google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 Ed Sessa

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Jun 19, 2012

Tuesday, June 19, 2012 Ed Sessa

Theme: Child's Play - A test of your ability to solve column themes.

3D. Start of a nursery rhyme : JACK AND JILL

5D. Start of a nursery rhyme : LONDON BRIDGE

22D. Start of a nursery rhyme : HUMPTY DUMPTY

26D. End of a nursery rhyme, or the fate of this puzzle's other three long answers : ALL FALL DOWN

Argyle here. How many times have you started to write out a troublesome vertical answer horizontally only to recognize it before you get it half done? Is there a name for it? There should be.

Without that little problem, the rest of the puzzle was more Monday than yesterday. Some of the fill linked together nicely. (GASUP ENDAT CNOTE)

Across:

1. JFK's running mate : LBJ

4. Muddle through mud : SLOSH

9. Funeral stands : BIERS

14. Notre Dame's Parseghian : ARA

15. Biblical prophet : HOSEA. Or ELIAS or MICAH. Others?

16. Illuminated from below : UPLIT

17. Muscular twitch : TIC

18. Signed in pen : INKED

19. Asia's __ Archipelago : MALAY. Map.

20. Rodent-induced shriek : "EEK!"

21. Manitoba neighbor: Abbr. : N. DAK. On their southern border.

22. Time divs. : HR's

23. Nebulous element : X FACTOR

25. Luminous cosmic objects : QUASARS

29. It's between eleven and one : NOON

30. Rathole : DUMP

31. NASA moon craft : LEM. (lunar excursion module)

32. When repeated twice, a "Seinfeld" catchphrase : YADA

34. Softly hit hit : BLOOP

36. Veal cordon __ : BLEU. (literally, blue ribbon)

37. Grumpy and dopey, but not doc: Abbr. : ADJ's (adjectives)Didn't fool me this time.

38. "Slipstream" album maker Bonnie : RAITT


39. Ices, Mafia-style : OFFS

40. Legal order : WRIT

41. Detailed wood design : INLAY

42. Itchy outbreak : RASH

43. IMer's "How funny!" : LOL

44. On pins and needles : EDGY. The Searchers - Needles and Pins.(2:28)

45. "Sounds fair" : "DEAL"

47. Throw money around : SPLURGE

49. Critters in shells : TURTLES. Do they splurge when they come out of their shells?

52. Mystery writer Grafton : SUE. Our "__ is for ..." author.

53. Tibetan priest : LAMA

54. Make red, e.g. : DYE

55. Fill the tank : GAS UP. Any trouble today?

58. Distorts : WARPS

59. Not even : ODD

60. Go on until : END AT

61. Bill featuring Franklin, in slang : C NOTE

62. Hair on a dummy : WIG

63. Posts : MAILS

64. Goat-legged deity : SATYR

65. Wedding notice word : NÉE

Down:

1. Rubber tree product : LATEX

2. Like a summary : BRIEF

4. Eastern religion meaning "way of the gods" : SHINTO

6. Liam's "Schindler's List" role : OSKAR

7. Try to unearth : SEEK

8. Possessed : HAD

9. Unfounded charge, to an alleged perp : BUM RAP

10. "None for me" : "I PASS". I've always heard "I'll pass".

11. Letter-shaped pipe : ELL

12. Narrow inlet : RIA

13. Muddy pen : STY

24. Land on the sea : COAST

25. Sales rep's goal : QUOTA

27. Living coral communities : REEFS

28. Apply, as a pie to the face : SMUSH. Apply? Really?

30. Ornamental mat : DOILY

32. Two-masters : YAWLS. You can serve on one yawl but no one can serve two masters.

33. __ in the bucket : A DROP

35. Oscar winner Jessica : LANGE. She shouldn't be anywhere near the next dude.

36. Sacha Baron Cohen persona : BORAT. Persona non grata.

44. Spews forth : ERUPTS. I prefer a visual of a volcano.


46. Rubbery rubber : ERASER. Cute.

48. Par for the course : USUAL

49. Divination deck : TAROT

50. Singer Gorme : EYDIE

51. Marsh plant : SEDGE. Would this title make you more interested in sedges? Frosted curls to tiger nuts.

53. Superboy's girlfriend Lang : LANA


55. Little treasure : GEM

56. Southern California's Santa __ Mountains : ANA

57. Star Wars initials : SDI. (Strategic Defense Initiative)

58. Liverpool lavs : WC's. (water closet)


Argyle

69 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    Definitely a good day to know one's nursery rhymes. I was a little annoyed at first at some of the vagueness with the horizontal cluing ("Biblical prophet", "Asia's ___ Archipelago", etc.) but once I started in on the vertical clues and hit the theme answers I took off like a rocket.

    Wasn't thrilled with ADJS or UPLIT, but on the whole it was a great puzzle with a fun theme and a minimum of junk.

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  2. Good morning all, very enjoyable puzzle today. Thanks. This was easier than yesterday for me, but technically a DNF. I missed the A in RIA and MALAY. Really did know those words after I read the blog this morning, but missed them hurrying through the puzzle.

    On the way to the airport in Denver to fly to Kansas City to start tracing the Oregon Trail later this morning. I was able to spend a couple days with 9-month old grand-daughter along the way. Always fun.

    Catch you all later if I have Internet access.
    Montana

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  3. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Ed Sessa, for a swell puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the review.

    Got started in the North very easily. Thought this was going to be a real easy puzzle. It toughened up as i went South.

    Had to wait for the prophet until I got a couple letters. Then HOSEA appeared.

    Not being a big Seinfeld watcher, I had to wait for a couple perps before YADA became the word.

    Could not remember how to spell EYDIE Gorme. Waited for perps.

    My puzzle was missing a few words. Example: 61A said "Bill featuring Franklin, in" there was no "slang"

    Also, 6D said ":Liam's "Schindler's List"" there was no "role" Thought that was odd.

    Theme came easy.

    Off to give a pint of blood, if thye will take it. I am getting over a cold.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  4. Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Unfortunately, today's puzzle didn't do much for me. The Nursery rhymes came easily, though. I got JACK AND JILL with only the initial J in Jack.

    My favorite clue was Rubbery Rubber = ERASER.

    QOD: I love solitude, but I prize it most when company is available. ~ Saul Bellow

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  5. Hi Y'all,

    I'm a happier camper this morning thanks to Ed Sessa and Argyle. A special thanks to my dear departed mama who read many nursery rhymes to us. I went whizzing through this in record time.

    One hiccup when I had no perps yet and put 25D Falling DOWN--quickly remedied.

    I wasn't sure of XFACTOR & QUASARS but perped nicely. Knew all the names & geographical clues.

    It turned out to be a good thing my grouchiness and the hot windy kept my home from the grocery store yesterday. The backhoe operator I'd been waiting 2 weeks to hear from showed up. He'd been on vacation. I've got to have my 90 ft. sewerline dug up and replaced. Have had roots cleaned out twice in a month. For some reason, I find it offensive to have sewage back up into the bathtub when I do laundry. Wouldn't mind sharing my gray water with my lovely maple trees, but they hog the lines.

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  6. Thank you Ed`Sessa for a wonderful puzzle, not too much effort, the rhymes ( a word not allowed in HANGMAN, yesterday - ) were easy, and Argyle, thank you for your blog and especially the volcano link !!

    ALT QOD:- I told the doctor I busted my leg in two places. He told me to stop going to those places . - Henny YOungman.

    Have a nice week, you all.

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  7. Happy Monday, all! Oh. It's Tuesday? Coulda fooled me, based on the puzzle. There were a lot more entries that I could fill with confidence without checking the crosses than there were yesterday.

    The theme entries were easy to get. I don't seem to have a problem with parsing vertical fill.

    Good puzzle, Ed, and thanks for the write up and links, Argyle.

    Grumpy (The noun, not the adj.)

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  8. This should have been the Monday puzzle. The vertical themes caused no problem. The initial J, H, and L were sufficient to guess the complete theme answers. At 26 D I had ALL which made that one easy, too. The end of London Bridge is ALL FALL DOWN.

    Argyle, thanks for the volcano link.. Awesome.

    For 49A I had I had -U----S and wanted MUSSELS. Spicy mussels marinara is one of my favorite dishes. We dip Italian bread in the tasty sauce.

    We say "I pass" in card games.

    DIL says, "Everything is HUMPTY DUMPTY" when things are messed up or confused.
    Yellowrocks to all.

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  9. Good morning everyone. Good commenting, Argyle.

    My coffee HADn't quite kicked in yet so I started in the middle and worked outwards. Pretty easy. Paused briefly on Manitoba neighbor, but since the 3rd letter was 'a' from OSKAR, NDAK was the only one that made sense. Some great fill: SPLURGE, BUM RAP, SEDGE, and QUARARS. I didn't know our Grumpy was an adjective, in addition to his other skills. Argyle, I've done the vertical - horizontal 2-step, too. Sometimes I utter: SOB!. Maybe that's the name of it.

    Have a great day.

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  10. A fun theme done vertically was great but I had to dance around awhile to get some areas – UPLIT, BUMRAP, et al.

    Musings
    -Yup, Argyle, I’ve gotten my vert. and horiz. confused before - both here on our old TV knobs. I agree on “SMUSH?”.
    -LBJ had a skill for the messy business of legislation that Obama does not
    -ARA is noted for settling for a tie in 1966 and Tom Osborne is noted for not going for a tie in 1984 and failing
    -Joann likes houses that are UPLIT
    -Want a job? Go to NDAK! $60K jobs are going begging.
    -QUASARS not PULSARS as it turns out.
    -We’ve got six LEM’s littering the lunar landscape
    -Retrieving a golf ball out of a wooded area can be a RASH act that results in a RASH. “Papa, isn’t that poison ivy?”
    -DEAL or No Deal had incredible human drama as shown here. Mom knew best about a “bird in the hand”! (4:50)
    -Big hitter, the LAMA!
    -We quit using LATEX gloves in the lab
    -Sissy Spacek and Jessica Lange testified before Congress after playing farm wives in a movie. No, really!
    -Par ain’t USUAL for me yet! Probably is for Marti!
    -What landmark movie had a character name JEM (sounds like GEM)?

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  11. Good Morning, all!

    As several posters have mentioned, today's puzzle seemed more Monday-ish than yesterday's. My only misstep was TEE for ELL, but it was quickly fixed.

    Husker, I think that's To Kill A Mockingbird,

    Have a great day, YAWLS.

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  12. Not too tough, but some good stumpers. Nice to see some ODD words Like XFACTOR and QUASARS.

    I loved the clues for 37A: ADJS and 46D ERASER. I had a few write overs - I wanted LOO for WCs at 58D. But overall a good brain exercise.

    Montana: Sounds like an interesting trip.

    Abejo: Good for you! :)
    I'm terrified of needles :(

    Have a good day everyone. If anybody wants to SPLURGE on GEMS I'll be here. Send 'em on over. (I'll accept C NOTES too.)

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

    Fun puzzle today, and great links, Argyle! "Needles and Pins" brought me right back to the 60s! I wonder why Jackie DeShannon's recording the year before wasn't such a hit? Then a few answers on, we had the
    TURTLEs...

    It was funny to see GAS UP after our discussion of FUELED yesterday! I really wanted Taoism instead of SHINTO at 4D. And like Spitzboov, I enjoyed seeing the zippy fill. Nice stuff!

    HG, some of my RASH strokes get me more BLOOPs than USUAL. My QUOTA of good scores is like A DROP in the bucket compared to that Beau Hossler whipper snapper!

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  14. Happy Tuesday (AKA as my day off) everyone. I enjoyed this puzze and writeup while sipping an excellent cup of Caribou Mahogany coffee and listening to the robins singing outside.

    I was zipping right along until RIA alomost did me in, but thankfully the A in MALAY appeared. PK, you gave me a chuckle; I couldn't help associating "whizzing" with bathroom humor! (don't know why my mind went there...)

    I really wanted SASK for Manitoba's neighbor, but it didn't work with OSKAR. A V-8 moment when I realized that the answer was an older form of my state's name. Duh! Don't see that much anymore since the two-letter postal abbreviations for the states came along. A lot of business and organizations around here use the "o" with it, as in NoDak.

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  15. Isn't a yawl a two masted ship?
    Didn't get your comment.

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  16. I never did sort out the NE corner. Having RIO and BADrap didn't help, but another glitch was simply having no idea of what to put for UPlit. So all that meant that MALAY remained a mystery, although it should have been obvious.

    Other areas all fell in eventually, though some seemed a bit hard for a Tuesday.

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  17. still don't get yawls. sailing boat?

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  18. Hi gang -

    Much easier time than yesterday, though - like Grumpy - I am vertically challenged.

    Really wondered where LONDO . . . was going. Wanted JACK BE NIMBLE (didn't fit.)

    As John Maynard Keynes said, in the long run, we ALL FALL DOWN.

    YAWLS needed lots of perp help. I'm just nautically minded.

    UPLIT?!?

    Cool regards!
    JzB

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  19. Anon -

    Y'AWLS = plural of y'all, with a drawl.

    Cheers, Y'AWLS!
    JzB

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  20. I see a secondary Space Theme-
    XFACTOR
    QUASARS
    LEM
    SDI
    (blast)OFF
    WARPS(warp speed)
    NOON(sun's highest point)
    LBJ(First former or incumbent US president to witness a rocket launch)

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  21. Argyle: @ the risk of sounding naughty, what about "horvert" for the name of writing vert. answers horiz?

    Isn`t it Shel Silverstein who wrote "The one L Lama?" (Favorite verse by him is "Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker")

    Being uplit is a favorite technique for producing scary faces. Try it in the dark with a flashlight!

    I prefer chicken cordon bleu. Roll prosciutto ham and swiss cheese in thin , well-seasoned chicken breasts, secure with tooth picks, batter and fry until golden brown. Remove tooth picks and place in a casserole. Cover completely with equal parts sour cream, cream of chicken soup and whole milk, mixed. Bake 350 30 to 40 minutes. (I put dish on a cookie sheet because it sometimes bubbles over.)
    I don`t remember a prophet named Elias...at least I don`t think his book is included in the Canon.
    We just say "pass."
    Kazie, congratulations!

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  22. I can finally wish you all a good morning! Will probably sleep the afternoon away now.

    BLOOP (softly hit hit) still puzzles me?

    YADA yada still makes me smile when I hear it. I wonder how many new words were added to the English language from the Seinfeld sitcom?

    Trivia--Sonny Bono co-wrote Needles & Pins.

    My daughter is allergic to LATEX gloves. Just touching her will leave red finger prints.

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  23. Good morning:

    Fun, clever puzzle, Ed, and ditto for Argyle's expo.

    Although I finished w/o help and no write-overs, I agree with Kazie that it was a tad more difficult than a usual Tuesday offering.

    Have a great day everyone!

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  24. Hello, puzzlers. Argyle, again I'm glad you spell out the initials as usually I don't know or don't recall them.

    Ed Sessa's mother must have read nursery rhymes to him as did mine and I to my daughter. They make a nice theme.

    Didn't exactly sashay today; it was more like a two-step and a reel as I went around in circles. I blitzed through the NE then slowed at HOSEA which as Argyle noted could have been one of several.

    But once the first word of each familiar nursery rhyme appeared, the rest fell in place. I really wanted LOOS but WCS emerged and had OYSTERS before TURTLES.

    BORAT is not only non grata but almost unknown to me except in movie trailers and puzzles.

    Surprising to see DUMP and DUMPTY together.

    ERASER, GEM, COAST, BLOOP were cleverly clued.

    Montana: tell us about your journey and why you are doing it, please.

    Today is my one week check-up so I'm off to the Doc.

    Everyone, have a terrific Tuesday!

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  25. It's a good day!

    Coffee with the south bay area Coven...all your ears should be ringing at some point. LOL

    Oh yeah, I almost forgot, nice puzzle Mr. Sessa! (Y'awls?)

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  26. Kazie, congratulations!!! Good excuse to visit Germany, but wish you could be closer. My children are also spread out here and there.

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  27. Hi everybody, we're back from a long Bloomsday weekend in Los Angeles! Anybody miss me? Got the LA Times delivered to our hotel room, so did the puzzle--but missed my blog.

    Great Tuesday offering, Ed, many thanks--and you, too, Argyle for the always fun write-up. I know my nursery rhymes so zipped through this one. Only, like several others, I thought of MUSSELS before getting TURTLES. Duh! We have a 50 year old gopher turtle living in a custom pen in our patio. She's not going to be happy when she hears I muffed this one.

    Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

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  28. Good morning y'all,

    Wagged like crazy thru some gnarly spots~rea, ell, uplit~ and biers took awhile to pull out. Loved the theme, and unifier.Rock-a-bye baby also fell down.

    DNF the D in sDi/enD at.Still don't grok the yawls with the clue. Odd.

    Argyle, great video of volcano.

    Have a beautiful day.

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  29. Montana, on your journey, be sure and stop at the Great Platte River Road Archway in Kearney, NE. You have to go past it, exit I 80 and come back to it until they get the interchange built, but it is so worth it. It spans the Interstate and contains tableaus that tell of the hardships these pioneers had to endure. It is quite impressive. The state is also slowly building other attractions around the arch and they are worth visiting as well.

    If you have a few hours to spare, you can head south of I 80 to Pioneer Village too for some fabulous history displays consisting of over 50,000 items. Signs for Pioneer Village used to be as ubiquitous as those for Wall Drug when I was growing up.

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  30. 32. Two-masters : YAWLS. You can serve on one yawl but no one can serve two masters.

    If Lolita was here, she could explain it. Here is a good image of what the masts look like. There is a main mast and a mizzenmast aft.

    As you can see, it is large enough for a crew, so you could serve on it but you can still serve only one master.

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  31. My oldest brother crewed on a Yawl out of Newport back in high school. I enjoyed the rhymes, and only hesitated at RIA MALAY cross, but Malaysia popped in my head and then RIA seemed to ring a bell.

    Jerome if you can come up with a pun or anagram for JzB's link to the lamp shade/chandelier girl I will bow down and anoint your feet with oil.

    Where have all the sailors gone...

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  32. A bloop is a weakly hit fly ball that drops in for a single between an infielder and an outfielder. Also known as a bloop single, a dying quail, or a duck snort. Also described as a Texas Leaguer, but not the same as a Baltimore chop or a bleeder.

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  33. Just to clarify, "y'all" is both singular and plural.

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  34. Chin: I always thought the plural of "y'all" was "all y'all".

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  35. I thought they said y'all-uns in N'awlins.

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  36. Lemonade, Jzb's link reminded me of Christmas story, but also of an upside down TULIP

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  37. Hahtoolah, I agree with you. DH and BFFs from NOLA say "all y'all" when referring to a group...

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  38. lemony, thanks for the copying and pasting of the wiki defintion. it helps to eliminate typos, doesn't it?

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  39. 0 for 2 this week, the NE got me. I had Lia for Ria (hey it worked on those grassy pastures) but knew the corner was wrong when 10D came out "I Piss".

    37A Grumpy & Dopey, but not Doc? (i wanted bald.)

    Slosh does not sound "muddy" to me.

    I also had "smash" for smush. Ble"A"? (hey its french to me...)

    I also had Edge, which made Doily = Doile (hey i thought it was French!)

    44D Erupts, Argyle, thanks a lot for that video. It reminds me that i put too much Texas Petes hot sauce on the BBQ Sunday. (it's still reminding me today...)

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  40. Lemonade714, there must be 10,00 look up your (a)dress puns, how about this instead:

    A very attractive woman goes up to the bar in a quiet rural pub. She gestures alluringly to the bartender, who comes over immediately. When he arrives, she seductively signals that he should bring his face closer to hers. When he does so, she begins to gently caress his full beard. "Are you the manager?" she asks, softly stroking his face with both hands.

    "Actually, no" the man replies. "Can you get him for me?" she asks. "I need to speak to him," she says, running her hands beyond his beard and into his hair. "I'm afraid I can't", breathes the bartender. "Is there anything I can do?"

    "Yes, there is. I need you to give him a message" she continues huskily, popping a couple of fingers into his mouth and allowing him to suck them gently. "What should I tell him?" the bartender manages to say.

    "Tell him", she whispers, "There is no toilet paper or hand soap in the ladies toilet".

    (My feet are ready for anointing)

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  41. Sorry CED, it is not the upskirt part of the linked pic to which I was trying to inspire Jerome to respond, it was the lampshade/chandelier look she portrayed in lighting the way for those who might be interested in looking upskirt.

    bear in mind, I did not specify an oil, which is perhaps in keping with the direction of your story.

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  42. Hi all,
    Haven't read blogs except for Argyles, but its about time to get supper.

    This was fun but fairly hard. I did get the nursery rhymes-that was the fun part. DH helped some but we still didn't quite finish it.

    Words like slosh, smush,bloop and xfactor held me up. Interesting we had fueled yesterday and gas up today.

    Have a good eveving all!
    Marge

    PS I had to give my password again and I did blog yesterday.

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  43. Ed Sessa: Thank you for a clever 'vertical' themed puzzle.
    Yup, they ALL-FALL-DOWN. lol

    Also liked the 'shout-out' to Grumpy.

    There will be more than "A-DROP" of Pinch in my glass at SUNSET.
    Cheers!!!

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  44. Hola Everyone, Once I got out of Canada for the Manitoba neighbor and put in NDAK, the rest of the middle section filled in just fine.

    The three nursery rhymes that were listed today were all filled in so All Fall Down was also an easy fill.

    I had a harder time with this one than yesterday, but all in all a fun CW. Nursery Rhymes were almost part of my daily routine while teaching and, of course, while raising my girls.

    Coffee today with the South Bay Area Coven-as Garlic Gal tagged us-was great. Ever listen to a group of ladies gab and gossip? Non-stop conversation! We had a Wonderful time. I hope we didn't make too many ears ring this morning.

    "Ring Around the Rosie" also had a Fall Down ending.

    Have a great evening, everyone.

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  45. See what happens when I miss a day reading the blog. I missed Kazie's news.

    Kazie, Congratulations on the coming addition to your family. Grandparenting is a great joy.

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  46. Chickie: Have you seen Clear Ayes recently? Did she join you at the Crossword Coven? Tell her we miss her.

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  47. Apropos of GAS UP, I did so for $3.42! Is it lower anywhere else? The price includes a 10 cent per gallon discount from Kroger's.

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  48. Lucina:

    Yesterday, I paid $3.63. Glad to see you "sashaying" again!

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  49. Lucina - I GASSED UP for $3.139 today. That includes a 40¢ discount from Price Chopper.

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  50. Lucina, that seems to be one big advantage of living where you do. It's about $3.90 around here. This seems to be one of the most expensive places for gas anywhere.

    However, it was nice getting a free 1.5 year service on the new Camry yesterday along with a car wash. Plus my tenth coffee was free at the local emporium. On my bike ride today, I parked at a meter with time left on it. Life is good!

    And even more... Jordan had his first tennis lesson today. He's not much enjoyed soccer, bsseball or basketball so this seemed like a very good thing when he enjoyed it very much. He was supposed to stop after a half hour but was enjoying it so much he kept going for the full hour.

    Life is good...

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  51. The Shell station in my neighborhood is $3.129/gal.

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  52. Well, it appears that some of you live in some inexpensive places. It's good to see gas prices finally lowering.

    Bill G:
    Enjoy the free meter time while you can. I saw a news report about meters that sense when a car drives out of the parking spot and the meter reverts to zero.

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  53. Hi All,

    Great CW today, thanks Ed Sessa, Argyle always enjoy your write ups

    Never watched a single episode of Sienfeld but knew yada.

    HG, NE looks like a great place to visit

    I live 15 miles from my office, gas there is $3.69, I fill up much closer to home at Costco where it's $3.11 today. They have 32 pumps and there are always lines.

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  54. Lucina wrote: "Enjoy the free meter time while you can. I saw a news report about meters that sense when a car drives out of the parking spot and the meter reverts to zero."

    I've heard of that do. I hope the voters revolt against it. The time has been paid for already. It's one of the few freebies left.

    More homophones:
    Each answer is a pair of homophones, which are words that sound alike but are spelled differently. You are given two words: One would precede one of the homophones, the other would follow the other, to complete a familiar two-word phrase. For example, given the words "hay" and "jumper," the answer would be "bale" as in "hay bale" and "bail" as in "bail jumper."

    Track/thermometer, marine/sample, 800-pound/warfare, chess/pipe, bus/shake, false/sharing, anthracite/slaw, gift/ attention.

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  55. Two just came quickly: 800 pound gorilla/guerilla warfare and anthracite coal/cole slaw. Working...

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  56. Track meet/meat thermometer

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  57. Marine corps/ core sample

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  58. Chess piece / Peace pipe

    Bus Fare / Fair shake

    Gift wrapped / Rapt attention

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  59. Greetings!

    Fun puzzle, Ed! Swell expo, Argyle. No cheating, but was baffled by BLOOP. Thanks for definition, Lemonade.

    Enjoyed Merl's Sunday offering. Always fun to have movie theme with puns. (You can get this puzzle easily from the Washington Post!)

    Cheers!

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  60. Great line from Sheldon on one of tonight's re-runs. He was introduced to one of the scientists involved in the removal of Pluto as a planet and he expressed his like for Pluto and his dislike for the scientist. The scientist then explained that it was a committee, not he, that made the decision. And Sheldon, in his inimitable pithy voice replied: If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a happy Christmas!

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  61. Argyle, thanks. I get it now. A yawl has 2 masts. You have confused me a tad with the serving thing. I know, you just want to thump the side of my head.

    Today's coven was just the 3 of us: Garlic Gal, Chickie and myself.It's always a lot of fun to catch up and share new places to visit in our area. We are hoping to meet with CA and Dodo in August; we'll drive over to their valley.
    CA is still fighting her cancers, and spends a lot of time with her daughter.They have a new dog, Annie, a Lhasa-Apso/poodle mix.Charlie passed away.

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  62. addendum: "Charlie" was CA's cute little schipperke, who came down with kidney disease. Fred is her DH.

    Bill, loved today's word play.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Bill G@7:27
    I agree that the time is already paid for and should be allowed to the next vehicle but I seriously doubt we can stop the flow of that kind of revenue from going to the cities. It would never even be on a ballot. It's more likely the city council's decision.

    Chickie, Garlic Gal and JD:
    I'm happy you all met and had an enjoyable time. My heart has been with you in spirit. Glad to know the news about Clear Ayes, too, but very sorry that her cancer returned.

    ReplyDelete

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