google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Advertisements

Aug 23, 2011

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Theme: Hogtied - The four themes are tied together by clues with the word HOG in them.

17A. Road hog : DANGEROUS DRIVER

27A. Hog heaven : ABSOLUTE BLISS

44A. Hog wild : OVERLY EXCITED

56A. Whole hog : WITH NO RESTRAINT

Argyle here. I confess I sat looking at the answer grid trying to figure out the connection between the four theme answers before I remembered to look at the clues again. D'oh! If you hadn't noticed, the constructor is our own HeartRx. Good job, Marti.

Across:

1. Close-up lens : MACRO

6. Jazz jobs : GIGS

10. Con game : SCAM. Report them to 37A. Truth-in-advertising agcy. : BBB. The Better Business Bureau.

14. The American dream, e.g. : IDEAL

15. Colosseo city : ROMA. The Colosseum(Colosseo) in Rome(Roma), Italy(Italia)

16. "__, Can You Hear Me?": song from "Yentl" : PAPA. Clip.(3:18)

20. Pvt. driller : SGT.

21. Drips in the ER : IVs. Emergency Room/Intravenous

22. Arm-twisting : DURESS

23. Ritzy apartment feature : TERRACE

26. __ mater : ALMA

32. Frank topper : RELISH

34. Diddly, in Durango : NADA. Spanish.

35. Nietzsche's "never" : NIE. German.

36. Bush's undergraduate classmates : ELIs. Yalies.

38. Disconcert : FAZE

39. Candy with collectible dispensers : PEZ

40. Flying start? : AERO

42. I-beam, e.g. : GIRDER. Nice reversal of the usual clue/answer.

47. River in central Germany : EDER. Map, it is top, center between Keller-wald and Kassel.

48. Diamond-patterned structure, as a trellis : LATTICE. Image. Back in the day, under the porch, hidden by the lattice but able to see and hear everything; the summer place to be.

51. Black suit : SPADES. Standard playing cards.

54. Hither's partner : YON

55. Beach shade : TAN

60. GI's supply : AMMO

61. Mindless learning : ROTE

62. Shrink in increments : ERODE

63. It's history : PAST

64. Rephrase, say : EDIT

65. South-of-the-border sir : SEÑOR

Down:

1. Center : MIDST

2. "A watched pot never boils" is one : ADAGE. Conventional sayings.

3. Bring under a single control : CENTRALIZE

4. Dusting aid : RAG

5. __ Miss : OLE. The University of Mississippi.

6. Kowtow : GROVEL

7. Chits in the pot : IOUs

8. Baseball VIPs : GMs. General Managers.

9. Got ready to ride : SADDLED

10. Slinky shape : SPIRAL

11. Auel's "The Clan of the __ Bear" : CAVE

12. King Kong's kin : APES. Kin can be a collective noun.

13. Viking's landing place : MARS. This Viking.

18. Big name in copiers : RICOH. Ricola is a big name in cough drops.

19. Cuban dance : RUMBA

24. Baseball scoring stats : RBIs

25. Shrek's sidekick Donkey, e.g. : ASS

26. Run __: postpone the bar bill : A TAB

28. Take out of the carton : UNBOX

29. Also : IN ADDITION

30. Fitting description? : SIZE

31. Nostradamus, for one : SEER

32. Auto taken back, briefly : REPO

33. Topog. map stat : ELEV.

37. Uncle Remus appellation : BR'ER

38. Stew : FRET

40. First Mayflower passenger to set foot on Plymouth Rock, so it's said : ALDEN. “Why don't you speak for yourself, John?"

41. Neighborhood improvement target : EYESORE

42. Beanstalk threat : GIANT

43. Hairy TV cousin : ITT

45. Sizzling : RED HOT

46. Room for a broom : CLOSET

49. "No prob!" : "CAN DO!"

50. Sign up to compete : ENTER

51. Trade : SWAP

52. Arizona tribe : PIMA. Short write-up.

53. Bread machines, for short? : ATMs

54. Hairy Himalayan legend : YETI

57. Valance holder : ROD

58. Legal thing : RES

59. "__ you serious?" : ARE


Argyle

63 comments:

Anonymous said...

41 D I wanted Ghettos.

27 Across Hog Heaven

Absolute Bliss

Favourite clue of the day.

Absolut


Fun Facts by Dave Letterman

Only 2 ingredients differentiate high-impact plastic from bologna.

Bruce Springsteen's Born In the USA album featured a warning to fans to be careful when dancing in the dark.

Abejo said...

Good Morning, folks. Thanks HeartRx for a great Tuesday puzzle. I did not know it was you until I finished. Thank you, Argyle for the write-up.

Got through this easily. Started in the NW and spread across and down, just like I enjoy doing. When I got to the center I stopped. Could not figure the BBB at first. As it turned out, that was my last entry.

13D had me thinking for a while. I was trying to think of a Swedish word for a beach. Then MARS appeared.

Was not sure about 38A, FAZE meaning disconcert. But, I am sure it must.

Can't believe I actually remembered ALDEN for Plymouth Rock. I think I learned that about 55 years ago.

Great job, Marti.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning Argyle and friends. This was a good Tuesday run. I liked the theme and did recognize the recognition of Hog as I did the puzzle.

I wanted MREs for GIs Supply instead of AMMO.

Bread Maker was a nice, fresh clue for the crossword staple of ATM.

I also liked It's History = PAST.

I hope all in Irene's way are staying safe.

QOD: Friends and good manners will carry you where money won't go. ~ Margaret Walker

Hahtoolah said...

P.S.: Happy Birthday, Tinbini. Stay out of Irene's way!

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning, all and Happy Birthday, Tinbeni. A toast to you this evening. Thanks, Marti for a fun puzzle, and to Argyle for hog tieing it all together for us.

Clever, Marti, unifying the clues instead of the entries. I can see the puzzle working with the clues and entries reversed also but it would be a little too simple.

No hangups on this one. You didn't fool me with our old buddy ATMS, but I did like the clue.

I'll have to get to C.C. and Don's puzzle a bit later. Errands to run this morning.

Have a great day all.

Anonymous said...

Fun run. Thanks Marti.

Get my rumba's and samba's mixed up.

Knew a guy named CANh DO. Vietnamese I think. Great name for a middle manager in any business.

22 days over 100F in Tx. REDHOT. No rain since...ever. NADA. We'll take Irene if u don't want her. SWAP.

Cheers -
BillnotBob

Anony-Mouse said...

Greeat Puzzle MartiRx, LOVED IT ! I saw your name in the limelight, and I went at the puz with a gusto. It was simply delightful. Thank you, thank you.

Argyle, your greeat blog ! So delightful, so charming. BTW, I DID see the ( your conceptual - ) 'Nest' yesterday, but of course, I tried extra hard to visualize it, because of my profound respect for you.

I did have 'Monopolize' instead of 'Centralize', initially.... and I was trying to fit in 'Helical' instead of 'Spiral' .... gee, I wonder why somebody thought Hell went around in circles ??

Alternate QOD: A cucumber should be well sliced, dressed with just a dash of pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out. ~ Samuel Johnson. ( No comment. Not my personal feelings - ).

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

Marti, thanks for a clever and fun,fun, fun puzzle.
No fills where I thought, "Hell, I just saw that a couple of times recently." So much original cluing and fills.

Northwest was my bugaboo and last to fall. It came together after I sussed out macro and midst. But nothing came too easily and that made it an enjoyable solve.

Favorite (or most familiar) clue was grovel. After 50+ years of marital bliss, I've had to grovel more than once!

Tinbeni, Happy Birthday. I hope your day is spent in Absolut(e) bliss.

Looks like Irene may visit Ct and just in time to mess up the weekend.

Anony-Mouse said...

This is for Hahtool - I started reading an old book ( 1988 ) - 'Members of the Tribe - On the road in Jewish America' - by Ze'ev Chafets. Perhaps you've already read it. It is non-fiction - and there is a chapter on the slowly (aging & dying ) disappearing Jews from the deep south in La. and Miss. - and I thought of you. Not that I feel that you are in any danger of disappearing ... God forbid. Needless to say, it has more pleasant chapters as well.

Spitzboov said...

Good Morning Argyle, and all. Another good one from Marti.

Happy Birthday, Tinbeni.

Somehow, I felt the puzzle "spoke" to me this morning. I had BRER Rabbit blackstrap molasses with my oatmeal a short while ago. And I dealt with SPADES last night playing bridge. Thanks, Argyle, for the map depicting the EDER river. It seems to be located in the state of Hesse near the Fulda Gap, and is tributary to the Weser which flows into the North Sea at Bremerhaven. NIE was a gimme, and I liked the clue for MARS. (Was thinking of 'pier' or 'dock' at first.) I had to do one Wite Out® so I could correct to OVERLY EXCITED. Overall not difficult, but had to be mindful of the perps. No lookups needed. A fun challenge.

Enjoy your Tuesday.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Argyle, C.C. et al.

Thanks so much for posting that link to "Papa, Can You Hear Me?", Argyle. It it just such a hauntingly beautiful song.

And a very, Happy Birthday to you, Tin! You probably will celebrate at sunset with avatar, but any other plans on this special day?

This puzzle was another bear to construct for a Tuesday level, with two 15's and two 13's "HOGging" all the fill. I was surprised to see that Rich kept almost all my clues intact on this one. So if you think any of them are unfair, that's probably the one he changed!! (HA HA)

Tinbeni said...

Argyle: Nice write-up.

Marti/HeartRx FUN Tuesday.
Like Grumpy 1 said, I enjoyed the theme being more in the clues than the answers.

Like Abejo, I just filled in ALDEN. A surprise gimmie.

Also fell into the RUMBA-v-samba thingy. Easy fix.

Hahtool; Hmmm, Irene.
Don't think Tampa Bay is in the direct path, but I guess I'll have to do some Hurricane shopping.
My List:
(1) Fill gas-tank.
(2) Go to ATM (get some bread)
(3) Case of Pinch *
(4) Bag of Frito's
(5) Small 7-Up

* A birthday taste-test will ensue at Sunset. Which is NOW, I'm still on Croatian time. lol

Cheers !!!

lois said...

Good morning Argyle, CC, et al., Thank you, Marti for such a fun puzzle! Perfect for Tues. I loved the theme, very clever. I thought all of the clues were spot on, solid, thoughtful, and appropriate for Tues. In a word? Perfect! I didn't realize it was you until Argyle said but my first thought for 11D The Clan of the Cave Bear was that this author must be tuning in pretty often here to enter that clue due to all the conversations about that here. Great job!
And of course thank you, Argyle, for your outstanding work. You rock!

If Irene comes this way, I'm heading out. I stayed for Isabelle, cat 2, and lost 5 big trees, all missed the house. I don't want to push my luck w/ a cat 4, but time will tell. She's a monster!

Dennis: thanks for the heads up on The Hour. Looking forward to it on Weds. Good stuff all right.

Y'all stay safe and enjoy this gorgeous day.

kazie said...

Marti,
Congrats on another winner! I loved the many fresh clues here. It was a bit challenging in parts for a Tuesday, but all ABSOLUTELY gettable with perp help. I had two erasures: FUME/FRET and SAMBA/RUMBA.

Argyle,
What Spitz said about the map. It depicts a lot of my old stomping ground when I was taking students to visit our sister school in Idstein, which unfortunately is not marked, but Limburg to its north is there, and we used to take the kids on canoe trips on the River Lahn, which is also shown. Wisconsin and Hesse(n) are sister states, and that was the connection which got the school partnership started.

Tinbeni,
Have a wonderful birthday and don't overdo the avatar or you'll suffer tomorrow!

creature said...

Good Morning all,

Argyle, I really enjoyed the Pima write-up . I always thought of the Viking, as larger. How sneaky of you- under the porch.

Marti, a super puzzle! I am beginning to ‘feel’ your identity in your puzzles; a uniqueness of sorts. I am now totally convinced that you are a neat freak- your puzzles are always ‘tidy’ and your comments also indicate that. Right? Good balance, also part of the equation. Never too much of anything. I bet your clothes and meals reflect that. Physical is probably your ‘whole hog’.
OK. Thanks and congrats for your speedy climb.

Hahtool, are you on the left? Somehow, I picture you in a hat. Fun.

RSD, I’m getting used to your daily dose of Letterman. Thanks.

Tinbeni, HBTY, HBTY, HBTY Tinbeni, HBTY.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Congratulations all around to Marti, Argyle and Tinbeni. The day has started out well and I hope it continues.

I liked this puzzle alot, even though I had to wallow through all the HOGS in order to get the theme. I was surprised at how many HOGGY phrases there are.

I definitely needed the perps all along the way. The horizontal theme phrases had to have some of their picket fence filled in before I could complete them.

Toughest for me was the simple little 37A)BBB. The last time I heard of the Better Business Bureau was about 40 years ago. I had no idea they were still in business.

Off to the big city. Have a good day.

carol said...

Hi all -

Hey Marti!!! Great puzzle, I really enjoyed all of it. Had to struggle in the NW corner due to brain freeze. Never heard of 1A so that was not a good start. 5D fooled me for about 5 minutes....but I just went on with the rest of it, and came back to the 'corner' a few times until it finally clicked in. Then the V-8 can was put to use.

13D was a great miss-direction...I was thinking of my ancestors :)

Tinbeni: a very happy birthday to you!!! Suck down that Pinch, I'm sure your head won't fall off tomorrow (although you may feel like it has, LOL) Hope that storm doesn't get close to you.

Lois, stay safe my friend!! You are wise to be ready to move out if needed.

Warren said...

Hi gang, Good blob job Argyle. Great puzzle Marti! Even though my wife had to leave early for a Dr. appointment today we managed to finish 3/4 of today's puzzle. Clan of the Cave Bear is one of the novels on our book shelves but my wife is thinking of getting a kindle to get rid of the books and 'dust'.

HeartRx said...

Clear Ayes:
Gas hog
High on the hog
Hogwash
Ground hog
Quahog
Hedgehog
...all of those got put in the circular file.

Creature, you have "discovered" my personal quirk. Very astute of you!!!

I just looked at the track for Irene. I hope this one doesn't live up to expectations, but for all of you who are in it's path, I hope you stay out of harm's way!

lois said...

Tinbeni: forgot to wish you the very Happiest of Birthdays. I hope you go 'whole hog' 'with no restraint'....my philosophy of life! My Irene list looks a lot like yours...add a lemon, lime, and watermelon (wtrmln is great w/vodka, cucumber & a twist of lime). Hope your day is spectacular!

One good thing about Irene's possible visit is that it should put out the fire in the Dismal Swamp, NC which has been burning since Aug 4th. The smoke haze rolls in here regularly and is choking.

Spitzboov said...

Heart Rx Re: Hedgehog. My avatar carries hedgehog launchers on either side of the rocket launcher visible in the photo. They were an antisubmarine weapon. See hedgehog picture.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi All ~~

A really enjoyable puzzle today, Marti! I did a double-take at the clue for 7D ... one of my favorites! I also liked 'Diddly in Durango' -- NADA. I, too didn't get BBB right away but BRER gave me my last 'B.'

Today we had 'Pvt." in the clue for 20A and a few days ago I remember 'Pfc.' being used in another puzzle. I guess either is correct?

As others have said ... lots of fresh clues today ... fun! Thanks for the great write-up and links, Argyle.

Have a great birthday, Tinbeni!

Enjoy the day ~~

Hahtoolah said...

Yes, Creature, you have me pegged.

Lucina said...

Hello, cyber friends. Argyle, thank you for an excellent blog and some good links.

Marti, heartiest congratulations on another sparkling puzzle.

Tinbeni:
Happiest of birthdays to you!

My neighbors about half a mile east are the PIMA in a large reservation with three casinos. My first fill however, was HOPI. Erased that.

Bread machines, ATM, and beach shade, TAN were favorites as was flying start, AERO.

NADA to FRET over this nor did it FAZE me. Lovely job, Marti.

RUMBA emerged as I already had the R from DANGEROUSDRIVER.

Hahtool:
Now nice to see your photo!

Have a stupendous Tuesday, everyone! It's my first day of class tonight.

Spitzboov said...

LaLa re: Pvt: In the Army and Marines, the lowest rank, E1, is Private (Pvt). In the Marines an E2 is a PFC, while in the Army, An E3 is a Pfc.

Bill G. said...

Fun puzzle. Just right for a nascent Tuesday. Happy birthday Tinbeni!

I just learned a new word that I'll bet a lot of you know already. It's non-rhotic. I learned it watching Cash Cab where it was the basis of one of the questions. It refers to the accent in the deep south and northeast where the letter 'r' is often not pronounced as in "I'll go pahk the cah."

HeartRx said...

LaLaLinda, LOL at your "double take" on the 7D clue. Now, this is the truth: That was one that Rich changed...I had "Chip chits". But I like "Chits in the pot" waaaaay better!!

Spitzboov, very interesting link. I never knew that they were called "hedgehogs". I'll just tuck that little bit of info away...

Dennis said...

Wow, what a welcome home! First time I ever felt an earthquake; quite a ride.

Anybody else get the shakes?

HeartRx said...

er...Dennis, are you talking about my puzzle????

Tinbeni said...

5.9 seems appropriate today.

Dennis, I only get the "shakes" if I run out of Avatar.

Bill G. said...

I see where there has just been an earthquake around Washington D.C. We don't want to have all the fun here in California. :>)

Here's a photo of a beautiful aurora over Greenland. You can see the moon to the right with Jupiter even farther to the right. You can see the Big Dipper right through the center of the aurora.

Wordies from yesterday

What well-known expression do these wordies respresent? For example, frie|just|nds is just between friends.

Here are the three similar ones from yesterday. ROOD, REVIRDTAES and AKOOLNGER. Answers: They are BACK DOOR, BACKSEAT DRIVER and LOOK BACK IN ANGER.

Here are two new tougher wordies (Let me know if you want a hint.)

1) M GHTY
M CKEY
M NN E


2) Dr. Cri_ _en

Abejo said...

To: C.C. and Don G.

Well, I waded through your puzzle today. Very difficult for me. A big step was getting SHERLOCK HOLMES for 16A. I couldn't believe the grandson really had that name, with Arthur as the first. The other themes I got, one by one. I thought they were clever.

I had to use many perps and wags. Got it all except the NW corner. For 1A I had MAT, then CAT, then MUT. Never got PET. For 1D I had CASTS and MASTS. Never got PASTA. Never got UNHALO. I had UNHATS. I also missed ALARM ENTRY. I am not sure the clue really jived with that answer. "Burgler's entrance" and "ALARM ENTRY." Doesn't work for me.

However, it did use up my morning. Thanks for all your hard work.

Abejo

carol said...

Dennis: I thought you were talking about something else; "the earth moved", etc. Then I heard the news about it. There was also a 5.3 quake in Trinidad, Colo....another rare spot for one. Makes a person wonder what's next. :0

Avg Joe said...

Just so I know I'm not alone in the sick little world my brain resides in, did anyone else think of Mr. Magoo when you read the clue Road Hog?

LaLaLinda said...

Spitzboov ~~ thanks for the info on 'Pfc' and 'Pvt.' I never realized there were such distinctions!

Apparently some effects of the earthquake were felt in towns next to me (CT) but nothing here. Even if I didn't notice anything, I'm sure my cats would have let me know! Our TV channels have gone to "quake coverage" but I really don't think there's much to report. Hope others in the area were as lucky.

Husker Gary said...

Fun Tuesday puzzle Marti with nice long fills. HBD Tin Man!

Musings
-How ‘bout Hog on Ice and Hogging the Covers?
-MICRO/IDIOM replaced with MACRO/ADAGE
-Somebody said that Nigerian prince is trying to SCAM me.
- Il Colosseo è magnifico!
-Fun cluing on SGT, NADA, IVS, SIZE and ATM. This place seems to have no edible bread!
-Girders got tested on East coast today!
-A clematis is adorning our LATTICE. Mom had honeysuckle.
-Ole Miss was the home of Michael Oher of The Blind Side.
-My scoring stats were RUNS
-A town we drive through to get to Lincoln has many eyesores. Can’t cities do anything?
-After 2 days in close proximity, I might know AUEL now!
-Great picture Bill!

Husker Gary said...

Bill

3 blind mice - no I (eyes).

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, Great puzzle Marti. I saw all the hogs, but it did take me a little longer than most Tuesdays to finish everything. No lookups, though. Hands up for Samba instead of Rumba and I was thinking food for GI's supply. Both of those were quickly squashed with the perps.

I thought Diddly in Durango was fun and the Viking's landing place misleading. I wanted people Vikings, not the space ship.

I didn't rememaber Yon for Hitler's partner, but the perps filled that in also.

HBD Tinbeni.

Anony-Mouse, Your cucumber quote was funny. Cucumbers are the one crop in our garden that is doing REALLY well. Thank goodness we like them and the pickles I make.

Have a great afternoon everyone.

HeartRx said...

Holey moley! I was at the repair shop getting my car fixed and just got home and heard the news about the earthquake. Dennis, so sorry! I thought you were just teasing me...I hope you are OK? We didn't feel anything here either, LaLaLinda. Or if I did, I probably just thought it was a truck going by.

Avg Joe, your clip brought back memories of Saturday mornings! Funny stuff. Now it's all action heroes and sci-fi creatures. Ugh.

Husker, yes, what an incredible movie! I always put one shout out to DH in my puzzles. That was his- Ole Miss is his alma mater.

lois said...

Wow! Dennis I'm with you! 5.9 on the scale and shook our theatre seat sideways for about 10 secs or so. Every child of mine who felt it from Richmond to SC called to check in. Son in Richmond says things fell off the shelves at work and there was some damage. Heard on the way home that it was felt in NY and Cincinnati (sp?). The epicenter was about 40 miles outside of Richmond. Quite a ride!
like Busch Gardens or Disney Wld.
We're expecting after shocks..
I'm just shocked! What a ride!

lois said...

Watching The Help during the earthquake gave this 'very moving' movie a whole new dimension. We loved it. Highly recommend it.

From the uncontrollable fire in Dismal Swamp, hurricane Irene bearing down, and now an earthquake, I think it's time to celebrate Tinbeni's Birthday and not stop. First earthquake that big in over 100 years. Geeze! Cheers! Happy Birthday, Tinbeni.

Avg Joe said...

I'm good with that idear Lois. It's after 5:00 on the continent after all. (Gotta love Newfoundland time!)

Skol Tinbeni!

lois said...

Avg Joe: LOL Cheers! My choice has been made for me already. I'll have my drinks shaken, not stirred tonight. "Bottoms up!" Happy Birthday, Tinbeni!!!!

Anonymous said...

Good evening everyone.

A very nice, smooth puzzle. And, as always, a great write up Argyle. Thank you Marti and Argyle.

Happy birthday Tinbeni. Hope you have a memorable celebration, and many more.

My understanding is that Pvt. is Private, and PFC is Private First Class. (That's from my late brother was in the army in WWII.)

Cheers, especially to Tinbeni.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

HBD, Tinbeni!

Marti - what a fun, clever puzzle. Great job.

Gloria felt a little shake here in southeast MI, then later heard about the quake. With my keen powers of observation, I missed it completely.

My daughter and her family are at the Tigers-Rays game tonight, and are scheduled for a cruise that lands at Nassau on Friday. No telling how that will play out.

A storm from with tornado warnings in WI is headed our way. Should hit after midnight.

Stay safe, everyone.
JzB

WM said...

Just wanted to congratulate Marti on another terrifically enjoyable puzzle. Just exactly right for a Tuesday! :o)

Warren said...

News on the quake says it was the strongest quake on the East coast since 1944 and rattled nerves from Georgia to Maine, welcome to the earthquake club everyone. We haven't had a major one here in San Jose since we moved here in 1989.

CrazyCat said...

@Tinbeni

Happy Birthday Andy! I like your survival kit.

Don G. said...

Marti keeps coming up with fresh and clever clues. How can one not like "King Kong's kin" for APES? The fill was excellent, and I loved the theme.

It is very challenging to come up with answers that read like clues. I admire that boldness. Way to go, Marti!

dodo said...

Great puzzle and blog! Thank you,Marti and Argyle!

I tried puzzling after my morning walk, but seemed to get nowhere. I thought it was going to be a killer for a Tuesday. However, I was fighting falling asleep. After lunch, I finally got at it and got through it fairly easily with no lookups and no bad hangups.

Lots of clever clues and fill!

I especially liked "shrink in increments".

CA the BBB is alive and well and got me out of my problem with Comcast, who wanted me to pay for five Pay Per View porn movies that never played on my t.v. and were certainly not ordered! I definitely would never recommend Concast's customer service!

HBTY, Tinbeni!

Unknown said...

Yep, we were shaking today! I was at a ladies' luncheon when the china and glassware began to tremble. Hubby said that the TV wobbled and the china in our cabinets giggled too! Scary stuff! The news about Irene's arrival this weekend also scares the daylights out of me! We'll get the emergency gear together and store it in the basement. Not fun at all.
Timbeni-Happy birthday!
Marti, congratulations on a super fun puzzle!
Thanks, Argyle for your writing today.
I loved the hog-themed clues. They reminded me of my favorite food, BBQ!
good Evening Friends

GarlicGal said...

Good afternoon all and a Big Happy B-day to Tinbeni! I toasted you with a very refreshing tall Gin/Tonic at lunch. Saluti!

I liked the puzzle very much - a few misdirections. I really tried to fill HARLEYDAVIDSON in for DANGEROUSDRIVERS. Oops, a little short!

I agree with Creature - clever cluing, a tidy, fun romp! Thanks Marti.

Oh boy, a little rockin' & rollin' on the east coast? Sit tight folks!

Argyle said...

Warthog - A-10 aircraft.

Warthog - the animal.

Hogwarts - The castle

Lemonade714 said...

A day with a gem from Marti and a C.C. Don G. original, no wonder the earth moved. You guys better tone things down a bit. Crazy busy but had to say how wonderfully entertaining these puzzles are, and to wish the Tin man an endless snifter.

Be safe everyone....

HeartRx said...

Argyle, (I know I am out of posts for today, but I hope C.C. will forgive me, since it is my puzzle, and I need to defend my publication...)

Of course!! I forgot about HOGWARTS, and would have built the whole puzzle around that one!!! But, it's another one that is one word. WARTHOGS, same reason. (Sigggghhhh) Why are cruciverbalists such NIT pickers??? Just joking - I'm (admittedly) the biggest nit-picker of them all...

Jeannie said...

Part I
Hi all, I am sorry I have been absent of late. No time to even read the past comments some daze. Just some personal comments:

Kazie--leave it to you for the Prince Albert link. LMAOROTF (laughed my ass off rolling on the floor)!

Lois, when do you have to be heading back to school? Part of my job is to deal with the State of MN and the school commodity program with all the lunch ladies. I love those gals, but....

BillGl, yes the creepy King is gone, but I personally think he drove some business to BK. The new owners are changing many things rapidly and giving us (buyers) not enough lead time. It seems I scramble almost every day.

Jeannie said...

Foodshow coming up as well and yada yada yada. You all know the drill.

All you East coasters, I hope you all are safe from the latest storm. Glad it rocked your world Dennis. You too, SO FL, LA and anyone else affected.

For the helluvit, I got a wild hair and was craving a roast with all the fixin's. Did it in a crock pot and like usual, made too many potatoes, carrots and onions. Today I added some cream, bland chopped it in my processor and grilled a ham steak, cut it up and wahlahh...great baked potato soup!

Bill G. said...

Jeannie, nice to hear from you. The next time I go to BK, what should I order? Is the new thing called something like a California Burger? And are there some new milk shakes? What do you recommend?

Annette said...

I know I had several comments in mind when I did the puzzle, and read the earlier blogs. But several hours later, the only thing that comes to mind is:

Salute, Tinbeni! I hope you enjoyed celebrating today.

Jeannie said...

#3 I can't forget my friend Tinbeni on his birthday. Here is your birthday SSSMMMMOOOOCCCCHHH!! Let me know if you are up for the spanking!

For all of you that are feeling under the weather, I hope you get some relief soon.

WH, still baling hay? That seems to be the norm around here. One sad thing though is my sweetcorn stop at a farm on my way home is now totally done. It's one way us Minnesotan's measure the end of a summer.

Hearti-Marti, from what I understand you have "done it again"! Question: did you find this site before you started constructing puzzles or after? Just curious.

kazie said...

Jeannie,
Nice to see you again. I really didn't know what the Albert thing was until I looked it up. I can imagine that you are pretty well swamped with that ownership change. Too much too fast and too soon.

To all who were in the earthquake areas, I'm glad to hear no one got hurt. Also hope the hurricane area people are spared any real damage or injury.

Jeannie said...

BillG, the California Burger is a limeted time offer and I highly recommend it, although it's a bane in my side as their forecast was way off. Build: Whopper patty, swiss cheese, bacon, tomato, onion, lettuce, guacamole. I tried it in a test meeting and it's fabulous. They have a whole new shake system with a new and improved soft serve. Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate. Take your pick. I recommend the chocolate but then I am a gal.

Note to Carol: treat yourself, you only live once, just don't look up the fat and calorie content. Ride an extra mile or two the next few days.

Jeannie said...

I will leave you with this. Okay, maybe this one too.

Good night all. Pretty, and soothing to me.