Theme: Before Dawn - that's when it's blackest, and this Monday, BLACK can be in front of both words in the themes.
17A. *Shows like “Cheers” and “Friends” : LIGHT COMEDY. . A "black light" has a dark blue optical filtering material in the glass of the bulb which blocks most of the visible light, so the lamp emits mostly ultraviolet. A black comedy is a comic work that employs gallows humor.
25A. *Precious metal trading venue : GOLD MARKET. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea. You can find just about anything on the black market...for a price.
38A. *Soft, lumpy chair : BEAN BAG. Easy Black Bean Soup. Black bag operations are covert or clandestine surreptitious entries into structures to obtain information for human intelligence operations. Does Watergate bother you?
42A. *Winter fisherman’s access : ICE HOLE. Video of a fire truck trying to turn on black ice, watch the front wheels. Clip.(0:55). A spot in space where things go in but don't come out is a black hole.
56A. *Attractive facial mole : BEAUTY MARK. Attractive equine, Black Beauty. Horse theft is definitely a black mark on yor record.
64A. 1987 market crash, and this puzzle’s title, whose first word can precede each word in the starred answers : BLACK MONDAY
Argyle here. It is obvious from the title, this was meant to be a Monday puzzle but some fill is from later in the week. But, hey, we put on our big kids pants and soldier on. Happy Halloween! (Did you check out the Google banner?)
Across:
1. About, date-wise : CIRCA
6. Togo neighbor : GHANA. West coast of Africa. Map.
11. Band booster : AMP
14. Ancient Greek theater : ODEAN. (Correction: ODEON.) I always picture this.
15. Hershey’s caramel candies : ROLOs. Skors yesterday and Rolos today; all gone tonight.
16. Card game with a belligerent name : WAR
19. Author Umberto : ECO. Best known for his novel The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa, 1980), an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. That's what Wiki says.
20. “Garfield” dog : ODIE
21. Be shy, poker pot-wise : OWE
22. Onion kin : LEEK. Add some to the black bean soup.
24. Wheel edges : RIMS
29. Pub mug : STEIN
31. Simba’s mate, in “The Lion King” : NALA
32. Like a mint Mickey Mantle rookie card : RARE
33. Drilled commodity : OIL. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.
35. Drill parts : BITS
37. Understand : GET
44. Klutz : OAF
45. Riverbank deposit : SILT. I never cared for this description; the river bottom or delta. yes.
47. “__ Haw” : HEE
48. Another, in Andalusia : OTRO. Andalusia, a region in Southern Spain, bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
50. Like sour cherries : TART
52. Bust makers : NARCs
59. Hindu scripture : VEDA
60. Beatles meter maid : RITA. From the Sgt. Pepper's album. Clip.(2:43)
61. Zip : NIL
62. Bring home : EARN
63. Certain eBay click : BID. But there aren't many auctions anymore.
68. “__ Misérables” : LES
69. Flood barrier : LEVEE
70. Demoted planet : PLUTO. So sad.
71. Chinese menu general : TSO
72. “Yikes!” : "EGADS!"
73. Keys in : TYPES
Down:
1. Red, white and blue : COLORS
2. “Yay, me!” : "I DID IT!"
3. Ruling period : REGIME
4. Ability to stick together : COHESION
5. Picnic bug : ANT
6. Gradually appeal to : GROW ON
7. Amateur photographer’s workshop : HOME LAB
8. Bar pint contents : ALE
9. Green light : NOD. Bit of a stretch, wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more.
10. Safe havens : ASYLA. This definition is from the 1913 Webster's Dictionary and may be outdated. (I'd say.)
11. Seven days before now : A WEEK AGO
12. Holy fish? : MACKEREL
13. Poker tour player : PRO
18. Minor player : COG. "I feel like a micro cog in a macrocosm" · - Mary Guyette.(Whoever she was.)
23. Goof up : ERR
26. 552, to Caesar : DLII
27. Fire starter : MATCH
28. Head, in France : TÊTE
30. Penpoints : NIBs
34. Flock at church : LAITY
36. Spotted : SEEN
38. Half-wit : BOOB
39. Diners and such : EATERIES
40. “Yes, unfortunately” : "AFRAID SO"
41. Glittery rock genre : GLAM
43. Angelic : HEAVENLY
46. Hypnotized : TRANCED
49. Ump’s call : OUT
51. Tots’ rides : TRIKEs. Check out this beaut!
53. Do research (on) : READ UP
54. Percentage quoted by a bank : CD RATE
55. Some plasma TVs : SANYOs. Good to see something besides RCA.
57. Dining room piece : TABLE. 65D. 57-Down support : LEG
58. Merged Dutch airline : KLM
63. Short lunch order? : BLT
66. Gardner on screen : AVA
67. Pick, with “for” : OPT
Argyle
1) Constructors' Note:
This is Don's idea. We originally started color blue and changed to black after seeing blue has been done before. Then Don further enhanced our theme by suggesting going with phrases where both words can follow black. We had fun with this puzzle. Everything went smoothly, from theme entry selection to filling and cluing.
This is Don's idea. We originally started color blue and changed to black after seeing blue has been done before. Then Don further enhanced our theme by suggesting going with phrases where both words can follow black. We had fun with this puzzle. Everything went smoothly, from theme entry selection to filling and cluing.
2) Here is a wonderful photo from our regular commenter Yellowrocks, who visited Japan some time ago.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeletePerfectly adequate Monday effort from our favorite two constructors. Nothing particularly exciting, nothing particularly annoying. I balked a bit at TRANCED and ASYLA, but everything else was smooth sailing. I did get the theme reveal before the end, which helped me go back and get some of the theme answers I had missed earlier, so that was nice.
Another fine effort from Don and C.C. who are amazingly prolific. I have no nits to pick, and am always impressed with the double word themes. With so much themeage, the remaining fill was perforce mostly short words, but this is Monday and a great start to the week.
ReplyDeleteRita the meter maid is now with me for a while, enjoy the day. Thanks A.
Holy MACKEREL! That was a good MONDAY puzzle and commentary. I agree with you, Argyle, although it's the first of the week, it seemed more like a Wednesday puzzle to me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't need to google for any answers, so didn't see the Google banner until you made me look.
I learned that Seven Days Before Today was not Last Week, but A WEEK AGO!
I hope all of our friends in the Northeast are doing well and have their power back (I see that Barry got his electricity back).
Happy Trick-or-Treating!
QOD: From ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us! ~ Scottish Saying
No problems. Today was a speed run, but I totally missed the theme.
ReplyDeleteCan someone be "tranced?" Not sure I like that one.
After Ike hit the Gulf coast, and I was without power for two weeks, I invested in a 20KW generator. That's enough to power the whole whose, AC and all. Runs on natural gas and auto-starts when power is lost. Maybe you Northeasterners will be looking into one.
Mornin' Ya'll,
ReplyDeletePiece of cake!
Didn't see the theme till I read the comments. On the other hand, wasn't looking for a theme.....just filling in the blanks.
Enjoy the day!
Wow! Certainly like a Wed for me.
ReplyDeleteBLACK MONDAY was great Halloween fun, with all the 'spider webs' and 'ghosts' in the clues.
Thanks for the write-up, Argyle; you did the 'dyno duo' proud.
Happy Halloween, indeed! Thanks, guys.
Missed a lot here, but have worked the puzzles and read the posts.
Must say Happy Birthday to Boomer! Loved the photo!
Dear Dodo, please forgive my tardy wishes. Your Birthday has been on my calender for a year,'cause we missed it last year and I missed checking it, because the tree man came at break of day and I couldn't post.Look at that photo from time to time and really enjoy it.
I know you enjoyed your family luncheon yesterday and will collect from your neighbors soon.
Later.
Happy Halloween everyone! New to this site. I have a comment - if 14 across is odean, how can 4 down be cohesive?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: It looks like Argyle has a slight typo in his write up. 14A is actually ODEON and not ODEAN. Oh -- and 4D is actually COHESION, not COHESIVE.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Argyle and all. Congratultions to our prolific pair for another fun puzzle. Some of the fill was a bit unusual to say the least, but anything that was in doubt was quickly filled by perps.
ReplyDelete"Yay, Me!"/I did it. Hmmm, didn't we just see "Yay, Me!"/I win? I'm going to guess that was Rich's clue, considering how far ahead the puzzles are submitted. I've noticed other times that a different way of cluing shows up and then reepeats a few more times in a short span before disappearing again.
Desper-otto, I looked into a whole house system, but we don't have natural gas available here. It would take about 12 to 16 gallons of gasoline a day, which might not be available. That leaves a large propane tank as the only good alternative. Still thinking about it.
Don't let the goblins get you tonight.
Thanks Barry G - that clears up the matter :). Looks like I made a typo as well - I meant to type up cohesion not cohesive. I need my coffee....
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, folks. Thank you, Don G. and C.C. B., for a really good puzzle. Enjoyed it. A little more challenging than a typical Monday, but that is good. Thank you, Argyle, for the write-up. Like the fire truck link. Black ice is fun and dangerous.
ReplyDeleteMost of this puzzle came easily. Got the theme early and that helped with the rest.
Did not know VEDA or GLAM, but perps fixed those.
TRANCED is kind of a new word, or variation, but I'm sure it is accurate.
I bought a 2K Watt generator used for $50. Good enough for my sump pump. All else I can live with. Of course, I have to be here to start it.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Argyle,
ReplyDeleteOne more typo at eatEries. Otherwise a very informative and enjoyable write up.
A simply wonderful Monday--not BLACK at all for me! I had no problems other than having ASYLS before MARKET told me otherwise.
C.C. and Don "hard G",
Great puzzle! Very clever to get double BLACK references all the way through.
Yellowrocks,
A very nice photo! Now we really know you.
As some of you already know, Cruciverb was, and still is, down today so I couldn't rely on my cut & paste manner of write-up. Then I failed to use spell check, hence the typos. Excuse me.
ReplyDeleteGood morning all. Thanks for the commentary, Argyle.
ReplyDeleteAnother fun puzzle form Don and C.C. Not quite the normal easy Monday for me, but GETable enough after a little fussing. Went clockwise from the NW, today, ending up at the BOOB/OAF cross. Interesting. Got all the way to the unifier, BLACK MONDAY, before 'connecting' the theme words. At 63a, I had 'buy' before BID which makes more sense. Speaking of Black GOLD, we had OIL, too.
KLM are the initials in Dutch for Royal Aviation Company.
Yellowrocks; great picture.
10D. Safe havens : ASYLA. This definition is from the 1913 Webster's Dictionary and may be outdated. (I'd say.)
ReplyDeleteGrumpy,
ReplyDelete"Yay, me!" is our original clue.
Santa,
I always thought ASYLA is another plural form of asylum. No?
Good Morning...haven't done cw yet, but make sure you go to Google today to see their Halloween video.
ReplyDeleteoff to Halloween festivities..later.
Am taking cw with me
Grumpy, I had a 5500W portable gasoline generator. That would handle most things other than the stove and AC. Problem was, after Ike it was almost impossible to buy gasoline. The stations had no electricity, so their pumps wouldn't run. That soured me on the portables.
ReplyDeleteCC, I agree that ASYLA is an acceptable plural for ASYLUM -- at least I've seen it several times. Still don't like TRANCED, though.
Good Morning Argyle, C.C. and Don G.
ReplyDeleteWonderful puzzle today, and even though it was more Wednesdayish (is that a word?), I thought it was a fun theme, and amazing to get both words that could follow "black" in each theme entry. Great job, guys!
Argyle, thanks for the thorough analysis of this one, especially working with the "no cruciverb" handicap! I know how much typing that must have involved, so kudos to you for only having a couple minor typos.
ASYLA and TRANCED made me scratch my head, but the perps were solid, so I left them. Other great fill that made me chuckle was MACKEREL for "Holy fish?" and BOOB ("Half-wit"). Hmmm, no DF comments on that one?
Hundreds of thousands of people are still without power today. Fortunately, we live across the street from a hospital, so our grid is always one of the first to come back up in a power outage. Makes up for listening to sirens every night!
Happy Halloween, everybody!
Oops, Yellowrocks, very good photo!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that.
Argyle: Wonderful write-up & links.
ReplyDeleteC.C. & Don G.: Great Halloween offering.
My memory of "BLACK MONDAY" in October, 1987.
ET & I flew a Cessna 206 from St.Pete to Marathon to Jamaica.
(We leased it to Tim Moxon of TimAir. He played Strangeways in DR NO ... as such, he was the first person killed in a James Bond movie).
There were no TV's in the Hedonism II rooms.
The newspapers were from A-WEEK-AGO.
I didn't know there was a melt-down.
When I got back home a week later, I checked my positions, and they were about the same.
Hahtool & HeartRx: It felt Wednesdayish to me also.
Learning moments: ASYLA & VEDA.
Cheers to all at Sunset.
C.C.,
ReplyDeleteASYLA is fine by me. As you say, Latin plural of asylum.
I'm amazed that many here have commented on the difficulty today. I thought the cluing was a little more creative, but nothing was too difficult for me. I had it and the Sudoku both done before I got through eating breakfast.
Funny how we all react differently to some CWs. I had a lot of trouble Saturday, with so many things that were total unknowns and errors, I had to give up with only the far south fully done.
Since much of English stems from Latin, this LINK to standard Latin plurals and declensions should help you all in the future. We have so many words ending in "A" as plurals, such as "referenda", "millenia", "stadia", and those which are included in the examples in the link.
ReplyDeleteHad Buy before BID.
ReplyDeleteSmooth, clever puzzle.
Otto Jesperson, Danish linguist, noted how English was very juicy in allowing nouns to be put into service as verbs and vice versa, without any inflective change.
Mornin' all! Happy halloween!
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle, dynamic duo! Great write-up, Argyle.
Not a speed run. Partly because I misspelled mackerel the first time around! Nice word, COHESION.
Friend Harvey filled up lots of plastic water jugs for today, since water is going to be shut off. I have to go to have root canal at 3 pm. Yecch! Have waters of various types (I have a salt-water system) for sponge bath, dogs, little turtles in house, recovering cat, etc.
Have some pumpkins in my veggie garden that will not be jack-o-lanterns this year. Forgot to give them to my friend, Christine, for her grandkids.
Cheers!
Thank you, very much, Don. G. and 'our fearless leader' C.C. for a very wonderful puzzle. I must have been on a synchronous wave length, with you folks, because I had the easiest solve in recent memory. However, I must confess, I failed to observe that the word 'black' attached to the second word, as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you Argyle foe a wonderful write up, and that too without Cruciverb ( whatever, that may be - ) - that must have made it doubly difficult, at least. Any typos are never a problem with me.... Don't eat too much candy, especially Ho-Ho's.
Yellowrocks, you look so beautiful, and charming, and oh so graceful. That setting is so exotic, yet peaceful ! I notice that a small step -pedestal has been provided for the 'sitting monk's' left hanging leg. It is as if the carver, sought to ensure that even the bronze statue would not get cramps from the hanging left leg, so provided some support for it ! Very considerate.
Lemon: what, no spell-checker?
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with ASYLA being Latin plural. I assumed it was when I was solving. When I checked it with OneLook online, the 1913 Webster's was their only reference. The fact that it is common in CW's makes it a candidate for Crosswordese. It has my vote.
ReplyDeleteTinbeni, I did find a Scotch that was labeled Asyla but it didn't sound interesting.
The strange post I deleted from october seem to relate to earlier posts. No idea why it was here.
I must mention Umberto Eco's book, 'The name of the Rose' is a delightful read. A somewhat long book, with a unique concept - it is full of mystery, inquisition, scientific reasoning and puzzles galore. One of the best books, I have read.( I have 4 copies !). His later books, like 'Focault's pendulum' etc. - not so good.
ReplyDeleteI did not know KLM had merged - with what ? Must look up Wiki.
Argyle, thank you for letting me know of the 'Google Doodle'. Real cute. My niece just joined as a V.P. They have 24 cafeterias, open 24 hrs a day, in 24 diff cuisines, all for no charge ! Fabulously rich companies just do things differently.
Alt QOD:- I busted a mirror and got seven years' bad luck. But my lawyer thinks he can probably get me five. ~ Steven Wright.
Lemon, I forgot to ask yesterday - who is the little cutie in your avatar??
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks, I also forgot to tell you what a beautiful picture today - thanks for sharing!! I have never been to Japan (it's on my bucket list), so I really enjoy seeing pictures from there.
This was a fun solve what with the eight, make that nine, Black ___ pairings. There were a couple of minor stumbling blocks for me though.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw "Amateur photographer's workshop" at 7D, I thought of "Darkroom", having had one, but then realized that was the dark ages of photography. "Photoshop" came to mind, but too many letters and a repeat of "shop". When HOME LAB finally filled in, I said "Huh? Really?" I thought that was where some illegal substances were made.
TRANCE(D) at 46D is listed as "Archaic" in my dictionary.
If 11D A WEEK AGO qualifies as a stand alone phrase, doesn't this open up nearly endless possibilities? A DAY FROM NOW? TWO HOURS LATER? Etc.
FP: What do you mean "no spell checker?" The second n from millennia? I do not see well enough to see the spell check red line.
ReplyDeleteMarti, that is my grand nephew Benjamin getting ready to have his cake and eat it too at his first birthday party, recently.
Yellowrocks, nice picture; this group has been everywhere.
KLM, was merged with Air France ( Now Air-France KLM) ( 9-30-2003 ~ 5-5-2004 ).
ReplyDeleteWhile looking thru Wiki, I also noticed that there is a village in India, named ' 4 KLM ' ! No kidding -. This is the first instance of my finding a city or geographical name headed by a number. It is as if they ran out of names and letters. Cruciverbalists, this is your Saturday morning opportunity - if Rich Norris will let you get away with it.
The village in Rajasthan, bordering within 5 miles of Pakistan, is composed mainly of mustard seed farmers and Gypsum miners. About 985 hapless souls make a year-round-scary residence there.
All have a safe and cavity less candy filled Halloween.
Hi Gang, Great puzzle Don and C.C. for a Monday.
ReplyDeleteBTW, did anyone watch 'the next iron chef' last night and notice a new word foodgasm ?
Good Morning All, this was a nice Monday puzzle from C.C. and Don G. Once Across, once Down, and once more Across to pick up a few stubborn little blanks.
ReplyDeleteI thought the theme was very clever and I enjoyed matching up the "BLACKS". The only one I didn't get was BLACK BAG. GAH and I have been watching HBO's Homeland series every Sunday night. It's full of covert surveillance and clandestine operations, so we should up on BLACK BAG very quickly.
October continues....GAH had to go into Modesto and have a nail removed from a tire AND get a new battery for the John Deere. I have a nose-drippy, eye watery, cold and the dentist appointment for this afternoon is still on. They said they would wear masks anyway, so I'm going so I don't have to pay for a missed appointment.
I'm really not superstitious, but I'll be glad to see November come around the corner.
Nice photos, Yellowrocks and Lemonade.
Holy mackerel, I did it!
ReplyDeleteAh, the comfort of my home, my one asylum out of many asyla.
ReplyDeleteWhat Hahtool said.
ReplyDeleteVery cool Google thingie.
Great job as usual Argyle...
ReplyDeleteDo you think there may have been a shout out to all the DFers by having "Bust Maker and Boob" in the puzzle? LOL Lois? Lois? Lois? Anyone?
Great Black Halloween Submission by Don and CC
"Black Monday" is really brilliant for this Halloween day, I thought! Thank you, constructors, and Argyle.
ReplyDeleteI only got the first theme words, but not the second, so that was a real bonus. Glad the economy is in slightly better shape this year than on Black Monday, at any rate.
Since I goofed up a perfectly easy Sudoku this morning, this puzzle, challenging but doable, offered redemption. And now I will go and check out that Google thing everybody's talking about. And after that I'll check out the 20KW generator as a possible Christmas gift for my Dad in Pennsylvania, who hasn't answered the phone and may still be out of power.
So thanks, and Happy Halloween, everybody!
A quick hello Argyle, C.C., Don and all.
ReplyDeleteRunning late today but had to say what a lovely puzzle today from our power duo.
I BID you adieu for now and shall return later.
Great photo, yllowrocks and it's good to see you.
Have a spooktacular Monday, everyone!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteJust crawled out of the dark cold provinces. No power, phone, cell, Internet, nothing. No stores, banks, gas stations. No Coffee!
Had to drive far from home to get warm and get WiFi.
Trees and wires down EVERYWHERE.
Hope the other local Cornerites are OK.
Great puzzle! I, too, missed the connection to the second words. D'oh!
ReplyDeleteHere's the classic Wynken, Blynken and NOD sung by the Doobie Brothers.
ECO is one of my favorite authors, though a lot gave up on him because he didn't write The Name of the Rose II. Foucault's Pendulum is one of my favorite books of all time. His new book comes out AWEEKFROMNOW (The Prague Cemetery). It was actually released earlier this year, but I can't read Italian.
Pot luck at work today for Halloween. That's always a hit or miss proposition!
Supposed to be 90° here in the Valley of the Sun today - and down to maybe 80° for our trick-or treaters. Sorry, right-coasters!
Happy Halloween!
CC & Don: Great Halloween treat with a few tricks mixed in! Argyle, glad you soldiered on.
ReplyDeleteCaption? Yellowrocks embracing Buddhism?
My Black Monday, Jan. 2, 1995: porch steps, black ice, third lumbar compression fracture. 'Nuff said!
Rita: another Beatles song I never heard of until here. Must have been too busy with babies.
Gasoline generator a must on our farm with antiquated transmission lines and storms. Had a 200 gallon gas barrel to fill machinery anyway, so no problem. First house warming gift when we moved there was a kerosene lamp for blackouts. Kids loved the use of it.
Liked Eco's "Rose" book long ago. May see if Kindle has it and reread since this reminder.
-PK
Thanks to those of you who said it was a Wednesday-type puzzle. I struggled and finished it (liked the theme) but for a while I worried my brain deterioration had accelerated. (I'm a frequent visitor and learn a lot from you-all but there's no question I ain't as sharp as I used to be.)
ReplyDeleteAnt's "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" is a musical version of a poem by Eugene Field. Field wrote poems almost exclusively for children. I am very fortunate to have a first edition of his "A Little Book of Tribune Verse" (Tandy, Wheeler & co., 1901). It belonged to my maternal grandmother, then my mother and on to me.
ReplyDeleteField wrote a wonderful poem that is perfect for a Halloween night, The Night Wind. Just scary enough to get a child of the early 20th century to "straighten up and fly right!".
Have a good day everybody. I'm off to see the dentist and probably pass my cold along to everyone in his waiting room....well, I warned them!
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteBusy day, just got to the puzzle, no time to read comments yet. Maybe later.
Impressive Monday entry, with "BLACK" going before each of the theme word pairs.
Seems not to be on Cruciverb. Used the LA Times site. Wow, is that awkward!
ASYLA? Taking it on faith.
RITA is my MIL.
I think the best symmetry is HEAVENLY COHESION. I'll leave supplying context to your imagination . . . Unless you prefer MACKEREL EATERIES.
Somebody has to tell the polar bear ICE HOLE joke.
Time to carve the pumpkin, rehearsal tonight . . .
IMBO,
JzB no rest for wicked trombonists
Really nice indeed, loved the theme for this BLACK MONDAY.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the khe kids in my neighborhood don't appreciate how nice it is to go Trick-or-Treating in Southern California - no freezing their extremities off or hoping everyone's shoveled their driveways.
I know there's a couple of ex-Brits that stop by here, so I can use a piece of trivia about MACKEREL that's fascinated me for years, mainly because it's so obscure that I've no idea how anyone ever came up with it - to whit:
Q. There is only one station on the London Underground system that doesn't have any of the letters in the word MACKEREL in its name. What is the station?
A. The station is St. John's Wood.
So now you know.
JzB, I know you and several others prefer Cruciverb to the LAT for doing puzzles online. I guess it's what you get used to. On Sunday, I have a choice of doing the Merl Reagle puzzle on Cruciverb or the LAT. I always pick the LAT. I like the way it toggles between Across and Down better. Also, if I make a mistake or get stuck, the LAT give you a red letter and then you go ahead. Cruciverb tries to embarrass you by putting a black triangle in the upper-right corner. Worse yet are the hateful red triangles. I know it sounds silly but I would be perfectly satisfied with the Cruciverb program if they would get rid of those triangles.
ReplyDeleteCool down coming. The fog rolled in this morning as I was heading off to get a car wash and do some grocery shopping. Of course, I shouldn't even talk about the weather (or lack thereof), what with the northeast snow. Good luck everybody.
Hello.
ReplyDeleteXwd took a little longer to do since I didn't have the larger cruciverb.com grid to work.
PA will have a seperate line on their form so they can enter the
6% unpaid tax on internet sales.
Good luck to those who enter 0 on that line. My package made it out of Philly before the bad weather.
Now, if only the packages from the Ukraine would come.
Sharks play the Rangers tonight.
They must be getting pretty tired.
Six in a row would be fantastic!
I will be able to watch at 4 PM PT.
My jugs of water and bath tub are filled for when our water is shut off.
Take care. eddy
Creative puzzle, Don and CC, with the double BLACK theme for Halloween. Argyle I enjoyed your write up. Thanks for your patience in composing it "by hand."
ReplyDeleteI, too, found that TRANCED is a bit old fashioned and/or literary, but not that obscure.
We say, "He gave me the green light," or "He gave me the "nod" to me mean permission to get on with it.
Lemon, your Benjamin is adorable.
Dudley, sorry you are having such a struggle. It is like that here, too. 83% of our town in without power. I feel slighty guilty that we are fine. Schools are closed. Halloween has officially been moved to Friday.
Thanks for your comments about my picture. It is from my second trip to Japan about 5 years ago. Just add a few little streaks of gray and a few pounds and you'll see me today. Embracing Buddha? Or just his statue? LOL
Good afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that this was more like a Wednesday puzzle. DNF the SE corner: didn't know CD RATE, SANYO, or VEDA.
Hope tomorrow is Tuesday like.
Thanks Argyle for letting me see what I missed.
I guess I am grumpy because I had work done at the dermatologists and then allergy shots. Not a good start to the day.
So, happy Halloween everyone. Enjoy the spooks.
Cheers
Argyle, I didn't even notice the typos. I always enjoy your write ups; today was no exception.
ReplyDeleteSteve,
ReplyDeleteI'm not an ex-Brit, but I have researched enough to know of St. John's Wood. My grandmother was the daughter of missionaries, who left her to fend for herself in an English boarding school while they plied their craft in Ceylon. She spent her vacations/school holidays with an aunt who lived in St John's Wood. Other than that I know nothing of it. She was born in 1870 and was at school there from age 8 to 15. I bet it's different now!
I took St John's wort for severe depression. Now I'm just merely sad.
ReplyDeleteHusker Gary, you have a top-notch muse.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, do not think of lovely Rita the metah maid.
If a boob is a half-wit, is a pair of boobs a whole-wit?
Ham and cheese on whole-wit? Wanna pickle widdat?
I like being a yang-gweizi.
Now I'll go back into my trance.
Happy Halloween!
Lemonade,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the refresher on those Latin plurals. I had entirely forgotten the fifth declension.
Another problem a lot of people have is Greek words like criterion (plural: criteria). I hear the plural used as the singular all the time.
eddyB:
ReplyDeleteWhat have you ordered from Ukraine?
@Kazie - wow, that's a long time ago!
ReplyDeleteA little background - the original St. John's Wood station opened in 1878, so your grandmother might even have used it! The current station is a deep-level station which opened in the 30's. Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, used to use the payphones at the station to call Paul McCartney at his home close to the Abbey Road Studios to tell him he was on his way and to let him in when he got there :)
It's a pretty posh part of London, immediately north of Regent's Park and many diplomats have houses in the area. Lord's Cricket Ground, between the tube station and Abbey Road Studios, opened in 1814 and is one of the most famous cricket venues in the world.
The Royal Horse Artillery's barracks are also located there, and if you're up early in the morning you can catch a couple of hundred horses being ridden to and from exercise in Regent's Park, a pretty unusual sight in the middle of a city!
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteI am back in Wisconsin and glad to be home. I miss my great grandson,though.
This was aa amazing puzzle but not the easiest. It was fun though. I also had 'buy' for 63A and a couple other wrong letters so I had 'If I say so' for 40D.
We have a young couple in our church who are in Ghana with the Peace Corp. This is their second and last year.
I can't believe I didn't get Laity. I am a part of a Cluster Laity group that meets every month
for projects in our area. Right now we are helping support a women's and children's shelter in our county.
Hope you all have a great evening.
Marge
Jayce, you are so witty you must be filled with Halloween spirits. (Chuckling) - PK
ReplyDeleteHello, friends,
ReplyDeleteIt being Monday, I was a little stunned to have to leave a blank in the first row across (6A). I was tempted to get out the Atlas, but it's heavy and I only use it when all else fails. And all else did not fail me as I went back across with the first row of downs. The only one I couldn't get was "home lab" but that finally filled itself, as I knew it would. The rest went quite smoothly and altogether it was lots of fun. Nice work, C.C. and Don!
Terrific job, Argyle, what with all the handicaps you had to face! Thanks.
BTW, I keep thinking about that Scotch you say was labelled 'Aysla'
Are you sure iwasn't "Islay,' which has the same letters but one and is pronounced 'Eyela?" Just a thought? I believe it's the name of one of the Hebrides islands and could easily be a name for whisky.
Windhover, the only thing I ever heard of being ordered from the Ukraine is mail order brides...
ReplyDeleteJust back from babysitting while Crissy had an in-service day. What a great day in Lincoln and a wonderful puzzle from the Batman and Robin of puzzling! The Wed/Thu speed bumps simply added to the fun as I did the puzzle in the car. I can't say much more as our neighborhood is FULL of cars and kids trick or treating. We are getting lots of "Thank You's" and "Happy Halloween's". We will hand out 150 bags tonight.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words Jayce! Oops, there's the doorbell!
Back to wishing you all a Happy Halloween.
ReplyDeleteEverything went well at the dentist appointment. The tech tried to put me in the revolving X-ray machine, but it broke (yes, it really did) when she pushed the first button. Other than that, a quick cleaning and no cavities. The staff was in costume. My dentist has more of a sense of humor than I had given him credit for....he was in a tutu, with wings and a big tooth tiara on his head...great Tooth Fairy get-up!!
No trick-or-treaters for us. Too bad, GAH loves to see the little ones dressed up.
We're not going to get any trickers tonight. No kids in this neighborhood. We haven't had any around here for years. LW and I are going to stroll around the neighborhood after dark and look at the decorations some of our neighbors have put up. Do any of you spook up your front yard?
ReplyDeleteWH. EU made Marlboros. And, yes I know.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't know what to do to with two 35 year olds. Well, guess I do.
Sharks have no legs left after 3 back to back games. Down two to Rangers after one.
Cruciverb.com posted today's. Will
they post tomorrow's at 7?
eddy
Hey C.C. and Don G., thanks for the shout out. Was there a reason why it was next to half-wit? Great puzzle. Always enjoy the baseball clues. I wonder if RARE has ever had a baseball related clue before?
ReplyDeleteArgyle, enjoy your blogging style.
Windhover, I'm guessing some kind of radioactive parcel. Maybe like those nuclear pumpkins in the Google doodle.
Did Splynter tell us what his favicon represents?
ooops, too late for the guessing game. Thanks eddyB for clearing that up. You won't get any lecture from me. I don't smoke cigarettes but...to each their own.
ReplyDeleteSmoke 'em if you got 'em.
Isn't it sad not to get any Trick or Treaters? We live on a suburban loop, and kids just don't seem to think it's worth the trouble to come down here and see if the old folks have any candy for them. Hey, a big basket of Mounds and Snickers for everybody! If we eat them ourselves our glucose levels will go into the stratosphere! So please, kids, come on by--it's all treats for everybody!
ReplyDelete@Argyle and Dodo - now you're speaking my language - Whisky! Islay (and @Dodo - congrats for the correct pronunciation) is indeed an island in the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, and is home to many distilleries. The Islay whiskies are characterized by a distinctive "smoky" flavor which comes from the peat through which the water is filtered. A very common example you can find over here is Laphroaig, a single malt Islay whisky.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Asyla Scotch
ReplyDeleteArgyle: Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteeddyB: I thought European's craved American Marlboros.
Is this still Monday?
ReplyDeleteWhew, that was a bit of a workout!
Now to bed.
des-perotto- If you dont mind, what was the cost of your 20kw generator, instalation, etc. They can be quite pricey n'est pas?
ReplyDeleteEddyB,
ReplyDeleteNo lecture from me either. I grew the damned stuff for 20+ years, but could not afford to buy it back. To those that are interested, the farm gate value of the tobacco in a pack of cigarettes is approximately 5 cents. You can see how they have the deep pockets to fight off the lawsuits.
I thought maybe you were buying certain male enhancement pharmaceuticals. My tip of the day, to whom it may concern, is three words:
Online Indian pharmacies.
"tip" of the day? You are too funny, windhover!
ReplyDeleteHahtool:
ReplyDeleteHardly.
Careful, windhover, putting Online Indian pharmacies in a post might get you caught in the spam filter.
ReplyDeleteApologies, Argyle. I just can't imagine why Scots or anybody would name a brew after. . . . .. Well, on second thought it could be considered a warm and safe retreat!
ReplyDeleteSteve, my first and last experience with Laphroagh was in York and was followed by a severe case of food poisoning (shrimp). I'll stick to Glenfiddich if I ever go for hard liquor again.
ReplyDeleteA Night to Remember!!