google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Matt Skoczen

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Jul 31, 2012

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Matt Skoczen

Theme: Heeere's Johnny - Four in fact whose last name begin the in language themes and a grid spanning reveal.

17A. One may spoil the whole bunch : ROTTEN APPLE. Johnny Rotten - The stage name of the lead vocalist for the Sex Pistols, an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975.

24A. State capital near the Comstock Lode : CARSON CITY. Johnny Carson - Needs no intro. Carson City is the capital of Nevada.

38A. Handy guy to have around, or a hint to this puzzle's theme found in 17-, 24-, 50- and 62-Across : JOHNNY ON THE SPOT

50A. Monetary assets : CASH IN HAND. Johnny Cash - The man in black. Video(3:09).

62A. Substitute player : BENCH WARMER. Johnny Bench - Baseball catcher for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983, not a bench warmer.

Heeere's Argyle. "I feel a hot wind on my shoulder
And the touch of a world that is older" - Mexican Radio.

My first look at the NW corner had me checking the day. Some of the clues/entries are from an older time. I felt an international feel for it, too. The anon who complained about abbreviations won't like it, but after all was said and done, I did.

Across:

1. Set in motion : STARTED

8. Letters for an open schedule slot : TBA. (to be announced)

11. LAX calculation : ETA. (estimated time of arrival)

14. Soho "So long!" : "CHEERIO!"

15. "Still and all ..." : "YET ..."

16. Fish-fowl connector : NOR

19. No. that's zero at the equator : LAT. The number for the latitude at the equator is 0 and 90 at the poles.

20. Golfer Palmer : ARNIE

21. Store, as a hose : COIL

22. Get wise with : SASS

23. Plaintive sound : MOAN

26. Economist Smith : ADAM. The Wealth of Nations, 1776.

28. Old draft classification : TWO A. Occupational deferment category.

29. Gaza Strip gp. : PLO. (Palestine Liberation Organization)

32. "__ Sleep, for Every Favor": old hymn : ERE I. Instrumental on the organ at Eccles Congregational Church, Salford, England, near to Liverpool.

34. 1950s WMD : H-BOMB. (weapon of mass destruction, WMD)

42. Margaret Mead subject : SAMOA. Her book, Coming of Age in Samoa.

43. Besmirch : SOIL

44. Drag behind : TOW

45. A or Jay, e.g. : ALer. (baseball)

48. "Jesus __": shortest Bible verse : WEPT

54. Dost own : HAST

58. Weight on one's shoulders : ONUS

59. Carries out : DOES

60. 19th-century German poet Heinrich : HEINE. Wikipedia article.

61. Genetic letters : RNA

64. Soho sir : GUV. Informal British for governor.

65. Philanderer : CAD

66. Syrian's neighbor : ISRAELI

67. Suffix with infant : ILE. (infantile, like some anons)

68. Pitcher's stat : ERA

69. Beats, and how : PUMMELS. Don't confuse with pommel horse.

Down:

1. "Get outta here!" : "SCRAM!"

2. Exhaustive, informally : THORO. (thorough)

3. Humana rival : AETNA. Health care companies.

4. Light-sensing eye part : RETINA

5. Mimosa, for one : TREE. The alcoholic drink is so called from its yellowish color, which resembles that of the mimosa. Who knew?


6. A, in Augsburg : EIN. Today's map of Germany.

7. Appear on screen like Hitchcock : DO A CAMEO

8. Data entry pro : TYPIST

9. Deep roar : BELLOW

10. Gobbled down : ATE

11. China's Zhou __ : ENLAI. First Premier of the People's Republic of China.

12. Salute with a raised glass : TOAST

13. La-di-da : ARTSY

18. "Un momento, __ favor" : POR. Yo no hablo español.

22. Signs of healing : SCABS

24. Grant with an Honorary Award statuette : CARY. Grant was given an Honorary Oscar at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970. Frank Sinatra presented Grant with the award, "for his unique mastery of the art of screen acting with the respect and affection of his colleagues". (Wiki)

25. Caution to a game show audience : "NO HELP!". Unless it's "The Price is Right". All that help is no help.

27. Mount McKinley's national park : DENALI

29. Jammies : PJ's

30. Mauna __ : LOA. Are you nuts?

31. Resistance unit : OHM

33. Shoo-__: easy winners : INs

35. Make up one's mind : OPT

36. __ goo gai pan : MOO. Now, how do they say it in Boston?

37. Incidentally, in IMs : BTW. (By The Way)

39. Whose ark it was : NOAH'S

40. County subdivision : TOWNSHIP

41. Zipped along : HIED

46. Make beloved : ENDEAR

47. Beach Boys title girl : RHONDA. She was helpful.

49. Aries : THE RAM

50. Welsh dog : CORGI


51. Invalidate : ANNUL

52. Smoothly polite : SUAVE

53. Nuclear agcy. formed under Truman : AEC. (Atomic Energy Commission)

55. Pop singer Mann : AIMEE. Not my cup of tea but here is a video(3:12).

56. Fishhook connector : SNELL. Here, if you want to tie your own hook on the line. Most people buy hooks with the leader already attached.

57. Garr and Hatcher : TERIs. Unable to find a photo of the two of them together.

60. "No __, no foul" : HARM. Nor fish.

62. Pre-A.D. : BCE. (Before Common Era) If you need more, Wiki link.

63. Sch. with a Vancouver campus : WSU. (Washington State University)
 
Argyle

68 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    Like yesterday, this one was mostly straightforward with a few minor surprises.

    ERE I could have been clued via the famous "able was I..." palindrome, but instead we got a totally obscure (to me, at least) hymn.

    Never heard of Heinrich HEINE. Again, I think of something much more common when I see HEINE, but it's probably spelled differently...

    I know AETNA (it's my current health insurance company), but never heard of Humana.

    Oh -- and I thought a "plaintive sound" was going to be MEWL instead of MOAN. I really don't think of a MOAN as being plaintive, but maybe that's just me. In fact, I bet if I look it up in the dictionary the first definition will be, "A plaintive sound." Still...

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

    Wow, you said it, Argyle - "My first look at the NW corner had me checking the day". The theme totally went over my head. I had no idea who JOHNNY ROTTEN was, so I was trying to fit the word SPOT with apple? Or, maybe rotten spot?

    I also had no idea what WMD meant (thank you very much for clarifying that one, too), but got H-BOMB from perps. The one spot that was my Natick was the "N" in the crossing of HEINE with SNELL. I know we have had snell before, but it just wasn't surfacing from the depths this morning. So a Tuesday DNF - how humiliating!

    I'm off to the corner to lick my wounds...

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  3. ALER and DENALI was a Natick for me.

    Also, I spell it PoMMEL.

    Heinrich HEINE is pronounced High nuh. He is very quotable in German. I remember my grandfather reciting, "Du bist wie eine Blume..." you are like a flower; and Ich weiss nicht, was soll es bedeuten...
    Also famous for saying, "Where books are burned, people will eventually be burned."
    And he was handsome.

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  4. Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Boy, I was really PUMMELED me! Thank goodness, I caught on to the theme and could find the hidden JOHNNY's. I knew of all of them.

    In my office we us TBD (to be determined) as opposed to TBA.

    I thought Scars might be a sign of healing instead of SCABS.

    I wanted Head instead of ONUS for the Weight on One's Shoulders. Afterall, a human head weighs 8 pounds.

    Today is D-Day for my wisdom teeth. I hope to be around tomorrow and have the wisdom to do the puzzle.

    QOD: A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he's finished. ~ Zsa Zsa Gabor

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  5. Good morning, group!

    Today was a race to the bottom...then a big slowdown in Florida. HATH before HAST and HESSE before HEINE. It all worked out, though. I had no chance of getting the theme, but it wasn't needed.

    Learning moment: "Most people buy hooks with the leader already attached." Not a fisherman, but when I did fish as a boy I had to tie on my own hook. I thought it was still that way.

    Didn't care much for "Whose ark it was". I'd rather it had been clued as "Wyle and Webster" which would have fit right in with 57D "Garr and Hatcher."

    It was a good Tuesday offering, though. Enjoyed it.

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  6. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Matt Skoczen, for a swell puzzle. Enjoyed it. Thank you, Argyle, for going above and beyond on this review. excellent!

    I could not really get started in the NW, or the North, or the NE. I did get RETINA, however, for 4D. I worked in that field for five years.

    On the fourth row I was able to get ARNIE, COIL, and SASS. CARSON CITY came easily. I worked near there.

    Basically I bounced around and got the puzzle. There were enough gimmies that I had plenty of perps.

    The SE was easy. Only had to wag the "I" in HEINE and AIMEE.

    Wanted TBD for 8A, but TBA prevailed.

    The theme and unifier were all quite easy.

    Off to the rest of my day. See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  7. Good puzzle for a Tueday and interesting links, Argyle. The NW looked a little daunting so I finished all the rest quickly and then returned to the NW. By then it was easy. I knew ROTTEN APPLE and the perps fit, but I didn't know Johnny Rotten.

    We have mimosa trees (silk tree type) here. They are pretty, but messy.

    I knew WMD because Bush was looking for WMDs in Iraq. Those in the 50's would have to be bombs.

    I liked the NOAH reference.

    I believe the Queen likes Welsh Corgis. Here is a Welsh Rabbit.
    Link a Welsh Rabbit.

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  8. Sfingi, we studied German poetry in college. Thanks for reminding me of a favorite.

    Du bist wie eine Blume - You're so lovely as a flower

    Du bist wie eine Blume
    So hold und schön und rein:
    Ich schau' dich an, und Wehmut
    Schleicht mir ins Herz hinein.

    Mir ist, als ob ich die Hände
    Aufs Haupt dir legen sollt',
    Betend, daß Gott dich erhalte
    So rein und schön und hold.

    Heinrich Heine
    ...
    You are like a flower,
    So fair, so pure and smart;
    I gaze at you and melancholy
    Sneaks into my heart.

    I feel I should be laying
    My hands upon your hair,
    Praying that God may preserve you
    So pure and smart and fair.

    Translation Joseph Massaad
    (Not literal or word for word)

    Link Du Bist Wie eine Blume

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  9. With regard to SNELL... I've started taking my 7-year-old pond fishing this Summer. I haven't fished for at least 25 years, so I had to relearn how to tie the knots to attach the line to the hook. And then I discovered SNELLs at the local sporting good store and haven't looked back. Not only does it save time, the knots are much better than I can tie myself and it's easy to buy different sizes and swap them on and off the swivel.

    Which is to say, of course, that SNELL was a big fat gimme for me today... ^_^

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  10. Hahtoolah @ 6:49 am: I loved you comment about Head instead of ONUS! Good luck with the wisdom teeth.

    The NW was tough for me too, but 33D was a Shoo-INs (ha ha). No Johnny on the Spot today, this one took me longer than normal.

    Have a good day everybody!

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  11. Thank you Matt Skoczen ( .. I have a feeling that one of the middle consonants is silent .... ? ) ... for a most wonderful puzzle !! I had a couple of write overs, ... corona (?) / retina, Jesus went/wept, Shonda/Rhonda, Gov/Guv ... but all in all, I completed, as I felt I should, on a Tuesday puzzle.

    Wow, Marti had a DNF !!!! ... that's one for the record books !!!

    Thank you Argyle for your lovely commentary. The Welsh Corgis were cute, but don't mistake them for 'cuddly' - them dogs are painful biters and nippers. The music, was a surprise !! ... It's the song 'Jai Ho' ( 'Victory to thee', or 'Hail thee' ), the music by A. R. Rahman, the iconic Indian music director... the song won an Oscar ...( in 'Slumdog Mill.' ). I don't know the song but I could recognize the first words ... I wonder in what context it is linked to the Corgis. I also watched people crashing their gazillion dollar cars, in the next video.

    Thank you also for your info on Heinrich Heine. It is ironic that people who are totally despised during their lifetimes are now held to be the 'true culture and pathos' of their country....


    ALT QOD:- Every item at IKEA needs assembly. I brought a pillow there and they gave me a duck. ~ Todd Glass.

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  12. TTP'er here

    Thank you Matt, and thank you Argyle. Loved your 67A repartee.

    4D RETINA - Light Sensing Eye Part - Remember learning about about Rods and Cones ?

    5D. TREE Mimosa. Argyle, I knew. One of my sisters in Texas has one and calls it a Formosa, despite the number of times she's been corrected. IMO, they are a really messy tree, akin to a Buckeye. I'd advise planting in the back 40 or a neighbor's yard, where it can be viewed from afar.

    6D Augsburg A EIN. Bavaria. South of Munchen. Wheat Bier. Here, we can buy Augsburger Beer, which is a lager made in Stevens Point, WI.

    47D RHONDA. She was helpful. It will now be helpful to me to turn on the radio to get that song out of my head. Help me Rhonda yea, get it outta my head... Perhaps I'll find some Johnny Cash. Or maybe Neil Young sing Hey Hey My My, the story of Johnny Rotten...

    Have a good day all !

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  13. Hahtoolah, I loved your QOD.

    As Bob Hope said, Ms. Gabor had so much 'oomph' when she was born - her parents named her twice....

    Good luck with the extraction of your wisdom teeth. As an aside, ..... had the teeth imparted wisdom, as they are supposed to, they would have alerted you to remove them long ago, ... when you were younger, inflation was lower, and insurance coverage was more generous. I have a cousin here, who is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, who has a 'roaring' practice, and his fees are very reasonable, and I could have gotten you a big discount - but alas, you live clear across the country. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

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  14. Good morning Argyle and all.

    Never did figure out the theme before coming here. But no matter, the solve was easy enough. TWO A threw me for awhile, but then I got BELLOW, a nice lusty fill. Didn't know HEINE, but the perps helped. We've had ALER before; don't like it. Nobody says it. I liked PUMMELS. In German a 'Pummel' is a short stocky person. We once had a real friendly pudgy heifer which we named Pummel. Alas she did not become a good milker.

    CHEERIO

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  15. Me too, Argyle. It said Tuesday just above the puzzle but getting started took a while. But for a aImee/heIne natick for me was the only ROTTEN APPLE for me and didn’t ruin the bunch.

    Musings
    -Joann and I are JOHNNY ON THE SPOT when MIL has problems and her twin sister – not so much. Are any of you “The Little Red Hen”?
    -Golf fans love winners with personality like ARNIE. After Tiger, the PGA really doesn’t have one.
    -A MOAN can have very different causes
    -I had a TWO A before all deferments started going away in the 60’s.
    -Hawaiians tell SAMOAn jokes, mostly in good fun
    -Mary Ellen in The Waltons coached the kids to say “Jesus wept” to a woman who required a bible verse to get a Christmas gift.
    -I have never seen two people get PUMMELed like Ali and Frazier in the “Thrilla in Manila”. Frazier’s corner threw in the towel just seconds before Ali’s was going to.
    -My favorite optical illusion involving fatigue of the RETINA. Give it a try!
    -List of Hitch’s cameos
    -I hope to share a TOAST at sunset with a Tampa cwd friend someday.
    -The movie Quiz Show shows a contestant getting NO HELP from the audience but a lot from the producers
    -Ark mistake
    -SUAVE = Cary Grant
    -Back is a little better, weather is not.

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  16. Anon @ 8:46 -- Is that the same brewery that manufactures Point Special beer? As I recall, it really wasn't all that special, but it was cheap. It was just right for a connoisseur of whatever's today's blue-light sale item.

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  17. Anony-Mouse, thank you for the heads-up on the second video. I loved it. The guy smoking his clutch and not even knowing it ... Priceless!

    And the whole bunch not knowing the smell of burning clutch from burning tires ... Incredible.

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  18. Good morning all:

    Another beautiful day in Ogunquit, Maine. I think today might be a lobster fest.

    Nice job, Matt, and good expo, Argyle. I had a few miscues but finished without help. Had pinch hitter, then bench sitter, and, finally, bench warmer. Guessed at snell and that was the end. I thought it was a tad harder than a typical Tuesday.

    Last night's get-together went smoothly despite an appearance by the three canines. (They are more like miniature ponies than dogs, especially the Bernese.)

    Hatoolah, good luck with the surgery.

    Happy Tuesday!

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  19. I had a comment but it got lost in the google quagmire of trying to get my cell phone witch doesn't work for extra apps in which I have no interest. Any hints on how to tell them to stop bothering me with that?

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  20. which! ugh--that's what anger and hurrying gets me!

    I had said how all the baseball clues fouled me up and so this may be my first DNF on a Tuesday.

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  21. TTP'er here

    Desper-Otto. Yes, same brewery. Had to look that one up to verify though.

    Here's a favorite website. Love the search function, ratings, and reviews.

    http://beeradvocate.com/

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  22. Easy one today. Anyone know why the online site doesn't give you the theme? I use http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/games/chi-sa-crossword-htmlpage,0,4198286.htmlpage

    Knowing it was "Johnny on the spot" would have made it more fun.

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  23. Well, like Sfingi, the ALER/DENALI gave me a rare Tuesday DNF. But I loved the JOHNNY theme, even if I did think the first dude's name was JOHNNY APPLE rather than JOHNNY ROTTEN. So thanks, Matt!

    Never heard of SNELL--that's a new one for me. And I always love getting the poems when a poet is mentioned, so thanks for the lovely offering, Yellowrocks.

    My husband recently switched from non-alcoholic beer to asking for an "ARNIE Palmer", a combination of iced tea and lemonade apparently invented by the golfer!

    Off to the eye doctor with conjunctivitis this morning. Not as bad as getting wisdom teeth removed, I guess.

    Have a great day, everybody!

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  24. Anony-mouse @ 8:43 (I'm still pouting...)

    Good luck with you wisdom teeth, Hahtoolah!

    Freond @ 10:19, in the Mon-Sat LA Times puzzles, the theme is not published. The "Theme" title that you see here on the corner on those days is dreamed up by the person doing the write-up. Only the Sunday LAT publishes the constructor's theme title.

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  25. Hello all, I was wondering if someone could clue me in on what a Natick is in reference to crossword puzzles. Thanks, Kathy
    Solved puzzle except for snell!

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  26. Argyle, you were/are in fine fettle today :)

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  27. I thought that it was going to end up being Arnie Palmer, but know that his name is Arnold so I had no idea if it wasn't Arnie.

    The paper I have doesn't have any theme titles either so it's rather difficult to find the theme sometimes, unless there's no theme title in any paper. In which case I'm just slow sometimes

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  28. Argyle: As always ... A wonderful write-up & links.
    Matt: Thank you for a FUN Thursday level puzzle (printed 2-days early).

    WEES about the AIMEE/HEINE crossing.
    @28-A, put in 'one-a' before TWO-A emerged.
    Also, had 'sped' at 41-D before HIED.

    Kazie: Thats just your TYPO from yesterday.

    Didn't understand yesterday why LONDON & TAMPA were both in the grid.
    Turns out they 'both' have major sports thingys happening.
    OK, LONDON is stuck with the Olympics.
    But here, in TAMPA "we" have the 'REAL' biggie ...

    Yup, today thru August 7th, at USF (University of South Florda) 1,200 athletes have gathered for ...

    Wait for it ...

    The "World Rope-Skipping Championships" (I guess TAMPA won the coin toss, lol).

    Can't believe it ... but ... IT ISN'T being televised.

    A TOAST to all at Sunset.
    Cheers!!!

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  29. Hahtoolah,
    I was afraid when I needed a wisdom tooth removed a few years ago, but it was a snap--didn't feel a thing. I was especially worried, since at age 9, I'd had to have all my baby molars removed because they weren't leaving on their own, and I could not only feel, but hear the scrunching sound in my head as the dentist struggled with each one over a period of weeks. They had roots about a quarter inch long! Anyway, now things are a lot better. So I'm sure you'll be OK!

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  30. I couldn't get STARTED (Duh!) for the longest time. Too easy? Strange day in that I got all the longest answers before most of the perps. I never guessed what the unifier had to do with the "themes".

    My MIL had an apple tree with the best tasting apples ever. She also had an antique cider press. One year with a banner crop, two of us sat at a big tub of apples, cored, dewormed and cut out rotten spots for hours while MIL & SIL ran the press. Had fun gabbing away. Excellent cider!

    Best of luck, Hahtoolah!

    I had about three entries for cameo. Never heard of TWO A, only "one A" and "four F", which everyone hoped they would be who didn't want to go.

    HG: At one time, "Little Red Hen" was me...

    My granddaughter did 4-H dog agility trials with her CORGI at the fair. Both had fun with it.

    Great puzzle! Great comments & links, Argyle!

    Did anyone else watch Equestrian Cross Country at the Olympics? Wow! I was mesmerized.

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  31. Tinbeni,
    But I wasn't here yesterday! I had an easy time with that one but left early for the day and didn't have time to come here. Were you thinking of someone else?

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  32. Hello everybody. Well, the ol' HEINE - SNELL crossing (the letter N) almost got me. I went through the whole alphabet and guessed at N because it just seemed better than any other letter. Then I immediately found it coincidentally interesting that SNELL is a German word crossing the name of a German poet.

    Barry G, guess what? I thought of "hiney" too!

    I knew DENALI so no problem for me in that area. I also dislike ALER.

    Holy wow, my head weighs 8 pounds? No wonder my shoulders are stupid!

    Two Samoans walk into a bar and order mimosas ... (I forget the "punch" line.)

    Cheerio, Guv! Best whooshes to you all.

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  33. Hello, Argyle, and all. Love your wit, Argyle.

    Wow! The NW was the least of my worries as ROTTEN APPLE fell easily and I often drink an ARNIE. However, since I don't know Johnny ROTTEN, had no idea how that fit the theme.

    My Natick was at HNEINE/SNELL and like you, Marti, I can't believe a Tuesday DNF for me! I feel like MOANing and BELLOWing.

    Sfingi:
    PUMMEL and pommel are two different words as Argyle noted in the commentary.

    Hahtoolah:
    Good luck with your wisdom teeth extractions. These days it's usually a simple process.

    During the opening ceremonies the queen's corgis had the spotlight for a while.

    Have a terrific Tuesday, everyone!

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  34. Good afternoon everyone.

    I DNF, which is discouraging on a Tuesday! Couldn't get 62A; DH who used to play baseball said it looked like pinch hitter, which ruined ENDEAR and THE RAM and didn't help with others in the SE which I hadn't grokked. All his fault.

    Good luck with your wisdom teeth, Hahtoolah.

    And CORGI reminded me of ClearAyes, who I hope is doing well, because of her dog Charley who was a Schipperke. CORGIs were bred from Schipperkes partially. I surely do miss ClearAyes.

    Cheers

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  35. I did pretty well on this one. My only problem was I had START UP instead of STARTED and then couldn't figure out what POACAMEO meant! As usual, it took me a long time to finish. I'm learning and feeling more confident about crosswords every day! TTP and Desper-Otto, Augsburger beer was first brewed in Monroe, WI at the Huber brewery. It was so popular, Huber sold it off and eventually went out of business. The rest of their beer was pretty awful!

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  36. Hi gang -

    Anon @ 11:13. If I have this right, a Natick is the cell where two obscurities cross and you have no clear idea what letter to enter; it is the name of an obscure point on the Boston marathon route.

    Mixed feelings about this puzzle. Like the theme a lot, not crazy about some of the fill. Very much dislike the plural of a proper name. Loath AL-er. La-di-dah for ARTSY is forced. EREI is a mispelt lake.

    Mower is in the shop. Borrowed one so I can cut today. Grass is surprisingly lush. Must have rained while we were gone.

    IMBO, so -

    Cool regards!
    JzB

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  37. When Jesus WEPT.

    [William Schuman, after William Billings]

    Cheers!
    JzB

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  38. THORO is just awful.

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  39. Kazie @11:26
    I was referring to your 9:36 & 9:37: 'witch' for 'which' TYPO.

    Yesterday we had the clue:
    "Teh" for "THE" say ... with the answer being: TYPO.

    Jazz:
    EREI is a mispelt lake = Too funny.

    Anon @12:31
    You're being too nice. I thought THORO was crap.

    Hahtoolah:
    Hope all went well.

    Cheers!

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  40. I felt the same way about THORO but it is in Webster's Revised Unabridged, 1913 Edition. Who am I to argue?

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  41. What do y'all have against Henry David?

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  42. I just noticed the subtitles in the Heine/Schumann song I linked at 8:03. I was lost in the music before. I think the subtitles are a better translation than the one I cited. What say you, German speakers?

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  43. Husker Gary @ 9:16 am: My vision is still flashing from looking at that American flag illusion. Either that or my computer monitor is flashing at me. :D

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  44. Argyle @12:47
    Thanks for the info on THORO.

    I'll chalk it up as my second "learning moment" of the day.

    For 56-D, Fishhook connector, my first thought was 'leader' (wouldn't fit) but when SNELL appeared, I looked it up and said:
    "Maybe, since I live in Florida, I should take up fishing."

    Live and learn.

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  45. Well, I was wrong again. I looked it up and SNELL is not a German word. I was thinking of schnell.

    Maybe I should take up fishing, too! LOL

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  46. TTP'er here.

    Kazie, I read that you missed yesterday. What would you say about Coblenz complaint = ACH ?

    YR, you did well. Far better than I ever would have. Subtitles are always appreciated !

    20A ARNIE was a great golfer, but it took years and years. So TINBERI, fishing might be a better avocation. "Golf, she's a cruel mistress." Well, it's a love-hate relationship (for me) anyway.

    Here's a poem that says it all:
    http://torreyteetimes.com/golfpoem.htm

    Argyle, if you would be so kind as to make it a link. Thank you.

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  47. R.I.P., Maeve Binchy. Besides being a wonderfully talented writer she has appeared in many crossword puzzles.

    Her husband is Gordon SNELL.

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  48. Hahtoolah, I hope everything went well with your extractions. I had all four of mine removed over a period of years. Three of them went well. The fourth was impacted and had to be chiseled into pieces and then the pieces removed. I was sick for three days after that one.

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  49. YR @ 1311. I compared the translations and except for one word, they both are as close to a literal translation as one could get. I would translate 'schön' as lovely or nice in a beautiful sense which the subtitler did. 'Smart' sounds a little stiff in American English usage. What say you?

    The other day we had 'LITTLE SLAM'. Last night my bridge partner and I ended up bidding 6 No Trump. Since I started the no trump, I got to play it out. Made an overtrick.

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  50. TTP'er,
    If I understand what you're getting at, I agree that "ach" isn't always a complaint, but rather an exclamation, more of surprise than complaint.

    Tin,
    My mind has been is so many places since yesterday, I completely forgot the teh clue. I do remember my thinking that it's something I find myself doing a lot more than I'd like lately.

    Argyle,
    Since I'm posting again, I'll repeat what I said in my first lost comment--I was grateful for the refresher in Heinrich Heine that your link gave. Some things I hadn't even known, like his friendship with Karl Marx and conversion to Christianity.

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  51. TTP'er here.

    ANON @ 2:35 Thank you for posting the link.

    2poodles, I did not know that Huber brewed Augsburger at an earlier point. So Huber sold the rights...

    You would most likely know of Old Style. Used to be brewed in LaCrosse. Now owned by Pabst. It seems to me that the survival business plan for Pabst is to buy recipes and rights for both regional and nostalgic favorites. In addition to Old Style, they're making Pearl, Lone Star, Black Label, Schmidts, Stohs, Ballentines...

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  52. Pretty much wees, i figured it had to be Hei"n"e, & put in the N, but i was so unsure about "snell" the i Googled heine before i came to the Blog.

    Scar before scab

    ALer = MEH!

    TBA was a gimme, my TV Guide says it all the time!

    47D i started with Barbra, & ended up changing every letter except the last A while humming Bar Bar Bar, Bar Bar Ber Anne!

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  53. Hi all,

    An interisting puzzle, I got most of it but had several hang-ups.

    I put in Johnny Appleseed for 38A so it really messed up township, hied and the rest. I got Bench, but not warmer. Also got 7A, 24A and 50A. I should have known that apple wouldn't be twice in one puzzle.

    I never heard of the hymn at 32A.

    My Dad worked for the government during WW11. After it was over he worked for the AEC for about a year as an auditor. He was traveling all the time and was never home. So he found work locally.

    Have a good evening all.
    Marge

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  54. TTPer @2:24, I copied the first translation and then tried to see whether I agree. It would have been a fun challenge, but I was too busy. It comes to me slowly.

    Spitzboov,I believe my hang up was smart. Schön, as you said, does not mean smart(stylish and elegant.)

    Gotta run.

    I'll have to catch one of those Welsh rabbits for dinner tomorrow, one of my son's favorite meals.

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  55. Howdy everyone. I did finished but couldn't figure out the theme. Thanks Argyle. After your commentary it was soooo apparent!

    Otherwise, WEES.

    Signing off from NorCal.

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  56. Good afternoon Argyle, C.C. et al,

    Have tried and tried to blog these past 3 weeks while on vacation, but it seems I am not being recognized. How many times can one copy those crazy words? I thought it didn't like my ipad.

    I just lost my whole write up once more, but maybe I will become an anon for awhile.

    Today's was a Tuesday thinker for sure. About every 3rd clue made me really ponder.We don't have townships, so I needed afew perps there. Not familiar with thoro.And, I needed all perps for ALer (sorry C.C.).
    Argyle, thanks for the enlightenment, esp the theme.

    DH had a retinal tear last year, so that was a gimme, as was Denali, a beautiful place to visit.

    Bumpa, very cute cottages. Looks like it was a wonderful family vacation.We just returned from Kauai. The boys being a year older could really enjoy the swimming and snorkeling.No black swans (a beauty), just Nenes and chickens.

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  57. oops, that was me, JD.

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  58. I thought I was being funny when I did the link for
    "30D. Mauna __ : LOA. Are you nuts?"

    Then I went back and looked at the prices; are they NUTS?

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  59. Argyle, that looks like airport prices. Cheapest place to get those macadamia nuts would be the ABC stores or Hilo Hattie's(not my kind of store). Have you ever tried to crack one open? A hammer won't do it.

    JD

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  60. Argyle, obviously you haven't tried Chilgoza pine nuts or veeder nuts - they run about $ 20 a pound, in bulk packaging, unshelled .....

    See www.Chilgoza.com - $ 15.30 for a 4 oz., and Diamond pine nuts $ 58.92 for a 2.25 oz. bag. ...... On the other hand, most of those nuts were probably harvested in Afghanistan, while dodging bullets, mines and whatever else .......>>***

    People have more money to spend (and waste ) than you ( and I ) realize. Ofcourse, money does not include brains, as the gazillion dollar 'Car-fails' makes pretty clear.

    BTW, I also wouldn't know the difference between burning tires and a burning clutch pad, either - but I have neither the money nor the inclination to try to find out. For that matter, I've never had a car with a clutch .... I generally find out when my brakes are squealing, but by then the rotor has been probably damaged as well. Oh well, you can't win them all.

    Ciao.

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  61. Anon-mouse here again ....

    OOOps, that should be

    www.chilgoza.net

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  62. Anon, LOL, I thought you were kidding!

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  63. Do you know the origin of 'being on tenterhooks'? I didn't but I just looked it up. They are the hooks or nails that hold woollen cloth on a 'tenter' or stretcher while it dries so it holds its shape. The cloth is under a lot of tension so 'being on tenterhooks' means being tense. Live and learn. That would make a good crossword puzzle word.

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  64. Hola Everyone, My first crossword since last Thursday. It was a fairly easy puzzle, but with the same unknowns as Barry.

    However, I didn't get the theme at all. I saw Johnny Cash, but I couldn't relate the other Johnnys at all. I should have known snell, but it just wasn't there in the grey matter today.

    I did most of the puzzle while waiting at the DMV to get my driver's license renewed. My first appointment a week ago was not kept because their computers were down. Today I was in and out in about 1/2 hour. The appointment systems works--Hurray.

    Our trip to the Sierra was wonderful, relaxing and full of good company so we came home rested. Now to get the laundry all caught up. There is always something--right?

    Must stop to cook dinner.
    Have a great evening, everyone.

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  65. Argyle:
    I failed to thank you for the graphic for SNELL. Now it's etched in my brain. For today, anyway.

    JD and Chickie:
    Welcome back. Glad you each had a good time.

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