google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, Jul 7, 2011, Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

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Jul 7, 2011

Thursday, Jul 7, 2011, Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Theme: Lawesome puns. Some of these are truly lawful, others are just a law deal.

17A. Fine print in Yogi's contract?: BEAR CLAUSE. (claws). A clause is an article or section of text; it originally meant conclusion, but lost that meaning over time.

25A. Court allegations requiring consideration?: ATTENTION PLEAS. (please) Plea from Old French plait: lawsuit.

42A. Product liability problems for Willy Wonka?: CHOCOLATE TORTS. (torte) Middle Latin tortum: injustice.

57A. Vague religious law?: LOOSE CANON. (cannon) From Latin "canon": straight line, rule.

Hi all, Al again, and another puzzle by one of our own, Marti. I think this should have been Lemonade's to blog though, I'm a bit out of order here.

ACROSS:

1. President known as "Big Bill": TAFT. William. At 5'11", he weighed about 335 lbs. at his peak.

5. Beat it: SPLIT. Scram, leave.

10. Shady growth: MOSS. Not exclusive to north sides, trees can shade other trees, and prevailing winds can dry out the "wrong" side as well. Keep your GPS handy.

14. Jamaican tangelo: UGLI. Cross between orange, tangerine, and grapefruit. The one time I tried one, it tasted like a grapefruit, so why bother? Anyone have one "in the wild" that tasted any better?

15. Stag: ALONE. Well, OK it can mean that, but I think of this term more as meaning male-only, like a men's club.

16. Wheelset piece: AXLE.

19. "Swell!": NEAT.

20. Body in a belt: ASTEROID. Between Mars and Jupiter.

21. Abby and Martha, to Mortimer, in "Arsenic and Old Lace": AUNTS.

22. Exempt attachment?: ION. Exemption.

23. Tab, for one: COLA. Sales declined sharply with the introduction of diet coke, but it is still available. Initially used cyclamates (banned), then saccharin(warning label), then aspartame (should be banned) as the sweetener.

32. Clip: SPEED. I worked through this puzzle at a good clip.

33. A lot of nothing: NILS. Normally, plurals evoke a "meh" from me, but the clue for this one made it better somehow.

34. Many a '50s-'60s pop act: DUO. Here are some, most I'm too young to know or remember...

35. Fine cotton: PIMA. Had not heard of this.

36. Moving aid: DOLLY. Applied from 1792 to any contrivance fancied to resemble a doll in some sense, especially "a small platform on rollers". Doesn't look like one to me, either.

38. Douglas and Fraser: FIRS. My wife seems to prefer Frasers at Christmas. I prefer artificial. Guess who wins?

39. Medium power?: ESP. A 4' tall psychic successfully eluded police after a bank robbery. The headline read: Small medium at large.

40. Show enthusiasm: RAVE.

41. Hershey's raw material: CACAO. Chock full of antioxidents, dark chocolate is actually healthful in small quantities, if only they don't use milkfat instead of cocoa butter. Milk in chocolate negates any benefit.

46. Biblical middle child: ABEL. According to Genesis 4:25, Seth was born after the slaying of Abel by Cain, and Eve believed God had appointed him as a replacement for Abel.

47. Jamaican spirits: RUM. Originally rumbullion, rombostion, of uncertain origin, perhaps from the ajective form of rum, meaning fine or excellent used approvingly by rogues in reference to one another.

48. Thin: SPARE. Old English, sense of frugal or absence of fat.

51. Get the most out of: MAXIMIZE. Latin maximum, largest, greatest.

56. America's first spy: HALE. Nathan. Symbol of bravery and patriotism.

59. Elects: OPTS.

60. Sat rocking, say: IDLED.

61. Ivory Coast neighbor: MALI. Today's geography lesson.

62. New Mexico resort: TAOS. I should have taken that left turn at albuquerque

63. Spanish filmmaker Almodovar: PEDRO.

64. Hardly at all: A TAD. Perhaps from a shortening of tadpole.

DOWN:

1. Big band wind: TUBA. I liked the crossing of big wind and a politician in the NW corner.

2. Gets along in years: AGES.

3. Place to take 27-Down: FLAT English Apartment, along with 27D. See 3-Down: TEA.

4. Turnpike roller: TIRE.

5. Oater joint: SALOON. Anglicized form of salon, a large hall.

6. Lament: PLAINT. Vaguely theme-related, from French plaintif (complaining).

7. More than just eye-catching, clotheswise: LOUD.

8. Good tennis returns: INS.

9. Where to start playing a round: TEE. Golf. The grassy area and the peg the ball is placed upon.

10. Guide: MANUAL.

11. Team with a lot of pull?: OXEN.

12. Blind section: SLAT.

13. Directors' milieus: SETS. Milieu is French for place, related: lieu (in lieu of).

18. Exclaimed: CRIED.

21. Range in seven countries: ALPS.

23. DNA shape: COIL. A double helix, actually.

24. Singular: ONLY.

25. Silly: APISH. Quit monkeying around...

26. A conductor sets it: TEMPO. Italian, literally "time".

28. Firth or fjord: INLET. a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.

29. Proclamation: EDICT. Theme related bonus word.

30. Subtle qualities: AURAS.

31. Not too hot: SO-SO.

32. What houses may be built on: SPEC.

36. Valley: DALE. Glen, vale.

37. Like the lenses on some granny glasses: OVAL.

38. Considerably: FAR.

40. Courtroom cover-up: ROBE. Judge's dress.

41. Book with drawings: COMIC. Manga too.

43. Tender touch: CARESS.

44. Test-taking tip?: ERASER. Cute, a pencil end.

45. Prom dress: TUXEDO. M/F bender. Lots of trickster clues today.

48. Tavern measure: SHOT. One ounce. A jigger is 1.5 oz.

49. Senior Smurf: PAPA and 52D. 49-Down's partner: MAMA. Before anyone complains about there not actually being a mama smurf character (Smurfette was the only female Smurf), the reference clue for 52 was to the answer for 49, not for the clue to 49.

50. Chorus line: ALTO. I assume because they stand altogether...

51. Bread concern: MOLD. Another Thursday and another clue not about money.

53. __ the finish: IN AT.

54. "J'accuse" author: ZOLA. An accusation of outrage against someone powerful. An open letter in the newspaper L'Aurore by the influential writer Emile Zola, was addressed to the President of France, and accused the government of anti-Semitism and the unlawful jailing of a French Army General Staff officer for espionage. Zola pointed out judicial errors and lack of serious evidence. The letter was printed on the front page of the newspaper. Zola was prosecuted and found guilty of libel. To avoid imprisonment, he fled to England.

55. City west of Tulsa: ENID.

57. Sass: LIP.

58. Writing on an urn: ODE. Ode on a Grecian Urn -- John Keats.


Al

49 comments:

creature said...

Good Morning C.C., AL and all,

Well, Marti, the law will never be the same. Now I see the confusion of our good citizens, who plead ’not guilty’; creative law. Very creative! And a challenge to constructors. Fantastic fresh fill! Even NILS gets by me with your great clue: A lot of nothing. Other clever clues, such as : medium power: ESP.
Thanks. For a pleasurable Thursday AM.

Thanks, Al, for your always super informative write-up.

Busy times here.

Have a nice day everyone

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Well, I could have done without NILS or APISH, but other than that this was a fun puzzle that was right up my alley. As Al mentioned, there were tons of great, tricky clues that really made me think hard. I literally slapped my forehead when I finally figured out TUXEDO....

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Crossword friends. Fun puzzle, Marti. In addition to the legal puns, we had the Courtroom Cover-Up = ROBE. Also, Big Bill TAFT followed his tenure as President by becoming the 10th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

I learned that Beat It is not Scram, but SPLIT.

I liked how FLAT was placed right next to the TIRE.

I learned about Nathan HALE from my mother's stamp collection.

PEDRO Almodovar had directed a number of interesting movies. Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down was the first one of his movies that I saw.

My favorite clue was Team with Lots of Pull = OXEN.

QOD: Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body. ~ Cicero

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning, Al, Marti and all. Cogratulations on a very clever puzzle, Marti.

Wanted 'shear' for clip and that slowed me down. I think the only time I've seen NILS, it's been guitarist Lofgren. Nice to see a clever clue there.

Too bad you couldn't work in that other horrible legal pun: Santa's helpers = subordinate clauses.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Al, C.C. et al.

Well, this was a surprise for me this morning. Rich had originally scheduled this one for tomorrow, but I guess he pulled the old switcheroo at the last minute.

(But at least I managed to finish it without any lookups, LOL!!!)

Argyle said...

Hey!

You know how sometimes I'll say I put in a word, then took it out only to put it back in again? Not today; when I took it out, it stayed out.

Yellowrocks said...

In a choral score the alto line could be the part written for the alto voice.

Hahtoolah said...

Apropos of 51-Down: The Chillicothe Baking Company began selling the first commercially available sliced bread on this date in 1928.

Avg Joe said...

Good morning Al. And thank you Marti for a challenge. It took me a long time to get a toe hold, then it was just minor victories in various places. Did get it done, though. Favorite clue by far was Writing on an urn.

Creature asked late last night about my new avatar. Well....let's just say that Condi and I were friends a number of years ago....and that she wasn't impressed. :-)

(The truth is, I just wanted to be rid of the little me and that one popped up in my archive.)

Tinbeni said...

Al, On my adventures in Jamaica I've had UGLI, when it was ripe, right off the tree, and it was way more tangy than Grapefruit. Yum!
When I got it here, it was SO-SO.

Fave answer today ... SALOON.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

38. Douglas and Fraser: FIRS. I was thinking of Buster Douglas & Joe Fraser. I then googled Douglas and Fraser and learned that it was trees not boxers.

Fun Facts by Dave Letterman

George Washington never told a lie except when Martha caught him opening the neighbor's mail.

In New Mexico, it's legal to drive while asleep.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Marti, for a very nice puzzle. Thank you Mr. Al for some very nice explanations - and some awesome commentary.

'Bear Clause' ( I had Berra ----- , for the longest time - ) was an exception to the missing letter rule. I found the puzzle tough .... well, its Thursday.

Al, you're right - Ugli fruit is highly overrated, mostly because, it is a rarity. Suck an orange instead.

Tab - meaning 'Cola' was very cute;

In general, the punny clues, are too much for me - even if I do eventually get them - I guess I get no pleasure out of it. Come next Thursday, I should just come here and read your excellent write-up, and save myself the hassle of completing the puzzle.

I have read extensively about the Dreyfuss affaire', with Zola accusation and all, and also saw the movie, starring Richard Dreyfuss (?) - all of which confirm my general bias on the French pig headedness, racial bias and general ineptitude.

Dick said...

Good morning Marti and all, a very interesting puzzle today with so many fresh clues. Great job Marti! And, as usual Al, a very informative write up.

I started in the NW section getting Taft, but then got bogged down and just could not get on the right wave length. I finally walked away for a while, came back, looked at the clues, and wondered why I was so thick headed the first time. After the second start things flowed very smoothly and I was able to complete the CW with only perp help.

The first theme answer to fall was bear clause and that got me going on the other theme answers. I really enjoyed the puzzle sand hope we see more from Marti.

Hope you all have a great day.

Anonymous said...

Hi Al - Thanks for sharing your puzzle skills with us. We are all the better for your help. But I have to ask: What's with the "meh"? According to my father-in-law, may he rest in peace, there were 2 basic responses to life, or things in general. There was "eh", which meant "not too bad" and there was "feh"' which meant not so good. So what does "meh" mean and where did it come from? Your loyal fan - Mac from Brooklyn

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Thanks for the commentary, Al

Marti, you stinker. This was a devilishly clever puzzle which was moderately difficult but a lot of fun to solve. For the most part, though, I seemed to be on your wave length. Loved the theming. Nailed the NE corner early and then the SW. Had Togo for MALI and soda for COLA, until ALPS fell. A little Wite-Out™ there. The NW was last to fall with BEAR CLAUSE. Many clever clues, too numerous to mention, but especially liked TUXEDO, ERASER, 38a FIRS, TIRE, and ASTEROID. No lookups needed. Kudos on a signal achievement. BZ

Have a great day.

Lucina, how did you fare during the great dust storm?

Husker Gary said...

Our renaissance woman Marti is back again! The SE took a while but that just added to the fun and I enjoyed all the puns. You go girl!

Always learn from you Al!

Musings
-Taft stuck in a bathtub conjures up a disturbing image.
-I’m gonna have to eat an UGLI instead of just seeing them in cwd’s
-Augusta National Golf Club is still stag, Al.
-Once you cross the ASTEROID belt, you have left the rocky inner planets and are headed for the gassy giants
-My old high school put on Arsenic and Old Lace the night of Nov. 22, 1963 after much debate. I always associate the play with that memory.
-We are renting a DOLLY today to move our daughter
-My African geography is horrible after the north and South Africa.
-My friend coaches high school tennis where players call the INS and OUTS on the honor system. That doesn’t always work out!
-Oh, that prom dress. Clever!

Anonymous said...

She must be really heavy.

ltl said...

anon@9:26, FUNNY line.

Al said...

Mac @ 8:54, meh is an expression of apathy or slight disagreement. According to Wikipedia, it became popular because of a Simpsons episode called "Hungry Homer".

kazie said...

anon@8:18,
It's true--the French were (perhaps are) guilty of much antisemitism. Maybe it's why they folded so easily during WWII.

Al,
Great blog, I found your intro very amusing, and the rest very informative.

I took way longer over some things than I should have: ASTEROID, MOSS (was thinking of shade-giving trees), CRIED, COIL, MAXimize--had OPT-, hence MOLD, ERASER and TUXEDO--was looking for some sort of dress. But I did get it all with no outside assistance.

Marti,
Very tricky, but satisfying and fun. Thanks!

Jerome said...

Nice Marti, very nice. ASTEROID, MAXIMIZE, SALOON, TUXEDO, and COMIC. Good stuff!

SHOT, SALOON, NEAT, COLA, RUM. I'm ready.

Writing on an urn = ODE. That rates a 10!

eddy said...

Hi.

A fun puzzle with no problems.
Love bear claws.

Take care. It's a beautiful day.

JD said...

Good morning Al, C.C. and all,

As soon as I filled in bear clause, I knew it was going to be fun...and it was, although a little tough in the south.Tuxedo was a surprise. Well, so was dolly. I was so sure it was exlax!

Loved loose canon and test taking tip. Taos is a place we'd like to visit.
Speaking of desert, when do you think we will see haboob in a puzzle, the name given to AZ's sandstorm?
Today's new word is pliant...not as exciting, or should I say titillating.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, What a nice surprise to see a "Marti special" on-line.

There were so many clever clues, "Writing on an urn" for 58D/ODE was my favorite. Keats traced an engraving of the Sosibios Vase, which is in the Louvre. It may have been an inspiration, but the urn in his poem was all in his imagination.

I was pleased by 21A)Abby and Martha, to Mortimer, in "Arsenic and Old Lace": AUNTS. I guess it's because I loved the very funny Cary Grant movie.

I am amazed at how constructors come up with theme connected punny phrases. Awesome, Marti.

Cute, Al. The ALTO line does stand together. :o) In our chorus, since we are a small group, we tend to huddle. Of course, as Yellowrocks pointed out, we do our best to follow the "A" for ALTO line on our music. I am most often the one who drifts off. Fortunately, my best friend is a wonderful singer and keeps me where I should be musically.

Bill G. said...

Marti, fun puzzle. I was wondering about some of the especially clever clues like 'Writing on an urn, test-taking tip, prom dress' and others. Were they from your evil brain or Rich's? Fun stuff.

Creature, you asked last night about the doggie in my window. That's an ex-dog, my good buddy Sammy (Samantha). She's was an Old English Sheepdog. They have a very playful and lovable personality. When a fire truck went by with siren aroar, she would run upstairs to the window, throw her head back and howl like a wolf. I'm sure she had a little lupine DNA in her.

Over the years, she got more and more infirm. We had to help her up the steps and in getting up off a smooth floor. When she fell and injured her back leg, it was time for her last trip to the vet. That was a very sad day. I still expect her to meet and greet me when I unlock the front door.

HeartRx said...

Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone. I’m glad to see many of you had fun with it. I just love puns, so this isn’t the last one like this you will see from me (fair warning!)

Jerome - from you, I am honored!

JD, I almost snorted coffee out my nose when I read your take on “Moving aid” – Exlax !!! (BTW, I have added “haboob” to my list of words…)

Bill G. , that’s a very good question. Whenever I submit a puzzle, I usually include at least two, if not three, different clues for each answer (I’m sure other constructors do this as well). And they are usually easiest / medium / and outright devious. It is up to the editor to decide how hard he wants the puzzle to be. In this case, Rich picked the hardest ones – and yes, those were mine.

There were a few he changed – I had “Like John Daly’s pants” for LOUD. I guess if you have ever seen him play golf, you would know what I am talking about. But only a small percentage of solvers would know that, so OK, I don’t mind!

I can’t wait for tomorrow’s offering…

Clear Ayes said...

Al linked the singing DUOs of the 50's and 60's. I noticed that "Farmer John" was listed as recorded by Dewey and Don. It was a big hit for The Premieres in the early 60's. Although it was on a rockable par with "Louie Louie", even then I thought the line "the one with the champagne eyes" was very poetic. I had to check YouTube and came away with the inimitable (in the "so unusual as to be impossible to copy" sense) Neil Young version. Fascinatin'!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. I loved this puzzle today. Thank you, Marti. And thank you, Al, for an interesting and informative writeup.

After I got BEAR CLAUSE and CHOCOLATE TORT I thought for sure the theme had to do with pastries, which slowed me down getting the other theme entries. I kept trying to think what sort of pastry CANON referred to, and then when I got PLEAS I finally figured it out. I didn't actually slap my forehead like Barry G did, but came close.

Love love loved the sneaky cluing! And as Jerome said, some good solid fill, too. This is one of those puzzles that give me an "aaahhhh" feeling of satisfaction. Like a good wine, lots of "mouth" while enjoying it and plenty of "finish" afterwards.

Best wishes to you all.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, Marti, another great puzzle--in more ways than one. The theme entries were all very ingenious, and I finished the whole puzzle without any lookups, just like you! LOL.

As Creature said, "The law will never be the same."

There were several misleading entries--at least for me. Tuxedo for one. I couldn't get a girl's dress out of my head. Tuxedo was an aha moment. Clip, too, took a while to sus. I wanted something to do with hair, so speed wasn't in my vocabulary.

I thought Neat for Swell was fun. Swell was my FIL's favorite saying. He went to school in the Teens and 20's and that was a common expression then.

My very favorite clue, though, was Turnpike roller/tire. Very clever.

Thanks also,Al, for a great writeup.

Anonymous said...

I have noticed that other have shared old photos with the groups so I decided to join the fray.

Jayce said...

Red State Democrat, thank you.

I was just on the phone with our son who lives in Phoenix and he reports that the haboob was exciting and that people were acting like idiots frolicking out in it. No property damage to either his or his friends' property, except that their swimming pools are messes and their houses are full of dust. He says it will take a week to clean everything up.

creature said...

BillG,

Sammy- sad- sweet. Great avatar! Thanks, Bill.

Red State Democrat,

How exciting! I feel I've known you in a former life.
Really like your Fun Facts by David Letterman.
Am I right to assume you are from Chicago?

creature said...

Jeannie,

My all-time favorite food is fried chicken. Its been years since I ‘ve had the real thing. Always for Sunday dinner. Someone has told me a guy is trying to break into the KFC territory with “Krispy Krunchy”. She says its delicious. Of course, I’ll try it. My problem is no one but you knows how to ‘make’ fried chicken.

I have all the seasoned cast iron pots ,lids, skillets, corn bread pans, etc, {yes, even a dutch oven with lid} but I don’t have the expertise and skills that you have. Every time you get into your fried chicken methods, my mouth waters. Why don’t you start a ’Jeannie’s Fried Chicken’ franchise? I will donate my cast iron ware to the Louisville franchise.

Oh, for that luscious piece of real fried chicken.

Hope your food show is coming along.

fermatprime said...

Hello all!

Terrific puzzle, Marti! Great write-up, Al. The puzzles that are the most fun are those with puns! It must be difficult submitting 3 clues for each answer, M. Do you ever use puzzle-writing software?

Argyle--I do not count white spaces either! Count again!

CA--You look splendid, love the new avatar.

In Calif. they are not hooking up solar systems in a very timely fashion. They evidently do not want to lose money (so I was told). So my expensive system just sits here during the hot, hot weather. Bummer.

Very tired today. Had a disagreement with the dog, who wanted to go out every hour last night. Did not feel like hopping into wheelchair over and over. I have a rope attached to the door, which has been used many times to let her in. To be continued...

fermatprime said...

Continuation

Reverse process has never worked. Last night I tied a huge loop in the rope to prop the (inner) door open. She resisted going out for approx. 90 minutes (and kept nipping at my foot). Then I heard the doggy door go twack and all was well in a bit. Untied the knot. Any bets as to whether or not this will work more quickly tonight?

Cheers!

Jayce said...

Hi creature. You never did answer my question from the other day, which was: how could you tell from my photo that I am a Yalie? And where do YOU call home? Thank you.

dodo said...

Greetings friends,

Wonderful, terrific puzzle, Marti! Tough, but not so hard that I had to google. Exactly my speed. Speaking of 'speed', I thought of that when at a loss about 'clip' but figured nobody would use it. The expression "at a good clip" was something my parents and even grandparents used. Then sure enough, the perps started to fall and I had been right!

Al, your writeup was, as usual, really good, very informational, and enjoyable too.

RSDemo, do you still have that gorgeous red hair? My husband was like that until he was about 14 and then it started to get darker, as so often happens. You remind me of some child movie actor; cant think who, though.

creature said...

Jayce,

I was probably avoiding answering your question. because I wanted you to think that I was up on the gate in the photo or something. Actually, it was printed somewhere on the photo. I had a few friends that went there. My house is in Sou. Indiana; about 35 minutes from the bridge to Louisville, which I consider to be my home. I'm there all the time and Lou. people are here a lot.

Did you go to Yale from San Jose?

There you have it. Sorry I was tempted to be mysterious. It was so impowering. LOL

Jayce said...

LOL creature! I totally understand! Didn't realize it was printed in the photo; I'll have to take a closer look. No, I didn't come to San Jose until years after I was in New Haven.

Spent a month working on a contract in Cincinnati once, which is close to Indiana and Kentucky too. Nice country, but Cincinnati sucks. LOL Enjoyed nighclubbing across the river in Covington, Kentucky, though. My friend there was a bona fide Kentucky Colonel.

Thanks for your reply.

Al said...

@Jayce, it's in the actual image name of the pic itself. When you click on your avatar to go to your profile page, then click "View Full Size" to display only the picture, the image title for that page comes up as JC+at+`Yale.jpg

Avg Joe said...

I've followed BillG's lead and posted a new avatar picturing our dogs....former and current. The Golden was the best dog in existence, but after a long life of 13 1/2 years in 2006 she had to be released from the surly bonds of this earth.... worst day of my life, and I had a lot of bad days that year. The Rottie is our current guardian. He's a step-Rott, as one of our sons felt compelled to have a dog once he moved out after high school. 6 months later, his situation changed and nearly 7 years later, we still have the dog but he's a wonderful creature. He's getting old too, so I rue the day that....

And since I'm such a fan of puns, I have to point out that they are posed on the parapets of our former house. What should you keep on your parapets? Your pair of pets, of course.

Jayce said...

Al, thank you. Doh! :)

Unknown said...

As usual, I didn't get the theme! Puns usually confound me, but this time I got a hold on the first one and the others fell into place.
Thanks, Al, for the informative write-up today.
My fave today was "Loose Canon". In our church we have Cannon to the Ordinary. The name makes me giggle ever time I hear it! If he were not ordinary; would he still need a cannon? Our priest was once a police detective. There is just something crazy about heat toting clergy!

If I knew how to add a new avatar, I'd do it. I can't remember how I added the Lake Michigan sunset one that I have now.

Tab is, in my opinion, a bottle of chemicals! Yuck.
I'll stick with sweet iced tea; the house wine of the South!

Good work, Marti! I look forward to more from you.
Good evenin' all!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - Was out of town today, so late to the party. Didn't want the day to close up without my saying "Well done!" to my neighbor Hearti / Marti. Tricky puns from top to bottom! Looking forward to your next project.

Argyle said...

You are absolutely right, fermatprime. I get the comments in my mail box and there, there were only 13 lines. I should have checked the blog.

LaLaLinda said...

A real challenging and very enjoyable puzzle, Marti! So many great clues ... my favorite was the one for BEAR CLAUSE. I didn't get it right away though ... I was thinking of Yogi Berra. Lots of fun! Thanks to you and to Al for a great write-up.

Bill G. said...

I got a strange phone call today. A fellow with a very thick accent (maybe Indian?) asked about me and my son and claimed I had a dormant account with $3000 in it. If I would give him some information, he would claim it for me and charge me a 10 percent fee. I might have taken him up on it but I didn't want to give out information to an unsolicited caller plus I couldn't understand most of what he said. I asked to speak to a supervisor but he said he was the supervisor. So I turned him down.

I called up the state's controller office and apparently there is $3000 in a dormant checking account under my son's and my name. So maybe this will eventually turn out to be fortuitous. Stay tuned.

Lemonade714 said...

Bill G.;
Every state maintains the monies from dormant accounts, and there always "entrepeneurs" who scour the lists for money and then track down the owners asking for a fee to collect, but you do not need them. What you will need is proof you are the account holder and lived where the account was set up.
Go get your money.

Fun puzzle Marti, and nobody picked your nits, so I was out of a job. Maybe you could do it for your own puzzle

Anonymous said...

@ Jayce You're welcome. I'm a KY Colonel also. Commissioned 18 Dec 1999

@ creature no, I'm from Kentucky. I just like the White Sox baseball team. Glad you enjoy LSFF.

@ Dodo no I dont have that anymore it went brown as I got older then I dyed it so dark black (it was almost blue. Now I'm bald.