Words: 68
Blocks: 29
Always a pleasure when I get a puzzle such as this one, where little by
slowly, the pieces fall in to place, and I get that satisfied feeling
of having successfully tackled another Saturday crossword. Mr. Wilber
offers us FOUR grid spanners double-stacked today:
15. Solution for repairing snagged nylons : CLEAR NAIL POLISH - I have heard this, and you all know me, so I have to offer up a picture of some nylons~!
17. Fitness-focused parent's purchase : JOGGING STROLLER - this thing
44. Spider web's abundance : TENSILE STRENGTH
- the ability to bend and return to its original position; it's why
steel, also high in tensile strength, is used to reinforce concrete,
which is high in compression strength - I'm getting into 37D.
47. Fail to get caught : ESCAPE ATTENTION - no LIPA truck escapes attention right now; we all stood out in the street and watched the guy re-rig the power lines and give us the magic juice back. Now Long Island has almost NO gasoline at all; coming home tonight, 1am, ONE of about 12 stations I passed had gas, and the headlights were lined up as far as the eye could see; the police monitored the entrances to make sure no one was cutting in
47. Fail to get caught : ESCAPE ATTENTION - no LIPA truck escapes attention right now; we all stood out in the street and watched the guy re-rig the power lines and give us the magic juice back. Now Long Island has almost NO gasoline at all; coming home tonight, 1am, ONE of about 12 stations I passed had gas, and the headlights were lined up as far as the eye could see; the police monitored the entrances to make sure no one was cutting in
Aaaawnward~!
ACROSS:
1. "An almond in every bite" candy : MARS BAR
8. Magic Johnson's 10,141 : ASSISTS - not a basketball guy, no slam-dunk for me; had to wait until some downs could 'assist' me on this one
8. Magic Johnson's 10,141 : ASSISTS - not a basketball guy, no slam-dunk for me; had to wait until some downs could 'assist' me on this one
18. Rueful exclamation : OH GEE
19. Ecstatic hymn : PAEAN
20. 1950s Reds nickname : KLU - this guy: more from our illustrious baseball blogger, C.C. (From C.C.: I remember we had some blog discussions about Big Klu, searched the blog and had fun reading these comments from two years ago. Creature, Clear Ayes, EddyB (Still in his self-imposed exile days, posting as Dilbert @ 12:32pm, were all there. Creature still solves the puzzle and reads the blog every day, hopefully she'll post regularly once she sells the farm and her life is more settled.)
21. "The Whiffenpoof Song" sound effects : BAAS - sounds like an earworm to me....there's plenty of music to go around in this puzzle
22. Jersey's environs : DAIRY - Jersey cows; moo.
23. Matching : TWIN
24. Paris-to-Vichy dir. : SSE - yeah, uh, I don't make this trip too often; I know the answers are limited to S, N, E and W
25. Post-larval insects : PUPAS - not PUPAE
26. Item with which Osiris is usually pictured : CROOK
27. Clinton's FBI director : FREEH - the Wiki
28. It can have a tail but never legs : SHIRT
29. __ House: Pennsylvania Ave. guest quarters : BLAIR - more here
30. Blowout substitute? : B-TEAM - Sporting blow-out, when one team dominates the competition; sort of like the Dream Team of the US Olympic Basketball team - which I still know nothing about....
31. Cut-up : CLOWN - Not SAAWN - the cut-up with antics
32. Be a Scrooge : HOARD
33. Cassidy who played a Hardy Boy : SHAUN - yeah, grew up with this show
34. Knighted mystery writer who championed the Boer War : DOYLE
35. Enter the pool : BET - the gambling pool, that is
38. Sultry "Mink, Shmink" singer : KITT - Eartha Kitt
39. Coppers in London : PENCE - because POLICE didn't fit
40. Assembled : MADE - So simple, it was hard
41. Ducks' home, on the ticker : ANAheim, one of the NHL's California hockey teams; EddyB was a San Jose Sharks fan; there's also the Stanley Cup champion LA Kings - NONE of whom will be playing anytime soon....greedy bastards
42. Event where lumberjacks get wet : ROLEO
43. Spock specialty : LOGIC - fascinating, captain
48. Red fox of medieval lore : REYNARD - ah, tried MAYNARD first; he's the guy who owned the pawn shop in Pulp Fiction
49. 1993 Kentucky Derby winner sired by Polish Navy : SEA HERO
DOWN:
1. They're often filled with teens : McJOBS - My first job, not a common one as the name here implies, was at Grossman's lumber - home office was in Braintree Mass, not far from BarryG
2. Some hellos ... and goodbyes : ALOHAS
3. Marley's music : REGGAE - Bob Marley, link away ~!!!
4. Gurus : SAGES
5. Some French wheels : BRIE - Cheese wheels
6. Novelist Beattie : ANN
7. Incongruous-sounding high-end stationery : RAG PAPER - I had PUPAE, so the "P" gave me a hint that ---PAPER might be the answer
8. Tweaks, say : ALTERS
9. Surf feature : SPRAY - not CREST
10. Directly : SOON - not ASAP, or ANON
11. Down with something : ILL
12. Source of soft fabric : SILKWORM
13. "The Hollow Men" poet : T.S. ELIOT - our poetry person has passed; who will take up the torch - YR?
14. Dwindled : SHRUNK - ah, not shrAnk
16. Old Testament prophet : ISAIAH
22. Expected to land : DUE IN
23. Basic chord : TRIAD - three notes; "power chords" from just about all hard rock/heavy metal songs are triads - these guys were masters at it
25. Tasty crustacean : PRAWN - reminds me of District 9; we've discussed this before
26. Beloved, in Bordeaux : CHERE - ah, not cherI
27. Thumb one's nose at : FLOUT
28. Shopworn : STALE
29. Glaring quality : BLATANCY
30. Stops patronizing : BOYCOTTS - I read this as the 'other' patronizing - being obnoxiously polite
31. Like many a 12-Down : CHINESE
32. Forthcoming : HONEST
33. Button, notably : SKATER - Dick Button, here
34. Remove element #82 from : DE-LEAD - get the LED out - I was jamming this at Mike's by the fire tonight
35. Hefty product : BAGGIE - Hefty, the brand name, that is - didn't fool me
36. One working on drafts : EDITOR
37. Prefix with babble : TECHNO - when someone tries to explain how a wastegate works on a turbo, they might get into "techno-babble"
39. Gondolier, e.g. : POLER
40. Number before a slash, maybe : MONTH - as in 11/03/12
42. Strahan co-host : RIPA - Kelly and Michael of "Live with_"
43. Hyena in "L'il Abner" : LENA
45. Japanese surname addition : SAN
46. Mr. __!: old whodunit game : REE - get it? Mr. Ree - mystery~!
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
The Saturday Stud keeps his blogging streak alive! Splynter has never missed a post since he started his regular Saturday blogging on May 21, 2011 (He guest-blogged a few more Saturdays & Wednesdays before that).
The Saturday Stud keeps his blogging streak alive! Splynter has never missed a post since he started his regular Saturday blogging on May 21, 2011 (He guest-blogged a few more Saturdays & Wednesdays before that).
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteWow, a Saturday that I could work! Thanks Brad, Splynter! Plunged right in with MARS BARS, CLEAR NAIL POLISH, RAG PAPER and several other gimmes. Did take a while, though. Several things eventually perped.
Welcome back, Splynter!
May finally get to swim again this afternoon. Must get to sleep!
Cheers!
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're all right, Splynter.
I made it through most of this puzzle relatively easily for a Saturday, but there were a few tough spots.
I've never heard of Dick BUTTON, so had no idea what 33D was looking for. I couldn't remember where the Mighty Ducks were based out of at first, either, so that didn't help. Once I finally guessed Ms. KITT at 38A (I know she has a sultry voice but didn't know any song she has sung), I was able to guess that BUTTON must refer to a SKATER and that gave me ANA for 41A.
BLAIR was another complete unknown, and it took awhile to get it via the perps. I mistakenly had SHAWN instead of SHAUN at 33A and as a result kept thinking that 27D was going to be FROWN, despite the fact that it really didn't match the clue. I was very happy when I got that sorted out and it ended up being FLOUT instead.
Elsewhere, I had SHRANK for 14D, which gave me KLA for 20A. I thought KLA seemed awfully strange, but what do I know about 1950s Reds nicknames? It was only when I didn't get the *TADA* at the end that I thought to try SHRUNK/KLU.
And I remembered REYNARD! Not sure how I knew it, but I was so proud of myself for getting it...
Good morning, Saturday soldiers. Splynter, good to see you're back and in top form. (So did the ramp survive Sandy?)
ReplyDeleteThis one looked daunting, and there wasn't much to show for the first pass -- mostly errors: ANON/SOON, BASKETS/ASSISTS. I kept thinking the fox must be a character from Aesop's Fables. Apparently not!
I dredged up BLAIR House and Louis FREEH from some nook or crannie of my memory. I even remembered that T.S. ELIOT wrote "The Hollow Men." Once I got CLEAR NAIL POLISH and TENSILE STRENGTH, I was off and running, and even finished with 10 minutes to spare.
Glad to see you back, Splynter! Also glad to hear CED is OK, thanks for that effort, BillG.
ReplyDeleteThis Brad Wilber offering was a monster. After going through everything once, I had 14 answers, and one of those was wrong (Ann, not Ned Beattie). Gave up and googled for Mars Bar, and that broke open the entire top tier. Prolly had to do another half dozen g's to finish, but still FIW having KLA and ANE.
Mink SCHMINK - with a C between the S and H.
ReplyDeleteIt fell into place slowly but surely. Had to Google a couple clues. And, as my Dad used to say, "Now you won't forget it next time".
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I remember about Ertha Kitt was that she was Catwoman
Got everything but the SW corner, where I remembered the Oregon Ducks, but forgot about Anaheim. That left me with SKOTER, which made no sense, but my wife needed the puzzle page for the Jumble, so I quit.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite long-gas-line story from the ought-70s was one in which some snotty driver cut into the line way up front, rolled up her windows, and ignored the horns and shouts of those all around her. A nearby motorist took the locking gas cap off HIS tank, put it on HERS, locked it, and made a big show of dropping the key into the sewer.
If we look hard enough, there is both humor and justice in the world.
Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteIt is so good to see you in your normal Saturday slot, Splynter! Once again, I cannot play any of the links. When it brings me to You Tube, the "screen" where the video normally plays is black. I can click on any of the other links on the right and play those, but not the ones you linked. Same thing happened yesterday with Lemony's links. It a Mr. REE to me!!
Really fun puzzle, and I sped through the top with only one WAG at the KL* / SHR*NK crossing. The south was a little slower, and FREEH, BLAIR, SHAUN, DOYLE and KITT needed tons of perp help. I liked the CLEAR NAIL POLISH / JOGGING STROLLER stack more than the TENSILE STRENGTH / ESCAPE ATTENTION stack. But still, pretty impressive to be able to construct this one.
Today is leaf clean up day. But I am not going to grumble at all about it, because I will be thinking of all of those who have much worse to clean up after hurricane Sandy.
BTW, has anyone donated blood to the Red Cross this week? They are in crisis state with the blood supply, and desperately need our support.
Splynter’s (can’t keep a good man down) assessment, write-up and picture were all enjoyable! Knowing Magic had so many ASSISTS got me started and the NW fell as fast as Facebook stock in this wonderful Brad Wilber puzzle. How do you construct something like this? Little answers seemed to unlock blocks.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Blowout substitute is going into my Clue Hall Of Fame!
-Finger NAIL? No. Toe NAIL? No. OH GEE, now I get it! BTW, we used Windex to get red nail polish out of our carpet. No, it wasn’t my polish!
-KLU was most famous for how he wore jersey
-Some Jersey environs are under water and sand today due to horrible Sandy.
-Osiris gets in the game for the second time this week.
-CLOWNS scared granddaughter to death at circus!
-This BETting pool cost a big time coach his job
-Neither Police nor Bobbies fit
-ABC News emptied a house of everything not MADE in America this summer. Not much was left.
-There is honor in any job, even a MCJOB. I’ve had a lot of ‘em.
-You can FLOUT all you want, but be prepared for consequences
-What sitcom character was embarrassed because “it SHRUNK!”?
Splynter, it is so good to have you back. Great blog. I'm relieved to see CED is okay. I have been following the Florham Park situation online. That one and many nearby towns are still without power. Subfreezing temps are predicted for the next few nights.
ReplyDeleteThe top 60% of this puzzle went very quickly, with the exception of KLA or KLU. The bottom took a while, but was very satisfying to solve. Brad, thanks for a fine puzzle.
Mikey, great gas line story. Justice prevailed. This is so much worse than the 70's shortage because few stations have gas. We are being rationed to odd and even days, but with little gas available it won’t help much. When the stations without power come back on line there should be some improvement. My son can’t understand the disruption of his routine and the fact that we are mostly staying home, but I feel so fortunate. Our problems are like a gnat compared to others.
Good morning everyone. Splynter, you provide yeoman effort to continue unabated your lead blogging on Saturday. Thoughtful of the storm to hit during the week to keep Splynter available for the weekend. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle. The grid spanners had words/phrases we've all heard of. I count 6 cheater squares, but feel they didn't detract from the quality. I was clueless on KLU, but the perps helped. Did not fully grasp the B-TEAM meaning until Splynter explained it. Wanted 'psycho' for TECHNO for quite awhile but the perps clinched it. Was racking my brain to remember the French for 'wheel' until the aha moment when I saw Brad was talking about BRIE cheese. Always liked STRENGTH because it is almost the longest single syllable word in English. (Ifyou inflect words like 'scratch' to 'scratched' or add 's' to 'strength' you get 9 letters.)
Good job, Brad.
Have a great day.
Louis Feeh is now known as the author of the investigative report into the Sandusku scandal at Penn State
ReplyDeleteRed Button did a lot of skating commentary on TV
He himself is an Olympic champ
Fun puzzle
Not to be a CLOWN but I think the clue for 28a is just wrong.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of shirts, I wonder if Big KLU would have answered this to anyone questioning his wardrobe.
Welcome back Splynter !
ReplyDeleteSlept late until almost 8. Took me just over 2 interrupted hours to complete this gem. Didn't get to read the write up or blogs yet. So much to like about this puzzle.
Niece is in from Texas and has been downtown Chicago at some education administrative conference. Got to get ready to pick her up at the commuter station, so will check back in later today.
Talk to you all later.
Is a fan of Marley's music and related genres a SKATER?
ReplyDeleteDick Button is the Olympic champ and TV commentator on skating.
ReplyDeleteRed Buttons is a comic.
Link Red Buttons
I started out like Splynter today, slowly and satisfying when I got the first half done. But then I hit a wall--a lot of names in the bottom half sent me to Google in order to get it done.
ReplyDeleteReynard is easy if you know that renard is French for fox.
Welcome back Splynter!
Husker Gary, George Costanza had the shrinkage problem.
ReplyDeleteMy post of a few minutes ago was published. I checked the link to see whether it worked. Now the post has disappeared. I don't think it was offensive. It appeared on national TV.
ReplyDeleteDick Button tape. The first part, the actual Olympic event, is very dark; this was 1952 and outdoors. Then(at 0:53) the next morning, he did his routine again so they could film it in the light. Clip.(2:34)
ReplyDeleteYup, the spam filter had your comment, YR. I wrestled it to the ground and made it put it back.
ReplyDeleteHello, C.C., Splynter and all. Boy, talk about a dedicated bunch, even a hurricane can’t keep Splynter from the “swift completion of his appointed rounds” – the Post Office has got nothin’ on you! But my heart goes out to all who were in this bad girl’s path.
ReplyDeleteI’ve enjoyed following this blog for a while now, and finally decided to chime in. Have made many emergency repairs to snagged nylons with CLEAR NAIL POLISH, so that grid-spanner was an easy fill. Got a little off track with ESCAPE deTecION instead of ESCAPE ATTENTION for 47A, but HONEST at 32D put me back on the straight and narrow. As a lifelong resident of Reds Country, Ted Kluzewski’s “Big KLU” nickname was familiar. Thanks, Husker Gary, for the picture of his “customized” jersey. (Oh, and I think the sitcom character with a shrinkage issue was George on Seinfeld, yes?) Got a chuckle out of the clue for SHIRT (it can have a tail, but never legs).
Looking forward to meeting you all. Have a great weekend.
XWord Guy@10:10 -- I think you're geetting your buttons confused. Red Buttons was a comedian -- even had his own TV show at one time. Dick Button was an Olympic Skater who has been a TV figure-skating commentator for years -- particularly during the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteMikey's story reminds me of my trip to Coatzacoalcos (say that three times fast), Mexico back in the late 70's. I needed a rental car, and it was missing the gas cap -- somebody had stuck a rag in the opening. (Can you spell Molotov cocktail?) My Spanish was limited to "Uno mas cerveza, por favor." But I did recognize the Chrysler emblem along the street and stopped and bought a gas cap for the car. The locking type was the only kind they sold. When I finally returned the car I asked the Hertz rep for credit for the gas cap. He refused. I held up the keys and said, "No credito, no llaves" (I think that's the word for keys.) I got my credit.
handsome
ReplyDeletedude
Welcome Java Mama from a fellow Reds fan! I'm just north of you in SW Ohio.
ReplyDeleteGibson SG Double-neck. Jimmy would be proud!
ReplyDeleteI humbly disagree. I think these guys mastered the 5 power chord!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0Hm79q4M-U
Horribly off topic!
Finally the Taipei Times gets it right! This took a bit, but as a musician, I did nail 23 Down!
Ah, good job today. Hope you all have a good day. I am off, the nativity fast is coming up and I have to fatten up before hand!
Cheers!
Good afternoon:
ReplyDeleteThis was a toughie for me but with much effort and many perps, I did finish w/o help. Had psycho before techno and psalm before paean. Nice work, Brad, and nice expo, Splynter. Welcome back, S.
Again, thanks to Bill G for his fine detective work tracking down CEDave and putting our minds at ease about Dave's safety. A fine example of CC's community caring and camaraderie personified!
Have a great Saturday.
Musings 2
ReplyDelete-Of course it was George who had SHRINKAGE (:30)
-The minutiae of baseball like Klu’s shirt were a staple of my childhood as baseball was the big dog in American sports. Now the NFL owns the airways and the 2012 World Series TV Ratings were abysmal. Bring back the Big Red Machine!
-Great gas cap stories! There were many stories of people who got sick from sucking gas in a tube to start siphoning in the late 70’s.
-My U-Haul story – You have to fill up the truck when you bring it back (assuming it was full when you drove it off the lot) and I only drove the truck 4 miles from 7 am to 4 pm and the guy filled it up with $20 worth of gas when I returned. I questioned him and he blew up when I thought the truck got better mileage than 1 mpg. He said, “All right tough guy, I’ll only charge you for 2 gallons.” I’ve never been called that before.
-Louis FREEH’s report continues to bring down PSU officials who should have known/done better.
-Great football today! Go Big Red!
Splynter! Welcome back! Thank you for your dedication in such extreme circumstances.
ReplyDeleteWow! Most of this was a sashay, the top anyway then the bottom slowed to a stroll.
CLEAR NAIL POLISH came to my rescue many times in the past. Now I no longer wear hose, just socks with slacks.
One error at CHERE where I left CHERI and didn't notice DOYLI and had to resort to Google for SHAUN and ANAheim. Wanted BOBBY before PENCE.
Otherwise an amazingly easy Saturday puzzle. Thank you, Brad Wilber.
I hope your Saturday is great, everyone!
Splynter: Have you had a chance to check in on your church-ramp project?
ReplyDeleteMy brother and I spent a summer remodeling my mother's screened porch. We replaced rotten wood, painted it, installed the Screen Tight System and installed a pine beaded ceiling with can lights and paddle fan. The day before our first cookout, Hurricane Ike hit and blew down a large Ash tree on top of it. Luckily very little damage occured but she was without power for a week. I'm sure Java Mama remembers that week!
I hope the best for all impacted.
Welcome, Java Mama! I hope you stay and enjoy the company.
ReplyDeleteWell, since the only item I got right off the bat was TS ELIOT, I'll help with "The Hollow Men." Here is the beginning and the end of the poem.
ReplyDeleteIt starts:
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
And here's the end:
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
A tad depressing?
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Hi Everyone ~~
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this Saturday challenge - thanks, Brad Wilber. I had a number of write-overs: Comic before CLOWN, David before SHAUN Cassidy (his brother) and Donut before BTEAM - I was thinking of a tire blowout. I, too, thought of 'Psycho' babble before TECHNO. Perps took care of a few unknowns and "unsure-ofs."
So glad to have you here, Splynter - was wondering how the storm affected you. A wonderful write-up ~ great info, pics and links. Glad to hear that Yellowrocks and CED made it through OK. I knew the area south of us in CT was going to be hard hit.
We were lucky - power out for a short time and the cable system down for a couple of days. Those on the shore here have really suffered - many are still without power. Our rental cottage in RI (for 30 years) was swept off its foundation and floated down the street. Misquamicut Beach is unrecognizable. It's so upsetting to see what the people of NY and NJ have gone through. Counting my blessings!
Hi again ~!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the ramp, I did not hear from anyone at the church, but I did put a call in to ask if there was any damage from falling trees.
James, Aces High was the first song I truly learned to play on the guitar, since I have been a fan of Iron Maiden since "Live After Death" came out; most of that song, though, actually consists of dyads, and not triad chords....however, this one is all power chords.
Splynter
Bill, very good news about CED. What a nice thing to do.
ReplyDeleteSplynter, thanks for the update on Creature. I know we all miss her.
Brad--pretty grid..almost tempted me to do a Saturday.
Hello everybody. What an amazing construction! I saw those stacked spanners and thought, "Uh, oh, this one's gonna be really hard." Well, it was hard but not as hard as some Saturdays (and Fridays) have been. Altogether a pleasure to solve.
ReplyDeleteLike Avg Joe, I FIW having KLA and ANE. Hand up for misspelling Mr. Cassidy's name as SHAWN at first, leading me, like Barry G, to want FROWN instead of FLAUNT. And the E crossing REE and SEAHERO was a total WAG, and even then I didn't "get" Mr. REE until reading your writeup, Splynter. *Forehead Bonk*
I often use clear nail polish in place of "Lok-tite" to keep nuts and bolts from unscrewing themselves. Sometimes I wish I could unscrew myself when I get into a jam.
That was a gimme for you, fermatprime? I'm impressed.
Best wishes to you all.
Welcome back to the Electric world, Splynter! And thank you BillG for solving the Mr. Ree re: CED!!
ReplyDeleteHad finger NAIL POLISH. Should have known, used CLEAR many a time to fix a run. DNF today. Knew it was over my brain capacity.
Stay well, all.
Those gas-cap stories were great!
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all, The upper half finally fell into place, but much of the bottom from FREEH/SHIRT down did ESCAPE my ATTENTION. Whole lot of erasing going on. I needed Splynter's help to get on track. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI had "curls" on surf thinking Magic would score. "Comet" seemed okay without legs. "Author" worked on drafts. "Leached" not DELEAD. WEES
Splynter: Hoped you would share more of your personal experience in the storm. I was worried about you. Very dedicated of you to return here so soon. What did this all do to the package hauling industry. Were they flooded?
I think finally Alan is beginning to understand the driving situation and is developing realistic expectations. He is looking forward to the fire tonight and more s'mores. He is planning how to make best use of the very few miles we can drive each day.
ReplyDeleteThis afternoon we walked about two miles round trip to the deli which is partially open using a generator. I usually drive Alan there twice a day. Most of the time he insists he can't walk that far. Today he gave in after deciding walking is preferable to being house bound. He did fairly well and my bum knees survived, too. Maybe this is a start on the exercise he needs. Every cloud has a silver lining.
I have the same problem as someone who is dealing with a frail, declining elderly parent, judging the right mix of allowing autonomy and providing care and protection.
LaLaLinda, I'm so sorry you lost your RI cottage.
I'm not crazy about themeless puzzles but with red-letter help, I liked this one better than most. Some tricky cluing I thought.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have been able to provide a little positive news about CED's absence. It was satisfying to have a little detective work pay off with the sound of his voice on the other end of my phone call.
I had one car with a locking gas cap, a 75 VW vanagon camper. The gas cap was more of a nuisance than anything else. Also, the camper had two large outside mirrors that gave great visibility but there was no inside remote mirror adjustment. So to get the passenger side mirror adjusted correctly, you either had to have somebody help you or you had to keep sliding across to the passenger seat until you got it right. Then, invariably, somebody would slam the door and screw up the adjustment. When I got my first car where you could adjust the mirrors with a remote control in front of the driver's seat, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
The only little annoying things with my new (2011) Camry are the seatbelt reminder chime and the odometer/temperature display. On my old Camry, the seatbelt chime would go on for about five seconds if you had started the car without your seltbelt being latched. In the new car, after the initial five second warning, the chime goes into its seriously annoying mode where it chimes rapidly and insistently for about 15 seconds more before it shuts up. I always drive with my seat belt on so it's not a problem except when I'm delayed by something. Also, the odometer/thermometer display is lit up when you first start the car in daylight but then fades to dark after about five seconds so it's very hard to read. It's annoying and I don't understand the reason for it fading at all.
YR: I can commiserate with you. My mother was like a bratty child in her later years and expected me to do what she wanted no matter how impossible or illogical. Hugs to you and to all who remain on love duty with heart-rending decisions to make.
ReplyDeleteHi again~!
ReplyDeletePK, I actually got one day off due to a lack of incoming freight....I am at the 'end' of the package system, as the next recipient is the person with the address. I have schools on two trucks, and none of their cartons could be delivered all week. The week was slow; I have been asked to come in 2hours early on Monday because I expect the backup to hit then. The shores, especially towards NYC and the east end got flooded; my area had no flooding, but the high winds flexed and broke trees that came down on the powerlines, like this one, 4 houses down from this house.
Splynter
My wife had the TV on to MSNBC. Tamron Hall was the anchor. Geez, she is not only intelligent and knowledgeable but really pretty as well. Her skin is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteGary, your comment about siphoning gas reminded me... While in college, a friend and I drove to a women's college in a small town about an hour away in the middle of winter for dates with a girl I knew and her roommate. After bringing the girls back to their dorm in cold, snowy conditions, my friend mentioned that he was really low on gas. We decided to try to get some gas. Nothing was open. We didn't want to get arrested so we decided to go to the police station. Nobody answered our knock on the door. My friend had a washing machine hose in his trunk so I decided to siphon gas out of the sheriff's car. It was really cold and the gas tasted terrible but we managed to get enough to get us back home.
Seems to me that the clue for B-TEAM should be "Blowout substituteS".
ReplyDeleteHola Everyone, A DNF for me, but a real challenge none-the-less. I had almost all of the puzzle in except B team and Chere. I had put in Amour for Chere and that did me in big time. I should have substituted my B Team mentality to get the upper hand. A really difficult puzzle for me today.
ReplyDeleteI've used clear nail polish many, many times to stop a nylon run. During the war when stockings were rationed or we couldn't get them at all, we did anything and everything to make a pair last and last!
I had trite for Forthcoming and I also had shrink for a long time and KLI didn't make sense. Thanks Splynter for clarifying some of my ????'s. I'm so glad to hear from you today and find that you are ok after the storm.
Welcome Java Mama. I know you will enjoy the banter and we look forward to knowing you as well.
Thanks Bill G. for letting us know about CED and Splynter about Creature. We all worry about others who haven't posted for a while.
Have a great weekend everyone. We're off to see "The Lion King" in San Francisco tomorrow afternoon.
Hello C.C.and the rest of all you wonderful peeps!
ReplyDeleteDon't know for how long, but I'm back in business at least for a while. What an ordeal! Friends kept telling me it was time for a new p.c. but change at my age is very hard. Every change that happens on my computer means a whole new learning situation. Too hard. But when I do get the new one, and it won't be too long if I can just get my act together, this one gets the Deep Six!
Thanks to all for the B.D. greetings! The day was a very quiet one but it did rate a nice visit from Molly and Chuck (local daughter and s-i-l. And a gorgeous bouquet from Carole and famiily in San Rafael. That's excitement in my quiet life!
I mixx you all and send my love. I'm lucky to have made such outstanding friends through this blog! Thank you, C.C. Dodo
Dodo! How lovely to "see" you! I hope your computer problems will soon be over.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already, go back to the day of your birthday and you'll see all the greetings and good wishes. We have missed you.
Yay Dodo!! Glad to see you're back!
ReplyDeleteGo for a new pc, you don't give yourself enough credit...you'll be surprised what an easy transition it will be.
Splynter, glad your experience wasn't worse.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing many of us feel the same way but I don't care for the time change. I'd rather stay on the same schedule year round, preferably DST. But I'd settle for standard time year round as a second choice. Oh well, after a couple of days the minor annoyance will be behind me, sort of like Dodo's computer worries. All of it seems minor compared to what some folks in the northeast are going through.
ReplyDeleteGood evening, folks. Thank you, Brad Wilber, for a swell, but tough, puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for the great review. Glad you are OK.
ReplyDeleteJust finished this puzzle. Lots of write-overs. i was away most of the day and spent tonight making chili for a chili cookoff tomorrow at church. Worked on the puzzle off and on.
I really had a tough time just getting a foothold anywhere. PUPAS, TWIN, SHIRT, BTEAM, ISAIAH, and DOYLE were early entries.
My last corner was the SE. Had DIP for 35A for a while, then switched to BET. That helped. BAGGIE fell into place. Slowly got the rest.
CHINESE came slowly for 31D. Had CRAWLER at first.
Anyhow, I am hitting the hay. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Splynter, thanks for the write up and glad to have you back. Electricity is a wonderful thing isn't it. Many friends here were without power for weeks after Ike.
ReplyDeleteI found this puzzle very challenging and put it down for a while. When I came back to it was a DNF. My heart just wasn't in it. Welcome to the newest member Java Mama. Glad to have La la Linda back also. My elderly chocolate lab is not doing well so I am going to go spend some more time with her while she has her head "perked" up...trying vainly to hear what I am doing.
Bill, I am with you on the time change...just leave it one way or the other!
ReplyDeleteBTW..I had COMET instead of SHIRT for 28A!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your 'shoutouts'. Hope to fall in with you all soon; I've been a crossword addict for most of my adult life and now I couldn't do without the blog. Dodo,I've had computer problems, also. Hope this gets on the blog.
ReplyDelete