google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday Jan. 18, 2012 Jeff Stillman

Gary's Blog Map

Jan 17, 2012

Wednesday Jan. 18, 2012 Jeff Stillman

C.C. needed a pinch hitter and looked down the bench and all she saw was a Husker Gary just called up from the Nebraska League. So here I am taking my first swings at bat in the LA Times League.

Jeff's fun puzzle contained the theme in the clues and then the superfluously unnecessary answers. Very nice.

20A. Redundant position?: CLOSE PROXIMITY. Is there a far proximity?

25A. Redundant alert?: ADVANCE WARNING. Would spotting a zero on Dec. 8th would be late warning?

42A. Redundant habit?: REGULAR ROUTINE. A rut or a groove?

48A. Redundant guesses?: ROUGH ESTIMATES. Don't trust any estimate but Splynter's

Let's start on my initial first puzzle (huh?)

Across:

1. Summoned, with "for" : RANG. Lurch - "You rang?"

5. Skedaddle : SCAT. You kids get out of my yard!

9. Travolta facial feature : CLEFT.

14. Symphony member : OBOE

15. Okla., from 1890 to 1907 : TERR. The shameful Trail of Tears ended here




16. Pick up : LEARN. Granddaughter is LEARNing to drive in my PICKUP

17. Carnival sight : TENT

18. Slight advantage : EDGE

19. Plus : ASSET

23. "The Time Machine" people : ELOI

24. Low in a lea : MOO

32. Traffic stopper : SIREN. A red light or a well turned ankle!

33. Beauties : GEMS

34. South American vacation spot : RIO. A city to blame it on

35. IRS employee : T-MAN. Not even they understand the tax code

36. Pay : WAGES

38. Pizzeria fixture : OVEN. Me when I was 18!

39. Poetic time of day : EEN

40. View from Toledo : ERIE. Look, you can see Klinger's house by the lake.

41. Sitcom set at Mel's Diner : ALICE


46. Nothing but __: perfect hoops shot : NET

47. Kiss and cuddle, British-style : SNOG

55. Trunks : COREI New to me (Correction: The answer is TORSI)


56. Prefix with stat : RHEO. Home of the OHM

57. All-night party : RAVE. I'm cashin' in at 11 pm

58. Oscar night VIP : EMCEE

59. Detective Peter of old TV : GUNN. Great Theme!

60. Canadian tribe : CREE. Helped wimpy me fish in Saskatchewan.

61. Hamlet in "Hamlet" and others : LEADS

62. Auto pioneer : OLDS

63. Driven drove : HERD

Dow:

1. VMI program : ROTC. Now coed

2. Victim in Genesis : ABEL. No advance warning for this attack either.

3. Taboo : NO-NO. Also a baseball no-hitter.

4. Settles a score : GETS EVEN. Bama did that on Jan. 9

5. Apply, as a brake : STEP ON

6. Comedian __ the Entertainer : CEDRIC

7. Golden Fleece vessel : ARGO. Always a home port for you here Jason!

8. "Jurassic Park" menace, briefly : T-REX. Great movie!


9. Dins : CLAMORS

10. Tissue abnormality : LESION.

11. Houston-to-Tampa direction : EAST. My first Florida groups flew from Houston to Orlando over the gulf. Next time I'll look for Tin!

12. Glenn of The Eagles : FREY

13. Explosive letters : TNT. Trinitrotoluene.

21. Stylish vigor : ELAN

22. Mosque officials : IMAMS

25. Anouk of "La Dolce Vita" : AIMEE. Ah, the sweet life!

26. Sturm und __ : DRANG

27. Halloween vandal, perhaps : EGGER

28. Teeny : WEE

29. "The Empire Strikes Back" director Kershner : IRVIN. Not a clue.

30. Reunion attendee : NIECE. Of course in France, she'd be a Nice niece.

31. Departed : GONE

32. Silver fineness meas. : STER

36. Ire : WRATH

37. __ Jordan: Nike brand : AIR. Their re-release caused riots in malls

38. Member of a small ruling class : OLIGARCH. Common pejorative word in elections

40. Poetic laments : ELEGIES

41. Speck : ATOM

43. New : UNUSED

44. Belgian seaport : OSTEND. Find it?


45. Marriages : UNIONS.

48. 1960 Olympics city : ROME

49. Sea predator : ORCA. New cautions are now taken at Sea World. They call them KILLER whales for a reason.

50. Consequently : ERGO. Ergo, C.C. had to settle for Gary

51. Rabbi's house of worship : SHUL. Ok.

52. Container weight : TARE

53. Penultimate fairy tale word : EVER. Like the Kardashian marriages?

54. Future flower : SEED

55. Address bk. entry : CEL. House wall phone may be going bye bye (Correction: Should be TEL)
This was fun to do and beat the 2o line limit! I hope to get better in the future. C.C. was a fabulous and patient tutor!

Husker Gary

95 comments:

  1. And put in LEADS instead of yon Cassius' lean and hungry look.

    Great pinch-hitting. I'm just glad it's you and not me!

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  2. And Gary, feel free to delete my comment before you put up the final version.

    Cheers!

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  3. Hi all,

    Well, it seems Husker and Lemon have turned in for the night, so 61 Across should be LEADS, as in leading character instead of LEANS. As Lemon said, 55 Across should be TORSI and 55 Down should be TEL, not CEL.

    For me, this was a great CW. For once, the theme actually helped me solve it. (And 5 mins. quicker than yesterday's.) In fact, once you've got the theme, the CW pretty solves itself. (And Husker, you did great, the above notwithstanding!)

    So I want to use up all of my space today on 49 Down: the ORCA as "killer" whale. I'm not a vegan, so I am not taking a position, but I think you should at least try to see it from their point of view. So, here's the first link:

    ORCA

    Here's the second, and Lemon, you have to see this. Imagine yourself defending these guys!

    LAW 101

    And I'm done for the day!

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  4. Top of the morning, all. I have no idea why I'm up this early, but here I am, wide awake, so I might as well get my morning routine underway.

    Good to see you in the blogging chair, Gary. Great debut, nice links.

    The theme was pretty easy to figure out. Good thing, because there were names that would never have emerged without perp help. It all worked out,though, in about a normal Wednesday time.

    I tried 'eve' for the poet's time of day, which left me some strange names in that area. AIMEE forced me to rethink that choice, though. Other than that, no corrections needed.

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  5. Good day folks,

    HG, in spite of the audit results from Lemon & Len, congrats on your initial blog. I enjoyed your commentary & I look forward to having you contribute again in the near future.

    As far as the puzzle itself goes, i have mixed feelings about it. Some I found refreshing, some of it Blah.

    6D & 29D, CEDRIC & IRVIN were both unknowns. And not exactly a learning moment that will stay with me for long. 47A SNOG was a new term, what do the Brits have against Snug?

    Wasn't sure about the plural for TORSO, so I wagged an I and ELEGIES confirmed it. TORSI new to me. I liked the PETER GUNN show, but I must have been in the minority, because I don't think it had a long life.

    A mild Ct winter is about to turn, Just in time for our departure next week to a warm clime, if we can get out of here and thru Chicago without delay.

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  6. Morning, all!

    Struggled a bit with this one. I never did figure out what was up with the theme, so none of the theme answers sprung easily to mind. I kept waiting for something tricky based on the question marks...

    IRVIN and OSTEND were the unknowns today, and I needed every cross to get them.

    Like Husker Gary, I struggled in the SE corner. I had ACTOR instead of EMCEE at 58A as well as DANES instead of LEADS at 61A, and for no apparent reason I wanted some version of AORTA at 55A.

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  7. Good Morning all! Yup, that SE corner was a mess. This rookie worked the puzzle quickly online and then, when I went to the online analysis, I surmised the answers there were correct and so I cut and pasted them as they appeared on that web site. I searched long and hard to make that stuff work and would have reworked the corner if it were just the newspaper and I. If you assume…

    Now I know another part of this intricate process and have a greater appreciation for all the regulars who do this. The devil is clearly in the details. I hope I at least hit a sacrifice fly like my favorite pinch hitter Archie Moonlight Graham.

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  8. Good Morning, Husker Gary and friends. Good job, HG. I loved the Redundancy of this puzzle! As we used to say in college, this is repetitiously redundant. Easy for a Wednesday, but the clues made me laugh.

    Lots of answers were things I learned from doing the crossword puzzles. I was trying to think of a sight in Spain for a Toledo sight. I thought the city in Ohio would be too easy. Oh silly me!

    I liked the SHUL. It's from the Yiddish. Most of the members of my congregation tends to say we go to Shul on Friday night and Saturday morning.

    QOD: Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~ Albert Einstein

    My favorite clues included: Low in a Lea = MOO

    I also liked Driven Drove = HERD.

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  9. husker,

    good write up
    this was a tough puzzle for me did it quickly but not a speed run by any means.

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  10. Hello Puzzlers -

    No trouble with today's solve. The theme made sense, and reminded me of a question my dad used to pose: "Was that a superfluous redundancy, or a redundant superfluity?"

    Never heard of VMI and didn't know the connection to ROTC. Had THUS for ERGO, which gave HEMOstat, but that soon fell apart.

    Atta boy, Husker! And yes, the theme from Peter Gunn is memorable Henry Mancini work.

    Jurassic Park, the movie: yeah, fascinating CGI work, brought a clever sci-fi novel to life, but the screenplay and acting stunk to high heaven. Painful to watch.

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  11. Just in case you have nothing better to do today, you might want to try this fun game of trying to outwit a clever cat.

    If that's not your thing, here's a very interesting gymnastic dance routine.

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  12. Good morning:

    Len, interesting LAW link; while I have represented some pigs in my day, they all were of the 2 legged variety.

    For those of you who believed I was wrong to correct the answers here, I tried privately first, and was expecting this write up to be replaced without my comment, as HG had done two versions. On another note, we have all made mistakes which C.C. has corrected; learning how to do this is a process and HG did fine.

    I enjoyed the theme, and as already mentioned there were some obscurities but it managed to solve quickly.

    Happy humping all

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  13. Husker: Great PINCH hitting.
    (Hmmm, that gives me an idea ...)

    REGULAR ROUTINE describes a lot of us.
    WE do the LAT CW and come here to leave our ELEGIES.

    SNOG, SHUL & OSTEND were LEARNing moments.

    Liked ARGO & ERGO in the same grid.

    Is this our first ELOI sighting of 2012?
    I rarely do the Sunday puz. but I'm sure we will see them again. The Morlocks get no face-time.

    GONE for Departed was my fave today.
    It's what the negative Anon's should be ...

    Cheers and a "toast" to all at Sunset.

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  14. Good job Gary. Working the bugs out is always part of any first effort. You did great.

    I really enjoyed this puzzle. Last night while watching the local news one of the anchors used the first theme answer and I railed about it to my BH. I hadn't yet looked at the clue for 20A, but had CLOSE via perps and thought "This would just be too weird". Shore enough!

    The S and G in snog were total wags as well as naticks, but I did guess correctly.

    Can't pass up an opportunity to plug one of my favorite "never heard of him" guitarists: Roy Buchanan.

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  15. Good morning Husker Gary, C.C. and all cyber friends.

    Thanks, HG, for your efforts. Blogging must be difficult though you all make it seem effortless.

    Have we seen Jeff Stillman before this? He does nice work.

    I enjoyed and chuckled at the theme answers. Whenever I hear CLOSE PROXIMITY it makes me cringe.

    John Travolta's CLEFT drives some women wild!

    SHUL, IRVIN, FREY and AIMEE were unknowns today but they perped easily.

    Loved:
    driven drove, HERD
    low in a lea, MOO

    And the view from Toledo also had me thinking about Spain, but nooo

    This is too early for me so I'm returning to bed.

    You all have a wonderful Wednesday!

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  16. I've always done the morning CW, but visiting this great blog has been added to my REGULAR ROUTINE. (My solves are always ROUGH ESTIMATES!)

    I got the top half done in record time. I was beginning to think I was brilliant, until the bottom half slapped me back into reality. Welcome to Wednesday!

    Is there any SNOG left in your UNION?

    Great clues/answers? I liked Pick Up: LEARN and Driven Drove: HERD.

    Great Job HG! Hope to see you on the "other side" again some time.

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  17. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and as already mentioned, the theme was helpful in the solving forme too.

    Husker did a great first blog job IMO. Like Len, I'm glad it was him and not me. (I know, should be he and not I, but who talks that way?)

    I didn't know what VMI referred to at all so perps took care of that, like other names: CEDRIC, FREY, IRVIN.

    We actually got Peter Gunn in Oz when I was in high school, but I rarely saw it, since we didn't have a TV. Loved the theme music though (thanks for the link).

    Ostend was where I started my second ever crossing of the channel, on a Cooks tour returning from the USSR in 1970.

    Sturm und Drang is a German phrase referring to a period of literature and philosophy in the late 18th Century, generally associated with revolt against society. Sounds a bit like now, doesn't it?

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  18. I meant "for me" in my first paragraph above.

    On the subject of clefts, I've often wondered why my sons both have them, as I wasn't aware of it in the family. But only recently I noticed in an old photo of my mother, that she had a slight one too. Does anyone else know of a female with a cleft chin? Is it just more pronounced in men so we don't notice it on women? I guess now I'm thinking about it, I can feel a hint of it on myself, but I can't see it in a mirror.

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  19. Morning, all.

    HG, enjoyed your first effort. Hope you'll be back again.

    Puzzle was an easy solve. Got the theme early. CEDRIC and IRVIN were WAGs, but perpable. And there are no ink blots on my newspaper today.

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  20. Good morning. Thanks for the fine write-, up, H. Gary.

    Another fairly easy one, with no erasures. Loved the theme; I think Jeff was doing his bit to improve our use of English. Couldn't help but think of WAGs with ROUGH ESTIMATES. I liked the SHUL/RHEO crossing. Good to see DRANG. Thanks for the explanation, Kazie. OSTEND is OOSTEND to a Fleming. Thanks Jeff for a nice bright midweek puzzle.

    Off to play EAST in bridge this morning.

    Have a great day.

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  21. Mari: I had to laught at your question about any Snog left in ones Unions!

    Anyone ever get a pizza from Papa Murphy? No ovens there. They make the pizzas, but you have to go home and cook them in your own oven.

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  22. Mornin' to all,

    Aaand the medal goes to Husker Gary for his first time out!!!

    Links were great....hope to see your name up there again!

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  23. Hi There ~!

    Well done on your "first initial" blogging job, HG, and thanks for trying to drum up business for me, too~!

    I liked the theme, and I too had ACTOR and EMIRS before EMCEE and IMAM.

    Thanks for those links, too, Grumpy1, I managed to get away from the cat before I spent all day playing that one - and I did catch him, once.

    Splynter

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  24. Good job, HG. I enjoyed the puzzle and found it easy as the theme was pretty obvious. Good day to snuggle up with a good book as winds are ferocious.

    Have a great day all you puzzlers!

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  25. Great job pinch-hitting, HuskerG ! The first time I blogged, there was a major crash of Blogger that lasted almost a full day…it was a rough start for me, but it does get easier!

    Had no idea what VMI was, but ROTC appeared with perps. So I looked up the clue, and found out it is the Virginia Military Institute.

    Grumpy1, I know better than to try to get the cat to stay in the box. I just let ‘em go where they want – they’ll come back when it’s time for dinner!

    Lucina, I believe this is Jeff Stillman’s debut puzzle.

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  26. That`s not Klinger`s house, that is his snozolla!

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  27. Terrific job H.G. The puzzle was pretty good too! Chuckled aloud at Low in the Lea and Driven Drove. Really wanted Net, at 46A to be Air but....

    Don't they call them Killer Whales because of what they do to sea lions and such? I've never heard of one hurting/killing a human in the ocean, have you?

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  28. Hi all,

    Husker, great job on your debut!! I am in awe of anyone who can do that.
    I'd be totally lost. I am not too good on a computer despite the fact that DH is an expert.

    24A really fooled me...caused a V-8 dent in my forehead. I was thinking in terms of depth.

    I see the ELOI are with us again.

    Had a dickens of a time with 38D. I feel this word belongs in a Sat puzzle.

    3" of snow last night but now it is really melting fast (YAY). Our city has a lot of hills and snow/ice make driving a real hazard. Glad I don't have to. It'll all be gone by this afternoon.

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  29. Sturm and DRANG and ELEGIES had me thinking of Siegfried's Funeral March (14:15).

    Durmstrang is the name of another wizarding school (like Hogwarts) in the Harry Potter books - books in which you will find those who SNOG.

    HG, I liked the write-up. However, I think I would have liked it even more had you written it like your posts - with your clever "musings." Thanks for putting in the time!

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  30. Good initial blog, HG. I am looking forward to more. From your very interesting daily comments, i know you have a lot to offer. . .

    Kazie. I have a deep cleft in my chin, more pronounced before middle age set in. Although many have complimented me on it, one snarky soul sympathized because she thought it disfiguring. . .

    We studied Sturm und Drang in German literature. An example was Dr. Faust. We read the Gretchen episode which involved Dr. Faust selling his soul to the devil and debauching Gretchen. We read something similar in Spanish with the selling of the soul and debauching of a girl. Does anyone know of this one? . . .

    Len, I found your ORCA clip and your trial of animal stories fascinating. . . I learned SNOG from British TV imports, such as Keeping Up Appearances, Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served? etc.

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  31. Virginia, Sea World had a real issue last year when an Orca grabbed a trainer, dragged her down into the pool and she died. Sea World then implemented a “no trainer in the water with the killer whales” policy and I don’t know if that is still in effect. You can take the animal out of the wild but you can’t take the wild out of the animal.

    Thanks for the kind words on my effort today. I am only sorry that I let C.C. and the Corner down. My good sense did not have me correct the SE corner after a site used in write-ups reinforced my hurried answers. I went to bed with visions of some of those words dancing in my head. There is a scene in Cincinnati Kid where Ann Margaret is filing down puzzle pieces to get them to fit. I felt like that. Haste makes waste.

    Does anyone recognize the name Archie Moonlight Graham?

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  32. Alt QOD

    You know, we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought - well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day.
    -Dr Archibald "Moonlight" Graham

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  33. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff, for a great Wednesday puzzle. Thank you, Husker Gary, for the great write-up. Congratulations on your debut as a reviewer. I admire all you good folks who take on that challenge. Hope to see more from you.

    The puzzle was good. I got the theme easily with CLOSE PROXIMITY. The rest with a few perps to help.

    I had SKAT instead of SCAT. Had no idea who CEDRIC is.

    Thought OLIGARCH was excellent.

    ELOI and OBOE are some regulars. They make puzzles a little more doable.

    I don't think kids EGG as much as they did many years ago. Thank goodness.

    What's all this PIPA and SOPA about? Saw it in the headlines of the Trib today. When i logged on to Google to come here, the name Google was blacked out. Try it.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  34. Hey Gary, you didn't let anybody down. Fun puzzle and writeup. Let he/she who is without errors cast the first stone.

    Fun cat puzzle. I saw that puzzle before about a year ago and got where I could catch the cat most of the time. However, so far today, the cat has gotten the better of me.

    I don't think ROUGH ESTIMATE is as bad as the rest of the theme expressions. You can figure out the answer exactly, or if not, you can make a careful well-considered estimate or a quick and dirty rough extimate.

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  35. Yellowrocks:
    i do recall such a story in Spanish literature but I'll have to think about it for the title.

    HeartRX:
    Thank you for answering my question. I very much enjoyed this puzzle by Jeff Stillman

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  36. Abejo:
    Today there is a black out by Wickipedia and some other cyber venues to protest PIPA (Protect intellectual property act) and SOPA (Stop online piracy act) which are bills being considered in Congrss.

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  37. Nice debut there Gary! C.C.'s bench is getting nicely stocked - more than you can say for the Lakers or the Bronco's QB roster :)

    And boo to the boo-birds.

    Enjoyed the puzzle and the theme - back in my grammar school days, I think these were called tautolologies, a kinda-sorta opposite to oxymorons.

    When someone yells at you to "STEP ON it" how do you know they mean the gas rather than the brakes?

    @Bill, in my business all estimates are an acronym commonly used here on this blog - they're all SWAGs or WAGs - Scientific wild-ass guesses.

    As Gene Kratz, Mission Control Flight Director declared during the Apollo 13 crisis - "I don't want another estimate! I want the procedure! NOW!"

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  38. A Wednesday trifecta for me: got crossword puzzle, sudoku, and kenken--all in record time! Hurray! Must have been that good night's sleep I had!

    An extra treat when I logged on, learning that this was a debut puzzle for Mr. Stillman (it was great!) and for Husker Gary, whose write-up was terrific! As for those blips--it actually makes me appreciate the challenge of doing the write-up much more than before. So you didn't let anybody down, HG--you did a great job!

    My promising morning continues on a sunny California day. I wish the same to all of you!

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  39. I thought the courts frowned upon self representation.

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  40. HG,

    Moonlight Graham (AKA Burt Lancaster) was a character in Field of Dreams. Moonlight was a former ballplayer who played in one game for the NY Giants. Only played in the field for 1/2 inning. Lifelong dream was for one at bat in the "Bigs". He gets it at Costner's farm on the magical field and hits a Sac Fly to drive in a run. If you have seen the movie you know the story, if you haven't seen it, you should.

    This character's name was taken from a ball player in the early 1900's.... Moonlight something.

    Never did research the character, but it'll go onto my TO DO List.

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  41. Hello.

    Puzzle didn't take too much effort.
    Did it while watching LA pick up two points winning a SO. (Same thing for SJ later). Status quo
    ante.

    Love Glenn Frey and the Eagles.

    Royal Pains tonight. Cable people
    get it after a three hour delay.

    Going to try to answer some gmail today if I can stay awake.

    eddy

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  42. hondo, the player had the same exact name, Moonlight Graham. Played for the Giants in 1905, didn't do much.

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  43. Three hours on east coast or the west coast?

    I can never get the dvr right.

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  44. Thank you Mr. Stillman for a very nice and interesting puzzle. Got most of it, enjoyed it.

    THANK YOU, Husker Gary for your debut blogging. You did real good. The small errors in themselves did not bother me at all , but I learnt something. I always thought that the lead blogger has a crib sheet, with all the correct answers. Hmmm ... maybe that's not always the case ?

    I learnt a new word 'Torsi' - I thought it had to do with 'torus' - like shaped like a donut.

    Google has a black headband/armband and Wiki is closed today to protest some internet bills in Congress.

    Auspicious beginning Husker Gary !

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  45. There was a lot of snogging in Harry Potter. That was where I first learned of it. The first few books had Americanisms in the US versions. Later books, you had to look up what the words meant but by then, special sites had sprung up for Potter lexicon.

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  46. Good morning Husker, C.C., et al,

    Good job Husker; you certainly didn't let us down..a terrific debut, and it was a good eye opener for us.

    Len, having just returned from Sea World, those articles were enlightening.It does explain why the trainers do not enter the water, and there's no snogging. It's more about how much water they can unload on the audience.

    Enjoyed the xwd today, but did mucho wagging..hoping to remember a few of them.My biggest laugh was at myself for wondering what GET SEVEN meant...gets even.

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  47. Thanks for teaching me how to hot link, STEVE!

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  48. Thank you len for the intersting animal trials. Despite the hard lives in the middle-ages people had apparently nothing much else to do - other than to get into pointless excercizes...

    Thank you Grumpy 1 for the 'dance routine' - what nationalities were the dancers ? I thought the female dancer gymnast-contortionist appeared to be Chinese ... ? It was really amazing.

    Thank you, Grumpy for the 'collar the cat' game. Wasted too much time - but really enjoyed it. I figured out some of the key parameters ( like start at the edges - ) but some games were unwinnable. Won about 40 % of them. quite addictive. Thank you.

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  49. Hi Y'all,

    Bravo on the debut for both Jeff Stillman and Gary!

    This one was on my wave length. I had OL and wanted to put in Oligarch--really, I did--but thought surely not, so waited for more perps.

    Grumpy, what a great gymnastic routine! Thanks for sharing. If I'm reincarnated, I want a body that does that. (I put my knee out of place sitting too long at the computer the other day. Who does that?)

    - PK -

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  50. I believe this Games magazine cover is by Jeff Stillman.

    Name Game :
    What historical or fictional individuals might be seen driving around town with these vanity license plates?
    Cover Puzzle: Jeff Stillman
    Cover Illustration: Kevin Boone

    Magazine site.

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  51. Kazie and Marti- BOSC can replace ROTC at 1 down. Goodbye abbreviation and so long VMI.

    DRANG- Director Lee with a PHD

    OSTEND- Rich?

    SIREN- What a stud horse is doin'

    STEPON- Upside down motel sign

    Check out yesterday's last two posts to find proof that there's at least one really stupid Norwegian in the world.

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  52. WOW just went back for a look at the gymnastic dance routine (linked by Grumpy1, 7:16 AM).

    I'm simply agog.

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  53. Good afternoon everyone.

    Had fun with this puzzle, so thank you Jeff Stillman. And Husker, the write up was great. A few miscues were all the more fun.

    Favorites were, as many have said, MOO and HERD. And really like the theme answers.

    Thanks to all who wished DH & me a happy anniversary. Since we were in our sixties when we wed, it's hard to believe 14 years have already gone by.

    Cheers

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  54. Kazie--famous female cleft is Sandra Bullock. If I knew how to link things I would picture her.

    Awesome gymnastic routine. A little uncomfortable with all the face-crotch contact. But hey!

    Husker Gary--ya done good!

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  55. A little uncomfortable with all the face-crotch contact.

    Yep, me too.

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  56. OMG, Dennis, are your pants on fire?

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  57. Grumpy1:
    Thank you for the dance link. That is fantastic to watch! Haven't tried the cat game yet; another load of wash to do.

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  58. The chickens are in the oven. I repeat, the chickens are in the oven.

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  59. I just got back from the optometrist. I hadn't been in about four years. I got bifocals with a new prescription. He also mentioned that the lens in my right eye is beginning to get a little cloudy. Nothing too serious yet.

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  60. Anon @ 2:46: The FBI will be knocking your door down if you keep this up.

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  61. Hi All ~~

    I liked this puzzle and got through it fairly quickly with just a couple of trouble spots. Avg Joe said it for me: "The S and G in snog were total wags as well as naticks, but I did guess correctly."

    Husker Gary ~ I think you did a great job with your write-up! Hope you'll be doing more.

    Thanks the link, Grumpy. Right up my alley! >^:^<

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  62. Re: Dance Routine: I think her Dad should get his shotgun and plan a wedding!

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  63. RE: Dancers. Anony-mouse, the graceful girl looks more India-ethnic to me. Can't decide what language the music is, although the titling looks French.

    Ah, people, don't give Dennis a hard time!

    - PK -

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  64. Grumpy:
    Thanks for the dance clip.

    It's not often that after watching a link, I have a cigarette ...


    OK, to be honest:
    When I was doin' the puzzle this morning, after seeing RIO in the grid (@ 34-A), when I looked at 17-A, Carnival sight, AND 33-A Beauties ... my first thought for both, as answers, was TITS.

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  65. Yellowrocks and Chapsticks,
    Thanks for answering on the clefts. I do know of Sandra Bullock, but hadn't noticed her cleft--I'll have to watch for it. Too bad someone had to be snarky, YR.

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  66. Husker Gary - nice job filling in. Thanks.

    Fun puzzle. First big mistake was 1A where I wrote in SEND instead of RANG. That cost me a few minutes.

    Everything else went down pretty smoothly except for the cross of OSTEND and SNOG. I had SHAG first. SNOG is my WOTD.

    Liked the theme. Thanks Jeff Stillman.

    Grumpy 1 - That cat puzzle is could be addictive. Is it actually possible to trap the cat?

    OK- now back to my REGULAR ROUTINE.

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  67. Grumpy, great links. Thanks. Took 6 or 7 tries to finally get the cat.

    Some Stürm u. Drang. Kind of sad, really.

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  68. Jerome, you fit right in with the “Rose” character on “Golden Girls” (except she was Swedish, not Norwegian…).

    Just wondering:
    To which “cleft” of Sandra Bullock is everyone referring? The one on her chin, or further down?

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  69. Anon - PK - @3.38pm

    re:the dance routine - The song is probably French. The female dancer is probably Chinese or Far East Asian. Although she has some Indian features, my experience is that, most Indian women do not have the figure or the training to do such difficult gymnastics or contortions. She is also probably very young, less than 28 yrs old for sure.

    For those trying to solve the 'Catch the Cat' game, a few pointers;

    1. Click your first square in the most-open part of the perimeter. The second click should be one-square-removed, and far away from the cat , in the direction where the cat moves, and should be preferably closer to the edge.

    2. Plan your square blocks, at every "second" square, so you can slowly build up a 'two-move' advantage. If you are moving parallel to the cat, and merely responding to it, you will probably lose. Otherwise, with a little practice, you should be able to win over 50% of the games.

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  70. Speaking of OBOE, did you notice that today's USA Today puzzle also has OBOE as 14 across? Both appear in the exact same position.

    See:
    https://plus.google.com/u/0/110003121223198871275/posts/3DNSKLcQduR

    ReplyDelete
  71. Dennis,

    I vaguely recall somewhere seeing a Moonlight card, but the only Graham I'm sure about is Peaches from the T-206 set. Sold a few of him when Pre War stuff was in demand and affordable to a dealer. Peaches may be the guy in my shrinking memory bank.

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  72. The dancers on Grumpy 1's now famous dance routine, on Duo MainTenan T (per the French web site _ Circe Du Soleil) ......

    are Mr. Nicholas Besnard (French, Silver Medalist in Circus competition )

    and (surprise -) Ms. Shenea Booth, an American, born DOB 8/21/1986, US and World champion in Acrobatic Gymnastics @2002 and 2004, from San Jose, CA.

    I wasn't able to learn much about Ms. Booth, since Wiki is closed for today (blacked out - ), but she is definitely partly African-American.

    The original female dancer, who danced and choreographed the dance routine was French, Ms. Ludivine Furnon.

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  73. OK, can't let this opportunity pass now that the topic of close personal contact has been brought up. My favorite joke read on the internet:

    A woman wakes in the middle of the night to find that her husband is not in bed beside her. She listens carefully, and thinks she hears something happening downstairs.

    She descends the stairs and finds her husband sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of Scotch in his hand. He's crying uncontrollably.

    Her: "What's wrong Honey?"

    Him: "I was just thinking back on our lives together. Do you remember all those years ago when your father found us in the back seat of the car with our clothes off?"

    Her: "Yes".

    Him: "Do you remember how he said 'Marry my daughter or you'll be in prison for the next 20 years?"

    Her: "Yes".

    Him: "Well, I was just thinking about that night."

    Her: "Why is this making you so sad?"

    Him: "Because I would have gotten out today!"

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  74. Heart RX

    Only was aware of one; does Sandra Bullock really have a chin cleft?

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  75. Anony-mouse, thank you for your research. I went back and watched the dance again. If one waits a bit after the piece is over, several other such acts are available. Included is one with the same guy and the choreographer you mentioned--photog not as clear.

    Also amazing is a piece by a Chinese (I think) couple which must be seen to be believed. She does ballet moves from impossible positions.

    - PK -

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  76. What an outstanding puzzle!! Loved it! Had chuckles all over the place. Husker you're already a pro! Excellent job.

    len: HOLY CRAP!!! I got lost w/that Law 101. Don't know where I've been but I NEVER knew that stuff. How utterly absurd and my idol Thomas Edison was soooo insensitive to that poor elephant too! Geeze! Yulch! Soooo awful! Unbelievable! Fav quote was from Cotton Mather, "infandous Buggeries"...yeah, well now I do know about those things however!
    Thank you for all that.

    Trivolta's cleft looks like a TACO to me...when clean shaven.

    Are Grump1's dancers demonstrating snoggling? Hmmm..

    Dennis: LAMO I doubt very seriously if you're ever uncomfortable w/the face-crotch routine..esp to the point of being 'fed up'. Rock on!!!
    Tinbeni 3:40? LMAO funny!

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  77. wow, neither dancer ever had a bead of sweat (that we could see).More info on Shenea Booth

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  78. Spitzboov - I can't seem to wrap my head around the idea that a ship's captain, an experienced seaman, would behave in such a cowardly way (even after having been a hotdog, apparently). No matter what, the job is lost, might as well at least save face and be as gallant as conditions allow.

    He's neither Sullenberger nor Skiles.

    ReplyDelete
  79. @Mari - your link at 12:58 was surely the finest ever to appear on this blog :)

    Glad you figured it out!

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  80. Dudley; I agree. Unfortunately, it's casting a black eye on the whole cruise industry which can be somewhat mercurial even without disasters.

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  81. hatool; The rabbi visited Shapiro in the hospital. :Shapiro!,he said. Last night the shul voted for your speedy recovery! "The vote was six to four"

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  82. If I remember correctly, a year or so ago I got to where I could always trap the cat unless I made a careless mistake. The cat outsmarted me a few times today but I think I'm on to him again. I believe the initial setup is such that it is always possible to trap the cat if you play optimally. But, then again, I could be wrong. I often am.

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  83. Hi gang -

    We had a busy day in Toledo today, where you most definitely can NOT see Lake Erie. You can see Maumee Bay, however, from certain locatoins, and ERIE Street, if you're downtown, where there are streets named for all the Great Lakes.

    Gary - thanks for a great blog today. Ya done good, buddy!

    Good puzzle today, but I found it really hard. Maybe cause I'm so tired.

    When an OLIGARCH GETS EVEN . . .
    TORSI: one can be an ASSET.
    Ever SNOG an ELOI?
    Travolta and Bullock are CLEFT LEADS. Mimieux, not so much.

    Fortunately, rehearsal tonight is strings only. Feeling a bit run down.

    Cheers!
    JzB

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  84. After a glass of wine, I caught the cat three times in a row!

    I read the first three Harry Potters, but I think they were too young to SNOG back then.

    Jerome - your posts always make me laugh.

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  85. CrazyCat: It the wine the trick top capturing the cat? I been tying to capture the cat for the last half hour while also trying to talk on the phone to no avail. Smart cat, indeed. what is the trick?

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  86. Len, just reread law101.omigosh, it was fascinating and sad, and should make our society feel guilty.I can see that lawyers have ALWAYS been crafty. Did the donkey say no? What do you think?

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  87. CrazyCat & Hahtool ~~ I've been trying to catch the cat off and on all day. ( no wine ... YET!) I've managed to get him a few times, but then ... I feel bad for trapping him! >^:^<

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  88. Ta da! It must have been the wine!

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  89. This puzzle really kicked my butt today, i made every mistake listed in the blog but refused to give up. without any perps i thought 31D departed was went and 41D speck was mote. With drove printed below driven i thought he was refering to some past tense until i changed 52d from gram to tare. and after all that work i had only one open space left, and all 26 letters made no sense. who knew there was a "g" in "snog"

    i was hoping some one would explain why a low in a lea is a "moo"?

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  90. Dear CEDave,

    A lea is a meadow. Lowing is another (poetic) word for the sound a cow makes. Does that help?

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  91. Hahtool - See Anony-Mouse 3:38. He/she gave some pointers about catching the cat.

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