google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday September 12, 2012 Gareth Bain

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Sep 12, 2012

Wednesday September 12, 2012 Gareth Bain

Theme: seven seas (cees)

whether by design or not, this is a lovely tribute to our c.c., how can you not love the c.c. rider right in the middle?

melissa here.

17a. Perspective-bending artist : MC ESCHER. Maurits Cornelis Escher.



19a. "Beau Geste" novelist : PC WREN. i knew the book/movie, but not the author. Percival Christopher Wren.

30a. Sears rival : JC PENNEY. department stores. James Cash Penney.

39a. Blues standard first recorded by Ma Rainey : CC RIDER. by elvis, too. from wikipedia: the song uses mostly traditional blues lyrics to tell the story of an unfaithful lover, commonly called easy riders: "see see rider, see what you have done," making a play on the word see and the sound of easy.

46a. "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" star : WC FIELDS. William Claude Dukenfield.

61a. Pepsi alternative : RC COLA. Royal Crown Cola.

63a. Justice League publisher : DC COMICS. wikipedia says the initials DC came from the company's popular series Detective Comics.

and more C initials:

29d. One of three in Coca-Cola : HARD C

35a. Final Four initials : NCAA. National Collegiate Athletic Association

39d. Online tech news site : C|NET. Computer Network or Communication Network?

41a. KGB counterpart : CIA. Central Intelligence Agency.

55a. CNBC interviewees : CEO'S. Chief Executive Officers.

across

1. "Rumble in the Jungle" champ : ALI. october 30, 1974, george foreman vs. ali.

4. Hanging on every word : RAPT

8. Crumb bum : BAD EGG

14. Actor Chaney : LON. lon chaney, sr., known for the hunchback of notre dame, and phantom of the opera. lon chaney, jr. known for the wolf man, the mummy, frankenstein's monster, and lennie small in of mice and men.

15. Dot on a map : ISLE

16. Delphi's claim to fame : ORACLE. wow.

20. Grade for a tween : SIXTH

21. Scottish hillside : BRAE

23. Convent residents : NUNS. i admit it, i own a nunzilla.



24. Runner Sebastian et al. : COES. british athlete, won four olympic medals.

26. Second and third in a sequence : RE MI. do re me fa so la ti.

28. Port relative : SHERRY.

34. Subdue with a stun gun : TASE. don't subdue me, bro.

37. "Mercy!" : I GIVE

38. Penn Sta. users : RR'S. railroad station.

42. Prettify : ADORN

44. "Roots" author Haley : ALEX

45. Game with a 32-card deck : SKAT

48. How some beer is sold : IN CANS. ew.

50. Mil. plane for small runways : STOL. short takeoff and landing.

51. Civil wrong : TORT

52. Barbershop member : BASS. quartet singer.

58. Reverend's residence : MANSE

65. Charm : AMULET

66. Entry point : DOOR

67. Kite on the links : TOM. tom kite. pro golfer.

68. "Who wants ice cream?" reply : ME ME ME

69. Lid malady : STYE. eyelid.

70. Lamb mom : EWE. ewe never stay away for long.

down

1. Poor box donations : ALMS

2. Focal points : LOCI

3. More than : IN EXCESS OF

4. Having deeper pockets : RICHER

5. Hibachi residue : ASH

6. Roman commoner : PLEB. i thought it was always spelled plebe.

7. Okla. or Dak., once : TERR. territory.

8. Inept sheep keeper : BO PEEP. little bo peep, nursery rhyme.

9. Circle part : ARC

10. Beginning : DAWNING in the forest.

11. Color of raw silk : ECRU

12. Narrow valley : GLEN

13. Mil. bigwigs : GENS. generals.

18. Five-and-dime, e.g. : STORE

22. Game player's haunts : ARCADE

25. iPad-to-iMac activity : SYNC. not always simple to do.

27. Fourth prime minister of Israel : MEIR. golda.

28. It may be bendy : STRAW. or phoebe buffay.

30. Locks up : JAILS

31. Cable venue for vintage sitcoms : NICK AT NITE

32. Poland Spring competitor : EVIAN. bottled water. eye opening documentary tapped.

33. Dublin-born poet : YEATS

36. Pacifier site : CRADLE. aw.

40. Parkway off-ramp : EXIT

43. Meat- or fish-filled pastry : RISSOLE. don't think i've ever had one.

45. "Vamoose!" : SCRAM

47. Pin down : LOCATE. that' i've had.

49. "Mercy!" : NO MORE.

52. "Dracula" novelist Stoker : BRAM

53. Peak : ACME

54. Fountain build-up : SCUM

56. Track numbers : ODDS

57. St. Andrew's Day celebrant : SCOT

59. Garbage barge : SCOW

60. Salinger heroine : ESME. with love and squalor.

62. Apollo lander, briefly : LEM. lunar excursion model.

64. Affectedly shy : COY

Answer grid.

melissa

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our serious foodie Steve, who's been busy traveling. Found anything exotic in Amsterdam?

72 comments:

  1. Greetings!

    Thanks for fun puzzle, Gareth! Nice write up, mb!

    Unknowns taken care of by perps: STOL, TOM, RISSOLE.

    Reasonably speedy completion.

    Happy birthday, Steve! Nice to see your photo!

    Have a good day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What is a "perp". New to the blog.

      Delete
  2. Morning, all (and Happy Birthday, Steve)!

    Enjoyable theme today and most of the puzzle was solidly in my wheelhouse.

    I had a vague awareness of P.C. WREN and no clue whatsoever about C.C. Rider, but all the other theme answers sprung immediately to mind.

    RISSOLE provided a complete and utter WTF moment, but fortunately all the perps were solid. My last letter was the S in STOL, since I wasn't sure at first whether it would be V or S. When I finally stuck in the S, I was pleasantly surprised to get the *TADA* (Of course, RIVSOLE had a very low probability of being correct, but you never know...)

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  3. Hello Puzzlers -

    I have to admire today's level of cleverness. The grid symmetry must have been hard to get. Nicely done, Gareth!

    Pretty much WBS: Rissole was the one thing needing perps to figure out.

    Morning MB, thanks for the write-up, and HBTY Steve.

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  4. Good Morning, MelissaBee and friends. Interesting puzzle. The Initial theme was easy to discern, but there were some fun clues.

    I am a big fan of ESCHER. I used his Waterfall to illustrate a paper I wrote on the convoluted water protection laws.

    My response to "Who Wants Ice Cream?" would be, "No Thanks." I'm not a fan of ice cream.

    I visited Delphi about 15 years ago. It was very cold and snowed while we were there.

    ESME appeared in a puzzle recently. I had forgotten her name then, but remembered it today.

    It may be bendy = STRAW was my favorite clue/answer.

    Happy Birthday, Steve! Hope you are enjoying your travels.

    QOD: The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror if indecision. ~ Maimonides

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  5. Howdy everyone,

    Agree that the puzzle must have been a doozy to construct and the theme was clever. WC FIELDS the easiest of the themes for me .... an 18" figurine of the great comic sitting on my desk. MCESCHER & DCCOMICS the toughest.... never heard of either and had to rely on the perps.

    Sick of seeing ESME. Second time this week?

    Have to run, Riley going for grooming & then I continue painting our picket fence. UGH!

    Happy birthday Steve. Melissa, thanks for the write up.




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  6. Good morning, y'all. HBD, Steve. Melissa, good to see you at the old RC COLA stand -- don't subdue me bro, indeed.

    I thought this was a tougher than normal Wednesday cw, probably because if you didn't know the name, you needed the perp to give you that first initial. And if you didn't know the perp...

    I was thinking Poland Spring was like the Spring uprisings of last year. I did like the inept sheep keeper clue. Who wants ice cream? Not so much.

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  7. Good morning melissa, C.C. et al.

    And Happy Birthday, Steve!
    .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.

    Thanks for the informative write-up, melissa. I really couldn't parse the REMI until I read you blog. D'oh!! And that was an eye-opening trailer for "Tapped". I really have to watch the entire documentary now...

    As I was solving, I noticed all the second "C"s and was wondering if that had to do with the theme. But some of the entries were short, so I just kept plugging along, expecting to find a unifier. Sometimes you just have to hit me over the head!!

    Hand up for getting slowed down by RISSOLE, but the rest of the fill seemed fairly easy. Nice puzzle to start off my hump day.

    Have a good one, everybody!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This was a clever puzzle which went smoothly and quickly for me, except for one sticking point. All the unknowns were made evident through perps except for one.

    In all my time on this blog, I am registering my first UNFAIR! I did not know CNET or CCRIDER. I know Easy Rider, not CC RIDER. That initial C was a personal Natick with no possible way to Wag it. IMHO single letters shouldn't be in that position, especially on a Wed.

    I liked BO PEEP. RISSOLE and STOl were dredged up from somewhere.

    I agree with the QOD. "The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision." A corollary to that is "Not to decide is to decide." If you put off deciding too long, you make the choice of just letting things happen as they will without your input. Can you tell, I hate indecisive committees?

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  9. Good morning everyone. And HBD to Steve.

    I liked this one. Didn't know P.C. Wren, but the rest were all familiar. Thought the theme was well executed and really enjoyed the 7 C's theme melissa. I have to wonder if that was intentional.

    For those that don't remember CC Rider, maybe the version that got the most air play will help jog the grey matter: Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

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  10. Thank you Gareth Bain for a nice, challenging puzzle and Melissa B for your wonderful explanations. My only error were (V)TOL and Ri(v)sole. I hadn't heard of Rissole.

    Happy Birthday Steve and good eating in Amsterdam. I have often visited the mini-art museum at the Schipol ( Spl.?) Airport, during my (airline - ) layovers there. Unfortunately, the only interesting facts I can think of ( right off the bat - ) about Amsterdam is legalized pot and legalized prostitution. No offence meant to anybody.

    Hahtoolah, the QOD today is certainly very prescient, especially coming from the erudite scholar, Maimonides, who wrote, 'The guide to the perplexed' - the most comprehensive commentary on Judaic law. He set a high bar for other scholars to follow.

    My ALT QOD is far more mundane:- I thought all the kids at school were going to beat me up, which is absurd. One of them had to hold me down. ~ Eric Kornfeld.

    Have a good week, you all.

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  11. Good morning everybody. We're half way through the week.

    WEES on RISSOLE.

    My favorite clue was 29D: One of three in Coca-Cola: HARD C (I got the C, but had to suss out the HARD part.)

    I also didn't care for ME ME ME for Who Wants Ice Cream.

    Never heard of a Crumb Bum. It had me thinking of all the pigeons I see in Chicago begging for scraps.

    Third day of the Chicago teachers strike. They march right across the street from where I work. (The Chicago Public Schools office is there.) The "youngsters" at work got a kick out of the picketers' inflatable rat. My young co-workers never heard of rats being associated with unions and strikes.

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  12. Happy Birthday Steve!

    To me, RISSOLES are meatballs served in a brown onion gravy--no pastry in sight. But I put it in when most of the other letters refused any other answer. I also didn't know several of the names and haven't heard of MCESCHER, CNET or STOL, but other than that, the struggle paid off and everything else filled eventually.

    Melissa,
    Thanks for the video on TAPPED--I never buy bottled water unless traveling where I can't get any other, but this gives me a serious reason to take an empty container to refill when I go to Europe.

    ReplyDelete
  13. apparently RISSOLES do have a different interpretation according to one's geography

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  14. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Gareth Bain, for a great puzzle. Thank you, as well, Melissa Bee, for an equally great review.

    Got started in the NW with APE. I thought I was correct when ALMS fit. However, I had to change that to ALI after a bit.

    Crumb Bum/BAD EGG was easy once I had a few perp letters. No problem.

    Did not know MC ESCHER or PC WREN. Perps and a Wag fixed those.

    Everything else going Across was very doable, except DC COMICS. That was new to me.

    ESME again this week. I like when she appears. A few gimmies are good for a puzzle.

    ME ME ME was easy for 68A, once I had a couple letters. I love ice cream. However, when I was a kid I hated it. Our family would go to the Dairy Queen, all seven of us, and six would get cones with ice cream. I would get a plain cone. When I became an adult I kicked myself for missing out on all that pleasure as a youth. Oh well.

    Never heard of RISSOLE, even though I probably have eaten it. Once I had seven Across words, RISSOLE appeared.

    Fun puzzle. Off to the doctor's office to pick up my blood test results. Annual test, my first annual, since I started this charade last year. But, I am a believer now.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  15. Good morning all. Thanks for explaining all the C's, Melissa.

    HBDY Steve.

    Nice challenging mid-weeker from Gareth. Much Stürm u. Drang was avoided by providing a good compliment of perps. We've had ECRU a lot in the past, but clueing it with 'raw silk' made it fresh. RISSOLE was a new word for me. Liked TOM 'kite on the links'. Liked BO PEEP, too.

    Have a great day.

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  16. Aced this due to some good guesses. Think I'd heard of RISSOLE, but confused it with Rissoto. Liked the puzzle, but it was definitely puzzling in a number of places. I'm not sure why the theme was "7 C's" since there were a lot more "C's" in this sucker than that.

    Anyway, thanks Gareth & mb for an engrossing start to my day.

    Happy birthday, Steve, where ever you are!

    I had a Classic Lit comic book version of "Beau Gest" that I read & reread as a kid, but didn't remember the author.

    One of my SIL's used to drive everyone nuts singing "C.C. Rider" but it took me awhile to get it here.

    I scream for ice cream. My comfort food. Good with RC COLA poured over it.

    JC Penney Catalog was where I bought most stuff. Now the "catalog" is a ridiculous showcase from which you cannot order. It is surreal! Since I can't figure out on-line shopping, I'll do without.

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  17. DNF for me. I couldn't come up with the W in da_ning - even going through the alphabet! I've read Beau Geste and have seen the movie many times, but PC Wren wasn't in my knowledge base. Whew...... a real workout for a Wednesday.

    Rissoles? Never heard of 'em (Rissole and Isles? Yes, my DH watches it)

    Enjoyed the puzzle and was so proud of myself for getting "HARD C". LOL

    What would we do without Esme?

    Have a wonderful Wednesday.

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  18. Hard to recognize as the same song, Ma Rainey and her Georgia Jazz Band performing "See See Rider Blues". Clip. A lot of good information in the comments. Label says Louis Armstrong on cornet.

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  19. Good morning:

    I found this a bit more challenging than the normal Wednesday offering. Needed lots of perps to finish w/o help. Never heard of rissoles or MC Escher or PC Wren, but eventually all fell into place.

    Clever puzzle, Mr. Bain, and nice expo, Melissa. Happy Birthday, Steve. Slainte. (sp?)

    I forgot to mention that Marti's Sunday puzzle and The New York Times Sunday puzzle both had "glyphs" as an answer. What are the odds of that happening?

    HuskerGary, I hope you'll "regale" us with a full description of your birthday repast!

    Have a wonderful Wednesday.

    ReplyDelete
  20. melissa and Gareth, a very nice midweek combination of two of my favorites.

    Fermat,and BG why is there an ad in the middle of your comments; is this sopmething new from Google? Am I the only one getting these links? Is it because I am in Chrome?

    Ah well, HBDTY and many more Steve. Ready to come home and blog?

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  21. Game players haunts? Arcade? Should I be arcades.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree! Should have been plural to match clue!

      Delete
  22. Lemonade, i am on Chrome, no ads in comments yet!

    Happy to report i finished this fun Wednesday puzzle. The "B" in "pleb" was a total WAG, & i had never heard of "crumb bum." I had a hard time trying to find a word BA--GG, ending in 2 "G's", but the answer finally dawned on me!

    HBD Steve, hope you are enjoying Amsterdam! When i was there, i noticed this unusual metal sculpture next to a canal. I have since discovered it was a public urinal... Definitely exotic, but necessary, as the Heinekens taste so much better there.

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  23. Well, well, well…

    it looks like the other "Anonymous" is the only one here with the nerve to offer-up a little bit of healthy realism at the L.A. Times Crossword Puzzle support-group.

    Yes, my cohort in carping, the answer should be “ARCADES,” not “ARCADE.”

    Now, if you will, allow me to say a little prayer:

    God,

    grant me the serenity to accept the reckless optimism I cannot change,

    the courage to awaken the pollyannas that I can …

    and the wisdom to know that this post will soon be deleted by the leader of this meeting.

    Cheers!

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  24. Would someone please direct me to the Poet Yeats` work where the phrase from a 911 memorial speech came? "...and yet, I cry."

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  25. Hi gang -

    I had to work around all over, and get lots of perp help. Sussing the theme helped a lot.

    I'm sure 7 C's is no accident. I could not come up with an alternate title. Nicely done, MB.

    Great construction with the 4 long downs.

    Never heard of RISSOLE. Sounds like a Michigan pastie. STOL looks familiar, but had a blank where these words cross.

    On a Wed, this must be some sort of a TORT!

    Always confuse YEATS and KEATS.

    ON TAP yesterday, IN CANS today.

    Somehow, I managed to catch a cold.

    That nunzilla reminds me of Sr. Mary Florian, my H.S. Chmistry teacher.

    Time to EXIT.

    Cool regards,
    JzB

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  26. ANON @ 10:49 Wisdom from my mom:
    You can (should) disagree without being disageeable.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Greetings, Melissa and all cyber friends.

    ME! ME! ME! I love ice cream but have been abstaining lately trying to lose some pounds. I miss it especially on really hot summer days.

    Well, with a puzzle awash in C's I could not suss the C C RIDER and did not know C NET so officially a DNF for me.

    The rest however was clear sailing with no other problems. RE MI simply emerged and thanks, MB, for pointing that out. RRS, too, appeared and I did not notice.

    To say J C PENNEY and Sears are rivals is no longer true, IMO. Both stores are fairly close to me in distance and I can tell you JCP far out rivals Sears in quality and selection.

    Very nice, Gareth Bain, thank you.

    Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!

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  28. A very happy birthday, Steve! Enjoy your travels.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Nice level of difficulty for a Wed puzzle. Good progression this week.

    Liked BOPEEP and HARDC but hated BADEGG and IGIVE.

    Knew MEIR but couldn't remember the spelling. PCWREN was unknown author of familiar story, causing a DNF in the NE.

    Liked the Scottish references. Coincidentally, The Highlander was on AMC-TV today, one of my most favorite movies.

    I still have my DCCOMIC collection from years ago so once the theme was obvious, this was a gimme.

    Happy "hump day" to all. Since retirement, I have none as every day is SAT at my house!!

    PS. Anyone know, what is HTML for cancelling a code?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anon @ 1018. ARCADE works for me if the game player's haunts are at different games at the same"ARCADE". I paused over this one, too, for the reason you cited.

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  31. Didn't get the bendy straw clue.

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  32. Lemon,
    I don't get ads in the comment posts, but I get ads for a politician running for the Montana senate seat, before and then as a banner all during any Utube links from this blog.

    Montana

    ReplyDelete
  33. For Anon@11:47 and others:
    We have a Time Warner Cable commercial in our area with Robt DeNiro talking to people attempting to watch an On Demand movie with him where they can't seem to get settled in for the movie. He asks them derogatorily if he can get them anything more, a sippy cup or a bendy STRAW, before the movie starts. This was my connection for the clue.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I had to red-letter some spots, but I got most of the puzzle the hard way.

    Even though Lon Chaney Jr. did portray Frankenstein at some point, it was not the Universal classic, that was Boris Karloff after Bela Lugosi passed on it.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Although I don't know all the particulars to able to judge who is right in the Chicago teachers' strike, I am amazed at the discrepancy in resources available between Chicago and suburban NJ schools.

    The 2012 class size in the town where I taught and in the town where I raised my children is in the low to mid 20s. An overwhelming majority of parents are extremely interested and supportive of their children's education. There is in-class and pull-out support for special needs children.

    I have read that in Chicago, class size is 40+ including perhaps one third who are special needs children. Many children are said to come from deprived homes with little family support. This must make a difficult teaching situation for teachers and pupils. No wonder our suburban scores are so much higher.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I see no ads in my post. What gives?

    Favorite answers: M C ESCHER, BO PEEP.

    ESCHER went the the Alhambra in Spain at the suggestion of mathematician Pólya. It was after that that he began creating marvelous tessellations.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Fun theme and one Natick for this guy. I’ll see how I did on that one cell.

    Musings
    -CC Rider in all its iterations is very familiar to me
    -Penney’s is trying hard to be relevant with new pricing and advertising with mixed results
    -“Anyone who hates kids and dogs can’t be all bad” is sometimes mistakenly attributed to WC FIELDS
    -Anyone here want to be a TWEEN again? Me either.
    -Delphi picture is amazing.
    -Got RE MI but had to have MB tell me about it
    -My favorite Sherry
    -OMG, I got riSole/Stol. Mark me down for a 100%
    -From 8th grade to senior I went from a soprano, to a high tenor, to a lead, to a baritone, to a BASS
    -Our old church had a poor box inside the front door. New $12,000,000 church? Nope.
    -It takes several minutes for my iPhone to SYNC to my iMac. I wish I could speed it up or skip some steps
    -I missed an EXIT ramp Sunday night because I was talking to my friend. Go figure!
    -Happy Birthday Steve! I’m told Amsterdam contains many sensory delights
    -QOD corollary. My friend drove to Georgia to buy a boat and he told me he hoped it was as great as he thought or horrible. He did not want to have to make a decision.
    -All right Irish, I took a snap of the Filet Oscar I had last night. I’m sure you all have great beef but the filet under the sauce and lobster in the picture was beyond great. We got out of there for $80 w/o wine or dessert and so we were happy.

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  38. After our discussion about unsolicited calls from telemarketers to obtain charitable donations, I saw an article on MSNBC this morning about many charities who employ telemarketers. Apparently, the telemarketers keep over half of any phone donations as their fee. I guess they've gotten their last red cent from me.

    We often talk about favorite TV shows. Again, I want to mention Ellen Degeneres's show. I think it's better than The View, Letterman, Leno, Conan and others. Give it a try. It's funny and original. She seems to have a knack for discovering interesting and funny people. She also finds heartbreaking situations that she can bring to light and help with a financial contribution from a sponsor. I fast-forward over any boring guests and then really enjoy the rest.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Fun puzzle today, and of course a great write-up by Melissa Bee.

    My one ink blot was with the game player's haunts where I went with 'arenas', and it took the perps to correct. I agree with the others about it being plural. Otherwise, a solid Wednesday-level puzzle.

    Happy Birthday to Steve, and a belated HB to Gary; many, many more.

    anon@10:49, could you please explain why it takes 'nerve' to make an anonymous criticism on a blog? I'm not quite seeing that.

    ReplyDelete
  40. ARBAON@10:53 -- It's from the 11th section (stanza? chapter?) of Yeats' long poem "A Woman Young And Old." The chapter is entitled "From the 'Antigone'". It ends with:
    Pray I will and sing I must,
    and yet I weep -- Oedipus' child
    Descends into the loveless dust.

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  41. HG @ 1:54 - Your Filet Oscar looks scrumptious. What are the little morsels on the left edge of the plate?

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  42. -MC Escher Images
    -Filet Oscar leftovers were great today as well
    -Teachers in a school district with most kids below grade level, an average salary over $70,000 and are declining a 16% raise in this economy are going to have issues. Our president is caught between supporting his old chief of staff Rahm Emanuel or the teacher’s union. What a Gordian knot.
    -YR, your mom was so right. I try to disagree without burning any bridges or making someone lose face.
    -Sears and Penney’s catalogs served double duty at my uncle’s primitive house. Not as good when they went glossy.
    -Irish, the chunks are lobster on the Béarnaise sauce and that lovely filet. The Coors glass in the background was for the butter and not suds and the bread comes in the bag under it and was great as well.

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  43. I agree with Gary. There's no easy answer or obvious right vs. wrong in the teacher strike. Our local teachers hadn't had a raise in years and just settled for a two-percent raise on the salary schedule, not a bonus.

    Proverbs with everything missing

    This is from Games magazine some years ago. Here are some familiar proverbs with all the letters replaced. The only clues are whether the letters replaced are vowels (V) , consonants (C) or a (Y).

    1. VC VCCCV V CVY CVVCC CCV CVCCVC VCVY.
    2. CVV CVCY CVVCC CCVVC CCV CCVCC.
    3. CVVC CVCVCV YVV CVVC.
    4. YVV CVC'C CVVCC VC VCC CVC CVC CCVCCC.
    5. CCV VVCCY CVCC CVCC CCV CVCC.
    6. CCVC CCV CVC'‘C VCVY, CCV CVCV CVCC CCVY.

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  44. Dunno what went awry but number 6 should have a single apostrophe.

    6. CCVC CCV CVC'C VCVY, CCV CVCV CVCC CCVY.

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  45. 3. Idle hands are the devil's workshop.

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  46. VC VCCCV V CVY CVVCC CCV CVCCVC VCVY

    An apple a day keeps the doctor away.


    An Indian chief was feeling very sick, so he summoned the medicine man. After a brief examination, the medicine man took out a long, thin strip of elk hide and gave it to the chief, telling him to bite off, chew, and swallow one inch of the leather every day. After a month, the medicine man returned to see how the chief was feeling. The chief shrugged and said, "The thong is ended, but the malady lingers on."

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  47. Didn't know MCESCHER, although I have admired his art and probably will remember his name now. Also didn't know PCWREN. BADEGG escaped me and couldn't quite see "bad egg" even with all the letters in place. Never had RISSOLE. Liked clue for BOPEEP.

    Is it a regional thing to call JCPENNEY plural as JCPenneys even though not correct?

    Looked back at the puzzle grid, saw INCANS, and thought I don't remember a clue for ancient Peruvians.

    My favorite "ice cream" is custard. Grant's Grasshopper at Sheridan's to be exact.

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  48. desper otto: Thank you for the reference...it was one of the most poignant quotes I heard in any of the memorials, yesterday.
    "Pray I will and sing I must and yet I weep."

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  49. Happy Birthday, Steve! Had a five hour lay over in Amsterdam years ago. Unfortunately, we had such bad jet lag that we only saw provided motel room and airport.

    Lucinda, noticed you need something cool and refreshing while unable to eat ice cream. This recipe helps me.
    Put a cupful of frozen strawberries in blender. Add heaping spoonful of frozen O.J. concentrate. I add 2 pkgs. Equal. Then add Diet 7-UP until it blends. It's refreshing and healthy. My guest even like it.

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  50. Spitz, I don't know where you find those things...but I wish you'd put 'em back. There's a limit to what the mind can handle. BTW, I solved the other five puzzles, but I'm not going to post the answers in case others are still working at it.

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  51. +1 for not liking the haunts/arcade discrepancy.

    I remember a rissole being similar to what you folks in the colonies ca11 a Salisbury steak. Definitely no pastry involved.

    Am I the only one who can't seem to get used to that second 'E' in J C Penney?

    Some musings on recent posts:
    Abejo: So, you have two tubas to toot?
    Punt: (rhymes with bunt) Yes, this is a small, rectangular flat-bottomed boat that you use a pole to move, like on a gondola. You've probably seen Oxford dons in straw boaters punting around in period movies. There's a joke - Why is American beer like making love in a punt? Unfortunately the punch-line's much too rude to disclose.
    Punt: The Irish currency before they switched to Euros. Doesn't rhyme with anything I can think of. Start by saying "push", but replace the "sh" with "nt".
    Dr Who: If you watched this in the 70's you saw the 3rd or 4th Doctor. The show started in 1963 (the day after JFK was shot). The current Doctor is the 11th actor to play the part (not counting Peter Cushing who played a variation of this character in the movies). For the uninitiated, the Doctor is a Time Lord who, when mortally wounded, has the ability to regenerate. Very handy plot device for when the actor playing him decides to move on.

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  52. Blue Iris:
    That sounds refreshing! I shall try it.

    Sptizboov:
    Are your puns original creations? They really make me laugh! I love puns.

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  53. Argyle, thanks for the C C RIDER clip. Bet Ma Rainy didn't buy any Graceland mansions with the money she got from her record. A number of Elvis's early hits were borrowed from black musicians. Wonder if they got residual compensation. Louie Armstrong probably did better than Rainy.

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  54. Hello everybody. First of all I want to apologize to PK and Irish Miss for getting them mixed up yesterday. Sometimes I mis-remember who said a certain thing and attribute it to the wrong person. I directed a remark about Rachmaninoff to PK yesterday that should have been addressed to Irish Miss. I apologize to you both.

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  55. Lucina @ 1705

    No they're not. Someone e-mailed me several the other day, D-O's pain notwithstanding, and I thought they were better than the usual ones you see. So I've been METING them out to share with fellow aficionados.

    Hint on Bill G's #2

    Trop de cuisiniers ratent le bouillon.

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  56. 4. Somebody please talk to me.

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  57. A long-time Superintendent of Schools in our neck of the woods told me his first teaching job was the year before the Great Depression of the 1930's. He taught all eight grades in a one-room country school house.

    After his first year was over, the school board called him in and told him they would have to cut his pay in half. He said he was so relieved. He though they were going to fire him.

    Attitudes have really changed through the years. Not saying the teachers are right or wrong. Just different than the last depression.

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  58. Jayce, No apology necessary! I'm the same way. I have to go back and check out who said what. For some reason, I get you and Argyle confused at times--probably because of the "Y's" in both names. I was just hoping your feelings weren't hurt since I didn't take you up on your lovely offer which I read very late.

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  59. Husker Gary:

    Coors Light in a can! hee hee

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  60. PK, not at all hurt, thank you. Maybe it's Argyle's and my beards and ruddy complexions.

    WEES, including not liking ARCADE and not knowing RISSOLE. Oh, except that I knew MC ESCHER; I love his work and have a big poster of one of his works in my bathroom that I like to look at as I "meditate." TMI, sorry.

    Melissa, did you take that photo of Delphi? Haha, just kidding! But if in fact you did, I am flabbergasted. Wow indeed.

    Spitzboov, I love those puns! Apparently so does Stephan Pastis, the artist who does the Pearls Before Swine comic strip.

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  61. There is no finer comic strip than Pearls Before Swine, IMO.

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  62. In addition to Spitz's answer, Desper-otto got these:

    Too many cooks spoil the broth
    Look before you leap
    You can't teach an old dog new tricks
    The early bird gets the worm
    When the cat's away, the mice will play

    Pearls Before Swine is excellent. I was very fond of Calvin and Hobbes. Gary Larson at his best is really good. Do you remember his one-panel drawing of the school labeled Midvale School for the Gifted with a kid out front pushing on the door marked 'Pull'? Another modern favorite is Drabble. I met the guy locally at a book signing. He seems like a perfectly ordinary fellow but he has funny ideas spinning around in his brain.

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  63. Heh heh, that's the one!

    Spitz, I love the puns. Keep 'em coming. Gary, your dinner looked great. I'd be happy with a doggy bag of table scraps.

    I had my first two tutorees so far this year, repeat customers from last year. I have a new student tomorrow. I'm hoping to enjoy him too.

    Damn Dodgers!

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  64. good evening all,

    off work a bit early and wanted to say thanks, as always, for the nice comments.

    i wish i had more time to drop in regularly. i'm back in school, so between work and homework, there's not alot of 'free' time.

    happy birthday steve - amsterdam is my #1 most-wanted place to visit, because of the anne frank and van gogh museums. hope to see some pics.

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  65. Couldn't help myself after some of the comments today. Calvin
    Just all in fun!

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  66. Didn't we have a Seven C's theme only a couple of months ago?

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  67. perpendicular: Words that are at a right angle to the object word.

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