google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 Nancy Salomon

Gary's Blog Map

Aug 30, 2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011 Nancy Salomon

Theme: Get Thee Gone - The unifier would have us start each part of the themes with it's own start.

17A. *Sydney's locale, familiarly : DOWN UNDER. Go Down(Be nice.), Go Under.

21A. *Man, according to a longtime Desmond Morris best-seller : NAKED APE. Go Naked(Be nice.), Go Ape

33A. *Bluntly : STRAIGHT OUT. Go Straight(Be nice.), Go Out.

42A. *Skip-over-ads button : FAST FORWARD. Go Fast, Go Forward.

55A. *Hosting squad : HOME TEAM. Go Home, Go Team.

61A. Overachievers, and a hint to a word that can precede both words of the starred answers : GO-GETTERS

Argyle here. Lois should have blogged this one. Sort of doubled up on yesterday's theme. Very good fill.

Across:

1. Beat to a pulp : MASH

5. Dapper Dans : FOPS. "A dilettantism in nature is barren and unworthy. A fop of fields is no better than his brother on Broadway." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

9. Very cold : GELID

14. Mental block buster : IDEA

15. Guinness who played Obi-Wan : ALEC

16. Memorable mission : ALAMO

19. Bantu-speaking South Africans : ZULUs

20. Ain't right? : AREN'T

23. WWII bond designation : SERIES E

26. Mental block buster : MUSE. I like my first choice better. MASE(maze).

27. Spoiled-rotten kids : BRATS

29. Doggone : DAD-GUM. Dictionary prefers DAD-GUMMED.

37. Sun Devils' sch. : ASU. Arizona State University in Metro Phoenix, Arizona.

38. Work like a dog : TOIL

39. Clumsy dummy : OAF

40. Iditarod racer : SLED

41. "I'm with ya" : "YUP!"

46. Like porn : X-RATED

48. Very strange : EERIE

49. Skyline-blurring phenomenon : HAZE

51. One begins parallel parking in it : REVERSE

59. Lucy's landlady : ETHEL. Mertz.

60. "It was you," in a Verdi aria : ERI TU. Musical interlude Clip(4:35)

64. Odom of the Lakers : LAMAR.

65. Pianist Gilels : EMIL. Gilels plays the Prelude in B minor(3:22).

66. Case for notions : ETUI

67. Annapolis frosh : PLEBE

68. Smelling awful : RANK

69. "Look __, I'm Sandra Dee": "Grease" song : AT ME. Clip(1:35).

Down:

1. Big name in muffler replacement : MIDAS

2. Love to bits : ADORE

3. Runoff collector : SEWER

4. Memorable Alps crosser : HANNIBAL

5. Bleacher creature : FAN

6. Stale : OLD

7. Rounded hammer part : PEEN. Image.

8. "Get outta here!" : "SCRAM!"

9. Feasts one's eyes on : GAZES AT

10. Gave the slip : ELUDED

11. Tra-__ : LA-LA

12. "No need to wake me" : "I'M UP"

13. Two caplets, say : DOSE

18. Wombs : UTERI

22. Twisty-horned antelope : KUDU. They will never replace reindeer.

24. Droop : SAG

25. Cultural credo : ETHOS

28. Hillary's department : STATE

30. Big shindig : GALA

31. Web browser : USER

32. Emmy-winning newsman Roger : MUDD

33. River of Hades : STYX

34. Take to the road, as a rock band : TOUR. Styx on tour, cute. Memorabilia.

35. Philbin co-host : RIPA. Kelly.

36. "I'm gonna make him an __ he can't refuse" : OFFER. From Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather"(1972).

40. Popular Dixie drink : SWEET TEA

42. Main movie : FEATURE

43. Wood-shaping tool : ADZE. Here someone is using a small adze to form the interior of a bowl. Clip.(1:39)

44. Rock in a seam : ORE

45. Transfix : RIVET

47. What a treater picks up : THE TAB

50. Gung-ho : EAGER

52. Suave Butler : RHETT. Dashing.

53. Red Cross supply : SERUM

54. Borden's spokescow : ELSIE. Image.

55. "SOS!" : "HELP!". "Mayday! Mayday!"

56. Like some vaccines : ORAL

57. Play charades : MIME

58. NYC gallery : MOMA. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Tim Burton Entrance to MoMA's Special Exhibitions Gallery.

62. Bathtub booze : GIN

63. "Benevolent" fellow : ELK. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Answer grid.

Argyle

60 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    For the most part, a very straightforward -- if a bit dull -- puzzle. The theme didn't really do much for me, I'm afraid.

    The one slightly rough spot was the crossing of KUDU and MUSE, but that was mostly because I misread the tense in the clue for 9D and had GAZED AT instead of GAZES AT. Even though I was pretty sure that 22D was KUDU, that left me with MUDE for 26A, and that just didn't look right...

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  2. Good Morning, Argyle and friends. This was a fun puzzle, easier for me than yesterday's puzzle. It isn't often, however, that we have back-to-back starred-themed puzzles. I needed the unifier to figure out the theme, although the theme responses were pretty easy.

    I don't recall seeing KUDU in a puzzle before. That was my learning moment.

    Happy Tuesday.

    QOD: Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else. ~ Will Rogers

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  3. Happy Tuesday,

    Another theme heavy day, though not as much a speed run fro me as for Barry G., I liked having our first Clecho in a while with IDEA and MUSE answering the same question. The puzzle also was not structured like a Tuesday and was very scrabbly missing only J and Q.

    I also liked the reference to the NAKED APE which was made into a movie. The college scenes were filmed in Gainesville, at the University of Florida where I was in my first quarter at law school. I appear, dancing for a few shots somewhere in the clip around the 11:00 minute mark. Not worth searching for, just a fun memory. I accidentally knocked Johnny Crawford (the son in the Rifleman off the stage during filming.

    Have we heard from all of our NE members?

    Hope all are drying out.

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  4. Good Morning, folks. Thanks, Nancy, for a swell puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the swell write-up. Enjoyed the ADZE link. I like tools.

    Got through this easily. Missed one, however, KUDU and NAKED APE. I had MUDU and NAMED APE. Did not know KUDU at all and, actually, NAMED APE does make some sense. Time will heal this, after all, tomorrow is another day.

    All the rest were easy, one perped, ERI TU.

    SERIES E caught my eye. I read that the paper Savings Bonds are going away at the end of this year.

    If you recall, a while back, we had STILTON cheese as a clue/answer. Well, I had never heard of that and did some research. I found I could purchase it in Chicago, about 40 miles from here, and yesterday did that. It was $15 per pound, so I bought a small wedge, about $9 worth. Today I will try it.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  5. I'm number 3 er. no 4,5 6 - must be dullsville around here.

    Thank you Nancy Salomon for a delectable puzzle, and thank you Argyle for your dependable humor and wit.

    Whats that fuzzy thing on the left hand side of Ripa's pic ?

    Have a great week everyone.

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  6. Good Morning Argyle, C.C. et al.

    OK, I will refrain from making my comments X-RATED, Argyle. I loved the musical interludes with Lawrence Tibbett and EMIL Gilels. Then you threw "Sandra Dee" AT ME! BTW, I would hate to see what would happen if the ADZE slipped while that guy was working on his bowl! Ouch!

    I wasn't so crazy about some of the crosswordese fill (ETUI, PEEN, ADZE), especially seeing three such words in one puzzle. I had never heard of KUDU, either.

    Since “GO” could fit with so many words (deep, bananas, ahead, back, ballistic, figure, fish, between, etc etc) I would like to have seen more sparkling phrases. GO FAST and GO FORWARD just didn’t ring my chimes.

    Ah well, it is Tuesday. Make it a good one, everybody!

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  7. Alternate QOD -

    Carefree Gum never worked for me. As soon as the gum loses its flavor, I'm right back to pondering my mortality. ~ Mitch Hedberg.

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  8. On trip back from the fair yesterday we saw many pivots turning but today the rain is all over the state! Golf will have to wait. Theme was fine and there was enough obscurity to make for a little challenge on a Tuesday.

    Musings
    -Argyle, I loved your “be nice” admonitions!
    -I’ve only seen GELID in cwd’s
    -The movie Zulu was an amazing story of the battle between two noble armies as evidenced by this battle scene! How close are nobility and insanity?
    -Yup, Argyle, MAZE makes more sense to me too
    -Mexicans attacking ALAMO seems like a similar act to the ZULU attack
    -Poor Sandy was lousy with virginity

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  9. We went to The Help Saturday night and I was ashamed and proud at the same time. It is hard to believe that people like “Two Slab Hilly” exist/existed. They are like kids who are raised in some madrassas today who have hate ingrained in them and that is all they know.

    Coincidence – After the movie we stopped for ice cream at Zesto’s and ran into a classmate of my daughter who is now head of marketing for a large radio group in Omaha. Her life has turned into a nightmare because one of her 8 ad executives is a black man who is the only salesman who is not meeting quotas, bad mouthing company personnel, putting in very little effort and screaming racism.

    Corporate has told her to keep a paper trail but that she must replace him with another black man or woman after she fires him. Her father-in-law is a district judge who just shrugged his shoulders when she asked him, “Where are my rights?”

    Race issues are still part of our lives but usually are not as blatant as this movie, or my personal favorite movie on this subject - Mississippi Burning - portrayed so well.

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  10. Good morning, all.

    This was another one where a lot of the fill escaped me at first glance, but as soon as I could find one or two that I was sure of, I could use that hook to see the others. I've seen KUDU in the zoos many times and recognized it as soon as I had the 'K'.

    SWEET TEA was the hook for the bottom corner, but that almost messed me up, since the next three downs to the right were so obvious that I wrote them in without checking across. C'mon, I'm not the only one that put in 'blood' for the Red Cross supply, am I? Something just didn't look quite right on the across fill, though...

    YUP, I was aMUSEd at DF connotations of some of the GO... combinations. Even gave me a few IDEAs. I'd better SCRAM before I carry this line of thinking any further.

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  11. Has everyone from the NE now checked in post-Irene?

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  12. Good morning all. Good commenting, Argyle.

    Pretty much a STRAIGHT top to bottom solve. GELID and MUSE/KUDU gave me pause, but GAZES AT made sense and the NE corner was done. Other WAGS included FOPS and MOMA. I liked the clueing for ALAMO, ORE, and RHETT. No lookups were needed. Got the mechanics of the theme after finishing. Nice job, Nancy.

    Has anyone heard from Maniac? Hope his town didn't suffer severe effects from the storm.

    Have a great day.

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  13. Not too difficult today, butseveral unknowns had to be perped: GELID, DADGUM, ASU, LAMAR, EMIL, KUDU, RIPA.

    Here's how the world looks DOWN UNDER.

    Barry G,
    Your misstep at MUSE reflected your attitude to this puzzle--müde means tired in German. LOL!

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  14. What a nice ride for a Tuesday! I even finished in record time and you know I never see the theme. That must be some sort of brain disorder.
    I giggled at the mash/Midas/down under crossing. Years ago during a flahs flood, I accidentally drove our '69 Mustang through a low spot and lost the muffler in the process. So my down under, mashed/dragging muffler made an awful noise until I limped into a service station for an emergency tie-up!
    Dadgum was my grandaddy's favorite semi-cuss word. I've heard very few people use it even though it is a southern staple, I'm told.
    Roger Mudd is an interesting man. One of his ancestors was the doctor who treated John W. Booth after Mr. Booth's dastardly deed. Mr. Mudd campaigned for years to have his ancestor's name cleared . I don't recall how all that ended up.
    Thanks, Argyle for your blogging!
    Good Morning to all!

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  15. not too exciting for a tuesday... and pretty easy! as a grammar lover, my favorite clue definitely was "ain't right"

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  16. Husker,

    A Time To Kill is a movie with Samuel L Jackson who kills a white man for raping his daughter.

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  17. not much to say that hasn't already been said I thought this was a boring puzzle today I get bored sometimes that the answers come too easy. I like a small challenge such as having to use the google I like that I learn about something that I didn't know earlier.

    Maybe tomorrow I will need the goggle.

    Fun Facts By Dave Letterman

    There is no Eskimo word for becoming dizzy on a spiral staircase.

    For $25 New York City will name a pothole after you.

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  18. Hey CC, Argyle and all,

    I have seen so many constructors give credit to Nancy Salomon for her encouragement and unselfish guidance, when they were beginning. As a master of her craft, I have to give credit to the balance of the ordinary fill as a foil to the stand outs.-the seesaw of crosswordese and DADGUM, GO NAKED, GO APE, GO STRAIGHT, STRAIGHT OUT, etc.

    Grumpy, I haven’t been to the zoo that often in my life. KUDU was new to me. Loved the pic, Argyle..

    HG, What does she mean, “Where are her rights?” Isn’t that a bit dramatic? “Her life has turned into a nightmare..” She’s sounds too young’ for the responsibility of “Head of Marketing”. It seems as if there may be two misplaced employees.

    Kazie, love your map!

    Have a nice day everyone.

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  19. Argyle: Nice write-up & links.

    Yeah, I wanted SCOOOTCH as my Popular Dixie drink.
    Trust me, here at Villa Incognito, SWEET-TEA is not allowed.

    UTERI ... YUP! We need plural Wombs.

    Nice to see ETUI show-up. Where've you been?

    Cheers ...

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  20. I'm not saying that minorities don't deserve an opportunity to gain employment, however if they aren't performing then maybe they should be sent to a job in the company that they do excel in.

    Maybe data entry would be a better fit for him than sales.

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  21. Hi all - Liked this puzzle, but didn't get the theme, but that is not that unusual.

    I never remember ETHOS and always put ETHIC in...sigh.

    Argyle, you are correct! This puzzle has Lois written all over it. Hope she will do one of her wicked, clever comments on it :)

    Kazie, thought of you with 17A - like the map you posted!

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  22. Creature, Heather is a very successful woman who is results oriented. Using that as criteria, the hardest part of her job should be hiring, training and working with her staff for maximum results and that is what management wants from her. When the element of race is added, that can serve to be a mitigating factor that she cannot control and for which there is very little objective rebuttal. When she says, “Where are my rights?”, she is saying, “How can I deal with this issue in a business like way?” She must prove a negative of, “I am not a racist” when all she wants to do is to fairly evaluate a performance which by every criteria is substandard. Racism, sexism, ageism, etc. are abhorrent but can work both ways.

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  23. Sorry - I screwed up the previous link. Disregard previous post.

    Thanks Argyle

    I interpret "Be Nice" in Pythonesque as "Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!"

    I had 2 gripes with BLOCK BUSTER:

    1. Unless telekinesis was implied, it should be one word - BLOCKBUSTER.
    2. A blockbuster is not just any old IDEA, it is a fabulous idea. A MUSE is nowhere near a blockbuster, unless you are talking Greek mythology. Here is Adonis aMUSing himself with 8 of them, and 3 more in the background (I thought there were supposed to be only 9, but the more the merrier, in this BLOCKBUSTER GALA):

    WHO'S COUNTING?

    NC

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  24. Nice Cuppa, when you have a mental block, you need a block buster, i.e. an idea or your writing muse to break that block. To me, the clue is correct as written.

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  25. ...More on BLOCK BUSTERS

    I put in KURU for the antelope, before recalling that was the mad-cow like (prion) disease the New Guinea natives contracted from eating too much (human) brain at an elaborate ceremony - the older men got the first pick of the gray matter - BLOCK BUSTING at BLOCK PARTY leads to BLOCK BURSTING.

    NC

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  26. ...one last post before switching to my day-job.

    Kazie

    Nice tea-towel/map, but it's still a modified Mercator projection, where Greenland looks big or bigger than Oz. Maybe the lower portion will shrink in the wash.

    NC

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  27. Grumpy1

    Guess I was having a mental block. Thanks for the explanation.

    And no regrets pursuing the muse(s).

    NC

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  28. NC,
    It's already had many washes, but aren't all such rectangular maps distorted? I think it comes with the territory, and the distance from the poles or equator.

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  29. Kazie

    Yes, you are correct. The distortion gets larger as you move from the equator in both directions, and is very large at both poles. The problem is that most land is above the equator, so Northern Europe/Asia, Canada and (esp. Greenland) come out much larger than Oz, which is much closer to the equator.

    NC

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  30. Here's a classic Mercator with a gargantuan Greenland, bigger even that South America

    THE BIG G


    NC

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  31. Hi gang, slightly tougher for a Tuesday as usual but a very good puzzle, I didn't get the theme either until I got here...

    I'm surprised no one linked the Down Under classic song?

    ;-)

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  32. Grumpy, my thoughts exactly on (mental) block buster. When no IDEAS pop into mind we feel the MUSE has deserted us.
    I remember my father having a ball PEEN hammer when I was very little, and I have one today.
    Living so close to NYC I have been to MOMA many times. It is a delightful cultural expereince.

    I wouldn't want to go to MOMA today. Our highway closings are horrendous. You can't "get there from here" unless you wend your way through a maze of different routes. While some of the water is receding, some rivers are still reaching their crest with more flooding and woe occurring daily.
    Upper NY, CT, north NJ. and especailly VT were hit very hard. Saying Irene was over hyped seems heartless to us.

    Thanks to all who made suggestions for my picture. I will work on it later today.

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  33. Hello everybody. Fun puzzles yesterday and today. Excellent fill. Lots of nice 4 and 5-letter words and phrases. And fill such as HANNIBAL, REVERSE, DADGUM, and FEATURE, how great is that! Excellent clueing, too, including the block buster ones.

    A shoutout to LaLa Linda at 11D.

    I think ASU is in Tempe, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix.

    When I folded the page of the newspaper preparatory to starting the puzzle, my eye fell on the "Suave Butler" clue so I pencilled that it as my first entry, and it all went smoothly from there. One of the few times I didn't start at 1A.

    Best wishes to you all.

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  34. Hola Everyone, I took a bit longer to finish the puzzle today. Yesterday seemed easier--maybe just me. I put in Savings bond instead of Series E and Scoot instead of Scram. That made the NW area the last to fill in.

    I also had Gazes on instead of Gazes at. Oh well, that what erasers are for and have an eraser top on every pencil in the holder on my desk.

    I thought the Suave Butler/Rhett was a smooth entry. Did anyone put in wrong at first for Aren't Right? I was always told I was wrong if I used "Ain't. The eraser crumbs were building fast.

    When my Dad passed away my sister and I sent my Dad's adze to a small folk museum in Virginia. He used it to shape logs for their home. The museum is filled with old tools used by Homesteaders, not only for woodworking, but for kitchen and household use.

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  35. Kazie, loved your map. I wanted to turn it around, but then the writing would have been upside down. LOL.

    Husker Gary, I like your new colorful Avatar that spells out your blogger name.

    Abejo, enjoy your Stilton with a really crispy cracker or a slice of pear or apple. A little wine wouldn't hurt either.

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  36. Chickie,

    You're right. Ain't is wrong. The play on words was makiing 'aint't' right; hence, AREN'T.

    Hey did you see my question about the striped German tomato? I thought I got that name from you, when we were on a 'tomato' kick around here. Didn't it also have 'pink' in the name? If I'm wrong about your talking about that particular tomato, please excuse my poor memory.

    Also, loved your story about your Dad's ADZE. Thanks.

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  37. Hello, Puzzlers. Thank you, Argyle, for some good music clips. I'll have to return to finish them all.

    Suave Butler? It hurts my heart just to look at him, sooo handsome!

    Thank you, Nancy, for a nice walk in the park today. I like it when I can just fill up and down without much scrutiny.

    Ditto for stumbling on GAZESON before GASEZAT although had DADGUM, erased, then refilled.

    Two shout outs, ASU and LALA (my mom! LaLa Linda, too.

    ETUI, PLEBE, and GELID are standard crosswordese which we haven't seen in a while. Welcome back!

    I thought using both theme words with GO was clever and cant' be easy to construct.

    Ain't right? Yes, AREN'T was my favorite fill!

    I hope we hear from some other New Englanders soon to see if all is well.

    Have a fantastic Tuesday, everyone!

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  38. Creature, we get German Johnson tomatoes here. They are shaped funny and kind of bumpy-looking with some stripes. I had never had one before moving to NC, but now they are one of my favorite tomatoes. This year I planted some "Early Girl" tomatoes that were not as yummy as the "German Johnson" ones. We also had some grape tomatoes that have re-seede for the last two years! Our yard guy had never seen a grape tomato plant do that. They were also very tasty!

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  39. Thanks Bill G for the info. I haven't tried it yet but I will tomorrow with my husband- he had his 2nd cataract surgery today and is doing well. He knows how to do those things better than I do.

    Puzzle was hard- I worked at it this AM in the hosp. waiting roon.

    Have a good afternoon all!

    Marge

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  40. Who knew there was a song called Bathtub Gin?

    I didn't care much for it but go figure.

    Wiki says the name was started during the prohibition.

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  41. Back from 36 holes! The course is so wet, there was NO roll at all but it was still nice out!

    Thanks for the comment on my avatar, Chickie. College football starts Saturday for all the players that are not on probation for improper benefits or bar fighting. Huskers have had some of that too over the years but seem to have a full roster as of now. I am taking my grandson and his dad to the first game and Hudson's little eyes will pop at all the activities with 90,000 people in red going crazy. My neighbor's daughter is a UNL cheerleader too and so we will be looking for Lindsay.

    C.C, I love the avatar with you and the red, white and blue!

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  42. This link shows that the shortest path from NY to London is not a straight line as it seems to be on a Mercator projection map. Because the Earth is curved, planes follow the red path (great circle route).

    This is a great earth science activity for kids using a length of string on a globe with a "seemingly" straight heading from NY to London (what seems right on a Mercator projection) but then the kids soon see that by conforming the string to the curvature of the Earth (red line), the distance is less. Non-Euclidian geometry can be tough to imagine.

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  43. HuskerGary, nice depiction of a great circle route. I seem to remember back when I took geometry, it was divided into plane and solid geometry. It's all incorporated into one year of geometry these days but solid geometry certainly get the short end of the stick.

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  44. Abejo, did you like the Stilton cheese? If so, give Gorgonzola a try next time. It's wonderful too.

    C.C., great photo. I remember it from when you got your citizenship. How come it shows up so much larger and clearer than all of my avatar photos do?

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  45. Hi All ~~

    No real problems with the puzzle today. I did start out with 'Maul' before MASH but things were straightened out quickly. I didn't get the theme until the unifier and then of course I had to go back and try them all out. I liked some ... others not so much. Thanks for the great write-up, Argyle ... enjoyed the links.

    ~~ Favorites: 'Ain't right' and 'DADGUM!'

    ~~ Red Sox are the HOME TEAM to the Yankees for the next three nights ... always interesting battles.

    ~~ Jayce ~~ Thanks for the shout-out on the shout-out!


    Many areas of the state are still without power and restoration may take a week or more for some. Crews are coming in from around the country to help. I hope that will speed things up for those still affected.

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  46. Husker G. re loxodrome. I learned it as a rhumb line; a line of constant heading across lines of meridian.

    Abejo: what Bill G. , Chickie and others said about Stilton and pears or apples. They go great together. Gorgonzola just as well, also. My BH serves either cheese on a baked half pear. Deeelicious.

    Kazie: @ 9:01 re müde. I had the same thought. Low German is mööd, as in 'Ik bin mööd.' (I'm tired). Way too many umlauts. :-)

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  47. Bon Soir mes amis.

    Busy,Busy day! I got this done pretty early for me, but didn't have time to get to the blog until just now.
    Is there another name for 'kudu?' He looks familiar but I don't recognize the name.

    I liked 'skip over the ads button'/fastforward.

    elude/evade is always a dilemma.

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  48. Good evening Argyle, CC, et al., Loved, loved, loved this puzzle. I LMAOROTF so much I was almost PEEN my pants as I worked thru this. The pic of the KUDU gave a whole new dimension to IM UP and his horny self was STRAIGHT OUT but screwy. My X RATED STATE of mind was in the SEWER with all the comings of the going DOWN UNDER NAKED APEs. And Holy Hotwick! then there's the sMASHing IDEA of multiple FAST FORWARDing and REVERSEing, which was simply RIVETing! I am raising a shot of GIN TOUR now as she opens her eyes, GAZES AT RHETT and whispers,
    "ahhh, ERI TU!"

    Argyle: you Rock! Job very well done! Loved it.

    Praying for those in harm's way from Irene. Has anyone heard from Dennis?

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  49. Husker, sounds to me like your daughter's friend didn't do a very good vetting when she hired this man.

    in English, the term madrasah/madrasses usually refers to the specifically Islamic institutions

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  50. Good evening, all!

    Nice puzzle, Nancy! Super write-up, Argyle, as usual!

    KUDU was not in my memory banks, but no cheating necessary.

    Favorites: ERI TU and RHETT. Older daughter of Russian friend stays here 2 or 3 times/year because she has to visit with boyfriend, named RHETT. Both are 15-16. Neither drives. (What was that boy's mother thinking?)

    Lemonade: Which one is thee?

    Friend Harvey came late to take me for weekly blood test, as I am on blood thinners for arrhythmia. We arrived exactly on time, but no cigar! Rats!

    Anyone else have an arrhythmia? If so, what is treatment?

    Cheers!

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  51. You adventurous sorts might like to try:

    Parahawking over Nepal

    Birds of prey fly with paragliders, guiding them to thermals
    in exchange for food:

    See Parahawking.

    I got a kick out seeing the wizened? passenger feeding the hawk.

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  52. One of life's greatest mysteries to me is why does the word umlaut not have an umlaut?? It sounds like it should!

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  53. Spitzboov, Thanks for the link. Spectacular!

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  54. Good Evening, folks.

    Well, I thought I would stop in and see what's cooking.

    To: Bill G, Chickie, and Spitzboov:

    Yes, I tried my newly acquired Stilton Cheese (@$15/pound) this morning. It is a Blue cheese and was very good. I had it on crackers with my Earl Grey tea. I will have some more tomorrow.

    To: Lois. You Rock! Great Blog!

    Abejo

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  55. Creature, The tomato is German Strawberry. Light yellow with red stripes in the flesh. Yummy!

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  56. Avg Joe,
    Umlaut means 'changed sound' (literally 'around sound', as in turned around = changed). If it had an Umlaut it would go on the 'a', and that would change it so the 'ä' would sound like an 'e'. With the combination 'äu', the sound would be like the 'oy' in 'boy'.

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  57. Like your avatar CC! :-)

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  58. Thank you, FermatP. I'm the one on the left. Now I have to think about changing avatars again! It took me a year to get this one in.

    Oh, you asked. I suppose what I have is irrythmia (sp?). Cardiologist said A-fib. Put me on Warfarin! aka rat poisin. I already bleed like a stuck pig! Hate it.

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