N.Y., institution whose inductees include the eight answers to the starred clues : NATIONAL TOY HALL OF FAME. Nice grid spanner. Has any of you been there?

91A. *Shipping container : CARDBOARD BOX. Now how can this be inducted into the Hall? I do know some of the old basewball card wrappers/boxes are highly collectible.

98A. *Dual-knobbed drawing device : ETCH A SKETCH

119A. *Kindergartner's boxful : CRAYOLA CRAYONS

15D. *Board game with color-coded cards : CANDY LAND

81D. *Cuddly bedmate : TEDDY BEAR

Fun theme. Was any of the plaything in your childhood missing from the theme set? I just learned that Scrabble & View-Master are in the Hall too.

Neat theme answer arrangement also. It always impresses me when theme entries intersect and more so when no fill is compromised.

Doug Peterson is a real pro. He's one of the very few active constructors in this country who steadily produce fluid early week day puzzles & hard themeless & smooth Sundays.

Across:

1. Cause for fishing hole excitement : BITE. Incredible feeling.

5. Gate approx. : ETD. Wanted EST.

8. Fleshy-snouted mammal : TAPIR

13. Fearless Fosdick's creator : AL CAPP. I only know his "Li'l Abner".

19. Airline with a Ben Gurion hub : EL AL. Literally "To the Skies".

20. Book flap feature : BIO

21. Ridiculous : INANE

22. Comfortable shoe : LOAFER

26. Unlearned : INNATE

27. Long-tailed songbird : PIPIT. Is her tail long?

28. Shade of green : PEA

29. It's done in some circles : SEWING. I don't get this clue.

31. Sturdy wagon : DRAY

32. Santa __ winds : ANA

33. Actor Estevez : EMILIO. Charlie Sheen's brother.

36. "A Taste of Honey" dramatist : DELANEY (Shelagh). Not familiar with the book or its author.

41. DMV document : LIC

42. Vaquero's plain : LLANO

46. Arles affirmatives : OUIs

50. Port-du-__: French cheese : SALUT. Looks good. Needs a bit of wine. Salut!

53. Script section : SCENE

55. Word between surnames : NEE

56. PBS series since 1974 : NOVA

57. City SSW of Moscow : OREL. Doug might have it clued as Hershiser related. He's a baseball fan.

58. Breezy good-byes : CIAOs

60. QB's try : ATT. No idea. Attempt?

62. First name among disrespected comedians? : RODNEY (Dangerfield). "I get no respect".

64. Pollution-free power sources : WIND FARMS. We have quite a few of them in Xinjiang region.

66. Links highlight : ACE. Hole in one.

67. Itty-bitty, in Inverness : SMA. Scottish for "little".

75. Jenny, e.g. : ASS

76. "Reliable Sources" airer : CNN

77. Picnic favorite : BEAN SALAD. I like potato salad for picnic.

78. Tiny bit : TITTLE

82. Tool used in a bed : HOE. Oh, garden bed.

83. Swedish imports : SAABs

84. Winged goddess : NIKE

85. War of 1812 shipbuilding port : ERIE. Nice to know this fact.

86. Half a dance : CHA

88. "Gone With the Wind" Oscar winner : LEIGH (Vivien)

90. Dramatist Chekhov : ANTON

94. "How __ refuse?" : CAN I. And 39. "What else __ do?" : COULD I.

96. Hardly posh : SEEDY

97. '80s missile shield prog. : SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Star Wars.

104. Home of Chichén Itzá : YUCATAN

107. Hullabaloo : HOOPLA

108. "Bingo!" : AHA

109. Crime lab item : SWAB

112. Not spontaneous : STAGED

114. Come up short : OWE

115. "King Lear" daughter : REGAN. The other two are Goneril and Cordelia.

117. Ripped to pieces : TORE UP

122. Mystical secrets : ARCANA

123. "True Grit," for one : OATER. Do you like the Cohen Brothers' remake?

124. 20th-century composer Harris : ROY. Tell me about him, Jayce.

125. Logical connector : ERGO. I wanted THEN.

126. 1943 Allied conference site : TEHRAN. Unknown trivia to me.

127. Campout treat : S'MORE

128. 34th pres. : DDE. Man, I wanted ABE. Dumb! I can't count.

129. Look to be : SEEM

Down:

1. "Little help here, bud?" : BE A PAL

2. "Fighting" team : ILLINI. Fighting Illini. Not enough space for my IRISH.

3. __ Zee Bridge : TAPPAN

4. Pre-coll. catchall : EL-HI. Mostly in crosswords.

5. Flow's counterpart : EBB

6. Ascot fasteners : TIEPINS

7. "I'm listening!" : DO TELL

8. Up to, in brief : TIL

9. "__ Amours": 1984 César Award-winning film : A NOS. Nope. Have never heard of the film. Literally "To our Love".

10. Walked worriedly : PACED

11. Bygone writing aid : INKWELL. Still needs it for Chinese calligraphy.

12. Able to overcome adversity : RESILIENT. Lucina asked how we obtained protein in those years without meat. I guess from corn. We ate corn bread for every meal. It's not really tasty as it's made of  water & corn flour & salt only. No added milk/sugar/oil, which were all highly rationed. Even wheat flour was a luxury then.

13. Bring into harmony : ALIGN

14. Contemporary of Boris : LON (Chaney)

16. Where some worship from : AFAR

17. Anti-leather gp. : PETA

18. Zebras, to lions : PREY. I like this clue.

24. Did lunch, say : ATE OUT

25. Scott of "Happy Days" : BAIO. Rare name, three consecutive vowels.

30. Iridescent jewelry material : NACRE

34. 1,051, to Hadrian : MLI

35. Fiends of fantasy : OGRES

37. Buckskin source : ELK

40. Elroy, to George Jetson : SON

43. Oodles : A TON

44. Snow in Milano : NEVE. Oh really? Had no idea. Bye, Campbell!

45. Anthem beginning : O SAY

48. Percolate : LEACH

49. Sunday deliveries : SERMONS

50. Planted : SOWN

51. "Turandot" highlight : ARIA. Just for Sallie.

52. Period of sacrifice : LENT

53. O.T. prophet : SAML

54. Bulk-purchase club : COSTCO. Went there once. Man, everything is just so big.

58. 1988 A.L. MVP : CANSECO (Jose). Can't stand him & his "Juiced".

59. Funds for later yrs. : IRAs

61. Leaves home? : TEABAG. Tea leaves.

63. Bozos : OAFS

65. Newborn Arabian : FOAL. Horse. Hey, Creature!

66. Objectivism advocate Rand : AYN

67. Healthy portion : SLAB

69. Spaghetti pkg. unit : ONE LB

70. Remini of "The King of Queens" : LEAH. She believes in Scientology. Leah is also our Chickie's real name.

71. Author Flagg : FANNIE. She was in a relationship with Rita Mae Brown.

72. Hit the ground : ALIT

73. Speedy shark : MAKO

74. Idyllic setting : EDEN

78. Gumshoes : TECs. Short for detective.

79. "Dies __" : IRAE

80. Flag : TIRE. Don't get the connection.

82. Crunchy Mexican munchies : HARD TACOS

83. NBA's __ Man of the Year Award : SIXTH

87. Tackles : HAS AT

89. Classified letters : EOE

90. Capital south of the Black Sea : ANKARA (Turkey)

92. Mitt Romney's alma mater: Abbr. : BYU. Barry G's too.

93. Family tree, e.g. : DIAGRAM

94. Peninsula north of Martha's Vineyard : CAPE COD

95. Silent communication syst. : ASL

99. "Groovy!" : COOL

100. Three Stooges family name : HOWARD

101. First non-European literature Nobelist (1913) : TAGORE. He's very famous in China.

102. Meter feeder's need : CHANGE

103. Quaint carriage : HANSOM

105. It covers D.C. : C-SPAN. Remember the "House shower" clue? Shower = Show-er.

106. "Groovy!" : NEATO

109. Fan's factoid : STAT

110. Modeled : WORE

111. Raise, as an eyebrow : ARCH

113. Tannery worker : DYER

116. Checks out : EYES

118. Uruguayan article : UNA

120. Stuff in a seam : ORE. Was ignorant of the geology term "seam".

121. Sourdough alternative : RYE

Answer grid.

Does anyone else also use a Reebok CYC 10 bike? Our console seems to have broken. It uses no batteries, the power is supplied by a generator when pedaling. The data keeps flicking and the resistance level just can't be adjusted. The current setting is so high that I can hardly move.

C.C.

55 comments:

  1. Hi.
    Pretty easy puzzle. Just long. Filled most ans knowing a few letters. Laughed at 82A. Sure someone will comment.

    Back in 2nd. One eye was on puzzle
    and the other on the game.

    Bed time.

    Will be gone all day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Up too late again, but happy Sunday all,
    Thanks C.C., you could not be more accurate, Doug P. is a real pro and always delivers a fun and fair puzzle.

    Fearless Fosdick was a parody of Dick Tracy, and quite funny when I was little.

    I like INANE and INNATE close to each other.

    Sewing circle is both a group of people, especially women, who meet regularly for the purpose of sewing, often for charitable causes and the nickname for the hidden group of BISEXUAL and lesbian women in the movies.

    Which brings us to: Tool used in a bed: HOE. “Nuff said.

    Abe was number 16; snow in French is Neige.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Doesn't there SEEM to be a SPRING theme here today? Maybe a WINDFARM where workers HOE and SOW some SEEDY ground. Then we could enjoy some PEA and BEANSALAD.

    Have I ever mentioned that Ramon Estevez and I went to the same high school?

    Gotta Love Rodney Dangerfield.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, This one went more quickly than most Sundays do for me. I really liked the theme, and I had just read last week about the invention of Lincoln Logs, so that was a gimme!

    Don't get "classified letters" = EOE; I must be wearing my extra thick hat tonight... I'm guessing something to do with classified ads?

    C.C., when someone gets tired their strength can be said to be flagging. You hear it sometimes in long-distance racing events. And I wanted EST for ETD and THEN for ERGO too, but I nailed TEHRAN right away.

    All in all, a very nice Sunday puzzle and a great write-up.

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  5. [WHACK!] OK, OK... Equal Opportunity Employer. Should'a taken the thick hat off sooner!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello fellow solvers!

    Nice puzzle and write-up Doug and C.C., respectively.

    "Fearless Fosdick" was a comic strip within the strip "Li'l Abner." It is apparently a falsehood that Capp was a pedophile. Good to note. I loved many of his characters.

    Have been busy all week with taxes. Had egregious amount of medical-related stuff. (Over the counter meds, hardware and other stuff. Also egregious bills for pool house--fibromyalgia related). Then computer software, hardware and such (I still do editing for math papers), journals, etc. I give a good chunk to charity too. One more day only, I hope. Will be 25 page Excel doc. or so.

    More bad health news. Something discovered by accident when I went through the heart rigamarole.

    Time to try to sleep!

    Have a good Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Morning, all!

    Mostly smooth solving experience today with a fun theme. The only true WTF moment was seeing TAGORE in the grid and knowing I must have made a mistake somewhere. Or not...

    I, too, was shocked to learn that a CARDBOARD BOX is in the TOY HALL OF FAME, but I suppose it makes sense. Whenever we get a new appliance, my son begs to keep the cardboard box to play in. Apparently, they make good spaceships, airplanes and (as fans of Calvin and Hobbes well know), transmogrifiers.

    BEAN SALAD is not a favorite of mine. Just thought I'd mention that. I'm really much more of a potato salad kind of guy...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello Puzzlers - Pretty much a straight through solve today, a few unknowns but no bottomless pits.

    Barry - I'm glad you remembered the Transmogrifier, one of the best uses ever devised for a cardboard box!

    Lots of good toys mentioned. I still remember the smell of a new box of crayons! I had an Etch a Sketch, what a challenge it was to generate smooth curves with it. We never had a Viewmaster - my folks didn't like those toys which required ongoing cash expenditures for more accessories or whatever. They got tired of buying all that Plastigoop for my sister...

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  9. Smooth sailing for me today with some red letter help. Nice blogging, C.C.

    I had enough toys as a kid but don't remember many of them really. Except a precursor of Legos called Build-a-Bricks, with patterns that you could use to build houses. It had cardboard accessories for the roof and windows. I also had dolls but never played with them. Jump ropes were called skipping ropes and I had a couple of those too.

    Enjoy your Sunday, everyone!

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  10. Good Morning, CC and Friends. This was a fun Sunday puzzle. I was not aware that there was a National Toy Hall of Fame. The Rochester NY Institute made me think of Spitzboov.

    I still have a box of CRAYOLA CRAYONS. No coloring books, though!

    I wonder if Silly Putty is in the Hall of Fame?

    I tried IKEA for Swedish imports.

    Favorite clue was Newborn Arabian = FOAL.

    QOD: Beauty is but a flower, which wrinkles will devour. ~ Thomas Nash

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi There ~!

    Well, I did NOT know of the Toy HOF, and now I am thinking it might make a good road trip ~!

    I had DUPLO "big" BLOCKS to start, which turned into ALPHABET, and the rest I knew - except for the cardboard box, but I agree with the others - they make great transmogrifiers ~!

    Funny - I had TEHRAN for the capital below the Black Sea, which turned into ANKARA - but it showed up anyway for the treaty site - go figure.

    Thanks for the Rodney links, Seen.

    I once owned an '83 SAAB 900 -

    "buy now, SAAB later" - and with the price of replacement parts, I sure did....

    Splynter

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  12. Splynter,
    That's the trouble with European cars, they're oh-so-nice to drive, but you pay when something needs repair or replacing.

    Hahtool,
    I also thought of IKEA but tried SAAB first up. I really don't know what halls of fame exist either.

    Tried CRAYON at the beginning of that one but red letters told me I needed CRAYOLA first. The theme answers were pretty easy on the whole today.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good Morning C.C. et al.

    Thank you for a fantastic Sunday write-up C.C. It’s interesting that you had corn bread at every meal, but really doesn’t sound too appetizing the way you describe it! Sorry I can’t offer any advice about your exercise bike – mine is an old Pro Sport that I am thinking of trading in for a newer model.

    This was a really fun puzzle to do, and did not require any lookups. I loved the theme and all the theme answers, but like C.C. I was scratching my head over the CARDBOARD BOX entry. So, I went to the National Toy HOF site, and found out that the Chinese invented cardboard in the 1600s! And it was inducted for exactly the reasons Barry G. gave. They are wondrous toys when given help from a child’s imagination.

    I didn’t like CHA for “Half a dance”, any more than I like “tse” for half a fly.

    Loved “Where some worship from” for AFAR and “Leaves home” for TEA BAG. But, did anyone else think that “leaves” should have an apostrophe at the end of "leaves"?

    Have a great day, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Good morning C.C. and all,

    Very little ARCANA today, so it went pretty smoothly. The theme fill was a lot of fun. WAGs included TAPIR, DRAY, and TOY in the unifier. Thought clueing for TEA BAG and ORE was quite clever. Only hangup letter was G in the TAGORE x REGAN cross. No searches needed.

    Hahtool: Perhaps you were thinking of Rensselaer Poly. Inst. in Troy, NY?

    Enjoy the day. CIAO

    ReplyDelete
  15. C.C., et al, beautiful spring weather makes it hard to stay inside, even for a lovely puzzle with a Tuesday feel and C.C.’s perspective on it. Played 36 holes yesterday (precluded blogging) and am going to test the underground sprinklers today!

    Musings-
    -I had all those toys and the CARDBOARDBOX was very prominent, especially refrigerators ones
    -Viewmaster theory is still alive today trying to duplicate stereo vision. Disney, et al, use polarized glass lenses for 3-D.
    -I had ROLLERBLADES first. The National Roller-skating Hall of Fame is in Lincoln, NE. I’ve never been!
    -Erector set had too few letters. Lincoln Logs!
    -Ah, the smell of a fresh box of crayons!
    -Yes, I’m old enough to have sat in many desks with openings for ink wells.
    -I don’t see how you can spend 4 minutes better than listening to this ARIA from Turandot

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  16. I must say it took me some time to get 5. Gate approx. : ETD.

    Airport gate and Estimated Time of Departure.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Good morning, Sunday puzzlers. C.C. thank you for the lovely write up and for answering my question. Beans were our protein when growing up.

    What a smooth solve today with memorable theme answers. I had plenty of CRAYOLACRAYONS and loved to color everything tourquoise and pink. I had a giant panda BEAR and jump rope. We mostly played kick the can or hide and seek. Paper dolls were popular, too.

    Three or five BEANSALAD are my favorites although I am not a big fan of picnics.

    I love HARDTACOS, very crispy. Am not familiar with TITTLE and had LITTLE until you corrected me, C.C. and hadn't noticed LECS

    Yes, leaves's home is correct but of course no misdirection then.

    CIAO everyone! Have a lovely Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have a confession. Since I posted so late last night the Sunday blog was already up and LINCOLNLOGS jumped out at me but that's all I saw. I quickly scrolled down.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Good Morning All, At last a leisurely Sunday morning to puzzle solve and check on C.C.'s blog and comments.

    After ALPHABET BLOCKS and ROLLER SKATES, the theme answers came pretty easily. The only problem was with NATIONAL TOY...I wanted MUSEUM, and had to go to the perps to help out.

    I wonder if any of AL CAPP's Shmoo toys are in the NTHOF? Everybody loved them. I had a Shmoo doll when I was eight or nine.

    I thought it was quite a stretch for a TEA BAG to be considered a home for tea leaves. But it was a cutsie clue. I see Lemonade brought up the double entendre meaning for "Sewing circle". There's another one here that will also be "Nuff said!"

    I really enjoy Doug Peterson's puzzles, but I don't think I want to go on a picnic with him. 77A Picnic favorite/BEAN SALAD is totally yucky to me and the graham crackers in 127A Campout treat/SMORE taste like that CARDBOARD BOX.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for nice write-up, CC.

    CARDBOARD BOX was my favorite entry. Once I saw that on the list of inductees, I knew I had to use it. And yes, Silly Putty is on there. One of my all-time favorites.

    Here's the whole list: Hall of Fame Toys.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks both to C.C. for her wonderful blogs, and to Doug Peterson for stopping by.

    C.A.,
    I learned of Shmoos just today from your link--I guess they hadn't made it to Oz.

    I actully thought of the "leaves" as adjectival and not possessive, but maybe that was only because the apostrophe was missing.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Good morning C.C. and all,

    What a delightful xwd! Very speedy for a Sunday, and no look ups, although I should have looked up reGan and it would have completed taGore.


    C.C., Chinese Checkers was my game of choice. Remember, I never got that pogo stick I asked for every year.Had roller skates, but never a bike. Sorry about yours.

    The refrigerator box was the best toy ever for my girls, until the sad day when other little people flattened it.

    favorite clues-leaves home, and jenny.Thanks for pipit; have never seen one.
    Perps helped with illini, tappan, dray,sma,tittle and arcana.

    Explain flag=tire, please,and nee, word between surnames.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Carol's son, Ed, did a piece for an upcoming documentary on collecting. He is a crayon historian and has the largest crayon collection in the world. Impressive!

    Lucina, we made paper dolls out of the Sears Catalog. Anyone else do that?We had huge families!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Doug P.'s sense of humor placing PREY next to PETA?

    I agree with a lot of the choices, even to the "The Stick"...they made great riding horses, swords and "I am invisible" staffs. Invisibility extended to the interior of Cardboard Box if we so chose. The box made a serviceable house, car, train and mystery cave.

    I didn't much like the electronic toys Atari 2600 and Gameboy. So many of the electronic games seem made to be played alone...in the dark...just the kid and his screen.

    Yes JD! Where are the paper dolls? By yourself or with friends, they were fantastic toys.

    Flag (verb): "sag, droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness" OR "ease up: become less intense" Both are synonymous with TIRE (verb).

    NEE, as is Judy Smith (married name) Nee Jones (maiden name)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi gang - Didn't do the puzzle but JD e-mailed me asking if she could put my son's Crayola link on here. I didn't know how to do it and am glad she did.
    He has been collecting crayons for quite awhile but even I didn't know how large the collection was until recently. It's very impressive when you see it for 'real'. He has a very large room that ordinarily would be used as a family room - it's upstairs in their home and his collection is on specially made shelves, floor to ceiling all around the room. He does have his pool table in the center of that room and is very careful not to let the collection 'get out of hand'.

    ReplyDelete
  26. C.C., I've never visited the NATIONAL TOY HALL OF FAME. Many years ago, I went to the Legetojsmuseum (Toy Museum) in Copenhagen. At that time most of the toys were from the last half of the 19th century and some from the beginning of the 20th century. It was very charming.

    JD, Thanks for the link to Ed's collection. I never would have thought CRAYONS could be so interesting...but they were!

    Carol, did your son collect other things when he was a kid?

    ReplyDelete
  27. JD - Thanks for putting up the crayon collection link. That was outstanding! I had no idea this colorful bit of Americana was so under-represented.

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  28. Hello everybody. A really neat-o Sun-day puzzle today. I enjoyed working it. The long fills are outstanding.

    I agree I don't know how a cardboard box could be a hall of fame honoree, unless it maybe was a very specific cardboard box, or perhaps the concept of corrugated cardboard. But it's not a toy. Well, come to think if it, it is a toy; my brother and I often used (large) cardboard boxes as forts and hideouts.

    I have heard of Roy Harris but know nothing about him other than that he was American, that my father had some recordings of his music that he liked, and that I didn't like his music at all.

    ReplyDelete
  29. My wife belongs to a knitting circle called The Knit Wits; she enjoys having them in her circle of friends. And my feet are the beneficiaries of the numerous pairs of socks she has knitted.

    I wonder about any father who would name his daughter Goneril.

    Getting a bite when fishing in the local creek is also an exciting feeling. Thrilling to get bites when salmon fishing off the coast too, and I don't mean mosquito bites. One time I caught more salmon than everyone else on the boat; I think it might have been due to all the "chum" I had been spewing over the side of the boat.

    Speaking of people named Delaney, I'm glad to see Dana starring in a TV show again. Oh, sorry, we weren't really speaking of people named Delaney. Harris, Howard, and Hershiser, maybe.

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  30. Spitzboov: Right you are, I did get confused. At least I had the right state!

    Carol: Your son's crayon collection is impressive!

    ReplyDelete
  31. CA: Ed didn't collect much of anything until he was in his mid 20's and then it was beer cans...he amassed a huge collection. He and friends would go 'can dumping', looking in old camp areas and digging through dirt and other icky things. He was the editor of a local newsletter about beer can collecting. I did the illustrations for the cartoons in it, and he did the dialog because he cannot draw.
    He sold that collection at a tidy profit.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Carol:
    Your son's collection is fascinating! I had no idea such a variety existed. Thank you, JD, for posting it.

    And yes, we used the Sears & Roebuck catalog from paper dolls. Not only were the families huge, but we clothed them quite wonderfully. Maybe that is why I am such a clothes horse!

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  33. From the toys' point of view -

    The Dolls - William Butler Yeats

    A doll in the doll-maker's house
    Looks at the cradle and bawls:
    'That is an insult to us.'
    But the oldest of all the dolls,
    Who had seen, being kept for show,
    Generations of his sort,
    Out-screams the whole shelf: 'Although
    There's not a man can report
    Evil of this place,
    The man and the woman bring
    Hither, to our disgrace,
    A noisy and filthy thing.'
    Hearing him groan and stretch
    The doll-maker's wife is aware
    Her husband has heard the wretch,
    And crouched by the arm of his chair,
    She murmurs into his ear,
    Head upon shoulder leant:
    'My dear, my dear, O dear,
    It was an accident.'

    ReplyDelete
  34. Happy Sunday, all.

    This one was about as easy as any Sunday puzzle I've tried. All of the theme entries were either obvious with no perps (LINCOLN LOGS and ETCH A SKETCH) or needed just a few perps to point the way. Almost every time I ran into something that I didn't know or had choices there were easy perps that took care of the problem.

    The only total wag was that 'G' at the crossing of TA_ORE/RE_AN. As I mentally ran the alphabet, it seemed that I vaguely recalled REGAN, but I wasn't sure. Since nothing else looked any better, i went with it.

    I see one of my two favorites, the A C Gilbert Erector Set made the cut, but the other A C Gilbert isn't there. Anyone want to guess what it was? Those two, a Daisy BB gun and a Bicycle were all I really needed. Everything else could be improvised or borrowed.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Good afternoon everyone.

    Great write up C.C. And thanks for the shout out about "Turandot".
    And Husker, thanks for the "Turandot" 'Nessum Dorma' link. A great favorite.

    HeartRx: Yes, LEAVES' HOME would be correct. That would indicate that something belongs to the leaves, yes?

    As for Crunchy Mexican Munchies: my late 1st husband was in a bar in rural Mexico, having some beer and dipping into the crunchy munchies on the bar. He had no Spanish, but asked what the munchies were (probably by pointing) and was told "cucarochas".
    (sp?) That word he understood, and stopped eating the munchies!

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  36. Grumpy, some sort of a magic set? Are you a blow'em up type of guy?lol

    ReplyDelete
  37. I was just thinking (no, it didn't hurt) that if you don't like Jose Canseco (I don't like him either) you'd probably dislike Barry Bonds too. A guy who lives down the block claims to know him and hang out with him; he says Barry is a heck of a nice guy and very generous, but also arrogant, demanding, and obnoxious as heck. I believe the second part but not the first part (that he hangs out with him).

    ReplyDelete
  38. Jayce, it sounds like a contradiction in terms that a guy who is "arrogant, demanding, and obnoxious as heck" can somehow also be a nice guy. Maybe you shouldn't believe either of your neighbor's statements.

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  39. Hi All ~~

    A fun and easy Sunday puzzle! Thanks for your informative write-up, C.C. I found that I had some of the same thoughts about ... 5A- EST before ETD, 2D- I started confidently with IRISH ( UCONN women play them tonight) but then one extra space led me to ILLINI, and for 128A, I also can't count ... had FDR before DDE.
    ~~ I also like LEAVES' instead of LEAVES but then again the misdirection of the latter was fun.


    ~~ 10D PACED ... what I did last night watching the end of the UCONN-Kentucky game. UCONN Huskies won 56-55. Whew!

    ~~ The Red Sox aren't off to a very good start, losing all three games to Texas this weekend. Oh well ... at least they still have 159 games to play.


    We'll be watching the UCONN women play tonight in Indiana ... the game doesn't start here until 9:30!


    Enjoy the evening ~~

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  40. Musings 2-
    -Sallie, yes, Nessum Dorma is beautiful beyond words. If you haven’t seen Paul Potts sing it, be prepared for goosebumps in two ways! Don’t judge a book by its cover!
    -The first reading today at Mass was from 1st SML.
    -My cardboard box made it to the Moon 12 years before Neal Armstrong. Imagination in a young boy's heart is wonderful!
    -Jose Canseco is on the arrogant side, but you should not shoot the messenger. Bonds not only lied to the government, he abused his girl friend in horrible ways!
    -I love my 3 bean salad!
    -Windy on the plains but never too windy for Golf!

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  41. Hola, again. I just saw the movie, "Of Gods and Men." It's a beautiful and inspirational film about some French monks living in Algeria when Islamist extremist terrorists attack their village and how they cope with that situation. It's truly emotional and gripping. Lots of religion in it so it's not for everyone.

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  42. It looks the lind did not work. How 'bout this -Paul Potts. It is amazing and touching!

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  43. Doug, thank you for posting the list from the Hall of Fame for Toys and thank you, also, for your fun puzzle today. It was a nice nostalgic glance to my long ago childhood.

    I've also been playing the Turandot and Paul Potts links. Enchanting! Thank you for those.

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  44. Husker Gary ~~ Thanks for the link to Paul Potts. I haven't heard this since my brother sent it to me a couple of years ago. I still get goosebumps!

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  45. Happy Sunday!

    I enjoyed this puzzle and found it challenging but nicely doable. Once I got the theme, things flowed pretty smoothly. My father bought me a Viewmaster when he returned from a business trip to Hawaii. I loved the 3D scenery. I don't mind CHA and TSE. I'm guessing they seemed pretty clever the first time somebody used them.

    I remember seeing and hearing Paul Potts sing Turandot when he first appeared on 'Britain's Got Talent.' He was a wonderful surprise. Also, I love their female judge. What a great smile!

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  46. The Paul Potts win came after the great Susan Boyle appearance. During the week of Anti-Bullying at our school, I played the entire Susan Boyle performance on our school-wide system and since most had not seen it, this served as a great jumping off point for, "Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover!"

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  47. Lucina: I recently heard an interview on NPR about the movie "Of Gods and Men." A man who had been with the monks at that monterey was talking about the place. It was very interesting and I hope that movie comes here.

    My husband just gave me an iPad. It will be great for work, but unfortunately doesn't support the flash needed for the LA times on line, so I can't use it for the puzzle when traveling. Fortunately, our city's newspaper is still in operation.

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  48. Good Evening C.C. and all,

    Just worked the puzzle and it was a smooth ride. Loved all the comments. Got a big kick out of the theme. Thanks, Doug P.

    JD, want to say "I'll miss you; hope you have a wonderful time. I look forward to a full report and pics".


    Carol, I love the link about your son. What a treasure! I'm going back and study the link.

    Enjoyed everyone's comments and
    particularly C.C.'s write-up.

    We just retrieved our wayward, ancient
    and stubborn little mule from a neighbor's place.
    Not a good way to start or end the day.

    Thanks for the shout-out C.C.

    Have a nice evening everyone.

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  49. had cabala before arcana. fun puzzle. i vote for clue, go to the head of the class, magic set, kid microscope,capgun, ringtoss,actress paperdolls, bubble blowing wands, clay, toy ovens, toy tea sets, mr potato head, slinky, ventriliquist dummy,toy carousel,doll house, to name a few of the toys and games we amused ourselves with.fun to remember.

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  50. Loved all the links today, and although I'm not an opera lover, I cry whenever Pavarotti sings.

    I'm signing out until the 14th, leaving you with this awesome clip.

    Creature, I laughed about your wayward mule, until I realized it really was a mule!Bet he's grounded!!

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  51. Husker Gary: thanks for the Paul Potts clip. You're right; it's awesome.

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  52. Did you see the last bit on CBS Sunday Morning today about the man and his goose pal? Wonderful stuff!

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  53. flag- verb, to lose energy

    missed it

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