google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, September 21, 2012, Neville L. Fogarty

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Sep 21, 2012

Friday, September 21, 2012, Neville L. Fogarty


Theme: You Dirty Rat!  LINK. (1:00) Like "play it again Sam," this famous quote never was.

We have an interesting addition puzzle where the word RAT is added to a common phrase to create a whimsical new phrase. With only three theme answers (though two are grid spanners) and a hint, we have plenty of room for creative fill and the puzzle is loaded with some nice ones. Neville a very bright young man is a regular contributor to Amy Renaldo's Crossword Fiend blog, as well as this being his 5th LA Times publication since the changeover from TMS, and first in more than a year. Get to know this constructor along with our own ace interviewer, Ms. C.C. Meanwhile back to the puzzle,

17A. One who illegally brings home the bacon? : PORK PIRATE.(10) A pork pie hat was popular in the 20s and 30s. I love the image of the bacon thief, especially so soon after talk like a pirate day.

25A. Mistakes in Dickens, say? : VICTORIAN ERRATA. (15)The Victorian Era morphs into errors.

42A. When to send an erotic love note? : R-RATED LETTER DAY. (15) any day you send or receive erotic mail is a Red Letter Day, I am sure.

56A. "Something's fishy," and a hint to this puzzle's theme : I SMELL A RAT.(10) Not sure what smelling has to do with adding but if you did not see the little rats before, this should have helped.

Now let us look at all of the yummy 5, 6 and 8 letter fill.

Across:

1. Collected : CALM. Cool, calm and collected, yes that described your friendly Friday fanatic.

5. Tilting tool : LANCE. Ah the good old days of jousting, like in Game of Thrones.

10. Swift : FAST. Fast has an entirely different meaning to those of us atoning next Tuesday/Wednesday.

14. Apple application no longer in use : ALAR.

15. Eponymous William's birthplace : OCCAM. This name and the principle of Occam's razor have both undergone modernization. LINK.

16. Gospel writer : LUKE.

19. God in both Eddas : ODIN. From Norse myth and mythological writings; we see both often.

20. The orange kind is black : PEKOE TEA. Really cute clue, and I love seeing the whole phrase.

21. Tape deck button : RE-WIND. Anybody still have theirs? and, a mini-theme: 40A. Go green, in a way : RE-USE. But please, not your moist towelette. 60A. Modernize : RE-DO. But not, 45A. English class assignment word : READ. So simple an answer.

23. Uno e due : TRE. This is a math problem for Lawrence Welk in Italian.

24. Fairy tale baddie : OGRE. Don't tell Shrek and Fiona they are bad.

33. Sound, perhaps : INLET. I grew up 40 miles from Long Island Sound, so I understand this one, but it required perps.

34. Insect-eating singers : WRENS. Am I the only one who thought only of this IMAGE? (0:14)

35. Rapper ___ Jon : LIL. Do not know him and after listening to two songs, could not bring myself to link anything. In fact the songs left a....

36. Lasting impression : SCAR. I like this simple misdirection.

37. Just a bit wet : MOIST. Towelette?

38. Stove filler : COAL. Not wood, and not in my lifetime.

39. "___ American Cousin," play Lincoln was viewing when assassinated : OUR. All you wanted to know about the PLAY and more.

41. Linney of "The Big C" : LAURA. I have not watched this show, but she was quite good in the mini-series John Adams, and was Frazier Crane's last girlfriend, I think.
46. Ottoman title : AGA.  I khan imagine this variant was tricky for some.

47. Remote insert : AA CELL. Another Friday made up phrase, for double A batteries.

50. By oneself : ALL ALONE. The state I try to be in when doing this blog; many interruptions tonight. Arrgh!

55. Big-screen format : IMAX. Avatar was so good in the 3-D Imax.

58. Pantheon feature : DOME. This historic STRUCTURE.

59. "Fear Street" series author : STINE. R.L. author of the Goosebumps books which my boys loved. LINK.

61. Tools for ancient Egyptian executions : ASPS. Speaking of snake in the grass puzzles from our own Cleopatra, you are on the clock, marti.

62. 16th-century English architectural style : TUDOR. I have always preferred a FORDOR.

63. Zombie's sound : MOAN. That is such a horrible image, and could take all the fun out of.....

Down:

1. Andy of comics : CAPP. We begin the down clues with the famous unemployed northern Brit of comic strip fame.

2. Soothing agent : ALOE. Rhymes with how Andy says Hello, coincidence?

3. Bird symbolizing daybreak : LARK. From WIKI: The lark in mythology and literature stands for daybreak, as in Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale", "the bisy larke, mesager of day" (I.1487; Benson 1988), and Shakespeare's Sonnet 29, "the lark at break of day arising / From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate" (11-12). I only think of this CLASSIC. (1:00)

4. '70s TV teacher : MR. KOTTER. The "star" of Welcome Back Kotter, was created  and played by Gabe Kaplan, who went on to become a professional poker player. Aside from launching the career of John Travolta, Gabe had a limited show biz career. I had the misfortune of working with him when I was in Gainesville doing Gator Growl, where he was the performer the year after Bob Hope. Mr. Hope was a gracious gentleman, Gabe was not.

5. Idle : LOITER. A close friend of PROWL.

6. Farm unit : ACRE. We are seeing this lately.

7. Sports gp. with divisions : NCAA. National Collegiate Athletic Association.

8. Garfield, for one : CAT. Another comic strip character.

9. Budding : EMERGENT. A nice long fill and a perfect lead in to

10. Blossom : FLOWER. which is not a river in England.

11. European wheels : AUDI.

12. Crispy roast chicken part : SKIN. The yummy unhealthy part.

13. Take care of : TEND. do you tend your flock?

18. 1996 Reform Party candidate : PEROT. H. Ross, could not buy the office.

22. Messes up : ERRS. A mini reminder of our errata?

24. Short tennis match : ONE SET. Is one set a match?

25. Biker helmet feature : VISOR. Otherwise you will need Visine.

26. Provoke : INCUR. Nope, did not see this one.

27. Nurse Barton : CLARA. A very interesting and accomplished WOMAN, who like Mr. Lincoln had her life changed by the Civil War.

28. Willing words : I WOULD, if I could.

29. Stand : ARISE. I dub thee sir lemon man.

30. Not just mentally : ALOUD. did I say that?

31. Papal topper : TIARA.

32. Soothe : ALLAY. Not to be confused with earlier ALL ALONE, put your fears aside. or More LLs, in 44D. Like Everest, vis-à-vis K2 : TALLER.

37. Lauded Olympian : MEDALIST. another nice long word.

38. One might keep you awake at night : CAR ALARM. I have not heard one going off at night in a long time. Do you all recall this MOVIE? (2:17).

40. Fishing gear : REEL. Really?

41. By the book : LEGAL. Well I guess it depends on the book.

43. Prehistoric predators : T-REXES. If you do not parse this correctly, it could be very hard.

47. Musical with the song "Another Pyramid" : AIDA. Do you like the Broadway VERSION? (3:34)

48. Hebrew prophet : AMOS. One of the 12 minor prophets.

49. Pitch a tent, maybe : CAMP. There you are marti, both tent and camp.

50. Enclosed in : AMID. eh.

51. TV host with a large car collection : LENO. And a large chin.

52. Circular treat : OREO. C is still for cookie.

53. Bupkis : NADAYiddish באָבקעס  (remember from right to left). This is not a nice way of saying "nothing, zilch, zip", but I will let you explore on your own. 

54. David Cameron's alma mater : ETON. We are back to England for their youngest PM in 198 years.

57. Early Beatle bassist Sutcliffe : STU. And to come full cirle for the down clues, we have the Scottish born bass player, who with John Lenno named the band, but who left to become a painter, only to die very young.

Answer grid.

Well I had a very nice time this very straightforward Friday Frolic, and look forward to your comments. Happy Birthday Heidi, and best to you all until next time. Now I guess they will have Gareth blog this at the Fiend, enjoy.

Lemonade

67 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Definitely a bit of a challenge, but no dross this time around. I got all the theme answers via the clues and the perps without ever understanding what the theme actually was. In fact, after getting VICTORIAN ERRATA, I was thinking along the lines of, "well, ERRATA is a synonym of ERROR, and ERROR is how you'd pronounce ERA with a Boston accent..." Yeah, good luck with that.

I knew the Pope wore a mitre, but had no idea he also wore a TIARA. Live and learn. And I wasn't crazy about a ASPS being called "tools" (I wonder how the ASPS feel about that). Other than that, though, it was pretty smooth sailing through molasses -- slow but steady progress throughout...

Anonymous said...

Simple puzzle today. I also had no clue as to the theme but that probably would have just hampered me somewhat if I had known.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. I had fun with this Friday puzzle. I must have been on Neville's wavelength because I sped right through it.

My only error was to think that Pope wore a mitre instead of a TIARA. Apparently, he can wear both.

Gene Hackman wears a PORK PIE Hat.

I had a paralegal who, instead of having his thoughts just mentally, would talk ALOUD. It drove me nuts.

I saw Elton John/Tim Rice version of AIDA on Broadway many years ago. I loved it!

My favorite clue was Tools Used for Ancient Egyptian Executions = ASPS.

QOD: The uglier a man's legs are, the better he plays golf - it's almost a law. ~ H.G. Wells

TTP said...

Thank you Neville Fogarty and thank you Lemonade. It wasn't Ozzy for me at 34A Insect-eating singers, but I kept thinking of that metalcore band that was posted the other day... Anything for attention. 4D - maybe Kaplan felt envious and slighted of the attention and career that Travolta got.

21 Across and 27 Down and 31min, 26 sec. Pork Pirate was the first to succumb after being hemmed in. Arrgh. Oh wait, talk like a pirate was the other day. Funny thing about 18D. Didn't see "candidate" in the clue and kept trying to think of the name of Ross Perot's party... I SMELL A RAT theme hint came next. Perps got all but the first two letters. Perps also filled in the unknowns, such as Big C LAURA and Fear Street STINE. Most trouble in lower left until REEL and AACELL fell. Last letter was second R in R RATED...

All in all very fun and very fair

thehondohurricane said...

Hello folks,

As is normal, the theme eluded me from start to finish, but I still managed to get it done. It was a slow go for me, especially the central section. But a letter or two here and one there eventually got the job done.

Have to admit the theme answers made no sense at all until I read Lemonade's explanation. Lots of learning moments ... LIL John, Eton is David Cameron's Alma Mater, Ms Linney's first name is Laura. More simply put, I liked the fresh cluing in this puzzle.

Talk to all of you on Monday. Long weekend and most likely a financial disaster awaits. I can't say no to good friends.

HeartRx said...

Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.

Fun links today Lemon, but the Ozzy Osbourne one was gross. Was that a chocolate bat he ate? (I sure hope so!)

Thank goodness for the unifier, because I got stuck in the central east by entering VICTORIAN ERRors instead of ERRATA (what was I thinking??). But when I SMELL A RAT emerged, I realized we were supposed to insert RAT into the theme entries, and it all came together at once.

Liked seeing CAR ALARM, T REXES and MR KOTTER. And I will just say, that TUDOR is a hint of things to come...

TGIF - Carpe diem.

Lemonade714 said...

The bat was not supposed to be real.

kazie said...

Once I got into this it was a bit easier than yesterday's. But I still got stuck in the SW by having TOMB/DOME and RECALL/AACELL. I had no idea how recall fit there, but couldn't come up with anything else to fit with ENOS/AMOS.

Oh well, it is Friday after all, and a great offering from Neville.

Enjoy the weekend all of you!

Anony-Mouse said...

Very nice puzzle Mr. Fogarty, and thank you Lemonade for the scintillating commentary. As I read your blog, I felt like the guy who flips through the Playboy magazine for the articles. The puzzle was somewhat beyond my ken, so I used your cheat sheet to fill in the blanks... and enjoy your wit.

Mr.F., for what its worth, I was rooting for you, in the Jeopardy game on youtube ....

I learnt that The Pantheon, is not the Parthenon, and has a dome ... which is not immediately obvious from the front view. Ironically, I remember going inside ....

A 'Tiara' reminds me of Princess Di, ... Hahtoolah's link looks more like a round (Beehive - ) crown. What feature makes a tiara, to be called a tiara ?? I thought it had to be crescent shaped, and open to the sky in the middle - to be called a tiara.


ALT QOD:- My parents were visiting me for a few days. I just dropped them off at the airport. They leave tomorrow. ~ Margaret Smith.

(Being a parent myself, I empathize entirely with the parents .... maybe with a daughter like that, just as well ....)


Have a good weekend, you all.

PK said...

HI Y'ALL, Usually the fills get easier further down. Today I breezed through the top part then it got tough. I SMELL A RAT showed me the ERRors of my way at 25a and let me know the RR at 42a wasn't wrong after all.

In the SW corner I had AA CELL, ASPS & CAMP but couldn't come up with IMAX or DOME until Lemon clued me in on the former and aha I got the later.

Really pretty good for me for Friday. Fun puzzle, great commentary. Thanks!

LUKE was my grandpop's name and is my youngest grandson's name.

Husker Gary said...

This was a hoot, Neville! A very clever theme that came at the reveal to this idiot and just enough difficulty to make the Friday cut. Many false starts that only enhanced the experience.

Musings
-Southwest took a real effort but came together for me with LAURA oddly enough
-Staying CALM over a 6 foot birdie putt is not my forte’
-I loved defunct Apple app, RECORDed before I REWOUND, was EMERGING before EMERGENT
-Kiss of death for a sub is “have the kids READ for an hour”
-I had a 5th grader Wed. that was pretending to eat INSECTS to INCUR the disgust of the girls.
-Wife and daughter are devoted users of MOIST towelettes. Kids still get sick.
-Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how’d you like the play?
-ALL ALONE Am I by the little girl with the big voice
-The Space Station in IMAX was a staple of our KSC visit. I caught some naps there (cool, dark) after I had seen it 5 times.
-Yeah, I put HOLE instead of DOME. Oculus wouldn’t fit.
-MeadowLARKS populate along our 4th fairway and are the state bird
-TV’s Blossom is now Amy Farrah Fowler on TBBT
-PEROT was a few French fries short of a happy meal
-Some thoughts are best left mental than ALOUD
-Seeing the T-REXES, et al in Jurassic Park stunned me

grams said...

DNF for me! Clever clues. Enjoyed Cagney link, car alarm was hilarious.

Carving a watermelon for a baby shower. Wish I knew how to link, I'd show u a pic!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. Good comments, Lemon.

Good workout but got it without red letter help. Grew up with orange PEKOE TEA. The unifier at 56a ..RAT.. helped me get R RATED... and ...ERRATA. Clever theme. @46a, thought of 'bey' but LEGAL made it AGA. We had WRENS and LARKs today. We also had MOAN and R RATED. 3 gospels have 4-letter names, so had to guess SKIN to get LUKE.
As a kid it was my job to go to the basement to fill the COAL hod and bring it upstairs to its "ready" position next to the heating stove in the center of our living room. Also had to take out the ashes. Boy was I happy when central heating, oil fired, was installed.

Enjoy the last full day of summer. Fall arrives tomorrow at 1049 EDT.

desper-otto said...

Good morning, y'all!

I liked this puzzle, though I felt like Mrs. Jones -- I knew something was going on with the theme answers, but I didn't know what it was.

I live in Roman Forest, so many streets here have Roman Names: Augustus, Gladiator, Centurian Circle, etc. I think my street was supposed to be Pantheon Pl, but it wound up as Parthenon Pl. (Why? It's Greek to me.) And I'm pretty sure another was supposed to be Da Vinci rather than the Lombardiesque Da Vince.

Yes, Husker, ALL ALONE made me think of Brenda Lee also.

Lemon, your Fordor brought a groan. I think that's what you were shooting for.

C.C., nice interview with Mr. Fogarty. It's amazing that he still has time to create a weekly puzzle while in grad school.

Anonymous said...

I finished my first Friday puzzle! Yahoo!

Argyle said...

There is more to this clip than just the song. Ever wonder what happened to Chris Cross? And "Think of Laura" wasn't about General Hospital. Video(4:16)

Yellowrocks said...

This was a great Friday puzzle, very enjoyable. It took me about the normal time for a Friday. I solved the top and most of the bottom quickly, getting PORKPIRATE and ISMELLARAT.

I was delighted to realize RAT would be in all the answers, but the grid spanners still took a while. I am embarrassed to say I forgot about looking for the common phrase into which RAT was inserted until I got VICTORIAN ERRATA. AHA! Then the last grid spanner and the rest of the puzzle went quickly.
I can't believe I didn't look for the phrase. It would have been so much easier that way. But I finished with no look ups.

I, too, thought of PARTHENON instead of PANTEHEON, which held up DOME for while.

The Apple application was a cute misdirection.
misdirection.

Irish Miss said...

Good morning:

This was a tough go for me but finished w/o help, so I was happy. Got the theme and that helped the solve. Thanks, Neville, for a good mental workout and thanks, Lemon, for the great expo.

Got my flu shot yesterday along with a B12 shot and a blood draw; I felt like a pin cushion by the time I was through. Also, have to see a spine specialist due to pain in my shoulder that is also radiating into my arm. Had an MRI last week and it showed several areas of impingement . (I had a cervical spinal fusion several years ago. No fun!)

Have a great Friday everyone.

Zcarguy said...

Why is it a mouse cannot use its dad to co-sign for a car loan ..?

Because he's a rat

Ron Worden said...

Good morning and happy Friday to all. Thanks to Neville for a challenging puzzle,and Lemon for your links. Some great new cluing made this a good outing for me no smudges or write overs. Have a great weekend to all and welcome to the fall season. RJW.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

I made a rather brilliant mistake. Had LEGIT for LEGAL, giving I SMELT (not SMELL) A RAT, thereby closing the loop on "something's fishy."

Oh, well . . .

Also had -ERRORS for -ERRATA, which messed up the east central region. Lots of perp help needed to straighten that out.

Plus EMERGING for EMERGENT. The MOIST WRENS pulled me out of hot water.

Quite an excellent puzzle.

Favs: Apple application, orange is black, remote insert.

But -

I know any tool can be used as a weapon, but that does not make a weapon a tool. Neither is a snake, for that matter. Grrrr.

Didn't get a chance to check in yesterday, but I really hated the non-cluing of HIS/HERS. And are the genders really opposites?

Not in my black and white world.

Any thoughts on the ERRS - ERRATA cross?

Cheers!
JzB

P.S. It was Karl Marx

Lucina said...

Hello, puzzlers. Hello, Lemonade; I look forward to your jocularity on Fridays.

Fun Friday is what this was and though it took me a while to jump on NF's wave length, I finally did so and sashayed through it.

Andy CAPP was easy but the L in CALM took a long while but then LARK emerged and I was off and running.

OCCAM is about all I remember about my epistemology class of eons ago and I cannot associate the Pope with a TIARA! It might be called that but it seems wrong.

R.L. STINE is a favorite author among the 4th, 5th and 6th grade set and LAURA Linney is the hostess of Downton Abbey so those were easily filled.

I REUSE and recycle as much as possible and yes, Lemon, I still have a tape deck so REWIND is something I often do. It's a dual player to accommodate DVD's as well.

Well, thank you, Neville L. Fogarty, for an entertaining puzzle today. I love the challenge.

Enjoy this last day of summer, everyone! For us, it continues though the calendar says otherwise.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Neville Fogarty, for an excellent Friday puzzle. Thank you, as well. Lemonade for the excellent review.

Lemonade. Just a comment on 18D, PEROT. I never had the opinion he tried to buy the Office. I am proud that I voted for him twice. I believe he would have been better than what we got. IMHO.

Back to the puzzle. Got started in NW. Of course I put in COCK for 3D (ie: The Cock will Crow Three Time, etc). That really messed me up in the NW. Therefore, the NW is where I finally finished.

Did not know OCCAM, perps fixed that.

I was able to get I SMELL A RAT easily. The theme answers came with difficulty. After PIRATE I saw the link. I had to get 3D, LARK, before I could get PORK.

However, PEKOE TEA was an easy one. I drink that when I cannot get Earl Grey when I am out. Of course, I have wised up. I now carry my own tea bags with me. Once I went into fast food deli, I think a Subway, and asked for a cup of hot water from the coffee dispenser. I expected to pay full price. She charged me 7 cents for the cup. My lucky day.

AA CELL was good for 47A. I think we have had something similar in the past.

Enjoyed the ALL ALONE link. Brenda Lee is a great singer.

Wanted WOOD for 38A, but held off until I had a crossword. COAL fit.

Gave blood this morning. The guy only sprayed my pant leg and part of the chair when he stuck the needle in. That happens sometimes. Once I had a white shirt on. Looked like I had been in a knife fight.

Anyhow, off to the rest of my day. see you tomorrow.

Abejo


CrossEyedDave said...

pity the poor maligned rat:

#1
#2
#3

Haven't you all had that "why me" feeling?

Misty said...

I can't believe I got the whole thing! I love a puzzle that looks hopeless but ends up being entirely doable if you only work at it patiently. So many thanks, Neville!

My husband and I saw Gabe Kaplan at a local restaurant once, some years ago. After reading Lemonade's experience with him, I'm glad we didn't ask for his autograph.

I was sure that LAURA Linney had gone to the great beyond at the end of the first season of "The Big C." Imagine my surprise and delight when she reappeared at the beginning of the second season. Is the show coming on again this Fall?

Have a great Friday, everybody!

JJMcK said...

I really liked this puzzle. Very clever.
Sorry to hear about all your misadventures with the Drs. Irish Miss. Hope all gets better.

Anonymous said...

Wanted COCK instead of LARK, but fortunately found my mistake. Never did get my mind out of ERRORS, so dnf.

HeartRx said...

The papal TIARA is worn outside of the Catholic Mass, but it is a "Papal topper" that is one of his options. The mitre is worn by bishops and cardinals as well as the Pope.

On the other hand, these Cardinals wear only baseball caps...

Lemonade714 said...

CED you are a linking machine.

Abejo, if I had a phlebotomist spray me I would be very unhappy, that is a very poor job. As far as Gabe goes, he may have mellwed and be a really nice man now, just my experience.

Anon 11:58am, sometimes they go hand in hand.

CrossEyedDave said...

Mr. Kotter joke

I never realized that his wife Julie on the show, (Marcia Strassman) played Nurse Margie Cutler on M*A*S*H*.

it's amazing what a difference a hairstyle can make...

Lemonade714 said...

Thank you marti for the Papal Tiara information; I am now able to remove the mental picture of Benedict XVI in a beauty pageant.

Speaking of which, where are LaLa Linda and Creature?

Hahtoolah said...

HeartRx : thanks for clarifying when the Pope will wear a tiara vs mitre. This sounds like a good Jeopaery question.

Anonymous said...

inlet - sound, never heard of it. that clue held me up for awhile. idle - loiter hmmmm if u say so. never heard of pork pirate but got it fast. when I play tennis one set is good for me. getting too old. other than that real easy friday. tuesday was harder.

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-Hey, Hahtoolah, my golf game is okay and my legs are fabulous ;-)
-The two nights we spent in Brooklyn had CAR ALARMS going off incessantly
-Hondo, I had some near financial disaster by NOT saying no to family. Never again!
-The intricacies and minutiae of Catholic clothing represent the churches detachment from reality.
-Buildings burning COAL for heat can’t escape that noxious odor.
-Luke and Laura were the hottest thing in TV, were soon forgotten and here they are today.
-I haven’t had the flu or the flu shot for years
-Minority report – Cross cluing adds to the fun of the puzzle for me
-I learned that OCCAM’s first name is Bill today.
-Emma’s VB team won two last night

Anonymous said...

As per Wiki-
In geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land (see also strait).
Think Puget Sound.

Bill G. said...

We have been watching the TV coverage of the space shuttle on its way to landing at LAX. The TV pictures were great but we didn't do anything special to get closer because of all the traffic and crowds. We saw the TV coverage of it coming south from the Santa Monica pier and thought maybe it would be heading near to the Manhattan Beach pier. Sure enough, we looked out of our family room window and could see it and the two chase planes off in the distance over the ocean. Very cool. I had headed back to my computer when Barbara said, "I think I hear it!" Sure enough, I could hear it too getting louder and louder. I looked out the window, hearing the roar of the 747's engines. Suddenly, there were the space shuttle and escorts flying DIRECTLY over our house at an altitude of, I'm guessing, less than 1000 feet. Spectacular! I wanted to push the 'rewind' button and see it again. I was still flush with excitement as the TV showed it on its approach to landing at LAX. Barbara was looking out the window and shouted to me that she could see it again. Sure enough, there it was in the distance low over the neighbor's house and the trees moments away from landing. Very cool again. Three views of the space shuttle today, one of them up close and personal.

desper-otto said...

I don't begrudge any city their Space Shuttle, but I still think that Houston, home of Mission Control, should have gotten one. Just sayin...

Anonymous said...

'Musings 2'---- because certainly one long list of personal thoughts isn't enough.

Anonymous said...

Maybe, its just me, but the Pope's pictures, with his naturally sunken, dark eye rings kind of give him a 'sinister' look. Like Igor in Frankenstein. Perhaps he could get plastic surgery for his sunken eyeballs ? After all, everybody has the right to be good looking, especially our leaders.

Lemonade714 said...

Anon 3;33, you finally get the concept; this is a forum for discussion about puzzles, a puzzle, a clue as well as the topics which are unearthed by such reviews; we have days where the Corner will run with someone's "personal thoughts" and we may have 50 comments which may appear to be tangents. Also, commenting is not a science, it is personal thoughts, perspective and experience. It is not merely a recitation of dictionary definitons. Why I have fun is from seeing the different ways we each react to the same set of stimuli. If you read my Friday words, I never know myself where the clues and fill will take me, often I am the only one who goes in a direction. Relax, you can say whatever you wanr as well, and you have up to 5 posts, 20 lines each without going too far. I personally am only disappointed when we do not get more personal reflections on the puzzle and write up.

Argyle said...

CED, you were in the filter again. What have you been doing?

CrossEyedDave said...
Mr. Kotter joke

I never realized that his wife Julie on the show, (Marcia Strassman) played Nurse Margie Cutler on M*A*S*H*.

it's amazing what a difference a hairstyle can make...

September 21, 2012 12:57 PM

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. No time to chat. Just want to say hello and that I enjoyed the puzzle today and little by little I solved it all without having to look anything up. Of course there were some answers I didn't know and some I did. 'Twas always thus and thus 'twill always be.

Laura Linney is a very classy lady.

Very best wishes to you all.

Spitzboov said...

I liked LAURA Linney in Absolute Power with Clint Eastwood. Ed HARRIS from yesterday's puzzle is in it, too.

Yellowrocks said...

ANON @ 3:43, so the pope needs a face lift? Maybe Golda Meir and Eleanor Roosevelt, too? Their charm was their authenticity, integrity, compassion, and intellectual rigor. Would they have done better work for mankind with a face lift? Can only beautiful and handsome people aspire to leadership? How shallow!!

TTP said...

Bill, they are about to show the space shuttle landing on the CBS evening news. Thanks for sharing earlier.

Anonymous said...

Wonder how many poor Catholics that TIARA would feed if it were sold and the money spent compassionately in Mexico?

Lemonade @12:52 reply to anon: Good one! LOL!

CrossEyedDave said...

Anonymous said...
'Musings 2'---- because certainly one long list of personal thoughts isn't enough.

September 21, 2012 3:33 PM

Hmm, i hate to waste 1 of my 5 possible posts on an Anon, but,,,

When you can generate the daily wit of Husker Gary, i would be glad to listen to you too...

Seldom Seen said...

One

Misty said...

Bill G, 3:07 pm. I just checked my Facebook page and everybody in the LA area is abuzz with how awesome that space shuttle approach was! Wow! Glad to hear about it first from you, right here on the blog!

Neville said...

Thanks for the write-up, Lemonade. Fascinating as always to read through the comments on my puzzle from this bright crowd!

Color me pro on a space shuttle for Houston and anti on papal plastic surgery.

I'd have avoided the ERRS/ERRATA bit if at all possible, but didn't see a way around it. Hope that didn't ruin anyone's solving experience.

Cheers & a happy weekend!
Neville

Lucina said...

If anyone watched Jeopardy! last night would you please tell me the final answer? I recorded it but for some reason it cut off right at that crucial spot. It's frustrating!

Thank you.

Neville said...

Last night's Final Jeopardy for Luciana & any other interested parties:

Category: 8-Letter Words
This word that means "freedom from narrow restrictions" can also refer to one of a range of imaginary lines.

Correct response is reversed below:

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

?EDUTITAL SI TAHW

Argyle said...

True consstructor that you are; are you looking at what you just wrote and thinking can I get a theme out of that?

Lucina said...

Thank you, Neville!! I wracked my brain on that and obviously I don't have enough of it!

TTP said...

Splynter,

Who's on deck ?

What challenge awaits ?

CrossEyedDave said...

I must do one last post, i know most of you are not into Disney cartoons, but this Pixar movie about a Rat is a culinary delight!

Ratatouille

Grab a bag of popcorn, & your favorite other,,, watch this movie! I promise, from beginning to end, you will not be disappointed.

CrossEyedDave said...

Oh, i can't believe it, now even a Disney clip puts me in the Spam Filter?

Argyle said...

EVIDENTLY

PK said...

C.C.: Thanks to you and Neville for his interesting interview.

Bill G. said...

It was SO cool. It flew RIGHT OVER our house! If it had been any lower, it might have knocked into our chimney.

Desper-otto, I agree that it's a shame that one of the shuttles didn't end up in Houston. Lots of work on the shuttle was done by people in California too. It's a shame that there weren't enough to do both. BTW, it's also a shame that they're having to cut down lots of trees along the path to the Science Museum as well as move cable and power lines. The shuttle is just too wide and tall to fit on the streets.

I always like Kotter's wife. Very cute. Barbara got her mixed up with the equally cute actress who played Bailey Quarters on WKRP.

Lucina, thanks for the Jeopardy reminder. I did well with the math/science laws and some of the other categories. Neither Barbara nor I could come up with the Final Jeopardy answer.

Manac said...

CED, haven't had much time to surf lately and can only read the posts late but that pic of Marcia Strassman you posted turned on the DOH! moment. I knew I've seen her before but could never place her. I'll bet she's another one of Bill's little endeavors. :-)

Manac said...

Oh Crap! Bill posted as I was typing.

Anonymous said...

awesome. to the point.

Bill G. said...

Just another instance in my life where CRAP has been followed by Bill! :>)

Kotter's wife and Bailey are both really attractive women in the "cute" category. I could imagine striking up an enjoyable conversation with them at a party hoping for more at some point in the future. OTOH, I can't imagine even getting up the courage to speak to Sophia Vergara. She is light years out of my league.

Manac said...

Anon@10:33, Care to explain that comment. I don't get it. I've got a full beer here so I'm ready to listen.

Manac said...

Bill, You have got to stop posting while I'm typing the same sentiments,
must be the time difference :=) I too always preferred wholesome over.... whatever.

Lemonade714 said...

anon 5:33, thanks for noticing.

Neville you for stopping by; having the write up read makes the time and effort go easily. i appreciate all comments, good or bad.