Theme: "My country, 'tis of thee... Of thee I sing" - The last word of each theme entry is a synonym of "country".
20A. Notable 1900s anti-alcohol demonstrator : CARRIE NATION. I learned her name from doing crossword. Looks very intimidating.
38A. The boondocks : GOD'S COUNTRY
57A. General situation : LAY OF THE LAND
C.C. here. Argyle will back blogging Wednesday & Thursday puzzles this week. Still struggling with a sick computer, but I feel so lucky that I always have Argyle for backup.
Monday puzzles are easy to solve but hard to construct. Themes have to be simple but not boring. Fill have to be familiar words/names but not full of crosswordese like ETUI & OLLA.
Across:
1. Trojan Horse, for example : RUSE. Or VIRUS.
5. Move a muscle : STIR
9. G sharp equivalent : A-FLAT. Jazzbumpa would have given you a witty comment.
14. iPhone downloads : APPS
15. Grab hold of : TAKE
16. Doctrine : CREDO
17. Open-handed hit : SLAP. Ow!
18. Feels sorry about : RUES
19. Intoxicating, as wine : HEADY
23. Try : ATTEMPT
24. Garden hose feature : NOZZLE. Scrabbly.
28. Car dealer's deal : LEASE
29. Rotisserie rod : SPIT
32. "Divine Secrets of the __ Sisterhood" : YA YA. Starring Sandra Bullock.
33. __-mo replay : SLO
35. Leeds lavs : LOOS. All alliteration.
37. Hoopster's target : NET
41. '60s chic : MOD
43. Acted like : APED. Not "Monkeyed".
44. Check out : EYE. For Splynter.
45. Sandler of "Grown Ups" : ADAM
47. Civil rights pioneer Parks : ROSA
49. Novelist Puzo : MARIO. I read almost all of his work.
53. Piglet pal : EEYORE. The gloomy donkey.
55. Final part : TAIL END
60. Ancient Mexican : AZTEC. Another Z in action.
63. Scott of "Charles in Charge" : BAIO
64. Mosque official : IMAM
65. Group helping the sheriff : POSSE
66. "Just doing my best" : I TRY
67. Crumbly cheese : FETA. Often in Bill G's salad.
68. Horn sounds : TOOTS
69. Ball-bearing pegs : TEES
70. Genesis locale : EDEN
Down:
1. Mischief-maker : RASCAL. Hello Spitzboov!
2. Studying into the wee hours, say : UP LATE
3. Ancient Athens rival : SPARTA
4. Trattoria brew : ESPRESSO. Some leftover coffee from yesterday.
5. Throat problem : STREP
6. Razzes : TAUNTS. Are you still there, Razzberry?
7. Furniture chain founded in Sweden : IKEA. Their HQ is in the Netherlands (Delft).
8. Put one's feet up : REST. No rest for Dennis this month.
9. Cold outburst? : ACHOO. Fun clue, though we've seen it a few times before.
10. Extreme agitation : FRENZY
11. Grassy expanse : LEA. Was clue yesterday.
12. Go on to say : ADD
13. Gift under a tree, often : TOY. A new computer is all I need.
21. Marcos who collected shoes : IMELDA
22. Emulate the Gregorians : INTONE
25. Like the Marx Brothers : ZANY
26. Corrosive stuff : LYE
27. Have a bite : EAT. So what did you have for breakfast today?
30. Moves with effort : PLODS
31. Letters of obligation : IOU
34. Fish hawk : OSPREY
36. Totally stump : STYMIE. Originally a golf term, I think.
38. Aussie greeting : G' DAY
39. Corp. bigwig : CEO
40. It's not fiction or fantasy : REAL LIFE. I just want to be a Deep Throat in fantasy land. You?
41. Fannie __ : MAE
42. Emotional verse : ODE
46. Harass : MOLEST. Sensitive fill.
48. Garb : ATTIRE
50. Widened, as a hole : REAMED
51. Present from birth : INNATE
52. Extra one who's "out" : ODD MAN
54. Oft-timed contests : RACES
56. Seagoing attention getters : AHOYS
58. Memorial news item : OBIT
59. Kismet : FATE
60. Suitable : APT
61. Petting place : ZOO
62. Chinese menu general : TSO. General Tso's chicken is a typical Chinese-American dish. I've never heard of it until I came to the US.
Answer grid.
C.C.
20A. Notable 1900s anti-alcohol demonstrator : CARRIE NATION. I learned her name from doing crossword. Looks very intimidating.
38A. The boondocks : GOD'S COUNTRY
57A. General situation : LAY OF THE LAND
C.C. here. Argyle will back blogging Wednesday & Thursday puzzles this week. Still struggling with a sick computer, but I feel so lucky that I always have Argyle for backup.
Monday puzzles are easy to solve but hard to construct. Themes have to be simple but not boring. Fill have to be familiar words/names but not full of crosswordese like ETUI & OLLA.
Across:
1. Trojan Horse, for example : RUSE. Or VIRUS.
5. Move a muscle : STIR
9. G sharp equivalent : A-FLAT. Jazzbumpa would have given you a witty comment.
14. iPhone downloads : APPS
15. Grab hold of : TAKE
16. Doctrine : CREDO
17. Open-handed hit : SLAP. Ow!
18. Feels sorry about : RUES
19. Intoxicating, as wine : HEADY
23. Try : ATTEMPT
24. Garden hose feature : NOZZLE. Scrabbly.
28. Car dealer's deal : LEASE
29. Rotisserie rod : SPIT
32. "Divine Secrets of the __ Sisterhood" : YA YA. Starring Sandra Bullock.
33. __-mo replay : SLO
35. Leeds lavs : LOOS. All alliteration.
37. Hoopster's target : NET
41. '60s chic : MOD
43. Acted like : APED. Not "Monkeyed".
44. Check out : EYE. For Splynter.
45. Sandler of "Grown Ups" : ADAM
47. Civil rights pioneer Parks : ROSA
49. Novelist Puzo : MARIO. I read almost all of his work.
53. Piglet pal : EEYORE. The gloomy donkey.
55. Final part : TAIL END
60. Ancient Mexican : AZTEC. Another Z in action.
63. Scott of "Charles in Charge" : BAIO
64. Mosque official : IMAM
65. Group helping the sheriff : POSSE
66. "Just doing my best" : I TRY
67. Crumbly cheese : FETA. Often in Bill G's salad.
68. Horn sounds : TOOTS
69. Ball-bearing pegs : TEES
70. Genesis locale : EDEN
Down:
1. Mischief-maker : RASCAL. Hello Spitzboov!
2. Studying into the wee hours, say : UP LATE
3. Ancient Athens rival : SPARTA
4. Trattoria brew : ESPRESSO. Some leftover coffee from yesterday.
5. Throat problem : STREP
6. Razzes : TAUNTS. Are you still there, Razzberry?
7. Furniture chain founded in Sweden : IKEA. Their HQ is in the Netherlands (Delft).
8. Put one's feet up : REST. No rest for Dennis this month.
9. Cold outburst? : ACHOO. Fun clue, though we've seen it a few times before.
10. Extreme agitation : FRENZY
11. Grassy expanse : LEA. Was clue yesterday.
12. Go on to say : ADD
13. Gift under a tree, often : TOY. A new computer is all I need.
21. Marcos who collected shoes : IMELDA
22. Emulate the Gregorians : INTONE
25. Like the Marx Brothers : ZANY
26. Corrosive stuff : LYE
27. Have a bite : EAT. So what did you have for breakfast today?
30. Moves with effort : PLODS
31. Letters of obligation : IOU
34. Fish hawk : OSPREY
36. Totally stump : STYMIE. Originally a golf term, I think.
38. Aussie greeting : G' DAY
39. Corp. bigwig : CEO
40. It's not fiction or fantasy : REAL LIFE. I just want to be a Deep Throat in fantasy land. You?
41. Fannie __ : MAE
42. Emotional verse : ODE
46. Harass : MOLEST. Sensitive fill.
48. Garb : ATTIRE
50. Widened, as a hole : REAMED
51. Present from birth : INNATE
52. Extra one who's "out" : ODD MAN
54. Oft-timed contests : RACES
56. Seagoing attention getters : AHOYS
58. Memorial news item : OBIT
59. Kismet : FATE
60. Suitable : APT
61. Petting place : ZOO
62. Chinese menu general : TSO. General Tso's chicken is a typical Chinese-American dish. I've never heard of it until I came to the US.
Answer grid.
C.C.
64 comments:
Good morning, C.C. and gang - a flat-out speed run this morning, just a tad over four minutes. no pauses, no 'huh?' clues, just a well-constructed Monday puzzle, which as C.C. points out can't be a speed run to assemble.
I'm finally learning the flat/sharp correlations, and it helped that 9D was gonna be either 'achoo' or 'sneeze'. I wanted 'car' for 'petting place', but it wasn't to be. I can't remember the last time I used 'stymie', and for some reason I've always liked the word 'reamed'. Not much to comment on beyond that, just a nice, easy solve.
C.C., breakfast lately is a big bowl of either Honey Nut Cheerios or Wheaties, and a vitamin pack.
A quick thank you to all who sent congratulatory emails; really meant a lot and it's the kind of thing that makes this blog stand out among the others. C.C., ya done good.
I am up way too early this morning! As Dennis pointed out, it was a speed run. Tried INBORN before INNATE appeared. Otherwise, it was a straight-forward solve.
Hello Puzzlers -
Yep, a smooth Monday passage over untroubled waters.
Hand up for thinking that CARRIE NATION looked like one seriously crabby woman.
FETA cheese, MMMMMM. We use it a lot, 'cause it makes everything betta. :-)
Haven't seen the YAYA Sisterhood movie in years, but I seem to recall it was pretty good. Must try Thelma and Louise sometime.
Morning, all!
Fun puzzle today, although I never even noticed the theme until I was done. Not quite a speed run for me, although I certainly didn't PLOD through it.
I got hung up a little bit at CREDO, wanting first TENET and then CREED. I didn't expect to see CREDO since that's the Latin term and there was nothing in the clue to indicate a foreign word was required. Of course, I'm sure that CREDO is totally in the language and acceptable as an English word, but it still threw me for a bit.
I also hesitated a bit at AZTEC, since I didn't know at first whether it was going to be AZTEC or OLMEC. I assumed AZTEC, but I've been burned by that before and am now more cautious.
Good Morning, C.C. and friends. This was a good puzzle to start off the work week. My only error was to think of Tease instead of TAUNTS for Razzes.
On work days, my breakfast usually consists of a cup of Joe and a piece of toast. On weekends, my husband prepares a big breakfast, or we go out for bagels.
C.C. I hope you mean the Deep Throat who provided information to Bob Woodward during the Watergate Era and not the Deep Throat of the movie.
QOD: When you become famous, being famous becomes your profession. ~ James Carville
Good day folks,
No speed run for me. Needed perp help throughout to keep it going. Some of the issues were my own screw ups. For 37A I had RIM before NET appeared. For 21D, I used E instead of I for the first letter in the shoe lady's name. 63A, BAIO was a who??? Never heard of him.
Just to nit pick a little, 37A NET is misleading. If a hoopster's target is the net, he's going to have an air ball. Shooters are taught (at least I was) to focus on the rim when releasing the ball. Of course today they just soar and shove it into the hole from above the rim. Maybe that;s what the constructors thinking was.
Hahtool, that cracked me up!
My usual breakfast is a large OJ and eggs Benedict.
C.C., I'm with Hahtool. I need more info regarding your REAL LIFE comment!
Send Me an Angel (3:53)
Good morning.
Well, I've had my bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, glass of V8, a bit of pineapple, some canteloupe, a banana and a cup of coffee... oh , wait, this is the puzzle blog...
Like everyone else, I zipped right through this one. Nice to see the shoutout to Spitzboov and the leftover from yesterday's theme.
If I had to pick a nit, I'd question the equivalency of harass and MOLEST. I always think of harass as a non physical action as opposed to MOLEST which is a physical action. I guess the effect on the recipient can be traumatizing in both cases, but it just doesn't seem that they're the same.
LAY OF THE LAND? Hmmmm, so many choices...
Mornin' to all,
Nice way to start off the week!
C.C., I've never considered how difficult it would be to construct a puzzle that was neither too hard nor too easy. I think the too easy would be the most difficult to construct.
Okay....why is everyone congratulating Dennis?? Did he get the Mammo job? I've missed reading all of the column lately.
Hi gang -
Had some difficulty in the lower middle (hmmm - sounds like a personal problem.) TV and pop culture clues are not in my wheelhouse.
Sharps and flats are the black keys on a piano. G and A are white keys. G#/Ab is the black key between them. Kinda like monkey in the middle.
Googled "A flat." and found this. Gee - must have been something #.
For a night owl, is it INNATE to be UP LATE?
Game ending field goal REAMED SPARTANs.
On a trombone, A FLAT TOOTS are in 3rd position.
Serpent's apple was the EDEN RUSE.
Oh, well . . . I TRY.
Mixed Cheerios with Fiber 1 for breakfast.
Cheers!
JzB
I was familiar with IMELDA, the shoe guy. Surprising considering how many pairs of shoes I own.
Barry G - I wanted TENET too, a puzzle staple.
There was an article in the Chicago Tribune today about Carrie Nation: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-liquor-carrynationn1e7b11ba-20111202,0,5532685,full.story
So what did you have for breakfast today? Diet Coke and bubble gum. And you?
Sorry, I meant I was UNfamiliar with the shoe guy.
Also, I thought the wording in the clue for 52D was a little ODD
Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines and wife of Fernando Marcos, the country's authoritarion president She had closets and closets full of shoes.
It was ironically appropriate to have Carrie Nation today since on this date in 1933 the 21st Amendment became law, which repealed Prohibition.
Good morning everyone. Thanks for the write-up, C.C. Thank you and Grumpy for the shout-out at 1d, RASCAL.
Thought this would be easy, but it started off crankily. Then it quickly settled down to a smooth solve. We saw ESPRESSO, yesterday. Had to change creed to CREDO. I grew up in GOD'S COUNTRY, not too far from Argyle's GOD'S COUNTRY. I thought the clue for TEES was quite clever. No lookups; no nits. Nice collaboration by Gail and Bruce.
Have a great day.
Okay....why is everyone congratulating Dennis?? Did he get the Mammo job?
No, SouthernBelle, nothing quite that good - just that my wife's being transferred to Boca Raton, something we've been angling for for several years, and I get to tag along. I hope to resume my practice down there...
Musings
- Even Carrie Nation couldn’t get legislated morality to work. We humans are pesky that way! Marijuana next? The gov’t sees a lot of tax revenue out there.
-My Trojan Horse was a PLOY first and the hoopsters I coached aimed for the RIM
-The iPhone App ShopSavvy that lets me scan bar codes for the best price has saved me big money when the retailers mostly match it!
-Car leasing never made sense to me
-SLOMO replays reinforce the incredible abilities of athletes and competence of referees (mostly)
-Has anyone here used APE as verb?
-My tees are stored after 6” of snow Saturday
-Did you see LSU’s Australian punter TAUNT the other team as he scored and the TD was nullified?
-Coffee and PBJ on toast, C.C.
-At one time golfers did not have to “mark” and move their ball if they were in the putting line of another golfer. That was called a STYMIE.
-Imelda – “The children have no Keds? Let them wear Gucci’s.”
Dennis,
I hope you saw the news item this weekend about some guy arrested for performing fake breast exams door-to-door.
I fell into the TEASE/TAUNT trap, wanted HIP for MOD (mod seems a bit too British) and also agree with Grumpy on the harass/molest equivalence. Not much else bothered me, as perps did their job well today.
In the final stages of proofing the newsletter. That seems to take as much time as putting it together in the first place.
Dennis, congrats on your relocation! Things like that often happen to deserving people.
BTW, Florida Atlantic University in Boca, according to rumor, is getting a current Husker for their football coach as Carl Pelini is leaving his brother in Lincoln to coach the Owls down there.
Nice Monday, and sorry you're still experiencing computer woes, CC.
A lot of nice fill - STYMIE, CREDO, POSSE, FRENZY amongst others.
FETA - Food! Yay!
More ESPRESSO - I'll take one myself, please. Fun seeing LEA when we had Lea cluing MEADOW just yesterday (or Saturday, I forget)
@Husker Gary - nice explanation of STYMIE, I was going to pitch in but saw you'd already done that with about a fifth of the words I'd have managed to use.
Two cups of Joe and a banana for my breakfast today.
Happy Monday, y'all!
Good Morning All, Once Across and once Down took care of just about everything.
I also had a little problem with TENET instead of 16A)CREDO, but that didn't last long.
I enjoyed the scrabbly grouping of FRENZY, NOZZLE, YAYA and ZANY.
I'm a coffee, whole grain toast and a banana person most mornings. I know breakfast is "The Most Important Meal" (my mommy told me so!), but I'm not very hungry in the morning.
As far as 40A is concerned, I think C.C.'s enigmatic answer is much more fascinating than anything I could come up with.
Thank you Gail and Bruce for a very charming puzzle. AaaaH, all's alright with the world !!
Thank you CC for a very interesting and illuminating commentary. I knew it wasn't Argyle, the moment I read the first para. As you have mentioned before, people have such unique writing styles.
My eyes perked up, when I saw Hahtool's deep throat comment - since I did not read that in the blog, the first time around. On hindsight, it just wise to pretend that it was a misprint - no need to explain or comment further.
For breakfast, I had a bowl full of steaming white rice, with 3 ladlefulls of pidgeon pea soup, heavily spiced ( 4 habaneros, ginger, garlic, mustard, horse radish, fenugreek - ). I washed it down, with a great big glass of Diet Pepsi, with a spoonful of lime juice. I am good to go, till tea time.
This easy Monday puzzle did not STYMIE me. This seems like a common use of STYMIE, as does APE as a verb. The little RASCAL APED his sister's every move, just to upset her.
Sexual molestation is big news, but MOLEST has been used in the sense of INTERFERE WITH for a long time.
mo·lest (m-lst)
1. To disturb, interfere with, or annoy.
2. To subject to unwanted or improper sexual activity.
CC, a group of us go out for dinner with a Taiwanese friend who knows the authentic Chinese restaurants and helps us choose the "real thing." Delicious! But, PS I also like the inauthentic General Tso's chicken.
I infer a broader meaning of basketball NET. When you buy a NET, most of the time it includes the rim. So when you shoot for the rim, you are actually targeting a part of the NET.
Kazie, I too heard the news about the door-to-door breast exams and thought of Dennis. At least it would be more comfortable than having your TA TAs smooshed in the Xray machine.
Hi all -
After hassling with the NW corner for several (several) minutes, I breezed through this great Monday puzzle. I don't know why that corner 'STYMIED'.
49 and 63A were solved with perps and were my only unknowns.
Dennis: Had to laugh (our loud too) at your first answer to 61D.
Is that were you were going to hold your 'exams'???
My breakfast was 2 pieces of crushed wheat toast and Simply Fruit red raspberry jam...and 1 cup of coffee. Some mornings I add my fried potatoes. These are baked first, then fried with the skins on. (yum)
A-Mouse: PLEASE tell me that you were kidding about your breakfast. HolyMoly, I'd be dead if I ate that ANY time of day!!!
Steve, thanks for the kind comment on the term stymie. This tactic was shown very well in the Disney movie Greatest Game Ever Played.
I also was reminded of this Stymie from films I watched on TV as a child.
Re: breakfast. I usually have a bowl of 'old-fashioned' style oatmeal topped with blackstrap molasses and a little 2% fat milk; drunk with Starbuck's French Roast coffee, of course; all while doing the puzzle. At mid morning, perhaps also a treat of English muffin (8 gr. fiber) with orange marmalade.
Re:Carrie Nation, sounds more like an exercise .... India, has had (and still does, about 20% ) alcohol prohibition since 1947, inline with the noble ideas of M. K. Gandhi. The concept was admirable, the efforts utterly futile, and like the U.S.A. , corruption skyrocketed and became ingrained in the Indian DNA.
My distant uncle, was the State minister of Prohibition and Excise, ( to discourage consumption, and heavily tax alcohol - ). We, as a family, had never drunk liquor for 8 generations. His promotion, drove us, as a community, to become a gutter-full of alcoholics ! Mercifully, he was fired 8 yrs. later, and some of us had to go into instant withdrawal.
Alt QOD:- I broke up with my girlfriend. She moved in with another guy and I draw the line at that. ~ Garry Shandling.
C.C. Excellent PINCH hitting.
(I'll be doing that a little later).
FUN Monday, Thanks Gail & Bruce.
I'm with you Clear Ayes on that FRENZY, NOZZLE, ZANY, YA-YA grouping.
Liked the anagrams: RUSE/RUES and FATE/FETA.
REAMED crossing TAILEND, 'nough said.
My first "toast" tonight is for the 21st Amendment.
(I Hope CARRIE NATION is spinning).
The 21st Amendment is my favorite.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Gail and Bruce, for a great Monday puzzle. A little tougher than most Mondays, in my opinion, but that's OK. Thank you, C.C., pinch-hitting.
Zipped through this via bouncing around a lot. Got CARRIE NATION right away. There happens to be an article in the Monday Chicago Tribune about her, which I read just before doing the puzzle. It appears that Medicine Lodge, KS, voted last week to allow package liquor sales on Sundays. Carrie Nation moved to Medicine Lodge in 1890 and formed a branch of WCTU and began smashing bars and taverns. She is now featured in a Medicine Lodge museum, according to the article. The town now has about 2,000 residents.
Anyhow, with all that being said, the rest of the puzzle came together.
Did not know BAIO, perps fixed that.
IKEA seems to be a favorite, lately.
For breakfast I drink about 6 cups of Earl Grey tea and have a bowl of Cheerios. Also one tablespoon of flax seed oil, per my eye doctor.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
How quick we forget.
Charles "Chachi" Arcola is a character played by Scott Baio on the sitcom Happy Days, and its spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi.
Then came "Charles In Charge".
What?! No one's going to admit to eating cold pizza for breakfast?
In college, we used to pour beer into our Cheerios instead of milk...it's all grains anyway, right?
Papa John:
I haven't had Cold Pizza, in the morning, since my first micro-wave.
As for my Honey-Nut Cheerio's ... I like them with cranberry or apple juice.
yes this was a nice puzzle! I remember seeing imelda marcos closet full of shoes! wow! My breakfast is oatmeal with cinnomon and syrup and a diet mountain dew! yum yum!off to school to teach those darling 4th graders
Fun Monday puzzle and writeup. I look forward to them after the hard Saturday themeless and the big Sunday puzzle. I do enjoy my Feta cheese and, the photo of Scarlett Johansson too.
Breakfast? I alternate among freezer waffles, eggs and sausage and hot cereal like oatmeal or Cream of Wheat with half-and-half. Included sometimes is a grapefruit half but always coffee and V-8 to give me the necessary brain boost for the crossword to follow.
Thanks for noticing me.
Hello, C.C. and puzzle busters. So nice to see you, C.C. as Argyle's sub. I hope the computers are soon cured of whatever ails them.
As everyone has already said, easy Monday with some fun full. I usually EYE it to get the LAYOFTHELAND and look for pitfalls before I ATTEMPT to write.
I could see the dilemma in 16A so held off until the downs confirmed CREDO.
I read the YAYA books but never saw the movie. Is it worth renting?
Thank you, Gail and Bruce for today's entertainment.
My breakfast varies, twice a week bacon and eggs with toast and jelly, other days I alternate corn flakes with bananas or oatmeal
with 2% milk. Some days, waffles.
You all have a wonderful Monday!
Breakfast usually starts with some citrus fruit and a bowl of Cheerios, Frosted Flakes or Raisin Bran. That will take care of me until nine or ten when I get into the serious stuff. A visit to Dunkin for a medium black and whatever looks good on a particular day. Usually skip lunch and try to eat smart at supper.
Carrie Nation was born about 6 miles from where I live, and there is a Carrie Nation road and historical marker. She must have had a local impact, since our town only voted "wet" about 2 1/2 years ago, and the county is still dry.
Some friends and I have recently formed an informal literary society, mostly as an excuse to get together and drink. It was originally the Carrie Nation Temperance Society, but we later assigned her the middle name Ursula to form a more appropriate acronym, since half the members are our better halves.
Breakfast 6 days a week:
2 cups black coffee, three shredded wheat biscuits with a banana and fresh goat milk.
Sunday:
The full monte, eggs, bacon, toast, fried potatoes, honey, butter, mostly home produced, except the bread.
Since a mild heaert attack 25 years ago my breakfast has been:
Small glass of OJ
Granola w/ skim milk
English Muffin, preferably cinnamon raison) w/butter
one banana (for Pottassium)
Must work, I still here.
Extra Late Breakfast -
I liked the Rice Bowl, and Pidgeon pea soup, breakfast, so much, I had three more helpings. I felt the earlier versions were a little mild so I put in 2 tbsps. of Louisiana's, Avery Island's Tabasco Red Devil sauce, ( I'm sure Hahtool is very familiar with this - ) and a generous sprinkling of 'green' peppercorns. I can hear my stomach growling, so I know its just right.
Ironically, the spicy hot food is supposed to kill the appetite, so you eat less - but I am so shamelessly addicted to it that its ruining my diet. Atleast I didn't have a turkey for Thanksgiving.
BTW, 'hot' or 'heat' in the food is not a taste, but a sense of 'pain' - so they say - that some people get inured to - and causes their brain to release the endo-morphins - 'pleasure molecules' - - much like chocolate, OR a heavy workout or a Marathon run, does for other people.
Enuff about food.
Thanks for the fun, doable Monday puzzle, Gail and Bruce, and, of course, C.C. for the write-up.
Got all the proper names for a change, including Eeyore--so that really helped.
Mine is the paltriest breakfast so far: coffee (half caf/ half decaf) with a shot of non-fat milk. But I have to confess that reading Anon-Mouse's breakfast made me hungry.
Have a good week, everybody!
The Aztec Civilization is NOT an ancient one. Their time was the 14th to 16th centuries. Per-Columbian may be a long clue, but an accurate one....Janet in Sherman Oaks
Good morning C.C. et al,
Gail and Bruce's puzzles are always a fun run.Only hang up was intone- could hear them chanting, but took going back to it to fill.Also had creed for a nano second. Loved doing across and downs together so easily.
Ironically, our town's favorite pub is Carrie Nations; it's been around since the 70's and is popular with the "30 somethings."
Enjoyed Ya Ya... book, but not so much the movie. It seemed rather corny on screen.
Hahtool, brilliant quote today!
Breakfast differs,but mostly it's toast(sour dough)with peanut butter, and a toffee nut latte. Today we had an egg over toast. Have a 1/2 banana mid morning.
CA, Bill and Lucina,thanks for the heads up on Alexander McCall Smith's "other" series.I just finished The Double Comfort Safari Club (not as good as some of the others), but I see The Saturday Big Tent Weddingis also out, and I think there is a newer one.Mma Makutsi and her Phuti have to get married at some point!Bill, I also thought the TV series was well done.
Hello everybody. One of the things I like about the LAT xword puzzles is their range of difficulty over the week. It's nice to have relatively easier ones early in the week, working up in difficulty level. They're not all hard or all easy. I do believe they are challenging to construct, though.
For breakfast my wife likes various granola cold cerials with berries and milk. I often cook myself scrambled eggs and buttered sourdough toast, and sometimes I'll make the effort to cook up some hot oatmeal. And the usual OJ and coffee.
Best wishes to you all.
I want to know. Can any of you word mavens please please explain the meaning of the word consubstantial ??
Desperate in Denver
Anon D in Denver: Why don't you just google it. I'm sure lots of stuff will come up. Merriam Webster has it.
Janet @ 12:14. I agree with you about the Aztecs.
Janet in Sherman Oaks, I'm ancient and I only date back to the mid-twentieth century.
Hmmm.
Ancient and stately - like an Oak ?
OR
Ancient and Active - like a volcano ?
OR
Ancient and Mano-e-Mano - like Clint Eastwood ?
Ginger Ann in Thousand Oaks
JD, BillG and CA:
Thank you for all the current information on the Alexander McCall Smith books. I love reading them and try to keep up with the new ones.
Hmmmm, what to give Nana for Christmas??
Ginger Ann, that's in the eye of the beholder, but all three are certainly admirable qualities.
I just heard from an Internet friend of mine who lives in South Pasadena. She was without power since last Wednesday and has been living on mostly peanut butter. She thought about calling me since she had my phone number but it was stored in her computer. Catch 22.
Good afternoon everyone.
Thank you C.C. and Argyle for a great write up of an enjoyable puzzle, which I DNF because I couldn't remember CARRIE NATION, and therefore didn't get some of the perps, like ACHOO even though I had ACH. That led me to wanting something achy, but couldn't suss it our.
I agree with Grumpy about molest and harass no matter what some dictionary says. Dictionaries are not arbiters of correct usage. They only record what people say.
Jazz: very funny commentary. And surely liked the link for A FLAT.
Stared at U PLATE for a long time, and finally gave up on making sense of it.
For breakfast, DH always makes an egg, (I put the Sam's precooked bacon in the microwave), toast, marmalade and coffee.
Cheers
A Flat is what i got driving last week. "G, SHARP" is a comment directed at a well dressed person. How are they the same?
On cold days when I have playground duty, a hot bowl of cream of chicken soup with ritz crackers for breakfast keeps me warm, that and slathering on lotion while still wet from a hot shower.
U2 on YouTube
In God's Country
Breakfast may be over (for now), but my favorite late night snack is some sort of ice cream with cereal and fresh coffee grounds mashed in.
What's yours...?
For anyone who needs a little pick-me-up..fun
JD, as you know, I love good videos. That is the most enjoyable video I've seen in a long time. Thanks a bunch!
MOLEST in the sense of HARASS is not some arcane dictionary definition. I see it in print all the time.
My first thought was "MOLESTed by mosquitoes." I googled and found many examples.
Here is another example. "Agoutis are normally active during the day, but become nocturnal if disturbed or molested."
In regard to abortion clinics,I have read of their clients being MOLESTed by verbal abuse.
I have read of computer users being MOLESTed by hackers.
unMOLESTed is even more common. It means left in peace.
As I said before, just because something is outside our own wheelhouse does not mean it is uncommon or odd.
Thanks, JD, that was fun!
JD, where did you find that very enjoyable video?
Quite late to the party: that was a fun video, JD!
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