google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 Peter A. Collins

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Nov 27, 2012

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 Peter A. Collins

 Theme: HOMES - Testing to see if you remember the acronym mnemonic for a collection of U.S. freshwater lakes. - All the lakes are clued as non-lakes, all theme entries are symmetrically placed.

1A. Pennsylvania city of about 100,000 : ERIE

9A. Tribe also called the Wyandot : HURON. More info at Wikipedia.

20A. Motor City's state : MICHIGAN. The one lake not on the Canadian border.

37A. London's province : ONTARIO


54A. A cut above, with "to" : SUPERIOR. It is generally considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area.

64A. With 66-Across, one of five found in this puzzle : GREAT 66A. See 64-Across : LAKE
 Argyle come back to earth here. If you had started with the reveal at the bottom of the puzzle this should have been a snap. Stacks in the corners and one theme entry in the middle produces a fine visual look. Some strong downs tie it together.

Across:

5. Fabled blue ox : BABE. Paul Bunyan, owner.

14. TV warrior princess : XENA

15. LAX postings : ARR's (arrivals)

16. Prefix with meter : ANEMO

17. Señorita's love : AMOR

18. Modernists, for short : NEOs. Opposite of paleo(from last Tuesday)

19. News anchor Connie : CHUNG

22. Striped zoo creatures : OKAPIs

23. Man, in Milan : UOMO. This one tripped me up.

24. Chili spice : CUMIN

26. Star footballer : ALL PRO

28. Emergency levee component : SANDBAG

32. Scottish hillside : BRAE

33. To the point : BLUNT

35. Where Mandela was pres. : RSA (Republic of South Africa)

36. Tonsillitis-treating MD : ENT. Ear,, Nose and Throat, Otolaryngologist didn't fit.

39. Medit. land : ISR. (Israel)

40. "C'est la __" : VIE

41. iPod button : PAUSE

42. Down Under greeting : G'DAY

43. Insistent words of affirmation : "YES, IT IS!"

45. Deal with a bare spot, perhaps : RESEED. Rogaine almost fit.

48. Selfless sort : GIVER

50. French cathedral city : METZ. A city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.

51. Job listing of a sort : RESUME

58. Two-time loser to Ike : ADLAI

59. Caesar's 107 : CVII and 65A. Caesar's being : ESSE

60. K thru 12 : ELHI. It's not going away.

61. Glowing signs : NEONS

62. Letters on a phone button : OPER (operator)

63. Scads : A LOT

Down:

1. Midterm, e.g. : EXAM

2. Do followers, scalewise : RE MI

3. Protects from disease : INOCULATES

4. Batting helmet opening : EAR HOLE

5. Orono, Maine, is a suburb of it : BANGOR

6. Surveyor's measure : AREA. Yes, I tried ACRE first.

7. Bucking horse : BRONC. Oh.

8. Start of summer? : ESS

9. Access illegally, as computer files : HACK INTO

10. "__ me, you villain!" : UNHAND

11. Agree to another tour : RE-UP

12. Former Atlanta arena : OMNI

13. Christmas quaffs : NOGS. Great with some Jack Daniels.

21. Holy terror : IMP

22. Gulf State resident : OMANI. The Gulf of Oman off of the Arabian Sea.

25. Loan shark : USURER

26. Immortal PGA nickname : ARNIE Palmer.

27. Thick : OBTUSE. Can be confused with OBESE but they are not mutually exclusive.


29. Control freak in a white dress : BRIDEZILLA. Great entry. The portmanteau wedding consultants bestow on brides who are particularly difficult and obnoxious.

30. Syrian leader : ASSAD. Bashar Hafez al-Assad.

31. "CSI: NY" actor Sinise : GARY. Lt. Dan to Forrest.

32. Bunch of beauties : BEVY

34. Andalusian article : LAS. Andalusia is former name of southern Spain.

37. Rose-colored glasses wearer : OPTIMIST

38. Wet behind the ears : NAIVE. Phrase Finder.

42. "Who are you kidding?!" : "GET REAL!". "As if!"

44. Tropical lizard : IGUANA

46. Ewing Oil, e.g. : EMPIRE. There is a real Ewing Oil but this refers to fictional oil company from the television series Dallas.

47. Notice : SEE

49. Sends regrets, perhaps : RSVP's

51. Pealed : RANG

52. River of central Germany : EDER. Map.

53. Gin flavoring : SLOE

55. Direction reversals, in slang : UIEs

56. "Yeah, what the heck!" : "OH, OK"

57. Communion, for one : RITE

59. Miler Sebastian : COE. And now he's the Rt. Hon. The Lord Coe so he's done alright for himself.


Argyle


123 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    Not much to say about this one. I Initially had HOMO for UOMO, needed perp help for METZ, and learned that some people put CUMIN in their chili. Oh -- and I also wanted to spell INOCULATE with two n's for some reason...

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  2. Greetings!

    Pretty crunchy for a Tuesday, or maybe I am just really tired. Thanks for fun puzzle, Peter, and swell expo, Argyle!

    UOMO from perps.

    Homeland vey exciting and breezed by really fast. Morena Baccarin took her top off.

    Cheers!

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  3. Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Fun Tuesday puzzle. Interesting way to get a geography lesson.

    Those who live in flood-prone areas are all too familiar with SANDBAGS.

    Fun seeing both OMNI and OMANI in the same puzzle. I figured out OMANI after I realized I couldn't fit Mississippian into the spaces provided.

    Hand up for Acre before AREA.

    Apropos to have Ewing Oil EMPIRE since J.R. Ewing just died. RIP Larry Hagman.

    Mainaic, come back! This puzzle referenced our old stomping grounds. More Maine trivia in today's puzzle is the connection between BANGOR, Paul Bunyan and BABE.

    I am not keen on clues like Start of Summer = ESS, but that was the only clunker I found in today's puzzle.

    QOD: Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. ~ Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 ~ September 18, 1970)

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  4. Terse before blunt -- homo before uomo. Think we missed out not electing 58A. Have a good Tuesday!

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  5. A few small stumbles (e.g. HOMO and YESITIS) -- I'm not crazy about multiple-word answers, especially three short words -- so a bit longer than usual for a Tuesday.

    YESITIS looks like some sort of disease (perhaps one suffered by a sycophant?).

    [11:09]

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  6. Good morning everyone.,

    I blew through this puzzle quickly, but when I was done, I had some reservations.

    I thought INOCULATES should have two C's. METZ & BRIDEZILLA were not in my wheelhouse. For 60A, tried to make ELEM work before falling back to ELHI. Finally, I'm familiar with Usury, but even though USERER makes sense, I can't ever remember using it. A less threatening name for Loan Shark I imagine.

    UOMO also had be going.... I kept trying to make SIGNOR fit.

    Good effort Peter and thanks for the challenge.

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  7. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Peter Collins, for a swell puzzle. Thank you, Argyle---The Man---for a great write-up.

    Well, my IPad and Cruciverb worked today. Got the puzzle on it.

    1A got my attention. My home town, ERIE.

    I pretty much worked my way across and down.

    Got hung up on UOMO and CUMIN. But got them with perps. Maybe that is why I lost the chili cook off I competed in a few weeks ago. I did not use CUMIN.

    ISR crossing ASSAD. Interesting. Or maybe I should say ASSAD crossing ISR. Hmmmmmm.

    Wanted RESOD for 45A. Would not fit.

    I had a little trouble spelling INOCULATES, as well. Once I got it I had UOMO.

    Anyhow, lots to do. Heading back to Chicago today.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  8. tuesday speed run. Wondered about the theme untill the end and got to the unifiers. Tried Acre before Area. Tried resod before reseed. otherwise a completely forgetable puzzle.

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  9. AHHHHH, the world is back to normal. Argyle is doing the Tuesday write-up.

    Al Cyone @6:20 YESITIS looked like a sycophants disease to me too.

    V-8 can smack when I finally sushed out the theme reveal GREAT LAKE.
    Already had them all filled in.

    My Chili spice is ... wait for it ... Chili. But I waited until CUMIN appeared.

    When I think of a French cathedral city, METZ, my first thought was Paris w/Notre Dame (and its #1 football team).
    Learning moment, always a plus.

    I put in ASSAD for Syrian leader 'cause A**Hole wouldn't fit.

    Cheers to all at Sunset !

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  10. Looking back over this puzzle, I see that I made it crunchier than it actually was, more like a Wednesday. As my mom would say, "Nobody home upstairs." In hindsight all the answers seem common, except for UOMO. After getting it from all perps, I realized I had seen even that one before.

    Thanks for your enlightening blog, Argyle, especially about the Wyandot/Huron culture. I always enjoy reading about our Native Americans.

    Al Cycone@ 6:20 I loved your YESITIS comment.

    Nice shout out to Abejo. ERIE brought him instantly to mind.

    Thanks for all the kind words last night.

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  11. I don't think the residents of Orono, Maine would think ot themselves as a suburb of Bangor, it's about 10 miles from Bangor. To me a suburb should be adjacent to the city.

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

    Nice to see you back with your blogging hat on today, Argyle! Now that you've been published, does it change the way you look at other puzzles?

    I am being very contrary this morning. I actually filled in UOMO, and that helped me to spell INOCULATE correctly.

    The theme was OK - just about right for a Tuesday. I loved seeing BRIDEZILLA. Great word, and very descriptive. When I saw OPTIMIST, I immediately thought of this, which I think I will adopt as my personal theme song...1:41

    Al Cyone, LOL about your take on "yesitis" !!

    Have a wonderful day, everyone.

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  13. Included in this article appearing in The Bangor Daily News was the following:

    "Towns that were included by the Bangor Daily News in the city’s suburban growth estimates are Alton, Bradford, Bradley, Carmel, Clifton, Corinth, Dixmont, Eddington, Etna, Exeter, Glenburn, Hampden, Hermon, Holden, Hudson, Kenduskeag, Levant, Milford, Newburgh, Orono, Orrington, Stetson and Veazie."

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  14. Tin,

    Loved your comment on Assad. Have an extra toast tonight on me.

    Dennis &/or CED (or anyone else)

    Any thoughts on Marti's link? I'll keep mine yo myself.

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  15. Good morning, puzzlers.

    I didn't feel right at HOME(s) with this one. Barry & Hondo -- first I tried two N's and then two C's. RD, I agree about Orono. My brother spent 30 years in Orono and did not consider it "suburban."

    Fermat, sorry I missed that episode. I just purchased the complete Firefly series from Amazon for $15. It's a 9-member ensemble cast headed by Nathan Pillion (Castle) that aired for a single season in 2002. It's a space opera, but that's only the setting. It's really a character study. I recommend it. Oh, and Morena Baccarin is in it. She plays a "registered companion" -- think geisha.

    IGUANA net was supposed to be providing high-speed wireless internet to our town back in April. So far they've poured a concrete base for the tower and installed some guy-wire anchors. Like most things around here, it's taking longer than expected.

    I do believe ASSAD is trying to take that "Best Loved Ruler" title away from Idi Amin.

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  16. GARY(Indiana) could also be a Great Lakes AREA reference.

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  17. Desper-Otto: was your brother a professor at the university? When was he there? Maybe we overlapped.

    Tinbini: I don't pick my QODs randomly, thanks for noticing. Excuse me while I kiss the sky.

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  18. What great words today! INOCULATES, SUPERIOR, OPTIMIST, OBTUSE, NAIVE. Well done!

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  19. hondo, yes, several, as well as a funny memory of an event from the past, but I'll follow your course of action.

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  20. Hahtoolah: I look forward to you QOD's every day and notice they (very often) have today's date in them.
    Plus (Spoiler Alert!) Jimi was today's theme in the NYT x-word puzzle.


    Forgot to mention ...

    I liked how BLUNT was crossed by OBTUSE since one of the definitions (in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary) for BLUNT is:
    1-b OBTUSE in understanding or discernment : dull.

    Personally when I hear the word BLUNT, I think of the Urban Dictionary definition:
    A cigar that has been hollowed out and filled with Mary-Jane.

    OH, OK, Smoke'em if you got'em.

    Cheers !!!

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  21. Hahtoolah -- My brother, Paul, was at U of M from the mid '70's until about 2005. He has a doctorate in Civil Engineering, but he wasn't a professor. He was Director of Sponsored Programs, and in 1987 was also named Assistant VP for Research.

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  22. Good morning Argyle and all.

    Liked all the interplay with HOMES. I thought it was cool the way Peter clued the Lakes with alternate meanings. Two of the jurisdictions, Michigan and Ontario, each abut on 4 of the 5 GREAT LAKES.

    Only unknown, UOMO, was helped by the perps.
    Like all the YES-ITIS comments:-)
    Nice shout-out to IMP.

    ORONO - re suburbs. If people commute to work to a larger city, from an outer area, I think the term 'suburb' can be used in that context. For example, urban planners typically use the term: 1st ring suburb, or 2nd ring suburb when dealing with the demographics of an area.

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  23. Tinbini, the constuctor of the NYT's puzzle was also the LAT's, Peter Collins. Isn't that EERIE?

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  24. Jimi Hendrix would be 70 today ??? That blows me away. Now I know I'm getting old .Here's a trivia fact for you: Who was Jimi Hendix's favorite guitar player during that era? I'll be back later with the answer.

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  25. Thank you Peter Collins for a wonderful puzzle, and Thank you Argyle ( now back in the drivers seat - ) for a wonderful commentary.

    The puzzle was fairly easy - I had Homo before Uomo (whaat ?) - must read up.... I had Sand Bar before Sand Bag. I had EST , rather than Ess ... and I couldn't understand NeoT - but I let it pass as something I probably had never heard of.

    I thought of Abejo at 'Erie' and Kazie at ' G'Day '.

    I live on one of the Great Lakes - but have been into the water, 3 times in 35 years. (- don't know how to swim - ).... though I drink its (overpriced - ) water every day. The lake water is technically free, other than filtration, chlorination, fluoridation and pumping costs, but the overmanned Water Utility bureaucracy jacks up the price 10,000%. It is the biggest profit center for the City of Cleveland, and what keeps it from sinking into bankruptcy. Taxes ? what taxes - none of the city denizens pay any of them.

    Thanks to YellowRocks, I now know how to use 'prosaic' .... an adj. to avoid in my posts. Thank you YR !

    Have a nice week, you all.

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  26. Fun little romp today. Had no clue what the theme was until the unifier popped up at the end. The Z in Bridezilla was the last fill, and what a great word that is.

    JJM, 2 wags. Roy Buchanan or Chet Atkins.

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  27. JJM, that would be Billy Gibbons. I only know that because I've always been a ZZ Top fan. And I think that happened with the "Legs" video...

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  28. good to be back to the puzzle world after a wild but enjoyable week. Kind of a northen USA geography lesson today.

    I always use more CUMIN than chili powder when I make chili. That gives it more warm flavor than heat. For a bit of a smoky kick, I grind a smidge of dried chipotle and toss it in. Yum. Perfect on a cold snowy day. But I digress.

    I liked Al's take on YESITIS, and Tinbeni's alternate spelling of assad. (no capitals on purpose).

    Last Parasitology lab of the semester tonight! woohoo! Then I can start a jigsaw puzzle as a reward. Oh, wait, maybe Christmas cards, then puzzle. but then taxes after cards. Oh heck, puzzle first.

    As our local news anchor says, "make it a great day". (but she says it at the six o'clock news, when the day is winding down. Tiny nit.)

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  29. A bit too many abbrevs., but I guess that's what it takes to get all the Great Lakes in. Didn't see the theme 'til the end, though puzzle easy.

    Two good bazingas- ONTARIO, OKAPI.

    Nice to see UOMO. This could confuse English speakers as it looks like women.

    Never heard of METZ or EDER.

    Still hate UIE and ELHI, but time goes on.

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  30. Re: suburbs. How can Orrington be considered a suburb of Bangor when you have to cross a river and go thru another city that is not listed as a suburb, ie: Brewer, to get to it. Now for shopping then maybe it could be considered a suburb. But with farm land between two "towns" how can it be a suburb? I was a student also at UM in 60-61. And I am in the area every summer.

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  31. Hondo
    The only time I remember the word USURER being used was Shakespeare's description of Shylock the moneylender (loan shark) in the "Merchant of Venice." I never did like reading Shakespeare in high school.

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  32. I use mnemonics to remember lots of things and enjoyed the HOMES theme. Since I play chords and not notes, I use FACE to name notes on the treble clef.

    Musings
    -INOCULATE has only one N and one C, ARRS not ETAS, no ZEBRAS, oh, that gulf,
    -The Erie Canal between New York and the GREAT LAKES was the Manhattan Project of its time and greatly facilitated the movement of goods to and from the hinterlands
    -Hwy 30 got SANDBAGGED last summer to keep flood waters off it from both sides. Then it rained for 8 hours and the water got trapped between the bags. You can’t win.
    -Asocial Sheldon is always BLUNT and NAÏVE at the same time
    -I can’t imagine living in ISR, SYR, LEB, etc where the threat of violence is a fact of life. C’set la VIE.
    -I have been an ELHI sub – doesn’t mean I like the word…
    -Baseball slang for a brushback pitch – “Put one in his EARHOLE”
    -Those BRONC riders walk funny when they reach my age
    -I retired after 36 years and then decided to REUP for one more year that turned into six years
    -GARY Sinise is very active in supporting veterans
    -All golfers are OPTIMISTs as they approach the next hole
    -QOD corollary – I one mouth and two ears, which means I should listen twice as much as I speak
    -In what movie did Andy get thrown into “the hole” for calling the warden OBTUSE?

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  33. RD, when we lived in NJ, we were about 18 miles east of Philly; we were considered a 'Philadelphia suburb'. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Suburban section included our town. And that's in a different state.

    Could just be a matter of semantics.

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  34. Addendum - How many 90 year old women do you know that have sat in a football stadium in late November and watched her grandson coach her great grandson in state championship football game? My incredible Mother-in-law is one.

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  35. RD, did you read the article I linked? Brewer is mentioned several times. I googled "suburb" and it seems it is very loosely defined. I would say the clue is valid.

    I love what weird trivia I learn here at the blog. i.e. The name of the county that contains Bangor, Brewer and Orono is also the name of a certain Lt.Col. that I am sure HuskerGary is aware of. (hint: Hot Lips)

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  36. I agree, Dennis and Pinto. Here in Morris County, NJ we are included in the Suburban section of the newspapers, although we are 40 miles west of NYC. Some suburbanites are even farther west. NJ seems to be just two big suburban areas, New York and Philly. The culture is quite different between the two areas.

    This Biblical quote taught me the word USURER when I was a kid: Exodus 22:25 King James Version. "If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an USURER, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury."

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  37. Hi all,

    First of all, I'm confused by the ref to "Marti's link"...I couldn't find it.

    Now, this puzzle, although I started out just fine, set me on my ear! I guess I'm just THICK. So many I didn't know. It didn't help that I never remember that princess XENA.
    I read 22D (GULF STATE) and thought of OUR gulf. sigh

    8D fooled me completely!!

    Don't have an iPod (I do love my iPad!!) so that answer just sat there.

    I confidently put in ZEBRA for 22A...then I said "no, that was way to easy", I was right. Sneaky, sneaky.

    Cumin in chili??? I smelled the stuff once and that was enough. Blah!

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  38. Well, I got sidetracked this morning and am here late, but got the CW done by 8am. I liked it. Nice to see unusual entries like OBTUSE and BLUNT, especially having them cross. I also wanted HOMO for UOMO, couldn't make sense of REMI (no music language knowledge), and completely missed having to read clues for ISR and RANG since they perped themselves. My only stumble was having ERNIE/ARNIE, since sports figures are all strangers to me and I felt that ELLPRO was probably just a term I didn't want to know.

    Metz is a curiosity--a French town with a German name. But that's because it's in Alsace-Lorraine which has not ever really decided if it belongs in France or Germany. As to the clue for it, you have your pick of dozens of cathedral towns in France, so I just waited for perps to give me the hint I needed.

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  39. Excuse me. Unlike yesterday, and even though I THINK this was really not a Tuesday puzzle, i liked it. 18 A and 61 A were clever. Breas are so beautiful in the land of Scots. Also liked 43 A cause "Yes It Is" is an old love song by the Beatles. Cant stand to many non english clues or answers, one or two are OK but 5, on a tuesday? NEVER HEARD OF A BRIDEZILLA, but liked it anyway since im a giver, ha ha. Big "D" from yesterday PFFFFT!

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  40. This morning's snow is turning all of nature into a fairyland.

    From my Haiku book:

    no mo yama no
    yuki ni torarete
    nanimo nashi

    Plains and mountains
    all enveloped in snow-
    there is nothing else.

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  41. Musings 2

    -Tin, resisting the sycophancy disease of YESITIS and being BLUNT has cost me occasionally.
    -Pinto, ah yes, Margaret’s fiancé’s, Donald, family name!
    -It took me 22 minutes to drive from here to west Omaha to teach and we are considered a suburb or exurb.
    -The …zilla at weddings where I sang was more often the bride’s mother
    -YR, our dusting of snow is gone already and the 60’s are coming back but I loved your Haiku. Nothing prosaic about it ;-)
    -Ah, Marti, you can’t go wrong with Nellie Forbush singing Rogers and Hammerstein. I think Nellie’s a lot like a like a lovely skier, oenophile, crossword constructor I know.

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  42. As Sheriff Buford T. Justice once said: "what the hell is the world coming to?"

    BRIDEZILLA reality t.v.

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  43. I thought this was harder than a Tuesday puzzle. It just didn't flow for me until I finally got the theme which allowed me to finish. Seemed like a lot of crosswordese . I guess not one of my favorites....but interesting enough to keep me going. Everyone have a nice day-a little foggy this a.m. In So Cal but should get up into the 70's later.

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  44. I have a little problem with 'usurer' being a 'loan shark'. A usurer generally holds some sort of collateral, or insurance, as a backup - A loan shark holds no collateral, and therefore / hence resorts to violence, or the threat of it. It is curious that this profession is held in such contempt, and evil connotations, though money lending is really the world's oldest profession. I've come across deals which involved 14% per month - and trust me, they were profitable - albeit risky, and did not involve any violence - just the extensive use of the UCC - the Uniform Commercial Code - and went by the name 'factoring' or even some derivatives. The market involves a range of credit worthiness, a range of business scenarios, a range of commercial acumen and business risk - and all these factors have to be accounted for in the interest rate.

    Usury is in the mind of the beholder.

    If one were to spend a hour or two at a local 'PayDay' loans office, one would realize that usury is not only, not evil but very important and necessary, and has been, through the ages. Like many destructive human traits - alcoholism, gambling, drug abuse etc. - an inability to manage money is unfortunately very common. I mean, how much interest would you demand of the Greek Govt. to lend them money - when you are aware that historically, neither the people nor the govt. have any intentions of paying it back... ?

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  45. Good morning:

    Easy-peasy Tuesday offering although I didn't get the theme until the unifier. Had etas before arrs but that was the only write-over.

    Thanks, Peter, for a fun romp, and thanks, Argyle, for your expo.

    Will finish the Christmas decorating today and then sit back, relax, and enjoy my festive surroundings.

    Happy Monday.

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  46. I put equal measures of CUMIN and chili powder in my chili -- but NO beans -- not in Texas chili. I learned that from my former next door neighbor who is a two-time champion at the Terlingua chili cook-off, and who tied Bobby Flay in a chili throwdown.

    Looked out my office window a moment ago and noticed that half of an 80-foot willow oak in my front yard has gone missing. Oh, there's the rest of it, strewn across my woodlot. Time to call Double-D tree service once again.

    Sfingi -- bazingas? Reminds me more of Morena Baccarin than ONTARIO or OKAPI.

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  47. And I thought I'd get some people on that one. Billy Gibbons is the guitar player he admired the most. I read in a RS article a long,long, time ago that the guitar player that he liked to jam the most with was Stephen Stills. And, he happens to be in my top 10 favorite guitar players.

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  48. Husker G: Shawshank Redemption.
    One of my all time fav film

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  49. Delightful Tuesday puzzle--many thanks, Peter! And you too, Argyle, for pointing out the symmetry of those GREAT LAKE placements. The visual of the grid is one of the cool things this blog often notes.

    It helped that I grew up in Pennsylvania, though not in ERIE, did my graduate work at Buffalo (ONTARIO), and taught at U of M (MICHIGAN). So I guess the HOMES are in my wheelhouse, as we say nowadays.

    Al, I guess it's the SUPERIOR who get afflicted with YESITIS.

    Like others, I first put ZEBRAS in place of OKAPIS, but also ANC (African National Congress) in place of RSA for Mandela's organization. But it all worked out in the end.

    Have a great day, everybody!

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

    This took me a tad longer than a usual Tues, but I loved the vocabulary.The middle was sticky; had to zig zag several times.Most of those places have been mentioned. Is Andalusian article a Tues. clue? and, like Carol, had no idea about PAUSE.

    Loved reseed, because I was thinking of baldness. LOL!

    Kazie, I did the same. My 1st thought was Notre Dame cathedral in Montreal. Yes, I can count.

    Many times people have never heard of your town or city (like mine), so I just say San Jose. Easier. Garlic Gal would say her town, Gilroy, is a suburb of S.J. There are many that are miles away and considered suburbs, especially farming areas.I agree-- semantics.

    San Jose is not a suburb of S.F. San Jose is larger, and our summer weather is consistently 20 degrees warmer.

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  51. HH @ 8:06 and Dennis @ 8:36 (^0~)

    HG @ 9:43, wonderful article about your MIL - she should be an inspiration to us all!

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  52. Dennis and HeartRx: again, what is this about Marti's link?????

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  53. Carol:
    In Marti/HeartRx comment @7:56 she linked "Cock-Eyed Optimist" at the word "this" (which is in blue).

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  54. Welcome back Argyle!

    Tues. DNF for me. 33A to the point, did me in. Apparently, just about every word beginning with "O" i misspelled at some point, which left me with a 33A=Breft? I dunno, i tried to justify it by thinking if bereft is a word, maybe "breft" is just a faster way of losing it...

    TheHondoHurricane@8:06, sorry, i don't get any more political than the correct spelling of potatoes... Now if you want to discuss the Great Pumpkin...

    Desperotto@8:08 Firefly = awesome
    But you must watch the full length movie explaining the series called "Serenity" (warning, fav characters get killed.)

    HG, LoL @ Hwy 30, did anyone pull the plug?

    Carol @10:01

    There is something about crossword fanatics that make them try to puzzle you... Longtime Bloggers are well aware of who Santa is, & that Marti = HeartRx, & sometimes known as that "Carpenter" person to people that cannot solve her puzzles. It took me forever to realize that "Oleo" on the right hand side of the Blog is really the FAQ!

    Anon @10:09

    Tx for pointing out Yes It Is! The anthology version blows me away when McCartneys voice breaks up, & then they seamlessly blend it into the finished version!

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  55. Carol, check Marti's 7:56 post, end of the third paragraph. You'll understand.

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  56. If that was a Tuesday, I'm going to hate Wednesday.

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  57. It's a shame that "Direction reversals, in slang : UIES" had to go and spoil such an otherwise great puzzle.

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  58. WBS about INOCULATE. Loved IGUANA, USURER and BRIDEZILLA!

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  59. Hi! I've been lurking too long! I really enjoy this blog. It's helped w. cw-ing, answered so many questions & it's fun!
    After learning ab. cw-ing, I next liked the QOD. Then I enjoyed the banter & the links.
    This is a trial balloon. so if it works, I'll be back.
    Too Long a Lurker

    ReplyDelete
  60. Hello Willow!

    Anon@12:11

    Unfortunately, as time goes on...
    it behooves constructionists to create clues that you have not seen before. I rue the day when "uies" is clued as Donald Ducks relatives!

    Bill G, love/hate your math puzzles,
    (probably because i cannot figure them out!) but in your honor, here is a physics puzzle... & for me, & others who need instant gratification, the answer, if u guess & follow the links...)

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  61. Willow, c'mon in, the water's fine. Welcome to the insanity. Just pull up a keyboard and sit a spell. (You weren't involved in the destruction of my willow oak, were you?)

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  62. Only in Chicago.

    I suspect a few of us aren't surprised this show was cancelled.

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  63. Boy! Am I late for the party today! I was up most of the night with a bad case of the runs which actually started Friday, continued Sat. stopped then resumed last night. Not fun.

    Argyle, good to see you back at your post.

    Fun and very easy puzzle today. Immediately thought of Abejo at ERIE and Kazie at G'DAY.

    Knowing HOMES helped me suss the LAKES. Only writeover was ARRS for ETAS. We've seen UOMO before but a long time ago.

    I hope all are enjoying the day! Welcome, Willow.

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  64. Lucina - You weren't noshing on the tamales were you?

    ReplyDelete

  65. Mari @ 12:48

    Pravastatin made by TEVA Pharmaceutical. If I remember correctly, it;s the third Generic the MDs have prescribed for me.

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  66. Spitzboov, LOL
    Reminded me of 7 days with out power, i remembered in Europe, they do not refrigerate eggs. So after 6 days, the Supermarket had power ( but i did not) So i threw out the eggs & went to the store, only to find they had no eggs or meat! So i went home & pulled the eggs out of the garbage, & had them for dinner!

    Excuse me, but nature calls...

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  67. I wonder if "suburb" is defined as such when people commute to the bigger city for employment and shopping on a regular basis. Around here the term "bedroom towns" is used for smaller towns with no industry or fewer employment opportunities. Some people have an hour's commute to work in the city from these little towns.

    Grams, if Adlai had been elected, I wonder if we would have had the interstate highway system that we have today. IKE is considered the father of this transportation system. He dreamed it up because of the difficulties in transporting troops and supplies on a terrible road system during the war in Europe. I remember highway construction was a great job for many young men in the 1950's & '60's. New roads and multiple-lane roads were replacing the old two-lane crooked paths.

    ReplyDelete
  68. CrossEyed Dave, I guess the yokes on you..............

    Sorry, couldn't stop myself. And yes, Gilroy as well as Morgan Hill are considered suburbs of San Jose.


    ReplyDelete
  69. I have been "auditing" this blog for about six months and find myself in the same quandry/aha moment most of the time. However, today I found that the beginning of summer could be "eve" which also fits with "arrv" which no one else mentioned. (I also dread first letters as clues) And if we are picking nits, then let me say that my ipod does not have a button at all - it has a wheel with a pause function.

    ReplyDelete
  70. No time yet to read every post.Hope no one else said:


    I never saw a striped okapi.
    I never hope to see one.
    But I can tell you anyhow
    I'd rather see than be one

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  71. Welcome Snorkley, welcome Willow - if you like, the first page of the blog has instructions on how to 'go blue'(no, not holding your breath) and create a profile so that we can see what makes you tick.

    Willow, if you're a female, we'll need details on your limbs...

    Lucina, I was having a couple chili dogs when I read your post. Anybody want one and a half chili dogs?

    ReplyDelete
  72. not to touch the earth
    not to see the sun
    nothing left to do
    but run, run, run
    let's run
    let's run

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  73. Mari, I take Ator-vastatin (I put the hyphen in, to check my spelling - ) - but I take the 80 mg tablet. My wife told me about the recall, last month, from an AMA email - but it affects only the smaller dosages.

    The drug, I am taking, is still made by Ranbaxy though .... ( OMG ! ).

    1. The recall was because 'there were tiny bits of glass, which got into the formulary, by mistake (huh ? -!) ....

    2. Ranbaxy, the biggest drug maker in India, has been owned by a Japanese company for the last 10 years .... unfort. the quality is still Indian .. =^-^=.

    3. I know the 'big shots' of their co-subsidiary, Ohm Pharm. in NJ.

    4. Ironically, earlier this year, an injection manuf. in Cleveland, Ohio , sub. of Boehringer Ingelheim had to close down for an extended period and recall all their injectables from the drugstores and destroy their inventory - and the FDA had to allow imports from India to make up the shortage. So these recalls work both ways. (lol).


    Who was it, who said - ' If you've got to go, you've got to go'. - whether to the graveyard, or the toilet.


    Maybe in 'Bonnie and Clyde'.

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  74. I have been “auditing” this blog for about six months (and trying to get this posted fort about two hours) and usually find myself in the same quandry and/or aha moment as most. However, today I realized that the beginning of summer could be “eve” and the postings at LAX could read “arrv.” Also, since nits are bing picked, my ipod does not have buttons, but it does have a wheel with a pause function.

    ReplyDelete
  75. C'mon man...

    Everyone knows I said that to Michael Corleone just before he shot me.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Welcome Willow and Snorkley.

    I guess in our suburban county we are a medley of bedroom town and self -sufficient community with our own sources of shopping and employment. We have many corporate headquarters in our county and numerous small businesses, employing local people and commuters. Some people who live here commute to many other suburbs to work, and a large group commutes to NYC. Personally I go into NYC four times a year at the most. The city does have a radiating influence on our culture. I like living in its orbit and yet being free from it. We still have much of the small community charm and comeradery.

    Anony-mouse, your comments on usury led me to read up on it today. There is still an argument about what usury is. It seems obvious that there was a time that earning any interest at all was considered usury. Today, it seems to me, that usury usually refers to charging abusive and illegal interest. Many modern countries, as well as U.S. states, have usury laws setting the highest interest that may be charged.

    This may not interest everyone, but Anony-Mouse might enjoy this article.
    Link usury

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  77. CED, very cool physics experiment. I didn't figure it out either but I understand it once he explained it. I like it!

    Mari, I checked my generic Lipitor and it's made by a different company. Thanks.

    I was at the supermarket and an ex-student from 30 years ago recognized me and said hello. Luckily, she had nice memories of my class and we talked for five or 10 minutes. That was a very pleasant experience and one of the perks of living in the town where you taught.

    Dear anon spammer. Your posts are annoying. Please go somewhere else.

    CED, here's another little physics puzzle. You have a glass of water containing a couple of ice cubes. The water is up exactly to the brim. As the ice melts, will the water level go down, stay the same or go up (spill over)?

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  78. I thought I had the theme when I had all the sayings and confidently put in GREAT LINE instead of Great Lake.

    Did anyone else make this mistake?

    ReplyDelete
  79. Bill G - Stay the same.

    Welcome, Willow and Snorkley.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Spizboov:
    No, I haven't been able to eat anything spioy for four days. We always cook the first dozen we make but I refrained from eating.

    Dennis:
    I'm so sorry. Think of something pleasant .......

    ReplyDelete
  81. Forgot to say how much I dislike cumin. It is too sharp. I prefer a smooth taste.

    ReplyDelete
  82. This was an ugly solve for me.
    WEES about Zebra, ETA Uies and ELHI (Ugh)
    A big welcome to Willow and Snorkley.
    This is kind of a larger version of
    Rob, Sally and Buddy, the comedy writers on the Dick Van Dyke show.
    Dennis @ 2:16 LMAO
    Husker: Great article about your MIL

    ReplyDelete
  83. Anony-Mouse @ 2:45: Too funny!

    ReplyDelete
  84. Admit it, you went with ZEBRA before OKAPI

    ReplyDelete
  85. Lucina, Well, we all know what pleasant things our bosom buddy Dennis ALWAYS thinks of. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  86. Lucina, you are on Fire today!!

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  87. Yes, PK, it worked -- my appetite's returning already. Thanks, Lucina.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Thanks for the welcome! My limbs are long & very graceful, if I may say so myself. I have many; some have small yellow-gold leaves, but most are bare right now.
    DO, I know nothing ab. your willow-oak. Maybe we are (were) distant cousins? Since I'm a weeping willow, I'll cry for you!

    ReplyDelete
  89. Yellow Rocks, thank you for the usury link. Mixing economics, human nature and theology can be very dicey. I must say the article is very well written. If you take God ( or what we think, God would have intended - ) out of the equation, and also the arbitrary ecclesiastical pronouncements and arbitrary legislative laws - usury can be studied purely in the form of rational human behavior viz. economics. Milton Friedman ( 1976 Nobel Prize, Economist, Univ. of Chicago) has written extensively on this and other subjects.

    Bill G. - Re your ice cube(s) problem - by Archimedes' Principle - as a general theory - the level should remain the same - since the water-submerged part of the cube(s) will occupy the same space as the resulting water from its melting. You however, did not give / explain ALL the variables in your question.

    However, this is, provided, the temp of the water is already at or near, 4oC - when water is at its densest. If the water is at say, 20oC, then the ice cubes will also cool the water, towards 4oC, and make it more dense, and the resulting level will fall... by about 0.05% to 0.45%.

    This can observed when you order at a bar, say, a Scotch, with ice. If you do not touch the drink, and let it stand, the drink appears to 'shrink' ... about 1% !

    That's why Tinbeni never uses ice in his Pinch and Punch. (lol).

    ReplyDelete
  90. Hi all,

    I haven't read the blog yet and only did about half of the puzzle but wanted to make a comment.

    I can't believe I didn't get this theme.Even though I have lived in a couple other states,I've lived in a Great Lake state most of my life,first in Indiana and then Wisconsin. Not that I saw much of them when I was young but have as an adult. I just didn't have my thinking cap on.

    About Wyandot and Huron, the explorers from Europe used to give Native Americans names from their own culture and didn't care what they were originaly.

    In Wisconson,some of the ones in Wi. were called Winnabago but a few years ago the people started to use their original name-Ho Chunk.

    We start home tomorrow so I won't be doing a puzzle for a couple days. I will have some new pictures of Logan. Ha!

    Marge

    ReplyDelete
  91. Bill G, i was going to say the water level must fall, because ice is less dense than water. But Anony-mouse reminded me of your rocks in the rowboat problem. (Ack!, it's a good thing Google doesn't charge by each click of the mouse, now that would be Usury!)

    Which reminds me, excellent link YellowRocks! i bookmarked it to read again!

    Willow @ 4:08 LOL!

    Snorkley, welcome!

    Remember the Edmond Fitzgerald! (condensed version)

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  92. For Willow : Weep for Me.(2:52) I never knew there was so many covers of this.

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  93. Bill G, here's my little physics puzzle.

    It's Sunset here at Villa Incognito.
    I'm standing outside with a "two-finger" snifter of Pinch.
    As the Sun melts into the Gulf-of-Mexico (and I "toast" all you guys) ...
    Does the Pinch level go down, stay the same or go up and spill over?
    (Careful ... it's a trick question).

    Cheers !!!

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  94. Argyle- I didn't get a chance to read yesterday's Corner so I didn't know until today that you were C.C.'s co-writer. Congratulations for a fine piece of work. It's quite a thrill, I'm sure. It's quite an acclomplishment as well!

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  95. OK Tin, I'm guessing first it goes up, then down (both in the glass and down the hatch), then maybe back up again, then down, then...?

    C.C. and Argyle, the envelope is in the mail.

    ReplyDelete
  96. Bill G
    Can't "put-one-past-you" ...
    but you forgot ...
    I had the bottle ...

    Sooooooo, it then (magically?) stayed the same ...

    Ahhhhhhh !
    Salute !

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  97. BillG:

    John has a long mustache, je le répète John has a long mustache!

    ReplyDelete
  98. On the suburb discussion, I'm with PK on this one. Local custom rules. I live in Lancaster Co, which has Lincoln, numerous bedroom communities, and no suburbs. Call it what you will, it's not important.

    And Lucina, that's a serious case of TMI! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  99. @AvgJoe

    The "suburb discussion" was originally about whether or not the clue for 5d was accurate. Because Bangor's local newspaper referred to Orono as a suburb and since you declared that local custom rules, it seems the the crossword editor was, once again, correct.

    Also, I agree with you that it is not important if there are any suburbs in Lancaster County.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Great Googly Moogly!!

    Just checked in and over 100 posts!

    Bill " Tin, Whats your favorite drink?"

    Tin " An open one !"

    Bill " Do you think you have a drinking problem ? "

    Tin " No, I have it figured out."

    Bill " How do you know when you have had enough? "

    Tin " When I run out!"

    Sorry guys, Just couldn't resist. Having a toast to you all now. Time
    to go read the rest of the posts.

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  101. Tin, in answer to your question, it must be a bicycle, because a vest doesn't have sleeves.

    ReplyDelete
  102. "I don't drink anymore.
    and I don't drink any less.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Welcome Willow and Snorkley!

    CED, what a hoot- had never heard of
    Tim Hawkins-entertaining!

    Lucina, so sorry about the trots. Get well..rice, bananas...

    Gary, wonderful article about M-I-L, nice picture too.

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  104. I think I finally figured it out!

    Now, how do I it erase it! ??

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  105. Good evening, everyone! Good to have you back in the blogging saddle again, Argyle – and looking forward to any future puzzle treats you and C.C. cook up for us.

    Welcome to Willow and Snorkley!

    Hand up for needing the unifier to catch onto the clever GREAT LAKES theme. Managed to spell INOCULATE correctly, but then flubbed with USeRER instead of USURER, which had me scratching my head over BLeNT. Favorite fill was BRIDEZILLA – hey, ladies, the wedding is just one day; it’s the marriage that matters!

    Have a great night, all.

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  106. Anon @6:10, you might have a point. But if you wear a hat, no one's like to notice it.

    ReplyDelete
  107. I bet you meant 'likely'.

    Again, its not important if anyone notices my hat.

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  108. Welcome Willow and Snorkley



    Come in, Sit down, Realx, Converse,

    Our house doesn't always look like this,

    Sometimes it's even worse.

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  109. Man I go away for a few days and Willow (related to Buffy?) and Snorkley appear. Welcome. Again,. really great at post puzzles and dissecting, thanks Argyle.

    Back in 70+ Fort Lauderdale. See ya

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  110. Hello Puzzlers -

    Late again. I see the puzz has been pretty thoroughly covered. Only stumbled at Uomo.

    Welcome to the Corner, Willow and Snorkley.

    Decidedly wintry feel to my part of Massachusetts. Definitely glühwein weather.

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  111. Ced @ 11:52
    Lmao!
    Did a chimney sweep for friend Sunday
    and my reward.. A huge smoked ham steak from his farm and fresh eggs straight from the.. well you know.
    You can not get this kind of quality from any supermarket. we're saving the ham for xmas, the eggs are almost gone.
    Not sure what the temps are for others around here but it has been dipping well into the 20's at night and not above 40's during the day. No worries though. Got about 9 cord of wood in back ready to burn and 3 in reserve on the side. The house is always kept in the 70's.
    My best to all
    Dan

    ReplyDelete
  112. Anon@7:12

    I bet you meant 'it's'.

    ReplyDelete
  113. I would say GDAY, but it's kind of late in the day. Back from doctor in KC,MO. She ordered a BEVY of medical EXAMS(test), but took me off 3 medications. Trying to be an OPTIMIST, but still feel like I,m taking CVII pills. To be BLUNT, I'm tired of not feeling GREAT and think SUPERIOR is out of the question. Would like to leave doctors behind and RESUME life. Is it still worth plugging away...YES IT IS--GET REAL!

    Welcome Willow and Snorkley. (The hospital here had a giant pink mouse named Snorkey that accompanied children into surgery.)

    PK, can you Email me... I know you are close to my bedroom community.

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  114. Manac 6:16 -

    I meant to remark on "Great Googly Moogly". I don't know whether this is the origin of the phrase, but for me it's intertwined with Frank Zappa, specifically "Nanuk of the North". Am I on track?

    ReplyDelete
  115. AvgJoe
    I'm sorry if you think it's TMI. I was going to write simply that I was sick but then I'd have to deal with the questions. So might as well be frank.

    Dennis:
    I knew you would recover if you just think about something you can HANDle.

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  116. G'day(it's late afternoon in Australia.)

    ReplyDelete
  117. Well, Argyle, I don't think I ever heard that one before! I see what you mean at 1:33 though. I couldn't make it out clearly but it does sound similar.

    I found this excerpt of the Nanook suite from Frank Zappa's "Apostrophe" album. The phrase shows up at 2:13:

    Zappa

    Zappa was a pretty strange guy, but talented.

    ReplyDelete
  118. Bill,
    Thanks again for going through the trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  119. Dudley, there's no doubt about what he said there. But strange indeed.

    ReplyDelete

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