google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, April 6 2011, Patti Varol

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Apr 6, 2011

Wednesday, April 6 2011, Patti Varol

PTheme: Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall. Each of the 13(!!) starred theme entries relates to the animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

1A. *"Bohemian Rhapsody" group : QUEEN. you're singing it in your head, aren't you?

6A. *Poet Whitman : WALT. i finally bought leaves of grass after hearing part of the poem 'spontaneous me' in the movie 'the notebook.' noah read it to his dad on the porch, remember?

23A. *Painfully shy : BASHFUL

26A. *Tormented by pollen, say : SNEEZY. bless you!

31A. *Cross : GRUMPY. harumph.

40A. *Medico's address : DOC. it looks nice right in the middle like that.

44A. *Like a quiet town : SLEEPY

48A. *He won 26 Oscars, including an Academy Honorary Award (consisting of one full-sized and seven miniature statuettes) for the film depicted in this puzzle's starred answers : DISNEY. when i first read this clue i hadn't figured out the theme yet, and had no idea anyone had won that many oscars (he was nominated for 64). it is a record that has not been broken. no wonder he created the happiest place on earth. here's an interesting disney link.

52A. *Cry of surprise : HEIGH HO. i thought of him.

68A. *Frosted flakes : SNOW. cute clue, sore subject for some of you. i was thinking more along the lines of this.

69A. *Chess side : WHITE

13D. *All smiles : HAPPY

48D. *Not very bright : DOPEY

melissa bee bogging.

WOW! i had so much fun with this puzzle. love, Love, LOVE heavy themage, and this one is absolutely overflowing with it. would not think it was even possible to fit all seven dwarves names, and 6 other related theme entries in a 15 * 15 grid . have not seen this constructor's name before, but now i'll keep an eye out for her ... really really enjoyed this, just brilliant.

a few bonuses, too:

39A. Aladdin's helper : GENIE. also a disney movie.

58A. Like a noted piper : PIED. 1933 disney short

60A. Roads scholar? : TRAMP. well it coulda been clued as 'Lady's beau.'

11D. "__ porridge hot ..." : PEASE. not disney, but a children's nursery rhyme. interesting trivia, according to wikipedia: "The 1959 Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot derives its title from this rhyme."

and, loosely related:

8. Passed-down stories : LORE.

22. Man with morals : AESOP

i feel like it's my duty to link at least one song ... and what came to mind with this theme was seven days. it even contains the lyric 'the mirror squeaked, away i ran.'

Across

10. Exotic food fish : OPAH

14. Año Nuevo month : ENERO. enero is spanish for january - año nuevo is spanish for new year's eve.

15. Irish Spring variety : ALOE. soap.

16. Wife of Zeus : HERA

17. Sudoku fill-in : DIGIT

18. Fronded plant : FERN. i learned on npr's wait, wait don't tell me that sigmund freud had pteridophobia, a the morbid fear of ferns.

19. Irving hero : GARP

20. Starbucks pickup : COFFEE

27. Torino time period : ORA. italian for hour.

28. Good thinking : REASON

34. Overhauls : REBUILDS

41. Red simile words : A BEET. red as a beet.

42. Parent who minds how her kid acts? : STAGE MOM. cute.

45. Dojo discipline : KARATE. training facility for martial arts.

47. WNBA position : CTR

55. Quarterfinals complement, e.g. : OCTAD

56. Danube capital : VIENNA. austria. the danube is the second longest river in europe, after the volga.

59. Watch : TEND

64. Feminine suffix : ENNE

65. Corleone family head : VITO. the godfather.

66. "We're out of choices" : OTHER. made me giggle.

67. "Son of Frankenstein" role : YGOR

Down

1. Proof abbr. : QED. from wikipedia: an initialism of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum, which means "what was to be demonstrated". The phrase is traditionally placed in its abbreviated form at the end of a mathematical proof orphilosophical argument when what was specified in the enunciation — and in the setting-out — has been exactly restated as the conclusion of the demonstration. The abbreviation thus signals the completion of the proof.

2. Cycle prefix : UNI. unicycle.

3. Hosp. test : EEG

4. "Love Story" novelist Segal : ERICH

5. __ this world: bizarre : NOT OF

6. Hem and haw : WAFFLE

7. On the safer side : ALEE

9. Downing Street number : TEN. number ten downing street, in london. residence of the prime minister.

10. "My goodness" : OH GEE

12. Paella ingrediente : ARROZ. spanish word for rice.

21. Faulkner's "The Sound and the __" : FURY

22. Like some reports : ANNUAL

23. His 3,000th hit was a homer : BOGGS. wade.

24. Stop in Québec? : ARRET. french.

25. Healthful hot spot : SAUNA

26. Cry noisily : SOB

29. Starbucks pickup : AROMA. clecho.

30. NYSE overseer : SEC. securities and exchange commission.

32. "Top Gun" foe : MIG. russian military aircraft.

33. Didn't wait for Christmas : PEEKED. are you a peeker?

35. "May __ of service?" : I BE

36. Hanger-on : LEECH. ew.

37. Pool statistic : DEPTH. the minimum depth of an olympic sized pool is 6' 7".

38. Start to foam? : STYRO. Styrofoam. thought of rabies.

40. Palme __: Cannes film award : DOR. the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival, it goes to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. had no idea.

43. Has the okay : MAY

44. Spotted : SEEN. i spy, with my little eye ...

46. Market index, familiarly : THE DOW. dow jones.

49. Best part of the cake, to some : ICING. you can have mine.

50. Shorthand pro : STENO. stenographer.

51. "Unsafe at Any Speed" author : NADER

53. Attached to a trailer hitch : IN TOW

54. Brooks of C & W : GARTH. thought kix first, not enough letters. why not spell out country and western?

56. Vital thin blue line : VEIN

60 comments:

  1. Good morning, Mustang Mel, C.C. and gang - wow, what a fun puzzle! As Melissa said, it's very impressive that our constructor got all seven dwarves and Snow White into one puzzle. Smiled all the way through this one, and yes, Melissa, Bohemian Rhapsody was rattling around my head all the way through the puzzle.

    As much as I'm into baseball, I blanked on 23D; even when I had the 'B', all I could think of was 'Baggs', which is Jeff Bagwell's nickname. 'Ygor' got me too, as I had the traditional spelling. A very smooth run otherwise with some great cluing, including 'Frosted flakes' for 'snow', 'Roads scholar' for 'tramp' and 'Hanger-on' for 'leech' (which brought back some unpleasant memories of constantly burning those suckers off). A most enjoyable puzzle otherwise.

    Today's blog was a real Melsterpiece - Melissa, loved the links, especially the story behind alleged Disney subliminal erotica in his works. Also found it fascinating and ironic that Freud was afraid of a bush...

    Today is Plan Your Epitaph Day. What would yours be? Being the eternal optimist, mine would be "Seeya next time".

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  2. Good Morning Melissa, C.C. et al.

    Great job on the write-up, MB. I also liked the Disney lin - very interesting stuff.

    If this is Patti Varol’s debut puzzle, it was quite impressive. More than 37% of this grid was composed of thematic entries, and only a J and X away from being a pangram.

    I enjoyed the clever clues like: 42A “Parent who minds how her kid acts?” for STAGE MOM and 33D “Didn’t wait for Christmas” for PEEKED (I don't).

    WAFFLE, COFFEE and AROMA made my mouth water.

    ARROZ and ARRET are two foreign words we don’t see often, while ENERO and ORA are pretty common.

    My only discomfort was that 6A WALT, should have been tied in with 48A: “With 6A, person who won 26 Oscars…”. Instead, it was left hanging out there with the other theme entries as being part of the film depicted in the puzzle.

    All in all, it was a fun romp on Hump Day. Have a great one, everybody!

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  3. Morning, all!

    Fun puzzle today. All seven dwarves, Snow White, Walt Disney AND Heigh Ho as a bonus.

    No complaints from me, although I have to say I thought a lot of the cluing was more Thursday (or even Friday) level. I was able to get everything, but I did a lot of double and triple takes to get there. "Red simile words" in particular had me scratching my head for quite awhile.

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  4. Good day folks,

    Melissa Bee, enlightening write up. My only ???? moment is one across. Don't get the singular answer for a plural clue. But, I'm not familiar with the Bohemian Rhapsody.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle even though I found it a bit difficult in places. Octad, arret, arroz, oh gee, & stage mom all had me scratching my dome for a while.

    I initially had Igor, but Ygor appeared because I'm not that dopey. Hera was a nice clue from mythology. She was one jealous lady and a mean, vengeful one too, especially when Zeus was discovered fooling around.

    I'd like to say I'm a Happy dwarf, but honestly Grumpy and I would get along very well.

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  5. Hello Puzzlers - I'm with M. Bee on this one - it has what an engineer would call high cleverness density.

    Epitaph? How about "It's dark in here!"

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  6. Good morming MB and HAPPY Hump Day Celebrants, all.

    We sometimes get a shoutout to one of my little buddies, but to get all of us, the boss man, and all of the other stuff in there... well that's a big HEIGH HO!

    A quick check on Google indicates that this is, indeed, Patty's debut puzzle. Well done!

    It was a pretty smooth solve, but a few of the clues took a bit to sink in. The 'red simile' clue was somewhat similar to the 'epitome of redness' we saw recently, but it didn't register until the answer was about half perped.

    Time to put a few DIGITs in the daily Sudoku.

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  7. HondoHurricane, you probably have heard it but maybe didn’t recognize the title? Here is Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

    Epitaph? “Ooops”

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  8. Good morning, Melissa and friends. This was a fun, but easy puzzle for me. I immediately thought of Disney after filling in 6-A WALT. After getting BASHFUL, I could see where we were going. Bonus shout-out to our own GRUMPY, whom I don't really think is.

    I was at the Palme d'or many years ago when we lived in France.

    My favorite clue was Frosted Flakes = SNOW

    Last week was in the 80s. This week we a back in winter. It is in the mid-49s.

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  9. Hi ho to all,
    Great blog, Melissa! Good music and interesting erotica article.

    Patti,
    A great debut if ever I saw one.

    I thoroughly enjoyed it, grokked the theme early (who could help it?) and even the unknown names fell in with good perp help.

    I too wondered if WALT should have been linked to DISNEY. I figured it was Disney on mention of the seven miniatures in 48A. Some of the clues were absolutely brilliant, e.g. for STAGE MOM, roads scholar and frosted flakes.

    The new name for Elderhostel programs is now Roads Scholar too.

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  10. Good day, Melissa and puzzle group.
    Great blog, MB.

    HEIGH HO! HEIGH HO! This puzzle made me HAPPY and was a fun run. I sashayed through it quicker than a KARATE chop.

    Ano nuevo actually means new year, MB.

    Very clever cluing:
    parent who minds how her kids act, STAGEMOM
    roads scholar, TRAMP

    Hand up for IGOR then YGOR and not knowing BOGGS or ORA. Had IRA.

    Congratulations to Patti Varol. I hope she visits us again soon.

    I thought I didn't know Bohemian Rhapsody, but I do. Thanks.

    Have a lovely Wednesday, everyone.

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  11. Morning CC, & all you DF'ers out there...

    Ms. Bee super job with links and edification of the clues.

    Being as you brought is up...

    What is your worst earworm?
    (such as - The Tokens' - "The Lion Sleeps Tonight")To keep with Disney theme (The Lion King)

    Have a great day.

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  12. Good Morning,

    Great write up and fun puzzle.
    What a 'HAPPY' way to start the day!!

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  13. Good morning all. Thanks for the commentary, Melissa.

    Hahtool, you're right; our GRUMPY isn't.

    HEIGH HO, this cw wasn't anything to SNEEZE at; fun, some scratch your head clues, and a nice rhythm. The theme fills were playful, but strangely, I got both DISNEY and GRUMPY near the end. So much for unifier help. SAUNA helped with the spelling of ORA. Liked the ÆSOP clue.

    PEASE porridge hot, PEASE porridge cold,
    PEASE porridge in the pot, nine days old;
    Some like it hot, some like it cold,
    Some like it in the pot, nine days old

    Enjoy the day.

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  14. Thanks Melissa and Ms. Varol

    Oddly enough, 1A across was my abiding memory of this crossword. I still have a Silicon Graphics computer that I bought in 1999, which I named Mercury, which replaced a 1990 device called Freddie. Mercury is still alive and kicking - the 'cadillac' of 20th century 3-dimensional computer graphics - still superior to modern systems, even if SGI has gone out of business and no-one writes software for it any more.

    Bohemian Rhapsody was one of Freddie's masterpieces (released in 1975), and was the first major single to come with a fully-fledged promotional video. It was a great commercial success in Brit&Commonwealth in 1975/6 and again in 1992. At nearly 6 minutes in length, maybe it didn't fit the U.S commercial radio format (and you need to listen to the whole thing - it doesn't have a chorus).

    Although after its appearance in "Wayne's World" in 1992, it made a belated impact, and is now one of those international "rock anthems" where you will find people from Georgia to Georgia who know the songs and will recite the lyrics verbatim.

    Sadly, Freddie died in 1991, one of the early high-prominent victims of AIDS. My epitaph might read either "Is it tea-time yet?" or, if I believed in an afterlife, "Where's Freddie?"

    NC

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  15. Hi There~!

    I, too, grokked the theme at the clue for DISNEY, as I had WALT already, and DOC - so I went back to fill in the starred clues only to realize I had no idea who the seven dwarfs were - I had to almost finish the puzzle to remember GRUMPY, HAPPY and DOPEY.

    BASHFUL and SLEEPY I had.

    Thanks for the erotica link, too, as I always like reading stuff like that.

    Now I need to go back and watch those scenes again ~!

    Planning on cremation, so my urn's epitaph -

    "Don't Inhale~!"

    Otherwise, how about

    "Back up, you're standing on my legs ~!"

    Splynter

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  16. Fun! The dwarves were a great theme. Had trouble with all the foreign terms: Enero<(knew this one), Arret(canadian),Arroz(spanish),Ora(Italian), Dor(french). Able to complete with some difficulty. All in all a great Wed. solve. I had no idea that Disney won so many oscars.

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  17. I remember an epitaph in a Key West cemetary that reads:

    "I told you I was sick!"

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  18. Good Morning All, Congratulations to Patti Varol for an enjoyable puzzle. It was fun to fill in the names for all those little guys, as well as WALT DISNEY, SNOW WHITE, QUEEN and HEIGH HO. That's a whole lot of theme entries.

    I had some problems with 60A Roads scholar?/TRAMP. I know it's a punny thing, but I was stuck on the "learned or erudite person" definition. I needed the perps to to get my "Aha!".

    My favorite clue was 56D Vital thin blue line/VEIN. I was thinking more along the lines of the 1988 documentary "The Thin Blue Line", which was about police procedure and criminal prosecution.

    I was a big QUEEN fan (still am). I loved their nerve. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is great and I still get a kick out of "Wayne's World"'s headbanging version.

    Which of the seven for me? Probably HAPPY. I'm not going to waste the time I have being GRUMPY, or even BASHFUL.

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  19. Good morning everyone.

    Great and fun-to-do puzzle. Groked the theme early on, but had to struggle to remember all seven names. When I had bashful, sneezy and doc, I got it.
    In my copy WALT is asterisked, so it does tie in with DISNEY.

    And, Hahtool, you are absolutely correct that our GRUMPY isn't.

    Cheers

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  20. I meant to say, Melissa B that it was a superb write up for a most interesting puzzle. Great links too.

    I am with Clear Ayes in going for HAPPY as my most likely dwarf. I am almost always feeling happy.

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  21. And SLEEPY after a good lunch and lie down.

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  22. Someone here is really HAPPY when his better half wakes up feeling GRUMPY.

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  23. Good Morning, folks. Great Puzzle, first-timer Patti Varol. Really enjoyed it. Nice theme. I did not catch the theme until I had DISNEY, then it jumped out at me. I was missing a few of the dwarfs at that time, but then picked them up easily.
    Thank you, Melissa Bee, for great comments. And, C.C., too!

    I was not sure how a Cry of Surprise translated to HEIGH HO. To me it would be something like you are starting something, as in Heigh Ho Heigh Ho, its off to work we go.

    Thought Hem and Haw/WAFFLE was a good clue/answer. Also 56A/VEIN was clever.

    Thanks for a great Wednesday. See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  24. good morning all,

    thanks for the nice comments, it was a very enjoyable blogging experience.

    hondo, others beat me to answering your question.

    lucina, right you are .. somehow the 'eve' just wanted to come out of my fingers.

    clear ayes, i love old queen, too, and knew with 1a this would be a fun puzzle. the spelling of 'road' was patti's hint to think out of the box. the other spelling is 'rhodes'. should have included this info in the blog.

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  25. What fun! I really wanted D'ior for 40D And confidently penned in Berra for 23D. My pal, Grumpy, solved that one for me. The rest flowed easily.

    Hey, Nice Cuppa, Speaking of Wayne's World...'

    Epitath?? Hey, watch this!!

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  26. Since the clue for 54d had an ampersand in it, I thought it hinted to the C&W group Brooks & Dunn. I thought "who in the h&ll knows his first name?" and moved on.

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  27. I agree with so many of you--today was a fun puzzle.
    I am committed to say at least one time today, in a moment of pure joy--"Heigh Ho". (Can't wait for hubby's reaction.)
    I loved the Disney link, Milissa. It is a real trip watching some of the really old cartoons (from the 40's). Watched them on Saturday morning as a kid, but now I see all kinds of "butt" jokes incorporated. Many of them in the early Disney cartoons, especially with Donald Duck.
    Have a great day, all you dwarfs out there. Think I am Happy right now. Going to work again outside and hope I do not become Sneezy.

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  28. Nice blogging, Melissa. The Disney link was a new one for me. I also enjoyed the Sting tune link.

    I didn't see "The Notebook". I'm not a Nicholas Sparks fan, but if it's a recommendation from you, I'll give it a try.

    BTW, I'm curious (definitely not a critique) if there is a reason you haven't used capitalization for your own comments? Have you been writing that way all along and I just didn't notice? ( :o)If that's true, maybe I should be DOPEY.)

    Dennis, no epitaph for cremated me, but if I were going to have one it would be something like

    "I'm not here,
    so don't feel sad.
    If you don't visit,
    it's not that bad.
    P.S. I'm way past flowers."

    I think this would be good to sooth any busy relatives and cover the whole religious spectrum, from dedicated believer to atheist.

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  29. Hi All ~~

    This was such an enjoyable puzzle! No one clue led me to the theme ... I noticed how many starred answers there were, looked at three or four of them and realized what we were looking for. Such clever cluing ... lots of misdirection and I caught on to most of it.

    ~ For 17A 'Sudoku fill-in' I had EIGHT until ERICH changed that to DIGIT

    ~ Had ANO before ORA and IGOR before YGOR

    ~ For 37D I was thinking billiards not water DEPTH

    ~ I really liked the clues for STAGEMOM and STYRO and what for me was a new clue for ALOE

    ~ I do pretty well with sports clues but BOGGS was a little obscure ... was thinking BONDS





    Thanks for a wonderful write-up Melissa ... loved the explanations and the links!

    I hope we see more from Patti Varol!

    Enjoy the day ~~

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  30. What a fun puzzle and fantastic that this is Patti’s debut puzzle! I look forward to seeing more of her work in the not too distant future! I loved the theme and caught on right away when I got Bashful, (which I am not). Not being a baseball enthusiast I needed perp help for Boggs. I also didn’t know the Spanish name for rice – arroz and learned a new French word - arret. I also always thought it was peas porridge hot… I also loved stage mom and waffle. All and all this was a great way to spend my lunch hour.

    Gunghy, I am down right jealous you put your boat in the water yesterday, even if there wasn’t enough wind to sail. My time’s coming.

    Melissa, great job blogging today and will open more of the links from home tonight. You are right, Bohemian Rhapsody is playing in my head right now.

    My epitaph? It was well worth it.

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  31. I should have explained my epitaph earlier. I firmly believe that I will meet my end in some kind of skiing / parasailing / whitewater kayaking / whatever / accident. ERGO: "Ooops!"

    Melissa, I forgot to answer your question - I woke up at 3 AM with a wicked allergy attack. So today, I am definitely "SNEEZY"

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  32. Hola Everyone, What a great puzzle. I skipped down to the Oscar clue, filled that in and was on my way. My one problem was the Musical group Queen and Boggs. Both were lookups.

    I also thought that Stage Mom and Tramp, Genie, and Ygor were all cleverly entered as they are to my mind also movie related.

    My favorite today was Roads scholar?/Tramp. Well done Patti Varol.

    I'll be on the lookout for further puzzles by this contructor.

    Great blogging today, Melissa Bee. I always enjoy the links you post.

    Have a great day everyone.

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  33. Many years ago I saw a bumper sticker that read:

    I owe! I owe! I owe!
    So off to work I go.

    I've always chuckled over it.

    It is definitely SNEEZY weather here as the wind has been up although temperatures, blessedly, are down to 80s. I'm HAPPY.

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  34. OOps! Constructor.
    A little bit about Pease. I think that is the Old English spelling.

    But they were dried peas, which kept well. My background information was that they would be put in the pot over the coals at night and in the morning were cooked and ready to eat hot. By noon they were cold and by supper colder still.

    If there were any left in the pot after three meals, more were added to the pot and stirred in with the leftovers. This apparently was done several days in a row, hence the 9 days old part of the rhyme.

    Many poor families didn't have much else to eat and dried peas apparently were cheap and fairly nutritious.

    You can decide if this is a folk tale or true. Your choice.

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  35. Hello.

    Quite impressive to get all seven
    into the grid. But, I think it has been done before. Much like the Xmas one that had all of the raindeer. TMI in 48A. Gave too much away.
    @ A NONperson at 12:01. Trying to piss me off didn't work. I don't care any more. I will give you chops for reading half of the comment.

    Take care. PA has some nasty weather.

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  36. Hi gang,

    Haven't read the write up or the conmments yet. For once I got the theme early and got most of the theme entries right away. Helped a lot. The puzzle really went together smoothly. Yesterday's was also pretty smooth but I never got around to the comments.

    Hope everybody is well and enjoying nice weather at last. Ours is lovely and things are blooming; birds and squirels very busy. Bustin' out all over!

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  37. The World According to Garp (19-A) was the only John Irving novel that I have been able to get through.

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  38. Chickie:
    That explanation of Pease, porridge pot sounds quite feasible and makes sense. I had not heard that before. Thanks.

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  39. Melissa Bee, for the biggest Disney fan ever, this puzzle was nirvana! I finished at 7:30 am but the siren call of golf delayed my blogging. I am back after 31 holes and did 3 hours of yard work to keep things copasetic on the home front. Calling today beautiful would be to damn with faint praise!

    Musings
    -Lovely debut Patti!
    -40 trips to Disney World and having Disney a big part of my childhood, made for a very pleasant solve!
    -MB, nice job of blogging and seeing the other Disney “stuff”
    -Knowledge of Spanish months and Greek Gods are a byproduct of Cwd’s
    -High School stage moms can be every bit as confrontational with musical directors as dads can be with athletic coaches
    -I never could master my student’s unicycle
    -Glad it was BOGGS and not BONDS
    -Marti epitath? Hey, watch this! Me?, He did the best he could with what he had!

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  40. Wowie zowie, neato bandito! What a MAHvelous puzzle! I love love loved it (credit to melissabee for that phrase.) For some reason I tried to fill the starred clues first, instead of going in order, and that made it easy to get the theme, which I thought was exceptionally well done. I guess I also like heavily themed puzzles, though I didn't realize it until today. I'm glad you all enjoyed and appreciated this puzzle as much as I did. Thank you, melissabee, for a great writeup and cool links. Color me HAPPY and yet occasionally GRUMPY. Heck, I even get pretty DOPEY sometimes. Epitaph: Was a good father.

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  41. MB, I enjoyed the Disney “erotica” links but of course some of it is in the eye/ear of the beholder. As is attributed to Freud, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” I have spent a lot of time ferreting out Hidden Mickeys at Disney World

    I have taken turns in the personas of the dwarves but am Happy most often!

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  42. I very much enjoyed this clever puzzle and the write up.

    I remember watching the Disney TV show in black and white, back in the days of Davy Crockett. Every now and then they'd have an update on the construction of Disneyland. When I moved out here from Virginia, that was one of the first things I wanted to visit. It's still a magical place though I could do without the long lines.

    Two more from Prairie Home Companion's Joke Show.

    What did the boy rabbit say to the girl rabbit?
    This won't take long...did it?


    What did the female deer say when she walked out of the woods?
    I'll never do that again for two bucks.

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  43. According to the Daily Beast, my city is in the top ten Funniest Cities in the US.

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  44. here lies Lester Williams,

    No Les no more.

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  45. I've always loved this one from the old west:

    Here lays Butch.

    We planted him raw.

    He was quick on the trigger

    But slow on the draw

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  46. Husker G., I think most of my friends would agree with your version of my epitaph. But since I am going skiing in the glacier at Hochgurgl in the Alps at the end of the month, let's hope we don't have to use it very soon...

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  47. I wish I had your legs, HeartRx. Their strength I mean, not their shape.

    G'night all.

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  48. OK, most of you probably don't know this, but Patti Varol is Rich Norris' assistant. She is the one who sends us constructors the "good news...bad news" emails. I am absolutely delighted to see she is one of us! I wonder if she sent herself an email when her puzzle was accepted by Rich???

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  49. Marti, I hope you won't need an epitath for many, many years!

    Happy shushing!

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  50. Melissa Bee, top-notch commentary!Thanks!


    After cremation: Put a lid on it!

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  51. Dennis@6:37 Very funny! That Old West sense of humor came out full blast on "Boot Hill".

    Here's another one, in the same vein:

    "Here lies a man named Zeke.
    Second fastest draw in Cripple Creek"

    My favorite is short and to the point:

    "He called
    Bill Smith
    A Liar"

    HeartRx@7:27, you constructors weren't kidding when you've mentioned what a nice guy Rich Norris is. Patty Varol is fortunate to have a such a supportive boss (as well as being very talented).

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  52. Hi gang -

    Amazing themage, clever clues. Wow!

    Judged the Science Fair this morning - always a treat.

    I can see myself as any of the Dwarfs, at different times. Dopey most mornings, Sleepy after a night of insomnia, etc.

    I PEEKED once as a kid. Kinda took the fun out of Christmas, so never did it again.

    My epitaph: Still questioning . . .

    Some MI exploring tomorrow, off to T-Town on FRI. I'll check in when I can.

    Cheers!
    JzB

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  53. Because SEEN drove into VIENNA, I must share this story.

    One of my early trips overseas was to Austria. Driving from Linz to Vienna, I was watching the signs. At some point I said "Wien must be close to Vienna". What a beautiful drive! Melk was my favorite.

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  54. Loved the puzzle; loved MB's write-up lots. Can't believe this is a first puzzle for Patti. Congratulations, Patti. I ditto everything that's been said! Thanks for the fun.

    Been busy all day; and all afternoon and evening, I've been rounding up Zeb.Its dark and he's home; I'll try plying him with treats until the fence man comes next week and helps me solve the mystery of this little Houdini's escapes.

    Haven't had time to come up with my epitaph; maybe after a glass of wine.

    Marti, none of this 'oops' stuff Please don't push your luck. We are waiting for your next puzzle, besides.

    Have a nice night everyone.

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  55. Seen: that's a funny Vienna story!

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  56. Patti, what a fun, fun, fun puzzle - Congratulations on a great debut!

    Dopey was our favorite dwarf after meeting him on our first trip to Disney World, but I hope he doesn't represent my personality! I've probably been each of them at one time or another.

    Husker Gary, can I copy your epitaph? I've used that phrase a number of times.

    Today's Non Sequitur had an interesting epitaph in it. It was in the "Second to the last words cemetery": Remember when you asked me to be completely honest honey?

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  57. mb: i just realized that you addressed the kix issue early on. sorry.

    here is Queen.

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  58. Hi, everyone -- thank you so much for the kind words about my puzzle. It is indeed my debut, and Rich Norris is indeed the best boss, ever. I did not have to write my own acceptance letter, but I do have my share of gentle rejections from Rich. :)

    It's not exactly my first puzzle: I was a senior puzzle editor at Penny Press for almost twelve years, and I've been fact checking and test solving for Rich for going on ten. I've found my way around a grid or two.

    Thanks for making my day! There are more puzzles in the works, but I do not think I'll be able to top this one.

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