google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, February 13, 2012 Anna Gundlach

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Feb 13, 2012

Monday, February 13, 2012 Anna Gundlach

Theme: What Little Girls Are Made Of

17A. Baker's sweetener : GRANULATED SUGAR

26A. Cinnamon blend for a Thanksgiving recipe : PUMPKIN PIE SPICE

37A. Little ones who, they say, are made up of the ends of this puzzle's four longest entries : GIRLS

43A. "All finished!" : "THAT'S EVERYTHING"

57A. 1966 Beach Boys hit : "WOULDN'T IT BE NICE". Clip(2:24)

Argyle here. It has been awhile since Anna's last puzzle but if you are going to fit FOUR! grid spanners into a Monday .... A little crosswordese must be expected.

What's next? Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails?

Across:

1. Hitchhikes : THUMBS. Vanity Fair(2:59)

7. Hiker's snack mix : GORP

11. "Cocoon" director Howard : RON

14. "Très sexy!" : "OO LA LA!"

15. Chevy hatchback : AVEO

16. Tavern order : ALE

20. Columnist Landers : ANN

21. Swiss calculus pioneer : EULER, Leonhard.

22. Odds and ends : STUFF

23. "__ silly question, get . . ." : ASK A

24. "Twittering Machine" artist Paul : KLEE


33. "The Sheik of __": 1920s song : ARABY

34. "Poor me!" : "ALAS!"

35. Carpenter's cutter : SAW

36. Places for compost : BINS

39. Israel's Netanyahu, familiarly : BIBI


40. Took a load off : SAT

41. Writing implements : PENS

42. Elegant dress material : SATIN

47. Make less difficult : EASE

48. Ages upon ages : AEON

49. Heart or liver : ORGAN

52. The devil : SATAN

54. Tavern spigot : TAP

60. Sick : ILL

61. __ pro quo: substitute : QUID

62. Laundry employee : IRONER. Remember the time we had MANGLE?

63. Santa's little helper : ELF. They're all on vacation now.

64. Trig function : SINE

65. Equivalent of A flat : G SHARP. You get A FLAT if you run over somethinG SHARP?

Down:

1. Old Roman garment : TOGA

2. Sound of traffic frustration : HORN

3. __ Bator, Mongolia : ULAN

4. Fellow : MAN

5. Feature of a clear day : BLUE SKY

6. Dog also called a Persian Greyhound : SALUKI. Wikipedia link.

7. Garden entrance : GATE

8. Too much of a good thing : OVERKILL

9. Little wagon's color : RED

10. Have in one's hands : POSSESS

11. Classico competitor : RAGU



12. Norwegian royal name : OLAF

13. Indoor ball brand : NERF

18. Shepard who hit golf balls on the moon : ALAN

19. Lone Star State sch. : UTEP. University of Texas at El Paso.

23. LAPD alerts : APBs. All Points Bulletin.

25. Grazing lands : LEAs

26. Blue Ribbon beer : PABST

27. Dickens villain Heep : URIAH. Misty, how you doing on the book?

28. Underwater ray : MANTA

29. Examine grammatically : PARSE

30. Last Supper query : "IS IT I?"

31. Mountain quarters : CABIN

32. "Dallas" surname : EWING. Prime time soap opera.

37. Thousands, in a heist : GEEs. Slang One thousand dollars is a grand, G, gee or (1000) large.

38. Buy for the future, as gold : INVEST IN

39. German road : BAHN. (Autobahn)

41. Manners to be minded : P's AND Q's

42. Rock-throwing protesters : STONERS. Not the stoners I know, man.

44. Marsh duck : TEAL

45. Heavy metal band named for a rodent : RATT. I'll let Ant or Splynter link it.

46. "'Bout this large" : "YEA BIG". Needs accompanying hand gesture.

49. Boo-boo, to tots : OWIE

50. Turn at the casino : ROLL

51. __ of Mexico : GULF

53. Senate page, for one : AIDE

54. Rocking Turner : TINA



55. Expert server, in tennis : ACER

56. Whodunit quarry : PERP

58. Rapa __: Easter Island : NUI. Easter Island was given the name Rapa Nui (Great Rapa) by Tahitian sailors, in the 1860's, as it reminded them of Rapa - a small island in French Polynesia (now commonly referred to as Rapa Iti). Before 1863, the name was unknown on the island. -S. Fischer, "The Naming of Rapanui". Crosswordese candidate.

59. Japanese dramatic form : NOH. Drama that often uses masks. Crosswordese candidate.


Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here is a lovely picture of 9-year-old Hudson helping grandpa Husker Gary solve yesterday's LA Times puzzle "after he took a sip of coffee out of my NASA mug. He got UTTER and others too, some with prompting and some on his own! My wife is scared he is turning into Papa!".

95 comments:

Tinbeni said...

Argyle: Excellent write-up!

FUN Monday, I agree: GIRLS are SUGAR and SPICE and EVERYTHING NICE.

Also, enjoyed the ALE & PABST (on TAP) mini-theme.

Timely Greek STONERS protesting their budget austerity woes.

SALUKI, Persian Greyhound, reminded me tonight is the 136th Westminister Dog Show.

Husker: Great shot of Hudson givin' you a hand.

Well, I'll watch my P's-AND-Q's when I make my Sunset toast.

Cheers.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Nice theme today and a bit crunchier than our normal Monday offerings I thought. Was a bit surprised to see EULER, SALUKI, BIBI, KLEE and ARABY, although I knew all of them (the clue for SALUKI was rather nasty, though).

I either didn't know or couldn't remember AVEO, however, and needed all the perps to get it.

I also stumbled a bit at the beginning by putting in OVERDOSE instead of OVERKILL at 8D.

Not a particularly hard puzzle, but certainly harder than most Mondays.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

D-Otto,
LaLaLinda is right about tinted moisturizer. It has a light coverage and moisturizes. I'm sure you've seen girls wear it (and jeggings), you just don't pay attention. You don't know what good stuff you're missing :-)

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Nice puzzle, Anna; Great write-up, Argyle!

Wasn't quite a speed run for me, especially as I had to go back and find a typo.

A lovely former student of mine dropped in with dinner this past evening. She is 50 and looks wonderful. Addicted to gyms, yoga, mountain climbing, etc., etc. We had a good swim. Wonderful after sooo long. Friend Chris has runny nose now, in addition to all her other problems. She is being bitten to death by fleas (one assumes) and scratches mightily. This in addition to injured shoulder (she is finally going to get an MRI tomorrow if all goes well).

Have a good day!

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Easy Monday puzzle. I initially wanted Honk for the Sound of Traffic Frustration, but the perps quickly gave me HORN. I am not familiar with dog breeds, but again, the perps gave me the SALUKI. I think I'll pass on getting one of those dogs.

Fermatprime: I thought of you when I uncovered EULER.

URIAH Heep is appropriate for this 200 anniversary year of Charles Dickens (Feb 7, 1812) birthday.

QOD: You can fool some of the people some of the time - and that's enough to make a decent living. ~ W.C. Fields

Middletown Bomber said...

Nice puzzle, good write up but do not give her any ideas for new puzzles. On the photo my 9yo thinks crosswords are boring he likes sudokus and word searches. Liked the pabst clue remined me of my last trip to milwaulkee. and the BIBI reference reminded me that his older brother was a teacher at my Sunday School when I was a child. its Monday of a short week for me as my son has 3.5 school days this week.

Hahtoolah said...

Middletown Bomber: Yoni was your Sunday School teacher? Cool! Was that when he was living in Boston?

ant said...

PARSE and PERP? We know those words! As well as crosswordese candidates ELLA and SCAT: BLUE SKies (3:46).

My favorite RATT song is "Back for More," but in honor of the Westminster show, here's that old classic Walkin' the Dog (3:38).

One last oldie, this one covered by OVERKILL: Frankenstein (3:33).

desper-otto said...

Happy Monday, all!

Well CC, you can tint me red this morning. You'd think they'd call it moisturizing makeup rather than tinted moisturizer. Actually, you wouldn't. I would.

Argyle, I enjoyed your flat humor. Your wits are sharp this morning.

Learning moment: SALUKI. I thought those Southern Illinois kids made up the name of their team. Would you believe my high school team name was the Pigeons -- named for the Pigeon River which flowed through town. Yeah, we got lotsa respect!

This was a fast solve, but seemed harder than the typical Monday. Nice.

ant said...

Argyle, it appears my initial post has gone to the dogs.

Husker Gary said...

I agree Argyle, grid spanners and a little arcane content makes for a nice Monday! Thanks Anna.

Musings
-Granddaughter Elise has all those components
-Beach Boys sang Wouldn’t It Be Nice on Grammy’s and Brian Wilson looked dazed but at least he is alive and did not self destruct like Whitney Houston
-Opie has directed some great movies
-All of us have put STUFF in email subject line
-Splynter, do they really make SAWS without motors on them?
-QUID PRO QUO = politics
-C sharp of B flat!
-Here’s where the Salukis play
-Casinos have killed horse racing here and now dog racing too.
-Alan hit the ball on the Moon and then turned down millions to reveal the brand of ball he hit due to his faithfulness to NASA’s prohibition on commercial advertising. He took the secret to his grave.
-Yup, Judas, it’s you!

Coach J said...

Argyle, thanks for great summary. I don't think I've ever seen "yea big" in a crossword. "Pabst" always reminds me of an end of a long day skiing in Colorado and popping the top outside the lodge while feeling the relief of getting those ski-boots off. Makes me want to get out to those beautiful mountains again. Puzzle came easily with one misstep (beds instead of bins) that was quickly resolved by perps. Hope everyone has s great day!

Tinbeni said...

Husker (and YES, I researched this,
this morning):

Alan Sheppard “hit” two golf balls on Feb.6,1971 on the Moon at the end of the Apollo 14 mission with four swings.
The first swing completely missed.
The second swing moved the ball about 2 or 3 feet.
The third sent it about 200 meters.
On his fourth swing (the first swing at the 2nd ball) he hit the SECOND golf ball around 400 meters.

He said he used a 6 Iron.

Husker Gary said...

Tin, what are you doing up so dang early? 400 meters with one hand in a space suit? Wow! Okay, lunar gravity is 1/6 Earth's but still...

My BIL, Maynard, got a nice award at a basketball game Saturday night and granddaughter told her mom last night, "We went to a game and some guy named Mater got an award." She loves the movie Cars!

QOD - those peeps seem to prey on seniors!

p.s. I also made the turnovers. All right, they came out of a tube, but I assembled them and turned on the stove.

HeartRx said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.

Fun write-up and links, Argyle - I laughed at your AFLAT comment! Did not know the SALUKI breed, but it was filled with perps anyway. Other than that, WBS!

Husker G., adorable pic of your tow-headed grandson...now I know the secret to solving the Sunday LAT puzzle.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Anna G., for a great Monday puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the excellent review.

Got home at 1:30 AM today. I may take a nap later.

Puzzle filled easily. The theme became obvious and all were reached with no problem.

GORP was fun. I have eaten my mother's version of that while hiking the Appalachian Trail (part of it) with her.

I've had many PBR's through the years. I am in to craft beers now.

Desperate-Otto. The best mascot name I have heard is the "Pretzels" from Freeport, IL.

Visited Mt. Vernon while in Virginia. Great place.

Glad to be home. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Anony-Mouse said...

Thank you Ms. Gundlach for a nice and easy puzzle - really, really enjoyed it. Thank you Argyle for an interesting commentary - loved the Beach boys song. Got the theme, got many of the words without even reading them.

Hahtool, nice avatar - was that a 'masked ball' wedding reception ? Wasn't Bibi's brother the only (dead) casualty at the raid at Entebbe ( 1976) ?

Have a good week, you guys. I'm going on a long trip.

ALT QOD:- Mitt won in Iowa. But then, he turns out, he didn't. It's a classic Romney flip-flop. ~ Stephen Colbert.

To those, who think this is political. I don't get a choice of ALT QOD, it just comes out of the paper. Whatever comes, I type - enjoy or seethe .....

Grumpy 1 said...

Never too old to learn something new. I'd never heard of SALUKI before. PERP(indiculars) filled it, though. Everything else was known, even if a few were somewhat obscure.

I wonder if Ms Gundlach constructed the suggested companion puzzle and submitted it to NYT?

Husker, great pic of a 'puzzled' Hudson.

Thanks for the SHARP write up, Argyle.

Tinbeni, they're onto you. Now the constructors are tring to hide the ICE in the theme entries.

SouthernBelle said...

Mornin to all,

A fun puzzle and a great way to start off the week; especially when you know 1 across & 1 down right off the bat!
Great write-up Argyle.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Definitely more pepper than the average Monday. I'm always impressed when constructors can find enough theme fills with just the right letter count; today's four grid spanners really amaze!

Couldn't recall NOH, and NUI is new to me. Bet we see those again.

I'll hold off the Downton gossip for a bit, except to say OOH LA LA!

Avg Joe said...

Fun puzzle. A few tougher entries than typical for a Monday, but all were perpable and it was pretty much a speed run.

Had to laugh out loud at your comment on Yea Big Argyle. After I'd filled that one in, couldn't resist making the appropriate hand gesture. Even put my pencil down to do so.

Snow on the plains today. But at least the temps have moderated into the high 20's.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. Thanks for the comments, Argyle.

The theme and unifier worked for me today. Helped me get the across: EVERYTHING NICE. Easy solve, generally. ULAN is sometimes spelled with 2 A's. Interesting about Rapa NUI. No look-ups needed. Good puzzle, Anna.

Splynter said...

Hi There ~!

Wow, this was a great Monday puzzle - 4 spanners, and some tough fill - with answers I didn't even see until I got to the blog - I missed "P's and Q's" altogether...

HG, I have a "hole saw" for drywall; it's about the only one I own without a motor on it.

Splynter

Mari said...

I got a late start today, so WEES.

Good for a Monday with a few head scratchers: GORP, NUI, NOH, and ARABY. After hanging around this board PERP has taken on a whole new meaning. It was fun to see it in 56D.

Anno-Mousy @ 8:05 AM: Where are you going on your trip?

Anonymous said...

No Dennis?

desper-otto said...

RAPA NUI sounds like a great name for a music group...rap music, of course.

Anony-Mouse, loved the Alt QOD. Doesn't matter which side you're on, it's still funny!

Splynter, do you mean one of those round doohickeys that you attach to your drill, or one of those pointy saws that you can stab straight through the drywall?

desper-otto said...

Oops. Guess I should've followed your link!

Avg Joe said...

C'mon Splynter. I bet you have more than that if you think about it. I know I do.

4 standard hand saws (3 crosscut and 1 rip) several coping saws, a deep throat coping saw, several hack saws, a rod saw insert for the hack saw, a dovetail saw (pull cut) and a drywall saw. Around here, a hole saw fits in a drill. Got 4 of those, but they're motorized by definition. Oh, and I also have a 6' two man rip saw, but it's an antique and has seen much better days. Looks nice on the wall though.

kazie said...

Nice start to my week --a puzzle with no problems despite a few unknowns that got perped. SALUKI was one. I think it looks like a Doberman with undocked ears and tail, and hairy ears, tail and legs. We had a friend with a Dobe once that wasn't docked and it had a good temperament too --not at all like their reputation.

I tried Saturday and got absolutely nowhere and had no time to check here. Then yesterday I did most of the NYT in our paper, but although I got the theme answers via perps, I had no idea what they were about.

Husker,
Really cute photo!

Dudley said...

Awright, I waited.

Where to start? Lady Sybil and her beau showed remarkable spine when faced with the full withering disapproval of her family! Nice to see Thomas has gotten some of what he deserves, but I don't trust him - he hasn't been humbled near enough.

Looks like Matthew's loins are back in action, along with the rest of his southern hemisphere. Good! He deserves it. So glad he clarified - somewhat - his position with Mary. They do make a fine-looking couple.

Lord Grantham sure had a lot of worries all at once. We can forgive his brief transgression, can't we? Anna showed her steady resolve, rightly so; we can count on her to give her man the support he needs now.

Now, for everyone who thinks Edith is hopelessly plain, I give you THIS!

Virginia said...

Fun Monday - both the puzzle and the write-up. Never heard of Gorp, not sure I'd want to eat something with a name like that. ;)

Argyle: I thoughht it was Frogs and snails and . . . ?

Since I don't seem to be able to post my dog as an avatar on the iPad, must watch for Bull Terriers at Westminster! Remember Rufus?

Saw a pic yesterday of guys in the garb af ARABY racing SALUKIS in the desert sands.

Abejo, Did you see Monticello as well? My fave!

Virginia said...

All you Downtown Abbey folks - I attempted to search for it in my DVR and it doesn't pop up. What channel/day is it on?

Husker Gary said...

Mea Culpa, All I watched was the Beach Boys and Glen Campbell last night on the Grammy's but the Boys sang Good Vibrations not the song I said earlier.

Glen Campbell did great on Rhinestone Cowboy despite his Alzheimer's. Ironically, he played with the Beach Boys in '64and '65. Mike Love looks like a vintage beach bum and is still gettin' it done as a front man.

I am punting the Downton comments here until I get back from the Y and picking up Joann's Valentine cake as I have our favorite English peers DVRed.

Thanks for the nice comments on Huddie!

carol said...

Hi all,

Mixed emotions on this offering...easy start but the stumblers were there...SALUKI, EULER, AVEO,and BIBI.

Avg Joe: re 'perpable', great word!!!

Abejo: we watched a great documentary on the Appalachian Trail (on Netflix). Took us from the beginning in the south all the way to the end in Maine. Give one an appreciation of the stamina it takes to hike the whole thing. Think if I ate the GORP stuff I'd need many 'bathroom' stops..that stuff can get you off the trail fast.

Husker: cute grandson!! Makes puzzling so much for fun to have help like that. :)

Tuttle said...

Are you saying the Japanese have Noh theatre?

Ron Worden said...

Good morning to all and happy monday. Thanks for the write-up Argyle nice smooth Mon. with no abbreviations. Kudos to the author!I thought gorp was a sci-fi robot.My Grandfather judged at the Westminster back in the 60's. I don't think they make Pabst blue ribbon anymore,do they? Heading to the store to get DW's birthday and Valentine's present for tommorow. Have a great day. RJW.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if this has been brought up before, but I'd like to officially nominate Barry G for a guest-blogger spot.
What say you, BG?!
I know I, for one, would look forward to reading a whole puzzle's worth of your comments (though I'm not sure about the slew of WBS's that will most likely follow).

-Long Time Reader

Anonymous said...

39A reminds me of the time when Mrs. Netanyahu was introducing her husband to Yassir Arafat, "Yassir, that's my Bibi."

Good puzzle...

Steve said...

I had Good Vibrations and Fun Fun Fun with this one today - nice write-up Argyle.

Some great zippy cluing and answers, needed OVERKILL to complete my GORP, AVEO and KLEE.

Great pic of Husker Gary's little guy. We've got teenage constructors and pre-teen solvers, use old folks will need to go and find something else to do soon!

Happy Monday!

SouthernBelle said...

Sorry.....can't seem to get to my Google account to turn name to blue get pic in where it belongs!

LaLaLinda said...

Hi All ~~

Nice to have an easy Monday puzzle that's also very enjoyable ... just enough "spice." Like Hahtool, I had 'Honk' before HORN but that was my only write-over. I remembered SALUKI as a mascot from an Illinois school in NCAA basketball tournaments. Sports STUFF sure comes in handy when doing crosswords!

~~ My favorite was OOLALA. ;-)

~~ I, too, thought of Fermatprime when filling in EULER.

~~ Thanks for the write-up, Argyle ... I really enjoyed the musical links. Also liked your AFLAT/GSHARP!

~~ "Huddie" looks to be hard at work, HG - what a cute photo!

Have a great day, everyone ~~

carol said...

Ron Worden: yes, they still make Pabst Blue Ribbon beer...there are several people at the tavern where we play shuffleboard that drink it. Also Hamm's (the beer refreshing)...remember the jingle???
It may be that these beers are only sold in taverns...I haven't looked to see if they are in the stores here.

kazie said...

We get Pabst at local supermarkets here. Our German visitors love it and so does DH when he's not drinking Huber Bock.

CrossEyedDave said...

Caught the theme right away, and thought this one would be easy. But i must report an FIW as i put 8D over"B"ill.

I also had:

..S.............U
..A.............T
..L........BLE"A"
E"S"LER.......P
..K
..I

oH wELL!

Argyle, Re: yr 62A reference "mangle"?
(i get the feeling i missed something good)

Can anyone enlighten me?

Misty said...

Speed run this Monday morning--but an adorable speed run. Many thanks, Anna G.! And a sweet reminder to everybody that tomorrow is Valentine's Day!

Argyle, how nice that you remembered my crossword-inspired reading of "David Copperfield"! I'm half-way through the 760 pages now, and so far, he's not yet a villain, but URIAH Heep sure is a creep. David Copperfield has now fallen in insane love at first sight with Dora, but with no clue why she'll end up as the second Mrs. Copperfield (according to crossword puzzles) and not the first. Will keep you posted. And thanks, Hahtool, for reminding us that Charles Dickens's birthday was last week.

Have a good week, everybody!

Bill G. said...

I enjoyed a pleasant Monday puzzle and great writeup as usual. Thanks. Nice photo too.

I had trouble with the intersection of AEON and RATT. I didn't know of RATT and don't usually spell EON with an A.

She said, "What are you doing?"
I said, "Nothing..."
She said, "But you did that yesterday."
I said, "Yeah, but I wasn't finished"

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Great picture of Hudson working on the xword puzzle, Husker Gary. What fun!

Loved this puzzle because I could do it easily. And it is clever. The theme and a few perps allowed me to get the Beach Boys Hit, because I don't know anything about that sort of thing.

I appreciate seeing IT IS I in the puzzle.

Cheers

Lemonade714 said...

Happy Monday all,
Argyle you were at the top of your game today, and AG, 4 gridspanners on a Monday, WOW!

WBS especially about the non-Monday clues and Overdose/Overkill.

I loved seeing SAT, SATIN and SATAN all close together.

GIRLS always reminds me of this SONG .

M.Bomber, are you from Middletown Connecticut?

Saluki is a fun word.

A-Mouse, dead casualities are called fatalities.

Lucina said...

Hello, Argyle and friends. My, you are SHARP today, Santa!

Up late today, so WEES, as you have all commented on the EASE of this puzzle. I thought so, too.

Desper-otto and Abejo:
The community college where I go to the gym has the Artichokes for their mascot.

Downton fans, according to my PBS schedule, next Sunday is the last episode.

Enjoy our Monday, everyone! Off to the gym.

Hopeless Romantic said...

Bill G-
NOT a good exchange just before V-Day! Here's a thought - for you, and for the rest of the bloggers:

DO NOT BUY A VALENTINE'S DAY CARD THIS YEAR!!!

And if you've already bought one, throw it away!

Instead, give your DH/LW an actual heart-felt hand-written love letter - SWAK! So much more personal, so much more romantic, so much more OO-LA-LA!

Get those pens out and start writing!

Irish Miss said...

Hi everyone:

Nice write- up, Argyle and a fun, easy but " spicy" puzzle. After yesterday's NYT and LAT cws, I needed a kinder, more gentle brain workout. This fit the bill perfectly.

Happy Monday to all.

Anonymous said...

Lucina wrote:

"Downton fans, according to my PBS schedule, next Sunday is the last episode."

Hopefully the overkill of it will end also.

Mari said...

Carol at 9:48 am: A few years ago my brother-in-law hiked the Appalachian Trail (south to north). Afterward he got a customized license plate on his car that says AT HIKER.

I fondly remember my father working CW puzzles every day.

I loved the photo of Hudson. Looks like this young man has a bright future ahead of him!

Argyle said...

Tuttle(@10:06AM), I hope I remember that clip if I ever get NOH again; it was great.

CrossEyedDave(@10:58AM), you didn't miss much. A mangle is basically a rotary iron, clip(2:30) showing a home model. Commercial ones can do whole sheets at one go.

Please, Misty(@11:01), keep us informed so I won't have to read it.

Anony-Mouse said...

To Meri

I'm going on a longish trip to Mumbai ( Bombay) - 18 hr flight on Continental. BTW, lousy airline .... and the food sucks.

Happy and sad. All my generation are dead, or dying. Cant relate to the new gen, and have no natural immunity left. Have taken shots for cholera / gastroenteritis, typhoid, jaundice -hepatitis B, Mefloquin for Malaria, and a host of others. I feel more drugged out that a deadhead at Jerry Garcia's funeral.

Lets all be careful and safe. Have a good time, you all.

Tinbeni said...

Husker: I can hit a 6-Iron 400 meters.
Just have to wait for the Hurricane, first.

Grumpy: It's OK if they hide the ICE in a theme (spICE / nICE).
But you're right, they both earned a "grrrr."
(Also notICEd my name was spelled wrong in the
4th theme. She had as TITBENI ...)

Tuttle: Enjoyed the Japanese NOH link. lol

Lemon: Isn't "Saluki" that new game where they use the letters "A" thru "I" (in a sorta sudoku grid) and all the fill is crosswordese???

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Spiced rum, Tin?

PK said...

Hi Y'all,

Fun puzzle, great blog and links! Thanks!

Knew SALUKIS because of sports. I tried to put it into a puzzle last week where it didn't fit, so looked it up to check spelling. Just planning ahead...

Anony-mouse, have a safe trip! My niece and her family live in Rajpur, Dehradun, India where they do work as an economic mission. She and her young son got typhoid soon after going there 18 mos. ago. When they did a mission to Africa she got malaria and hepatitis. Missionaries should be made of sterner stuff, methinks. My brother and SIL just got back from visiting there. They were happy because their daughter has a different house with running water now. Americans take such things for granted.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Fun puzzle; sweet, spicy: nice.

Argyle - love the G Sharp comment.

No time for comments today. I have a music lesson this afternoon. First one in about 25 years. And that was on guitar - an instrument that utterly defeated me.

IMBO.

Cheers!
JzB GEE, am I SHARP again?

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

Late today due to early morning appointment with Cardiologist and a whole bunch of stuff to do to cover my butt for V DAy.

Liked today's puzzle, even though it had a slowdown or two. I initially entered Nova for 15A, but perps got it fixed and AVEO appeared. The only Chevy I think about these days is my Tahoe.

I don't recall Shepard on the moon and wanted Neil for 18D. I do remember Neil Armstrong swinging a club after he landed. Or has more mush built up in my grey matter?

See you tomorrow.

Barry G. said...

@Anonymous (10:08 AM):

I'd love to guest blog and C.C. has even asked me in the past. It just doesn't work with my current schedule, unfortunately, since I am usually in bed long before the puzzle becomes available for blogging. But I appreciate the sentiment!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Really cool puzzle today; I enjoyed it a lot. Once I got SUGAR, SPICE, and GIRLS, it was a good bet to go ahead and fill in EVERYTHING and NICE.

WEES.

I hated it when my sisters would tease me because I was made of puppydog tails.

Thanks for sharing that photo of Hudson, Gary.

Watched and loved Downton Abbey last night. Twists and turns!

Best wishes to you all.

Anonymous said...

"Snips and snails"?? I always remember it as "Snakes and snails" Must be a regional thing. The RATT clue threw me off I always remembered them being classified as hard rock not heavy metal.

Marge said...

Hi all.
This was a nice puzzle even if a little harder for Monday.

Thanks Argyle for the nice write up. Never heard of Saluki- I was going to mention the Dog show tonight but since someone already did, I won't!?

Just wanted to Hi to everyone. Got to go see the eye Dr. now.
Marge

Bill G. said...

Virginia, Downton Abbey is on PBS but the show is called Masterpiece Theater. I too had trouble finding it at first. Also, I've come late to the party. I've only watched Episode 4 so far. I am expecting to enjoy it because of all the positive comments here but I'm having trouble trying to keep all the characters straight while deciphering the British accents. Aside: I have trouble at first with the accents in The Full Monty but my 'ear' got used to them after about 15 minutes. Otherwise, I was wishing for subtitles. Here's hoping my ear adapts to the accents in Downton Abbey too.

Bill G. said...

I didn't really watch the Grammy award show because I'm not really into modern pop music. Flipping channels resulted in coming across the tribute to Glen Campbell and a duet with Tony Bennett. It was astounding to see two women texting on their call phones when everybody else was giving Glen Campbell a standing O.

crossword solver said...

A nice theme indeed, a little bit of a twist, a little bit harder puzzle than I thought on the usual mondays.

Lemonade714 said...

Egads, I forgot to mention the great picture of Hudson and his puzzle(a grandson named after a) a defunct brand of automobile; b) a really bad movie with Bruce Willis; c) Kate; or, d) a smelly river in NY).

Precious, wonderful training for life. Sundays with my parents and the NYT were awesome.

Lucina said...

Anon@11:46:
Many of us, including myself, record Downton Abbey so I expect it will still be discussed farther into the future. I know I plan to watch it all again.

BTW, the next mini series is The Old Curiosity Shop.

Anonymous said...

hey dudes this was pretty easy and fun man.

Sam M. said...

Well, whaddya know! Is that my ol' buddy Woody Harrelson playing drums in that Vanity Fair video? He always was all thumbs!

Wanda Woman said...

Fun Monday puzzle with definitely more bite than typical Mondays.

The theme reminded me of a bit from one of my favorite TV shows, Disney's animated series "Phineas and Ferb" (yes, I am an adult).


Baljeet: I do not even know what girls like!

Phineas: Isn't it, like, sugar and spice and everything nice?

Baljeet: That is what they are made of. I do not want to build one. Duh!


Happy Valentine's Eve!

CrossEyedDave said...

it sure looked like Woody Harrelson,
but Wiki says different.

Mari said...

CE Dave: You've got the best avatars!

Lucina said...

Tuttle:
Great clip of NOH theater! Thanks. That should etch it into my brain.

HuskerG:
Love that photo of your grandson and the crosssword. It's never too early to learn.

BarryG.
Too bad you aren't available to blog. You would be so good at it.

Avg Joe said...

Yes, Mari. Dave does have good avatars. BTW, that cat's butt could easily be the south side of my calico.

But I tend to think my south end of a northbound horse trumps the cat. And if you want to make this a contest of animal ends :-) I'd offer the cartoon with a rodent now featured. Just look at the smile on the face of that cat! You gotta love that.

Warren said...

Hi Argyle & gang, my wife and I finished today's puzzle (barely) just before she left for work.

Here's the same Beach Boy's classic song, with original video...very good quality (for a 60's video)....enjoy

Here's the Shiek of Araby song done by early Beatles?

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, A quick easy puzzle today. The unknowns like Bibi, Klee, and Euler were easily obtained with the perps. I had one misstep with Honk instead or Horn for the Sound of traffic frustration. To me Honk is the sound and Horn is what makes that sound.

I have a huge bump on my forehead because I just couldn't make sense of Psandqs. When reading the down clues I'm vertically challenged and I could not make sense of that letter string! Two V-8 cans made that huge bump on my forehead!

Thanks Argyle for the great writeup and links.

Husker, Loved the picture of your grandson and the CW. Get them hooked early, I say.

It is cold and rainy here today. One of our higher elevations roads is closed due to snow. Should be pretty when it clears up with the snow on the mountains around our valley.

Have a great rest of the day, everyone.

Chickie said...

I'm afraid the Sugar and Spice jingle wasn't the one that was recited to me when I was a wee girl.

Mine went:
There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very, very good
But when she was bad, she was horrid!

That one was recited to me quite often, I'm afraid!

As for Downton Abbey. I heard that Season 3 is already under production. I can't verify that, but who knows?

HeartRx said...

I'm surprised that Lois hasn't commented on "YEA BIG" yet...

I bet she always spelled it as "YAY!! BIG!!" (with clapping of hands...)

Argyle said...

Speaking of Lois :

When she was good, she was very, very good
But when she was bad, she was better!

Lucina said...

Chickie:
Not only is season 3 of Downton Abbey going into production, but Shirley McLaine is scheduled to play Lady Grantham's American mother.

carol said...

Argyle (5:18) You are right about Lois :):)
That reminded me of what Mae West said when a friend admired her large diamond ring and said "Oh my goodness", to which Ms West replied "goodness had nothin to do with it".

Jayce said...

Lucina,

Good to know. I am definitely looking forward to season 3 of Downton Abbey. Thanks.

I have a feeling the producers didn't anticipate it would be this popular.

LA CW Addict said...

I thought today's puzzle was extra easy except for the spelling on Saluki. Luckily, I picked the correct vowel "u" to get Euler right. Never heard of Ratt and don't think I'm missing much there!

Enjoyed all of the music links.

Please tell me what WBS (HeartRX) and FIW (Cross Eyed Dave) stands for. I am gradually catching on to the texting, but still need help every once in awhile. I tried googling both, with no luck.

Thank you

CrossEyedDave said...

Mari@3:49

Thanks, i try to put up an avatar that matches my mood about the puzzle. Unfortunately i did not do too well today. (ergo the cat butt)

AvgJoe@4:00

You win, that cats smile beats a cats butt anyday. i don't like contests unless it's me against the crossword. Can't we put just put this to bed?

La Cw Addict@6:25

We really should have abbreviations in the Olio (F.A.Q). I cannot find in the archives who said it, and it is not an official abbreviation, but FIW=Finished It Wrong.

HeartRx: WBS?

Jazzbumpa: IMBO?

Anonymous said...

WBS = what Barry said.

IMBO = I must be off. (Plagiarized from Buckeye).

Avg Joe said...

Dave, For cat's sake don't take me at all seriously. I certainly don't take me seriously. I'm not proposing a competition. I just thought it might be fun to see what kind of avatars that type of comment might drag out of the rest of the population. I'm just havin' a good time. Hope you are too.

HeartRx said...

you guys just crack me up...

Anonymous said...

Boy, things are perking up!! Did some one mention "putting to bed!?" Sign me up, I'm in!

Anonymous said...

Southern Illinois University (my alma mater) chose the Saluki for its mascot because it is the Royal Dog of Egypt. The university is in Carbondale which is in the section of Illinois known as Little Egypt. I believe its about the southern third of the state.

We enjoyed working this puzzle because its theme was pparent right away.

Dot

NJ Irish said...

Hi All,
ya gotta love a puzzle that fills in perps to answers you don't know the answer to, makes me feel smarter then I am. :-)

Argyle you are on your game today, loved your write up.

And this is for Dudley:

Hottie

Dudley said...

Let's face it, there's a lot of smoldering hotness on the program.

CrossEyedDave said...

I finally found it!

The first record of FIW (finished it wrong) that i can find is

Jayce, February 3rd, @2:59

Thanks Jayce!
(i intend to use this a lot!)

Irish Miss said...

Disappointed with non-sporting group winners at Westminster Dog Show. My favorite breed in this category, albeit biased as a past-owner, is the Bichon Frise. My Bichon was Fluffy- not an original name but so very apropos and she was as lovable as she was beautiful.

I lost her 11 years ago and still miss her.