google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, May 21, 2012 Jeff Chen

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May 21, 2012

Monday, May 21, 2012 Jeff Chen

Theme: Shocking - This isn't a case of adding the first word to the unifier; they are the unifier. They are events that can happen to an electric current.

20A. Add a little gin to a party drink, say : SPIKE THE PUNCH. A spike is a very short increase in the electrical supply voltage, current or both. It is why we have surge protectors on our computers.

25A. Game requiring full 25-square coverage to win : BLACKOUT BINGO. Don't be surprised if we have blackouts this summer. Temperatures in the 80's already around here.

46A. Efficient, wordwise : SHORT AND SWEET. A short has some quite technical definitions but in short,(sorry) it is current going where it shouldn't.

52A. Front page staple, and, in a way, what 20-, 25- and 46-Across begin with : CURRENT EVENTS

Argyle here and, by my count, Jeff Chen's fourteenth Monday puzzle and another winner. I'm sure some may find a nit here or there but they will be small and varied.

Across:

1. Pound of poetry : EZRA. There are some interesting quotes about him in this Wikipedia article.

5. Hourglass trickler : SAND


9. Salami and turkey jerky, e.g. : MEATS

14. Steak and hamburger, e.g. : BEEF. No tofu.

15. Je ne sais __ : QUOI. I can't describe it.

16. "That's plenty for me" : "I'M SET". Things I say when offered tofu.

17. Chicago footballer : BEAR. Mike Ditka comes to mind.

18. Sputnik launcher : USSR

19. Girl who says "Uncle" : NIECE. Cute clue.

23. KGB counterpart : CIA

24. Like puppies and kittens : CUTE. Cute answer.

31. Lao Tzu's "__ Te Ching" : TAO
32. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" composer Jerome : KERN. Timi Yuro clip.(2:19)

33. Item in a squirrel's stash : ACORN

35. Sandwich rolled in a tortilla : WRAP

37. Fix, as worn brakes : REPAD. Around the shop, they'll tell you they had to replace the pads(and rotors and calipers) but not they had to repad your brakes.

40. Europe's highest active volcano : ETNA. Another view.

41. Leading the league : ON TOP

43. Prefix with -syncrasy : IDIO

45. Cut the grass : MOW

50. Minnesota's "crazy" state bird : LOON. Insert loon stories here.

51. Bubble wrap filler : AIR

58. Salami type : GENOA. OMG, they make tofu salami. (see below)

59. "Dang it!" : "OH, NO!"

60. Lake south of Niagara Falls : ERIE

62. Ignoramus : IDIOT

63. "Ouch!" : "YEOW!". 67A. Youngster : TYKE. 44D. Baby's boo-boo : OWIE. 47D. Baby's "piggy" : TOE

64. It may lose its mate in the laundry : SOCK

65. "Please, I'll do that" : "LET ME"

66. Cheeky behavior : SASS

Down:

1. Flow back : EBB

2. Puzzle pair? : ZEE's. (middle letters)

3. Bring in from the field : REAP

4. Chad's continent : AFRICA. Atlas.

5. Tight game : SQUEAKER

6. Vienna's country: Abbr. : AUST. (Austria)

7. Small snack : NOSH. Yiddish.

8. Lead the orchestra : DIRECT

9. Trifling matter : MINUTIA

10. Cardinal's honorific, after "Your" : EMINENCE

11. Words after gimme or wait : A SEC

12. Georgia __ : TECH. The Yellow Jackets of Atlanta, Georgia.

13. Jeanne d'Arc, for one: Abbr. : STE.

21. Punt, say : KICK

22. Brit's watering hole : PUB. Quiz: Where does the word PUB come from?

25. Some owls' homes : BARNS. And some live in The Owlery on the top of Hogwarts Castle's West Tower.

26. Averse : LOATH

27. Precious metal source : ORE

28. Let down, as one's hair : UNPIN. Reminds me of this song which I haven't heard in awhile, so here it is. Clip.(2:32)

29. "I haven't a clue" : "GOT ME"

30. "... but then, I could be wrong" : "... OR NOT"

31. Bill featuring Jefferson : TWO

34. "Don't reckon so" : "NAW". Too many quotes...naw.

36. Where to see sharks with cues : POOL ROOM

38. Sum up : ADD

39. Denies knowledge of : DISAVOWS. CYA

42. Divide according to ownership : PRORATE

48. Rankles : ANNOYS

49. Author Hemingway : ERNEST. Did you see his quote about Ezra Pound?

52. Formally turn over : CEDE

53. Military group : UNIT

54. Ellington/Strayhorn's "Take __ Train" : THE 'A'. Taking it literally. Clip.(3:00)

55. Grandson of Eve : ENOS

56. City fooled by a horse : TROY

57. Ailing : SICK

58. Hodges of the Dodgers : GIL. But he managed the New York Mets to the 1969 World Series title, one of the greatest upsets in Series history.

61. Squeeze (out), as a living : EKE

Argyle

68 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    I fund this to be pretty challenging for a Monday. To begin with, I have never heard of BLACKOUT BINGO before and had no idea what the TAO Te Ching was. Don't usually get a pair of unknowns on a Monday.

    Then, I shot myself in the foot a couple of times down south with ANGERS for ANNOYS and POOL HALL for POOL ROOM. HALL was relatively easy to let go of when nothing worked, but I stubbornly held onto ANGERS for way too long before finally seeing the light. And yes, that "rankles" me a bit...

    Oh -- and once again I misspelled IDIO as IDEO. One of these days I'll get it right, but that day is not today.

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  2. Good day folks,

    Had a lot of hold ups getting through today's puzzle. To begin with, I too have never heard of BLACKOUT BINGO. QUOI was solved exclusively by the perps. Can't recall ever hearing the term REPAD for correcting worn brakes. I am familiar with RESHOE, but it wouldn't fit in the allotted squares.

    I began with TACO for 35A, but perps got me back on track.

    Today's "To Do" list almost a full page in length, so have to get going. See you tomorrow.

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  3. Thanks Jeff, a very fun Monday. BLACKOUT is also known as COVERALL, but the this was one of my fastest efforts in along time. It was challenging enough that I waited until the downs confirmed my first thoughts. The theme did not help, but did not need it.

    I did appreciate the "like sands throught the hourglass" link, as that was my mental pic when I answered the clue.

    Thanks A

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  4. Not a big fan of this puzzle. Not hard by any means but not what I would consider a speed run which is what I think a monday puzzle should be. Blackout bingo is what I call full card bingo. So the downs helped me get that answer. I guess I do not like it when someones takes ordinary terms and replacesthewords with obscure ones to make the clues, but I guess that is crosswords. Enjoy the week its a 4 dayer for me as of now.

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  5. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff Chen, for a swell Monday puzzle. Thank you, as well, Argyle, fr a swell review.

    First and foremost, Happy Birthday (belated) to Grumpy 1. Many happy returns.

    Firmatprime: What is Harvey doing in Bakersfield? You got my attention!

    Now for the puzzle. Enjoyed it. The entire top was easy, except QUOI. That fell with perps.

    Got the theme answers. I have never heard of BLACKOUT BINGO either, but figured it out easy enough. I have played some Bingo and we call that a COVERALL.

    My hometown and home lake made it again, ERIE.

    For PUB I would guess that Public House might be the source of the word PUB. Let me know, Argyle.

    We sure get ACORN a lot lately. That's OK. Just a comment. Makes it easy to answer.

    On my way back to Chicago. The NATO boys are convening today. Hopefully no hassle at Union Station.

    Hope to finish planting my vegetable garden today.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  6. Good morning Argyle and all.

    Barry and I must have been working this one together since we both skipped over BLACKOUT BINGO and TAO, wanted ANgerS and POOLhall and debated the spelling of IDIO.

    The errors were quickly corrected by obvious perps and perps were also kind to me on the unknowns, so I didn't find anything to be ANNOYED about. Even the clunker REPAD was pretty easy. We had a discussion here once before on that one.

    I like Jeff Chen puzzles. This one was a nice start to the week.

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  7. reading the comments so far makes me realize that Bingo is a game with regional usage of different terms: full card or coverall were listed already. But this was a breezy easy Monday as we have always called it BLACKOUT!! And it was usually the final game of the night.

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

    WBS, except for IDIO.

    Fortunately, I had a really nice write-up to read. Thanks Argyle!! I loved the link to "Help Me Make It Through the Night". Wow - hadn't heard that one in a long time!

    Off to work, have a great day everyone!

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  9. Morning CC, Argyle and Gang,

    Only erasing for me was Pool Hall. Fun puzzle that was a speed run.

    Nice write up as usual Argyle.

    Have a good one!

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  10. Cute POOLshark.

    I didn't get the theme until I came here. I had a fixed idea of CURRENT as being a water CURRENT.

    Also, never heard of BLACKOUTBINGO or that game by any other name.
    It must take a lot longer?

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  11. What Lemonade said.

    I have liked the phrase, "Je ne sais quoi," ever since my high school freshman French class. I know very little French, but I see this phrase often in books, meaning an intangible quality that makes something distinctive or attractive. We moved after that one year of French and I had to switch to German. Since my family is German I was happy.

    I doubted for a while that there was a two dollar bill, but I knew it had to be. I kept thinking, "phony as a two dollar bill." Now I see the phrase is "phony as a $3 bill."

    I hope you had a very happy birthday yesterday, Mainiac.

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  12. Fun Monday romp. WEES. Took a while to come up with Room in lieu of hall for the pool venue, but no gripes here. I don't find repad the least bit clunky. "Install new pads" may be more in the language, but the meaning is unchanged. Shoes are an entirely different animal.

    I also enjoyed hearing "Help Me Make it Through.." again. Kris wrote an incredible string of songs back before anyone ever heard of him. Almost as many as Willie.

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  13. Hey guys.

    Often, a Jeff Chen Monday is such a blow-through I could solve it in pen. (Not that I would.)

    While I WAGed GENOA and PRORATE successfully, I had to grab a dictionary to look up some words.

    Argyle, your Ezra Pound link wasn't reckognized by Internet Explorer.

    Too bad CURRENT EVENTS couldn't be clued "Colbert Report segment". Then again, it is Monday.

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  14. Thank you, Nick. I had trouble with the blogger this morning. I have fixed the link.

    Argyle

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  15. Hi all!

    Sorry about the middle section - Rich and I went around a few times on the REPAD / UNPIN / IDIO area. I originally had something like OLIO and ELD, but he felt like having both of those were too much in a Monday puzzle. I get too used to seeing those xwordy kinds of things in grids - good thing Rich is on the ball! He's great to work with.

    Early-week puzzles are extremely rough to construct - sometimes a single entry forces me to rip the entire thing apart. The balance of interesting and smooth is tough.

    Speaking of I'M SET, I got married this weekend. Really fun times, but I could use A SEC of rest now.

    Happy Monday!
    Jeff

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  16. Good mornng to all and happy Monday. Thanks Argyle and Jeff for a tougher than usual start of the week.I too had poolhall at first and have never heard of blackout bingo,but I avoid bingo parlors at all costs. I did get the electrical references as I worked as a troubleshooter in a capacitor factory for a number of years. Have a great day to all.RJW

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  17. Good Monday, everybody!

    No tofu for me either, Argyle. (I, too, couldn't open your Ezra Pound link.) Fun, easy, speed run today. No unifier needed.

    Enjoyed the Sammi Smith link. Kris couldn't sing worth a damn, but he sure could write 'em: Lovin' Her Was Easier; Nobody Wins; Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down; For The Good Times; Me and Bobby McGee -- just to name a few.

    I see by our incredible shrinking newspaper that this is the warmest year on record for our little corner of the world. Surprisingly, it's not the highs that did it; it's the warm evenings -- the high lows, if you will.

    DW is off to the county seat for jury duty, so I'll have to get in trouble by myself today.

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  18. Congratulations Jeff I hope you enjoy many years of happiness.RJW

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  19. Congrats, Jeff Chen! And just what is a newly-wed doing checking this blog when he could be doing other things?

    Argyle, thanks. Interesting article. I didn't know much about Ezra Pound before reading it. Quite the character!

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  20. Happy Wedding Day, Jeff. We all do it once. (Or twice, or three times, etc)

    Abejo

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  21. It is always nice to have a Monday puzzle to start a week. Thanks Jeff and Argyle. Congratulations, Jeff.
    I got stuck on the Q. Didn’t know quoi and since s_ueaker is vertical I struggled. I mentally went through the alphabet and didn’t get a letter that made sense. I did it again slowly and got the Q. Usually in those situations, I write the word out horizontally and the answer appears right away.

    Blackout Bingo is popular in my state. It is usually the last one of the night (as someone else has said) and is the one paying out the largest prize. I just read that the gambling limit in Spearfish, SD is going from $100 to $1000 on July 1. That should make some Bingo players happy!

    I did not get the theme until Argyle explained it. And when I got up this morning I found that electricity had been off overnight. I had to reset clock radio, VCR, microwave, stove, kitchen clock, DVR, and I had left my computer on so had to restart it from “shut down unexpectedly” status. My, we have a lot of electronic things today. I remember visiting my grandmother before she got electricity to her farm. I was a kid but the only “bad” thing was having to go to bed when the sun went down.

    Have a great day everyone,
    Montana

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  22. Only hang up was BLANKET BINGO not realizing I had two T's. Really had a hard time giving that up as the peeps were working for A SEC. DUH !!

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  23. Argyle:

    Just read the Ezra Pound link. What an amazing person. Kooky as well.

    Abejo

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  24. Morning all,

    Jeff Chen , if I know how to link a song it would be
    Another One Bites The Dust .

    Congrats.!

    Who's Kris you guys keep referring to ?

    Does anyone know how to get rid of Squirrels without killing them ... They keep eating my fruit trees...
    I hate to poison them , but.... I want to enjoy what I plant.

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  25. Zcarguy@9:51

    We were referring to Kris Kristofferson -- singer, songwriter, sometime actor, husband of Rita Coolidge.

    So far as the squirrels are concerned, I've had my best luck feeding the little critters something they like better than what you're trying to grow for yourself. Sunflower seeds work well.

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  26. Hi gang -

    Zcar - Kris Kristoffeson wrote "Help Me Make It Through The Night."

    Not a romp today, but a fun puzzle.

    West central section caused me some trouble.

    I think of Lake Erie as West of Niagara. Not a nit, just a different perspective.

    Strong theme, and a bit unusual - well done, Jeff.

    Congrats on your wedding. Listen, compromise, and - from the notebooks of Lazarus Long - in a domestic disagreement you ever discover you are right, stop and apologize immediately.

    Seriously - the best advice EVAH!

    IMBO. Gotta go MOW.

    Cool regards!
    JzB

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  27. Desper-otto

    The Convoy guy ?

    As for sunflower seeds ... I would need $500 a month worth ..... Them little guys can eat .!

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  28. Zcarguy, C.W. McCall sang (if you can call it singing) Convoy. But Kris Kristofferson did star in the Sam Peckinpah movie about that song. Good catch!

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  29. Another enjoyable Monday ride. Thanks, Jeff!

    Congratulations on your wedding, with best wishes for your marriage. I think JzB has the right advice there.

    Enjoy the day!

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  30. I just read a little of his biography , I found it interesting , that his name initials is KKK , was that on purpose you think ?

    I can just picture Simon listening to him on American Idol,
    Would he have made it to Hollywood .?

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  31. Good morning all,

    Again, my thanks to you Argyle for cluing me into the theme. For some reason I thought it had something to do with the front page of a newspaper. D'oh!

    Other than that, it went smoothly, like a Monday. Did have to work it both ways though."Girl who says uncle" was my favorite clue.

    Congrats Jeff!

    We're also seeing a warming trend in our area. We've been able to eat dinner outside without it getting so chilly.

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  32. Good morning all:

    Congratulations, Jeff. Best wishes for a happy and healthy life together.

    Puzzle was fun and easy but I had probate before prorate and taco before wrap; perps took care of those miscues. Other than that, breezy easy. Nice expo, Argyle.

    Is anyone else other than Mari watching The Killing on A and E, on Sunday at 9:00 pm? My stomach is still in knots from the tension!

    Happy Monday everyone.

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  33. Jeff, congratulations! How wonderful! And don't listen to that 'apologize' BS--the guys are only kidding. Just treat each other with affection, lust, and respect, and you'll have a wonderful life!

    Great Monday puzzle--WBS (what Barry said). Argyle, I loved the reminder of that hour glass on "Days of our Lives," my favorite soap when I was young. And it's always nice to see Ezra turn up in a puzzle. He sure was the talent scout for Modernist poets and novelists in the early twentieth century. We owe him.

    Have a great start to the week, everybody!

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  34. That was a very pleasant Monday puzzle. Thanks Jeff and congratulations!

    Argyle, I enjoyed both the songs that you linked. They fit perfectly with my musical tastes. Early Kris was really good.

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  35. Jeff: are you really the FB guy?
    Tell us the truth!
    Some "advice from the other side of the blanket" :
    Basically, women offer sex for the hope of security. Men offer security for the hope of sex. Now, since you both know what the other`s basic need is, go forth and fulfill each other!

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  36. Hello, All. Nice going, Argyle, thank you.

    Congratulations, Jeff! I wish you a lifetime of happiness and repeat desper-otto's question??

    WEES! What a lovely start to the week though like JD, my thought was newspaper headlines. So glad you explained it, Argyle. This was a very BEEFy and MEATy fill.

    In The Paris Wife, you can read the story of ERNEST and EZRA'S friendship as well as Hemingway's evolution as a writer.

    My mother loved BINGO so when no one else was available I took her and saw BLACKOUT BINGO though some did call it coverall.

    I love the song, Smoke Gets in your Eyes and the best version I have heard is Cher in the movie, Tea with Mussolini.

    Speaking of movies, has anyone else seen The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel? It is a hoot with Maggie Smith and Judi Dench as well as Penelope Wilton (Matthew's mother in Downton Abbey). Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson round out the cast.

    Have a beautiful Monday, everyone!

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  37. Enjoyed the puzzle and the write-up. I also hung on to angers for way too long, last word fixed.

    Bakersfield had a restaurant called the Woolgrowers years ago. Family style Basque food (who knew sheep's tongue could be so good!) and thebest Beefeater's martinis anywhere!

    Comgratulations Jeff!

    I wonder what the rest of the summer will be like, here in AZ on the Colorado River, we've aleeady had a 112 degree day! I think we'll head to San Diego soon.

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  38. I had no problems with write overs today because i took the "wait & see" approach. I don't know how i solved the puzzle so easily when my brain was obviously switched off! I saw the theme right away, & yet could not figure out what "black" had to do with "current?"???

    (Hmm, must work on my Parsing.)

    Jeff Chen, welcome to the club.

    Short Circuit movie trailer.

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  39. Congratulations on your marriage, Jeff!
    .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.
    May you have many years of happiness, and continue to live in wedded bliss like this couple!

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  40. Good afternoon everyone. Where has the morning gone? (I know; I was tussling with my Mac.)

    Congratulations Jeff. Great puzzle too. I love Mondays because I can figure out the puzzles (usually).

    My favorite was city fooled by a horse. Had me chuckling for a while.

    Cheers

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  41. Hola Everyone, I have to agree with JD in the fact that I also thought the theme had something to do with the front page of the newspaper. Duh!

    My favorite clue today was girl who said Uncle. I went round and round with neice until it filled in.

    My computer is down so I'm signing in on my husband's computer this morning so i'll be Anonymous for a few days.

    Congratulations to you, Jeff.

    Have a great day everyone. I'm off to run errands.

    Chickie

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  42. Think most people would name Iron Mike as a Bear. I go way back to George Halas. We named our Brian after Brian Piccolo. Dare anyone to watch Brian's Song (Amazon and Netflix) and not be moved by his story.

    Briscoe has the pole by 0.0023 sec.

    take care

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  43. I thought about blogging before golf but then this would seem like a chore and that’s the reason I’m retired. No clue on the theme until I got here as I thought SPIKE, BLACK and SHORT were going to a point about hair. Fun puzzle Jeff!

    Musings
    -If you saw the movie Hollywood Knights, the punch was spiked in a very gross manner. I ain’t linkin’ it!
    -Joann loved Days all the time it was on
    -Sputnik scared America and prompted the creation of the NSF which funded my science post grad hours
    -Smoke Gets in Your Eyes? Gotta be the Platters!
    -My Royals and C.C.’s Twins ain’t ON TOP
    -I’ll be MOWing right after this blogging
    -What movie had Katherine Hepburn urging Henry Fonda to listen to the LOONS?
    -It’s gen O uh, Nebraska and GEN o uh, Italy.
    -Granddaughter fell of the computer chair in Lincoln last night and got some OWIEs
    -My African geography is not good but we sat next to six lovely black women in Lincoln the other night and it turns out they were from Congo and were impressed that I knew it used to be Zaire. They spoke French and English. Remants of the Belgian Congo, I suspect.
    -Everyone at the justice department is DISAVOWing “Fast and Furious”
    -Congrats Jeff! There are two rules in marital disagreements, 1. The wife is always right. 2. If you are right, see rule #1.

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  44. Hello everybody. WEES. I, too, was thinking of front page newspaper stuff while looking for the theme. Hand up for spelling it IDeO. Got IDIOT right, though. Gimmes include EZRA, QUOI, TAO, KERN, ETNA, ACORN, LOON, AFRICA, and EMINENCE. Had to work to get the rest.

    It is not BS. Jazzbumpa, Husker Gary, and others gave good advice.

    Best wishes to you all.

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  45. Virginia, you live in what I believe is the hottest area in the U.S. Needles, Blythe, Bullhead City, and Kingman are some of the hottest places I have passed through. I dare say San Diego will seem very cool in comparison, and trust you will enjoy it.

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  46. Congrats on the just completed nuptials, Jeff. While most joke about it, very few would have in any other way. I know I wouldn't.

    HG, that would be "On Golden Pond".

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  47. HG @ 1:45, I had that "hair" brained idea, too!

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  48. I was just doing an old crossword (2/15) from the Onion by Matt Jones. The clue was 'Cessation' and I put END. He wanted BAN. That's not right, is it?

    The Lakers will probably get bounced tonight. At least the Dodgers are doing well with the best record in baseball even with some key injuries. I'm guessing Lady Luck will abandon them before too long but it's fun while it lasts.

    Jayce, we've driven through Needles a couple of times. You would open the car door to pump gas and feel as if you'd stepped into a furnace.

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  49. DH is home sick today and we were able to do Monday puzzle earlier in the day. Expected it to be super easy for the two of us.It didn't happen. We didn't catch on to theme, although I do like HG's "hair" idea.

    We put "cotta" salami for awhile.

    Congratulations to Jeff and new mate. Stay best friends!

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  50. Agree with most again. Terrible monday puzzle. 1a was a stump the chump, hated that clue for a monday. Also minutia, on a monday? Hated the theme, i got it because coincidently i am studying electricity now. Disavows, nosh????Yeow i had an owie!!!! Cant wait for thurs and fri puzzles. Lately they have been brilliant and fun. But today......

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  51. Hi all,
    Yes, this was hard for a Monday, at least for the top half. I finally picked up on the long answers and the bottom went much better.

    I love the clue for socks-it happens most every week. I also wanted anger for 48D but when I got others, annoys came at me.

    Georgis Tech- my granddaughter works there, in administration. Wow! Is that even a word?

    Haven't read all your blogs yet, will do that later.
    Marge

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  52. Congratulations on your wedding, Jeff. I wish you many happy years together.

    Bill, although BAN as CESSATION might seem odd, both words are given as synonyms for MORATORIUM. at Thesaurus.com: abeyance, abeyancy, adjournment, ban, break, breather, breathing spell, break, breath, breather, breathing space, cessation, coffee break, deadlock, ...

    I loved On Golden Pond with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey and the loons.

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  53. Yellowrocks:
    That would be Henry Fonda. You must be thinking of all the other movies they made together.

    When we visited Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, we were given a TWO dollar bill as a souvenir and also as change in the gift shop. I wonder if they still do that. That was sometime in the 70's.

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  54. JC, much best wishes to your spouse, congratulations to you and I am certain you will have the most entertained children ever.

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  55. Misty's 10:57 a.m. advice is very good, but I was most definitely not kidding about apologizing.

    It's consistent with a Dale Carnegie principle. While it's true that arguments are best avoided, we're all human, and will fall into them occasionally. The worst thing you can ever do to a relationship is convince somebody that they are wrong - and that is exactly what arguments are about.

    If you're right and the other person is wrong, you can cause a lot of resentment by making them face that reality.

    Rehearsal tonight. Gotta run.

    Cheers!
    JzB

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  56. Great puzzle.

    My favorite answer was DISAVOW.
    As in the original Mission Impossible, when the voice on the tape says that "the secretary will disavow any knowledge" etc.

    BLACKOUT BINGO is big here. It was usually the last game at old church carnivals!

    Congrats to Jeff and spouse. If you each pay more attention to your partner's good qualities than the not-so-great, you should have a long and happy life together. That is coming from a person in a long and happy marriage!

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  57. Lucina, @4:24 Yes, you are correct. I do clearly remember it was Henry Fonda. I was picturing him as I typed. Another of many senior moments for me. It is not senioritis, that was decades ago and much more fun.

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  58. Am writing w/o first reading the blog in the interest of originality. I solved the puzzle fine, but could not see how the unifier related to any of the theme answers until I read Argyle's write-up. I was trying to use the word event with the phrases rather than current. Was thinking "blackout event", isn't that when there is a high profile sports event, but the locals can't view it on their TV sets?

    Anyway, nice puzzle, but I didn't get much out of it.

    Argyle, thanks for the A-Train video and the sands through the hour glass!

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  59. Due to the discussion today, and just for S&G's I decided to put "Silver Tongued Devil" on my IPod (Hal 2). I don't know if Kris could get past the first round of American Idol, but his talent is foremost in writing, not performing. I happen to like the way he sings, but like scotch, it's an acquired taste.

    Here's one of the better offerings from Devil: Loving Her Was Easier.

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  60. And since the voting is apparently on for the best version of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" I have to repost J.D. Souther's version from "Always" as a serious contender.

    Smoke

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  61. Jeff: Congrats on your nuptials, but I agree with what Desper-otto said: what the hell are ya doin' here?

    Jazzbumpa @10:08 am - what does EVAH mean? I googled, but to no avail.

    Thanks much

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  62. Greetings!

    Puzzle more of a Tuesday level. No problems, though.
    Thanks Jeff and Argyle!

    Congratulations, Jeff! May you have many happy years together.

    Abejo: There is an area Masonic meeting in Bakersfield annually, for certain lodges, one assumes.

    Could not go to dentist today. She needs me to get approval from the internist (who never suggests that I come in, but just refers me to other doctors) first. This is evidently due to the Pradaxa. Can't even get teeth cleaned. Meanwhile, stuck with broken tooth, which needs to be extracted.

    My helper came today despite the fact that she has a fever and is in terrible kidney pain. The hospital discharged her and told her to take ibuprofen. She is Latina and speaks only a modicum of English. What is going on here?

    Have to go to internist at crack of dawn. Might as well stay up all night.

    Cheers!

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  63. Congratulations, Jeff!


    A Word to Husbands

    To keep your marriage brimming
    With love in the loving cup,
    Whenever you’re wrong, admit it;
    Whenever you’re right, shut up.

    Ogden Nash

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  64. The luckiest people anywhere! I'm going to get a couple of them to buy some lottery tickets for me. LUCKY PEOPLE!

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  65. I love this web site. I just started doing crossword. I do everything I can and then come to this site.

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  66. Don't hesitate to ask for advice.

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For custom-made birthday, anniversary or special occasion puzzles from C.C., please email crosswordc@gmail.com

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