google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, January 2, 2012 Steve Blais

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Jan 2, 2012

Monday, January 2, 2012 Steve Blais

Theme: Tootsies - I wonder if there is any society that doesn't have a version of this nursery rhyme. Clip.(0:24)

39A. Tot's chant suggested by the starts of 17-, 24-, 49- and 60-Across : THIS LITTLE PIGGY

17A. Percentage of industry sales : MARKET SHARE

24A. Commodore 64, e.g. : HOME COMPUTER

49A. Offering at Arby's : ROAST BEEF SUB

60A. Hardly certain : NONE TOO SURE

63A. When tripled, cry near the end of 39-Across : WEE, WEE, WEE! All the way home.

Argyle here. It appears to be a debut for this constructor. Cute theme, a nice spanner in the middle, perhaps a few too many abbreviations and a touch harder than a normal Monday but I liked it.

Across:

1. Drink made with steamed milk : LATTE


6. Prefix meaning "ten" : DECA

10. 1970 hit that asks about its title, "What is it good for?" : WAR. Edwin Starr clip.(3:26)

13. Under way : AFOOT

14. Fred's "I Love Lucy" wife : ETHEL

16. Dublin's land: Abbr. : IREland

19. Shaq's former org. : NBA. Shaquille O'Neal / Basketball.

20. Get on one's knees, perhaps : PRAY

21. Roosters' mates : HENS

22. Plantation house : MANOR

27. "__ the ramparts ..." : O'ER

28. Many an Iraqi : ARAB

29. Internet commerce : E-TAIL

33. Simile words : AS AN

36. Narcotics squad action : RAID

42. Circle dance with a chair, often : HORA

43. Oscar winner Patricia : NEAL. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud. (1963)

44. Me.-to-Fla. highway : US ONE

45. Wrestling successes : PINS

47. Put a stop to : BAN

54. Brittany or Normandy, once : DUCHY. It is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.

55. __'acte: intermission : ENTR

56. Get ready, as for surgery : PREP

59. Seek information : ASK

64. __ de menthe : CREME

65. Robber James : JESSE. Died 1882. He and his brother, Frank, had an outlaw gang.

66. Prime meridian std. : GST. Greenwich Sidereal Time, a variant of Greenwich Mean Time used in astronomy.

67. Astronomical dist. : LT-YR. Light-Year.
 
 

68. None of the above : OTHER

Down:

1. Desk light : LAMP

2. Some distance away : AFAR

3. Sacred Judaic scroll : TORAH

4. Japanese metropolis : TOKYO

5. Québec summer : ÉTÉ

6. Defile, as something sacred : DESECRATE

7. Prefix with -centric : ETHNO

8. Deep gorge : CHASM

9. __ Lingus : AER. Aer Lingus Group Plc(an anglicisation of the Irish Aer Loingeas meaning roughly "air fleet") is the flag carrier of Ireland.

10. Motor home brand : WINNEBAGO. The company history.

11. Shady recess : ARBOR

12. Hitchcock's "__ Window" : REAR. (1954) The film received four Academy Award nominations.

15. Madagascar primate : LEMUR

18. What you used to be? : THEE

23. Classic video games : ATARIs

25. Gangster's gal : MOLL

26. Window section : PANE

29. Country N. of Kenya : ETHiopia.

30. However, briefly : THO. (although)

31. Cause of a sudden drop in altitude : AIR POCKET

32. Hebrew prophet : ISAIAH

34. RR stop : STAtion.

35. Completely healed : ALL BETTER

37. Engine starter: Abbr. : IGNition.

38. Source of much blonde hair : DYE

40. The "I" in MIT: Abbr. : INSTitute.

41. Some George Carlin jokes : PUNS

46. "Bye Bye Bye" pop group : *NSYNC

48. Bushy hairdo : AFRO

49. Deceptions : RUSES

50. Poet Stephen Vincent __ : BENÉT. Not to be confused with Edna St. Vincent Millay.

51. Foe : ENEMY

52. Surprise victory : UPSET

53. Dense overgrowth : BRUSH

54. "Deputy __": TV toon : DAWG. Interesting. We had this clue/answer on Jan. 1, 2010.



57. Gaelic tongue : ERSE

58. House of Lords member : PEER

61. Florida 19-Across team, on scoreboards : ORLando Magic.

62. Spanish eye : OJO


Argyle

Note from C.C.:

I'd like to update papers that carry LA Times Daily crossword. Please click here and leave a comment if your local paper is missing from the list or the paper listed no longer has LA Times puzzle. Thanks.

85 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    One day left of vacation and then it's back to the daily grind. Ah well, it was certainly nice while it lasted...

    Nice Monday puzzle today. The theme reveal was easy to figure out and it actually helped me get the last theme answer. The fill was pretty smooth, although there were a few too many awkward abbreviations for my taste (IRE, LTYR, ORL, ETH).

    Learning moment of the day was finding out that George Carlin was apparently known for his puns and not just his off-color humor (and being the narrator for "Thomas the Tank Engine").

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good Morning, Argyle and Friends. This was a fun Monday puzzle. I caught the theme once I hit 39-Across, so knew how the last 2 theme answers would begin.

    My favorite clue was What You Used to Be? = THEE.

    I didn't realized that Shaq had retired. He played for LSU about 20 years ago before going pro.

    One more day before returning to work, but there are two more Monday holidays for me this month before getting bad to a full 5-day work week.

    QOD: The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those who do not have it, ~ George Bernard Shaw

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  3. thank you argyle for the right up this was a speed run for me. I must have been in sync with the constructor on this one. A nice monday wake up got hung up for a few seconds on the last 3 letters of 49 across (SUB) as I did not know they had subs at Arbys (only sandwitches)and Head slapped on 44 across I wanted to use the other major ME-FL route only to recall I live 2 miles south of the answer.

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  4. Speed run today, thank you, Steve. Too late, Argyle, I tripped over "Milay" instead of BENET but soon decided mEEFSUB wasn't appetizing so figured it out. Only erasure of the day.

    I wanted Miami for the Florida team because that's the one for which Shaq played, but already had an O so got it right.

    Only problem with spending quality time with my kids and grandkids over the holiday comes when I'm all alone again. Takes a while to accept the quiet. Six little boys raise quite a happy ruckus. Give great smiles and hugs, too!

    Hahtool, love the quote of the day. My SIL once complained I was too negative. I told him I was just seeing the irony of the matter (aka cynicism, I guess).

    - PK -

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  5. Hello fellow crucuverbalists (love that word)!

    A bit slower than the usual Monday, I thought. Favorite answer: THEE.

    Thanks Steve, Argyle.

    Watched The Ghost and the Darkness. Fascinating. Wow, did Kilmer look great then. Why did he not get top billing? Ridiculous.

    Cheers!

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  6. Good day folks,

    Fun puzzle to begin the year with. Only slowdowns were my own fault. For 20A I began with PLEA and for 47A I entered END initially. PRAY and BAN surfaced easily and I was on my way to completion.

    I'm not a fan of abbreviations either and I'll add IGN to Barry's list.

    Shaq's last game for LSU was in the NCAA tournament, a sound beating by UCONN. Don't remember the year, but it was circa late 80's, early 90's.

    Nice no longer having to suffer the post Holiday blues by going back to the grindstone after a nice break. But, truthfully, there are times when I miss the action. And the Aerospace industry kept you "motoring".

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  7. Good morning, all.

    Fun easy puzzle and theme. Only misstep was THOU before THEE, but that would have resulted in HOMOCOMPUTER.

    Argyle, nice writeup, but you killed off Jesse 50 years too early.

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  8. Forgot to mention that I worked the LAT sudoku from the Chicago Tribune today. Thanks again to those of you we clued me on to this. However, the format is so utterly ghastly (30 min. for a Monday?) that I shall be eshewing further such efforts. If my right hand worked, I could print them out in large print. (Sigh.)

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  9. My goodness, I've got him dead before he was born. Ah, one way to avoid a life of crime. Would know somebody with a name like desper-otto would catch my mistake.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good morning, all. Thanks for the write up, Argyle. Nice easy start to the week. I didn't mind the abbreviations. They were all easy enough to figure out.

    I like your QOD, Hahtool. Would it be cynical of me to comment about Hondo expressing a dislike of the abbreviations and then using three of them in the following sentence? :) Many times I have started a comment with "Call me cynical, but..."

    Have a great day, all.

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  11. We are going to Lincoln to watch the Husker game with all the people with whom I played this game!

    Musings
    -I agree with Argyle’s assessment
    -Frank Costanza asks who is having sex with the hen
    -Modern Jesse James lost Sandra Bullock. Sometimes good girls just love the "bad boy".
    -Winnebago sales are a victim of gas prices
    -I remember when Atrai’s Pong was the “cock of the walk” in video games and people lined up in the bar to play this game
    -Many teams ago, Shaq played for ORL

    ReplyDelete
  12. Argyle, I see you've fixed it. Thought I'd better mention it before somebody chimes in that it wasn't 1932.

    Grumpy1, I wouldn't call it cynical. I'd call it hilarious!

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  13. Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.

    I had the same mis-step as desper-otto by putting "thou" before THEE. ("Hmmm...that can't be right, can it?")

    For the rest, WBS!

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  14. Grumpy,

    You may be cynical, I'm simply a lazy SOB. Can't argue with your criticism, but I consider my three sins standard usage in the sports world. I suppose a similar argument could be made for any abbreviated word or expression, depending on one's interests and/or knowledge.

    So, I bow to your judgement.

    BTW, I'm rooting for Bama to kick LSU's ass next week!

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  15. Hi all,

    Fave clue was also THEE for (What you used to be?)

    Nice 'n easy as Mondays should be. So easy that even I got the theme.

    I'm starting to get a good feeling about 2012. Hope you are too!

    Good feeling

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  16. Hondo: NO, Say it ain't so! LSU will get the BCS championship!

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  17. I must be sleepier than most of you. I found this to be Wednesday level. Not super challenging and only a couple of erasures, but it still made me think more than Monday's usually do. The worst challenge was coming up with Ban instead of end, but I don't think George Carlin would consider his jokes PUDS.

    The best rendition of War I can think of was a live version by The Boss.

    Go Big Red!!

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  18. Good morning Argyle and all.

    I agree with Argyle's take on the difficulty. Cute theme. Agree with others on the THEE clue. Well phrased. GST is part of a reference method for star location by astronomers, and computed by formula based on GMT. It is not used in celestial navigation nor as a basis for Earthbound time zone reference. It is a 'std.' however, and so the clue is correctly worded; and has been used in cw's before. (Guess I drifted off into the tall grass:-))

    Have a great 2nd New Year's Day Holiday.

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  19. I have no real complaints except:

    Does anyone else grimace as much as I do when two A-added words cross? AFAR and AFOOT. I dunno, those A _ _ _ _ words just give me the creeps.

    LAT has categorically THE best Monday puzzles.

    I really liked 18D. Go figure, I'm not at all alone ...

    Cheers

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  20. (Wish I could just post one post)

    Prefer abbrs. to knee-jerk rote that cruciverbalists wouldn't know if them bit them in the arse. Little 3 & 4 letter ORTS and OLIO/OLEO, you know the type. One must actually think about the abbreviations, not just 'gurge it up. I mean, if you're a bunch of say ... chemists, OK but they always seem very clunky to me.

    Just sayin' :-)

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  21. To update your list, CC: AR DemGaz carries your puzzle only on Sundays. During the weak week (!) they carry NYT and Universal.

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  22. There seemed to be a retro sub-theme to this puzzle with COMMODORE64,ATARI,USONE as the Me-Fl hwy., the song WAR and WINNEBAGO.

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  23. Day 2 - coldest day yet.

    After Godley & CREME left the band 10cc, they went on to create/produce videos for other groups. They also turned the cameras on themselves (literally) in this ground-breaking video: Cry (4:01).

    Commodore 64 was innovative in so many ways (Zork, anyone?), but, of course, the synth program was my favorite. Here's the crossword staple Enola Gay (2:18) by OMD, as heard through the C64.

    And here's M.U.L.E. (8:08) - a fun game, but an even better soundtrack.

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  24. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Steve Blais, for a great start to the week. Thank you, Argyle, for the great write-up.

    Zipped through this quite easily. Even got OJO right off the bat, since we had it the other day. My foreign word vocabulary is expanding. Now I know two.

    I had GMT first, then fixed it to GST. I had never heard of that version, but I can learn. For excact time I just use my cell phone now. In years past I called WWV for the exact time. You can still do it: 303-499-7111. Wait for the progress tone to end and then you will get the time. It is an atomic clock somewhere in the Rocky Mtns, I think.

    The theme and theme words came easily.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  25. @Argyle your Ballad of Jesse James link doesn't work.

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  26. Greetings, puzzlers on this first Monday of 2012.

    Argyle, thank you for a super blog.

    My mother's voice still echoes in my head, "This little piggy . . ."

    Waving my hand for THEE, very clever.

    This was a quick sashay and did seem a bit retro in sub theme.

    Am almost finished packing so I'll be back a little later.

    Have a lovely Monday, everyone!

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  27. Hi gang -

    As an erstwhile chemist, I always enter ETHYL. Got behind with GMT, and was lost in the astronomical distRICT.

    AFOOT and AFAR are less objectionable than most other A-words. At least you can encounter them occasionally in the real world.

    Some really good long fill today: AIR POCKET, DESECRATE. ALL BETTER seems to fit well with the kiddie nature of the theme.

    I agree with THEE.

    LEMUR? Definitely a squirrel.

    Lions would have UPSET the Pack yesterday, but for huge, inexplicable gaffes by the zebras. Still, when you score 42 points, you really ought to be able to find a way to win the game.

    Pleasant start to the week, dspt the abbrvs.

    Cheers!
    JzB

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  28. Good morning everyone.

    Oh, I do like Mondays! But I had to have a little help from DH to get WINNEBAGO and wrestling successes, in that he did wrestle in H.S. and to check that Commodore 64 was a computer.

    From yesterday I agree that AU JUS is not gravy. And loved the Anon who explained the difference between ern and tern. That was a hoot.

    As always, a great write up, Argyle.

    Cheers

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  29. Hi All ~~

    A speedy, fun Monday puzzle. I caught the theme after MARKET and HOME and then the unifier, but stumbled a bit on NONETOOSURE. I was going after something like NOT BE... Oh well, it all worked out.

    Thanks for a great write-up Argyle. I often get all the answers but don't always "get" all the answers. This was true with GST, and is often true with many more answers in later week puzzles.

    ~~ I, too, liked THEE.
    ~~ We had the plural form of OJO and HORA just yesterday.

    Fun start to the week of 1/2/12!

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  30. Great Monday romp--thanks Mr. Blais! I guess I know my piggies! Fun write-up as well, Argyle.

    I must be the only one who first put 'teen' for "What you used to be?" Hey, that's what I once was--weren't you? But the 'hens' took care of that quickly.

    Sunny Monday in California, and we're going to treat ourselves to the big screen version of "The Descendents" today. Found a local movie theater with close handicap parking and easy access, with a reserved row in the back. Great to have an occasional alternative to Netflix!

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  31. I enjoyed the puzzle. Just a good way to start the week. I too had THOU instead of THEE.

    The Rose Parade is on. A local station has the best camera angles and no advertising. Still, the parade will easily outlast my attention span.

    Shaq was good mostly because he was so big. He couldn't shoot effectively more than a few feet from the basket and even I could shoot free throws better than he could. He did know how to use his bulk effectively.

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  32. What Grumpy said: The abbreviations were very easy and common, so no sweat. Like Grumpy, my immediate reaction to Hondo's three abbreviations was LOL.

    I entertained MILAY for a few seconds before realizing she was Edna, not Stephen.

    Almost all the A words to which people object are fairly common in my experience. I think they add spice to sentences. I suppose I usually meet them in writing, although sometimes in conversation. I consider words used most commonly in writng fair game for puzzles.

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  33. Since Argyle asked if 'This little piggy' is found in other cultures - I thought of chiming in. Pigs are considered unclean and sacrilegious animals in some other cultures, hence there are alternate versions, like,
    'This little jihadist went to the market, this little jihadist ... '.

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  34. US Naval Observatory Master Clock (Requires Javascript be enabled.)

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  35. The Philadelphia inquirer quit printing the LA times crossword last year. We in se PA have to go the route of the Chicago trib on line.

    Don

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  36. Hello.

    SJ MN now prints the Daily Commuter. NY Times on Sunday.

    eddy

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  37. Hello everybody. Same comments as you all have posted. Thanks to Argyle and to Mr. Blais.

    A warm latte is definitely a comfort drink to me.

    Back to work tomorrow.

    Best wishes to you all.

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  38. Good afternoon to all, thanks to Argyle for the write-up. A fun start to the New Year. Only nit I had was Arby's a round sandwich is usually the fare there, no ? Have not had to turn the heat on yet but may have to give in tonight with lows predicted for freezing temps and upper 20's for tommorow. A great day to all. RJW

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  39. Argyle: Thank you for your link. the time was displayed.

    John28man: I tried yours and it said Error.

    Abejo

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  40. GMT/GST: My nerdie wristwatch tunes to WWV every night to self-correct. It never "drifts" so much as a second over the course of a day. I guess I'm obsessive due to my former radio days when you had to join the network at exactly the correct moment.

    Click here if you want to know what time it is now (Central Zone).

    ReplyDelete
  41. This Little Piggy seems to be an English nursery rhyme from the 1700's. Other European countries had different counting on fingers or toes rhymes.
    Obviously, Jews and Muslims would not have such a rhyme, due to their belief that pigs and pork are unclean.

    @Porcine Lover, kinda snarky.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Argyle, you beat me to the punch.

    But mine's prettier...

    ReplyDelete
  43. Hopelessly depressed Browns fanJanuary 2, 2012 at 12:48 PM

    The Cleveland Plain Dealer had todays puzzle under the byline (authorship) of Don Gagliardo.

    This brings up an interesting legal moot point. Does Steve Blais have to sue for constructor's royalties ? or will Don Hard G sue for libel and slander ??

    ReplyDelete
  44. Very nice Monday indeed, great stuff @Steve. Sweet write-up @Argyle.

    @Ant, IHMO Godley and Creme WERE 10cc, so to my mind the band ceased to exist without them.

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  45. Actually, now that I think about it, why the heck wasn't that little piggy a vegan rather than ordering roast beef?

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  46. Steve, I would tend to agree, but Stewart & Gouldman put out some pretty decent albums on their own. However, they probably should have changed the name of the band, having lost much of their quirkiness and identity. Good luck getting that suggestion by the record label, THO.

    Hopelessly Depressed (Anony-Mouse?), there's always next year, right?

    ReplyDelete
  47. No, Misty, you are not alone. I entered "teen" first, then "thin"(LOL) before finding THEE hiding in there. No other problem except BiNET at first instead of BENET.

    Jesse James was born in 1904 and died in 1977. OK, this Jesse James was Texas State Treasurer from 1941-1977. I've never heard anyone mention this or joke about it - guess he did a good job.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Hopeless beyond a shadow of a doubtJanuary 2, 2012 at 1:31 PM

    Ant, next year, in Cleveland football, according to the Oracle at Delphi comes in 2030. Too late for me.

    Its official, the Browns Stadium was 27% full with Dawg fans - the Browns Org. is soo grateful for the Steeler fans who made the journey, and bought the available tickets, for a song. Hooray for them.

    The only thing the Browns lineup is good for, is as dummies in front of a firing squad. ( Highly paid dummies.)

    ReplyDelete
  49. Desper-otto: Thanks. Good Time Link.

    Abejo

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  50. Hi all!
    This was a fun puzzle, I was able to get most of it.I did get Benet mixed up with Millay but got it fixed with the perps.

    There's a town in North Central New Mexico named Ojo Caliente that has hot spring swimming pools. I knew caliente was hot but didn't but didn't know Ojo was eye.

    Jesse James was killed in St. Joseph,Mo. My husband is from
    there.

    We are safely home from Ga. glad to be here. I have to wind this up as we are going to a Rose Bowl party. Go Badgers!

    Happy New Year all,
    Marge

    ReplyDelete
  51. I got a Bill Cosby book for Christmas. In it, I learned what you call a 'thing' of turkeys, like a gaggle of geese or a pride of lions. Do you know what it is for turkeys without looking it up? I sure didn't.

    ReplyDelete
  52. bills riddle that he wouldn't confirmJanuary 2, 2012 at 2:01 PM

    A group of turkeys would be called a rafter, tho a gang of turkeys is also acceptable.
    And sometimes a gooble of turkeys has been used.

    Seen's makes more sense.

    ReplyDelete
  53. @Bill G

    A breast of turkeys?!

    ReplyDelete
  54. Beyond a Shadow,
    Oh, it's not that bad! We had quite a few Brownies here at the AZ Cardinals game. There are a lot of us DAWGs out and about - we've just moved away...

    "There's always next year."
    We say it every year. Sometimes after ten games, sometimes after five - and sometimes after one. But at least there's hope! Even if it means waiting until 2030.

    Chin up, mate!
    Woof woof!

    ReplyDelete
  55. @fermatprime, et al, who do not like the ChiTrib format: I'm wondering if you are not familiar with the keyboard shortcuts that make it a smoother solving process.

    TAB to jump to the next clue.
    SPACEBAR to change between across and down.
    ARROW KEYS to move around the board.

    It's possible to do the whole puzzle without using the mouse unless you leave the page. So when I go to Google or Wiki to research, I have to click on the puzzle when I come back to it.

    LOVE this blog - I've learned so much since I found it! Thanks to all you contributers and hello to the voyeurs like me :)

    ReplyDelete
  56. Seen, Good one!! What do you call a bunch of turkeys? Congress.

    That reminds me of a first year teacher friend who was assigned to a school with a tyrant of a principal.The principal constantly and irrationally criticized her for everything she did. When she moved on to another teaching job her teaching was considered superior.

    At Thanksgiving she created a bulletin board full of paper turkeys with the caption, "Don't let the turkeys get you down." Surprisingly the principal loved this effort. She never guessed who the turkey was.

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  57. Argyle, thanks for all those cute cartoon figures. We all love Buzz Lightyear at our house.

    All good but wasn't a fan of LT YR. Didn't get it until coming here. Benet isn't a known to me, but I guessed that one anyway.

    Such a cute theme to start the week.

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  58. Where's the blog's leadoff hitter?

    ReplyDelete
  59. @anonymous @2:23p -
    you left out SHIFT-TAB to go back a clue

    ReplyDelete
  60. He's keeping abreast of developments from afar as he grabs on to life in a new part of the globes.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Dennis might be a little hard to reach these days cuz he's in transit. But I did get a picture of him working at his new avocation. Check out the avatar. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  62. Ben Franklin joins the discussion.

    Talking turkey

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  63. D's Relocation AgentJanuary 2, 2012 at 3:53 PM

    He's moved to swim in the waters off the southern beaches where he's assiduously cultivating the breast stroke.

    Rogets Ther. says the following is also allowable - Pew of turkeys, Debate of turkeys, city council of turkeys, caucus of turkeys.

    In sexual harassment, - is the latter pronounced - 'her-ass-ment' or 'hair-us-ment' ? well, that depends on what you were looking at.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Anonymous - Shaq DID play for ORL - that was his first team. Now we're just waiting to lose Dwight Howard to LA too. :(

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  65. I just watched a little bit of the Rose Parade and I came across a Japanese high school band called the Kyoto Tachibana Green Band. They play very well and they have very appealing dance routines while they are marching. Here's a video of this band. The wonderful dance routine that they did in the parade while I was watching starts at 12:30 in the video. They make me smile.

    According to the Bill Cosby book I just read, a group of turkeys is called a rafter. Why, I don't know.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Hi Group,

    Well, I'm early for me but there are already 69 comments! Gotta be an early riser here in California if you want to get your post in early! Can't do that! I'm retired!

    This was a nice Monday one, thanks, Steve Blais! Is that the same name as in 'Gil Blais?" Not that I can remember anything about that book!

    Argyle, I know where you got your name and thank you, too. I haven't read the run-down (write up) yet but I know it will be outstanding, as usual.

    Nothing more to say about the puzzle; short term memory getting shorter!

    Too many earlys in that first paragraph. Feel free to rephrase!

    ReplyDelete
  67. Hola Everyone, A nice Monday puzzle and a speed run for me. My only misstep was GMT instead of GST, but Rusem was quickly changed to Ruses. Thanks Argyle for the explanation of GST. Also for LTYR. I had it in correctly, but the meaning escaped me. No lookups today.

    I thought the abbreviation for Ireland IRE was a change from Erie and Erin.

    The theme was certainly fun. How many of us have said that rhyme over and over to all of our children and grandchildren? I know I have.

    One of my Christmas gifts from my DH was a crossword calendar. I've just finished the January second puzzle (with no lookups) and I feel pretty smart. The top sheet of the calendar says the puzzles for each day are MENSA puzzles. How about that? Perhaps they will get harder and harder as the year progresses--like our weekly puzzles in the paper. We'll see.

    Have a great evening everyone.

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  68. AvgJoe:
    Great avatar! Perfect for our nomadic Dennis.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Desper-otto, Thanks for the time link. I've put it into my Favorites. Since our telephone company quit giving us the time via dial-up, we've relied on our computer to help us out. I like to have the exact time, especially when our power goes out and I have to reset all the clocks in the house.

    Lucina, have a great trip. I hope you'll be able to log on even when you are away from home.

    The Winnebago clue reminded me of my folks and their "Winnie" trips. They loved going for the weekend with their Winnebago group to the local state parks, and other campgrounds around the area. There is club for just about everything.

    Ave. Joe, I think that fellow in your Avatar is really in a Stock as punishment for his new vocation. LOL.

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  70. Good Evening Argyle, CC, et al., Enjoyed this puzzle earlier today as a speed run. Perps got what didn't come quickly thank goodness b/c 9D lingus gave me cause to pause. Excellenty job, Argyle. Always enjoy your efforts.

    Avg Joe: 3:36...OMG LMAO -I almost peed my pants with your avatar. How perfect is that of Dennis! I'd be very happy to be a volunteer to test that mammogram machine but it looks like it sucks. At least my Breasticles won't get flattened like pancakes. Where do I sign up?

    Go OSU Cowboys! Love these bowl games.

    Enjoy your night.

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  71. My earworm today is again courtesy of Argyle. I'd never heard the original of Pete Seeger's "Jesse James", but am familiar with it from Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy. These 2 songs will forever be linked in my phonographic memory.

    And, since I prefer to give credit to the writer, here's Jerry Jeff's version.

    Note: Harry Nilsson also does a great cover of Mr. Bojangles.

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  72. Was very disappointed that Dennis' machine seems to limit the exams to orange size. What about those of us who have melons? The design needs some tweaking.

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  73. Good afternoon Argyle, C.C. et al,

    Have to agree,this seemed a tad harder than a reg. Mon., but was a fun run none-the-less.LaLaLinda said it best: "I often get all the answers but don't always "get" all the answers." Thanks Argyle.

    With the sweet little piggy theme, and the fill "all better", it sounds like our constructor may have little ones at home.

    Finally remembered hora, but needed perps to help display duchy, ethno,ojo and orl.

    fav.drink: toffee nut latte

    fav.fill: thee

    Bill, does your book have a wad of collective nouns? I've always found them interesting, esp. animals, but many are a puzzle to me...like why?Here's a fun site.

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  74. Grumpy, I agree with you regarding abbreviations, as long as they're not acronyms.I can't find the sentence that desper-otto composed with the three abbreviations. Was it another discussion

    Yellowrocks, I'm with you as to the a____words. They do spice up the syntax now and then and I find them sort of . . . . .well, quaint, I guess.

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  75. Gee, even when I get posts in at 2P.M., I'm the last entry by dinner time!

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  76. A stud of mares?
    Yep, that's me!

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  77. Carol: just want to congratulate you on your football team. Uh oh, 'Duck Down'. Carried off on a stretcher. I hope that Duck will recover quickly. I think Wisconsin is getting Ducked!!! What a game!

    Did anyone watch the Broncos yesterday and see that one injured Bronco's leg? OMG, he got Bucked!!
    Gave me nightmares....ok, ok, nightbroncos. Horrible injury. It's on Youtube, I'm sure.

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  78. Thanks, Chickie. I'll try to log on from Charlotte.

    At this moment I'm having a serious bout of regret as the temperature in the east coast plunges and here it's a balmy (in Bill G.'s words) 80 degrees.

    Tomorrow in Charlotte: 38 degs.

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  79. One complaint! In our Irish community, it was "This little piggy went to market!-This little piggy stayed home! This little piggy had bread and butter and this little piggy had none.And this little piggy went 'Wee Wee Wee all the way home! No Roast beef for us!

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  80. KQ: I love your avatar. Will you tell us about him/her?

    Good night all.

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For custom-made birthday, anniversary or special occasion puzzles from C.C., please email crosswordc@gmail.com

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