Theme: G-Rated (do they even make those kind of movies anymore??) The first words of the theme entries could follow the letter "G", thusly:
17A. *Fit perfectly : SUIT TO A TEE. A "G-suit" (or more correctly, an anti-G suit) helps pilots who fly at high speeds to prevent blackouts by inflating air bladders around the legs, thus stopping blood from draining from the brain. Aren't you glad you don't need to know this?
23A. *Sexy beachwear : STRING BIKINI. And very closely related to "G-string", no? Now this is more in line with our DF group. But, my eyes are still hurting from some of the photos that came up when I looked for a link!! (Just use your imagination here, guys!)
50A. *Behavior made automatic from frequent repetition : FORCE OF HABIT. "G-Force" is what a "G-Suit" is designed to overcome...
62A. *Superhero nickname : MAN OF STEEL. A "G-Man" is slang for a government man, or FBI agent.
and the unifier:
39. "Gosh!" (or, based on the starts of starred answers, one who is expert at solving this puzzle's theme?) : GEE WHIZ. Hah! I must be a G-reat solver to figure this one out.
Marti here to help you over the hump day...
ACROSS:
1. Sea of __: Black Sea arm : AZOV. GEE WHIZ, don't you hate it when the first word of the puzzle is one you don't know?
5. Parisian pals : AMIS. Ah yes, we are back to yesterday's French lesson.
9. Light bite : NOSH. Yiddish nashn, from Middle High German naschen "to eat on the sly".
13. In-box note, perhaps : MEMO
14. Like candy near the register, maybe : MINTY. Wanted "impulse buy", but wouldn't fit.
16. Hostile to : ANTI
19. Veggie that may be black : BEAN
20. Bone: Pref. : OSTEO
21. Golda of Israel : MEIR. She was known as the "Iron Lady" years before Margaret Thatcher was labeled with that nickname.
22. "The Wizard __": comic strip : OF ID. Irreverent, often insightful humor by Parker and Hart.
26. White Sox star who played in five decades (1949-1980) : MINOSO. Oh no, not baseball! And more than thirty years ago?
29. Shortly : ANON. Also, what some bloggers are called.
30. Graceland middle name : ARON. Ah yes, interesting story about ARON - Aaron. But we all know that already, don't we?
31. "A horse is a horse" horse : MR ED. From 60's TV comedy.
35. Partner of each : EVERY
38. Seaman's "Help!" : SOS
41. __ volente: God willing : DEO
42. Prepare to be knighted : KNEEL. Great visual from "Le Morte D'Arthur".
44. Composer Bartók : BELA. Along with Liszt, considered Hungary's greatest composer, and well-known for his "Night music" style, wherein he imitated the sounds of nature at night in his compositions. Like this.
45. German coal region : SAAR. Mosel-Saar-Ruhr is also one of the leading wine regions of Germany. Really, coal??
46. Once again : ANEW
48. Literary alter ego : MR HYDE. "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", by Robert Louis Stevenson.
55. Buck suffix : AROO. I guess "kang" wouldn't be a great clue, huh?
56. Way to go : ROAD
57. Rosary units : BEADS
61. Unfocused photo, e.g. : BLUR. Or, crossword clues when blogging at midnight...
64. Single : LONE. Hands up for "stag"?
65. Hill on Vail : SLOPE. Vail, Colorado. And they are usually slippery!
66. Gal who gets what she wants : LOLA. Barry Manilow, anyone?
67. Loose things to tie up : ENDS. Or strings on a bikini...
68. Location : SITE
69. Barbershop sound : SNIP. Huh. "Harmony" doesn't fit.
DOWN:
1. Schoolyard retort : AM SO. Can we quit this schoolyard argument, already??
2. Olympian bigwig : ZEUS
3. Cut out : OMIT
4. Decides via ballot : VOTES ON
5. Latin lover's word : AMO. Love my Latin! (Or, is it "my Latin lover"...)
6. Home of the Heat : MIAMI. Basketball. Will they settle before their potential lockout on Thursday?
7. One __: unlikely chance : IN TEN. If it were the lotto, more like one in one in 593,775, according to my calculations.
8. "Shrek!" author William : STEIG. Unknown.
9. "Lolita" author : NABOKOV. Known.
10. Clooney/Pfeiffer comedy : ONE FINE DAY. Got meh reviews.
11. Washday challenge : STAIN. No, my washday challenge is just getting all the stuff from the bedroom down to the basement laundry room.
12. Delhi language : HINDI
15. __ Buena, town that became San Francisco : YERBA. Total WAG.
18. Little tykes : TOTS
24. "City of Seven Hills" : ROME. Nailed it. Been there, seen them.
25. Don Juan's mother : INEZ. In Lord Byron's poem, Don Juan is not a womanizer, but one who is easily seduced by women.
26. Halloween cover-up : MASK
27. Press : IRON. Who thought of gym, and "pump"?
28. Act like a snoop : NOSE AROUND. Fun clue, great fill!
32. Confederate : REB
33. Lady in the flock : EWE. Hah, didn't fool me. I knewe it wasn't you!
34. UPS rival : DHL
36. Enjoy the library : READ. Well, I think most of us here enjoy reading. But, between the Nook, Kindle, iBooks etc., are we in danger of losing this sacrosanct institution of our youth?
37. Time past : YORE. As in, "yore late"?
39. Elated feeling : GLEE. Or, a wildly popular (with "Gleeks", anyway) TV show.
40. Foot in a poem : IAMB. I amb what I amb...or, the "beat" to a poem. Like ka-BOOM, where the accent is stressed on the second syllable. Thus, iambic dimeter (two iambic "feet", or measures) would sound like:
the WAY / a CROW
shook DOWN / on ME...
-Frost
I'll leave the rest to CA.
I'll leave the rest to CA.
43. Extras for a cheering crowd : ENCORES. Loved this clue/answer!
45. Former Jewish settlements : SHTETLS. Hated this clue/answer!
47. Squirmy bait : WORMS. eeewwwww....
49. Barbecue fare : RIBS. OK, now you're talkin' DH's language!
50. Aesop work : FABLE
51. Sweater synthetic : ORLON. I never know if it's going to be nylon, rayon, or orlon! So, let's move...ON
52. Stable newborns : FOALS
53. Vietnam's capital : HANOI. Map, for anyone who wasn't around in the 50's-60's-70's.
54. Take as one's own : ADOPT
58. Long, long time : AEON. Ages, anyone?
59. Bagels and lox seller : DELI. Mmmm...I could go for some right now. Maybe I'll ask the guys in the SHTETL if they want some, too...
60. Blow with a palm : SLAP. V8 can on this one when it finally emerged. Or, a slap upside my head.
63. ATM charge : FEE. No charge for this blog. But you can contribute to my amusement fund by using PayPal at www.skigolfkayakhikecampreadgardenwino.com
Thanks for letting me share this one with all y'all!
Marti
Notes from C.C.
1) Here are two lovely pictures of MJ's grandson Drake. She said "These photos of Drake are very telling about why I am not posting daily on the blog, although I still read the blog most mornings, and very much appreciate all those who parse the daily LAT puzzles for your site." Here is her family picture we showed last August when Drake was 5-month old.
As some of you are aware, our local paper doesn't carry LAT crossword, so MJ mailed me the precious first one Don and I collaborated, the whole LA Times Calendar section carefully padded between stiff boards. And a few more later. Thanks, MJ.
2) Happy Birthday to Barry G!
Notes from C.C.
1) Here are two lovely pictures of MJ's grandson Drake. She said "These photos of Drake are very telling about why I am not posting daily on the blog, although I still read the blog most mornings, and very much appreciate all those who parse the daily LAT puzzles for your site." Here is her family picture we showed last August when Drake was 5-month old.
As some of you are aware, our local paper doesn't carry LAT crossword, so MJ mailed me the precious first one Don and I collaborated, the whole LA Times Calendar section carefully padded between stiff boards. And a few more later. Thanks, MJ.
2) Happy Birthday to Barry G!
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteVery easy puzzle today, especially compared with the last two days. The only unknown was SAAR, but that came quickly enough via the perps. I completely did not understand the theme until I got here, but that didn't hold me up at all. I was just expecting there to be a lot of G's in the puzzle.
Today's my birthday! I can't believe I'm 45, but there you have it. I suppose I'm officially "middle aged" (unless I'm planning to live well beyond 100), but it sure doesn't feel that way. Of course, having an extremely energetic 6-year-old running around will do that to you, I suppose. If he doesn't kill me, he'll keep me feeling young...
Mmmm... I think I'll take the family out for steak dinner tonight to celebrate. ^_^
Marti,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the G-8 write-up! Had no idea of those Anti-G suit. Days of YORE, or were you just joking with "yore late"?
Barry G,
Happy Birthday! You're how old you feel.
To anonymous posters,
ReplyDeleteShow some respect to my 5 posts per day per person rule. Keeping changing your black names or posting anonymously doesn't change your tone & style of writing.
Good Morning, Marti, C.C., and friends.
ReplyDeleteThis was a pretty easy puzzle for a Wednesday, but I enjoyed it. I was puzzled by the G-suit, since, as Marti pointed out, it should really be Anti-G.
I use my library to READ e-books, that I can download on my nook. I hope libraries will not be a thing of the past.
Thanks for sharing the photos of your grandson, MJ. (I couldn't open the second link, however.)
Happy Birthday, Barry G. As long as you think young, you are not in the middle ages!
QOD: What's vice today may be virtue tomorrow. ~ Henry Fielding
Hahtool,
ReplyDeleteHow about now?
Works for me now.
ReplyDeleteGood to know they finally found Monday's puzzle.
C.C., yes the link works now. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteArgyle, you are too funny. Yes, it does seem like this week is a bit topsy-tervy.
Good morning Marti and all, a very easy puzzle this morning. It would have been a very fast speed run except that I had great pause at the crossing of 1A and 2D. The “Z” did not appear until I had run through the alphabet twice. The other pause was the crossing of 45A and 45D and I guessed the “S” as I had heard of Saar sometime long ago when I was in Germany.
ReplyDeleteThis was the easiest puzzle of the week so far.
Gotta go do my community service work today (volunteer not demanded).
MJ beautiful grandson, looks like he will be a sailor.
Hope you all have a great Wednesday.
Good Morning C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteHappy, happy b-day Barry G. You sure don't look a day older than 44, LOL!
Beautiful pictures of your grandson and family, MJ.
And C.C., yes, I was kidding with "yore late". Bad pun, but it probably won't be my last...
Good morning C.C., Marti and all,
ReplyDeleteMarti, a map is always good for me. Thanks for your write-up.
I just found out Nook hooks up with my library, but Kindle {owned by Amazon} does not. Thanks, Hahtool for reiterating that for me. I love my library and the folks there.
Puzzle was a good Wednesday trip; the cross SAAR /SHTETLS almost got me, but my WAG prevailed.
Thought the theme was very creative. Thanks, Jack.
Happy Birthday, BarryG. Au poivre?
MJ,
ReplyDeleteHe really is beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Au poivre?
ReplyDeleteAu poivre avec A1. ^_^
Good day folks,
ReplyDeleteAgree with previous posters that today was pretty easy, but I managed to to mess it up. Never new SF's earlier name and for 14A I went with mints instead of minty. It was a coin flip. But it was a fun puzzle & I liked the cluing. Marti, I agree.....Shtetls????
I too am an avid reader and I will rely on Library's and Book Stores until High Tech renders them obsolete.
Now a plea for help from a total computer nerd. Want to change my Avatar and have no idea how to go about it. Wife installed the current one, but she couldn't get a new one up. Thanks to whomever.
Barry G, Happy Birthday and many , many more.
Hi Marti and humpday solvers! Did not get theme of this nice little puzzle – a successful failure (this is what NASA called Apollo 13)?
ReplyDeleteMusings
-I knew MINOSO which changed VOTESIN to VOTESON
-Very interesting info and piano piece, Marti!
-Lola got everything in Damn Yankees! Whatever Lola wants…
-Lotto tickets sell false hope but, hey, if it’s only a dollar…
-Rome, ah seen them thar hills too!
-Clothes bought for this household are almost all non-iron.
-I thought extras for cheering crowd were spear carriers, villagers or some such at first
-HANOI does not have the same connotation for young peeps today for those of us who remember the war. The greatest generation probably had the same issue with Germans and Japanese.
-MJ, we get two cuties like yours to watch for 3 days today!
-Barry G – HBD!
Hello Puzzlers - Smooth sailing today, the few unknowns got peeped quickly enough. YERBA is new to me, since the only similar Spanish name I know is Yorba Linda. Gotta be a connection there somewhere...
ReplyDeleteSHTETL? There's one you don't see every day!
HBTY Barry G. The steak avec A1 sounds like a good plan. Oh, have the unsolicited mailings from AARP started arriving yet?
Anybody heard from Nice Cuppa lately? He seemed fun to have around.
ReplyDeleteMornin' all. Yup, we finally got Monday's puzzle. Still no speed run, but pretty smooth all told. Didn't know Shteltls, but did dredge Saar out of the grey. Also didn't know Minoso, but the phrasing in the clue for 4D got that settled. Liked seeing Mr. Ed. "Wilburrrrrrrr".
ReplyDeleteOur paper doesn't carry Wizard of Id, but I read it every day on line. Parker (Johnnie?) also co-writes another strip, BC. Today's is a cleaned up wry twist on an old joke that I never thought I'd see in a cartoon. I actually had a good friend walk right into this joke once, but I gave the more traditional reply of I think you'd better pet him first. I'd also point out that my dog wasn't licking his feet. :-)
I agree with Argyle and Hahtool--this was definitely easier than Monday this week. I had no real problems. Used to wear a string bikini in the 60's-70's.
ReplyDeleteWith MINTY, I immediately had a blast from my past, a chewy white candy that stuck to your teeth. I didn't think to look at the "gosh" answer for a hint, so never thought about the theme until here.
MJ,
Cute little skipper you've got there!
Barry G,
Have a great 45th! My DH always says he's still 48, which would mean we had our first son when he was only 14, but unperturbed, he insists anyway.
Hutch, from last night,
Saxon (Sächsisch) is really just a German dialect, but it's hard to understand if you only know High German. They shorten lots of words, e.g. all which end in -zig become -sch (zwanzig/zwansch, fünfzig/fünfsch). Most vowels sound as if they all have an Umlaut when they shouldn't, and they use words that don't exist in real German.
Hondo,
ReplyDelete1. Go to your Blogger Profile page and under your Photo should be the option EDIT PROFILE in a blue box.
2. Click on that box and in the next window, scroll down to Photograph
3. Select Remove Image
4. Click on Browse and navigate to replacement image
5. Click on the new image
6. Choose SAVE PROFILE at bottom of window and (in keeping with our recent French themes) Voila!
The more I say the word SHTETL, the more I like it. I found an interesting article about them here, with several old pictures showing a typical shtetl. If you find it difficult to read, you could cut and paste it into a word document and then change the font color.
ReplyDeleteThen there was the controversial airing of Marian Marzynski’s film “SHTETL” on PBS’s Frontline in 1997. You can read about that here.
We have only seen this word once before, in a 2008 Donna Levine puzzle. Hopefully, all this information will help me remember it next time it pops up in a crossword.
Dudley,
ReplyDeleteI turn 65 on September 11 and the stack of Medicare stuff in my mailbox would make enough kindling for a year! I know we all get Medicare A and have to pay a set amount for Medicare B but the companies wanting to sell us Medicare Extended are legion. It is hard to know what to do but we will probably continue with the BC/BS retired Plan F with dental and call it good. I haven’t even thought about Plan D yet! It is hard to know where to find info from someone without a fiscal interest in my decision.
Good morning Marti and happy hump day folks. Really enjoyed YORE write up. For the most part, this did seem like a Monday, maybe Tuesday, puzzle, but just enough tricky stuff thrown in to keep it from being too easy.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Barry. Now let's hope wisdom comes with age. Au poivre, yes, but A-1? When asked if I want A-1 for my steak I always ask if the steak will be so bad that I need to disguise it. Ah well, as they say, youth is wasted on you young whipper snappers.
Great picture of the grandson, MJ.
Anti-G suit may be the correct term, but most of the time the anti gets left off in everyday usage.
Have a great day all.
Good morning all. Nice write-up, Marti.
ReplyDeleteArgyle; LOL. I thought it was pretty easy, too. !a was AZOV, and 2d was ZEUS, and I was off to the races. 3 double vowel fills: SAAR. GEE and AROO. The theme was manageable and fun. Got the full impact of the 39a unifier clue only after I had finished. The perps were helpful and ample, allowing me to get WAGs: NABOKOV (nice shout-out to Lolita) and SHTETLS (something I had heard before but didn't know what it was). All in all, a good romp on hump day. Thanks, Jack, for a bright puzzle.
Kazie, your description of the Saxon dialect makes me wince. Must be like rubbing fingernails on a chalkboard.
Enjoy the day.
HG, regarding the part D coverage, Medicare.gov has an excellent tool to show you your options. Enter your age, ZIP, and build a list of medications you take, your preference in pharmacies and it will generate a list of all of the plans available to you, the premium and the projected annual cost based on your medications. I check it every year during the open enrollment period to see if the plan I have is still the best deal for me. I have changed plans once in five years.
ReplyDeleteSHTETL has to be related to the German word Städtele meaning a small town. It occurs in the song Elvis made famous in GI Blues. Maybe it occurred to Jack as a clecho with ARON?--Nah, that's a bit of a stretch.
ReplyDeleteJust got back to Monday's blog. Dennis, if you happen to read this, your day-starting posts will be missed! Make this the year you get to Oshkosh, willya? Clear skies and tailwinds!
ReplyDeleteMarti; Excellent write-up!
ReplyDeleteBarry G. Happy Birthday
I'd go with the puzzle suggestion, RIBS.
AM SO glad the second clue asked for our (trite) Parisian pals, AMIS.
ARON doing Städtele
ReplyDeleteHG,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your assistance. If my tech support/wife isn't joshing me, meet the original Hondo Hurricane, Clint Hartung.
You guys have said it all for this wednesday effort, except thank you Marti for a fun write up and the very informative links on the history of the SHTETL, and Kazie for the etymology. As a descendant of Polish Jews, this history is part of my heritage, though the immediate family (great grandmother and all of her 8 children, including grandpa) all emigrated from Poland around the turn of the century and it was cousins who remained for the horrors of the 30s and 40s. I also was unfamilair with the Elvis gravestone having the AA spelling. My oldest is an AAron, though unrelated to Elvis.
ReplyDeleteC.C., it is good to see your comments, and MJ, beautiful pics;
finally BG, HBDTY
and many more; From the perspective of many of us, you are just a kid, so relax 45 is the new 25
Hello everybody. Fun puzzle, fun writeup. Thank you for your sense of humor, Marti.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Barry G. I trust you are having and will continue to have an especially good time today.
Gotta love SHTETLS, a cool mishmash of consonants. Lots of interesting fill today. I knew YERBA BUENA immediately, but not AZOV, STEIG, or MINOSO. Loved the clue for SLOPE.
Okay, so I went to Google images and searched for STRING BIKINI. Sometimes I just can't help but NOSE AROUND. You're right: now my eyes hurt.
MJ, nice pics, and it is terrific of you to help C.C. out like that.
Grumpy1, good advice about using the medicare.gov site. Thanks, I'll try it out.
Best wishes to you all.
Medicare? Glad Dennis isn't here to see this. What's next, nursing home sex?
ReplyDeleteHello, cyber friends, Marti, C.C. and all!
ReplyDeleteWhew! What a shock to return from the rain and cold of SFO, formerly YERBA Buena, to 100 plus degrees!
YERBA Buena means "good herb" but have no idea of the connection.
I'm still riding a high from meeting with the Coven; I know you have been apprised of our good times and our champagne toasts.
Thanks to C.C. who has made these connections possible through the blog. Pics later.
As for the puzzle, it's the first Jack McInturff I can recall that hasn't bitten me and beat me up. Lovely cluing and easy to work up and down. I paused at Sea of ___ but sashayed through the rest then returned to the top and finished AZOV though my first thought was ARAL but no go.
Even MINISO failed to give me fits. But I had DR HYDE, not MR so that was DNF.
Happy Birthday, Barry! I ditto everyone's comments, age is a number and you are as old as you feel. As Lemon said, 45 is the new 25! Enjoy!
Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone! It's so good to be among you again for a few days anyway. I'll be escaping again.
There's that "DF" again. Would someone please tell us what that means?
ReplyDeleteGood Morning All, Thank You, Marti!! I looked at those theme phrases ten times and more...and I still couldn't figure out what the heck Jack McInturff was G-oing for.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle filled in easily. Minnie MINOSO popped into my head from somewhere with only the letters SO filled in. I like it when that happens.
I was familiar with SHTETL. We wouldn't have Fiddler On The Roof without it. AND I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for an unknown SHTETL near Nikolaev in the Ukranian Pale. Grandma hauled out of there around 1910, with two little ones in hand to meet Grandpa in Chicago He had gone there the year before to work and save money for his family's passage. Rough life; after three more kids, Grandma died in the Spanish influenza pandemic in early 1919.
On a cheerier note, Happy Birthday to Barry G., and a smile for MJ and adorable Drake.
This one was a big DNF for me today. I knew I was in trouble when I couldn’t get 1-A, Azov. I hate when that happens. I had mints for minty as I had no idea that Yerba Buena was even a city. Other problems were with Minoso, Bela, Saar, and Iamb. Shtetls was my learning moment of the day. On a positive note, it was nice to see “Lolita” clued, but alas I didn’t know Nabakov was the author.
ReplyDeleteMarti, I thoroughly enjoyed your wit today.
MJ what a cute little guy!
BarryG happy, happy birthday to you (you young’n):)
Oh yeah, man, there IS a relationship between San Francisco and good herb. (Yerba Buena)
ReplyDeleteHi all -
ReplyDeleteGreat write up Marti!! Really enjoyed your take on the theme, it missed me completely. Had to laugh at your comment about 1A...not a good way to start, but that was about my only hang-up and with the perps, it didn't last long....didn't even have to drag my V-8 can out :)
Argyle (6:16) Funny!! That's exactly what I was thinking.
I had no idea about SHTELTLS, that is a mouthful...I don't know how to pronounce it.
Interesting about SF's name.
Barry G: A very happy birthday to you!
A steak dinner sounds like a winner. To most of us, you really are a youngster yet so just enjoy!
MJ: what a cute little guy Drake is. He looks like he could be a handful, a busy boy! That is such a sweet age.
Anonymous @ 12:27 PM, check out yesterday's blog, in which the term DF was explained and extensively mentioned.
ReplyDeleteYeah Lucina, I saw in the paper today that Phoenix was the hottest place in the continental USA (not counting Death Valley), at 114! Whew!
There is still a Yerba Buena island, which serves as the midpoint support for the San Francisco-Oakland bay bridge. The name of the city was bestowed by pioneer Catholic priests of Alta California as they settled an area where the Yerba Buena plant is native. It was so abundant there that its name was also applied to the settler's town adjacent to Mission San Francisco de Asís. In 1846, the town of Yerba Buena was seized by the United States during the Mexican-American War, and its name was changed in 1847 to San Francisco, after a nearby mission.
MJ:
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention what a darling little one you have! Thanks for sharing.
And Marti, you crack me up with your witty comments. Thanks.
Good afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteArgyle, wonderful quip. I did think this felt more like a Monday should.
Happy birthday, Barry G. Love your posts.
Thanks for the pics, C.C. and MJ.
Cheers
Haha, Argyle, yes, I do believe the good herb is commonly smoked in certain districts of San Francisco :)
ReplyDeleteArgyle - You da Man !
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly ! Those pioneering missionaries really knew a good thing when they saw one. Thank God, for the yerba mucho buena ( jolly good herb) for which 'Frisco is well known - and now that its even 'legal' - sorta - with a quack's note. On to Hate err, Haight-Ashbury !
Why would someone want to go to Tijuana, Amsterdam or Nepal, when you can get the real thing with Ben & Jerry's flower-powering, mind -crunching, soul-searching, brain-bubbling, flavors ? As Ogden Nash said ' Candy's dandy, but liquor's quicker, and Pot is hot to trot'.
Creature, and Carol, just for you, here is a map of the Sea of Azov. (OK, it’s for me, too!!)
ReplyDeleteDH and I just returned from a lovely lunch at the local airport diner with our new good friend Dudley. He flew in from "out west" and we met him there. I hadn't been up to the airport since the tornados went through here, and it was hard to imagine the force that caused planes to be crushed like soda cans. We'll have some pics for you later.
He gave me a great mnemonic for remembering MINOSO ("mimosa"). Mmmm, drinks always work for me!
Here's a little brain teaser:
ReplyDeleteThere is a casino and it has 4 gates (let's name them as gate A, B, C and D). Every time you come inside the casino, you have to pay $5 and every time you leave the casino, you again have to pay $5. Also know that, whatever amount of money you carry with you inside the casino, it doubles. For example if you carry $5, it will become $10. You have to go inside the casino through gate A, come out of B, again go inside the casino through gate C and finally come out of gate D. Now, how much money should you carry inside the casino so that when you finally come out of the gate D, you should be left with no (zero amount) money?
Lolita: I would have to have $11.25 before entering Gate A thus having $6.25 the first time in the Casino.
ReplyDeleteMINOSO sort of implies a "small bear"
ReplyDeleteSo, what was he doing playing for the White Sox?! He should have been crosstown, playing for the Cubs...!
BTW, C.C., I bet you can't figure out which of us posted THAT comment, can you...?
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of being pedantic, as well as being a newbie, [and a former g-suit user] G-suits also have inflatable bladders around the abdomen which inflate not because of speed, but rather because aerial maneuvers at high speed [e.g., hard turns, coming out of a high-speed dive] accentuates the force of gravity on the body, thus causing blood to flow to one's lower extremities. The same thing happens, though less extreme, when going an elevator or bottoming out on a roller coaster.
ReplyDeleteGreetings, solvers,
ReplyDeleteJack, I have to agree with Lucina that this puzzle is the first of yours that hasn't trounced me!Thank you so much, especially after the other two early-week offerings. What a pleasure!
Marti, terrific writeup. Love your humor and enthusiasm.
I got the AZ 1A&2A but had to wait for the perps. The other hangup was the last letter in Steig. I should have waited and it would have appeared in the following line: string bikini. No problems with the rest,
I liked 'shtetls' and really enjoyed the link you gave us, Marti.I remembered the word, I guess from "Fiddler".
Barry, I think of you as still a boy, and you still look like one!
So enjoy your birthday and don't change a thing! You're a long way from Medicare and the AARP!
Oops! Over again! Sorry, C.C. and BTW. good to hear from you!
Hi everybody. Happy birthday Barry!
ReplyDeleteI'm watching C.C.'s Twins beat up on my hapless Dodgers for the second straight day.
I agree with Spitz's answer. I was about to post my answer but he got there first while I was watching baseball.
Dodo, once again I'm not sure how you are counting but I get just 21 lines including your apology.
I must join in and wish Barry G. a happy birthday! He can always be counted on to write something lively. It is also interesting that someone else close to us has a birthday tomorrow. I'll let you all figure it out.
ReplyDeleteThis was a genius puzzle, Jack the Mack! I loved the way it revealed itself. Thanks for the great theme, and wonderful clues, too.
Gee Whiz(2:22) by Carla Thomas, released in October, 1960, by the Queen of Memphis Soul.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Okay, I can't stand the suspense anymore. Our dear C. C. turns the big 30 tomorrow. ( for most of us, that would be two lifetimes.)
ReplyDeleteHBTY and many, many more to come.
Great new avatar Hondo.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday C.C.!
Don't be a stranger Dennis.
@ BarryG
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! In honor of today's Constructor, perhaps you should go with the Surf N Turff. Though I agree with Grumpy1 - please lay off the sauce.
Oh, and as Billy Crystal once said, it's not how you feel, it's how you look. And you look mahvelous!
(However, you haven't updated your pic in a while. Hmm.)
'In a while'? How about 'ever'?
ReplyDeleteHa, the cat's out of the bag! May your birthday tomorrow be extra special, C.C.
ReplyDeleteYe Gods, C.C.,
ReplyDelete30 on the 30th! Happy Birthday and many more, starting at 12:00 AM, on 6/30/11. This is huge!
You and boomer kick up your heels!
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteWhat was not to like about this puzzle? Clever and fun..had the same hang ups as others, but it perped together just fine.Thanks Jack!
Lots of learning and humor with your write up, Marti.And,gee whiz, you still had time to have lunch with Dudley.
Happy Birthday Barry. Get a yummy steak so you don't have to cover it in A-1 :(
MJ, thanks for dropping by and sharing Drake with us, a cutie. I DO understand about having no time to spend on the computer when the grandsons are about.I will be a full time grandma in July as the caretakers are vacationing.
Argyle, enjoyed Gee Whiz
C.C., I can't wait until tomorrow, since Don G. has let the cat out of the bag. HBD in advance!!
ReplyDeleteGood day everyone!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the kind comments about Drake's photos. We are enjoying him more and more every day. We are blessed to live just a few miles from him and his parents, and see them regularly. It is exciting to experience Drake as his personality develops, generally cheerful and inquisitive. His favorite "toys" are books, and he loves playing outdoors, especially with his dog, Gunther (new avatar).
Barry G., HBTY! Hope you enjoyed your bifteck au poivre! And as others have said, you have many, many years to go to reach middle-age!
I think this is my favorite Jack McInturff puzzle ever. Loved the GEEWHIZ clue/answer dead center!
Enjoy the night!
Happy Birthday in advance C.C.! Hope it's the best ever!
ReplyDeleteSpitzboov,
I agree about your assessment of Sächsisch up to a point. But once you start to catch on, it's funny to hear things pronounced so strangely, and challenging to try to learn their words for things. My Hessian cohorts warned me that it would be the worst German possible, and I guess they should know--others have said Hessisch is pretty bad too!
marti:
ReplyDeletenot only do they make g-rated movies, some make MONEY .
Thanks for heads up DG!
On the unchanging avatar list, the birthday neighbors BG and CC.
We also have Buckeye and Jeannie who changed but is back where she began, anyone else. Tinman?
Kazie,
ReplyDeleteI have shared your frustration. I have live most of my life in the middle of the middle and speak a perfect midwestern dialect. But! I also spent a brief period in the South and while there learned to speak nearly fluent Southernese. They are based on the same language, but they are not at all the same language. I doubt there's a great deal of difference between the differences that you cite. (and then there's Texan. That's a whole nuther thing.)
MJ. I meant to comment on your adorable Drake! He's beautiful and looks all boy! What fun. Did you say you had other grands? Mine are all pretty much grown up, so I really realish the ones I see here!
ReplyDeleteBill G. I guess I have an overactive guilt syndrome, or something! God help me if I overstep the bounds~! I do have lots of problems with numbers, which is why I never try to work out Jeannie's puzzles! Can't even count, as you can see!
Happy, Happy Birthday tomorrow, C.C. Looks to me like 'you've come a long way, baby!' But you're a kid, kiddo~! Have a ball!
Hello fellow cruciverbalists!
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle, Jack, but the theme was not up my alley. Great, humorous write-up, Marti!
Happy birthday Barry! Such a youngster!
Happy birthday tomorrow, CC! You are very talented and sooo young!
Dennis--will miss your daily wise words. I appreciate the effort you put into your writings!
Drake is an adorable baby!
Going to wear Holter monitor tomorrow. Next week is unpleasant nuclear stress test. (Can't imagine lying down for 3 hours doing nothing. Hope I can use the iPod!)
Not much to comment about puzzle. Knew SAAR from stamp collecting in early years. The Germans put out worthless stamps like wall paper in the war years, as I recall.
Cheers!
Don G only posted once today at 4:13pm. The 4:55pm is an ugly thief who keeps stealing others' identity on the blog and posting under various names. Don't be fooled by his polite messages, he has the soul of a rotten banana peel. Disgusting!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Barry G.!
ReplyDeletetest
ReplyDeleteC.C.: You are so funny! We know that tomorrow is your birthday, you can't fool us into thinking that someone stole Don G's identity. Thirty is a nice milestone birthday. Have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteHahtool, it's no joke. It's not the first time someone stole a 'non-blue' identity here.
ReplyDeleteHahtool,
ReplyDeleteTomorrow is my 40th birthday. That's true. But Don didn't write the second post. We have a evil thief who preys on everyone with his ever-changing black name posts.
C.C. thanks for the alert to the ID thief...I have removed all my profile. Probably too late....what a world we are becoming!
ReplyDelete'Blue' names are safe - only the black ones can be duplicated.
ReplyDeleteLemonade @ 7:30, HaHa, would you believe, I have never heard of any of those "G" rated movies? (Who is "Justin Bieber"???) Gawd!! I feel old...
ReplyDeleteC.C., sorry to hear there is a cybercrumb plaguing this blog, especially when it is something as important as your birthday!! But, it matters not which one it is - each one should always be special for you!
C.C., Best wishes for a HBD slightly in advance. In addition to starting and running this blog and constructing puzzles, you have been very kind and supportive to all and especially to me. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYour Twins certainly got even with the Dodgers in the second and third games.
Carol, I think you are being overly cautious about your profile. There have always been a few anon jerks lurking about but I don't think anybody has been harmed due to the innocuous stuff we put in our profile. In fact, I wish some others would expand their profile. I find it much nicer to know a little about our blog friends here.
Kazie. Thank you. My ambission is to go to Iceland to a summer school, learn Icelandic and then go east and learn the rest. Then end up in Vienna.
ReplyDeleteSpitzboov you get the Lolita smooch tonight as you were the first one right on the riddle. BillG, too bad you were watching baseball :)
ReplyDeleteCarol, I know Joe is behind the "clean up", relax.
I am pondering the menu for my neice's new found love. I am thinking something strictly American like fried chicken, baked beans (Jeannie style), cole slaw, corn on the cob, watermelon and a blueberry pie. Too much? Do I need a starch with that menu?
Jeannie, how about buttermilk biscuits?
ReplyDeleteJeannie,
ReplyDeleteI think if they can make it to dessert, they'll be well rewarded. But it sounds like a lot of food to get through!
Avg Joe,
It's really a lot like the various versions of English beyond these shores. We all have different words for things in Oz, Britain, and here too. What's funny is most of us think we are the only ones with no accent--everyone else has one, but not those from our home area. You really only notice that when you live somewhere else for a long time, and then go "home" again and you can hear the "foreign" accent that once was your own. BTW, I like to compare Texas with Bavaria--bigger and better than everywhere else, and unique accent.
It's after midnight here, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, C.C.! Best wishes to you, and thank you for creating an informative, friendly blog "where everybody knows your name"! Who needs the corner bar, when you've got a local hangout like this blog to feel at home and cared about.
ReplyDeleteJeannie: IMO, the watermelon doesn't seem to fit unless you serve it as a cubed salad with cheese. I haven't tried it yet, but I've seen it in a few different magazines. I forget which cheese they use - bleu, gorgonzola, feta? If you're interested, I can dig out the recipe for you.
Jeannie, I agree with Kazie about it sounding like a lot of food. If he's polite and trying to make a nice impression, he'll think he has to take some of everything so he doesn't hurt your feelings...
ReplyDeleteC.C.:
ReplyDeleteI want to wish you the happiest of birthdays tomorrow! You deserve it.
I always post at midday so would rather do it now.
Dodo:
I love your avatar with the photo! Nice job! I also want to thank you for being the gracious hostess at our gathering and for organizing the whole event. Such fun!
Hola Everyone, My post disappeared into cyperspace so I'll just briefly recap.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get to the puzzle until late, but finished without too much trouble. I didn't get the theme until coming here and reading Marti's fun writeup.
I want to wish you, Barry, A very happy birthday and many, many more.
Also, thanks for sharing the picture of your darling grandson, MJ. He looks like he keeps all the adults in his world very busy.
Lucina, I'm glad to see you are back home safe and sound.
9. "Lolita" author : NABOKOV
ReplyDeleteThe Police Don't Stand (So Close To Me) Only posted because the song mentions the book.
THE POLICE