google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, April 9, 2012 Gerry Wildenberg

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Apr 9, 2012

Monday, April 9, 2012 Gerry Wildenberg

Theme: Hidden Gun Emplacements - Your mission is to locate the camouflaged anti-aircraft guns(ACK-ACKs) in the four longest entries. Good luck.

17A. Donald Duck's title adventures, in a '90s Disney series : QUACK ATTACK. Donald's Quack Attack was a television series on the Disney Channel (later rerun on Toon Disney) which ran from 1992 to 1994, and featured Disney animated short films, especially those with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Each episode lasted about 28 minutes, leaving about 2 minutes for commercials. Per Wiki

31A. Retrace one's steps : BACKTRACK

44A. Lunch box pudding brand : SNACK PACK

57A. Expert : CRACKERJACK. This term dates back to the late 1800's, and means "superb" or "excellent". In 1896 the name was trademarked (as CRACKER JACK) for the caramel popcorn product. In 1908 Jack Norworth wrote the lyrics for Take Me Out to the Ballgame, which mentioned the name of the candy propelling it to fame. This song is now sung during seventh inning stretches at baseball games. Wiki article here.

Argyle here. This appears to be a debut puzzle from Gerry. While I liked the theme there were 26 three-letter entries, some crosswordese and some entries that for those just starting out may not get.

Across:

1. Info in a folder : FILE

5. Mystical secrets : ARCANA

11. Polynesian paste : POI

14. Prayer ender : AMEN

15. Mazda roadsters : MIATAs

16. Landers with advice : ANN

19. Vigor : PEP

20. Ten Commandments verb : SHALT

21. The house, to José : LA CASA

23. __ pig: experiment subject : GUINEA

27. Hallway : FOYER

28. West Coast capital : SALEM. (Oregon)

33. Lament for Yorick : "ALAS". Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1: "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy"

34. Pan-cooked in oil, say : SAUTEED

35. Reach one's limit on, as a credit card, with "out" : MAX

36. Heavy wts. : TN's. Now that is just being silly, you don't need to abbreviate TON.

37. Pres. or gov. : LDR. (leader)

38. Fell with an axe : HEW

41. Luau cocktails : MAI TAIs

43. Galileo launcher: Abbr. : NASA

47. Emcees : HOSTS

48. "Dog the Bounty Hunter" channel : A AND E

49. __ Pieces : REESE'S

51. H.S. class with microscopes : BIO LAB

53. Jenna, to Jeb : NIECE. Bush. Family pic.

56. Ancient : OLD

62. Casual shirt : TEE

63. Like some Coast Guard rescues : AIR/SEA

64. Native Nebraskan : OTOE. Indians.

65. Disruptive '60s campus gp. : SDS. (Students for a Democratic Society)

66. "__: rewind": VCR rental reminder : BE KIND

67. Skinny : BONY. Bony Maronie.(3:07)

Down:

1. Website info source : FAQ

2. Don of talk radio : IMUS. Now in syndication through Citadel Broadcasting after being fired by CBS.

3. Jacob's first wife : LEAH

4. Confines, as a pet bird : ENCAGES

5. Violin maker Nicolò : AMATI. Italian luthier (1596 – 1684)

6. Slowing, in mus. : RIT. (ritardando) Italian terms for change in tempo.

7. Siamese or Burmese : CAT

8. __ loss for words : AT A

9. Most common food additive, to a chemist : NaCL. (salt)

10. Inquire about : ASK AFTER

11. Tropical fruit : PAPAYA

12. "Almost ready!" : "ONE SEC!". not "in a sec"

13. Garaged for the night, gearwise : IN PARK

18. Heidi of "Project Runway" : KLUM. Television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network. Heidi

22. Light rope : CORD

24. Jeremy Lin or Kobe Bryant, e.g. : NBA STAR

25. __ de Cologne : EAU

26. Imitate : ACT LIKE

28. "Casablanca" pianist : SAM



29. Chicken __ king : À LA

30. Southern Cal. airport : LAX. (L.A. International Airport)

32. Popular sneakers : KEDS

34. Barbershop sound : SNIP

36. Eschew the subway and bus : TAKE A CAB

38. Owns : HAS

39. N.Y. clock setting : EST. but not at this time.

40. Used to be : WAS

41. 1450, in old Rome : MCDL. Hey! That's what I have; motorcycle and commercial driver license.

42. Get an "A" on : ACE

43. Rhinoplasty : NOSE JOB. We had rhinitis yesterday. [from Greek rhis, rhin: indicating the nose or nasal]

44. Wooden shoes : SABOTS. Wha...??



45. Got an "A" on : NAILED

46. Battery terminals : ANODEs

47. Estate beneficiary : HEIR

50. Three-time Masters winner Sam : SNEAD. Yesterday's finish wasn't great but the potential for greatness kept me glued to the set.

52. Soft French cheese : BRIE

54. "Elder" or "Younger" Roman statesman : CATO

55. Financial subj. : ECON. (economy)

58. Noah's refuge : ARK

59. CBS forensic series : CSI

60. Barbie's boyfriend : KEN

61. Phi Beta Kappa symbol : KEY

Argyle

84 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    I hate to offend the sensitive souls out there, but this one just didn't do much for me. The theme was decent enough, but stuff like TNS, LDR, ENCAGES (why not just CAGES) and BIOLAB (especially the way it was clued) just seemed awfully clunky to me. Could I have done any better? Nope. But I know a lot of people who could...

    Perhaps I'm just showing my ignorance, though. Does anybody actually remember taking a BIO LAB class in high school? I took high school biology, and it had a lab portion, but isn't a BIOLAB some place where they study (or weaponize) hazardous organisms?

    Whatever. It's Monday and my brain hurts...

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  2. Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Youch! I had to check my calendar to see if this really was a Monday. I had lots of blank spaces on my first pass across. Good I figured out the ACK rhyme early on. That certainly helped me finish the puzzle.


    I knew about SABOTS, but that certainly doesn't seem like a Monday puzzle.

    Yes, Berry, I do remember my BIO LAB from High School.

    In honor of Tom Hehrer's birthday, here is today's QOD: I know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that! ~ Tom Lehrer

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

    Thanks for the informative write-up, Argyle! Fun links, and I loved the “Bush family portrait”. My, how they all look alike…but I wonder whose kid that is on the far left?!? (^o^)

    The theme was OK, and was completely suitable for a Monday, but I agree that there were definitely some later week answers.

    Argyle, I also scratched my head over TNS, but I did like seeing the complete drink MAI TAI in the grid. I wanted CAGES IN but ALAS, it was ENCAGES at 4D.

    Oh well, tomorrow is another day…

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  4. G'Day all. If this was a debut effort, it was pretty good IMO. A bit unpolished perhaps, but it was challenging enough to be fun and easy enough to be Monday or Tuesday level. The only nit I had to pick was the er at the end of Cracker. That just fidn't dit with the other theme answers.

    That family portrait is clearly the product of someone with too much time on their hands. And yes, Marti, the one girl on the left is the only one unscathed. She must be adopted. :-)

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  5. Good day folks,

    The theme answers were solved easily enough, but some of the other fills had me wondering if I had slept through Monday & Tuesday. I tried to the end to make 5A ARCANE instead of ARCANA, buy 10D wouldn't allow it.

    Guess it's a guy thing, but I entered EL CASA, before retreating to LA CASA.

    Even though some of the clues were tricky, I felt a lot of the were Meh's.

    A long weekend hosting the family wore me out and likely is a major contributor towards my lack of enthusiasm towards today's puzzle.

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  6. Good morning, everybody!

    I stumbled through ENCLOSE, ENCASES, ENCAGES, but otherwise it was a dive to the bottom of the grid.

    I misread the clue as "Dog on the Bounty Hunter" and thought AANDE was a weird name for a dog. D'Oh!

    Those of you who wrote ARCANA on Saturday weren't wrong -- you were just two days early. Prescient?

    Argyle, I enjoyed your Bush League photo. Reminds me of a painting in Mad Ludwig's Neuschwanstein -- a woman who looks strikingly like George Washington. At the time Ludwig was accused of bankrupting Bavaria with his castle-building. Today tourisim to Ludwig's castles provides the lion's share of Bavaria's income.

    Off to give blood and get a haircut. I'll return home considerably lighter.

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  7. WEES, I wasn't really feeling this puzzle. LDR and BIOLAB got me. I tried respelling biology to fit: BIOLGY?

    A few clues feel dated: 66A VCR Rental Reminder: BE KIND, and 32D Popular Sneakers: KEDS especially.

    But my main gripe was with 13D: Garaged for the night, gearwise: IN PARK. Yes, it does make sense. But I thought "gear" refered to sports equipmment you'd keep in a garage, like bikes, etc. That threw mem off, I was trying IN RACK (like a bike rack?)

    Every year DH and the cats get Easter baskets with their favorite treats. This year DH got me back. He knows I don't eat candy, so he filled a pretty basked up with fruit. It was perfect!

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  8. Desperotto,
    If only losing weight were that easy!

    I agree with most of WEES, but had never heard of RIT or QUACK ATTACK, so couldn't figure it out. Had S instead of T at the crossing.

    The Bush photo must have some deep meaning, such as they are really all clones of Dubbya (dubbed?), but pray tell, what would there be worth cloning?

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  9. Good morning.

    I have mixed feelings about this puzzle, but it is a Monday and yesterday's masterpiece is a tough act to follow. Too many three letter fill and clunky abbreviations for my taste, but I actually enjoyed some of the unusal fill (ENCAGES, ARCANA, SABOTS, LA CASA, BIO LAB). It helped make it a little more interesting.

    I caught the ACK ACK theme early and figured it was anti-aircraft artillery, but I kept seeing images of Bill D. Cat (Bloom County cartoon) wandering through the puzzle. Since "THBBFT!" didn't show up, I guess this wasn't a tribute to Berkeley Breathed after all.

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  10. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Gerry Wildenberg, for a swell Monday puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the equally swell review. Enjoyed the Bush portrait. I had to look twice.

    I enjoyed zipping through this after yesterday's mountain of french. It is good to get a running start to the week.

    Enjoyed SHALT for 20A. I always like King James Version Biblical words.

    SABOTS for 44D was easy. Learned that decades ago doing crosswords.

    IN PARK for 13D seemed obvious to me. Even though we do not keep our cars in the garage. Too much other stuff in it.

    Theme was easy. Ack Ack guns put up FLAK. Flieger Abwehr Kanonen.

    I hope to work outside today.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  11. Here's some more French for you on the subject of sabots.

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  12. Musings
    -I did the puzzle with grandson again and since the Oregon Ducks are his favorite football team, he knew their offense is called the QUACK ATTACK. He got a lot of answers too including KLUM.
    -I’ve had to BACK TRACK verbally on occasion. I should have followed ANN’s advice, “Is anything any better because I say/do this?”
    -My midlife crisis was a MAZDA MIATA. Bad winter traction and a bad clutch brought me back to reality
    -We have never come close to MAXing out a credit card
    -Dog the Bounty Hunter and Billy the Exterminator make for interesting TV fare in content and manner of dress
    -I still prefer TEE shirts but some golf courses say “not so much”.
    -The OTOE lived on the bluffs south of town when it was settled. A bridge being replaced over Otoe Creek is shutting down Hwy 77 all summer.
    -Imus had to back track on his U Conn women BB comments
    -Was chicken ala king a staple at your high school cafeteria too?
    -You can buy some nice SABOTS at the Pella, IA tulip festival
    -Phil gave it away with two triple bogeys. Golf is a humbling game.
    -Off to Omahs's world class Henry Doorly Zoo to see newly renovated aquarium with Heckle and Jeckle (Hudson and Elise)

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  13. i think it was the rutgers basketball team that was the butt of imus' joke.

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  14. Happy Monday:

    I applaud the ingenuity of the theme, and while we can carp about the abbreviations, it worked as a Monday puzzle. Welcome Gerry.

    Phil should have just gone back to the tee and started over instead of trying the ridiculous reverse club right handed shot. A bogey instead of a triple and he would have been in the playoff. Sadly, he also left too many putts just short. The Masters has the most excitment because of the eagles (double eagle!) and the hole in one possibility at 16, as well as the speed and slope of the greens. Go Bubba, a Florida boy.

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  15. as per Kazie`s very political remark: Worth cloning: The ability to take such remarks in stride and not retaliate...Knowing it would change no minds. Would that I could do that.

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  16. Good morning to all and happy Mon. I thought it was an easy Monday puzzle,but i am also not fond of abbreviations to excess. Thanks Argyle for your write-up. Loved the Bush family photo, Marti I believe that is Jeb's daughter. His wife is from somewhere in South America,Columbia maybe? We went to the beach in St.Pete. yesterday and it was a perfect day. Even got to walk along the beach for a little bit felt wonderful. Have a great day to all,RJW.

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  17. kazie's political leanings are well documented here at the corner and i expected no less from her today. as soon as i saw the ridiculous portrait, i knew we would be treated to some sophmoric comment from our favorite bushwacker.

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  18. Hand up for disdain for political comments on this blog. How’s that cloning working out for some to the Kennedy scions we have seen? No side of the aisle has a patent on idiocy or greatness.

    C.C., "No politics, no religion and no personal attacks."

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  19. Not quite as clean as the usual suspects from the LAT and that seems to be argyle's take.

    IF this indeed was a debut then pretty good. A regular plethora of 3-letter stuff is my only real complaint. SABOTS is indeed crosswordese although I tried to write in CLOGS but stopped at CL as it was too long.

    NEXT!

    Cheers ...

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  20. HG

    It was the Rutgers Ladies BB team Imus went after, not UConn.

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  21. My post appeared twice so I deleted one but they both disappeared. Have no idea why. Google Gremlins?

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  22. Good morning everyone. Thanks for the comments, Argyle.

    WEES. I felt the puzzle had a bit of a Midweek feel, IMHO, and a modicum of ARCANA; ie, CATO, SABOTS, but we've had them before. The NE fell last with a strikethrough of banana to get PAPAYA, and ONE SEC vis. In a sec. The ACK-ACKs made the theme kind of easy and led me to CRACKERJACK. Had Gary 1st for 64a, native Nebraskan, but the perps made it OTOE.

    Anon re: Kazie's remarks, I think you should give it a rest. I know she can be a little prickly; so can't we all? I enjoy her comments because they are fresh, candid, apt and knowledgeable in her field. The blog is richer for having her among us.

    Have a great Dyngus Day.

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  23. Irish Miss @10:29amApril 9, 2012 at 10:35 AM

    Good morning all:

    Pretty standard Monday fare, although I went astray early on with aisle for hallway instead of foyer but perps solved that miscue. Didn't get the theme until reading Argyle's expo. Nice effort, Gerry.

    Happy Monday everyone.

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  24. Irish Miss,
    Dennis or Argyle might have deleted the dupe in the same time you deleted your second comment. I found it and posted it above.

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  25. I thought this was a perfect Monday puzzle, with the ACK-ACKs making it a lot of fun. So many thanks, Gerry, and to Argyle for the cool explanation of CRACKER JACK.

    Our doxie goes back to the vet this morning to have drains, or whatever they're called, taken out of her back. (Thanks for the kind words on Saturday, Sallie). I just hope she'll be okay by Thursday, when we plan to go on a rare little vacation. With my husband's paralysis we rarely leave town, but we really need a few days in a nice hotel after a bit of a trying spring.

    Have a great post-Easter/Passover week, everybody!

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  26. Morning all,

    This was a speed run for me, hesitated a bit at 12D , I wanted ANY SEC, and at 36A TNs .. no comment on that one.

    Yes AMATI and MIATA have the same letters, but not the same quality or value.

    I wonder how hard BUBBA would've cried have he LOST the Masters ..!?

    Y'all have a good day

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  27. Spitzboov: It`s readily documented that one political side is usually given a "pass" on this blog, while the other side is castigated and usually, deleted...I hope you get a chance to see this before deletion.

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  28. Z., are you suggesting Bubba should not have cried when he won? I think with losing he would not have cried a bit. imo

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  29. Anon @ 10:45 - I come here to read about and find out about others' take on the crossword puzzle. If someone ventures a political sounding comment, I ignore it. I get my political fix and OpEd material elsewhere, like most of us. This is an Oasis about solving, knowledge, and friendship. Let's keep it that way.

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  30. Another learning moment on the CW Blog - I just Wikipedia'd "Dyngus Day". Thanks Spitzboov!

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  31. Bubba cried at the Masters because his dad died last year and it meant a lot to him. Bubba's really a goofy dude even for a redneck, but watch the 8 p.m. Golf Channel show of Feherty to see what he's about.

    And properly it's an ALBATROSS not a double eagle(that wouold be 4 under par on a hole

    Birdie (one under par)
    Eagle - a bigger birdie (two under par)
    Albatross - a REALLY ______ BIG BIRDIE (three under par)

    Birdie is reported to have come from Atlantic City CC where a "Bird of a shot" led to a score of one under par. [technically unsubstantiated - but a good story]

    Hey! It's a public service. Never know when we'll need such rote for crosswords ...

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  32. Lemonade,

    IMO , crying is for babies , it's ok to show a bit of emotions , but I think he over did it.

    Tiger also over did it by kicking his 9 iron after a bad shot . Pro golf is for grown ups, they should act as such.

    As for Politics.. When ever my wife and I want to watch something dirty on TV ...


    We watch CSPAN

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  33. Good afternoon everyone.

    Interesting Monday puzzle, that I finally finished – all correctly. And a great write up, Argyle. You missed one good thing though: sabots were what the sabotage came from. I think they threw their shoes into something to create sabotage.

    As to the family portrait, I think wearing cowboy boots with a tux is a bit much, even for someone from Texas.

    Ron, what good news that you could walk on the beach. That's not easy for anyone, let alone with a prosthesis.

    Cheers

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  34. Thanks for the explanations of clues, Argyle. I started out fine. My grandchildren live on Papaya Lane and poi is common there.
    I cannot remember how many years it has been since I couldn't finish a Monday puzzle but today was a DNF. I was ready to give up crosswords today until I read WEE said.
    I remember someone saying sabot is a word crossworders should commit to memory, but I forgot.
    I have never seen a HS class called biolab, but it is common in college.
    Have a good afternoon,
    Montana

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  35. Sallie,
    Cowboy boots with tuxedos are a common sight in Montana.

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  36. Argyle: Nice write-up. The "Bush Family" photo-shopped pic was a Hoot.

    For a debut, all-in-all, an OK offering. Thanks Gerry.

    Cheers to all at Sunset.

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  37. I totally missed the theme! and my wag at 6D/17A was a dismal failure.

    I am disappointed really, i would have enjoyed searching for anti aircraft artillery. If only i had a clue what to look for...

    My Spanish is just 1 notch better than my French, (my teacher taught me one phrase, (No Se Nada,) but i just "feel" that "La Casa" sounds feminine, which made me hands up for "El Casa."

    (Maybe if it were clued "The House to Jaunita?")

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  38. Think that the new TypeF Jag roadster looks like a Miata on steroids.

    Still have my pair of wooden shoes.

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  39. "Even if he doesn’t have a place in the champion’s locker room at the Masters, Louis Oosthuizen can say he has a spot in the Albatross Club with Gene Sarazen.

    Not a bad consolation prize: That shot by “The Squire” in 1935, after all, is widely credited with putting the Masters on the map.

    Back then players weren’t routinely hitting the ball so far, but Sarazen had the pluck to pull out a 4-wood from 235 yards and blast the ball over the creek that guards the 15th green at Augusta National. He made double-eagle, otherwise known as an albatross."

    They are the same thing

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  40. Hello, folksters. Greetings, Argyle. Thanks for an always breezy and informative blog; loved the Bush fare!

    Well I sashayed very quickly through this and I found it fun with fill like AMATI, MIATA, MAITAIS and then BIO LAB along with NACL. We also had ARCANA, CATO, MCDL and NOSE JOB. Gotta love it!

    It's true there was some clunky fill but balanced over all. Fell with an axe, HEW, was great!

    Thank you, Gerry Wildenberg. I hope you send us more soon.

    Just to let you all know, my brother is being transferred to Hospice.

    Have a marvelous Monday, everyone! And I'm still the Scrabble Queen!

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  41. In Spanish if a noun ends with "a" it is normally feminine. There are exceptions but that is the norm.

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  42. PS I forgot to mention that a foyer is an entrance, not a hallway IMHO.

    Thanks, Montana. If I'm ever in a place in Montana that people are wearing tuxes, I'll look for the cowboy boots. The only places in the west that I've lived and gone to occasions in which the men wore tuxes was N.M. and Colorado. No cowboy boots there.

    Good afternoon everyone.

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  43. Hello everybody. Didn't take me long to solve it today, as is usual on Mondays. I, too, didn't care for some of the abbreviations and 3-letter fill, but oh well. Usually fill like A AND E fools me, but not today for some reason. It was good to learn about Dyngus Day. BE KIND, folks.

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  44. yorkie8257@yahoo.comApril 9, 2012 at 2:02 PM

    Didn't think sautéed had 2 e's? Alas, it does. Thot it a fun run. Liked the Bush portrait.

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  45. Sallie, not everyone in Texas wears cowboy boots, but those who do tend to wear them with everything. Except, perhaps, pajamas and swimwear.

    Lucina, sorry to hear about your brother. The hospice stay normally isn't very long.

    CED, nouns don't have gender in English, but in most of the Romance Languages nouns are either masculine or feminine. In French table (le table) is masculine whereas chair (la chaise)is feminine. Don't ask me why. In Spanish it doesn't matter if it's his house or her house, it's still a feminine house -- la casa.

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  46. Desperotto,
    Sorry to say, both table and chair are feminine in French. La table. Le livre est sur la table. I was told once this stems from their Latin origins, but since there are three genders in Latin, that doesn't necessarily follow either.

    German also has three genders, but like Latin, just about anything can be any gender, though humans and animals usually follow biological gender--but not always--some things depend on how the word ends, especially diminutives, which are neuter as for Fräulein, which because of the -lein ending is neuter--perhaps another reason they don't want to use the word much any more.

    And BTW--we do have three genders in English, but not for grammatical reasons.

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  47. This was a DNF for me; had INASEC and ONESEC never occurred to me, so I reckoned PAP could unbeknownst to me denote “vigor” and that a Polynesian paste called PII existed that I’d never heard of.

    Being a “crossword person,“ at least once a week someone says to me something like, “You do crosswords? Oh, I try to but I’m just not that smart” or “I just don’t know that many words,” to which I inevitably point out, if he/she is unaware, the progressive difficulty level of puzzles through the week. I hope that anyone to whom I’ve ever suggested to try a Monday puzzle did not pick this particular day to follow my advice.

    The theme’s cool; I’d only surmised the theme was based on a repeated sound until Argyle pointed out the repeated sounds are a word, ack-ack. Turn-offs: the 3-letter islands in the E and W middles; TNS and LDR being in the same puzzle (wow); SABOTS, ARCANA, AMATI, SDS, NACL, POI, and especially the CATO/OTOE crossing forming a bevy of unsavory fare for a Monday (see above paragraph); and the cheater square in the NW and SE corners (though, … see following paragraph). Turn-ons: MAITAIS, NOSEJOB, BEKIND, AANDE, NBASTAR, and BIOLAB; the four 6-letter stacks; and the fact that there weren’t more cheaters.

    To empathize with the constructor (Btw, congratulations on your published puzzle, Gerry! Feels awesome, doesn‘t it?), the double CKs in the theme entries make for a hard-to-fill puzzle. Gerry’s skeleton longfill had difficult patterns like ??K??T?? (ASKAFTER), ??K??C?? (TAKEACAB), and ?B???A? (NBASTAR), which along with ACTLIKE comprise the four entries that each cross two themers, so I assume those four were more or less locked, after the theme entries were placed. And if I imagine the grid with the four themers and the four Down longfills in place, it seems like it would be a tough fill job. I wonder how many theme-entry placement patterns Gerry went through before this one was settled on.

    Watched the first few seasons of Project Runway religiously; it was cool back when it was Heidi Klum’s baby and the show seemed to have an integrity that it lost when it switched networks and became so inundated with product placement, both blatant and subversive, it became unbearable for me to watch.

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  48. Some linguists like to view the concept of gender not as of masculine and feminine, which implies some sort of relationship with the "sex" of a thing, but as a completely abstract concept, perhaps more aptly named "article association" than "gender." Specifically, the theory goes, (using French as an example,) so-called masculine nouns are nothing more than nouns that are preceded by the word "le" and its variations, while so-called feminine nouns are nothing more than nouns that are preceded by the word "la" and its variations. They could just as well be called le-associated nouns and la-associated nouns, or, more generally, "green" and "blue" or "squiggly" and "squaggly" or "bibbity", "bobbity", and "boo" nouns.

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  49. Kazie, thanks for straigtening that out. Jayce, that would make my table remark a double-boo noun. It's also good evidence that I didn't major (or minor) in any foreign language. Learning to speak Texan has been difficult enough.

    But still on the topic of French. During jury selection (which might better be called juror rejection) the attorneys get to question the prospective jurors in a procedure known as voir dire. In Texas they know better, but insist on pronouncing it voyeur dyer. Anybody know why? I'm curious.

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  50. From the mind of CED:

    El Casa

    La Casa

    Which one would you rather drink a beer in?

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  51. In other words, according to this linguistic viewpoint, (still using French as the example language), it's not that "la" precedes "table" because "table" is feminine or "bibbity", but rather "table" is feminine or "bibbity" because it follows "la" rather than "le." It is the article that governs and the "gender" of the noun just goes along for the ride.

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  52. Belated Happy Easter and Blessed Passover to all. RJW, it's fantastic that you were able to walk on the beach. Lucina, I am sorry to hear of your brother's health problems. I pray for strength for all of you. Misty, best of luck with your doxie and your vacation.

    I am "bushed" after three days of company and am vegging out today.

    I enjoyed this puzzle because it was a tad meatier for a Monday, but I realize that might have caused problems for beginners. The 3 letter words and abbreviations didn't bother me. They were quite easy.

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  53. We interrupt this grammatical conversation for a joke I received from my daughter the other night:


    The past, the present and the future walked into a bar.


    It was tense!

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  54. Gender is commonly applied to the independent concept of distinctive word categories in certain languages. Grammatical gender, although denoted as masculine or feminine, has little or nothing to do with differences between female and male.

    Some languages, like German, have three genders, with neuter being one. Gender categories determine how word endings are formed. Gender is why many of our posters have trouble deciding whether to use the indefinite article, der, die or das before German nouns. Das Madchen , girl, is neuter. Die Meistersinger, member of an medieval guild promoting poetry and music, is feminine, although they were mainly (or all )men.

    My dad who spoke standard German and PA Dutch discovered during a trip to Germany that in some regions a few nouns were changed in gender in the local dialect. For instance, moon in standard German is masculine, but in some areas it is feminine.

    Gender can mean kind or type, instead of sex.

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  55. kazie, supposedly all the "Romance" languages stem from Latin, but obviously each has retained, abandoned, and even added new grammatical characteristics. For example, in Latin there need not be an explicit subject of a sentence (eg "Cogito, ergo sum") and this is still true in Spanish and Italian. French, however requires an explicit subject (as does English), which results in such contorted expressions as "Il y a" as a means of inventing a subject to satisfy this requirement. By the way, the Romanians claim their Roma (Romanyi, I think it is called) language is the closest to the original Latin of all modern languages. I don't know Roma, but I've seen written sentences ending in words such as "sunt" and "est", which appear to be right out of the Latin textbooks.

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  56. Hola Everyone, I did finish this today, but, alas, I found one error after reading Argyle's excellent writeup. I had LEN for slowing in music. RIT is a learning moment for me today. This made Miatas Meatas--sounded right, and Arcana, ALCANA. Should have know better, but I forged on with the rest of the puzzle and didn't go back and re-read my entries! Sigh.

    Encages isn't a word that I would use in every day conversation. It sounded contrived to me.

    I also had TNS for Heavy wts, but passed it off as the abbreviation for a person of influence. TNS/Top Nabobs, TNS/Top names? I didn't even think of actual weight. I don't think I've ever seen tons abbreviated!!

    Lucina, Hospice will be a wonderful palative care for your brother. Hospice is also a great support for families. We've been there too often.

    Chicken-Ala-King at our house is the last meal from a whole roasted chicken. It is actually one of our favorites.

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  57. Avg Joe, that was funny :)

    Yellowrocks, well said.

    Best wishes to you all.

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  58. YR, Jayce and Kazie - Re gender: In standard Dutch, there are common nouns (masculine and feminine) with the 'de' definite article and neuter nouns that take the 'het' definite article.

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  59. Zcarguy, Sometimes emotions will "boil" over and crying happens.

    Keeping emotions in check and with the tension Watson was under for the playoff and his shot from the duff under the trees, the finality of the moment hit him and he probably cried without wanting to. It happens.

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  60. Oooh! I fogot. Thanks for the lessons in grammar. My knowledge of foreign languages is nil and I always appreciate the lessons others have to give us on the subject. Spanish I can usually get, but French, German and Latin are another story.

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  61. I decided to do a little research and found this online. Fascinating.

    So he [Lyn Robbins, Texas attorney]
    decided to poll 114 of his attorney friends, who are located in 29 states and Washington, D.C., and simply asked them how they say they pronounce voir dire. Here are the results and his commentary, as quoted from an email from him:

    “Vorr Dyer” – 46 (although many of you admit this is wrong and/or redneck)
    “Vwuah Deer” – 43 (many of you are very proud of yourself and your intricate manipulation of French)
    “Vwar Deer” – 9
    “Vorr Deer” – 7
    “Voy Dire” – 5
    “Jury Selection” – 3
    “Vwor Dire” – 1 (explained to me as “rhymes with tire”)
    “Vwor Dar” – 0 (some of you are lying; I have heard you, and this is what you say)

    BTW, if you haven't already done so, go to Google today and click on the graphic. Neat.

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  62. Spitboov, how tactful. Der, die, das are definite articles. Ein and eine are indefinite articles. I repent the error of my post.

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  63. Desper-Otto: Eadweard Muybridge, whose birthday was 182 years ago today, was indeed a character. He was a pioneer in the fledgling motion picture industry, as is evidenced by the Horses-in-Motion on the google site. He shot his wife's lover in cold blood, but was acquired on the grounds of "justifiable" murder.

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  64. Here is a great animal love story between a dog and a dolphin. Link . I believe subtitles are in Croatian, but the video story line is obvious.

    YR - I see nothing wrong with your post. It is nice to chat about these sorts of ARCANE things.

    Mari - Yeah. It's a big deal in Buffalo.

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  65. Yellowrocks said:
    Gender is why many of our posters have trouble deciding whether to use the indefinite article, der, die or das before German nouns. Das Madchen , girl, is neuter. Die Meistersinger, member of an medieval guild promoting poetry and music, is feminine, although they were mainly (or all) men.

    firstly, der die and das are all definite rather than indefinite articles, meaning "the". Ein or eine are indefinite, meaning "a/an".

    Then, you are confusing the plural "die" = "the" for all genders, with the feminine singular. Meistersinger is indeed masculine, but since it's usually used these days in the plural, you may have assumed it was feminine singular.

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  66. The wiki scoop on VOIR DIRE for which apparently nobody in texas has a clue about pronouncing. I take the fifth on my version, but I can tell you there is no consensus among the judiciary in Florida either.

    RW, great.

    Hatoolah:
    your spell check does make some fun thoughts, you say "but was acquired on the grounds of "justifiable" murder." Acquired by the mob as a new hit man, perhaps?

    P.S. this is not commenting on typos of which we all have many, just on the interesting new meaning of this phrase

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  67. Lemonade: funny. I'll blame that on the spell check and my poor eyesight! Yes, it should have been acquitted.

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  68. I wonder if this guys jewish? A lot of old testament questions. Lucky my buddy next to me is Jewish and he helped (is that cheating)? Cool guy. Thought this was not a Monday but ok for a Wednesday I guess. Took me bout an hour but got it. I think Lin was a fluke and I used to love Reese's pieces. I put micasa first. I maxed my energy with this heavy weight puzzle so here i go to la casa but i have to
    back track and have a snack pack and cracker jack before hitting the sack. see ya Sam.

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  69. Die Meistersinger is actually singular.
    Also I have already repented of confusing defintie with indefinte article. See YR @3:22. Mia culpa.
    Link meistersinger singular

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  70. YR,
    I hate to be a stickler, but from your link:
    Mei·ster·sing·er
       [mahy-ster-sing-er, -zing-] Show IPA
    noun, plural -sing·er, -sing·ers for 1.
    I also looked it up in both my dictionaries where it is listed as masculine. Wagner's opera title is plural too.

    It seems also to be a term that has been borrowed for multiple commercial references, and then not used with its German articles.

    Abejo,
    I liked your tense joke too.

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  71. Spitzboov, great little movie. I watched it all the way through. If the movie maker had asked me, I would have suggested tightening it up with some more substantial editing. Still, I really liked it anyway.

    What a pretty afternoon. I dropped off the last K-1 at the CPA and headed off to the bike path following by a new and even better place for a macchiato.

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  72. Here's the full segment from 60 Minutes last night about the Congo symphony. It's a great story if you missed it last night. Sorry about the ads. 60 Minutes

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  73. Kazie, when I replied to your personal email it bounced back several times. Here is my message.

    When I went to the German-English translator I found a "die" singular for Meistersinger. I think it is an old type of word.Please ask the translator to translate, "The meistersinger is good."

    Link meistersinger

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  74. kazie, yellowrocks, for the love of God, give it a rest! It's not that big a deal.

    -John

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  75. I looked up tonight's passes of Iridium satellite flares and the International Space Station. I caught a very lucky break. The ISS will be as bright as Venus and going over about 8:42. The Iridium flare will be even brighter at 8:55.

    If you would like to find when they're visible in your area, let me know. The ISS takes about four minutes to complete its arc. The Iridium flares can be even brighter but are visible for about 20 seconds.

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  76. A pedant walked into a bar.......

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  77. Aargh! The clouds are rolling in...

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  78. Those who can do.

    Those that can't are pedantic

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  79. Voir Dire is pronounced [in English]--Vwar [short "a"] Dire[long Eye].

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  80. Actually is should read:

    Those who can, do; those who can't, are pedantic.

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  81. The clouds were thin enough and far apart enough that I saw both of them tonight. Good stuff!

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  82. This is Gerry Wildenberg posting. Thanks for the many kind comments. Without getting into details, I´ll just say that some of the cluing was Rick´s and I´m not fully in agreement with all his changes though most were improvements. As for the clunky fill, believe me I´m aware of it. But sometimes it´s just too tough for me to get rid of all of it and still leave some lively entries. One last comment, I agree that some of the entries were suitable for later week puzzles -- however the composer has no control over the publication date.

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  83. Thank you for stopping by but not many will see it. You could post it on a current day, about 11:00 AM if you want people to see it.

    C.C. is trying to get me involved in constructing so I am becoming aware of the problems more than ever.

    I do have one question though; what did you think of my ACK-ACK take on the theme?

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