Theme: Bravado - The first word of the first four theme entries, together and in order, create a phrase synonymous with the unifier.
16A. Dusk-to-dawn cramming session : ALL-NIGHTER
22A. Training neckwear for noisy dogs : BARK COLLARS
36A. "Definitely!" : "NO DOUBT!"
46A. Suffer defeat : BITE THE DUST
55A. Toothless menace described by the starts of 16-, 22-, 36- and 46-Across : IDLE THREAT
Argyle here. Jeff has provided us with a good start to the week. It would have been nice to have "AND" in the middle but that would have made things unnecessarily complex.
Across:
1. Self-indulgent place for breakfast : BED
4. Complete chaos : HAVOC
9. Opinion column, briefly : OP-ED. It probably bears repeating: Though often mistaken for opinion-editorial, OP-ED, abbreviated from OPposite the EDitorial page, is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board. These are different from editorials, which are usually unsigned and written by editorial board members.
13. Algeria neighbor : MALI. NW Africa, map.
14. "Don't be ___!" : A HERO. Yeah, Billy. Number one song for 2 weeks in June '75. (2:47). Check out their threads, dude.
15. Herr's mate : FRAU. German
18. Top pick, slangily : FAVE. Favorite
19. Bayer : Levitra :: Pfizer : __ : VIAGRA
20. Holy messenger : GABRIEL. One of the archangels.
25. Early Peruvian : INCAN
28. Bond creator Fleming : IAN
29. Bordeaux buddy : AMI. French.
30. Sharp to the taste : TART
31. HST predecessor : FDR. Our 32nd and 33rd Presidents.
32. Quaking trees : ASPENS
35. __ Balls: Hostess snacks : SNO
38. John or Jane, anonymously : DOE
39. Materialistic thirtysomething : YUPPIE
41. The Trojans of the NCAA : USC. University of Southern California.
42. Bank offer : LOAN
43. Like some rights and engrs. : CIV. Civil.
44. Opposite of NNW : SSE
45. Digit on a "Magic" ball : EIGHT. Quite a story behind the old Magic 8 Ball.
49. Longtime "20/20" co-host Walters : BARBARA
50. "A Streetcar Named Desire" woman : STELLA. "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields!"
54. With the bow, in music : ARCO. Italian for bow.
58. "Kiss my grits" TV diner : MEL'S. The waitress named Flo's favorite saying.
59. Mary Tyler __ : MOORE
60. Assistant : AIDE
61. Summer quaffs : ADEs
62. Weapon for Zorro : SWORD. The Fox. "This bold renegade - Carves a "Z" with his blade, - A "Z" that stands for Zorro."
63. Place, as bricks : LAY
Down:
1. Vacation island south of Borneo : BALI. Map. Going by the names down there, I'd say they must grow a lot of coffee.
2. Jazz great Fitzgerald : ELLA. Ella singing about Black Coffee.
3. Archie's pet insult for Edith : DINGBAT
4. Comics Viking : HAGAR. the Horrible.
5. Sound at a sauna : "AHH!"
6. Doggie doc : VET
7. Crater Lake's locale : OREGON
8. Salmonesque color : CORAL
9. Turnpike exit : OFF RAMP
10. Great Plains burrower : PRAIRIE DOG
11. Hangover locales? : EAVES. Get it?
12. Hamilton vs. Burr, e.g. : DUEL
13. Big D hoopster : MAV. Dallas Mavericks
17. Shah's domain, once : IRAN
21. Turn way up, as radio volume : BLAST
23. Captain hanged for piracy in 1701 : KIDD
24. Go on a bender : CAROUSE
25. Teensy : ITSY
26. Half of Mork's farewell : NANU
27. Agricultural phenomenon sometimes linked to UFOs : CROP CIRCLE. Perhaps made by Orkian space ships, looking for Mork.
31. Antagonist : FOE
32. "Easy as" letters : ABC
33. Ark-itect? : NOAH. Get it?
34. Shipped : SENT
36. Skin care giant : NIVEA. Nivea products.
37. Like hand-me-downs : USED
40. Vegas supervisor : PIT BOSS. A casino pit is an area of a casino which typically contains tables for Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, and other games. The PIT BOSS is the person who looks after the employees who work in the pit.
42. Nonmetaphorical : LITERAL. For real, dude.
44. It lengthens toward evening : SHADOW
45. O.T. book before Job : ESTH. Esther.
46. Revealed : BARED
47. Minimal haircuts : TRIMS. I am due for my annual "trim".
48. "¿Cómo está __?" : USTED. How are you?
49. Crimson Tide, to fans : 'BAMA. The University of Alabama.
51. "Star Wars" princess : LEIA
52. Lord's mate : LADY
53. Absorbed, as costs : ATE
56. Bath bathroom : LOO. Bath the spa town in England.
57. Flub the shot, say : ERR
Here is a wonderful picture of Jazzbumpa (Ron) standing outside Jazz Showcase on May 5, 2011, the day when his Schoolcraft Jazz Band opened for Harold Mabern, a "a very cool guy who cannot read music". They also performed "Blues for Nate", a special piece Ron wrote for his grandson Nate, who was born blue and had to go through an open heart surgery when he was only one week old. Ron said "He'll be 9 in August, and he's doing great".
Argyle
69 comments:
Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - definitely a no muss, no fuss speed run today, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.
'All-nighter' on top of 'Viagra' had me smiling right from the start, as did the 'Mali'/'Bali' crossing 'All bark' in the first two theme answers certainly helped with the rest of the theme. 'Havoc' is a word that's almost always paired with 'wreak', but I hear a lot of people say 'wreck havoc'. And I thought 'Ark-itect' and 'Bath bathroom' were clever clues, especially for a Monday.
Argyle, good blog, but you've gotten my curiosity up; once I get back from the gym, I've got to find the story behind the Magic 8 Ball.
The Boca bug has bitten - managed to get the last bedroom on this Friday's AutoTrain. And you Florida guys, I promise I won't bring cold weather this time if you'll promise to lose the rain.
JD, great to see you back -- gonna have pictures?
Today is Love a Tree Day and National Sea Monkey Day.
Did You Know?:
- Unlike vinyl records, a CD begins playing near the center and spirals outward towards the edge.
Morning, all!
Pretty fast solve today, but not quite a speed run for me. I had trouble getting traction in the NW to start, but blew through the rest of the puzzle (only stumbling a bit when I initially put in FOR SURE instead of NO DOUBT at 36A).
When I returned to the NW corner at the end, I was able to confidently put in the BED and BALI that had eluded me earlier. Unfortunately, I also confidently put in CALI and CAV for 13A/D, which kept me from getting the "TADA!" at the end until I fixed it. Yes, I know that CALI is in Columbia and is nowhere near Algeria, but it is Monday morning...
Good Morning, Argyle and Friends. I loved, loved, loved today's puzzle. Funny theme and all the fun double word answers, like CROP CIRCLE, PIT BOSS and OFF-RAMP.
I though of you, Argyle, as I filled in OP-ED, since you had recently given us an explanation of its meaning.
I loved the crossing of BALI and MALI.
My favorite clue was Ark-itect? = NOAH.
Nice photos of you and your grandson, JazzB.
QOD: An onion can make people cry, but there has never been a vegetable invented to make them laugh. ~ Will Rogers
Morning Argyle, CC and All,
Great way to start a rainy week. Jeff did a fine job with the theme and cluing for a Monday difficulty level. All Nighter flew right in there and everything else filled from top to bottom.
No Doubt is a wicked Mainah term used for any type of confirmation, which I use often. My kids have been teasing me lately saying "Yes Deah!" when I tell them to do something. Oh well....at least they're listening.
Great write up Argyle.
Have a great Monday.
Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.
Thanks for the write-up Argyle. Your link at 14A put some glitter on this dreary Monday morning in the Northeast.
Jeff Chen’s Monday-Tuesday puzzles always seem to have really clean fill and tight themes. I must admit, I was looking at the wrong end of this puppy at first. But as the theme entries emerged, I started looking at both ends, and got ALL BARK…and “voila!!”, it all came together.
Had to laugh when I saw OP-ED, as we had quite a discussion on Friday about the DESK answer that was clued as “Newspaper section “.
Ha Ha Barry, I had the same glitch as you did with “MAV-cav. If it’s not golf or football, I am lost. So I liked seeing BAMA in there.
Speaking of sports, did anyone see K.J. Choi win the Players yesterday? Great stuff. (And KJCHOI is such great scrabble-y crossword fill: hmmm!)
Have a nice start to the week, everyone.
Good Morning C.C., Argyle and all,
Argyle , thanks for write-up and for piquing my interest in the magic eight ball.
Jeff, great Monday treat; but I committed the cali/cav goof; apparently my head won’t retain certain info. Boo. Your puzzle was not an IDLE THREAT for a Monday, but it had some super fill, which I always enjoy. Love seeing how you flesh out a Monday puzzle and make it special.
Great to see Jazz looking so jazzy and Nate so healthy and cute after the ordeal he had to go through. Thanks for sharing.
I’m hoping you tell your story Argyle. I’m headed for Dogpile.
Have a nice day everyone.
I also loved Jeff's offering today. Nice ans easy, loved the two word answers, and where sports knowledge failed me, the perps didn't.
Fave was ark-itect, flew past LOO and err not even noticing them until I was here. MOORE and SWORD had taken care of them. My only slip was wanting ITTY for ITSY, until it had to be SNO.
Also paused at MALI--I've only ever memorized the M-A-T sequence across the north of Africa: Morocco-Algeria-Tunisia for the three with French influence.
C.C.,
Great to see your effort yesterday, but on weekends, I usually have no time to do/comment on the CW. I often do Sunday's when it appears in our Wednesday paper.
Have a great Monday!
Kudos to Jeff, as always a wonderful puzzle, filled with wit; and Argyle ready to make all the Monday fill sparkle in his write up.
Big D is Dallas, which will play Oklahoma for the Western Conference crown, so the clue was timely. My learning was ARCO for bow, which I must blame on my son who played Violin, as he neveer mentioned the word.
JzB you look inspirational, and we are all so happy for your Nate.
The weather is perfect here, but we are sneaking up on the rainy season. Have a great week all
Hello Puzzlers - Full speed ahead today. Just right for a rainy Monday.
Now Hearti, don't go building a puzzle just so you can get K J Choi into it, I'll never remember that name! Darn sports clues. :-)
Dennis - I too have noticed people saying "wreck havoc" lately. Grrr!
From last night: Li'l Abner was before my time, and I get the feeling I missed out. We had a thoroughly eccentric neighbor who was called, appropriately, Big Barnsmell. Never knew where it came from.
Good Morning al! This one was a fun one. I agree with Dennis, the Viagra/all nighter crossing was a hoot and had me smiling over my coffee.
Also, like Dennis, I've heard the "wreck vs wreak" mistake. Years ago, a good friend and I started the "moron list". We put words on it that people mispronounce. Amphitheater is my personal favorite followed closely by moot. The list grows longer by the day!
It looks like more rain for us this week. That means that I'll finally have to clean out and organize my closet! The shoes are taking over all available space. Just call me "Emelda".
Onward and upward, or maybe foot-ward? Peace!
Just checked around for other uses of "wreak"...it doesn't appear to be an especially versatile verb. The only reasonable phrase I saw was "wreak vengeance". I wonder if one can wreak orderliness - would that be like waging peace?
Sorta related: a favorite phrase of mine is "They're staying home in droves!"
Forgot to mention JazzB's pic - I had emailed and got the skinny on the blues piece he created. Very inspirational ! Thanks for sharing at the corner.
Good morning Argyle, CC, et al., Loved this puzzle. 'FAVE was the NW corner...bed, all nighter, viagra..had to laugh at Gabriel following Viagra and thinking of him blowing his horn. His timing might be predicted by the magic eight ball...speaking of which, I sank the magic eight ball on break Sat and won...now that was truly pure magic!
Excellent job, Argyle, as usual. I am curious about the history of the 8 ball too. Will check it out soon.
Jazz; great pictures. Your Nate is adorable. So glad he's doing well.
Enjoy your day.
Speaking of Jazz's Nate and "blue babies", it's amazing what is now possible for such children, which wasn't even thought of a century ago. An older sister of my mother's was born a blue baby in 1896, and the doctors told the parents she wouldn't survive to be 21. She didn't, dying just short of that birthday. Mom, born in 1906, said she was always short of breath and had to move very slowly her whole life.
We are so lucky to be born when we were, to see all the miracles that are now possible.
Top of the morning, Monday peeps. thanks for the great write up, Argyle. Jeff started the week just right.
Once again, Barry and I were on the same wavelength, with 'for sure' instead of NO DOUBT, and an initial failure to gain traction in the NW. I made the 'Big D =Dallas=Mavs connection, though, so avoided any mistakes in that area.
Dennis, I hope you have a good trip to Boca, but we won't complain if you drag a little rain along with you. We need it.
The shuttle is up and away and looking great.
What, Argyle no links or comments on Viagra? Good that Dennis did not disappoint. Great Monday puzzle. Clever but so doable.
Finally getting some more seasonal weather here. Minnesota has been so depressing this spring, including the Twins.
Mom speaks out, 'moot' is a great one - someone'll say, "Well, it's a mute point", so I just shut up.
Lois, never caught the Gabriel connection; well done.
Lemonade, sneak slower, please.
Good MOening, folks. Thanks, Jeff. Great jon. Thank you Argyle, great job too.
Zipped right through this on the bus. No write-overs (for a change).
Enjoyed Hamilton vs Burr/DUEL. Ah, for the good old days!
DINGBAT was great. All in the Family is my all-time favorite show. The Honeymooners runs a close second.
We have an electronic fence. When our dog's collar is activated, she barks. Kind of the opposite of the BARKCOLLAR in this puzzle.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Hi There ~!
Not quite a speed run today, and that's good for me. I got caught up in the SE with SABRE and SET instead of SWORD and LAY - and that ties into the NW, with it's innuendo.
I managed a rock club that had a good band that drank way too much, and their third set was usually a rough one; they were REEKING HAVOC - what can I tell you...
Splynter
Karen, I knew Viagra would draw comments without my help. I resisted the temptation to ask if this had these.
Hi gang -
Holy hotwick, if I may borrow a phrase, what a DF puzzle!
A VIAGRA ALL-NIGHTER under the BED? Is that where HERRs and LORDs CAROUSE and mate? Perhaps with a TART. Certainly not with a LADY or his FAVE FRAU?
(Before I married the Polish LADY, all you could do under my bed was BITE THE DUST!)
As an exercise for the interested reader, I suggest thrusting VIAGRA into the SE corner to see what you can come up with. This is no IDLE THREAT.
BALI-MALI HAGAR-HAVOC NOAH-LOAN-DOE
BAMA-BARBARA-BARED LEIA-LAY-EIGHT-ATE-AIDE. What fun!
All that, and PRAIRIE DOG CROP CIRCLES, too.
Cheers!
JzB who should not be this amused on a Monday
I never realized how many varieties of blue baby syndromes there are. Lots of info at Wikipedia. Nate's condition was terminal, in short order. He wouldn't have lived more than a few short hours without radical intervention. So - yes - modern miracles indeed.
Babies in the womb have an opening between the ventricles that closes around the time of birth. Nate was several days late in arriving (Who can blame him?) so his was completely closed. The radical procedure that stabilized him involved inserting some device through the umbilical cord into his heart and reopening a hole between the ventricle. This allows enough oxygenated blood to circulate in a tiny person. It was far more dangerous that the big surgery that followed a week later.
The corrective surgery was pretty simple in his case - just reverse the arteries. There are much more complicated variations that require multiple surgeries. This technology has been availble for about 30 years.
We were very lucky, indeed.
Thanks for your kind thoughts and words.
JzB a very blessed Bumpa
This wasn't a speed run for me. I even started off badly with SPA instead of BED. I abbreviated Esther as ESTR instead of ESTH. Still, it was all good when I got finished.
More noise on my street today. Somebody is having tree work done so I'm hearing a chain saw. It will be worse when the chipper starts up.
Here's a fun video of an unusual pair of playmates and friends; a barn owl and a black cat.
Dennis: LOL Gabriel and I are kindred spirits (always coming and blowing) except my halo is uh.. tilted. Still effective tho'. Have a safe trip to BR, Fl. Are you moving there?
Argyle: LMAO at your Sno Balls.
Jazz: 10:41 cute!
I'm going to go hug a tree and play w/some sea monkeys.
OOPS...and great blog Argyle. :o)
Hi all - NO DOUBT this was a great Monday offering - thanks Jeff!
I misread 58A as TV DINNER instead of DINER and that caused all kind of crazy thoughts :)
What's the story on the Magic 8 ball? I check Google but didn't see any story, just the explanation of what the answers are inside the ball...there were lots of things to click on though.
Argyle (10:41) good thing I was finished with my coffee my laptop would be 'wearing' it.
Jazz: Nice picture of you and of your grandson Nate...so glad he is well!
Bill G: (10:59) Loved that clip!!!
Mom Speaks Out: your Moron list is a good idea, I have a few pet peeves too: IRREGARDLESS is toward the top.
Dennis:
I think you're the only person to pick up on the ALL-NIGHTER sitting atop VIAGRA. I specifically had to use a cheater square in the NW corner to get those to cross smoothly with DINGBAT.
Tee hee. Glad someone was tickled by it!
Jeff
OMG - Poor Edith - Just the thought of Archie using Viagra....
Morning pals,
Jeff, thank you for the perfect Monday puzzle! Loved it; and Argyle loved your writeup, as usual. The Ella bonus was great. What a voice!
Great pix, JazzB. Nate is a cutie; my type of kid. The miracles that happen in the neonatal unit!
MSO, I can't even imagine what 'havoc' could be wreaked on 'amphitheater'!
Marti, seeing KJCHOI made me want to say 'gesundheit'. (why can't I get spellchk?)
Carpe Diem, folks!
Argyle:
I hardly think it would matter......
Thanks Jeff for a very nice Monday puzzle. I thought the theme was clever and the cluing refreshing. I liked how “pit boss” crossed with “bit the dust” and “trims” with “sword”; also “lay” crossing “lady”. Isn’t Viagra an aide to lay a lady?
Abejo, I am glad you enjoyed the dip. Vadalia onions are my favorite however they are short lived around here.
Dennis, you are picking an odd time to go to Boca, it’s finally turning nice around here. It’s supposed to be sunny and in the 70’s all week. Now, that’s my favorite kind of weather!
Argyle, he'd have been saying "Stifle!" a lot, I'd imagine.
Jeannie, yeah, but it's even hotter down there, and I can finally get to wear my new thong.
(Dozens of people just threw up in their mouth.)
Lois, not moving yet, but we've got a realtor lined up to do some neighborhood shopping.
Thank you Jeff Chen for a very nice puzzle and very kind and generous of you to stop in. Argyle, thank you for your fascinating commentary - all in all - a wonderful Monday morning.
Have a great day you'all
P.S. For those who may be casually interested in pediatric heart surgery, especially Blue babies -
1. Non-fiction book - Walk on Water, or --- ... by Michael Ruhlman, Viking Press, 2003 -on, among others, Dr. Roger Mee, Pediatric Cardiothoracic surgeon, Cleveland Clinic.
2. Expert and pioneer on Blue baby syndrome, Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt - Helen Taussig, first full prof., John Hopkins, (she was severely dyslexic, later profoundly deaf - ). Try Wiki first.
Oops, that should be, (one of the - ) first FEMALE full professor(s), Johns Hopkins.
My wife is a ped. anesthes., and has served, 25 yrs +. Today, she had the morning off. At an early breakfast, as I was doing the xwords, this morning, on a whim, I quizzed her on one of the clues,
19.A. - Bayer:Levitra::Pfizer:----.,
She's pretty good at Jumble, but not much into crosswords. Well, she hemmed and hawed, but she couldn't think of the answer - which had been my immediate first guess !! So, I had to finally give it to her. (She said it was on the tip of her tongue ... )
I'll admit, she's not into internal medicine, but still, this tells you how innately and radically different a male and female mind works.( I probably have no idea on douche-bags or hair removers....)
Mars and Venus, you sound like you would fit in well around here.
I probably have no idea on douche-bags
Mars and Venus, hang around this blog a while with some of the anons we get, and you'll quickly learn.
Hi all,
This was a fun puzzle and not too hard. Bed was an easy beginning,op-ed only came with the perps,and like Kazie, the Sunday puzzle doesn't come until Wednesday.
JazzB-great pictures of you and your handsome son. Our daughter had a bowel obstruction at age 8 Mo. and had to have several surgerys. When she was 15 Mo. she had 7 inches of her colon removed. She was a very good baby and came through it well. She is married and has two children and a grandson.
When I lived in New Mexico we always watched for the quaking Aspens to turn yellow in the fall and then take a ride up the mountains. Beautiful.
Have a good evening all.
Marge
There is NO DOUBT of the mini-theme: Just A Girl
ELLA Fitzgerald
Edith DINGBAT Bunker
FRAU
BARBARA
Mary Tyler MOORE
ESTHer
STELLA
LEIA
LADY
and, oh yeah...TART
Mars:
An excellent place for it.
Hi All ~~
A fun puzzle and even more amusing mini-themes established here, as I thought there might be! My only hesitation starting out was at 5D. In a recent puzzle I needed "AAH" for 'spa sound' so I had to wait for perps in this one to get "AHH" for 'sound at a sauna.' I guess both are correct.
This was a good way to start a gray, cool, dreary, rainy Monday. The forecaster promises us the same for the whole week. BTW ... where is my fellow Nutmegger 'TheHondoHurricane?' Haven't seen him lately. Of course it's possible he went away for a while and I forgot.
Enjoy the evening ~~
Hola Everyone, A puzzle with no lookups is always an ego booster. I did have one misspelling--Hagor for Hagar so the NW corner was the last to fall.
My favorites, also, were Ark-itect
Hangover locales, and Bath bathroom. These seemed to be the favorites of several other Corner bloggers also.
Arco was a new term for me, but the perps filled that in nicely.
The news to me is the way a CD plays from the center toward the edge. Who knew?
Argyle thanks for the great writeup today and Jeff Chen, thanks for stopping by. It is always great to hear from our constuctors.
Jeff -
C'mon man, you had to know Dennis wouldn't be the ONLY one . . .
Lot's of tickling here.
At the other end of my family, today is my mom's birthday. She and her twin sister are 90. Mom's the healthier of the two. Her sis had a by-pass recently, and got to go home today. What a birthday present!
Just talked to mom - a little tricky, since she doesn't hear well on the phone - but she's doing well.
Cheers!
JzB who spied a trombone in that "just a girl" vid
Irregardless is already on the list. Whenever we add a new word, the laughter is enough to laugh up a lung!
L'Oreal make-up had an ad on TV a while back that had their new mascara highlighted. The voice-over kept saying that the wand was "spearicle". I e-mailed the company and asked why any woman would buy mascara that had a spear with which to apply the stuff. The word was spherical, but the idiot announcer was totally messing it up and no one caught it.
I love e-mailing that kind of thing. My husband says that I have too much time n my hands. He's full of it.
Mom: Here's another one for your "Moron List." An employee from the fiscal division in an unnamed state agency would answer the phone with, "Hello, Physical Department." And she worked with the state's budget!
Did you ever wake up at 2:00 a.m. in the morning and realize you need to see a Notary Republic?
Anyway, here's the birthday girl.
Cheers!
JzB
I have to think that this conversation about mispronunciations and other cardinal abuses of the language is all Jeannie's fault.
After all, she brought up "Wallah" the other day. But in her defense, I usually say "Walleye" when I'm using that phrase, just to drive home the cheap humor value. So I guess her version is quite a lot better.:-)
As you can see, it doesn't take much to amuse me.
JazzB: You mean I am not a Notary Republic? And all this time ... BTW, nice photo of the Birthday Girl and her great-grandchildren. Give her a big birthday wish from the gang here.
I also know someone who, if someone else is choking, asks if she should perform the Heimlich Remover.
Joe:
You have come to the right place.
Hello everybody. JazzBumpa, as you said, you are blessed. I admire you a lot.
The puzzle today was Monday-easy, and fun to do. Some fun clues and neat-o fill. Nicely enjoyable.
Haha, HeartRx, you would look at KJCHOI in that light.
Gonna go love a tree. Best wishes to you all.
Good evening everyone. Late today; did some church volunteering to get out the newsletter.
I love Mondays because I can get them, even if I don't start until 5:30 PM. I thought the theme was clever, which I didn't catch until it was pointed out in 55A.
Argyle, great write up as always. I especially like the map showing Mali. I don't truly know much geography.
Great pix, Jazz. Thanks for sending them on. What a story
about Nate! He looks good now.
Cheers
Apropos of today's Viagra answer, what's a man's ultimate embarrassment?
Answer soon.
Also, just received this one:
A 3-year-old boy examined his testicles while taking a bath. 'Mom', he asked, 'Are these my brains?'
'Not yet,' she replied.
One more for the Moron List; those who say REAL-IT-TER for REALTOR. Arrrghhh!
Mom: I sent an e-mail to a mattress company a few months ago...it didn't due any good, of course but I felt better. Their slogan was "if we can't beat the price on any comparable mattress then the mattress is free"....well, I asked them if I found another store selling 'x' brand for $600, you would tell me you couldn't take $550 for it and the GIVE IT to me!??? Geez, who thought that ad campaign up???
ooops, that should be 'DO' not DUE.
Dennis, good one.
Back from loving a tree. Man oh man, it was rough!
Guess I'll go find a sea monkey now.
Jayce, thanks -- and the answer to what a man's most embarrassing moment is? Running into a wall with an erection, and breaking your nose.
Dennis(or anyone else): In the same vein, have you ever heard of a dicky do?
I believe it's when your stomach sticks out further than your dicky do.
Right on.
Just so I get my money's worth from this post...
Here is another musical link apropos of today's theme: BITE THE DUST
Good evening all.
Jeff, great puzzle. As was said earlier: clean fill and tight theme. Fun to solve.
Re: Moron list. While not a mispronunciation, per se, it is a misuse:
knots per hour; used as velocity.
Knots is velocity (Nautical miles per hour). Our local weather guesser used it the other day to describe wind speed. Reminds me of fingernails rubbing across a chalk board.
Dennis, Seen and Jayce: LMAO at your 'dickie' comments.
Jayce, re your tree experience, you are really branching out!
What the *&^# is a sea monkey....do you spank it, slap it or give it an air hose???
Is this a puzzle blog or a junior high locker room?
anon, it's whatever we want it to be, within C.C.'s guidelines. No one's forcing you to read it.
hey anon...thanks for promoting me a grade!
Sounds like someone could use a little sphincter relaxer.
I finally got to Jeff's puzzle today, and I am awestruck at how much great stuff is in there. Nice touches on even the short word answers, like "Big D hoopster" for MAV, "Bath bathroom" for LOO, "Ark-itect?" for NOAH. Wonderful theme, capsulized with a punny unifier. A real treat for a Monday.
To dodo from yesterday: my last name is pronounced like the opera, Pagliacci. So the second G is silent, so to speak, although that is not technically correct. The GLIA is a diphthong, and the syllable is derived from LEO, as in lion, and connotes strength. That is what my father told me, anyway.
Don and Jeff, so good to see both of you today! Jeff- love the clean fill with tight themes, although "clean" hardly describes today's blog...Don G, however you pronounce it, I love the puzzles that your name brings, even if its pronunciation is a "mute" point"....
It really is great to have two of my all time favorite constructors drop in, Jeff and his sly slightly salacious wit and Don G. and his incredible visual, verbal creations. A little bit of blog heaven, not to be confused with hig heaven.
Lemonade, I love seeing your pix with your boys! Or was the one on the right not one of them? I thought they both had dark hair. Anyway, you must have a great relationship, all of you! Why is he pushing you in your tummy? Oh, and you have pretty cute babies in your family, too!
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