google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, December 26, 2011 Victor Barocas

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Dec 26, 2011

Monday, December 26, 2011 Victor Barocas

Theme: Bill of Rights - "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

20. 2010 Best Picture about a stammering royal : "THE KING'S SPEECH"

35. United Nations budget overseer : GENERAL ASSEMBLY

41. Gospel classic : OLD TIME RELIGION

52. Where the freedoms that end 20-, 35- and 41-Across are found : FIRST AMENDMENT

Argyle here. Some slight nits can be forgiven to provide us with two spanners and two near spanners. I didn't have the theme before the unifier but I didn't need it anyway. In fact, I didn't see several answers until I did the write-up.

Across:

1. Abbr. in an abbreviated list : ET AL.

5. In the dumps : GLUM. I discovered I still had the red letter help on when I entered BLUE.

9. Tore down, as a building : RAZED

14. Lucy Lawless role : XENA. TV series.

15. Not often seen : RARE

16. Verdi aria that means "It was you" : "ERI TU". Robert Merrill- live 1955 "Eri tu" (Verdi, "Ballo")(6:21)

17. Stevie Wonder's "__ She Lovely" : ISN'T. Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely (Live in Japan, 1990)(3:23)

18. Oklahoma city : ENID

19. "Network" actor Peter or a songbird : FINCH


23. Lawyers' org. : ABA. The American Bar Association.

24. 1040-issuing org. : IRS

25. Followers of els : EMs. Alphabetically.

28. Newspaper revenue source : AD SPACE

32. Massage reaction : "AAH"

38. Like the Reaper : GRIM. Note that Reaper is capitalize, indicating a particular REAPER.

39. Georgia summer hrs. : EDT

40. Up to the task : ABLE

46. Born, in bridal bios : NEE

47. Party food provider : CATERER

48. Seventh Greek letter : ETA

49. Stylist's stuff : GEL

50. Two-time loser to DDE : AES. 1952 & 1958. Correction:1956 (Thank you, Abejo. Whoever heard of six years between presidential elections?)

60. Old Testament prophet : MICAH

61. "By __!" : JOVE. Interesting pairing.

62. Water color : AQUA

63. __ Lodge: budget chain : ECONO

64. "Planet of the __" : APES

65. Gather selectively : CULL

66. Brand at www.rootbeer.com : A AND W

67. Apartment payment : RENT

68. Pass idly, as time : KILL

Down:

1. Way off the road : EXIT

2. Pianist John : TESH

3. Henry VIII's second or fourth wife : ANNE. Anne Boleyn, m. 1533 - 1536, Executed - Anne of Cleves, m. 1540 Jan. - July, Divorced.

4. Andy Kaufman's "Taxi" character : LATKA. He was a "love him or hate him" individual. Clip.(1:52)

5. Caribbean island nation : GRENADA. Map.

6. "Auld __ Syne" : LANG. Next week.

7. "Battle Cry" author Leon : URIS. His two bestselling books were Exodus, published in 1958, and Trinity, in 1976. "Battle Cry" was his first novel.

8. Pills from docs : MEDS

9. Basketball official : REFEREE. Not sure if I've seen the whole word before. Usually we only get REF.

10. Astrological Ram : ARIES

11. Brass component : ZINC

12. Engrave with acid : ETCH

13. Response to the obvious : "DUH". D'OH! would be Homer's oblivious response.

21. Construction beam : I-BAR

22. Photos : PICS

25. Encourage : EGG ON

26. Country superstar Haggard : MERLE

27. Disparaging, as remarks : SNIDE

29. Wintry mix component : SLEET

30. Military chaplain : PADRE

31. Starlike flower : ASTER

32. Hoffman of the Chicago 7 : ABBIE. Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner. (1968 Democratic National Convention)

33. Distribute in shares : ALLOT

34. Carrion eater : HYENA

36. Ambulance worker, briefly : EMT. Emergency Medical Technician.

37. Cosmo, for one : MAG. Both are shortened words, Cosmopolitan and magazine, but not considered abbreviations.

42. Revue with skaters : ICE SHOW

43. Brewery supply : MALT

44. Least fatty, as corned beef : LEANEST

45. Inflamed : IRED. Did you get caught thinking of a medical condition?

49. Word with jury or piano : GRAND

51. Lips sound : SMACK

52. PR tax with a Medicare component : FICA. PR stands for Payroll. This definition appears very rarely. Per www.acronymfinder.com.

53. Screen symbol : ICON

54. Not quite shut : AJAR

55. Sulk : MOPE

56. Break __: neither win nor lose : EVEN

57. Prefix with distant : EQUI

58. Partner of void : NULL

59. Like difficult orders : TALL

60. "Cry __ River" : ME A. Michael Bublé.(4:28)


Argyle

73 comments:

W.R. Hearst said...

Don't forget the theme answer at 28A:
The freedom of the press to sell obnoxious ADSPACE.

Argyle said...

Isn't selling ad space more of a religion with newspaper men.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

BY JOVE! This was a nearly perfect Monday puzzle. Just enough bite to be interesting, but not too much for my post weekend/holiday brain to handle. And I thought the theme was very original and well done as well.

Bravo!

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. A good Monday puzzle. It's always good to be reminded of the protections our Constitution affords us.

Hand up for thinking that In the Dumps was to be BLUE. That led to Bermuda, which I didn't think quite qualified as a Caribbean island. Other than that error, which was remedied by the MEDS, it was smooth sailing.

Isn't this Boxing Day for some of our Blog friends? I was a youngster when I first heard of Boxing Day and I thought it had to do with fighting.

Enjoy the last week of 2011.

QOD: All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. ~ Albert Einstein

HeartRx said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C. ET AL.

Hand up for blue before GLUM, Argyle. I was sure it was right when I checked 5D and entered “Bahamas”. Fixing that booboo took a couple minutes off the solve time. Other than that, it was a smooth sailing Monday puzzle, and WBS: Just enough bite to be interesting

I thought having XENA crossing TESH, ANNE and LATKA in the NW was a bit unfair for a Monday, but I guess they are all well-enough known to crossword solvers.

No returns or gift cards to take care of today, so I think I’ll avoid the malls and opt for a good book and a cozy fire, instead. Have a nice week, everyone!

fermatprime said...

Hi, all!

Many thanks again for the birthday wishes! Way up from previous years; thanks to YR I suspect! Nope, no Kindle.

My helper/cleaner is really ill. So won't see her today. Friend Harvey is exhausted and will take the day off too. No swimming for who knows how long as BFF Chris has had another household accident, this time falling over the stove door and dislocating shoulder badly. It's going to be lonely today.

Easy peasy speed run! No comments. Really must try to get to sleep!

Hahtoolah said...

I think this puzzle was a Monday pangram.

lois said...

Good morning Argyle, CC, et al., Great puzzle. Love the reference to Eri Tu. Thank you for all the links, Argyle. Excellent job this morning-& I'm sure you are totally exhausted. What a man!

66A brought back a memory of when my son had a broken leg in middle school. We compared a lot of Root beer brands on the way home choosing a different one each day . A AND W was 3rd on the list, following IBC and MUG. He's fine; we should own stock in IBC.

Hahtool: I had the same thought with Boxing Day. You were just years ahead of me. I didn't learn about it until the last 5 or so yrs.

Off to the gym to delay the GRIM Reaper.

Santa Baby: thank you. Well done. You Rock!!! I hope it was as good for you as it was for me.

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning, all. I tried my best to mess this up. Blue before GLUM, RARE was obvious, so switched to downs, got LANG and URIS. MEDS straightened out GLUM and then I stupidly filled in GRaNADA. ENID would have been obvious if I had bothered to read the clue. I didn't. I never spotted the error until I read the write up. DUH!

I tried U. S. Constitution first, but a quick check of the perps changed that to FIRST AMENDMENT.

Interesting that the same "occupy" people that think that the First Amendment gives them the right to assemble on any publicly owned property for however long they wish to espouse their points of view are the same ones that claim that same amendment prohibits the placement of any religious symbols or the holding of religious services on that same property.

desper-otto said...

Another hand up for BLUE before GLUM, but otherwise WBS.

Avg Joe said...

Good morning all. It's good to be back home and have an ISP.

I found this puzzle harder than a typical Monday, but still very doable. No major problems, just required a little more thought. Even the starter ET AL was tougher to come up with due to cluing. Fun run, overall.

I got a fun Christmas present yesterday from my wife. A T shirt that has a logo for "Average Joe's Gymnasium".

Lemonade714 said...

Happy Boxing Day and I too really enjoyed the theme. As Hahtool pointed out, this is a pangram, a rarity on Monday. Mr. Barocas is an early week specialist with his last three all Monday puzzles.

As always Argyle gave us a nice expanded view of the work, and now off to the 75 degree early day sunshine; hard to relate to a white Christmas, but I hope you can stay home and avoid the mall as whatever you received was what you wanted.

Husker Gary said...

With highs between 40°F and 55°F this week, it seems more like Easter time than Christmas. I will exercise my 1st amendment right to assemble on the first tee everyday when my chores are done here!

Musings
-Freedom of and from religion caused us to have 1,600 people at 4 pm on the 24th and next Sunday we will be around 800.
-“They RAISED the barn and 100 years later their ancestors RAZED the same barn.”
-AHH/AAH, OHH/OOH
-The Grim Reaper seems to have too many people texting just prior to their untimely demise
-History Channel last night showed workers CULLing bad cranberries by hand for Ocean Spray as they flew by on a conveyor belt. No can do.
-I loved that A & W teen burger
-John Tesh’s radio show is entertaining
-Andy did a great Elvis but, man, he was troubled!
-My sister asked me, “What is the FICA stuff?” when she got her first paycheck

chapstick52 said...

Lemonade--have read all 3 "Girl" books and saw the Swedish movies which were excellent. My son just saw the American movie and said it is just as good as the Swedish.

Tinbeni said...

ARGYLE: Nice write-up & links.

OK, bad (old) joke of the day:
When is a door ... not a door?
When it is A-JAR.

Liked the FIRST AMENDMENT themes.
Would be nice if the whole Bill-of-Rights were used (in order) as puzzle themes.

Liked the timely clue for FICA, Federal Insurance Contribution Act.
Glad to see Congress do the 2% extension (on the Employee side).
But could tell none of these yahoo's ever filled out the IRS Quarterly FORM 941 when they extended for only TWO months.
(Hey guys, when you mess with this stuff, at least give some thought of the filing requirements.
Or should I say Thanks, you've given me additional billing hours ...).

OFF the Soapbox when I have my Sunset toast.

Cheers !!!

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, It seems a holiday weekend away from puzzling woke my brain up nicely. I started with the Downs and, with few exceptions cruised on through.

The only stopping area was the SW where I first had STAR at 53D instead of ICON. I didn't know 60A)MICAH and 52D)FICA was a pre-retirement memory that took a while to pull up. It finally arranged itself and I got the Happy Pencil.

Our weekend was lovely,but we spent too much time eating our son-in-laws excellent buffet spread. STUFFED!! I had brought a big pan of lasagne, which we left there. We're spending Tuesday night there because we have a house-hunting date on Wednesday morning, so it will be lasagna for Tuesday dinner.

Our daughter took us on a "drive-by" look at about six or seven houses. That will help us decide if we want to see inside.

chapstick52, I read "The Girl With" books and saw the subtitled Swedish movies too. I liked them a lot. I hope the new movie is as good.

Andrea said...

Morning, all.

A fun birthday puzzle for me this morning. Just challenging enough to wake up my brain, but was able to finish unassisted. Impressive theme for a Monday, and a panagram to boot!

I'll add to the list of perks of being a Christmas baby: I have never had to work on my birthday! Today is no exception - I'm enjoying the most leisurely morning with smoked salmon and cream cheese toast, a stump pot of
French Breakfast tea, this puzzle, and my daughter curled
up in my lap. Quite a balancing act with all of that going on
at once.

The other perk is that up until this year, I have had the good fortune to spend 47 consecutive bdays with my entire
family. This year my parents wanted to get to FL before
the holidays to avoid the snow and ice in these parts - which I am happy about - so today we'll start a new
tradition: a birthday Skype!

Hope everyone had/is having a wonderful holiday!! Happy birthday to all the recent celebrants!!

Clear Ayes said...

64A)APES was super easy today. My daughter has a crush on James Franco, so we all watched "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" on Saturday afternoon....fun, somewhat silly movie with good CGI.

Spitzboov, I told your "diesel fitter" joke to family (except the 12 year old) on Saturday. The joke was a big hit, but the best audience member was my 18 year old grandson. He had no idea of Grandma's talent for an Irish accent to go along with a slightly risque joke.

Happy birthday, Andrea.

Back to a couple hours of workting/packing.

Tinbeni said...

Andrea, Happy Birthday!

Boy are there a lot of December birthdays at this site. (And Dudley is warming up in the bull pen).

Also want to give a shout-out to everyone celebrating Kwanzaa.
Sorry I forgot about the "Festivus for the rest of us" on the 23rd.

MOI???
You guys know I celebrate ALL Holidays.
One of my favorites is National Potato Day (August 19, 2012) ... Not to be confused with National Potato CHIP Day (on March 12, 2012).

Cheers to ALL Holidays at Sunset !!!

Lucina said...

Hello, Argyle, ET AL.

Happy Boxing Day! It is also the first day of Kwanzaa according to my calendar.

Happy birthday, Andrea!

What a GRAND puzzle from Victor Barocas today. I sashayed right through it but had GENERALASSESSOR at first. ABBIE Hoffman set me straight and the rest just fell in place.

GLUM was a clear fill because the N from KING was already filled.

chapstick52:
Thanks for the positive note on the American version of "Girl" as I plan to see it this week.

Have a happy Monday, everyone!

xyz said...

Decent theme and answers, fill, too. IRED was single awkward word, not that bad. Rather smooth overall.

BLUE/GLUM here, too. Thumb up for 52D clue and answer, I've never seen either way. So a cross of two for GRANADA. Also needed crosses to get MICAH as I am just cr*p on religion, so no surprise that it was an excellent Osso Buco for "X-Mas".

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Good puzzle! Good write-up and links, Argyle. From the looks of your new avatar and Lois' comments, it was a helluva celebration! You go, guys!

I was down, not blue. Only other glitch was itis for IRED.

- PK -

Steve said...

Happy Birthday @Andrea!

It's St. Stephen's Day today, so Happy Saintly Birthday @me!

Of course, you must not Fear The Reaper. Just make sure you have MORE COWBELL and you'll be fine.

Nice puzzle, super write-up.

It must be the season of goodwill, even @Barry G. is happy today!

Happy Boxing Day!

eddyB said...

Hello.

Best Present - iPad 2.

Don't worry about FICA anymore except that everyone else pays.

Feel like taking up a collection
and sending Ferm a Kindle.

Have a nice day. Reached 32 last night and added another blanket.

eddy

carol said...

Hi all,

Nothing like a good, easy, fun Monday puzzle to make me feel smart.

I did put BLUE in for 5A since I had 6 and 7D all filled in and it did fit for awhile.

Our neighbor gave me some DVD's of the "Girl with" ... He also loaned me the books, but I just couldn't get into them. Hope the DVD's are good.

I loved the old A&W drive-in restaurants, that root beer was SO GOOD! We don't have them here any longer.

Glad I don't have to do the 'MALL CRAWL' today. I am busy taking down all the garish little decorations :)

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Happy Boxing Day! We're headed for a Boxing Day party later, as if we didn't get enough to eat already...

The puzzle file from Cruciverb just would not load no matter what, so I went back to pen and paper. So quaint. The puzzle was as good as a Monday gets - WBS!

Argyle said...

If you need help making out my avatar, it's a friend's shelf elf, Randy. He went on a toot when he found out he was unemployed until next December.

Anonymous said...

Hope everyone had a happy holiday. We had a white Christmas here in the desert regions of West Texas. It snowed almost all day Saturday. About 3" fell, I think. Very pretty. It will be gone today. It is welcome moisture toward drought relief.

This was a very easy puzzle. Only two glitches. Put Jonah before MICAH. When I didn't get the tada! I changed DoH to DUH.

I started reading "The Girl...Dragon Tattoo" and got so bored I quit reading. That doesn't happen often.

Re: ad space - it might be irritating to us, but it keeps the paper in business and people employed!

aka DAFFY DILL

Tinbeni said...

On a timely basis, from our Christmas puzzle:

A Massachusetts woman who flew home from Las Vegas this week says an airport TSA confiscated her frosted RED VELVET CAKE cupcake because he thought its vanilla-bourbon icing could be a "security risk."

I know I will sleep better tonight.

Lemonade714 said...

I watched the new "Girl" movie with my son, who had seen the Swedish version, and he thought they were both very well done, different but worth watching. I have not read the books yet, so i was unprepared for some of the action, but it was very well done.

Lemonade714 said...

HBDTY Andrea, and many more

Hahtoolah said...

Tinbini: I once had the fries, that I purchase at the inside-security McDonald's that was across from my boarding gate because of the ketchup! Ya never know what might be in that food ~ even in the frosting on a cupcake!

Happy Birthday, Andrea! Isn't technology wonderful! You can still "be" with your family on your birthday.

I read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and found the book to be very disturbing. So disturbing that I have no desire to see the movie, either the original version or the American version. (the original Swedish title of the book was "Men Who Hate Women"). I certainly wouldn't have picked and read the book under that title.

Anoa Bob said...

I originally thought the theme would involve positions of leadership, what with KING and GENERAL appearing in the first two slots. OLD TIME RELIGION told me I was wrong.

Always good to learn something in a puzzle. I thought each of the rights in the themes had its own AMMENDMENT, so I got a Civics lesson there.

The construction piece found-only-in-crosswords makes another appearance at 21D, I BAR. In the hardhat construction world, you have your I beams and rebars, but no I bars.

HYENAs (34D) don't get any respect. They aren't carrion (decaying flesh) eaters; they are predators. They hunt in packs (the alpha animal is always female) and eat their prey right away. Lions are often attracted by the noise the hyenas make after a kill and come along and run them off.

By the time the naturalist gets there and starts filming, we see the lions dining on the carcass and the hyenas circling in the distance, misleadingly appearing to be scavengers.

Avg Joe said...

2 vultures are boarding a plane for Cleveland. The first one walks up to the gate with a dead raccoon under his arm and the TSA guy waves him through. The second one approaches the gate with a dead armadillo under each arm. The TSA guy tells him: "Sorry. Only one carrion allowed."

len said...

Hi all,

LA Times must be reading this blog with regard to their new format. On the negative side, you still have to sit through an annoying commercial first. But the format is getting better. And they do publish the name of the constructor now. They have replaced the grey background with white. Much easier to see. You can change the font size. The backspace key now erases all letters, including those right beside the black squares. (It didn't for a time.) And for speed solvers, there is a nifty feature that whisks you to the next word automatically, saving you a keystroke. Not perfect, but nice to see that somebody's listening. Of course, it would be nicer if, in the first place, some people didn't have the urge to fix what isn't broken but c'est la vie!

chapstick52 said...

Stieg Larsson is definitely a dark writer. He is Swedish, after all! I found the books tough going especially when he gets into all the Swedish political dirt (not much different than any dirty politics) but the story of Lizbeth is fascinating to me. She is beyond tough and utterly brilliant. Blomqvist is a creep but necessary. I'm very sorry Larsson died before we know the rest of the story. He planned 10 books.

chapstick52 said...

Carol--on a lighter note, I was raving to a friend from England about how much I loved A&W root beer floats.He wasn't entirely sure of the concept. We happened upon an A&W drive-in and stopped. When he ordered he said "I would like a root beer. And could you put a float on it?"

JD said...

Good morning and Happy Boking Day to all our UK friends,

...and a belated happy birthday to Andrea and Yellowrocks

Had fun with today's offering; when all was done I reread some of the amendments.Grumpy, interesting observation on the 1st amendment.

As soon as I got stuck on general assembly, I trekked on down, and let the perps help with enid, micah, equi, hyena (one of many), and abbie (not on a first name basis with those guys).

Tinbeni, enjoyed bad old joke.

I'm looking forward to the many new movies that just came out. Did enjoy the Swedish Girl With.. version and all 3 books.Rooney Mara sure reinvented herself for this role..a very different gal from The Social Network

Years ago my sister designed and built villas on Grenada;then wrote a book right before the coup.

Before 1971, we could only get A&W at their little drive-ins.Then it became a grocery store item. I used to get those gallons for classroom parties. Today it does not even taste like it once did..maybe too much soda water is being added.

Bill G. said...

I enjoyed the puzzle. I hope we never take the first amendment for granted, or the whole Bill of Rights for that matter.

Geography puzzles

Easier: What state borders six other states and Canada?

Harder: Imagine you’re at home in a good-sized city (population over 100,000) somewhere in the United States. You decide to travel along each of the four compass directions, north, south, east, and west. First you travel due north and you eventually cross a state line. Let's call this state X. You return home. Then you decide to travel due south. Again you come to the border of your home state and its neighbor. It is also state X. You return home amazed. You proceed due east and you are shocked to find out that the first state you reach is, again, state X! When you travel due west, you are stupefied to find a sign saying, “Welcome to State X”!
There is only one city in the United States whereby traveling along the four compass points, north, south, east and west, the first state you reach is identical no matter which direction you choose. Name the city and the state.

Avg Joe said...

Bill G,

Idaho

Carter Lake, Iowa.

Jayce said...

Since when did my (mandatory) payments into my retirement savings account (MY money, by golly) become a payroll "tax", implying that my savings can be taken and commingled with the general revenue and expense stream? Sheesh!

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

HBD, Andrea.

Nice Monday puzzle, and I loves me some Bill of Rights. Also, I believe freedom of Religion includes freedom from religion.

Carrion eater: EAGLE.

DO'H! Entered ERITO. Who knew?

Stevie wrote "Isn't She Lovely" when his daughter Aisha was born. Beautiful sentiment, but still not much of a song, IMHO.

Glad to see Joe took on Bill's questions. I don't have the brain power for them today. One more reason to appreciate a fine Monday puzzle.

My son gave me a bottle of Pinch for Christmas. New experience for me, and a pleasant one. I'll join Tin Man in a toast to all holidays - and all my blog friends - at sunset.

Cheers!
JzB not MOPING, GLUM, nor GRIM - just tired

windhover said...

Jayce:
Answer: at about the same time the payments representing the proceeds of that insurance program became known as "entitlements".

Anonymous said...

Carter Lake has 100,000 people?

Avg Joe said...

Anon @3:14. Yeah, that can't be right. Didn't think about the population factor until I'd posted. It meets all the other qualifications though.....assuming you're driving an amphibious vehicle.

Tinbeni said...

Bill G:
re: the "State X" question.
That's a gimmie, it would be after Sunset.

The "State of Intoxication."

Jayce:
Did you really think there was a "lockbox" being used?

Jazz:
YOU have a wonderful Son.
Cheers !!!

Anonymous said...

The answer was the location of a terrible holiday tragedy.

len said...

Re: Dragon Tattoo

Too bad about Stieg Larsson's untimely death in 2004. I absolutely loved the books. Lisbeth Salander (It's apparently pronounced sah LAHN der for those who care about such things) has to be one of the most fascinating fictional characters I've ever come across.

For those who can't get into it, I agree that the first half of Dragon Tattoo is slow going. What you might want to try is to start with the second book, The Girl Who Played With Fire and then read Hornet's Nest. They move along much more quickly. You do have to read these two in order though, because they are essentially one book arbitrarily cut in half. Hornet's nest picks up about a minute after Played With Fire ends.

As for the seven more books that won't be written now, there is a slight possibility that the fourth book could come out. Because SL died intestate, his partner of 30 plus years, Eva Gabrielsson, got nothing from his estate, now estimated at, perhaps, $150M. His father and brother got everything. But, she has the laptop with the beginning and end of what would have been the fourth book in the series. If she and SL's relatives can come to terms, she could probably finish the book. I'm hoping but not holding my breath.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi All ~~

A fun and easy Monday puzzle. Had the same missteps that others have mentioned but it didn't take too long to all fall into place. I never notice a pangram until it's mentioned by someone else ... nice work, Hahtool!

Argyle ... thanks for the link to Michael Buble's 'Cry ME A River.' I've been humming it all day. In your avatar it looks as if Randy has been enjoying a bit of Arbor Mist from his blue cup? :-)

Happy Birthday Andrea!

Enjoy the evening ~~

Jayce said...

It was an enjoyable puzzle today, and I guess by that I really mean that I enjoyed it. Argyle, thanks for the link to the Robert Merrill video; that got me going finding many more to enjoy.

Windhover and Tinbeni, yeah.

Best wishes to you all.

Husker Gary said...

Carter Lake, IA works for me except the population is way less than 100K. It it surrounded by Omaha whose population exceeds 400K and its location is an accident of the shifting of the Muddy Mo! It is a seedy little burg out by Eppley Airfield and CL is officially in Iowa.

I played golf today in 45°F weather with a stiff west wind and shot pretty well even with the hood on my sweatshirt up. I was not alone. When I left, there were 30 cars/pickups in the lot who were still playing. If you ever make it up here, Tin, we’ll go as long it’s above 40° and there’s no snow. I wish I was coming to Fla. this year to play with my virtual friend, but it ain’t gonna happen.

Avg Joe said...

Now that I know the answer to the city question, BillG, I have to throw the yellow hankie. Based on your final description, which does not include the population qualifier, Carter Lake (pop 3,248 2000 census) does indeed meet the test. The larger city may have some claim to the title, but it's not in an oxbow and would require multiple modes of "transportation" to accomplish the feat since it borders an ocean.

Frankie said...

Relax Joe, its just a fun little game.

Its Stamford, CT.

That's why Bill said travel and NOT drive.

Bill G. said...

The city and state involved in the answer (as I know it) to the second geography question is in the northeast US. And it may require a boat or a bridge too.

Yellowrocks said...

Happy Birthday. Andrea and Steve.
How great it is to be with your parents via Skype, Andrea.

We had a wonderful day yesterday at my son's. Naturally I found my grandson delightful. We dined on vichysoisse, prime rib with Madiera sauce (yummy) and Yorkshire pudding among other treats. My son and DIL are gourmet cooks. One of my prized presents was a CD ROM for a huge unabridged dictionary, better than anything I have seen on the Internet.

CA, happy house hunting. Firmatprime, I hope your friends are soon well enough to keep you company.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. It is a joy to have all these new friends on this blog.

Husker Gary said, "When I left, there were 30 cars/pickups in the lot who were still playing." I'd like to see that. Did you hear what their scores were? lol

lois said...

Andrea: HBTY and wish you many many more.

Steve: HSaintlyBTY. That's something worth investigating. I need some saintliness to keep in reserve - so I can be sure to stay on Santa baby's GOOD LIST.

Avg Joe: Love that avatar! LMAO! Reminds me of Bill Hayes' door decoration at school many years ago of Rudolph being roasted on an open fire w/all the elves sitting around it. He didn't win.

Santa baby: your avatar is hilarious now that you explained it. Kind of like what PK said, I thought it looked pretty normal for around here after one of your visits.

Just saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie and loved it. The Swedish Lisbeth of "The Girl" was in it. Seeing the Am version tomorrow. I can't wait. I loved the books. I agree with LEN that Lisbeth is one of the most developed characters I've seen. Things are not what they seem with her. I'm sorry to read what LEN said about SL's 30 yr partner being denied any of his $$. I hope she does finish the new book.

Husker Gary said...

Good point Yellowrocks :-)! Well, one of the vehicles was a VW Golf. Where is my syntax?

Grumpy 1 said...

LOL, Yellowrocks. Some of those cars and p/u trucks probably drive quite well, the 4WD's can even drive out of the rough, but most of them are probably pretty bad at putting.

dodo1925 said...

Hello!

What Brad Said!

I don't think there's a Saint Lois, Lois. How about Saint Louis?
Think that might work?

Hahtool, I too have had no desire to read another 'Girl Who' book. I have to agree about the girl; a fascinating, well-drawn character, but the book was a bit too dark for me. Especially after reading the note on the dedication page about the incidence of abuse of women in Sweden. I've forgotten that exact words but it was startling!

Henry said...

Yellowrocks, et al-
And instead of yelling "fore!" they yell "Ford!"

dodo1925 said...

HBTY, Andrea!

Forgive me for seeking help here.
I am an Acronymology-challenged individual and am not a texter. So I keep running into mystifying symbols from time to time. Perhaps they are nothing at all or are well known by you who are not of my generation (most of you).

My problem 'words' for today:

CGI; ISP(I feel I should know this..is it about stocks?); Kub; WBS; 'espiony'.

This is an unusually small number.

Bill G. said...

Hi Dodo,

A lot of those don't always make sense to me either. I recognize a few.

CGI is Computer Generated Imagery such as found in many Pixar movies like Finding Nemo or Toy Story.

ISP is Internet Service Provider as in whoever you use to connect to the Internet. We use Time Warner cable. AOL is another example.

I'm guessing WBS is a local term for What Barry Said, used if one is agreeing with his assessment of the puzzle.

the other Bill G. said...

Actually, Bill, iSP is the supernatural prescience Apple has in knowing what you want before you do.

Abejo said...

Good evening, folks. Thank you, Victor, for a great Monay puzzle. Thank you, Argle, for the write-up.

Andrea: Happy Birthday, and many more.

Did this puzzle on the train this morning. It was a good Monday puzzle.

Argyle: Try 1956 for the DDE/AES second run. I am not a pickey person, but just wanted to let you know I read your comments.

As far as W. R. Hearst, I applaud all that he, and many others like him did, to promote capitalism. The foundation of our country.

We still have A&W Rootbeer restaurants in Illinois. Still tastes great to me.

The theme answers came easily. THE KING'S SPEECH reminded me of that great movie. Outstanding. I also read the book about his teacher. Very good.

Agree, the First Amendment is very important in our lives, as is the Second Amendment. I am an NRA lifer.

Made it to Johnsonburg today. Spending the week here. Discovered my hot water heater has a problem. No rest for the weary.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Argyle said...

Hell, you read them better than I did! Thanks.

lois said...

dodo: LOL I'll take anything closely related to my name. I can use all the help I can get to stay on Santa baby's Good list. St. Louis works for me just fine.

Grumpy: LOL the older p/u trucks and cars I would think are the better putters - depending on amt of gas.

Henry: LOL yeah, and they probably really give the caddy a hard time too.

Time to go play. Enjoy your night.

Bill G. said...

Do you ever watch Ellen Degeneres? Here are two little adorable British girls tearing it up during the commercial break.
Sophia Grace and Rosie

Steve said...

@Hahtool - thanks for the "Freedom at Midnight" book recommendation - it arrived on Christmas Eve and I'm about half-way through, a great read and I'm learning a whole lot about a milestone of history of which I knew pretty well nothing.

I lived about 10 miles from Mountbatten's estate when I was a kid, we used to ride our bikes over there and see how far we could get up the driveway before being chased off :)

Anonymous said...

Very informative and enjoyable write up, thank you. Perhaps a photo of a finch that is native in the US would help those who don't know any local birds. The House Finch is the most commonly seen, though a Goldfinch is the mostly commonly painted on stamps, T-Shirts, and calendars.

Sorry, I can't seem to copy and paste photos, so just use a Google Image Search.

a goldfinch said...

I can not believe that our images are used in such capitalistic ways! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!

Bill G. said...

Dear Gold,

Heh heh. I remember your brother, Peter. His was the story of Howard Beale, the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings.

dodo1925 said...

Bill G., thanks.

Duh! Hand me a V8 can! I knew all of those! It's probly the short term memory~

Argyle said...

Both Peter Finch and the chaffinch are from the Old World so I see no problem. (Peter Finch was born in London.)