Theme: Henry and Hannah, sitting in a tree…
Peter Collins likes to play with words, and today is no exception. I blogged his recent "Element-ary" puzzle on October 6th, and we had his "West Side Story" tribute last week. We have another charmer today, with these entries:
Peter Collins likes to play with words, and today is no exception. I blogged his recent "Element-ary" puzzle on October 6th, and we had his "West Side Story" tribute last week. We have another charmer today, with these entries:
20A GRADE SCHOOL (11 letters)
56A SWEETHEARTS (11 letters)
39A SITTING (7 letters) 41A IN A TREE (7 letters)
67/68/69A (every other letter, for emphasis) K_I_S_S_I_N_G_(7 letters) [kay-eye-ess-ess-eye-en-gee]
And it is based on a poem by Nicolas Knudde (I think) (Where is Clear Ayes when I need her??):
“Henry and Hannah,
Sitting in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G…
First comes love,
Then comes marriage,
Then comes baby
In a baby carriage!”
[...and an appended verse, sometimes:]
That’s not it!
That’s not all!
The baby’s drinking alcohol!!
Very unusual placement of the rhyming theme entries, due to symmetry concerns in the grid. I didn't have circles in my grid, did you?
Marti here, for your regularly scheduled Thursday program…
PHEW! I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to finish this one. The clues were so devious and obscure, I was thrown off in many spots. Were you?
Like:
1A “Mystery writer Nevada” clues BARR…OK, I admit. I am not a “mystery novel” or detective story person. Hahtool knows what I like. And I think Yellowrocks, who loves well-researched historical novels, would appreciate my choices of reading material.
22A “Farmer’s ___ " clues TAN?? Really?? Windhover, help me out here!! I wanted “market”, “almanac” or even (as a last resort) “dell”…but none would fit!!
37D "David Byrne collaborator" clues ENO. Really?? “My life in the Bush of Ghosts”….hmmmm, I bet that was on everyone’s mind, right???
OK, so moving on…
Across:
5. Penny profile. ABE. I can live with that one!
8. “Tao Te Ching” author. LAO TSE. Actually, Laozi, the founder of “Taoism”. Literal translation from Chinese means “old master”. C.C.??? (From C.C.: Yes, "old master". Lao = "Old". Lao Zi is Mandarin. Lao Tse is Cantonese.)
14. 1986 Nobelist Wiesel. ELIE. Yay!! One that I knew!
15. China’s Chou En-___. LAI. Another one that I nailed!
16. Fixed for all time. ETCHED. Like, “in stone…"
17. Treating again, as an ankle injury. RE-TAPING. Ummmm…I guess they were referring to Dan Koppen of the N.E. Patriots on his ankle injury?
19. Take turns. ROTATE
23. QB’s dread. INT. Interception. Yep, Brady doesn’t like INT’s or center’s ankles being taped…
24. Government IOUs. T-BILLS
26. Getting on. AGING. Hey! I’m like “fine wine”.
29. Drain-clearing chemical. LYE
30. “Are not!” retort. AM SO!! OK, so we have our regular playground argument here…
33. Bug-eyed toon. REN. This dog.
34. OPEC member. UAE. United Arab Emirates.
36. Shove off. SET SAIL
42. Micronesia’s region. OCEANIA. Somewhat obscure region as defined here. Map. Or, one of the three fictional superstates in George Orwell’s novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”
43. Rocky peak. TOR
44. 1930s power prog. TVA. Tennesee Valley Authority. Federal program for flood control.
45. Standard. NORM
48. Cleveland Indians legend Al. ROSEN. Nicknamed “Al”, “Flip” and “The Hebrew Hammer”, he played his entire career with the Cleveland Indians (1947-56). I was 5 years old when he retired. So, why don’t I remember him????
53. Sloth, for one. SIN. Were you thinking of the animal?
54. Punch line. POW. Pow!! Hit me with a V-8 can!!
61. Oh-so-stylish. CHI-CHI. Did anyone else think of C-C ??
63. Not very potent potable. NEAR BEER. Tinbeni, I know you only go for “potent potables”!!
65. River that rises in the Bernese Alps. AAR. Bern, Switzerland.
66. Bone used in pronation. ULNA. Pronation is the action you use to do a “thumbs down”.
67. Yarn units. SKEINS. Not stories.
68. Word with run or jump. SKI. Yaaaaay!! One for Marti!!
69. Nutmeg-flavored drinks. NOGS. A little early, but I can still relate to New Year’s Eve, and my annual “nog” toast.
So lets go down town:
1. Glacier breakaway. BERG. Go ask the Titanic…
2. A or Jay, e.g. AL'ER. I s’pose this means “American League-r”?
3. Funny Rudner. RITA.
4. Transfer to memory, as data : READ-IN
5. Top-tier invitees : A-LIST
6. Judge's seat : BANC
7. Mercury's atomic number : EIGHTY. Just checked my periodic table...yep, that's correct!
8. "Vive __!" : LE ROI. "The King", in French. My grandmother could not speak English, so we had to speak French to her, in order to get candy and other goodies...
9. Any of the Marshall Islands : ATOLL
10. Mo. for leaf-peeping : OCT. We have had lots of leaf-peepers here in the N.E. this year.
11. "Yeow!" : THAT SMARTS. ouch...
12. __ precedent : SET A
13. Place that means "delight" in Hebrew : EDEN
18. Black-and-white critter : PENGUIN. ( I was thinking "skunk"...)
21. "The Biggest Loser" concern : OBESITY
25. Go the distance : LAST
26. Bad lighting? : ARSON. Punny clue!
27. Insurance company founded in 1936 for government employees : GEICO. (...and for southeast Asian lizards..)
28. Weave together : INTERTWINE
29. Named beneficiary : LEGATEE
31. It won't hold water : SIEVE. Wait a minute, let me try... ...nope, it doesn't hold water!
32. Fat substitute : OLEAN. Proctor and Gamble's brand is "Olestra", a zero-calorie fat substitute.
35. Singer DiFranco : ANI. I like her song "The Atom", link.
38. Slowpoke : TARRIER. I s'pose, if you tarry, then you would be a "tarrier".
40. Rein in : TAME
47. Hippodromes : ARENAS
49. How Sloppy Joes are served : ON A BUN. Well, duh...did you think they were served in a martini glass?
51. Far from ruddy : ASHEN
52. __ chard : SWISS
53. Emmy-winning Lewis : SHARI. I remember her puppets "Lamb Chop" and "Charlie Horse".
54. General MDs, to insurers : PCPs. Primary Care Physicians
55. "Aw, what the heck, let's!" : OH, OK, let's bungee jump off this bridge with a questionable cord from that guy with the '72 Ford Pinto...
57. Shipbuilder's wood : TEAK
58. Move, in brokerese : RE-LO. Re-location.
59. 1% of a cool mil : TEN-G. Ten grand.
60. Madrid Mmes. : SRAs. Get it right: SRAs are "señoras", SRTAS are "señoritas", SRS are "seniors". But, señors get no respect!
62. VI x XVII : CII. 6 x 17 = 102 (Do the math, Caesar!!)
Answer grid.
Thanks for letting me into your 'puters today!
Marti
Note from C.C.:
Happy 64th birthday to Boomer! That picture was taken in 2002 when we went to Myrtle Beach for a golf vacation. First time I had sweet tea and hush puppies.
89 comments:
Morning, all! And Happy Birthday to Boomer!
Definitely a challenge today. I eventually got the theme, but it took awhile. JACK AND JILL fit perfectly at 20A, but was completely wrong of course.
Once I got the theme I made steady progress throughout, but got a bit bogged down in the NW corner. POW did not spring immediately to mind, nor did PCP and OHOK, and PONIES was completely obscured by the bizarre "Assateague" clue. I finally guessed the P and solved the puzzle, but it was far from a sure thing...
Good Morning, Marti and friends. Nice for Marti doing the commentary on a puzzle with both Sweet HEARTS and SKIing.
I am not usually keen on cross-referencing puzzles, but I found this one to be blast. I also thought this was an easier Thursday puzzle than usual. I never heard the appended version to the little rhyme, though, and totally missed the K*I*S*S*I*N*G on the bottom line.
I had heard of Nevada BARR, so the got off on the right foot. (aside to Marti: I read a Nevada Barr book once and never went back, not my cup of tea.)
My first thought for the black and white critter was skunk, but not enough letters, then I remember that we have come face-to-face with my favorite bird.
Happy 64th Birthday, Boomer!
QOD: By working faithfully 8 hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss and work 12 hours a day. ~ Robert Frost.
MARTI
A FARMER'S TAN IS A DISTINCT COLOR LINE AT THE COLLAR AREA AND A PORTION OF THE ARMS. THINK OF WHAT A T-SHIRT COVERS AND THE EXPOSED AREAS ARE TAN WITH THE COVERED AREAS WHITE. NOT TO BE MISTAKEN FOR A TRUCKDRIVER'S TAN WITH ONLY THE LEFT ARM AND LEFT SIDE OF THE FACE BEING TAN.
Good Morning to all.
Not bragging, but thought this was an easy Thursday puzzle. Clues were a real stretch of the imagination.....really, Farmer's TAN? At first glance, I was ready for panda or skunk....all in all, an enjoyable way to start the day.
Hmmm, maybe it was easier due to Barry G.s tutoring!
Dear Anon, In the south this farmer would be called a 'Red Neck'.....just saying....
Not bad for a Thursday. I had a few challenges here (BARR, ENO and the Chinese answers), but Farmer's tan was a gimme.
Farmer's tans are fairly common here in Indiana. Often it's too cold to work in the fields without a shirt, but there's still enough sun to get a good tan everywhere the T-shirt doesn't cover.
Oh no! I screwed it up! Once I got RETAPING I immediately inked in POLECAT for the B&W critter. Fixed that, but still messed up in the southwest where instead of PONIES I got GONIES -- Primary Care Givers instead of Primary Care Physicians.
No star for today...
Good morning C.C., and happy happy birthday, Boomer! I guess I'm not the only one aging like fine wine!
Thanks for the explanation of a farmer's TAN everyone...it does make sense now.
Hahtool, I usually like to read at least one book by authors I see in crosswords that are unfamiliar. But on your recommendation, Nevada BARR has been stricken from my reading list!
DNF
My solving experience went "to hell in a hand-basket" upon filling in the blasphemy ... NEARBEER.
'nough said.
Good day folks,
Farmers tan described herein sounds a lot like a golfers tan, from the waist up.
Toughie today, especially the Midwest & Southwest. Theme made no sense to me while solving. Again Marti educates me.
Near Beer? Never heard of it and hopefully never consumed it. Fenway used to serve Coors light draft. Had one sip and trashed the rest. That may have been near beer, I called it Panther Pee.
Chi Chi, Oceania, & Barr all ???????. Entered Dee before Tay appeared. Can never remember Ani, always start with Ana.
Happy 64th Boomer.
Marti, thanks again for the clarifications, This one had me reeling.
Boomer
I hope you and C.C. enjoy a wonderful day together.
I'll "toast your 64th" with some genuine Avatar at Sunset.
I did get the circles in my puzzle and figured out that area first, which made the rest of the theme easier except grade school gave me fits for quite awhile.
I tried to outsmart myself by going for CALF at 1D, but was chastised by some crosses and fell back on (the less accurate, IMHO) BERG.
Still, it was a DNF thanks to the west side, where I never saw AGING, thanks to my personal bias toward AGEING, and had no clue who REN was. I immediately thought of Ralph, but came up with a five-pound bag problem.
Other than the bottom line, though, it was a pretty easy Thursday.
Good Morning, folks. Thank you, Pete, for a swell puzzle. It was challenging, but doable. Thank you, HeartRx, for the write-up.
Started with ELIE at 14A. Then headed south. My next was 62A CII. From there worked up and across.
Was able to get the K I S S I N G first, then the rest of the rhyme came together easily.
Do not understand 6D Judge's seat/BANC. I got it with perps, but ? ? ?
Interesting bit on GEICO.
For 54A I had JAW instead of POW. For 55D I had AH OK instead of OH OK. Therefore 54D was PCPS, which I thought meant something medical. So, I missed that corner.
I remember a play we saw in Chicago years ago, "Pumps Boys and Dinettes." It was really good with lots of music. One of the songs was "Farmer Tan."
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Happy Birthday, Boomer!!
Re: farmer's tan:
Mostly what anon & Southern Belle & Chan said, except:
The term originated before we modern (i.e., not dead yet) farmers adopted the tee shirt as the everyday uniform. Our older and more sensible predecessors wore long sleeves even in the summer. They knew about the risks of too much sun exposure long before the medical establishment. So the farmers tan would be basically the hands, face and neck, with the rest of the body very pale, although I have some black farmer friends who might take issue with that.
For Marti:
The farmers tan would only be evident when the farmer takes off his shirt.
This is probably the origin of "redneck", although it seems it now describes narrow minded and ignorant (he said redundantly) people whatever their occupation or location.
There are white collar people, blue collar people, and no collar people. I'm in the latter group most days. In cold weather I just switch to long sleeves.
Still two weeks behind on puzzles, but there's rain in (on) the Bluegrass today, so catching up.
Oh, there were circles in this puzzle? No wonder I didn't see the K I S S I N G on the bottom line.
To amend what windhover said. The old timers did roll up their sleeves a lot. Old farmer relaxing.
C.C.,
Lovely photo of you and Boomer. Happy Birthday to Boomer! My DH turned 64 last week and he took three days off to celebrate. I think it convinced him that retirement is the way to go--finally!
Everything today was WAGs for me. I knew none of the names except OCEANIA, ABE and AAR, and have never heard of Assateague or their PONIES. Again I missread the "rn" for an "m" in YARN, and tried TUBERS for SKEINS before perps helped there.
I can't quite equate READ IN with "transfer to memory" either--memorizing requires more than reading into something. And of course I've never heard that rhyme before, but I did have the circles which helped a little.
I count ending up with only a couple of blank spaces today a winner, considering all the above.
Fun puzzle for me. Not at all easy, but got it completed. Last to fall was Ponies. Thanks for the write up Marti.
Happy Birthday Boomer. Since Marti chose the obvious tune to link, I'll go with This One
Yet another "occupational tan" is the often much darker wind-burned face of the downhill ski racer, defined by the white area around the eyes where goggles prevent the discoloration.
Thanks Marti; HB Boomer; Mr. Colins; R.N.
I never heard the rhyme before, maybe because we did not have "grade-schools" back in EURASIA; it's an OCEANIA thing.
But no matter, the theme words were all guessable in context, and "Kissing" jumped out early without the circles - "evenly spaced" in 20A was sufficient, and actually gave me SKI.
NEAR BEER is an IMPOTENT POTABLE, although the old joke about the commonality between COORS/MILLER/BUD-LITE and "making love in the bottom of a canoe" gets a little muddled (and maybe muddied).
HH, I wear shorts when playing golf, but I do also wear clothing above the waist, leading to the classic golfers' tan.
Talking of critters, I wonder how the Geiko gecko got his Brit accent?
NC
Happy 64 Boomer! I hope you and C.C. have a really great celebration.
Thanks for the great write up Marti.
It wasn't that long ago that we had a discussion here on the Assateague ponies, so that one only took a little thought, thanks to another Crossword Corner learning moment.
Our paper printed the circles, but it didn't help in the solve. Once done, I did recognize the rhyme, usually using the names of a particular couple instead of GRADE SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS.
I switched to solving downs early on in this puzzle and it went well. Most of Peter's misdirections didn't misdirect me today.
GEICO: Government Employees Insurance Corporation. I remember their ads from years ago with the qualifiers that you or someone in your family had to have served in the armed forces or been employed by a government agency to get insurance through them.
This seemed about right for a Thursday, although there were some proper names that I didn't know or couldn't recall until perps took care of them.
Avg. Joe, isn't that song, co-written by Iggy Pop, about heroin addiction and his enabling Asian girlfriend? Hardly a wise choice.
I'm remembering that accessibility to something better than NEAR BEER depended on how close the campus was to the state line.
Abejo: "banc" (Latin) can be used to refer to a judge or his/her seat. "En Banc" refers to when a court hears a case in front of all its judges, which is rare, and usually happens at an appellate level.
As an on-line solver, I am grateful that Mr. Collins used the "evenly spaced" clue, because the circles never appear on my screen.
Exactly what is wrong with heroin and Asian girlfriends?
Took a long time, but finished w/o Google - but with mistakes, same as @BarryG. Also, had TARdIER for TARRIER (wrong part of speech on my part) and dOSEN for ROSEN. When it comes to sports, I throw in any sports name that fix and slowly correct it with crosses. So I threw in unSEr. As I've often said, if everyone in the world were like me, I would have never thought of inventing sports.
Never heard of Nevada BARR, pronating or Assateague. The last sounds like a nice place. I could have gone with cONIES, but guessed right.
We used to say "up" a tree.
I'm in Upstate NY and immediately thought Redneck and golfer. Yet another "occupational tan" - thighs - for those who sit on a park bench reading all day. Only time I ever got an actual, non-peeling, no-freckle tan.
Difficult for me.
Anon @9:39, in checking the liner notes of my one Bowie double CD set I see that it was co-written by Iggy Pop. There's no discussion about the inspiration of any of the songs. The lyrics are not at all overt about any symbolic meaning, but if that is the case I offer a profound apology.
It was not my intention to insult in any way. My intention was merely to wish Boomer a happy birthday. I'm sorry it had the potential to appear otherwise.
Good morning everyone.
A most happy birthday, Boomer. And many more! That's such a sweet picture, C.C. Thanks for sending it.
I've been traveling since Oct.3, and have missed a great deal I can see. There are several newbies, and welcome to you all.
I DNF, but knew some of the answers; not many (15).
Nevada Barr was a National Parks Ranger, and her stories are set in various national parks. I love them all, so don't give up on her just because they are called mysteries.
Cheers
Mike, ROTFLMAO at your description of not enough spaces as being a "five pound bag problem".
Kazie, READ IN, was refering to computer memory, not memorization.
Although, technically, NEAR BEER is the stuff with less than 0.5% alcohol, we used to refer to the less than 3.2% beer that we could buy at 18 in Ohio as NEAR BEER or Sunday Beer. Back then, the 3.2% beers were very close to that limit, but many of the so-called "high-power" beers were right around 4%. Not really that much difference, but you could get 3.2% at 18 but had to be 21 to get 4%. When it's all you can get you learn to like the stuff.
Good morning everyone. Thanks for your exuberant commentary, Marti.
Had to jump around a little. Got anchored at the SE, then got GRADE SCHOOL and SWEETHEARTS, then the rest. For 1d… breakaway, I thought of glaciers 'calving', before thinking of BERG. Strangely, 2d - ALER was the last fill. Liked the clues for ATOLL and SIEVE. OLEAN/ROSEN cross was a WAG. Overall, a good grind, but fair. No searches needed.
Happy Birthday, Boomer! No NEAR BEER today.
Have a great day.
Hi gang -
HBD Boomer! Great pic, C.C.!
Nicley done, Marti.
I'll admit to not liking this puzzle much and to getting a DNF in the SW corner. This is way too close to the old standard Thursday Quote/Quip themes that I so despised. I've lost track of my nits, having a mind like a steel SIEVE (which I always mispel.)
OTOH, INTERTWINE is spectacular.
Cheers!
JzB still AGING
Random Thoughts:
A former colleague from Bolivia once informed me that in his country CHICHIS was slang for yesterday's abundance.
I think I hate the GEICO ads without the gecko even more than I hate the GEICO ads with the gecko.
We just disussed POTENT POTABLES yesterday. I'd much rather have an honest NEAR BEER than allow a redundantly-named Coor's Light - an abomination in the eyes of God and man - cross my lips. There's an old joke about making love in a canoe . . .
Pronation: a land where EVERYONE has lost their amateur status.
When rotundness runs in the family, one could be an OBESITY LEGATEE who should probably avoid SITTING IN A TREE.
Cheers!
JzB occasional TEASER
P.S. My travels were to my son's homes in Manhattan and a farm near Margaretville, NY. Both were wonderful places to visit, and seeing his family again was great.
Then off to an Elderhostel about the Hudson River. We stayed a ranch which was far more elegant than some Elderhostel places have been. Met some interesting people and learned a great deal.
It was 3000 miles in our car, and we're both pooped. It is so good to be home, sleep in our own bed, and get to do the LA Times xword.
Hello.
Filled in the circles first. Rest
was then easy. Thought of Bart for 1A untill I got to 4D. No idea on Barr.
Have more of a golfer's tan in summer because I wear shorts and
a T.
There are several near beers on
the market. O'Douls has no alcohol
just the malt flavor.
Someone told MTL the secret to winning was to put the little black
thingy into the net. 5-1 over PHI.
Time to see what my favorite sock
puppet has to say.
Take care. eddy
Grumpy,
Thanks for the "read in" interpretation. However, that's what I was going for when solving too, but still couldn't get READ to work for my idea of it. I wanted TYPE, PASTE or ENTER, and was looking for another word to go with that concept that would fit. I can read things online or elsewhere all day, but that doesn't get them entered into my computer's memory bank.
Anon @ 9:56,
Banc may have a Latin root, but without an ending it is French. The phrase you quote, en banc, is also French. Banc means a bench seat and is also used in German (die Bank) to mean that. Many European schools use classroom bench seats for two that go by that name too.
I was disappointed that I couldn't work on this puzzle with my morning coffee. The corner of the page with the puzzle on it was ripped off. I had to go get another paper.
Like Southern Belle. I found this puzzle to be easy, but interesting. Thanks, Marti, for the great write-up and links. Our paper had the circles and so I got K-I-S-S-I-N-G quickly and soon after that the rest of the rhyme. As kids, we used names, instead of GRADE SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS and included the second verse, but not the third one.
I consider NEAR BEER to be a non potent NON potable. If you think lite beer is bad . . .
Funny, I have often seen YOKEL in books, etc. but can't remember ever having heard it spoken,
After our recent discussion of the ASSATEAGUE and Chincoteague PONIES I reread "Misty of Chincoteague" and "Stormy,Misty's Foal," historical fiction for kids.
I liked ARSON clued as BAD LIGHTING.
Nice challenge today. Thanks for the wrtie-up, Marti. I got PCPS from the crosses (perps?) but didn't know what it meant til I came here.
As a big country music fan, I am very aware of farmer tans. Also saw Pump Boys - thanks for the reminder, Abejo.
Assateague is near Chincoteague, home of the famous horse Misty, so I figured it was horse related.
I'm also a big fan of Shari Lewis. Nice to see her in the puzzle.
Have a good one, everybody.
Good morning Marti, C.C. and Happy Birthday Boomer! Nice picture.
I hit a few ruts today, but mostly found it easier than yesterday. I DNF the SW corner due to chichi crossing pcps and ohok.Never clicked.
Got the theme right away, but gradeschool threw me as I knew the poem didn't have that init. One giant v-8 can needed-CLUNK!
wtf is leaf peeping? Since it was about leaves, it was obviously Oct, but...peeping?
I filled in tzu for Tse. Thanks for explanation of that one.Wagged the n for olean/rosen.
Tarrier made me laugh, but bad lighting= arson was my favorite.
Marti, seeing the ponies cross over to Chincotegue must have been amazing. Did you read Misty of...way back in GRADESCHOOL?
Charming puzzle, Mr. Collins, delightful write-up, Marti, and happy birthday, Boomer!
Loved this one because it brought back childhood memories even before I got it--thanks to the circles for KISSING in my paper LA Times. With all the crap going on in the world today, I enjoy a little innocence before breakfast!
Am always elated when I get a whole Thursday puzzle--so hooray! Did have lots of false starts--'elite' for 'alist,' (although I got 'chi chi'); 'T-bonds' for 'T-bills' (finance still not my strong suit, although I'm working on it); and just had to keep my fingers crossed that 'olean' and 'Rosen' would pan out.
Since my husband's stroke three years ago, he always orders non-alcoholic beer at restaurants. So we'll have to have a look at 'near beers,' which I never heard of until today. I, on the other hand, still get to enjoy a margarita on the rocks with salt, followed by a merlot. Viva le vin! Or is that 'la vin'?
I thought for sure this was going to be a rebus puzzle when I tried to put BeNCh at 6D - especially as SCHOOL was starting to appear at 20A - and thinking the CH would be in one square. This made it much more difficult than it needed to be, as I looked for the other rebus squares.
Does Rich/LAT even allow rebus puzzles? I can't recall any right now.
All this talk of golf, and no mention of CHI-CHI Rodriguez? His putter/sword florish was classic. Ole!
Anon: Thank you for the BANC explanation. I am not good at foreign words.
Abejo
Welcome back, Sallie! Sounds like you had a marvelous time.
JD, "Leaf peeping" is a common weekend pastime in New England. When the foliage changes color, it is quite beautiful. So people get in their cars and drive through the country roads of New England taking pictures, visiting local shops, or just having a nice lunch somewhere.
I am sure I must have read Misty of Chincoteague, because I was always crazy about horses. But I can't say as I remember the story!
Misty @ 11:39, "le vin" is correct - it is a masculine noun.
ant...no, Rich does not accept rebus puzzles.
No circles for me, and this Euro-transplant had never heard the rhyme, so it was all about crosses and inspired guesses for me, but everything worked out in the end.
A quibble about David Byrne/ENO - doesn't the full name in the clue require a full name in the answer - Brian ENO?
@ant - there was a Sunday LAT Reagle puzzle a few months back which was a rebus puzzle (if memory serves JACK was the rebus). Not sure if I've seen any others.
*flourish (for those who seem to care)
Thanks for the response, Marti, and the write-up. Any reason that Rich doesn't accept them? I enjoy them, but I wonder how many CWers do?
Welcome back to Paradise, Sallie. Glad you enjoyed your vacation.
Kazie, you're trying to make READ IN an interaction between you and the computer. Much of what a computer does involves moving data from place to place according to program instructions that you do not control. The computer can't type, paste or enter data, but it is very adept at reading data. Read FROM is much more commonly used, but if a program is gathering data from multiple sources, it is said to READ IN the data from those locations so it can do what the program does.
no, Rich does not accept rebus puzzles.
Thank God! I LOATH rebus puzzles.
Gloria and I went on a "leaf peeping" excursion up to the NW finger (Leelanau Co.) of the MI Lower Peninsula on the first Sat. of OCT. We thought of it as an autumn color tour. "Leaf peeping" is not in my vocabulary. Is it in the language at all? Local jargon somewhere?
Cheers!
JzB peeps through bifocls
The usage of the words "Leaf peeping" is common in PA, WV, NJ, NY, New England and probably other states which have beautiful fall color.
Link Leaf peeping
Grumpy,
Thanks for the further explanation. I guess I'm not up on computerese enough to have heard that before. Like music, another language with which I'm unfamiliar. There was a lot in today's CW I was not familiar with.
Hola Everyone, A DNF for me today. There were too many unknowns, such as Near Beer, Barr, Laotse, Eno and Tay. I also could not get the Grade School start to the rhyme. It was a long time coming.
Some of the clues were very clever, however. Sloth, for one/sin, and Bad lighting/Arson.
I did find that rein in was tame, not stop or halt. All of the misdirections left me with some very white areas today.
Thanks for a great writeup Marti.
Off to do some much needed housework this morning.
Good afternoon,puzzlers.
Happy birthday, Boomer!
Thank you, Marti, for blogging with brio as usual.
I wonder where I was when a discussion of Assateague PONIES ensued? Surely, I would remember but no, had to consult a dictionary. Now I hope it's ETCHED in my memory log.
Otherwise, most of this was doable though obscure and like Hahtool, I read a novel by Nevada BARR once but it's not my preference.
And like Jazzbumpa, my first thought of CHICHI has little to do with oh so stylish.
Yes, bad lighting, ARSON is brilliant.
My newspaper had the circles but it's been so long since I heard that rhyme it came slowly, very slowly; must be that I'm getting on. Ooh, THATSMARTS!
Still a DNF in the SW as I missed POW and PCPS. Had JAW, AHOK and GCPS.
Have an EDENic Thursday, everyone!
Steve @ 12:17, you are right - the Merle Reagle was on July 17 of this year, but it was the puzzle that appears in the print version of the LA Times, not the syndicated one that we do here.
There may have been other rebus puzzles in the LAT, but the publisher specifications were just updated this month on cruciverb, and they specifically state "no rebus puzzles".
I'm a farmer's daughter from Kentucky and farmer's tan is a common phrase. If you wear short sleeved shirts, jeans, and a hat all summer you have pale legs, tan arms, and a faint line on your forehead (the last bit seems optional to most folks).
Happy birthday Boomer! I hope you and C.C. have a fun day.
This puzzle was hard for me and as a result, not as much fun as usual. BANC, LAOTSE, TAY, LEGATEE and LEROI were all struggling points. But with red letters, I persevered.
I am ready to eat the perfect banana. The green has almost all disappeared from the ends but the brown spots haven't appeared yet. Today is the day!
Is it just me or do any of you find Barbara Walters to be annoying? I respect what she's accomplished but she's self-promoting and too fond of her own opinions.
Happy birthday, Boomer. I hope you have something special planned.
I did have the circles in my puzzle today, and kissing was figured out early on. I just couldn't get my head around Grade School. As many of you have pointed out, we always put in the names of a couple, just to tease.
kazie,
I believe 4D Transfer to Memory/Read In comes from the old days when we had to use the card reader to "read in" our data that was on punch cards.
I wonder how many card punches still exist and work?
We listen to Nevada Barr books on tape when driving on trips. It helps pass the time and keeps me alert.
My first thought for 66A pronation was Flat Foot, but that lead nowhere.
So many ways to spell the Old Master's name in Roman letters! Laotzu, Laotse, Lautzu, Lauzi, etc. Sorta like Mauna --a: flip a coin, take a guess, or solve the perps. No trouble ATOLL.
The final R in the RISEN - OLEAN cross was a total guess.
Even after filling it in, I didn't know what PCPs are. And it took me a good 93.7 seconds to finally parse TENG.
I think was Norm's NORM to drink real beer.
Our paper did show the circles, and clued 20A as "... ends with the circled letters".
Happy birthday, Boomer. A sweet photo of you and your lovely wife. Thank you.
Marti, thanks for your terrific writeup and for again revealing your funny sense of humor.
Pow! Bam! Zowie!
The only time I heard the term "Leaf Peepers" was by a Vermont resident who used it, somewhat derogatorily, to describe tourists that come in huge, smelly busses to see the changing colors, drive slowly, and clog up the roads!
Hi all,
A very hard puzzle-I had to have a lot of help. I certainly remember the K I S S I N G rhyme in grade school so many years ago.
When we were down here in April my kids got my DH a ride in an open cockpit bi-plane for his 80th birthday. Today my son gave me my 80th present early. (My birthday is in Jan, but I won't be down here then.) It was a visit to CNN in downtown Atlanta. It was a lot of fun, especially when I got to meet Robin Meade who does the morning news on HLN. My son knows her as he has taken her picture several times. She is a real sweet young and beautiful woman.
My husband and I have read a lot of Nevada Barr's books. They are always set in a National Park and a lot of them set in the west. We like the west. but they have also taken place in some midwest and eastern parks.
Have a good afternoon and evening, all!
Marge
Some clues sucked like 8a, had lao-tzu (the right way) not tse. If they had15a right why not 8a? 55d, 8d, 53a?????? Wtf. Got all in 6o mins. But those clues killed me. Loved 11d. 17a ...smarts. And 20a and 56a.
@HeartRX - Yep, I used to get the print edition on Sundays. I've moved to the Sunday NYT now because I was getting bored with the same constructor and generally the same kind of theme and style every week.
@TinoTechie - I had a meeting in Frankfurt last year with IBM at their offices. In the entrance hall of the building they had a couple of "museum" exhibits of old IBM hardware all nicely polished and securely displayed in glass cases. One of them was the same model of punch card machine which I used when I had my first job in programming. When I told this to the people with me, they looked at me with that "Oh, my lord, I didn't realize you were that old" look.
Pronation, and a whole lot more.
Cheers!
JzB
TinoT and Steve - You remind me of key punching cards in Fortran for the card reader. Once in a while, on a bad day, the dropseys would set in and the deck would have to be reassembled in the correct order. Col's 73-80 were reserved for comments and sometimes used for numbering (they were outside the program code area) so if the sequential numbers were present, it wasn't so bad.
I certainly get what you're saying Steve, but in this crowd there's ample grey on the temples. I never personally used punch cards, because my job as a young man wasn't automated (I was a carpenter back then). But the first job a girlfriend from high school had was as a computer operator using punch cards. I graduated in 1973. The majority of folks on this blog will remember them, even if they never had direct contact.
OMG, I just declared myself OLD! :-)
Hi again,
Sallie, My DH and I have been to several Elderhostels and enjoyed them a lot. Our first was on St. Simons Island in Southern Georgia back in the late 90s. They call it something else now but still the same programs.
I never knew Geico was a Government insurance. My Dad worked for the US government from 1940 until 1972.By the time he retired his insurance was with Blue Cross. After he died my Mother continued to get it 'til she died at the age of 97.
I am enjoying the blog again.
Marge
Loved the puzzle and write-up! However, I didn't get the PO on ponies because I thought PCP was illegal drugs. First tried polecat and Pacific. Lots of erasures today. But it was mostly on my wave length--unusual for Thursdays for me.
Nevada Barr is one writer I buy. Love her books except for the one non-park story which I hated so much I threw it out.
Locally, farmer's tan includes very ruddy brown faces up to the ball-cap line on the forehead, then very white skin up across bald heads. Lots of baldies among our farmers, including my late DH who I didn't meet until post-hair years. He didn't like a pale head so left his cap off part of the time to even the color. --PK
-PK
MPPUZZLER, Unlike your Vermont curmudgeon, many of us who live amidst this spectacular autumnal extravaganza of color are happy to call ourselves LEAF PEEPERS and to share our bounty with others. Why not promote one of the lovliest aspects of our area?
I do not endorse that anti-tourist mentality. It falls under "Biting the hand that feeds you." I have sometimes encountered this mean attitude in venues where the local economy would fold without the tourists. The locals do not even bother to hide it. At the Jersey shore, tourists are derogitorially called, "Bennies," This attitude frosts me. Where would the Jersey shore be without the "Bennies?"
I welcome all of you to come "LEAF PEEP" with us. Most of us in NJ are not anti-tourist, but rather quite hospitable.
@Spitzboov - you're bringing back some bad memories here :)
You actually had to type the sequence numbers yourself, and if you were in a hurry you generally "forgot" to put them in. You were also meant to color-code the deck - something like pink for the job card, green for the JCL, white for the program code and blue for the data. Of course, some days there would be no cards of one color or other available so you just grabbed whatever was there and ended up with a rainbow deck.
Consequently, when you dropped the deck (or the high-speed card reader operator forgot to put the back on the collection hopper and shot the whole lot clear across the room) it took a LONG time to put it all back together again.
Thank you Jazzb for a delectable commentary. I did not try the puzzle itself - somewhat very busy - and listening to all the commentaries of others, - just as well.... it would have been beyond my ken.
Happy Birthday Boomer, and many more birthdays to come. Thank you CC for a very nice picture.
Jazzb, thanks for the link to the the 'Pronation' magic trick - of James Galea from the Tivoli Theatre. I have FINALLY figured out how he did the "palm turning" trick - although the video does not show the 'switch'.
Just before the guy locks his fingers together, .... as he brings his right palm, to meet his left palm, in an outwardly fashion -
...... he has ( surreptitiously ) - and simultaneously - ( important ! ) turned his left palm 180 o (degrees) - so that his palm is still facing outwards, with the thumb still facing downwards, - but it has an 'outward' twist, so when he brings his palms together, and locks them with his fingers - the 'locked' hands can be turned up, in a natural manner, with his thumbs facing up.....
I don't know how you find these exotic websites, but they are very fascinating.
Good Almost-Evening All, I'm late to the party, and it looks like it has been a good one.
Marti, sorry I wasn't there for you poetry-wise on the Nicolas Knudde thing this morning. I've never heard of him and except for the Wikipedia reference, apparently neither has anybody else.
No comments on the puzzle that haven't been made. It was verrry slow for me, but eventually, with perp help and more than a few WAGs, I got the Happy Pencil.
Happy Birthday to Boomer! I hope it has been and will continue to be terrific.
Now I'm heading back to check a few links. Have a nice evening everyone.
The last time I saw a punch card the paper tickets used by the airlines. I guess the size and weight of the stock worked well for them, until they all went paperless.
Interesting note about GEICO. It is the core of Warren Buffetts empire. I believe he bought equity in GEICO in the 1970's and completely took it over in 1996. He has leveraged the cash flow to build his empire. I think it still contributes a very healthy revenue stream for Berkshire-Hathaway.
Steve - I agree with you on the full name clue for ENO. But at least we didn't get the standard Music for Airports or U2 clue.
Marti & CA - If you enter Henry Hannah Knudde into Google, the first two pages that show up are the Corner's! The third page is the Wiki page.
Nicolas Knudde sounds like a character in the Harry Potter books, especially if pronounced with a long U and long E.
Harry and Ginny
Sitting in a tree...
Anonymous said@ October 27, 2011 4:21 PM
Surprised at your addendum to the K-I-S-S-I-N-G grade school rhyme. Here in NM it is ..."Sucking his thumb, peeing his pants, doin' the hula hula dance".
Any more out there?
Since there's a random Roman numeral clued with two other roman numerals multiplied later in the puzzle, why not clue 7D EIGHTY with two other Arabic numbers multiplied? I mean who knows the atomic number of Mercury. Might as well clue it as some number between one and a thousand.
Haven't posted in a long time but thought I'd "jump" in and show my age again.
I didn't remember the rhyme as a poem but as a jump rope rhyme - 2 turners and one jumper to start.
Then after the "baby carriage" line we said,
In came the doctor (another jumper would enter)
In came the nurse ( a third jumper would enter)
In came the lady with the alligator purse ( fourth jumper)
Out went the doctor
Out went the nurse
Out went the lady with the alligator purse
All extra jumpers would leave in turn.
It was a challenge keeping all in jumpers in sync.
Anoa @7:07pm: The way I got the Hg At. No. was; Since it's not radioactive it had to be below 92 which is uranium. There are very few numbers when spelled out that have 6 letters - eleven, twelve, twenty, thirty, and eighty come to mind. When the perps included abE, laI, and retapinG, it became clear that the fill was EIGHTY which seemed plausible given that Hg is a liquid metal and probably not on the front end of the periodic table. I think the puzzlemaster expected some reliance on the perps for a Thursday solve.
Great magic trick! And, from the same website as the magic trick video...
Parental control
(You can unpause the video.)
Happy Birthday Boomer and many happy returns; I know you have bowled perfect games, but you had no better game than the one hich left you married to our fearless leader- really a perfect pair.
Happy Birthday, Boomer! I hope you had a wonderful day and have many more happy years of guest blogging for us!
Marti, thanks for the fun blogging and clearing up leaf peeping. I should have guessed. I'm so jealous of all of you who live close enough to see the Fall foliage. We have many liquid ambers in our area, and when or if it gets cold enough they are spectacular.It's only a street here 'n there.Years ago I was bedazzled by the quilt of colors while landing in Westchester.
Yellowrocks, I think the Sawmill Prkwy was mentioned in that article.
My alibi for the day is--The constuctor lied again! A judge's seat is a bench. Appellate judges sometimes sit " En Banc" which means like a round table. The correct clue should have been "Judges' Bench!!. Took me a long time to think that alibi up.
Good night all.
Thanks for the welcome backs (or close) JD, HeartRX, Grumpy, and Marge for the Elderhostel comment. I think the new term Road Scholar is a little too cute. But it's a great program.
Sorry, Hutch, we're not buying youir excuse. The dictionary rules!
banc [bangk]
noun Law.
1.the seat on which judges sit in court.
2.in banc, with all the judges of a court present; as a full court: a hearing in banc.
anon@7:27:
Thank you for the full rhyme. I've spent the better part of the day trying to recall all those words from jumping rope. Alas! It has been too many decades, so again, thanks.
Wow! What a game!
Hey Sallie: Good to see you, you were on my list.
Banc, and en banc both refer to the seat of the court.
Great puzzle for your Friday coming up
Could be the greatest game of all time and Lemonade714 has no idea!
All of those punch cards became Christmas Wreaths throuhgout our neighborhood. They were folded in a certain way, pinned onto a styrofoam base, then sprayed either silver or gold. We had the ultimate recycling back then!LOL.
I still have some blank cards in our den which have been used for telephone messages. There were boxes left over when we switched to PC's and didn't have to have a company punch the cards, then carry the boxes to the Stanford University Mainframe computer to be read and printouts to be made.
The joys of a small home business!!!!
Avg Joe, just think "china white" and you'll get it. The swastikas are understandable too.
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