Theme: Blind Date Symptoms
17A. Scratchy symptom of nerves : DRY THROAT
25A. Agitated symptom of nerves : RACING HEART
38A. Unstable symptom of nerves : WEAK KNEES
53A. Moist symptom of nerves : SWEATY PALMS
65A. Situation in which this puzzle's symptoms may appear : BLIND DATE
Neat unifier. I originally thought the theme entries are just "Adjective+body parts". Those symptoms are true for some men though. We girls are cool. No sweaty palms or weak knees.
Nice columns of triple 7's in the grid, which occurs when:
A: Your central grid is 9-letter long;
B: None of your other theme entries has 12 or more letters (unless they're grid spanners).
C: You're a good grid designer like Bruce Venzke, as it could be challenging to get clean crossing suitable for a Wednesday.
C.C. here. Our beautiful Bee needs an extra month off to settle down in her new home. She's one step closer to Mount Shasta.
Across:
1. Times to call, in ads : AFTs. Why not just a shorter "PMs?"
5. Graduate school degs. : MBAs. For Jazzbumpa & Marti. And W.
9. Zippo : ZILCH
14. The first Mrs. Copperfield : DORA. You all know this?
15. Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I." : ERBE. Rhymes with "Herbie". German for "Descendent" or "Heir".
16. Diplôme issuer : ECOLE
19. Place to get eats : DINER
20. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song : ELISA. Have never seen the movie.
21. 22-Downs, e.g. : NCOs. And 22D. Mil. rank : SGT
23. Shoot the breeze : GAB. Can you picture a meeting between Dennis & Lois? More than breeze will be shot.
24. "We are __ amused" : NOT
29. Hive denizens : DRONES
31. Shoe part : TONGUE
32. Meara of comedy : ANNE. She's a crossword fan.
33. First name in Japanese golf : ISAO (Aoki). Here he is again. The hardest working golfer in crossword.
37. Parkinson's treatment : L-DOPA
41. Fictional neatnik : UNGER (Felix). From "The Odd Couple".
44. Treated, as a bump on the head : ICED. Boomer had a head fall last year. Scared me to death.
45. Bank statement abbr. : ACCT
49. Hardly skilled in : POOR AT
51. Mailer or Miller : AUTHOR. Norman Mailer and Arthur Miller.
57. 60 minutes, in Florence : ORA. "Hour".
58. "'Tain't" rebuttal : 'TIS. Apostrophe season!
59. Prego competitor : RAGU
60. Like cornstalks : EARED. Have you read this article about our Husker Gary? Best wishes for his daughter.
62. Comparable, distance-wise : AS FAR
67. Crystalline stone : GEODE
68. Emulate the 18-Down : LOSE. 18D. Overconfident critter of fable : HARE.
69. High: Pref. : ALTI. Or plural for alto.
70. Made a blooper : ERRED
71. Had chits to pay : OWED
72. Bad-tempered : MEAN
Down:
1. Riders, e.g. : ADDENDA. Plural of addendum. "Rider" refers to the addition to a bill, not the horse rider as I first thought.
2. Woebegone : FORLORN
3. "I wonder if this will fit" response : TRY IT ON. Normally it doesn't, for me anyway.
4. H.S. seniors' concerns : SATs
5. La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER
6. Hard-to-ride horse : BRONC. Lois can tame them all.
7. Ancient calculators : ABACI. "Ancient"? Sure makes me feel old, since I carried my own abacus for a few years.
8. New Jersey's __ Hall University : SETON. What's it famous for?
9. British series ender : ZED. We have two Brits on our blog.
10. Henri's here : ICI. Tricky use of 's.
11. Way back when : LONG AGO
12. Become cloudless : CLEAR UP
13. Chamomile soother, e.g. : HERB TEA. I always call it "Herbal tea".
26. Gobi Desert locale : ASIA
27. Boring result? : HOLE. Great clue.
28. Concludes by : ENDS AT
30. Period to usher in : NEW ERA
34. Enjoy Telluride, say : SKI. Oh, dear, Telluride is a ski area in Colorado. It just looks like some kind of drug/chemical to me, Marti!
35. "Best in Show" org. : AKC
36. Small bill : ONE
39. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT
40. Red-coated wheel : EDAM
41. Steal the spotlight from : UPSTAGE
42. Still clueless : NO WISER
43. Likes a lot : GOES FOR
46. Bach work : CHORALE
47. Civil rights leader __ Scott King : CORETTA. Wife of Martin Luther King, who's called "phony" by Jackie Kennedy.
48. Common car sale component : TRADE IN
50. Norse god of heroic glory : TYR. Thanks for giving us Tuesday, Mr. Tyr!
52. Employed : USED
54. Cellist Casals : PABLO
55. Softly lit : AGLOW
56. Rainer who was the first to win consecutive Oscars : LUISE. For "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936) and "The Good Earth" (1937). I was unaware of the trivia.
61. Grandfather of Enos : ADAM. Oh, yeah, just another reminder that Enos lives forever in crossword as well. If not answer, then clue.
63. Soft drink suffix : ADE
64. Roulette bet : RED
66. Outlaw Kelly : NED. Aussie.
Answer grid.
Two more notes:
1) If you're interested in guest-blogging once a month here at the Corner, please send me an email (crosswordc@gmail.com). Thanks.
2) Happy Birthday to Dick!
3) Congratulations to Jazzbumpa on his new writing gig. His first post is up today.
C.C.
17A. Scratchy symptom of nerves : DRY THROAT
25A. Agitated symptom of nerves : RACING HEART
38A. Unstable symptom of nerves : WEAK KNEES
53A. Moist symptom of nerves : SWEATY PALMS
65A. Situation in which this puzzle's symptoms may appear : BLIND DATE
Neat unifier. I originally thought the theme entries are just "Adjective+body parts". Those symptoms are true for some men though. We girls are cool. No sweaty palms or weak knees.
Nice columns of triple 7's in the grid, which occurs when:
A: Your central grid is 9-letter long;
B: None of your other theme entries has 12 or more letters (unless they're grid spanners).
C: You're a good grid designer like Bruce Venzke, as it could be challenging to get clean crossing suitable for a Wednesday.
C.C. here. Our beautiful Bee needs an extra month off to settle down in her new home. She's one step closer to Mount Shasta.
Across:
1. Times to call, in ads : AFTs. Why not just a shorter "PMs?"
5. Graduate school degs. : MBAs. For Jazzbumpa & Marti. And W.
9. Zippo : ZILCH
14. The first Mrs. Copperfield : DORA. You all know this?
15. Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I." : ERBE. Rhymes with "Herbie". German for "Descendent" or "Heir".
16. Diplôme issuer : ECOLE
19. Place to get eats : DINER
20. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song : ELISA. Have never seen the movie.
21. 22-Downs, e.g. : NCOs. And 22D. Mil. rank : SGT
23. Shoot the breeze : GAB. Can you picture a meeting between Dennis & Lois? More than breeze will be shot.
24. "We are __ amused" : NOT
29. Hive denizens : DRONES
31. Shoe part : TONGUE
32. Meara of comedy : ANNE. She's a crossword fan.
33. First name in Japanese golf : ISAO (Aoki). Here he is again. The hardest working golfer in crossword.
37. Parkinson's treatment : L-DOPA
41. Fictional neatnik : UNGER (Felix). From "The Odd Couple".
44. Treated, as a bump on the head : ICED. Boomer had a head fall last year. Scared me to death.
45. Bank statement abbr. : ACCT
49. Hardly skilled in : POOR AT
51. Mailer or Miller : AUTHOR. Norman Mailer and Arthur Miller.
57. 60 minutes, in Florence : ORA. "Hour".
58. "'Tain't" rebuttal : 'TIS. Apostrophe season!
59. Prego competitor : RAGU
60. Like cornstalks : EARED. Have you read this article about our Husker Gary? Best wishes for his daughter.
62. Comparable, distance-wise : AS FAR
67. Crystalline stone : GEODE
68. Emulate the 18-Down : LOSE. 18D. Overconfident critter of fable : HARE.
69. High: Pref. : ALTI. Or plural for alto.
70. Made a blooper : ERRED
71. Had chits to pay : OWED
72. Bad-tempered : MEAN
Down:
1. Riders, e.g. : ADDENDA. Plural of addendum. "Rider" refers to the addition to a bill, not the horse rider as I first thought.
2. Woebegone : FORLORN
3. "I wonder if this will fit" response : TRY IT ON. Normally it doesn't, for me anyway.
4. H.S. seniors' concerns : SATs
5. La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER
6. Hard-to-ride horse : BRONC. Lois can tame them all.
7. Ancient calculators : ABACI. "Ancient"? Sure makes me feel old, since I carried my own abacus for a few years.
8. New Jersey's __ Hall University : SETON. What's it famous for?
9. British series ender : ZED. We have two Brits on our blog.
10. Henri's here : ICI. Tricky use of 's.
11. Way back when : LONG AGO
12. Become cloudless : CLEAR UP
13. Chamomile soother, e.g. : HERB TEA. I always call it "Herbal tea".
26. Gobi Desert locale : ASIA
27. Boring result? : HOLE. Great clue.
28. Concludes by : ENDS AT
30. Period to usher in : NEW ERA
34. Enjoy Telluride, say : SKI. Oh, dear, Telluride is a ski area in Colorado. It just looks like some kind of drug/chemical to me, Marti!
35. "Best in Show" org. : AKC
36. Small bill : ONE
39. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT
40. Red-coated wheel : EDAM
41. Steal the spotlight from : UPSTAGE
42. Still clueless : NO WISER
43. Likes a lot : GOES FOR
46. Bach work : CHORALE
47. Civil rights leader __ Scott King : CORETTA. Wife of Martin Luther King, who's called "phony" by Jackie Kennedy.
48. Common car sale component : TRADE IN
50. Norse god of heroic glory : TYR. Thanks for giving us Tuesday, Mr. Tyr!
52. Employed : USED
54. Cellist Casals : PABLO
55. Softly lit : AGLOW
56. Rainer who was the first to win consecutive Oscars : LUISE. For "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936) and "The Good Earth" (1937). I was unaware of the trivia.
61. Grandfather of Enos : ADAM. Oh, yeah, just another reminder that Enos lives forever in crossword as well. If not answer, then clue.
63. Soft drink suffix : ADE
64. Roulette bet : RED
66. Outlaw Kelly : NED. Aussie.
Answer grid.
Two more notes:
1) If you're interested in guest-blogging once a month here at the Corner, please send me an email (crosswordc@gmail.com). Thanks.
2) Happy Birthday to Dick!
3) Congratulations to Jazzbumpa on his new writing gig. His first post is up today.
C.C.
85 comments:
Morning, all!
Relatively straightforward puzzle today. I got hung up a bit in the NW corner due to my unfamiliarity with DORA and ELISA and the bizarre way in which AFTS was clued. I also did myself no favors by putting in ARTHUR instead of AUTHOR at 51A, but the perps cleared that up quickly.
The only other snag was right at the end when I had no idea who LUISE Rainer was (I initially tried CLAUD, despite the fact that I was actually thinking of Claude Raines). The perps didn't help at first due to the cross-referential cluing on 68D. And even when I went to check the cross reference, my first instinct was to go with LOPE instead of LOSE. LUIPE just didn't look right, for some reason...
Oh -- and Happy Birthday to Dick!
Hello Puzzlers -
Hand up for finding the NW corner difficult. In that section, however, I had the oddest learning moment: that Woebegone isn't a good thing! All these years, I thought the lake of that name represented a place of tranquility, where one's woes are all gone. Now I see it's more or less the opposite.
Sorry, Garrison Keillor!
Add an R to GAB and you can get the picture of that Lois and Dennis meeting.
Re: AFTS: I would consider that to be like 1:00pm to 4:00 pm and PMs after 6:00 o'clock.
Good Morning, C.C. and friends. What an interesting puzzle. I felt like I was in medical school learning symptoms of some horrible disease. Well, I suppose some BLIND DATES can be a horrible experience.
The trickiest clue for me was Mailer or Miller. All of my first guesses (Barney, Norman, and Arthur) fit into the spaces provided, but the perps let me know that none of these options were correct.
I wasn't fooled by Henri's Here = ICI, but though that was a great clue.
I thought of HeartRx when I read about Telluride.
My favorite clue was Boring Result? = HOLE.
Sending good wishes to you and your family, Husker Gary.
QOD: One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. ~ Virginia Woolf
Oh, HBTY Dick!
Another form of WBS.
:-)
Good morning, fellow solvers!
Thanks for fun puzzle, Bruce and fine exposition, CC!
Harder today, but doable. Favorite answer also HOLE.
Happy birthday, Dick!
Great article, Gary! I'll bet you consider the snake experience one of the most appalling in your life! My best wishes to your daughter.
Haven't had anyone to swim with lately. I am thus in a real deep depression.
Cheers to all on hump day!
Happy Birthday, Dick. Come back. We miss you.
Wow, for two days in a row, I had to check the calendar. This is Wednesday?
Happy birthday, Dick! Wonderful write-up, C.C. I’m glad to hear Melissa is getting settled in her new home.
“Times to call, in ads”, for AFTS was not on my radar (“eves”??). I looked to the perps, but “Riders, e.g.” only brought images of these jeans to mind
…”Woebegone” only brought memories of Garrison Keillor, “I wonder if this will fit” immediately elicited the automatic response, “No, it doesn’t make you look fat…”, and H.S. seniors’ concerns brought up “acne”.
OK, so skip across “Graduate school degs.” (MScs, MBAs, MFAs…?) to “Zippo”. OK, so do they want the lighter, the Marx brother, or nada??? (This is not going so well…)
Finally, Telluride was a gimme, C.C. But I really chuckled at your “drug” comment. No…that would be 37A L-DOPA ! I did finish without any lookups, in a normal Wednesday time, but it was a nice challenge!
C.C. Wonderfull PINCH hitting.
Starting at 1-A, can't say I've ever seen AFTs in an ad, this turned into a 'perp' work-out.
Felt like I was an 'L-DOPA' who was NO-WISER.
Finally, the only proper cluing for ICED.
(I abhor ICE).
Too many 2 or 3 word answers, IMO.
Enjoyed the theme but don't remember any BLIND DATE causing me those maladies.
ZILCH for Zippo was my fave. Lighter wouldn't fit.
Positive vibes heading to your daughter, Husker.
And a 'toast' to all at Sunset.
Cheers !!!
Glad to be back after over two weeks of crossword withdrawal symptoms. Although I used d-i-l's laptop to try keeping up with emails while in Germany, I never had enough time to come here or do the CWs online. I hope my silent departure didn't worry anyone, I just didn't want to alert the world of our empty house.
HBTY, Dick!
I thought halfway through this CW how clever it was, and felt that my CW withdrawal symptoms couldn't be too bad, since I was getting it all fairly easily. That is, until I hit the south and got stumped on LUISE/ RAGU. I just couldn't come up with RAGU, and had LOISE, wondering about the E at the end of it. So that was my one error. I was glad of the French clues and felt the Aussie reference to Ned Kelly, folklore hero to all Aussies, was a fitting return for me to crosswordland.
Glad to be back! (Now to continue sorting gifts, laundry and junk mail...)
G'Day all.
I'm going to have to take the under on this one. It seemed just right for a Wednesday. I had the same hangup on AFTs, but it all perped out.
C.C., if you haven't seen Paint Your Wagon, get it into your Netflix que. IMO, it's the best movie musical of all time. And it even had Lee Marvin singing Wandering Star. What's not to like about that?
Trivia question: What was Clint Eastwood's character name in Wagon?
Avg.Joe
Pardner (Eastwood) real name:
Sylvester Newel.
Kazie - I enjoyed reading your linked Wiki page about Ned Kelly. I do wonder if some unknown editor of that article is maybe having a little fun with us - it names a purported victim of Ned's, Chinese farmer, as Ah Fook.
There are two kinds of people in this world. Those that have pithy sayings about life, and those that live it.
I knew it had to be MARIA ("They Call the Wind Maria"), so that really slowed me down in the NW. And I was sure it was ACRO not ALTI, so that slowed me down in the SE. My grid TAINT pretty, McGee, but I did finish in respectable Wednesday time.
Marti, did you really use an abacus? I stopped at slide-rule. It helped to convince me that engineering was not for me.
Husker, great write-up. I wish the best for your daughter.
desper-otto, 'twarn't me used the abacus - 'twas C.C.
Dudley,
Not sure of the accuracy in Wiki, but there are other sites as well that might confirm the name. I just find Wiki good because you get the short version first, then the details for those who want the whole story.
When I was a kid, people annoyed at thinking they were being ripped off, would say "Ned Kelly is alive and well today". But many believe he was wrongfully harassed by the police, who generally had it in for the Irish in general. In convict days, many a spirited Irishman was sent to Oz on trumped up charges, just to reduce conflicts between the Irish and English at home.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Bruce, for a very good Wednesday puzzle. It was not a cake-walk, by any means. Thank you, C.C., for the review.
I wanted to start with Q.E.D. since that is one of my favorite clues. I tried for quite a while to get a crossword to make sure of which word it was. Finally filled in most of the center before I got SWEATY PALMS. Then ERAT became obvious. That drove me nuts for a while.
From there I spread out and got the rest by bits and pieces.
Way too many foreign words for me. I perped/wagged them all except MER. I had MAR. Did not know the actress crossing it.
Liked UNGER. That character in the movie and the TV show made me laugh many times years ago. Saw Jack Lemon at the Bob Hope Desert Classic many years ago. In person he is much different than in movies. Not very friendly.
ZED came easily. We had that not long ago.
Happy Birthday, Dick. Hope all is well. We miss your entries.
Our prayers are still with you and your daughter, Husker Gary.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Tomorrow's puzzle will probably be a "doozy" to make up for these three quickly solved early week puzzles.
I have alwsys thought that Keillor's choosing the name Lake Woegone was ironic, as is most of his schtick. We saw his live performance at NJ Center for the Performing Arts last year. Great fun. He does a 3 minute bit on NPR here every day.
Dudley, We had a Chinese immigrant student who transliterated his name to Fook Yu, causing great hilarity. The staff clued him in, so he quickly adopted an American name for school usage.
Dora appears here often.
6 degrees early this AM. After many days in the 50's it comes as a shock. When it is cold all the time I become inured to it. These
wild swings are brutal.
Claude Raines, briefly crossed my mind, too, but realized we needed Rainer
Good morning, C.C. and happy humpers all. I took one look at the grid and checked to see if it was Saturday already. Starting out with eves and finding nothing else that would fit in that corner convinced me I had lost a few days out of my week. Top middle filled easily and let be back up into the NW and then zig zag through the puzzle.
Lots of names that weren't on my speedy recall list, but perps dialed them in for me. CORETTA was an easy fill and helped fill that corner.
With the first three theme entries in place, I wrote in SWEATY PALMS with nothing in place but the final S.
What initially looked like a rather daunting puzzle turned out to be about right for a Wednesday. Thanks Bruce.
Welcome back Kazie and HBTY to Dick.
Good morning C.C. and all.
Happy Birthday, Dick
Work-a-day puzzle, today. The only misstep was having 'Norman" before AUTHOR. No searches were needed. Unknowns like DORA and ERBE came from perps. ADAM was a WAG. I liked the clue for EDAM. Good job, Bruce.
Husker G - I, too, hope that your daughter's health problem has a good outcome.
Have a good day
Just reading the long clues makes me feel anxious! Racing heart, sweaty palms, etc.
Today's puzzle was easier for me than yesterday's. Props again to Bernice Gordon!
The NW hung me up a little, mostly due to AFTs. Strange answer. I agree with Tinbeni: Many 2 or 3 word answers.
Liked HOLE, Disliked TRY IT ON. And I'm glad to finally know how to pronounce ERBE.
Good thoughts to Husker Family, Dick and everyone else.
HBDTY Dick!
I expected more grumpiness about all the foreign words, especially the ICI ECOLE cross, but I guess the french lessons have set in. Speaking of which, welcome back KZ.
Seton Hall beat UConn in basketball for the first time since 2000, besides that it is one of the oldest Catholic Universities in the country having produced many successful alumni, including our basketball screaming friend Dick Vitale.
Thanks C.C. and Bruce (where have you been Bruce S.?)
"We had a set of pulleys and lifted kids to the ceiling." Sounds like a super fun class, Husker Gary!
Gary,
Just went back to see what had befallen your daughter. Very sorry to hear what she is going through, and pray that those cells turn chicken and are not malignant. If they are removed early, they will not have time to make up their mind, hopefully.
Don Knotts
Thanks so much for the words of comfort and support yesterday. Pain shared is pain diminished.
This is the third day in a row, our local newspaper "The Plain Dealer" from Cleveland, Ohio, has credited the puzzle's author to Don "hard g" Gagliardo.
What a nice humpday puzzle. Foreign words (how’d you do on ECOLE/ICI crossing Abejo?), new learning and some fills off the beaten path. Cool!
Musings
-I’ve had some of those symptoms thinking of my daughter
-AFTS and not ASAP
-Awakenings is a wonderful movie about LDOPA
-UNGER not FELIX
-Thanks for the note C.C. I thought my cornstalks were ROWED first
-I’ve seen a lot of HARES on the golf course who hit the ball unspectacularly short and straight and get a lot of pars by being patient and good around the greens
-My wife’s fear of mal de mer is keeping her off a cruise ship
-I don’t have any ABACI but some really smart kids were fascinated by my ancient slide rule
Addendum
-52°F today and 60°F tomorrow! Fore!
-Friend went to Orlando for Husker game (don’t ask) and called about how to navigate the Disney Parks. I told him what to do and then chided him about the good weather he must be enjoying and he said it was 44°F there with a horrible wind! It was 45°F here with no wind. How ‘bout dat?
Husker Gary, I would have loved to have been in your class. It is wonderful to hear of a creative teacher who makes science fun and meaningful at the same time.
It also would have been neat to teach your students the following year. I often have followed science teachers known for their "creativity," who basically do a magic show with no follow up.
Their students have no intellectual curiosity, love of science, or any fund of concepts to build on. "Bread and circuses" without the "bread." All they want is the show.
Only a handful are like you. I believe your own love of science is transmitted to your students. I wish I could have experienced your class and met your students.
Good day folks,
This puzzle had a good half and a bad half for me. The North went along smoothly, but with a lot of reliance on perps.
The South was another story. The fills were one or two letters at a time, then jumping over to another area. Very inefficient.
The SW was a real bear for me. Took forever to gain a foothold, but solving UPSTAGE and GOESFOR got it moving. Wanted Norman for 51A until USED and CORETTA appeared. All in all, a fun solve for Hump Day.
Happy birthday Dick.
HG, hope all goes well for your daughter. You folks are in our prayers.
Kazie, welcome home.
Greetings, C.C. and happy puzzlers. Funny comments, today, C.C. especially about Telluride! And I, too, refer to HERBal TEA.
Happy birthday, Dick! I hope you chime in.
I'm reporting today from chilly Charlotte, NC, not sure of the exact temp but it's not 80 I can assure you.
No WEAKKNEES or RACINGHEART from this puzzle. Thank you, Bruce Venzke, for a fairly easy Wednesday.
I learned about LUISE Rainier from cwds but did not recall ELISA as I've seen that movie only once, long ago.
Sunday I was so pleased with myself for recalling ISAO AOKI but today I filled it in backwards. However, yesterday I got AWALK from base ball!
Husker Gary, I shall be praying for a good outcome for your daughter.
I really enjoyed reading yesterday's banter. Now we can relax that Dennis's business slogan, name, etc. is decided. LOL
Enjoy your Wednesday, everyone!
Welcome back, Kazie! I missed you.
Addendum to my earlier post. At the airport I discovered that my driver's license had expired! It was due for renewal last month. My daughter will mail my passport to me so that I can leave NC; I fear they might not be as friendly about it as in my home state.
To: Husker Gary:
To answer your question, I got ZILCH, DINER, ZED, LONG AGO, CLEAR UP, and HERB TEA. With all that I only needed a "C". I kind of remembered ECOLE. So ICI came easily.
I think I was able to put a photo for my Avatar. Finally took a few minutes and figured it out. We'll see if this works when I sign off. If it works, it is myself and four siblings.
Abejo
Thank you Mr. Bruce Venzke for a very nice puzzle, which I managed to finish, and even got the theme, so its all good and I enjoyed it a lot. I even managed the proper nouns - must be the practice.... BTW, in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, you are known as 'Don Gagliardo, the Third' - because our journalists always check their facts.....
I was very impressed with Husker Gary's biography and his signal achievements. I do wish I had had a teacher like him, during my own schooldays. Good wishes and to you and for your daughter and your family.
ALT QOD:- If you work on a lobster boat, pinching someone from behind is probably a joke that gets old real fast. ~ Jack Handey.
Tin, You got it.
Telluride is an interesting place with a lot of legend. The name supposedly is a modification of "To Hell You Ride" since it's in a cul-de-sac canyon with no other way out. It is also considered to be the model for Galt's Gulch of Atlas Shrugged fame.
I'm a little surprised no one has made any DF comments about "tain't" by this late hour. :-)
@anony-mouse Hmmm! So, for future reference, yesterday's constructor, Bernice Gordon, is known by the Cleveland "Plain Dealer" as "Don Gagliardo - the Second" and Monday's author, Steve Blais is known as "Don Gagliardo - the First," making the real Don Gagliardo - the original?!?! Just checkin' the facts, Ma'am.
Avg Joe... I was really tempted, but figured tain't my forte to comment on tain't.
I was a subscriber to the Cleveland "Pain" Dealer for many years, from the time the Cleveland (de)Press(d) folded until about 5 years ago. Not surprised that they can't figure out who constructed the puzzle. I doubt that their editors would even be able to solve one.
Just want to congratulate Jazzbumpa on his new writing gig. His first post is up today.
Hi all:
I didn't think this would be a good experience when I was stymied right off by 1A...fortunately the perps came to the rescue.
ABACI finally is in my memory to stay, thanks to seeing it in puzzles for years.
30D - arghhh....I sure wanted 'YEAR' in there.
My V-8 can got a workout with 40D. I was thinking of WHEEL as something in a car of boat. DOH!!
My Dad had Parkinson's so I knew LaDopa.
51A - I tried very hard to put NORMAN in there...very hard.
Welcome back Kazie, I missed your comments.
Happy Birthday Dick, I miss you on here too...but enjoy our 'scrabble' games. It's your turn by the way :)
The only thing I will believe in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the only-newspaper-in-this-woebegone-town, other than the comics, is the obituaries. Atleast, you know that they are meant to be selective and subjective. All the rest, printed in the paper, especially the news is open to biased speculation. IMHO, thats my take on it.
Very nice today, both the puzzle and CC's write-up. Nice to give the European languages a quick work-out. Loved ADDENDA for no reason other than I did.
Belated thoughts to Gary, lots of positive energy headed your way.
@Anony-mouse - finished your book recommendation "Freedom at Midnight" - I loved it, what a wonderful and tragic history lesson.
I think ERNIE ELS would give ISAO AOKI a run for his crossword-golfer money. I've got 'em tied at the top of the leader board, with SAM(MY) SNEAD nipping at their heels.
Have a great day, all y'all!
Funny Don Knotts link. I liked him in the Andy Griffith Show (Barney Fife) and Three's Company (the landlord.)
My favorite Odd Couple were Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.
I am sending more hopes and prayers your way, HG.
Great puzzle. Only nit I have is in cluing a Japanese name as a "first name". In Japanese the family name (Aoki) comes first.
Steve:
I think ERNIE is our crossword champion golfer.
Remember, he sometimes appears disguised as an above ground train.
ELS ...
(groan)
Great Wednesday puzzle, Mr. Venzke. And terrific write-up, C.C. The piece on Husker Gary was wonderful and I learned a new word--"detassel." I now understand the name "Husker." And those science classes sound like great fun.
Had the same problem as Barry with ARTHUR/AUTHOR, so I'm glad I wasn't the only one. Happy memories of Tony Randall in "The Odd Couple"--one of my favorite TV shows of all time. And was prompted to make two New Year's resolutions: to finally read 'David Copperfield' and to finally see a Luise Rainer movie. Was she the one who was also an inventor--or was that another actress of that period.
Have a great hump day, everybody!
Misty:
I believe Hedy LaMarr was the inventor. Could be wrong, please chime in anyone who knows.
JD:
I took your advice and printed the cwd from the computer. Too cold to go outside looking for a newspaper. There is a convenience store not too far away, still . . .
HuskerGary:
I enjoyed the article again and think those students were so fortunate to have you as their teacher.
Jazzbumpa:
Good article from you! But I'm not surprised as you are a man of many talents.
Avg Joe,
I'd be tempted too if I could stop rolling about Anony-Mouse's ALT QOD!
Good afternoon everyone.
It was DNF for me. I had SWEATYhands, which did me no good! And could not grok a three letter term before THROAT. And others.
Husker, such an inspiring article that C.C. posted. And my continuing best wishes for your daughter.
Favorite is HOLE.
Cheers
Hello.
Hedy Lamarr's inventions and patents made possible the moble phone and secure military comms.
The idea was shifting freqs so that signals couldn't be blocked.
The slide rule sent the fist rocket to the moon. Still use mine
every once in a while.
eddy
Lucina, you're absolutely right. It was Hedy Lamarr. Wikipedia says she was involved in inventing something called 'frequency hopping' that led to something called 'spread-spectrum communication technology.' All Greek to me, but it's still cool when a beauty like that turns out to have a great brain. Kind of like when I learned that Marilyn Monroe actually did take a copy of Joyce's 'Ulysses' on photo shoots, and read it while the cameras were being set up.
Jazz: it is a provocative post, but not in my range. So I sent it on to my DH. And congratulations. I can't imagine when you get time.
Really liked this puzzle, definitely on my wave length! C.C., Great commentary and link on Gary.
Thought the juxtaposition of the first three downs was funny: I'm FORLORN when I TRY IT ON because of a large ADDENDA.
When you get to a certain age, all your DATEs are at least half BLIND. Really helps. I look a lot better without his glasses.
Mother had parkinsons. Boy, do I know L-dopa! Had a constant battle one year with her doctor trying to get her dosage regulated. Horrible physical symptoms.
Used to picnic at Telleride before it became a famous ski mecca. Liked it better then.
- PK -
Good morning C.C. et al,
HBTY to ALD (art loving Dick), WTD (well traveled Dick),SPD (snow plower Dick)and MFD..my friend Dick.
Not a big fan of today's xwd, as it didn't bring on any laughs. I did have to G for Luise Ranier-did not ring a bell.Hand up for filling Arthur before author.Lots of necessary perping today. Dora the Explorer is more well known around here.
Hoping we'll all hear from CA soon to see if the house is theirs.
I'm on a roll to unclutter the clutter.
oops..forgot to add this..not one of the best songs in the movie BY FAR
Elisa
Greetings,
Another nice smooth solving puzzle. Thank you Bruce Venzke. And thanks a bunch, C.C., for filling in for MB.
No really big hang-ups, no unknowns, and not even many erasures. Love it! I did enter 'poobah' for 49A; then I read the clue! Perps helped a lot.
This has made my day, so far!
'HBTY, Dick; and Gary, I'm sorry about your daughter, but you know, our vibes have been working cures and remissions pretty well, so there's power behind you here at the blog!
Husker Gary: Read the article about your career and you. Very interesting. congratulations.
Abejo
Good fun in the morning.
For 68D, emulate the hare, I tried LOAF and LOLL before LOSE emerged. I had OSCAR and then FELIX before UNGER, and then ARTHUR instead of AUTHOR. But I didn't use Google or red letters and finally got the job done.
It's about 80 outside today, warmer than I like it, but complaining would seem unseemly.
It's looks as if Joe Torre may be trying to participate in buying the Dodgers. That would be cool. He would restore some respect to the Dodgers after we suffered through Frank McCourt; he with seven houses, he who has paid no taxes for eight years or so, he who has his two sons drawing a half-million dollar salary with no duties whatsoever, etc. Tarring and feathering would have seemed appropriate in days of yore.
Hello.
Progress report:
Thanks to late arriving checks,
the elves can make and ship a
cover for the Kindle. Kindle was in Downey, CA five days ago. I hope to bring the account balance
to zero and close it.
The box set of Larsson's Trilogy
came in time for Brian's BD dinner.
The two families will meet on neutral ground in Menlo Park. Weapons not allowed.
Sharks can move into first with a win tonight.
Still have my three week old cold.
Take care. eddy
A spectacular nature
video.
Bill G:
Fantastic video! Thanks.
I was raised Catholic so I know next to nothing about the bible. I have never understood the genealogy of Adam and Eve. They had 3 sons--Cain, Abel and Seth. Then there is a grandson Enos. Who was the mother of Enos? I have googled this and no answer.
@Bill G 3:39
Pretty cool video, Bill. You might enjoy reading a book called, Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo, by Vanessa Woods.
Genetically we are just as close to the B's as we are to chimpanzees. (About a 2% difference.) But, unlike the chimps, who can be as nasty as we are, bonobos have a culture that is matriarchal and can actually be summed up as 'make love not war'. A big improvement, I'd say.
BTW, if you remove one "n" and one "o" from the word bonobos, you get a really symbolic name for an eco-organisation that could save the world.
Cheers!
Hola Everyone, I had an easier time with the puzzle today than yesterday. Any unknowns, such as, Luise Rainer were filled in with the perps. My one real error was putting in New Age instead of New Era. That also was quickly fixed with the across words as they filled in.
My favorite today was Hole for Boring result.
HBTY, Dick, and many, many more.
C.C., A great writeup today. MB is moving to a gorgeous part of the State. Also, you need to put "Paint Your Wagon" on your Netflix list. It is a Musical Classic. Not to be missed.
Have a great evening everyone.
Good evening CC, et al., Excellent write up, CC. Loved your comments! Made me gut level laugh. And you are absolutely right on both accounts. I'm sure Dennis has had plenty of practice shooting many things & I'd be happy to be a witness to one such event. And again you're right. I've never met a bronc I didn't like. It's that bucking part that attracts me.
JD: OMG! Thank you for adding those explanations behind the initials. That D stood for Dick became apparent quickly but when you got to MFD, I about fell off my chair.
Argyle: that R makes Grab for sure but Garb may get in the way.
Dennis: as far as what I need? I need a good front end alignment, my lubricants are low so a good dip stick is needed, headlamps need tweeking to achieve maximum capacity or brillance, rear end always needs attention, my brakes are loose but who wants to stop anyway? and my tires are low so pucker up, buckaroo. The good news is, I do not need gas...it's passing as we speak. I'm on a toot! Thanks for asking.
HBTY, MF Dick!!!! I do wish you many many more!
I hate to pilfer from another CW blog, but this article was posted at Orange's - and I know many of you will find it interesting. It deals with those V8 moments that come with crossword solving. British/cryptic-style is given as an example, but the same idea applies.
How Crossword Puzzles Mess With Your Mind
Oh Lois, you do make me LAUGH OUT LOUD!! What a hoot (or a toot)...I hear you. MF Dick - I'm still rolling!!! (he must be too)
Hope Dennis can give you the complete 60,000 mile check up...I think you are smart to pay attention to the oil level. Nothing like a good dip stick. That does help if you are down a quart or two, which usually happens at about 60K miles. Have him check the shock absorbers too!
Hi gang -
Late arriving. Finally finished today, but all the names threw me for a loop or two.
Dick -HBD.
Gary - Sorry to hear of your daughters condition. Modern medical science can work wonders. Sending many positive thoughts to her, you, and Joan.
We are class of '64 co-alumni. I'll say we went to different schools together. What a great article about you. I'm glad to know you, even if it's only virtually.
C.C. great blog today. Thanks for the call out, and thanks to those who took a peek.
Had to go to T-town today. Gloria went there yesterday and is still there with her mom. We're getting into some elder care issues. Not fun.
Feels very, very strange to be home alone.
Cheers!
JzB never been on a BLIND DATE
Some years ago. I represented a Chinaman,Accused of harassing his niece, who gave his name as 'Ah Fook U'. Many years later,I told this story to a Chinese silk suit merchant who explained that U was having fun with us as "ah fook" meant Stupid in Chinese. When asked his name by the jailor, he was just saying " stupid U'.
Hey, Carol, JD is the one who came up w/the initials. Tears are still rolling down my cheeks over those. LMAO! Thank you for thinking about the shock absorbers. I forgot about those sweet things that take all the bumpin for me. I'll have those removed. It did occur to me that I should have my rear differential checked. The question is, do I want it locked or not? I prefer my RD's locked, cocked, and loaded, but I don't know if Dennis is quite up to that or not. Jiffy Boob may only do sooo much. Wha' d'ya think?
Jazz: I enjoyed reading your article. Very well done. and the video was excellent. Where do you find the time! Very impressive! Congratulations.
The theme was well-developed, but BRONC not being referred to as an abbrev. annoyed me. Are many people really saying this?
Chapstick52:
As usual, the answer to your question (and all questions) can be found on the Internet if you know where to look. There is a website, bettybowers.com, (subtitled America's Best Christian) where that exact question is answered. As Ms. Bowers says, you may not like the answer.
I am intrigued by your first sentence, and would like to know more, possibly by Email?
Sfingi:
Yes, they are, at the rodeo and elsewhere. They only say 'Bronco' in Denver, and those have two
legs rather than four.
I just found another spectacularly beautiful video, both in music and in the images. It's especially appropriate for this time of year. I have never heard of the singer, apparently Swedish, but she has a wonderful voice. The really good stuff starts at about 1:30 into the video.
WH: Remember the infamous white Bronco that had four legs?
Here comes the laughter. Lois, you light up my life.Yes, MF Dick is a man of many qualities, all good.
While reading Smokin' Seventeen Ms Plum refers to a character known as Mr. Titty. I just howled. Can't wait to see if he is akin to our Mr Jiffy Boob!
Bill, that was spectacular.
Ant, a good read...thanks.
Hutch, that may be the case with your client, but I am sure it was not with Fook Yu, our student. He was cleary uncomfortable and did not want any attention. He was embarrassed. He acted confused and mortified by the laughter he caused.
On the other hand, we have a Chinese restaurant called Foo Lee Yuen, which I am sure is a send up.
Lois, yeah, Dennis might want to extend his practice to include the 'bouncy back side' of his clients. Those shock absorbers can 'come' in handy. Nothing like a RD that is loaded.
Yes, our Birthday Dick is a good one...a real keeper. He rises above his nickname ;)
Geez Lois.....I'm blushing for you.
Yellowrocks - a bit late now, I suppose, but your Fook Yu observation was just what I had in mind when posting about Ah Fook. I understand that transliterations can cause some unintended consequences, and sometimes these can be amusing!
Also, I'm with you about the Randall/Klugman pairing for The Odd Couple. I prefer them to the Lemmon/Matthau combination in the original movie. I saw the movie via Netflix, having been motivated by some Corner posts last summer, and while it was amusing I really do like the series better.
Last, I notice that your avatar changed during the day. It looks as though you put up a photo of yourself during school days. By chance you resemble someone dear from my past.
Kazie - pursuant to the above: I was trying to stir up some entertaining DF comments about Ah Fook, but not to find fault with your contribution. My apologies if I caused offense! PS: I envy you, spending the Holidays in Germany!
Hey Dennis!
Ready to trade some 70+ degree weather for some, well, 70+ degree weather?
It looks like your services are needed here in Arizona. How are you as a talent scout?
chapstick52
Don't feel bad. I only know Adam & Eve and Cain & Abel. The rest I get from crosswords.
But that's no big surprise. Despite the oxymoronic expression (Is that a real word?) Judeo-Christian, there aren't any Christians, let alone Catholics, in the Old Testament. How could there be! Catholicism started with "Thou art Peter and upon this rock (Gr. petra, a rock) I will build my church." Or so we were told.
chapstick52 (Cont'd)
So it's no wonder the OT characters get short shrift.
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