google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday September 22, 2011 Betty Keller

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Sep 22, 2011

Thursday September 22, 2011 Betty Keller

Theme: Fowl Play -Another word is attached to the end of each fowl-starting two-word common expresson. The new phrase is then humorously clued.

17A. Daffy trying to hit the piƱata? : DUCK BLINDFOLDED. Duck blind.

25A. Survey response at the farm? : CHICKEN FEEDBACK. Chicken feed.

43A. Tom fooler? : TURKEY LEGPULLER. Turkey leg.

57A. Loosey's cake-making aid? : GOOSE EGGBEATERS. Goose egg.

C.C. here, filling in another blogging gap.

Love this theme. Tight and fun. Four 15s are quite a lot to place in a grid. Luckily they don't have to be in a particular order. Otherwise, problem could arise, esp if rare letters (Z, Q, J & X) are involved.

Across:

1. Clips for trailers : SCENES. Movie trailers.

7. Fridge incursion : RAID

11. Triangular sail : JIB

14. Kia model : OPTIMA. The "a" in Kia means "Asia". Ki = Rise. So, "rise out of Asia".

15. Dagwood's pesky kid neighbor : ELMO. No idea.

16. Japanese salad ingredient : UDO. Like this. Kind of Sansai (mountain veggie). San = Mountain. Sai = Veggie.

20. Campfire remains : ASH

21. It originates from the left ventricle : AORTA

22. Pops : DADDY

23. "Garfield" waitress : IRMA. Another no idea. Would only nail it if it were clued as "____ la Douce" or "Joy of Cooking".

24. Detective Spade : SAM

33. Stows in a hold : LADES

34. x, y or z : AXIS

35. Many a Louis : ROI

36. Supplies for Seurat : OILS

37. Sends regrets, perhaps : RSVPs

39. Entry in a PDA : APPT

40. Maui strings : UKE. LEIs too. Hi there JD!

41. Waterfall sound : ROAR

42. Not at all good at losing? : OBESE. Losing weight.

47. Only reason to watch the Super Bowl, some say : ADs. True for me.

48. Like a pretentious museumgoer : ARTY

49. Plane parking place : APRON. Sweet fill for our pilot Dudley.

52. Mountaintop home : AERIE

54. Likely result of failing a Breathalyzer test, briefly : DUI

60. Dedicatee of Lennon's "Woman" : ONO

61. Jazz singer Laine : CLEO

62. Blanche Dubois's sister : STELLA. In "A Streetcar Named Desire" . "Hey Stella!".

63. Place with presses : GYM

64. It may be a peck : KISS

65. "Mustn't do that!" : TSK-TSK

Down:

1. Fizz in a gin fizz : SODA

2. PC "brains" : CPUs

3. Make quite an impression : ETCH

4. Beat back? : NIK. Beatnik.

5. Boards at the dock : EMBARKS

6. Strauss opera based on a Wilde play : SALOME. Just learned it's originally written in French.

7. Flat bread? : RENT. Great clue. Flat = Apartment.

8. "M*A*S*H" actor : ALDA

9. Currency-stabilizing org. : IMF. What a club!

10. Thingamabobs : DOODADs. Nice word.

11. Hirsch of "Numb3rs" : JUDD. Have never seen "Numb3rs".

12. Picked from a lineup : ID'ed

13. Shampoo ad buzzword : BODY. Give your hair more body. Get to know Miranda Kerr!

18. Shah's land, once : IRAN

19. New ewe : LAMB

23. Brain freeze cause : ICES

24. Juanita's half-dozen : SEIS. In Chinese, it's LIU, falling tone. The LIU in Lucy Liu is rising tone. 4 tones in Chinese.

25. Leverage : CLOUT

26. 17-syllable verse : HAIKU

27. Slugabed : IDLER

28. Green Bay legend : FAVRE (Brett). Which legend doesn't have a few foibles?

29. Abbr. on food labels : EXP

30. Adrien of cosmetics : ARPEL

31. Small woods : COPSE. Want to take a walk?

32. Bad-check passer : KITER

37. Acuff and Clark : ROYs

38. Actor Mineo : SAL

39. With skill : ABLY

41. Scapegoat in some down-home humor : REDNECK. Fun entry.

42. Downs more dogs than, in an annual contest : OUT-EATS. Those guys must have have a very elastic stomach.

44. "Get Smart" evil org. : KAOS

45. Shirts and skirts : GARB. Rhyming.

46. Mass leader : PRIEST

49. Visibly wowed : AGOG

50. Chincoteague horse : PONY. Chincoteague is new to me, Lois! Wikipedia said it's famous for its Chincoteague ponies.

51. Sufficient space : ROOM

52. Sits in a wine cellar : AGES

53. Inflatable items : EGOS

54. Shoulder muscle, for short : DELT

55. Bing info : URLs

56. Writer Dinesen : ISAK. Author of "Out of Africa".

58. Bulldog booster : ELI. Yale. Jayce's alma mater.

59. Shatner's "__War" : TEK

Answer grid.

Here is a lovely picture from our long absent Moon. She said: "... As before, reading the blog is a daily ritual (except Saturdays, when I don't do the crossword). ... I turned 33 this year and to commemorate the mile-stone, I'm running 3 half-marathons over the course of 6 weeks..." She just completed her second half-marathon last Sunday.

I think she doesn't like hockey, Splynter!

C.C.

52 comments:

Lemonade714 said...

C.C., Always good to see you, even if it is filling in. I liked the theme, and think the grid spanner before and after clues were both cute and impressive. The rest went quickly once i got my mind to think about movie trailers.

I like BEAT NIK and ETCH and we do see ISAK often this year.

go play, it is jeudi.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Pretty easy going today, especially for a Thursday. I got the theme early on and that really helped. In fact, I had more trouble with some of the clues than with the actual answers. Slugabed [IDLE]? Chincoteague horse [PONY]? Dagwood's pesky kid neighbor [ELMO]? Could these common answers possibly be clued more obscurely?

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C. and friends. How nice to have you back with the commentary mid-week.

This was a fun Thursday puzzle and one that was a bit of a challenge, but not too hard. I loved the bird before and after theme. GOOSE EGG BEATERS was my first theme clue, and that helped with the others.

I used to watch Numb3rs and was sorry when it was cancelled.

My favorite clues were: Flat Bread? = RENT; and

Inflatable Items = EGOS.

Not Good at Losing = OBESE just seemed a bit mean.

I am not keen on clues like Beat Back = BeatNIK.

Best to you, Moon on running your marathons. What dedication!

On This Date in 1776, American revolutionary Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 - Sept 22, 1776) was hang by the British as a spy.

Lemonade714 said...

BG:

For all the non Minnihaha residents

LAKE__________: ELMO.

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

Lemonade,
To answer your question the other day, Argyle started blogging LA Times Mondays on May 11, 2009. So I worked alone on TMS & LA Times before then. Now I shudder to think of those time when the TMS puzzles were not available in puz file.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - and Good Morning C.C.!

Impressive, Betty! Four grid-spanning theme answers can't be easy to invent.

Zoomed through with just a few glitches, such as ICEE for ICES, and having no idea who Adrien ARPEL is.

Yes, it's refreshing to see APRON used correctly as an aircraft parking area. "Ramp" means pretty much the same thing. As we saw recently, "Tarmac" is the name for an obsolete paving material, and it doesn't refer to any particular airport surface.

Mainiac said...

Morning CC and All,

CC, Thanks for the fill in. Reminds me of the TMS days when I first started. And thanks so much for the Miranda Kerr pic. Zoinks!!!!

Duck Blind Folded fell pretty early and that was the end to my success. Finally pecked away and got Turkey Leg Puller and ended the slog in the SE. Never watched Street Car and not familiar with Shatner. No such thing a a Red Neck is these parts but I certainly fit the category of Downeastah! (Downeaster, Hahtool can explain).

Have a great day.

Tinbeni said...

C.C.: Nice write-up & links.
Yup! The "first thing" I noticed was Miranda Kerr's hair has great BODY. lol

Really enjoyed the themes. They fell quickly.
GOOSE-EGG-BEATER brought a grin.

Liked the "more original" cluing for ELMO, AORTA, IRMA, IDLER, ROI and OBESE (my fave today, it earned 3 '+' marks in the margin).

My first thought for 'Green Bay legend' was (Bart) Starr before the perps brought in FAVRE.

All-in-All a FUN Thursday. Thanks Betty.

A 'toast' to the "Evil-Empire" at Sunset.

Anony-Mouse said...

Thank you Ms. Betty Keller for a very nice puzzle. I tried it , against my persistent nagging suspicions, that it would be too difficult - and I got all but one, err two (OILS).

Thank you CC for a wonderful blog, ... one wonders how you managed in the old days. Such dedication is remarkable under any standards. !

'Kiting' is a special accounting term, used for people or companies that write checks, that are not necessarily NSF- on insufficient funds, but may not be payable immediately. Its is a federal crime, if you make a habit of it.

Alt QOD: I saw a street mime pretend to be trapped in a box. After his show I pretended to give him a dollar. ~ David Letterman.

Hungry Mother said...

Used to read Dagwood and Blondie when I was a kid.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning C.C. et al.

Nice to see you today, C.C. With your link to Miranda Kerr, I learned another new (for me) fashion model! She is married to Orlando Bloom, and it was interesting to read that their home was broken into in 2009 by the Bling Ring.
What a creepy looking bunch!

I chuckled my way through this puzzle as I filled in the theme entries. Fortunately, I was familiar with ELMO from the Dagwood strip, and Irma from Garfield. The fill was pretty easy overall, but the clues were ramped up for a Thursday puzzle. Thanks Betty!

Have a great day everyone – rain here, so time to read a good book!

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning,all. Thanks for the writeup, C.C. It seems we get a puzzle from Betty Keller about once a year but her previous efforts have been Monday, Tuesday levels. I enjoyed this one. A few misleads and a few obscure things, so I wound up hopping around the grid but got it all.

C.C., your title leads to similar entry, but not a grid spanner and a change of spelling.

'Chicks getting together for fun and games' Fowl playdate.

Wasn't too fond of Beat back/NIK until I thought about it awhile. Had Addr before APPT, but COPSE was the key to straightening out that block. Nothing to say TSK TSK about in this puzzle.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

A fun Thursday, but a little more difficult for me then some others. It was awhile before I figured out the theme, but once I did, I was rolling. NW was the toughest section for me.

Some of Barry's obscurities were gimme's for me. Slugabed, Dagwood's neighbor were in my wheelhouse from past and present. Still check in on Blondie each day as well as Garfield, so Irma was no problem either.

Like Tinbeni, Bart Starr was my first choice for Green Bay legend before Favre emerged. IMHO Betty, we were right & you were wrong.

In addition to the theme answers, Flat Bread/Rent was a favorite. For 54A, first choice was DWI, but WRLS made less sense then URLS.

Yellowrocks said...

Fun puzzle and write up. Enjoyed the nod to former and present Comics fans with ELMO and IRMA.

On several ocassions we spent a week at Assateague State Park in MD. Beautiful natural seashore beaches. (For the boardwalk experience people go to Ocean City, Md.) At Assoteague the wild ponies roam the island and wander onto the beach as people sunbathe. If you do not try to get too familiar with them, they are quite harmless.

I have always wanted to see the famous swimming of the ponies in July from Assateague to Chincoteague, where some are sold. The ponies from that herd then return to Assateague. The schedule never suited us. The Wikipedia article CC mentioned has great info.

Have you ever read "Misty of Chincoteague?"

Spitzboov said...

Good morning C.C. and all.

Bit of a rough one today. Finally had to look up the Garfield waitress, IRMA; I haven't read it in recent years. But that allowed me to get EMBARK (great clue), and finish. Bounced around down to the bottom and got the first theme GOOSE EGG BEATERS. Then TURKEY and the rest of the poultry came in. It was good to see COPSE again. Quite a few words with 'K' today. Wonder of the "K" in Ms. Keller had anything to do with it.

Have a great day.

thehondohurricane said...

just testing my access. Google is messing around with me.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, It is so nice to see Moon's smiling face. I'm glad she is still peeking in on a regular basis.

Thanks to both Betty Keller and C.C. for taking up the blogging chores.

I waffled around with 3)Make quite an impression/ETCH and 7D)Flat bread?/RENT for quite a while, but finally got them both with a little perp help.

I caught the theme early on and filled in the appropriate poultry right away. After that the puzzle flowed pretty easily from left to right.

Here are a couple of 26D) "Strugnel's HAIKU" by humorous British poet Wendy Cope.

The leaves have fallen
And the snow has fallen and
Soon my hair also...

November evening:
The moon is up, rooks settle,
The pubs are open.

eddyB said...

Hello.

Nice Thursday puzzle.

Re: double Zs. Almost time to make
pizzelles.

And, Nikki Heat ordered iced tea
with honey in the latest Castle novel. A NYC deli thing?

Don't understand people who don't like hocey. 14 days to go.

take care. eddy

Argyle said...

News Flash:

"My friend's name is Goosey Loosey.

And although the sky isn't falling, a big satellite is."

Chiken Little

Argyle said...

You might note that 17- and 57-Across are waterfowl while 25- and 43-Across are land fowl.

Clear Ayes said...

The avatar for the day is "Young Blue Eyes", grand daughter Rachael.

To a Goose is an excellent fowl destination

If thou didst feed on western plains of yore;
Or waddle wide with flat and flabby feet
Over some Cambrian mountain's plashy moor;
Or find in farmer's yard a safe retreat
From gipsy thieves, and foxes sly and fleet;
If thy grey quills, by lawyer guided, trace
Deeds big with ruin to some wretched race,
Or love-sick poet's sonnet, sad and sweet,
Wailing the rigour of his lady fair;
Or if, the drudge of housemaid's daily toil,
Cobwebs and dust thy pinions white besoil,
Departed Goose! I neither know nor care.
But this I know, that thou wert very fine,
Season'd with sage and onions, and port wine.

- Robert Southey was England's Poet Laureate from 1813 to his death in 1843. He is best know for his children's "Story of the Three Bears" (pre-Goldilocks)

Jerome said...

I'm sure Betty came up with lots of possibilities for theme entries. I'm glad she chose these four 15's. They're terrific! Also liked TSKTSK, DOODADS, REDNECK, and OUTEATS crossing OBESE.

Ugly Ducklings-

PIGEONDROPCLOTH- Bird cage liner?

CROWBARTENDER- Indian saloon keeper?

ROBINHOODORNAMENT- Bling on an English bandits headcover?

Spitzboov said...

How about

SWANDIVERSION - Distracted plunger

AUKLANDFALL - End of marine flier's trip

Seldom Seen said...

Prescription for a myopic raptor:
15 letters

EAGLE EYEGLASSES

dodo said...

Morning, everybody.

Is this really Thursday? I sailed through this puzzle as if it was Tuesday! I did have to work at it a bit but I was able to make the perps work for me as they showed up. Lots of fun! Thanks, Ms. Keller.

Thank you, too, C.C. Very nice commentary. Dagwood Bumstead is the husband in comic strip "Blondie" which has been published as long as I can remember. I guess Irma is another one, but I don't read "Garfield". Not a cat fan.

Learning moment: udo. Very prickly looking. Must be hard to harvest.

Fav clue: Not at all good at losing?

Would never have known Chincoteague if I hadn't read "Misty" as a youngster, being a midwesterner aka landlubber.

dodo said...

Oops! A few lines over the max! Sorry.

I guess I couldn't have been a 'youngster' when I read "Misty". It was published in 1947! I got my degree in l946, and got married in '48. I was no kid!

Clear Ayes said...

I meant to post avatar's name as Young BlueAyes. All three of the grandkids have those big super blue eyes.

Thanks to several for the 50D) Chincoteague horse/PONY information.

Dodo, your first post showed up as only 16 lines, well under the recommendation.

No youngster in 1947? I disagree. You have maintained your youthful personality for 60+ years. I bet you were still skipping down the sidewalk in 1947 (OK, maybe just when nobody was watching.)

Kazie, thanks for your take on tea yesterday. I'm going to get some loose tea and see if I enjoy it more. Tea bags are convenient, but don't have much flavor.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everybody.

Great to have your write up, C.C. And a very nice puzzle, Betty. I agree about the theme answers. Very clever.
But I was surprised at ROYS/ROI.
Missed some of the ones mentioned.

Clear Ayes, I surely do enjoy your poetry contributions. Thank you.

Cheers

Yellowrocks said...

As a child I loved dog and horse stories: Call of the Wild, White Fang, Sea Wolf,Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka, etc. I have re read many of these classics as an adult. Today I picked up Misty of Chincoteague. While I taught I read many books for children and young adults to keep abreast of the literature, especially Newberry Award and Caldecott winners. Now that I am retired, from time to time I go back to the younger books. Lately I re read My Antonia. I am tempted to get the Eloise books soon.

Interspersed with books like Guns, Germs, and Steel and The Painted Caves, these books offer a charming change of pace.

WikWak said...

Never heard of UDO; thanks to CC's picture I'll probably never experience it as it looks entirely too hairy for my taste.

Loved BEATNIK, ETCH and the clue for EGOS. Wanted TUT TUT for TSK TSK at first and also hands up for wanting STARR before FARVE came clear. Favorite? FLAT BREAD.

AGOG - meh.

Happy Thursday, all.

Bill G. said...

Very enjoyable puzzle. It wasn't easy for me though. I took several cracks at it and finished by lunchtime. Some really tricky clues. Thanks for the writeup, C.C.

I never read Misty of Chincoteague though I grew up in that part of the US. I had never read Anne of Green Gables until I came across it in our Middle School library years ago. I really enjoyed it. I always wanted to go to Prince Edward Island but never made it.

From a Frasier rerun last night. Roz says when asked if she enjoys fancy restaurants replies, "Are you kidding? My typical date's idea of a gourmet evening is take out, make out and home by Letterman!"

dodo said...

Thanks, CA. Also for your help counting! Why can't I get it right? Bill G. counted mine up one time and just like you, he found it fewer than 20 when I thought it was well over! Maybe it's this little box!, or maybe the lines are longer when printed than when typed.

Yellowrocks said...

There is so much in today's exchange that makes me excited and thankful:

CC's write-up and great info. I was especailly interested in the meaning of KIA and the Chincoteague link, among many others.

Betty's fun puzzle and all the bloggers' punny suggestions. So creative! I'm jealous.

C.A. "To a Goose" is priceless. Thanks. Sorry, I am a purist on Japanese Hiaku. Foreigners' efforts leave me flat. They lack the Japanese sensibility for beauty. There is something inimitable and ineffable in the Japanese.

I second most of the comments. Loved FLAT BREAD =RENT and Tenbeni's praise of more original cluing.

Hint on counting lines in your post: Count in your preview, not in your first copy.

Anonymous said...

Happiness is finding a thursday puzzle in my language! So what I still had ten white spaces. Last Thursday I only filled in ten spaces.

Liked "not a good loser" since I'm trying to be. Watch the TV show and exercise by walking from one end of the house to the other during commercials. I'm not a couch potato. I'm a recliner liner.

Still can't figure out the "Choose an identity" thing. So, I'll just sign off--P.K.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi C.C. and gang -

This puzzle was for the birds! I got the overlap style of the the theme, but missed the fowl element. Great fun, all of it. Lots of high quality long down fill, too, most appropriately.

But I hate^3 "Beat back" = NIK.

It's my affix fixation.

On a happier note, that is indeed a fetching picture of the lovely Miranda, but I suspect it's been digitally enhanced.

We're going to T-town for a funeral tomorrow, so I might not check in.

Happy weekend, everyone.

Cheers!
JzB

Anonymous said...

Thanks, C.C. for all your hard work and the language lessons. Learning about language is fun.-P.K.

Anonymous said...

Fun stuff to know (if you don`t already.): In Windows, lock your numbers. Press and hold "alt" then press "13" and get ♪. Follow the same precess and press "14" and get ♫! FUN! ♫♫♫♫♪♪♪

Husker Gary said...

Spectacular weather continues here on the prairie and Betty’s fun puzzle was a lovely dessert after 36 holes. It was 42°F when I started but had on shorts at the end replaced sweat suit. Cluing was fine and theme a real hoot!

Musings
-Geese on course are mellower now when not protecting eggs
-Those 10 pm Fridge incursions are a bad habit
-How ‘bout My Friend IRMA
-How can people with 7 DUI’s still be driving?
-Oh, now I get NIK! I agree, Marti!
-Creepy Strauss-Kahn is contemporary Strauss and his IMF was in today also
-Yes, C.C., I immediately noticed Miranda’s body
-Brett is “foibled” to the max, but was fun to watch
-Beautiful COPSE, C.C.
-Judd Hirsch in Taxi!!
-Didn’t Nights in Rodanthe have ponies on the beach?
-Clever variations on the theme by our wordsmiths! Excited equine symptom? HORSERACINGPULSE

Husker Gary said...

Jersey Boy Musings after seeing in Omaha
-Wonderful show that sold out the 2,000 seat Orpheum in Omaha most nights in a 2 week run
-Everybody looked like me – 65 with gray hair and eagerly anticipating the recapture of artifacts of adolescence.
-First half hour drags a little but after the Bob Gaudio character (he wrote their big hits) joins the group, you soon hear the opening riffs to Sherry for 30 seconds under the dialogue and then the place went crazy when the first notes of Sherry were sung!
-Walk Like A Man stopped the show for 60 seconds of sustained applause!
-Like most groups, The 4 Seasons could not sustain their personal and professional relationships.
-We got the second string Frankie Vallie on our night as the Omaha touring company player had to return to Broadway to fill in.
-Nothing beats live theater!
-Go see it if you can!!

Anonymous said...

CHOOSE AN IDENTITY

Yellowrocks said...

ANON @4:08
You more expereinced bloggers on this site, please correct me or add on to this.

I believe that you can type any name or pseudo name (Don't use your full name), in the name section below the Comment Box and click the dot before the words, "Name/URL." Then type your comment in the Leave Your Comment Box. Click Preview to see what you have said. Then Click Publish. To "Go Blue", after your first post is published, go back to it and click on your ID name. You will be given a form to fill in.
Problems? Ask again.

Hope this correct. If not, please help us out.

ARBAON said...

Husker Gary: as I`ve said before, there`s nothing like hearing "Walk like a man" in a falsetto voice!

ant said...

Lazy warm meadow
Green tea and cherry blossoms
Do you like it ice(d)?

Husker Gary said...

Arbaon, You got that right, although Francis Castelluccio (Frankie Valli) did get raised on the mean streets of Jersey. Bob Gaudio was brought into the group by, of all people, Joe Pesci who was a boyhood friend of Tommy DeVito who founded the group. Joe went on to make a lot of movies and took Tommy's name when he made Goodfellas.

I don't think anyone was very afraid of Michael Jackson in Thriller or the diminutive Fonz in Happy Days!

Lucina said...

Greetings, cyber friends. C.C. how wonderful to "see" you! Very interesting to know the meaning of Kia.

Though it's late I finally had a chance at this lovely puzzle. I was with my visiting sister all day. She even went to the gym with me.

For a Thursday this was fairly quick and easy.

New ewe, LAMB was my favorite clue and answer; also beat back, NIK once I sussed it.

Much of the old familiar fill was clever and fresh with misdirected clues. I like that.

Now it's time to prepare for my ESL class. I'll read your comments later tonight.

I hope your Thursday has been as great as mine! I love my sisters.

Clear Ayes said...

ant@4:32...clever!

Yellowrocks@3:17, I agree with you about HAIKU. That is why I made sure to preface Wendy Cope's name with "humorous". We've previously posted traditional Haiku by 17th century Japanese poet Bashō and other masters here. This is one of his most famous:

old pond . . .
a frog leaps in
water’s sound

English translations don't alway add up to 17 syllables. (Not one word of Japanese for me...OK...OBI) Like other types of poetry, some people like them and some people don't. I'd been saving the GOOSE poem for Thanksgiving, but it just seemed to fit today. I have another one about EGGS, but it is kind of ghastly, so I'll save it for Halloween.

HG, ah, yes!...My Friend Irma with Marie Wilson and Hans Conried as Professor Kropotkin. Good memories.

Grumpy 1 said...

Haiku poetry
Seventeen sylables, no rhyme
It's not for me.

Abejo said...

Good evening, folks. Thank you Betty, for a swell Thursday puzzle. Enjoyed it very much. Thank you, c.c., for the write-up.

Well, I picked up a Trib at O'Hare Field this morning. Got it worked just as I landed in Cleveland. From there I headed to Jamestown, NY, and then to Bradford, PA.

The puzzle was not a cake walk, but took me a while in some areas. Did not know 30D ARPEL. COPSE also took me a while. Kiter came easy, though.

Did not know HAIKU. Got that with perps.

Thought REDNECK was good. We had that the other day.

Shampoo ad buzzword was not obvious to me. I am pretty bald. Don't relate ot shampoo. I did get the answer, BODY.

Am going to turn in early tonight, since I got up at 2:30 AM today.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

creature said...

CA, Rachael is gorgeous. Oh, those eyes. Ye Gads, two more pairs of big blue eyes! Thanks for sharing.

Great Haiku! Frog in pond- splash in the water- thanks for sharing,
C.A.

Betty, enjoyable puzzle; CC, nice write-up, thanks.

CA, Applause To a Goose.

Dodo, your blogs are clever and quick- a boost- in very few lines others are a drag and painful to endure. Please don't change your style; I haven't seen you go over the limit once.

Dudley said...

Holy Sapphire, Batman! That Rachael has gorgeous eyes!

Lucina said...

CA:
Your granddaughter is beautiful! I believe those are the clearest blue eyes I've ever seen.

HG:
You really nailed the Jersey Boys. That is a fantastic musical.

Clear Ayes said...

Thanks for the BlueAyes compliments. I'll pass them on. I can't take any credit for it. My eyes are sort of grayish-greenish-blue. Both my daughter (via her father) and her husband have bright blue eyes. A long time ago when they were just dating, GAH stuck foot in mouth and embarrassed both of them by saying, "You two are really going to have good looking kids." She gasped....he turned bright red....GAH was pretty much on the money. (But then, I'm the grandma, so what else would I think?)