google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, June 6, 2011, Jack McInturff

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Jun 6, 2011

Monday, June 6, 2011, Jack McInturff

Theme: Stop stuttering and spit it out! Each of the four theme answers are combined with a double version of the three letters which begin the answer. To introduce this puzzle, I want you to listen to this SONG. Happy Mon Mon Monday all, Lemonade stepping in for Argyle to kick off your week. Too bad it is not 2006, then the puzzle would be 06-06-06. Let us see how a Monday feels;

17A. Mechanic's excessively affected gadget box?: TOO TOO TOOLCHEST. Gadget box? I was puzzled, but got the theme for certain with the next one.

26A. Fashionable farm nestling?: CHI CHI CHICK. CHICHI is actually one word, but nestling I knew and worked backwards.

47A. Dance contest winner?: CHA CHA CHAMP. Time to SHAKE.

61A. High-kicking dancer at an audition?: CAN CAN CANDIDATE. I guess we really are the Dancing with the Stars generation, I hope you get a KICK out of this link. Okay, now to a really fun bunch of clues, with a lot going on for a Monday.

Across:

1. "Gone With the Wind" plantation: TARA. Frankly, I don't give a damn.

5. Interactive Facebook feature: WALL. I do facebook so I can see pictures of my kids, but I have reconnected to some old friends.

9. Prefix with sonic or violet: ULTRA. And violence too, if you like Kubrick.

14. Press, as pants: IRON. Why not shirts? I hate ironing shirts!

15. Most fit to serve: ONE-A. Draft status, military service.

16. Sodas for Radar O'Reilly: NEHIS. They have to be Grape for Radar.

20. Ready to be drawn from a keg: ON TAP. Oh, goody a beer reference.

21. First Japanese golfer to win a PGA Tour event: ISAO AOKI. Nice to see his entire name, with all those vowels; I will never forget how he tilted his putter. No comments Lois, Carol.

22. Rajah's wife: RANI.

25. Damaged, as mdse.: IRR. Irregular.

31. Gallantry-in-combat mil. award: DSC. Distinguished Service Cross.

34. Dryer screen target: LINT. Yes, mother it is really lint and can be thrown away.

35. Collaborating group: TEAM. There is no I in team, but one in collaborating.

36. Blacksmith, at times: SHOER. I am sure you all found this easy and nailed it.

38. "The King __" : AND I. I had the pleasure of seeing Yul Brynner perform the part on Broadway, as well as shaving his head as he drove into the city. Sadly, he smoked and died of lung cancer.

39. Take everything off: STRIP. Okay, I saw that show too, but not on Browadway.

41. Letters on a cross: INRI. Iesus Nazerenus Rex Iudeaorem. No J in Latin, so this Jesus, King of the Jews.

42. City near Syracuse: UTICA. It is in between Syracuse and Schenectady.

44. Blade's sharp side: EDGE.

45. Wildebeests: GNUS. You all knew this right?

46. Govt. ID issuer: SSA. Social Security Administration.

50. Revival prefix: NEO. Latin for new.

51. Easy gait: TROT. If the horse is well shod.

52. "They'll ambush you if you go in there!": IT'S A TRAP. I love this clearly complicated clue. A Dan Naddor type of multi-word fill.

57. Agreed (with): SIDED. From debate, where you picked one side of the aisle or the other.

64. Reveal impulsively: BLURT. As in "it out."

65. Cafeteria carrier: TRAY. Are there many left, Morrison's, Picadilly?

66. Tar Heel State university: ELON. This NC college was the alma mater of our senior partner who died last year. It also is crosswordese.

67. Fibber of old radio: MCGEE. Don't forget Molly and the closet. We did not have a TV until was 7, so I listened to many radio plays.

68. Terrier variety: SKYE. Named for the island in the North Sea.

69. Emailed or faxed: SENT. I have a friend who does not email, so I get lots of faxes.

Down:

1. Former Yugoslav leader: TITO. Like Spain's Franco, he is still dead.

2. Presley's middle name: ARON. Too bad they could not spell.

3. Cheer (for): ROOT.

4. South Pole continent, with "the": ANTARCTIC. One of two continents with Australia which was the Final Jeopardy answer last week.

5. Seek as a spouse: WOO.

6. Tiny hill crawler: ANT. Oops there goes another rubber tree.

7. Sainted fifth-century pope: LEO I. A very influential LEADER .

8. Cambodia neighbor: LAOS.

9. Opens, as wine: UNCORKS. Good, this balanced the earlier beer reference.

10. "The Merry Widow" composer: LEHAR. The opera by FRANZ

11. "The Cosby Show" boy: THEO. malcolm jamal warner.

12. Insurer's exposure: RISK. So simple, it fooled me for a second.

13. Italian wine city: ASTI. Spumante to you.

18. Colorful fish: OPAH. Do you think it is PRETTY.

19. Of the flock: LAIC. As opposed to cleric.

23. "Picked" complaints: NITS. My favorite clue of all, especially having had my nit picked by many anons.

24. Summer drink: ICE TEA. I know you want ICED, sue them.

26. Santa __: CLAUS. Our special Argyle shout out for Monday, that I am usurping.

27. Clues: HINTS. Sometimes, that is all they are a hint.

28. Taj Mahal home: INDIA.

29. Cola's first consonant: HARD C. Not to be confused with HARD G., coming to a theater or puzzle near you.

30. "Put me down as a maybe": I MIGHT. I might not.

31. Designer Karan: DONNA. DKNY.

32. Inoculated fluid: SERUM. This is a Latin word that refers to the "whey", the watery liquid that separates from the curds in the process of cheese making.

33. Like well-cooked bacon: CRISP. How many like it really crisp?

37. Times when sand castles are destroyed: HIGH TIDES. Another great fill.

40. Tree fruit: PEAR. Home to partridges.

43. Film material: ACETATE. Actually, it is Cellulose acetate.

48. Traffic jam honker: HORN. In Florida it is against the law unless it is an emergency. Nobody pays attention to the law.

49. Mozart's "__ fan tutte": COSI. Thus do they all; Mozart's take on women.

50. Mother-of-pearl: NACRE.

52. Long-range warhead carrier, briefly: ICBM. Another acronym, InterContinental Ballistic Missile.

53. Soft mineral: TALC. Talcum powder anyone?

54. Like a bug in a rug: SNUG. My mother used to say that when she ticked me in.

55. Play divisions: ACTS.

56. Amusement __: PARK. Did you know the Ferris Wheel was invented specifically for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, to out do the Eiffel Tower?

58. Carnegie or Evans: DALE. Don't forget Chip's buddy either.

59. Thames school: ETON. ELON, we love these schools.

60. Fender damage: DENT. Ding, ah well.

62. Rejecting vote: NAY.

63. Blonde's secret, maybe : DYE. Seldom a secret, but my exit line. My first Monday, and one I really enjoyed, now to try and keep from being confused about the day of the week. Argyle is fine, but his computer is not so bear with us as we soldier on. A different experience, enjoy the week.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Note from C.C.:

Here are three pictures of JD's grandsons. Click on each one for enlargement. They'll brighten your morning.

104 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Lemonade, C.C. and gang - even though this turned into a speed run, I enjoyed it because of the cluing and the fun theme. It was one of those puzzles where you could answer the clues without seeing the grid.

I just remembered I'm supposed to be at the gym earlier today, so more later.

Today is National Gardening Exercise Day (Lois, don't get any ideas) as well as National Yo-Yo Day (and don't we all know a few?). It's also the 67th Anniversary of D-Day.

Did You Know?:

- Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Typical Monday fare for me. I struggled a bit with the first theme answer, partially because I'm not really familiar with TOO TOO as an expression meaning "excessively affected" and partially because I always call it a TOOL box and not a TOOL CHEST. Like Lemonade, though, once I got past that one the rest came very quickly.

I had WATCH OUT briefly for 52A, but then I remembered IT'S A TRAP...

FYI, I'll be traveling on business the next couple of days and probably won't be able to check in.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Fun puzzle and amusing write-up. I caught on to the theme early. It made me laugh.

Picadilly's is still going strong in Louisiana, although I haven't been to one in years.

Since Santa CLAUS appeared in today's puzzle, it's TOO TOO bad that Argyle couldn't comment. We're all ROOTing for him to get his computer back in working order.

Stay cool, everyone. We have had record temperatures of over 100F here for the past several days.

QOD: There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all. ~ Jackie Kennedy

Hahtoolah said...

JD: I forgot to comment on your adorable grandsons! Thanks for sharing the photos.

MR ED said...

BEATIFUL! BEAUTIFUL!
of course i'm referring to those lovely grandchildren of JD. I'm sure they bring you much pleasure.
God bless them.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.

Thanks for the entertaining write-up, Lemon. I loved how you kicked it off with too-too-tootsie! I wonder if that was the inspiration for this puzzle?

Fun speed run for a Monday, and I didn’t even see several clues/answers until I came here. I liked seeing ISAO AOKI’s full name in the grid. Favorite answer was IT’S A TRAP.

Everything else was pretty straightforward, with a few crosswordese words thrown in. But overall, an enjoyable experience.

JD, those children are so cute – they must be a real handful!

Have a great day, everyone.

Jacel said...

Very easy puzzle even for me. It was a fun run. I was able to get to the theme after the first clue. So I tried repetition with the second theme answer & it worked.

Dennis, thanks for the information on the tongue.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - Seems to be a nicely crafted Monday puzzle to me. The only speed bump was thrown in there by that guy LEHAR who preferred to keep his identity a secret.

Nice work Lemonade, and yes, I was aware of the Ferris wheel, because its invention is described in the book "Empires of Light" by Jill Jonnes. The book is all about the early days of electric power, and the brightly-lit Chicago World's Fair is featured. I recommend it.

Tinbeni said...

Lemon; Nice pitch-hitting for our Santa CLAUS, Argyle.

Easy, breezy, FUN Monday.

Cannot remember when, in crosswords, the Taj Mahal home, INDIA, wasn't a clue for Agra.

Dick said...

Good morning Lemon and all, a very interesting puzzle this morning. It was a speed run for me also, but it held my interest throughout the puzzle. I got the first theme easily and the rest was cake. Always have trouble remembering how to spell Isao Aoki, but being a golf fan I know who he is.

Favorite answer 52a it’s a trap.

Lemon, I always enjoy your write up, keep up the good work.

JD love the kids.

Have a great Monday.

creature said...

Good Morning C.C., Lemon and all,

Nice pinch hit, Lemon, on a fun Monday puzzle. Any comment less than that would be nit-picking.

My fav clue and answer-23D.

Lots of personality revealed in this puzzle. Have you ever noticed how we begin to try to analyze the constructors.?
What was going on with that CHICK/ CHAMP? OK, not a perfect analogy.

Snoleopardess, welcome!

Barry G, we’ll miss you. Take care.

JD, Those darling babies are sooo lucky to have you.!

Jacel, Thank you for keeping us posted on your son. Glad he’s tolerating the treatments.

Argyle, Tho’ Lemon did a fine job, I miss our wonderful weekly meetings on MON and TUE. So sorry you are having computer problems. It’s just not fair.

Have a nice day everyone.

Grumpy 1 said...

Happy Monday, C.C., and our pinch hitter, Lemonade. Oh, Tinbeni is our 'Pinch' hitter, isn't he?

Fun puzzle. I caught on to the theme when TOO showed up three times in a row. I just GNU, GNU there would be repitition in the other theme entries.

My grandfather was the village blacksmith. SHOER was a shoo in (especially since we've seen it before. He was also the school board president, justice of the peace and a farmer to boot. Somehow he managed to find time to raise two sons and four daughters.

Maybe the tongue being attached at only one end is what makes it so difficult to control.

Was ready to fill in 'Agra' until I saw I needed a five letter answer. A year ago, I would have been trying to fit India into four spaces.

If bacon isn't CRISP, it isn't bacon! None of that limp wimpy stuff for me.

Abejo said...

Good Morning, folks. Thank you Jack M. for a great Monday puzzle. Thank you Lemonade for subbing for Argyle and the nice write-up. We miss you, Argyle, hurry back.

Enjoyed this puzzle. Zipped right through it on the bus. The theme helped.

Tinbeni: I agree with you. I wanted AGRA at first. INDIA appeared later.

Enjoyed ETON and ELON crossing. Both notable schools and both crossword staples.

How about B-B-Beautiful Katie, Lemonade?

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Jay Green said...

Loved the theme, but as usual names killed me: Isao Aoki and Lehar. Always have to look those up.

One important criticism for the editor: Maybe on the west coast people aren't so sensitive and PC, but here in the southeast you never refer to an African american as "boy" (11 down). It's either young man or male child. I'm not a prude, but I was shocked to see the clue. We have a little history that makes it touchy.

creature said...

Grumpy,

I'm with you on the bacon!

Out of control or tongue-tied, it's safe to say, 'no wagging' unless your a xword daredevil.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Nice commentary, Lemonade.

Snoleopardess; welcome aboard.

Not much to comment on. Easy puzzle, Slight holdup in the south central, but working backwards from CANDIDATE took care of it. Wasn't sure of ISAO AOKI spelling but ample perps made it easy. UTICA is a gimme; located ½ mile outside my window as I write this. Remembered HARD C from an earlier puzzle. Favorite words: ACETATE and UNCORKS.

Today is anniversary of D-Day.

Have a great day.

creature said...

Jay Green,

I consider myself as southern and my family history is such.

You must consider the context!
In fact, I am an extreme liberal on this subject and I consider your post to be NOT PC.

I am offended. It appears you have gone out of your way to make a 'slur' remark.

Its hard to believe that your impetus for joining us was to remark on this matter, in good faith, or the proper names that you couln't get with perps.

The word for male child in all parts of this country is boy, and your remark is insincere.

Anonymous said...

Great puzzle today. I have wondered why Floridians don't honk their horns. After I saw your comment, I said well that explains it. I then searched the web and could not find anything to back it up.

Spitzboov said...

Jay Green: I'm with Creature on your comment. Take a look at That My Boy?. Dr. Huxtable refers to Theo as his boy. I, too, am getting tired of the self appointed pc'tors trying to hijack my language, when they have no basis in fact. When I filled in 11d, what you said was the furthest from my mind.

Grumpy 1 said...

What a bunch of PC crap to say that the word 'boy' was not proper in this clue! Ever heard of "Boy Bands"? or "Boyz in da Hood"? What ethnic background is very prominent in those groups?

I'll agree that one should never directly address a black child as boy, in a condescending manner, when his name or 'young man' could be used. But to say that saying something like "See that young boy over there? That's Thelma's son." is insensitive is, to me, a racist attitude, because it means we have to apply different rules to different races.

I'm stepping down from my soapbox now.

Tinbeni said...

Well I'm getting on the soapbox.

Lemon: Where is the court located to file suit over the great debate of the day.
I'm referring to:
ICE TEA -v- iceD tea

This has been debated at least 20 times in the past.

Husker Gary said...

We are baaaaacccckkk from Central Florida and I’ll offer some musings about that trip later. I finished Sunday’s 100% yesterday but did not blog as we got word that my good friend and colleague lost her 23 year old son to pneumonia and some phantom infection and we spent the bulk of last night with her. What can be worse than losing a child?

Musings
-10 days without golf and so will read other postings later
-Fun puzzle and clever theme
-Did not know the I to start golfers name but figured there were not Pope LEON’s.
-Women in Arab world need to stand up to autocrats like Anna did in King and I
-The old Bishop’s Cafeteria in Omaha was a pleasant memory of my childhood. It cost $.02 for a cloth napkin and butter was $.02/pat
-I thought WOOing was what you did after the seeking had ended
-Learned LEHAR 3 weeks ago here
-I want my bacon hard enough to drive nails!
-We went to all 4 of the Disney Amusement Parks last week!
-Lovely kids JD!!
-Fore!

kazie said...

JD,
Great photos. I loved the story about the tickling one.

Speed run for me today with the only unknowns easily perped. I wasn't sure of AOKI's last name, didn't know of DONNA--way out of my budget, or even imagination, ELON and MCGEE.

The theme fell fast, and I didn't even look at the CHA CHA clue until after I filled it in.

lemondae, I liked the music and dance links today, but the cha cha one seemed too too to me. I like to see them actually do the cha cha steps. That couple did more walking around and shaking than dancing.

No dancing for me today. I pulled a muscle in my lower back while cleaning the inside back window of my car yesterday. I wasn't even sure I could get up this morning but it seems a little improved after moving around more.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

Not too much to add to what has already been said about the puzzle today except 22A Rani. I initially entered Rana for Rajah's wife because I've see Rani often describes as Hindu Princess which I've taken to mean daughter. If Rani is the wife, what's the daughter called? And can the wife and daughter both be a princess?

Creature, great post. I am so sick and tired of everyday words or expressions having to be avoided because they might be considered offensive. Now there's an ad on TV condoning the use of the word "gay". Come on, gimme a break.

Anonymous said...

Good morning everyone.

Lemonade, what a great write up! The introductory "Too too Tootsie" is genius. And all the links were also of that level, IMHO. Sent the cha cha link to DH's ipad to brighten his morning.

Thanks C.C. for the link to JD's grandsons. That's another morning brightener.

Puzzle: I wanted chic and chichi isn't in my vocabulary and can't remember fish names, so that was one square open. The other was O for Theo and Aoki. But a great fun run today. I do love Mondays.

Locally a band director has been indicted for sexual assault of a child under 15. His excuse given that he couldn't have done what she said he did because he is tongue-tied. I guess that means that muscle is attached at both ends.

windhover said...

Grumpy1 and Creature are right about bacon.

Jay Green is right about 'boy', sort of.
Creature,
You're a neighbor and one of my faves here, but I have to tell you that as a girl you probably don't quite get this man-boy thing. The question is way beyond the usual 'PC' stuff, most of which, I will agree, is BS. As Jay Green said, the problem is in the history, and in both my memory and my presence I have heard men called boys in a manner that was meant to put them in a certain place.

It is true that context can matter, and that an 8 year old of any race is a boy, but the sad history makes it difficult to establish exactly where that line should be drawn.
None of us (here) are racist, by action or intent or even inadvertently, but the fact that a lot of people are and have been requires us to pay attention to details such as when not to say 'boy'.
I hope this was gentle enough correction that it doesn't cause a blow-up. Back to cutting hay, and sweating like a .... Oops, can't say that either, can we?
See what I mean?

Linda said...

JD: I "tune in" occasionally mainly for the pics. From one Grandmother to another, these boys are absolutely precious! No girls behind a daughter or daughter-in-law`s smile? (John Walton Sr`s. answer when Elizabeth asked "Daddy, where was I when you and Mama got married?"

windhover said...

Linda:
I used to read Playboy for the same reason. Now it's just for the articles. :-}

Bill G. said...

Fun Monday puzzle. Very enjoyable writeup.

Re. bacon. Crisp is better. Not so crisp is still OK. It's hard to screw up bacon for me. I love the stuff.

Re. Ferris wheels. Do you remember the huge Ferris wheel from The Third Man? What a great movie. It was done perfectly in black and white. It has so many memorable movie scenes.

JD, great photos. What cute kids. Thanks for posting the photos.

I was mostly asleep last night when I thought I felt (heard) an earthquake. It was a fairly quick boom followed by window shaking. I wasn't positive if it was real or a bad dream. But there it is on the earthquake map this morning. Nothing too serious but it woke me up better than an alarm clock.

I agree the context is important for the 'boy' discussion. There was nothing wrong with the context in the puzzle. The Cosby Show 'boy' was a perfectly fine clue.

Avg Joe said...

The puzzle was a speed contest. Clever, but too easy to be really enjoyable. OK. Give it a C.

The controversy of the day is worth mentioning. I didn't even think of the down side when I read the clue and filled in the answer, so context is critical. But the term boy certainly can be pejorative. It would have been prudent to simply change the clue to "...son". It's highly unlikely any racism reared it's head, but it was a third rail topic...as evidenced by the conversation here. PC can be overdone and I'm moderate in most aspects, but there are times that you have to take the long way around to stay on the high road.

Now, the most serious topic deserves attention. Tea should in fact be iced, but most people do pronounce it as "ice tea". Don't know if it's an unintentional eliding of the D, but if you listen that's the way it always sounds. But one thing is absolutely certain. It should never be tainted with sugar!!

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I had a problem with the spelling of ISAO AOKI, although I know who he is. I also tried to think of a five letter spelling for AGRA in the 28D position.

Everything else came pretty easily.

Thanks for the Franz LEHAR information, Lemonade. I knew the fill, but not his personal background. It sound like he was one of those guys who was just trying to get along for the sake of his family. There weren't a lot of choices at that time. His music was luscious. Andre Rieu does a fine "classic light" version of The Merry Widow Waltz.

I loved listening to Fibber MC GEE and Molly on the radio. I didn't know there was a movie featuring MC GEE's hall closet until I checked out Look Who's Laughing.

JD, what gorgeous little boys you have!

windhover said...

Joe:
Right on all counts, although even here in the Upper South I am viewed as somewhat suspect for foregoing sweettea (like dotcom, all one word).

creature said...

WH

Grumpy said it best. Addressing anyone as 'Boy'{child or man} is offensive and designed to be. I will add 'Girl'to the list, as well.

I think I will use Jazz's new word here 'wrongitude'; it evokes an honesty of intent, which is at the heart of this discussion.

Could I assume that Jay Green is an African American? no, because if that were so, it wouldn't have been said. Could I assume that he is 'mentally challenged'? no, because he can read and write.

His intention was,IMHO,disingenuos.

If I may borrow your arguement,' in history, both in my memory and in my presence, I have heard women called girls, in a manner that was meant to put them in their place.'

As sad as this makes me, I don't have to go any further than your post@ 10:57.

I hope we can grow from this. I don't want any schism for our group; the girl in me wants it to 'go away', but the woman in me, as you have seen, has trouble with that.

Tinbeni, I use to say 'iced tea', but I think I have switched.So sue me.

JD said...

Good morning Lemonade, C.C. and all,

Fun stuff Lemonade to start us off. Now I'll be humming "TooToot Tootsie" all day...could be worse. Hard to believe that the Can Can was risque back then. Things sure have changed.

The only problem I had today was the Lehar/Isaoaoki/irr crossing. Cosi, nacre and ICBM were perped.

Had a heck of a time teaching kids to put that C in Antarctica.

Thanks for the nice comments on my grand sons.They are a hoot. I had no idea CC was posting them. She had asked to see a newer one of Truman awhile back as he was 9 months when I started on this blog 3 years ago, and the reason I retired.

mpk said...

Bill G - So right about the Ferris wheel in The Third Man, and the movie as a whole. What about the great scene when Harry Lime is first seen, in the shadowy doorway, having been discovered the cat. One of my very favorite cinematic moments.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, An easy fill again on this Monday morning. Thank you Lemonade for standing in for Argyle and his ailing computer.

But, thanks a lot for Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye! I'll have that singing in my head for the rest of the day!

I enjoyed the Rep Rep Repetition of the clues and for once I caught on quickly. Had a smile all the way through this puzzle.

Hatool, I wish we could send you some of our weather to even out those 100 degree temps you've been having. We barely made it to 68 degrees yesterday.

Our outdoor graduation party for my granddaughter became an indoor party.

JD, Love those pictures of your three little tykes. They are so precious.

Lucina said...

Good day, puzzlers! Lemonade, what a treat to see you on a Monday although I miss Argyle and hope his computer is soon well.

Thanks, Jack McInturff for a fun run today.

Yes it was easy but fun with those repetitions and I was proud of myself for knowing ISAO though had to wait for the last name.

Fibber MCGEE brought memories of listening to radio in the evenings and even now I tune in sharply to the spoken word.

I must agree, the serious debate of the day is ICED vs ICE tea. The other did not enter my mind as THEO was a young boy in the sitcom.

One thing I love about the South, the ICED tea is automatically sweetened!

Here in Arizona it is an unspoken rule to not honk. It just isn't done.

I hope your Monday is marvelous!

Lucina said...

JD:
Your grandchildren are precious. Thank you for sharing.

mpk said...

Bill G - that's "discovered BY the cat! Duh.

Clear Ayes said...

All true in an historical perspective WH. But Jay Green's complaint about Cosby's BOY is an overreaction. The clue was not capitalized and was only a noun, not meant to be a proper name. Within a family, sons may be called Boy, Sonny, Bubba or heaven forbid, Junior, until their dying day. My ex-husband, whose mother was from Oklahoma (if it matters), was "Sonny Boy" and his sister was "Sister" to their parents. My almost grown grandsons are my sweet boys with cutsie nicknames (but not Boy), and will (cloying) remain so until I check out. My daughter at 47 is my little girl, but never Girl. LOL, even after knowing her for 30 years, GAH's nickname for her is "Killer" (her kids think that is hysterically funny.)

I'm for very crispy bacon. and lemon laced, unsweetened ICED tea.

My maternal grandparents dated (group dates only) at the Chicago World's Fair. It's pretty sure thing they and their "chums" enjoyed the ferris wheel.

windhover said...

Creature:
I agree totally, and of course you know I used girl intentionally to establish the context. I assure you that I am both feminist enough and well-trained enough not to use the word casually.
On the other hand, during a conversation that took place over 22 years ago, my good friend, neighbor and mentor Wilbur Wills, who was a bit younger then than I am now (and unbeknownst to either of us would be dead in less than a year) said to me, "Larry, we're all boys on the inside".
I don't know if that's true of the female of our species, who remain a (very attractive and interesting) mystery to me, but it is certainly true of the best of men, which WW was.
#4, and my work here is nearly finished for today.

Dennis said...

JD, your grandkids are great looking -- not hard to see where it came from.

Agree with BillG and mpk about The Third Man - it was the first movie I remember seeing, and the scenes have stayed with me.

Agree that crisp bacon is the best. More than once I've sat at the kitchen island microwave with a pound of Oscar Meyer bacon, a fresh loaf of bread and a jar of mayonnaise. Basically transferred contents from one 'container' to another.

ICED tea.

creature, I'm with you on the 'boy' controversy. By the way, I can no longer sell the color 'flesh' in my paint racks, because it's not PC. Seriously? Sometimes I'm very glad I'm a near-dead.

Windhover, thanks for the update about there being 'articles' in Playboy. Live and learn.

Grumpy 1, line of the day with your 'tongue' comment.

Barry, safe travels.

erieruth said...

Loved the puzzle ... tried to ignore the PC controversy.

I'm off to lunch with the girls!!!

Jerome said...

Enjoyed ISAO AOKI having the symmetrical partner, IT'S A TRAP (think golf)

Speaking of Okies... CHIC CHIC HICK

To all you anons- HA HA! C.C. CHAMP!

But you can find some ANTI C.C. ART in the ANTARCTIC. However, since there are no saguaros there, you'll never hear a CACTI RANT.

Actually, NEHIS are Raider's favorite socks.

TOTO, HE'S COOL, OTTO!

For every dictionary or phrase that uses ICED TEA, I can show you one that uses ICE TEA. Both are equally acceptable.

Jerome said...

Raider? Such a clever boy, Jerome.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Thank you, Lemonade, for an engrossing writeup. Thank you, Dennis, for your "Did You Know"s. Thank you, JD, for the photos of your adorable little ones, and to you, C.C., for posting them.

The puzzle was really fun, and I loved the theme. Once I got CHA CHA CHAMP the rest were quick to be filled in. Like the rest of you, I wanted AGRA and wondered if there might be a 5-letter variant spelling of it (like AGA/AGHA); the I in CHI CHI set me straight.

Also like y'all, a couple of my favorites was ITS A TRAP and "Picked" complaints. A nice puzzle for a Monday.

I guess I'm the only one here who likes my bacon flabby. My wife teases me about it every time we have bacon. Like you, Bill G, I love the stuff.

Best wishes to you all.

erieruth said...

Ice or iced ... (NOT SWEET) ... maybe some mint leaves??? simply the best non-alcoholic drink ... winter, spring, summer, fall.

Jayce said...

Good point about pronouncing the C in Antarctica. Of course many words and phrases are not enunciated 100%, producing common sounds such as "gonna" and "gimme" as well as "ice tea."

Okay, I'm gonna stop now 'cause I see I'm about to contradict the very point I started out to make.
I hate it when I lose my own argument. LOL

mpk, agreed on the skillful use of shadow and image in The Third Man.

The Ferris wheel is about the only ride I can go on without getting sick. (Sorry, TMI.)

kazie said...

My bacon needs to be well done, but not so stiff it breaks up and jumps off the plate if I try to stab it with my fork.

I think the "boy" discussion needs to make the distinction between just using the noun and actually addressing someone that way. Same with "girl", or "woman". Unless of course you are saying "You go, girl!" or something similar.

Context is everything. My boys are both in their thirties, but they're still "my boys", and I'm sure they would not be hurt at my speaking of them that way. There should be no need to shun a word completely just because it has social context. What a pity about the original meaning of "gay", as in "don we now our gay apparel", etc.

Anonymous said...

eating bacon with a fork!?!

that's just wrong.

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

Lemonade,
Thanks again for the last minute fill in.

Awesome Blossom,
Just a tiny typo. Phileas rather than Phineas for FOGG. Sorry for the late response. I'm way behind in reading blog comments.

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

Jeannie,
Don't take offense at my trivia kvetch. As I said, one or two a day is fine.

Bill,
i just don't like the smell of chicken. Or sausage.

Anonymous said...

Jayce: Have you been checked for Meniere`s disease? (causes motion sickness.) You can carry, and take as needed, an RX that will allow you to enjoy(?) any carnival ride.

Jeannie said...

It seems I am in the minority today. I didn’t know Elon, Tito, Lehar, or Cosi and must admit I used a little red letter help today. I did manage to get the theme though, so perps helped me right along. One visit to the g-spot for Isao Aoki though. I did have to chuckle at seeing ICBM again. I “press” pants or slacks but “iron” shirts. Who am I kidding, I don’t do too much ironing these days. It was a nice surprise to see MFCounselor blogging this morning, but I bet you are fit to be tied Argyle. My computer is down at home too and I am going through withdrawls.

Husker Gary, good to hear that you had a nice vacation in Florida. That area wouldn’t have been my first choice for this time of the year though. I miss your “musings” when you aren’t around.

JD, great looking little boys.

Kazie, sorry to hear about your back.

Well, it’s hotter than he$& here today in the mid-90’s with high humidity. Uck. Who would have thought that not even six months ago there was a 125 degree difference in temps. You gotta love Minnesota.

Bill G. said...

I have tried to make this point before but not very well I think. Yes, you can find 'ice tea' in the dictionary. You can find 'ukelele' in the dictionary. Yes, our president and many others use 'I' when it is the object in a sentence. Yes, you can find 'loan' as a verb in the dictionary these days. But given the choice between using a historically correct word and another word that's in the dictionary because it's been misused so often, I'm going to try to make the historically correct choice if I know it. I will choose to order 'iced tea' (though I prefer Arnold Palmers' these days), I will lend money rather than loan money, I will try to remember to say 'different from' rather than 'different than' and will use 'fewer' rather than 'less when it's called for.

I think many people use the 'wrong' word if they don't know the difference. But if you know the difference, wouldn't you choose the 'historically correct' word?

Of course I understand that with the constraints of making a puzzle, crossword constructor's milage may differ.

Clear Ayes said...

"My ex-husband, whose mother was from Oklahoma (if it matters), was "Sonny Boy" and his sister was "Sister" to their parents.".

Isn't it a shame that I didn't realize the family nicknames weren't just cute "southern-isms"? Relegating their daughter to the status of "Sister" to golden "Sonny Boy" should have clued me in to the fact that this wasn't going to be a workable relationship.

My sympathy to Argyle. I choose computer access over telphone. Our electricity was out for about eight hours last night and this morning. Our phone has been dead since last night's hard rain too. It's happened before that the lines have gotten wet. The phone company repairman can't come out until Thursday morning. There is little point in having a cell phone when we'd have to drive a couple of miles to be in reception range. It is rather peaceful around here.

Anonymous said...

BillG, since you're a stickler for being correct, isn't it 'mileage'?

HeartRx said...

Kazie, if bacon were served to me less than crispy, I would also eat it with a fork and knife. But I prefer it really crispy so that I can properly pick it up and eat it with my fingers, just as I do with asparagus.

HeartRx said...

BTW, in the link I just provided, it says you should eat peas with a fork. Well,
"I eat my peas with honey,
I've done it all my life.
It makes the peas taste funny,
But it keeps them on my knife!"
-Anon.

kazie said...

HeartRx,
My goodness, the things one learns on this blog! I found I actually do eat corn on the cob the right way--left to right. But I always thought it was just that I am a leftie and do everything that way. How perverse that there are actual rules for some of those things!

I like my asparagus with a creamy sauce though, so trying to eat it with fingers would be messy.

Bacon I usually place under an egg on toast, so a little malleability is needed.

kazie said...

oops,
I forgot--as an Aussie, I like to combine things on my fork, so peas get smushed on top of the mashed spuds--and the potatoes keep them there. It's what I've always done, eating of course the non-American way with fork constantly in the left and knife in the right hand. Then it's easy to pile combinations onto the (back of the) fork with the knife.

Bill G. said...

Rats, I knew that was going to happen. Milage/mileage are both in the dictionary and I didn't know which was preferable. Rather than research it, I figured that since judgment didn't have an 'e', maybe mileage shouldn't either. What about nosy/nosey and fogy/fogey? Anyway, since mileage seems to be preferred, I'm going to try to remember to use it from now on.

Kazie, that way of using a knife and fork always seemed more logical to me. I often find myself using it. Not with spaghetti though. I twirl it into a manageable ball with the help of a soup spoon in my left hand

Spitzboov said...

Heart Rx and Kazie: re: eating corn on the cob.

It's much faster going in both directions. Otherwise it's a lot like the old typewriters, throwing the platen for a line-feed, and starting a new row. You're just coming back empty to advance the corn a few rows.

Lemonade714 said...

JD your little ones are precious and relatively cooperative.

When i was away for high school, they hired a teacher from out of the country for our advanced French class. He had never been to the US, and was assigned to eat his meals with us. As teen ages boys are wont to do, we told him that Americans did not mash their peas, but ate them in sandwiches. He had a hard time getting the little guys to stay still, but he ended up eating lots of green pea sanwiches. I often wonder if he brought that custom back home when he left. He only lasted half a year.

Husker Gary said...

Jeannie, thanks for the kind words, I miss being here too!

Orlando Musings-
-I broke two vows I made when my 40th trip to Orlando last week in summer and my grandkids were under 10. We made it work but never again in summer!
-8 year old grandson conquered his fears and went on Splash Mt. with Papa. The picture of me laughing and him wincing on the big drop was priceless but he said he would go again.
-Disney is the best and I am always its biggest fan!
-If Disney were casting a movie for obese people, they could get all they wanted in their parks.
-SIL got sick on 3rd day and so I was able to do several firsts with grandson!
-Watching a 20 minute Princess show at Cinderella’s castle with a 50 lb six year old on my shoulders in that heat was tough, but it was a labor of love. She was awed! Picture below.
-Soarin’, Space Mt., Expedition Everest, Toy Story 4D, et al had 90 minute waits all day! We punted 'em!
-The Kilimanjaro Safari ride at Animal Kingdom is the best zoo ride in the world!
-Grandchildren were troopers with no whining or complaining despite the heat and long lines.
-Some Pix

Jayce said...

Anonymous @ 1:32 PM, thanks. I don't have Menier's disease.

Bill G, you da man. I enjoy reading what you have to say.

Old news now, but we very much enjoyed hosting my wife's brother and his wife in our home last week. They are very pleasant people. It also gave us an opportunity to eat out a lot :)

Gosh, the tongue is an interesting muscle. Mine gets a lot of mileage.

HeartRx, cute little poem about eating peas. Thanks.

Jeannie said...

Okay C.C., today's riddle:

What 7 letter word becomes longer when one letter is removed?

windhover said...

Damn poor reason to burn #5, but it's lounger.

Bill G. said...

Gary, great photos! Cute kids!

Buckeye said...

Look at the coloring on that Opah fish. Scarlet and grey. A true Buckeye.
I've been lurking but not commenting. As those who know me, I've been busy working with the CIA, Navy and Army on the Osama Bin Laden mission. My plan went perfectly, except for that nasty down-draft and "chopper" tail incident, but we went to my plan "B" and all went well. I case you didn't know we ridded ourselves of that "Devious Devil of Distruction" and he lies somewhere at the bottom of the deep blue. You're welcome!
I probably won't be able to post very soon, since I'm working to get rid of Muammar Gaddafi in Libia. We rejected his latest offer to leave Libia and replace himself with his stupid, moronic, inept son. The kid is a blithering idiot. His name is George W. Gaddafi and we know where that would go.
To Anon who recently said c.c. didn't really compose her crossword and that we treat her like a goddess. He/she's half right. We treat c.c. like a goddess because she IS a goddess. I wish Anon would post his/her name and email address. My Seal Team Six is just itching to get back into action.
Finally, I want you to remember that Buckeye was the first person to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas. It's this type of "planning ahead" that made me the successful man that I am.
From the GBRV - I must be off!!

creature said...

A Facebook message rec’d about one of my San Diego grandsons:

East County Sports Athlete of Week

_6’3 165 lb junior
_led East County pass receiving
_proved his versatility on the baseball diamond
_batted .643 w/5 of his9 hits going for extra bases
_totaled 9 RBI & scored twice
_fell a single short of hitting for the Cycle…?
_also pitched 5 innings and did not allow an
earned run, while recording a save.

Don't know what some of this means
But I'm proud and wanted to share w/ the sports crowd at the corner.

This is my fifth post, so I'm headed for a glass of wine.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Anonymous said...

Not with spaghetti though. I twirl it into a manageable ball with the help of a soup spoon in my left hand

Horrors!

Frenchie said...

Hi C.C., Argyle, Lemonade716 and folk,

Well, I'm off the boat, back on dry, dry, dry land and back in touch. I love having internet access.

Plumbers routing out drains today...galvanized baffle? Who knew? Complicated stuff!

Jumped the gun with toot toot but then got back on track. A simple theme is so fun to solve. Great fun today!

Lemonade714, fantastic job! So much informing and wise cracking. I was laughing my head off. Ya, ironing shirts is a drag! I use a steamer and a pant presser...ok, I admit I resort to these things when my husband misses the drycleaner who picks up and delivers on Monday and Thursday each week.

I bought a mechanical fish for my pool and now I identify that it is an OPAH! Beautiful! Thanks for that infobyte, Lemonade714.

Laic/cleric. HMMM.

All crossword corner bloggers nit pick in one fashion or another. I find it educational and amusing. As for the naughty anons nit picking on Lemonade714...and they do from what I could see of Friday last, I admit that I giggle a little sadistically! Sorry! You are a walking encyclopedia and it's remote you'd be stumped. Still some fancy they know it all!

I tended to want play divisions to refer to football.

Would one bleach hair to lighten it...not simply apply dye it?

Loved all the dance and music links! I'm sad to end here.

I'm out.

Grumpy 1 said...

@ Jeannie, Lounger -u = longer

Clear Ayes said...

I guess the phone problem affected a large area. The phone company got right on it and it is fixed. Darn...I have had two unnecessary phone calls already.

I had to smile at Spitzboov's engineering take on eating corn on the cob. Of course, his is the most efficient way to get 'er done.

Cute photos of your grandchildren, Husker Gary. I've never been to Disney World, but started at Disneyland around 1958. After my last "take the visiting Swedes" trip in 1999, I signed off. Without being able to bask in the reflected pleasure of small children, the crowds and waits were just too much. Nice that you still have younger ones around.

Wait a sec...I just previewed and saw Buckeye's post. Still smiling..more smiling. Definitely choose computer access over telephones!

Tinbeni said...

Creature:
ICE -v- iced ...

C'mon, you know me ...
I would never care how tea is served or ordered
(or answered in our crossword puzzles).

If I was to ever try tea ...
I would probably have it NEAT.

Avg.Joe
Is it OK to have tea with Avatar?

Anonymous said...

Hey buckeye. Your posts have as much integrity as Jim Tressel

Avg Joe said...

@Tinbeni, I'm not certain what's in that snifter, but I'd guess it's scotch. While I like scotch quite well, I'd never taint either tea nor scotch with the other. Go with the plan to order neat. Just don't order sugar in your tea. It's awful :-)

@BillG, the earliest education that I can remember that I received in how to eat certain foods was twirling spaghetti. I had no idea it was low brow until well into my 20's. I got over it......thinking it was low brow, that is. I still twirl my spaghetti proudly.

Frenchie said...

@JD, your grandchildren are so beautiful! You are so lucky as are they!

@Jay Green, point well taken. Thanks for sharing.

Wow! Hot day on the blog! Do we feel better now that these nits have been picked off our collective chest! Lemonade714, what are you, Switzerland today?

#2 and out.

Lucina said...

Hello, again, everyone, especially BUCKEYE!

You are always delightful and make me chuckle. BTW, happy Fathers' Day and Fourth of July to you!

Bill G:
I'm with you on word usage and would much rather use the historically correct one. I heard a broadcaster discussing the current wildfire in our state, he said, "only a little houses" were in danger. I believe he meant few but some people seen not to know that word.

I twirl spaghetti and eat corn back and forth; I sure hope the food police are not out!

Jayce said...

Avg Joe, I still twirl my spaghetti proudly, too. It's how our dad taught us to do it. 'Course he bought spaghetti that was a good 18" long or more and didn't cut it into short segments.

Buckeye, thanks for your sunshiny humor!

thehondohurricane said...

Jeannie,

Ct ain't that different from Minn. Cold is cold, hot is hot, and humidity sucks where ever it is. I would love to see year round temps ranging from the low 50's to the mid 70's.

Maybe in my next life!

Anon 5:37

Buckeye has integrity and gets it. Tressel can't spell integrity.

dodo said...

Hello, group.

After a slow start this puzzle went together more easily than expected.I can't believe I remembered Isao Aoki. I'm not even a golfer! Learned the name here! I got the theme right away...very unusual for me. I often don't get it at all.

Nice Monday puzzle.

Husker Gary said...

I hate to see politics injected again (see rules above posting window) to this blog. George W Kaddafi (or Barack Kadaffi) references are a poor substitute for the usual amicable and learned level of discussion on this site. I hope we can get back to being free of this blight and the acrimony it invites. I am willing to concede there is idiocy on both sides of the aisle and many other blogs exist to debate partisan issues.

Lemonade714 said...

What a fun Monday, thank you all for inviting me into your computer. I cannot imagine why anyone would read the blog and not get Buckeye and his irrepressible wit, but hey we will all survive.

Corn as it comes and spaghetti with a twirl. Stay tuned, tomorrow ahould be another Ruby Tuesday

Not blew yet said...

I've been lurking long enough to "get" most of the personalities here on this blog.

I don't "get" Buckeye. He constantly ignores the rules put forth by C.C. yet is still overly welcomed by a certain few long timers.

Maybe you(hondo L714 windy or ca) could let us all in on the "joke".

HeartRx said...

This is a little late for the "right-coasters", but I just want you all to know about a great event that is coming up on Thursday, June 9 from 5:30 to 8:00 PM. The Vienna restaurant in Southbridge is hosting a wine tasting dinner for the benefit of all the local victims of last week's disastrous tornados. The food is guaranteed to be outstanding, with many wonderful wines to sample, courtesy of our local distributors. At a $50 per person "suggested donation", with all proceeds to be donated to the disaster relief effort, how can you go wrong? Dudley, Lemonade, Barry G., the hondohurricane, anyone else?

Witty Irony said...

Buckeye's typo-ladden 38-line post included politics, religion and a personal attack. But the funniest part was a man writing behind an alias wearing a mask asking someone else to identify herself!

I "get" the joke.

Dennis said...

Not blew yet, just what rules did Buckeye violate? Oh, and my sympathy on your situation.

And Husker Gary, that comment was about as innocuous as it can get; I'm hardly a liberal and I laughed at it. You have to accept the fact that this blog definitely has a liberal bent, and that's gonna come out every now and then; we either accept it or move on. I'm staying a while longer.

dodo said...

JD, your little trio is so adorable! They're really growing: big brother isn't so big any more!

Right on, Creature! In a family with four girls, how else would you single out the 'male child'?
Where do some of these ideas originate, I wonder!

My slow start today was 5A. I steer clear of Facebook, so I had to wait for clues.

HG, women in the Arab world live in fear!

windhover said...

Not blew yet:
The joke's in your mirror; check it out.
Husker: it's Buckeye, he has emeritus status.
And all you Anons:
They're rules, not laws. Get over it.
4 posts (max) for me tomorrow. Borrowed one today.

Anonymous said...

Of course Windhover gets to break the rules just so he can play his tough guy act again. Totally unnecessary.

dodo said...

Why not spell it ice'tea, like the French elision?

Knowhimwell said...

Windhover a tough guy? Nah, he's a pussy cat.
Or hound.

Clear Ayes said...

Don't exaggerate. I only counted 31 Buckeye lines. There were a couple of other longer that "about 20 lines" posts today. (Not that I was counting. :o) It happens and it is up to C.C. to comment if she thinks it is excessive.

Buckeye's credo seems to be "Leave Them Wanting More", or perhaps it is "Leave Them Wanting Less". Since he doesn't post "constantly" as was suggested by NBY, it works either way.

Why do I like Buckeye? Because he likes Groucho Marx, and oh yes, and he recently posted a photo of himself in gray underwear on Twitter. I know...Anthony Weiner is taking credit, but I think he's just jealous.

The Civil Anon said...

Now, now, children. What did we all learn in kindergarten?
1. Play nice
2. Take care of each other
3. Share
4. Don`t eat paste.
5. Every tub has the right to sit on its own bottom.
6. "Everyone to his/her own tastes," said the old lady as she kissed the pig.(re-wording of #5)
7. The one way we are all alike is that we each think we are
the only one correct.

I leave you all with these words of wisdom if not grammar: " No one of us has got it all together, but all of us together got it all!"

Husker Gary said...

Dennis, I'm staying too but got my hand slapped for some political comments last year and try to stay circumspect in that way as per C.C.'s many requests. I think we have gone a long while without any of the liberal/conservative blather and cheap political jokes and hated to see it rear its ugly head.

WH, the irony of being told by you to "get over it" is amazing. I don't know what liberties emeritus status entails as I have only been here a year and a half and perhaps I will never get any exempt status.

Dodo, that was my point exactly. Anna stood up to the King and more Arab women are starting to do so such as Saudi women wanting to drive.

Captain Obvious said...

I'm baaack!

Yes, Dennis, this blog has a liberal bent to it. But, I too, choose to stay.

Husker hang in there. I've seen too many conservative bloggers get bullied right(see what I did there?) outta here.

Abejo said...

Thought I would drop back in. "Boy," did I miss a lot today by blogging early.

A few short comments:

I vote for Iced Tea.

I eat corn on the cob in a spiral fashion. Start on one end (I use the left end) and roll the cob forward from the top with each bite. You spiral your way through the corn. When you reach the other end, you are done.

However, I do not spiral my spaghetti. I cut it up and eat is with a fork.

As far as the "Boy" discussion, I was in the Boy Scouts as a youth. There were many boys of all ethnic backgrounds in Scouts. We were all boys in a Boy Scout Troop. There are also Boys and Girls Clubs across the country. There is one near me in Elgin. I agree, the word "boy" can be used in a negative context. That is the whole point, the context, not the word. There is too much Political Correct fever in certain circles in this country. I hope that thinking dissipates.

I have a problem with changing the term "airline stewardess" to "airline flight attendant."

My two cents.

Abejo

JD said...

Buckeye, you tease us; then you leave us. Enjoyed your visit.

Creature-wow, what a great kid he must be. I'd be very proud too.

Gary, fun slide show/ darling grandchildren!As CA said, to really enjoy the magic of Disneyland, you have to be with kids.

Dennis said...

Wow, been a long time since we had a 100-post day.

Lucina said...

creature:
I am not sure if I congratulated you on your grandson's accomplishments.

It does a grandmother proud, doesn't it?

Frenchie said...

OK, my son is 28 and I still call him 'boy' on occasion. "What's up, boy?" I may say if I call him. He likes it. He was a Boy Scout until 18 years of age. He's an Eagle Scout and was an active participant in the Order of the Arrow. Boy-O-boy!
So, this bothers me...my husband always prefaces a story from his youth with, "when I was a boy..." What's the deal? He's not a boy now? AAARRRGGGHHHH!

Jacel said...

Husker Gary,

I am so sorry about your friend's son who died of pneumonia. I imaging that burying a son or daughter is one of the hardest things to do.