Theme: Three Italians - An adjective for three Italian cities begin these phrases.
20A. Christian led by the Pope : ROMAN CATHOLIC. Rome
39A. Equine that originated in Italy's Campania region : NEAPOLITAN HORSE. Naples (Wikipedia - Neapolitan horse).
55A. Slatted window treatment : VENETIAN BLIND. Venice.
Argyle here. I am not sure of the intent of the theme today. Based on three Italian cities, Venice in northern Italy, Rome in the middle and Naples in the south, but not presented that way in the grid. Any ideas? Love to hear them.
Across:
1. Ginger cookies : SNAPS
6. Take down __: humble : A PEG
10. 1040, for example : FORM
14. Stand-up in a club : COMIC
15. Close by : NEAR
16. Ireland's best-selling solo artist : ENYA. SailAway.(4:28)
17. Plentiful : AMPLE
18. __ Bell : TACO
19. Sinister look : LEER
23. Passionate : FIERY
24. "Amadeus" subject : MOZART. Amadeus Trailer.(2:24)
27. Paper with NYSE news : WSJ. (New York Stock Exchange / Wall Street Journal)
30. 300, to Caesar : CCC
31. Federal agency support org. : GSA
32. Michele of "Glee" : LEA.
33. Lotion ingredient : ALOE
35. Road for Caesar : ITER
37. Brook or lake fish : TROUT
42. Iraqi currency : DINAR
43. "Pleeeeeease?" : "CAN I?"
44. Wedding cake level : TIER
45. Part of USDA: Abbr. : AGR. (agriculture)
46. RR depot : STA
48. Big name in kitchen gadgets : OXO. Mid-range prices. (OK, desper-otto?)
50. Harris and McMahon : EDs
51. 1862 Tennessee battle site : SHILOH. Also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing. Map.
53. Dolly the sheep, e.g. : CLONE
60. Tiny dog biter : FLEA. My first thought was of those little ankle biters.
62. Balkan native : SERB
63. Eagle's dwelling : AERIE. Can we get an update?
64. Nerd : DORK
65. Machu Picchu resident : INCA
66. Boa or mamba : SNAKE
67. Like an optimist's point of view : ROSY
68. Big Dipper component : STAR
69. Facilitated : EASED
Down:
1. Capone facial mark : SCAR
2. Pitcher Hideo : NOMO. Hideo Nomo was the first Japanese-born Japanese major leaguer to permanently relocate to MLB when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995.
3. Clock radio letters : AM/PM. Ha! I was looking for the switch from AM/FM this time.
4. Seasoned rice dish : PILAF
5. Like many postcard photos : SCENIC
6. Continent with penguins : ANTARCTICA
7. Like bogs : PEATY. And some single malts, eh Tinbeni?
8. Apiece : EACH
9. Cleans and brushes, as a horse : GROOMS
10. __ Navidad : FELIZ. (Merry Christmas) Written and sung by José Feliciano in 1970.
11. Diet soda claim : ONE CALORIE
12. Deli bread choice : RYE
13. Fold, spindle or mutilate : MAR
21. Director DeMille : CECIL. Are you ready for your close-up?
22. Disinclined : LOATH
25. Acted in an environmentally conscious way : REUSED. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
26. Spuds : TATERS
27. Comedian Sykes and a fish : WANDAs. The movie, "A Fish Called Wanda" came out in 1988. Cleanest clip I could find for Sykes.
28. "... in a one-horse open __" : SLEIGH
29. "Can We Talk?" comedienne : JOAN RIVERS
31. Nature Valley snack : GRANOLA BAR
34. Govt. antipollution org. : EPA
36. Inbound flight approx. : ETA
38. Decay : ROT
40. Welles of "Citizen Kane" : ORSON
41. Watergate president : NIXON
47. Grad student's paper : THESIS
49. Having just hit a double, say : ON BASE. Not the daily kind.
52. Like a faulty pipe : LEAKY
53. Approximately, in dates : CIRCA
54. Supreme Court justice Kagan : ELENA
56. Camping gear : TENT
57. Some nest eggs, briefly : IRA's
58. Swoosh logo company : NIKE
59. Accomplishment : DEED
60. WWII leader : FDR
61. Brit's bathroom : LOO
Argyle
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteFinished this one in slightly longer than average Monday time, due to the fact that I've never heard of a NEAPOLITAN HORSE before (just the ice cream and the pastry) and had no idea who Michele LEA is (I guessed LEE until the perps showed me the error of my ways).
I also had no idea that 31A was going to be GSA (and I still can't remember what it stands for right now), but the perps easily took care of that for me.
And yes, I did go for AM/FM instead of AM/PM again. The "radio" part of the clue gets me every time.
Everything else was smooth sailing.
The Monday puzzle is the only thing I like about Monday's. Thanks.....Have a great week....
ReplyDeleteGood morning, argyle and friends. Ithis was a good way to ease into the work week. I easily recognized we were going after 3 well-known Italian cities, but your title is as good as any.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite clue was the little dog biter = FLEA.
Happy Monday, everyone.
They also could be a native or inhabitant of one of those cities.
ReplyDeleteGood day folks,
ReplyDeleteEasy start to the week with only a couple of minor miscues that were easily corrected. For 39A I wanted NEOPOLITAN, but I knew JOON s/b JOAN so that fixed it!
Never cared too much for Joan Rivers. My favorite female comedienne of that period was Carol Burnett. Some of the skits she performed with Harvey Korman or Red Skelton still break me up today.
Count me in as one who began with AMFM.
Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteHand up for AM/FM...grrr. I never heard of a NEAPOLITAN HORSE. After some research, I found out that the breed is extinct, but some of the line was bred into the more famous Lipizzaner stallions. Truly noble horses.
Barry G., GSA is the "Government Services Administration". One of their functions is acting as a procurement agency for government facilities like the NIH. So I was quite familiar with them.
Have a nice start of the week - it is finally going to start warming up here, with promises of spring! My poor roses don't know what to do, because I have had to cover them for the past two nights!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Kevin, for a swell monday puzzle. Thank you, as well, Argyle, for the review.
ReplyDeleteI had AMPM, mainly because I had SNAPS, COMIC, AMPLE, and ROMAN CATHOLIC first.
So, Marti, what does NIH stand for?
Cannot think of any other theme than Italian
OXO came easily because we had it recently. I would not have known it otherwise.
Hahtoolah, missed your QOD.
We had plenty of rain over the weekend. Now everything is good and soaked.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
WBS for once--I did and thought all the same things as he did. I found I was more hesitant than usual for a Monday.
ReplyDeleteI am finding time is going so fast and I have little to spare any day of the week now. When I was working, it seemed all my professional energy was used in only one or two directions, and now I seem to be split between four or five areas all the time. Do the rest of you retirees experience that too? People ask how I enjoy retirement, but I have to say it's no different from working except the pay is less!
Good morning, everybody!
ReplyDeleteHand up for AM/FM which AMFLE wouldn't allow. I also tried LEE before LEA. Otherwise it was an easy, peasy Monday.
Argyle, thanks for the shoutout, and yes, mid-priced is fine. I went through a half-dozen "crank" can openers before discovering Oxo. It looks sharp and stays sharp. Oops! Is that Wildroot Cream Oil, Charlie?
Musings
ReplyDelete-Paper is late and so I had a very unsatisfying time doing it online. The new format there is not friendly to those of us who like to work out a corner.
-Here is some video of this Roman Catholic singing at mass yesterday thanks to my wife’s nice surprise
-Touring ITALY was #1 on my bucket list. We get tingly over items that are a hundred years old. They don’t start talking there until it is at least 600 years old!
-I never cared for ginger SNAPS
-I love it when I can fill out a FORM electronically
-Taco Bell? Tijuana Phone Company.
-Argyle, I had forgotten Sail Away and loved hearing it again!
-Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease can I go golfing today? I’ll put GRANOLA BARS in my bag for lunch.
-TV show Ed was a fav here.
-Great grandfather fought at SHILOH. He didn’t have children until he was over 50!
-NERDS are “in” on Big Bang
-“Norma Desmond” in that scene was eerie, Argyle!
-Joan has had more work done than the GSA. Hey, whatever gets you through the night!
-Tin would never drink PEATY scotch from a LEAKY glass
-DDW? Nope. IKE? Nope. FDR!
Or maybe it was Gillette Blue Blades...Hmm.
ReplyDeleteAbejo, the government sure does like initialisms - "NIH" stands for "National Institutes of Health", located in Bethesda, MD. They do a lot of biomedical research, and my biotech company sold many products to them.
ReplyDeleteHusker, wonderful video. We have so much talent on this blog!!
GSA is quite a bit in the news today; I was surprised they didn't go for a more topical clue.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to compliment Kevin Christian on the construction. Although there were only 3 theme answers, there were 4 long downs, and all 4 were nice entries. Nice Monday.
WEES. I fell for the old AMPM gag as well.
ReplyDeleteHondo, I like Carol Burnett too. I used to watch her reruns as a kid. some of those skits still crack me up.
Al Capone may have put Chicago on the map, but he earned his scars in New York. Hitting on the wrong gal earned him three slashes that would stay with him for the rest of his life.
Good morning all. Thanks for a fun write up Argyle. WEES for AM/(oops)M, easily corrected. The rest was pretty smooth sailing.
ReplyDeleteQuoting Hearti, "GSA is the "Government Services Administration". One of their functions is acting as a procurement agency for government facilities like the NIH." Well... it seems that the Secret Service is now the official "procurement" agency.
I'm thinking the reference to "A Fish Called Wanda" was not not an accidental part of the puzzle. In the movie, Jamie Lee Curtis gets off on her lover speaking Italian.
Arrivederci.
Good morning Argyle and all.
ReplyDeleteNice easy start to the week. Like others, had to wait for the NEAPOLITAN HORSE to present itself, but by then the theme of the Italian city adjectives was obvious, and VENETIAN fell right in. The 10-letter long downs were fun to work with. Also, interesting FDR/DORK cross.
This Link from today's funnies reminds me of the Corner from time to time.
Ciao.
Hi, all. My first time posting here, though I've checked my answers and enjoyed the comments on this blog for some time. I only do the LAT puzzle Mon-Thurs, but I'm getting better. Today's puzzle was one of the easier ones for me, though I did have several overwrites:
ReplyDeleteI too feel for AM/FM -- that clue was in the Onion's puzzle on Friday so fresh in my mind.
Started with "low calorie" for 11D, but perps worked that out.
Reversed the "a" and "o" in Neapolitan at first -- frightened by a world with Arson Welles and Joon Rivers!
Started with "geek" for 62A, again saved by perps.
Barry G -- for 32A its Lea Michelle -- pronounced like "Leah." Don't ask me how I know that. :)
WEES, especially that AMfM. But hey! Doing these on paper, it's easy to make the f into a P, so I didn't even count that as a writeover.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of comics, yesterday's Pickles has a nice tie in.
Perfect beginners puzzle, just enough unknowns conveniently crossed by easy perps to keep you going. My only problem was spelling, i kept having to change "O's" to"A's".
ReplyDeleteArgyle, Enya Orinco Flow link=awesome, i want each & every pic for my desktop. Does anyone know how to add words to an image like in this link? It's a skill i would like to learn.
Also, 27D,. So that's what happened to Richard Pryor! (poor mouse)
Peaty scotch? yuck! do i have to provide my Beer/evolution link again?
Kazie, Re: retirement, (i only have 20 lines, i'll have to send you an email)
Mari, Al Capone's scars. Link Pleeeeaase!
Sunday's Pickles.
I was looking for Feliz Navidad from Sesame street, (14:00)(part 3/4?) I am sure its in one of these parts, i just don't have the time to find it. But i can't leave without linking Cookie Monster in the 1st 2 minutes. (& again @12:00)
Good morning to all:
ReplyDeleteAn easy start to the week. Thanks, Kevin, and Argyle for a nice expo.
I, too, had AMFM, but everything else was smooth sailing. Fun to see OXO after recent discussions. I don't know if there is another meaning but my Scrabble computer game accepts it as a word. Then again, the computer didn't accept yoyo and in one game rejected bristled which cost me 50 bonus points for using all my letters.
Have a happy Monday everyone.
Sorry Avg Joe, didn't see you there while i was typin'
ReplyDeleteRe: the comics
ReplyDeleteEvery aspect of culture nowadays is getting more coarse by the day...even the new darling of daytime TV, Dr. Oz, had everyone say "sh*t" all together...on his program recently.
ad, nice debut.
ReplyDeleteCED, here's your link for Feliz Navidad. It was in part one and starts right after the credits as incidental music. José comes in at about the 3:00 minute mark. Link.(14:33)
Up and around early for me today. Daughter called to say best friend, Elena, went into labor an hour earlier. May be making trip to see new baby girl this evening.
ReplyDeleteThis was my easiest Monday crossword solve yet. Perps filled in whatever didn't come to me immediately. I love Mondays since retired.
We went to see comedian, Brian Regan, on Saturday. We enjoy his clean humor. Wanda Sykes and Joan Rivers go for "blue" humor for cheap laughter.
One mistake on the am/fm otherwise a smooth solve.
ReplyDeleteCan someone help me out, I'm still trying to figure one out from last week. Clue was Shopping center?
Answer was PEES. Can any explain this, thanks.
Hoyt @ 10:18-The double PP,s in the middle of the word shopping.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...kinda lame..but thanks
ReplyDeleteGood Monday morning All. Speed run, nothing to add to the mix.
ReplyDeleteEddyB - thanks for the JP Beaumont recommendation! JP is right up there with Alex Delaware and Harry Bosch in my book. Love those guys.
Everyone enjoy the day.
Good Morning Argyle, CC and folk,
ReplyDeleteNice write up Argyle! I enjoyed your links. Wanda is a funny lady!
Perfect Monday puzzle! It's nice to join in on the shared knowledge of such a well informed group! Thanks, contributors!
I liked seeing 'Neapolitan.'. I have a friend who grew up in Italy and I recall him explaining to me that his family was Neapolitan. I am familiar with Venetian, Roman, Sicilian (and we did have Venetian Blinds, not Roman Shades, in our home when I was growing up! We had an Aunt Cecil, pronounced 'ce-sill' accent on the second syllable, and Neapolitan ice cream in the freezer, always!
So there ya go!
Neapolitan Ice Cream
And I'm out. Have a fab. day everyone!
Monday puzzles start the week off right. Easy and fun.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter, Bonnie, has two teacher friends and her boyfriend's mother all of whom are having their battles with cancer. She is participating in the Revlon run/walk to raise money for cancer research. Barbara and I have chipped in and I thought some of you might be willing to help also. Here is the link.
Here is another link that allows you to control beautiful kaleidoscope patterns on your computer monitor.
Terrific trifecta for me this morning: puzzle, sudoku, and kenken all fell into place. A relief after my struggles on Friday and Saturday. So many thanks, Kevin, for getting my week off to a great start, and Argyle for a great write-up, as always.
ReplyDeleteI too had AMFM and didn't know Lea Michelle which had me thinking how does ROUSED help the environment? But then I figured them out. Of course, having recently learned OXO helped too.
We got to know WANDA Sykes on "Curb Your Enthusiasm"--pretty blue, I'm afraid, but funny.
Welcome, Ad!
Have a great Monday, everybody!
Garlic Gal. Just finished 9 Dragons. There was just something off about Harry. Maybe it was the frantic plot line. Did learn that there are no 14th floors in Hong Kong hotels.
ReplyDeleteFrenchie. Hi. As always.
eddy
Good morning. This was a fun Monday puzzle. My only erasure was the p for f in AM/PM.
ReplyDeleteI print puzzles on M-T-W, then use iPad the rest of each week.
Thanks Irish Miss for the advice about getting rid of the red letters on the iPad. I love it now.
Anonymous—I couldn’t find HIGHLIGHT MISTAKES anywhere to turn it OFF.
I ‘fiddled’ around with the Across Lite/Cruciverb app on my iPad and learned a lot about the settings. My password was assigned by my phone company (Internet provider) and it is a real pain to type it for the iPad, but I am getting better.
By the way, a couple months back there was discussion here about old fashioned phones. If you look at a ‘Coverage’ map of cell service and see that BIG white splotch of ‘no cell service’ in eastern Montana, that is where I live. So, all those clues and answers were very relevant to me.
Our MT Dept. of Transportation has even started putting up highway signs stating when you are approaching a ‘cell service available’ pull-out. They are few and far between.
Husker, I loved your music at mass video.
Sidenote: I played Words with my DIL yesterday and I started a game using all my letters. New letters that showed up for my next turn in this order: T-I-N-B-E-N-I. (I wrote tibia with an A already on the board.
Have a good day,
Montana
Hello, all. Thank you, Argyle and Kevin. Nice entertainment today.
ReplyDeleteHah! A tale of three cities is what struck me and I sashayed so fast had to stop and review it all. Two writeovers, AMPM/AMFM, too, and CECEL before CECIL. ITER set me on the right road.
First time I've ever seen ROMAN CATHOLIC in a puzzle and, Marti, my first thought on the horses was also Lippizaner which I've seen perform. They are just gorgeous, graceful animals.
Frenchie, how nice to see you! it's been a while.
Ad, welcome!
Have a joyous Monday, everyone!
Good afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteI do love Mondays. I wanted Lipizzaner for NEAPOLITAN, even though I live in Naples (FL).
Happy anniversary, Ron & spouse. Hope all is still going well with your leg.
Kazie, DH found this saying which I like very much. "I am retired; I don't have anything I have to do, and I am behind every day by 11 AM."
Cheers
Hello everybody. Loved this puzzle a lot. Even though it was easy, I found it to be fun to do. Laughed out loud at "Sykes and a fish," my favorite clue. "Tiny dog biter" was mt 2nd fave. Lots to smile about in this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteSo that's where Janet Napolitano's name comes from.
I liked the "Caesar" semi-clechos.
WSJ is 2/3 high-score!
Wanda Sykes was a stand-up COMIC.
Hands up for AMFM.
Best wishes to you all.
Good afternoon to all and happy Monday. Not much to say about the puzzle a normal Mon. speed run. Thanks Sallie we had a wonderful weekend! went to The Melting Pot for a great dinner on Sat. Then on Sunday we went for a 2hr sailing charter and saw dolphins swimming in BocaCiega bay. Have a great day to all. RJW.
ReplyDeleteHi gang -
ReplyDeleteWas CCC for CC?
Couldn't parse REUSED. Still vertically challenged, I guess. Not knowing LEA didn't help.
For ROMANs, just walking down the road was an ITERative process.
Haven't had a Ginger SNAP in eaons.
Lagavulin is a fine PEATY malt.
Gary -
Wow - you have a rich voice. That was some fine strumming, too. Well done, sir! Guitar defeated me.
Tigers get men ON BASE, then leave them there.
Here's some more live music.
Cool regards!
JzB
Musings 2
ReplyDelete-Just back in off 36 holes on a spectacular spring day! The goose population has exploded up there and now we have to play around the goslings too!
-Marti, Montana and Jazz, thanks for the kind words. I sang all parts at over 1,000 masses in 30 years but now am very content to just do one song per weekend. Jazz, the guitar is a snap compared to your trombone. I have frets and you just have a slide. You’re the musician.
-The interior of our new St. Patrick's church
-My Royals lost 12 in a row by batting .160 with men in scoring position! They never got blown out; they just couldn’t get it done with MISP!
-There was a NEOPOLITAN garbage strike when we were in Naples. We just used it as a jumping off point for a boat ride out to Capri! The travel guides told us that Italy is just like the USA in that the north tends to be more urban(e) and the south more agrarian. He used other adjectives but you get the drift.
Gary, I gotta agree and disagree with you a little bit about the guitar. All instruments are hard to play well. I think, when it comes to classical-style guitar music and sight reading, the guitar is harder than most because you are usually playing more than one note at a time and each note can be played on more than one string and position. Of course, strumming basic chords is fairly easy.
ReplyDeleteMy DVR remote had gotten cranky again. I just made a short trip to the local Time Warner store and they gave me a new one. This time I remembered to keep the new batteries I had just installed.
Go Lakerz and Dodgerz!
Hello everyone,
ReplyDeleteA nice easy start to the week, which for me is a busy one. I havent read the comments yet, but as usual, I enjoyed you expo, Argyle. Nicely done, again.
I guess I haven't been here for a week or so, bt I have been doing yhe puzzles; except for Friday and Saturday this week. Theu were tootough for me. Yesterday I did the Merle Reagle from force ofhabit I guess. No problem with it, as usual.I have finally finished a sewing project that has taken way too long. I think I started it in February. Oh, well, it'll be ready for fall. It's good to be here again.
I'll try to get back to you later.
CED @ 9:25 am: Sorry for the delay - got caught up with work. Here is a link to a good site. I know the guy who runs it and I can vouch for his legitimacy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id108.htm
Argyle; I thought the theme was Cities on the ITER.
ReplyDeleteA Constructor named Kevin Christian has a theme answer ROMAN CATHOLIC.
Husker Gary: I'm constantly amazed at your talents. Thanks for the link.
Cheers to all, with a PEATY Single Malt, at Sunset.
Hi all, KevinC here. Thanks for working the puzzle, hope you liked it. I would have tried to fit in SICILIAN something but I couldn't think of a phrase that I thought was familiar enough. I got tripped up on NEAPOLITAN (right sp) vs. NEOPOLITAN (wrong sp) myself when I was constructing this. I'm glad it's the former, because that allowed me to put JOAN RIVERS as a down answer. I think she's hilarious. Happy Monday!
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 9:41 am: What was the purpose of Dr. Oz having everybody say "sh...."?
ReplyDeleteAmadeas was about Amadeas, that just happened to be Mozarts middle name. Clue was a bit confusing for a sec. I said for a sec! Finished in record time. Easiest puzzle ofon year so far, to me anyway.
ReplyDeleteFermatprime, I just came across a brief article in Scientific American about the weak and strong Goldbach conjectures, and of course I thought of you. I also wondered how the heck Christian Goldbach came up with such a conjecture in the first place. Do you think Terence Tao of UCLA is on the right track to prove it?
ReplyDeleteGary, thanks ever so much for the video of you strumming and singing. A pleasure to watch and listen.
I gotta say one of the most outstanding examples of amazing guitar playing is Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac doing his song "Big Love" in the their album "The Dance." Man oh man it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
ReplyDeleteHere's Lindsey Buckingham
ReplyDeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun and easy puzzle. I thought I would just glance at it and come back later until after I started the laundry. But,I saw ginger snap and the answers kept coming and I kept writing and- all of a sudden I was done.
Thanks Argyle and Mr. Christian for a nice day. Thanks C.C. for a great blog.
Also had AM/FM first but soon saw my error.
Have a good day all!
Marge
Bill G
ReplyDeleteLoved your Kaleidoscope and sent it to some friends and family.
Marge
WEES! Thanks Kevin for a great Monday puzzle!
ReplyDeleteGood expo Argyle. I especially liked hearing "Orinoco Flow" then got side-tracked wondering what the O.F. was. I thought maybe it was like the Gulf Stream since all those global places were named. Apparently not. The Orinoco is a large river in Venezuala & part of the border with Columbia. Good song anyway.
Gary: gorgeous voice! How old was great grandma if GGpa was 50 when he had kids? So many men died in that war, women married just about any age guy that still had some life in him.
Eddy: Maybe what was "off" about Bosch in "9 Dragons" was the foreign setting and his role as a father, which we hadn't seen before?
Jayce: loved "Big Love".
BillG: that Kaleidoscope clip could be as addictive as my first one as a kid. Whee!
Did anyone see Clippers beat Memphis after being 20 pts. behind until late 4th qtr.? Unbelievable!
Wow! what great links: HG playing and singing, Jazz with his band and a kaleidoscope! And Kevin Christian dropped in. What a fun Monday.
ReplyDeleteAnd HG, your church is beautiful.
Montana @11:36am
ReplyDeleteThe letters: T-I-N-B-E-N-I come up, in that order, for me all-the-time. LOL
I hope you won the "Words" game.
Cheers!
Hola Everyone, Had a pretty fast run of the puzzle today. I did fall into the AmFm trap, but as I do the across and downs together, that fixed itself pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteGSA was not a given, but that also came with the perps. All in all a satisfying puzzle. Thanks, Argyle for a fun writeup. I'm not sure what the three cities have in common, except they are all in Italy! Nothing stood out as especially different or exciting today. I think I have ENYA in my memory banks, now. Finally.
Kazie, My answer to how I like retirement is, "I don't know how I had time to work!" But, the things I'm doing are more fun and if I want to just read the afternoon away, I can (sometimes).
Husker, Thank you (and your wife) for sharing your singing at Mass. I admire anyone who can strum a guitar. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Ad. I hope you'll stay and enjoy the banter.
Thanks for dropping by, Kevin C. We always like to hear from the constructors of the Crosswords to which we are so addicted!
Thanks, Jayce for the guitar pickin' link. Fantastic.
Have a great evening, everyone.
Argyle, Thanks for the clip, My oldest daughter is freaking out because she graduates from college in 2 weeks, & watching Feliz Navidad was like a trip in the wayback machine for me...
ReplyDeleteBill G.@10:59 Speaking of trips, that kaleidoscope link is giving me flashbacks. (LSD never came with instructions either.)
Frenchie@10:49 - Neapolitan, Tx, i learned something.
HuskerGary can sing too!!!
Mari's Al Capone's Scars link for the copy and paste challenged.
Bill G- I book-marked Kaleidoscope on my laptop. Figured I pull it up between task.
ReplyDeleteMari & CrossEyed Dave- Spent some time looking @ Al C. website. I remember seeing movie at drive-in theater. I was the oldest of 7 siblings. Kept asking my parents "what was that he died from?" to their exasperation.
PK. Thought Connelly did a great job showing the panic and frenzy
ReplyDeleteof Harry's actions in HK. Different Harry when they got Li's killer.
Left wondering if the story idea
came from Michael's frequent appearances on Castle. Castle also has a daughter.
Time for the Rangers.
eddy
Blue Iris @ 6:38
ReplyDeleteDidn't Al C. die from Tax Evasion?
Bill G.
ReplyDeleteRe: Kaleidoscope
HOW DO YOU MAKE IT STOP!
(i'm getting dizzy...)
Fun easy puzzle today. Same AM/FA as many of you.
ReplyDeleteLooking at those horses reminded me of a neighbor who bought a Lippizaner and when it arrived at her place, she had a champagne party in her corral. Fun!
We are all hearbroken today. Our beautiful cat got out last night and we couldn't find him. Never let him out and this time he just snuck past someone going in or out. Found some blood and a little bit of his fur outside--coyote or mountain lion. Haven't had the heart to pick up his dish and water bowl yet.
Susan, that is totally heartbreaking. I'm so sorry to hear it.
ReplyDeleteMari: Dr. Oz was talking about stress relievers...and he actually said, "Swearing does relieve stress. So I want everyone to say "sh*t" when I count to three." He did and they did...the censors had the decency to bleep it out but they all said it. And I haven`t seen one news report or
ReplyDeleteheard anyone chastise him for it. And this was 5-6 Eastern time, 4-5 Central time and 3-4 Mountain time...ALL times children would be watching.
Susan: I am so sorry to hear about your cat. I know how much you must miss him.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I'm so sorry to hear about your dear cat. Very sad...
ReplyDeleteCED, I'll bet that kaleidoscope wabpage is even better if you've been smoking some grass. 'Course, I wouldn't know. Just stuff I've heard. I think it's making me cross eyed too.
That story about Dr. Oz and sh*t reminds me of another story. Years ago I taught science as well as math. Our district finally included 'Family Life' or sex ed into the science curriculum. I approached the first day with a little trepidation. I got into the subject bravely but gingerly. I noticed that whenever I said vagina or penis, most of the students looked embarrassed and as if they would rather be someplace else; anyplace else. So I came up with a plan. I told them we would get even with Mrs. Stolarski's Spanish class who were always shouting out their vocabulary words. So I said that when I counted to three, we would all shout out 'PENIS.' They were reluctant participants the first go round but once they discover I meant it, they put some enthusiasm into the next try. PENIS! Excellent! It broke the ice and we began to have some worthwhile discussions. Everything was good. Then a short 'nutrition' recess. The next class came in. Before they had even gotten seated, all I heard was if we were going to be able to shout out PENIS too? Sure. Class discussions were much more relaxed after this.
Bill G: So you`re saying..."Shout out curse or swear words in public and they lose their shock value?" But doesn`t that just push society to new lows?
ReplyDeleteSusan, I'm so sorry about your cat. Pets are so special.
ReplyDeleteAnon@9:01
I think we are there already.
Anon@9:01 -- What??? I'm not not saying anything like that. First, we weren't shouting out curse words. They were the correct scientific/medical terms for what we were discussing in Family Life class. Second, that silliness helped those particular words to lose their ability to embarrass teenagers and opened up class discussions. I don't think anything I ever did contributed to pushing society to new lows.
ReplyDeleteThe children now love luxury;the have bad manners;
ReplyDeletecontempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders;
children are now tyrants; they contradict their parents, chatter before company and tyrannize their teachers.
Socrates (by Pluto)
BillG:
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't think I was referencing you in my remarks. I meant that these days, young people having a casual conversation results in a wave of profanity spewing from them.
Lucina, no worries. Through this blog, I think I know you well enough to be sure you weren't referring to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking we teachers tend to improve society, not push it to new lows.
BTW, I certainly agree with you about some young people's language. I almost never heard it in my classroom. But some kids seem to use bad language in casual conversation rather than when they are angry or for dramatic effect.
Susan, too bad about your kitty. But unless you find the body somewhere, don't give up completely. I've had two cats I thought were dead that just crawled off and licked their wounds for a week or so. Then they showed up thin and sick, but recovered. Always spooky! Hope yours comes back too.
ReplyDeleteMontana indicated he/she uses an iPad to solve this puzzle. I would like to do that, but I have not found an iPad app that gives me access to the LA Times daily puzzle. Can some one clue me in?
ReplyDeleteWhy in the world did you post on a April 30th puzzle?
ReplyDeleteSorry Argyle, I didn't notice the date. I was searching for a way to solve the LA Times xwords on my iPad, found this thread, and posted. Wasn't looking at the dates.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts on the best way to find the answer?
Did you figure out to go to the current blog because someone did and I'm thinking it is you.
ReplyDelete