Theme: Get the "H" out of here!
Each of the 5 theme answers has the last word which is a CH word, recast with NO H, (as in the hint) to create a new and visually entertaining new phrase. Jack is an old pro whose work I have had the pleasure of blogging before, though this had more than its share of little known proper names. I can hear Kazie groaning out there. There also are so many great clues/fill like SBARRO, BOBSLEDS, EAR TO EAR, BELTS IT OUT, I really enjoyed cracking this code. How many other CH words would work? Well with no further ado....
18A. Jazz-loving surfer? : ONLINE CHAT.(9). A 50's reference to when all who loved Jazz were hep cats, taken by removing the H from our modern online dialogue.
20A. Fort Knox transport? : BAR CHART.(7) A simple from of graphing becomes a nice picture of a cart loaded with gold bullion, like in this SCENE. (4:31).
39A. Farm job for Perry Mason? : WILD GOOSE CHASE (13) A book about a man who is arrested for running around and goosing all the women on a farm in Kentucky? Erle Stanley Gardner, who was a real judge and defender of the innocent named each of his Perry Mason books : The Case of..." For our crowd, maybe this case.
58A. USDA inspector, at times? : PORK C
60A. Insignificant woodpile? : MINOR C
And a last minute hint,
62D. Kabuki native, and a hint to five puns in this puzzle : NOH, parsed NO H, but none of you needed the hint, right?
Across:
1. Ease up : ABATE. A nice A word to start.
6. Culture sites : LABS. Oh, that kind of culture.
10. Method for deciding : FLIP. An accepted brief form of flipping a coin, though you will see the sight gag of someone doing a somersault when challenged to "flip for it."
14. Recognition of achievement : MEDAL. Olympics anyone?
15. "The doctor will be ___ ten" : IN AT.
16. Red inside : RARE. What a nice simple visual clue.
17. Most of its strains are harmless : E. COLI. Interesting FACTS.
22. "Dies ___" : IRAE.
23. Zion Church letters : AME. AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL church. LINK.
24. Alien-seeking gp. : SETI. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, phone home anyone?
26. Stromboli seller : SBARRO. What a great letter progression; who does not think they screwed up seeing SB start a word.
30. Novi Sad citizen : SERB. Immediately followed by SerB. A pretty obscure clue, though the 2nd largest city there. We have a new attorney in the office who is Serbian. Havla Bogu!
32. "Out Her on My Own" musical : FAME. Classic IRENE CARA.(3:28).
34. "Was ___ I saw yesterday...?" : IT YOU. No, I was not there. I was in Paris getting a drink. Or was it in...
35. Nice quencher : EAU. Do you still forget your French water?
37. Racers on a run : BOBSLEDS. Fine clue, as the place where bobsleds race is called a run.
42. Grin scope : EAR TO EAR.Not to be corny, but I think this is a wonderful clue.
43. Negatives : NOS. Yes, again simple.
44. Like clear winter air : CRISP.
45. Old railway operator's hat : KEPI. Also the French foreign legion, Charles DeGaulle..Not, 59D. "All day soft. All day smooth" lotion : KERI.
47. Labels : TAGS.
51. Like many audits : ON SITE. Generally done by your external auditors, but in truth it is hard to audit other than on site.
53. Lavish affection (on) : DOTE. Okay, I am ready.
55. French vineyard : CRU. The TEST is in the morning. Lots of French today.
56. Limited worker : TEMP.
64. Supervisory serf, in Chaucer : REEVE. A nice oldtimey word for the guy who enforces order among the Anglo-Saxons.
65. Last name of three related All-Stars : ALOU. Felipe, Matty and Jesus.
66. Words spoken before the Senate : ET TU. A brutal way to clue this old saw.
67. Burger and fries, say : ORDER. Often said in line, not on line.
68. 100 satang : BAHT. Wow, we get our Southeast Asian money, as this is from Thailand and next door we have 70A. Cambodian cabbage? : RIELS. Takes about 130 to get a Baht.
69. One-time Sinclair rival : ESSO. The old company with the Dinosaur and Exxon before it grew up.
Down:
1. Simple life forms : AMEBAS. Not only are we missing an H or five, but the O is gone!
2. Morphed into : BECAME. Again. good simple clue.
3. Worshiper : ADORER. A good word for this time of year.
4. Soft rock : TALC. Softest on the MOHS.
5. Walt Disney's father : ELIAS. Obscure dear old DAD.
6. "The River Murders" co-star : LIOTTA. Do not know this movie but love this SCENE. (0:17) Warning do not watch if you are squeamish.
7. Gloucester's cape : ANN.
8. Hope-Crosby road movie : BALI.
9. Affects emotionally : STIRS.
10. Noted dream-ending words : FREE AT LAST. This DREAM.(2:51).
11. Varnish ingredient : LAC. For REAL.
12. It may be rolled over, briefly : IRA. and its counterpart in the acronym world, 61. Pier gp. : ILA. We get these longshoremen often.
13. Fondle : PET. Be careful, girls do NOT like being fondled like you do your puppy.
19. Snack company with a triangular logo : NABISCO. This clue was as sweet as an Oreo.
21. Wildlife protection area : REFUGE.
25. [Yawn] : I'M BORED. Damn, well better get yourselves up because we have more work to do.
27. Deli supply : RYES. breads, and the home of LSD.
28. Pestered without letup : RODE. The teacher rode Johnny all class.
29. Danger conclusion? : OUS. Dangerous.
31. Sings with gusto : BELTS IT OUT. Who better
33. Aurora's Greek counterpart : EOS. It took a while for this answer to dawn on me.
36. Many a parent : ADOPTER. All perps.
38. Legendary bridge expert Garozzo : BENITO. I remembered the great Italian Blue team, but not one of its MEMBERS.
39. Give notice : WARN.
40. Pupil's place : IRIS. Eye love this clue.
41. Tree with yellow ribbons, in song : OAK.
42. "Foucault's Pendulum" author : ECO. Did not know the book, apparently it is for a different audience than I. LINK.
46. Simon and Garfunkel, e.g. : POP DUO. Duo was easy but the POP was slow; is that good?
48. Submit : ACCEDE.
49. Submit shamelessly : GROVEL.
50. Building managers : SUPERS. They used to be superintendents, but they became just plain super.
52. Host : EMCEE. A variation of MC, Master of Ceremonies.
54. Overthrow, often : ERROR. A baseball clue, not a government coup.
57. Plant holders : POTS.
60. Folklore fairy queen : MAB. I love me a Shakespeare reference, thanks Mercutio.
63. Some are inalienable: Abbr. : RTS. OO, they tell you it is an abbr. Our constitutional rights.
Okay class, that is it from Professor Jack and I, have a wonderful holiday and do not get stuck in any chimneys, eat too many cookies or drive after drinking. I want you all back here for next week's final 2012 Friday, if the Mayan calendar is wrong.
Lemonade
76 comments:
Hello Puzzlers -
Pretty much flew through today. Had to wait for perp help with the unfamiliar currency. I suppose those of us in Massachusetts have a leg up in knowing Cape Ann, a very nice coastal place north of Boston.
Didn't know E. Coli had any harmless strains. The things you learn doing crosswords! Glad we had Kapi recently, that sure helped. Reeve was all perps.
Cheers All!
Morning, all!
Nice to see the world is still here. I almost didn't make it after tripping down my front steps yesterday and hitting my head on the pavement. Five hours at the ER, a CT scan and some stitches later, though, I'm apparently going to be just fine...
Fun puzzle today. I really enjoyed the theme once I figured out what was going on. I thought 20A was a theme answer due to the "?" in the clue, and that confused me for a bit, but I got over it.
KEPI was a mystery, since I had no idea that type of hat was ever associated with trains. The fact that it crossed the totally unknown BENITO didn't help matters much. Fortunately, I've at least heard of KEPI and could make a guess once I had a few letters.
I initially had DOGSLEDS instead of BOBSLEDS, which messed me up for awhile until the perps finally set me straight.
Other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing for a Friday (especially considering the massive headache I have this morning...)
Interestingly, the puzzle in my paper today had the same grid but is a Barry Silk puzzle. Hmmm.
After a terrific struggle with Wednesday's and Thursday's puzzles, I wondered if I should even try today. I did surprisingly well. My only problem area was the SW where several words I didn't know crossed. Otherwise, just a little random red letter help scattered throughout the puzzle.
I am happy with my Friday solve.
Greetings fom CT! Great trip. Clear, blue skies fom MT to minutes before MSP. Saw Fargo as we flew by, Qli. Minneapolis is a wonderful airport to spend a 3-hour layover in. Thought of CC while I was there. Smooth ride from there to LGA where my son was waiting.
Sounds like it is raining here this morning.
I hear my grandson getting up, so hope you all have a great day.
Montana
The grid is incorrect for the clues. No wonder I can't solve it!!
Fred you can get the puzzle online. It is linked here.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jack McInturff, for a swell Friday puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the swell write-up.
Barry: Hope you are feeling better. Falling down is no fun, especially at our ages.
unclefred: Which paper are you using? You can always go to the Chicago Tribune Site and print it, or do it on line.
Got started in the North. Got most of them. IRAE was easy for 22A. That helped with NABISCO.
Never heard of AME. It came with perps, after I figured out that AMEBAS was spelled without the "O"
SBARRO was easy. I ate there once at a turnpike rest area somewhere. Did not like what I had and have never eaten there again. I think it was tasteless pizza.
EAU was easy. I finally have that french word. CRU was not. GROVEL fixed that.
KEPI was easy for the RR hat. I have seen many photos of conductors wearing them, old time photos. I believe the Amtrak conductors still wear them, as well. I take the train a lot. I will check next time.
Got all the theme answers, except PORK COP. I had PORT COP initially. Thinking it was an USDA guy checking incoming food items at a seaport, or airport. I still did not have NO H. Finally I got that with BAHT and fixed PORT COP to PORK COP.
BENITO became obvious after a few letters. Never heard of him, though.
SERB was easy after a couple letters. We have a famous Serb from Chicago who is now in prison. Milorod Blagoyevich.
Got a little snow last night. The ground is white, but not deep at all.
See you tomorrow if the world is still here.
Abejo
CED:
I looked again at your links from yesterday. I think they took the stones out in pieces and then polished the cut-out niches with some sort of stone polishing stone. I am no expert at all, just looked like the only way to me. Nice photos, however. Lots of history.
Abejo
Well, I see a few of us are still here despite the world ending this morning.
I actually got the theme this time, and it helped with the solve. I don't recognize SBARRO, but STIRS and NABISCO were solid, so I let that SB stand.
It's downright chilly in SE Texas this morning -- 35 degrees on my back patio. I suppose the TV folks will be waxing enthusiastic about the cold, as usual. I prefer it warmer, much warmer.
According to History Magazine, it was one hundred years ago today -- December 21, 1913: New York's World publishes the first modern crossword puzzle, created by English journalist Arthur Wynne. Wynne's design was based on a Victorian-era game called "The Magic Square."
Barry, Husker: Be careful. Falls are nothing to joke about. They can be downright devastating.
It looked grim at first blush but I stuck with it (had DOGSLEDS before BOBSLEDS) and was eventually left with a blank SE corner. Then, somehow, PORKCOP popped into my head and the rest was WAGged into place. If I'm not here tomorrow it's because I was, once again, stumped by a Saturday puzzle, not because the world came to an end. A happy solstice celebration at 6:12 to be followed by a sad one-week commemoration at 9:30 this morning. [12:18]
And Marge also. (Just finished reading the late posts from yesterday.)
OK, make that 99 years ago today. I hadn't had my coffee when I wrote that.
Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.
I was glad to see your post this morning, Lemony - it reassured me that the world hadn't ended. Phew!! And you treated me to an Ethel Mermen clip. She's exactly what I thought of when I saw BELTS IT OUT. I'm not sure if I would want to be fondled like a PET but then again, that's just me.
This was really fun to solve, and each theme answer brought vivid images to mind. I especially liked WILD GOOSE CASE and PORK COP. Fun stuff!
Barry G., what a scary fall that must have been!! Take care of yourself.
We just scored tickets to see "The Nutcracker" at the Boston Ballet on Tuesday. Even though DH isn't a big ballet fan, he is looking forward to seeing this Christmas classic performed on stage. Should be a fun time.
Bracing Friday offering. Thank you.
"I initially had DOGSLEDS instead of BOBSLEDS"
Hand up.
"Fondle : PET. Be careful, girls do NOT like being fondled like you do your puppy."
Looks like I'm skipping breakfast.
Lemon: Hvala Lijepa, Thank you very much,
Barry G. Some Avatar will help that headache. (It's my "cure-all" for everything).
I, almost always, tell the constructor: Thank you for a FUN puzzle.
Today's offering I thought was Bik-Sranje.
Desper-otto: When those Mayans made up that calendar did they take into account:
1) Leap Years?
2) The occasional Atomic Clock, Leap seconds? (I remember that last one allowed me to finish "War-and-Peace").
3) Were they on (did they know about) GMT?
Maybe that's why we are still here.
Thank you Mr. McInturff for a very challenging puzzle. I did it !!!!!! I finished a Friday - now I can lay down and go to heaven ( or hell, as the choice may be.). Thank you Lemony for your charming commentary. Loved your links, especially MLK's speech - I was not in the USA, at that time.
Although I completed a Friday puzzle, I don't think it's that much of an achievement. Kind of a let down - sorry. Maybe Friday puzzles are not for me - too obscure and frustrating. Your blog is still very much worth reading though. Always a pleasure.
My first Erle Stanley Gardner book, was 'The case of the demure defendant'. I loved it so much, I read it 4 times - still remember the story. Dell pocket paperbacks were hard to come by in India, so it wasn't till 6 months later, that I read my second Perry Mason book.
Doctor in 'at Ten' ? - my wife starts work at 6.35 am ( to 7.35 pm.)... and every alternate weekend, Saturday. Since today is Friday, she's expecting 1.27 gunshot wounds; life goes on.
Umberto Eco (Focault's pendulum) is much better known for 'The name of the Rose' - the book was 500% better than the movie. Bibliophiles, please note. Definitely worth reading.
Before plastics, took over, 'Lac' was the closest thing to cheap plastic, like celluloid, and since India has such a large supply - there is an entire institute for lac research. One of my uncles was a director there.
I first had 'Doh', for 'Noh' ( my apologies to Homer Simpson or Bart, or whomever.)
Have a safe, happy holiday, you all and Season's Best Greetings.
The point about the whole "Mayan Apocalypse" nonsense is that the Mayans didn't actually predict the world would end. Archaeologists simply found a calendar the Mayans created that stopped at a certain date (which may or may not correspond to today's date). Other archaeological evidence suggests that the end date was actually just the end of one particular cycle before the calendar starts over from the beginning.
If finding a calendar with an end date meant that the world would end on that date, the world would end every December 31, since that's the last date on our calendars...
Barry G,
Hope there are no repercussions from your concussion or lack thereof. And good take (@8:34) on the calendar too. I consoled myself when halfway through yesterday realized that it was already today west of the date line.
Marge, I hope you can recover with minimal pain. Sounds nasty.
Along with Fermatprime's procedure and LA Linda's DH, we have had a few casualties here lately. I certainly hope for the best for them all.
I did OK on yesterday's CW, but didn't get here until too late to bother commenting. I did enjoy the links from CED though.
The clues in this puzzle were really fun. Lemonade, great write up and links. i always look forward to your Friday stint. I laughed at your punny picture, Grey Goose case, although I'm not a vodka fan.
This was a fast puzzle for a Friday, except for 2 sticky spots that took a little extra thought.
1. The ELIAS, LIOTTA, SETI crossing
2. The BENITO, KERI, ORDER section.
Changing DOGSLED to BOBSLED and OLAY to KERI cleared it all up.
Petting coeds was a major pass time of all the college lads when I attended college. Much more fun than petting a dog.
First Husker and Marge, and now Barry.Ouch!! Be well. Please take care, especailly all of you in the ice and snow.
Now I can talk about today's puzz. As Lemon anticipated, I groaned, but at the names, rather than the missing 'h', which I didn't have time to think about. I actually got all the theme answers, except the last: PORK never occurred to me. I was thinking they would be looking for impurities, so had POOPCOP, which meant that corner was completely crap since I didn't know anything about overthrow as an ERROR--I assume now that it's a baseball term, and not being familiar with KERI, REEVE or RIELS, that corner was a total natick.
Then there was the fact that I had LAVA for soft rock until I couldn't get a start anywhere else in the NW. I finally straightened that one out, but couldn't complete LIO--A, because I had BARCARS for 20A.
I also fouled up ADOPTER, because of BRISK/CRISP, INSIDE/ONSITE. And in the SW I had MAY/MAB, ILU/ILA, hence YUHT. Not a complete mess but not too far off!
I forgot to say we spent most of yesterday digging out, and this morning the paper still hasn't been delivered, so I had to print the CW from online. We only had about a foot of snow, but the blowing and blizzard-like conditions all day shut down most of the town's businesses, and all the schools in the area. Most of the latter are closed again today.
Kazie @ 8:59, "POOP COP...meant that corner was completely crap..."- I laughed so hard at that one, the cats hightailed it out of the room!
Among the many things I appreciate about the Corner is that there is always someone who knows what I am talking about. Thanks for the response Tinman, though is that Croatian or Bosnian? I have too much trouble with the Balkan languages. Of course, since my learning started in Nero Wolfe (a Montenegrin) books....
Thank you Jack Mcinturff and thank you Lemonade !
Third day into my staycation and actually slept until 6 AM. Probably because our GSD (in my avatar) wanted to go sit outside in the blizzard at midnight. We didn't get nearly the snowfall that Kazie and Marge did, but it was howling and blowing through the night.
Had a great challenge with the puzzle. Had 9 words across and 14 down after the first pass, and was feeling moderately positive. Alas, a DNF. The intersecting B at MAB and BAHT did me in.
Major slowdown was in the west with ADE instead of EAU and 44A Like clear winter air. Started with FRESH, and then changed to BRISK. Finally realized Nice was the French city and got EAU, which led to ADOPTER and BELTS IT OUT so that section fell.
I remember being told that shellac was made from the shell of the Lac bug, thus the name. Not quite right, but close enough. Did not know that early varnish was made from the same, and the amount of impurities was one of the differentiators.
Barry, ouch !
See you all later. Stay warm.
OOPS, forgot to mention that SBARRO was no problem. There was a SBARRO in the food court of the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago. DW and I rode the west bound commuter train at Ogilvie for the hour long ride return trip back in the day. Grabbing a quick bite at the food court wasn't that uncommon. I agree with Abejo, the pizza wasn't that good. Especially compared to the great pizzas we have here.
Amusingly terrific theme clues in a nice clean grid. Bravo Jack!
Heads up all you solvers--Tuesday's Christmas Day puzzle is mine AND it will come with an appropriately matching YouTube video of one of my original Christmas songs.
AND it will be of special interest to our dear blogger-friend Lemonade. Heh, heh. And he thought he would just be getting yet another lump of coal!
Season's best to all -- John Lampkin
Lemon: Hvala (note the correct spelling) is Croatian for "Thank you."
(BTW, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Slovenian were "practically" identical).
And it was the very FIRST word I learned in their language when I lived in Zagreb as an Ex-Pat CFO a while back.
Hvala is pronounced like "Fa La" (short 'A' sound).
I learned many, many years ago that "Thank you" was the best thing to learn when I worked in a Non-English speaking country.
People will help you a lot quicker if you thank them, rather than speak louder or are insulting (to them).
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you very much! (goes a long way!)
FYI, No matter where my work took me, ALL business was done in English. Go figure.
Hi Everyone ~~
I enjoyed today's challenge and was able to finish unassisted. I expected to have to look-up some of the names - a few were unfamiliar - but perps and lucky guesses to the rescue. Like Yellowrocks, my trouble spot was in the area of LIOTTA/SETI/BARCART. Finally coming up with 'Bar chart' and then BARCART cleared things up. I had also filled in 'So bored' before IM BORED which messed up that area for a while.
PORKCOP was the first theme answer that came to me and that helped a lot in getting the others. Really clever ~ thanks Jack McInturff.
I was familiar with AME but never knew what the letters stood for. Thanks for the explanations and entertainment, Lemonade ~ a wonderful write-up.
I visited my husband in the hospital last night and not much has changed. The doctors are quite surprised that the heavy-duty IV antibiotics aren't having much effect on the pain and swelling in the knee area. I just talked with him and they are now scheduling an MRI for today to determine if there might be an abscess in the bursa. If that's the case, it's likely that a surgical procedure would be next. Really hoping that this will resolve things!
Once again, thank you so much for all the good wishes, thoughts and suggestions. It really means a lot.
Sending healing thoughts to those who are ailing ~ Marge - so sorry to hear of your fall. I hope there are no complications and that you will soon feel better.
Barry ~ I hope you continue to be 'just fine' - scary! Didn't you fall and hit your head last winter? I seem to remember that, but of course that doesn't mean it's so! :)
Unusually warm, very rainy and very windy today in CT - thankful that it isn't snow. Hope all in the stormy areas are doing OK.
Let me see if I got this right, the theme is going to be something I’ve never heard of but be helpful and fun at the same time in a just right Friday puzzle. Well, it was! I agreed with so much Lemon said as well.
Musings
-Among other things, FORT KNOX has held the British Crown Jewels and the Magna Carta
-Hormel’s here in town has lots of PORK COPS for its Spam, Black Label Bacon, etc
-You can always make a steak less RARE but not the reverse
-SB looked wrong to me too, Lemon, but I like their Stromboli
-Nice and Cabbage don’t get me any more
-Man, is it CRISP around here, but even at 4°F the full sun is really melting the new fallen snow
-The Shire Reeve is now the Sherriff
-This Disney guy knew Walt’s middle name as he formed WED Enterprises to oversee production of Disneyland
-I remember LIOTTA as the coke dealing psychopath in Goodfellas
-I rewatched the episode of Downton Abbey on PBS last night where Mathew’s nether regions start to STIR
-Free At Last speech still gives me goose bumps.
-Teacher’s PET? You bet they do ;-)
-Foucault’s actual pendulum is another proof of the Earth’s rotation
-Friends, thanks for the sympathy but I did NOT fall, I just had to lie down because I am an idiot ;-)
-Who was that masked auditor, Sergej? Some guy named Tinbeni!
-Musical admonition for Barry, et al – C # or B♭
-What sitcom had the main character steal a marble RYE?
Hi everyone,
A toughie for me; DNF until I got to the blog. I had figured out there were puns, but not the NOH thing. Reading Lemony's take on the puzzle was a real treat!
Kazie and Marti, I loved the poop/crap connection.
Guess I'm not the only one on this blog with an"earthy" sense of humor.
Too many of us have been falling lately. Wonder why?
Funny you should mention Fargo, Montana. We are going there this weekend, and our son's girlfriend will get to meet some of the cousins. Fun! Glad you had a safe trip. The kids got here early, which meant they had to wait for me. That was fine; there is slim-to-little parking at the airport anymore since the oil boom. People park in the ditches, which can be tricky in the snow.
I googled SBARRO and learned that there are three in the greater Houston area, but none is anywhere near where I live.
Qli, Fargo is in ND, not MT. :)
desper-otto, Montana @6:04 was the blogger making the comment about Fargo.
She was not saying Fargo was in Montana.
First a JackMac day and now, a present under the tree from John L. our favorite punster and musical maestro and bug and bird bro. I feel like a kid waiting for sunrise so I can rip open my present.
Thanks JL!
Also, healing thoughts for all of our battered and broken bunch.
Thanks for your concern, everybody! Fortunately, it ended up being pretty minor (although it certainly could have been much worse). Additional good news is that the gash that needed the stitches was in my eyebrow, so the hair should hide the scarring.
If anybody wants to see a slightly gory post-stitches picture:
Ouchie!
Good morning, World! Yes, we are still here!!
So glad for your enlightening analysis, Lemonade, as I had no idea about the theme. Did have NOH because I looked up satang and dictionary gave me BAHT.
Sashayed through a good part of this but Jack had me thinking hard at times.
REEVE is well known in English lit as the peace officer; I recall EOS because Aurora is my middle name and SBARRO is a common pizzeria as well as a notorious medieval Italian family rival to the Medicis.
Still a DNF since I completely mangled ONLINE as SALINE, don't know why and I ddin't know LIOTTA or the movie.
Loved the clue for EAU and didn't fool me. We saw CRU in a Sunday puzzle recently.
Please enjoy every minute of this Friday as we don't know the day or the hour of our demise!
Good afternoon:
I really enjoyed this puzzle. The theme was clever as was the cluing. Loved pork cop and on line cat! Thanks, Mr. McInturff, for a fun Friday and thanks, Lemony, for a neat expo.
Speedy recovery wishes to Marge and Barry. This time of the year requires extra vigilance. Three years ago, my feet went out from under me and I crashed down on my knee and ended up needing 20 stitches. The irony was that neither snow nor ice was the culprit; it was the granules that melt ice, coupled with my leather-soled shoes! Lesson learned.
Have a nice Friday.
Yesterday's DVD in the SW corner gave me fits , today I'm staring at a completed puzzle with that corner
M
A
AHT
And I sat there thinking I'm only one letter away from accomplishing a rare Friday no peek no google no cheating , I finally gave up and said to myself it wasn't meant to B
Wait a second ... B ... I'll B damned .. Tada
Maybe it's the start of a countdown from today's date that'll end 2012 years from now..!?
Barry, that cut looks nasty!
Please do be careful, everyone! Too many falls recently and I hope you all fare well with a quick recovery.
We don't have snow to slip on here but plenty of much needed and welcome rain lately. The temp has been in the high 30s and 40s overnight. Hey, don't scoff,that's cold for us.
Barry, ouch again !
Linda, I had a Baker's cyst earlier this year that caused much pain and swelling from the knee downward. Initially thought it was a blood clot, but ultrasound and the MRI revealed the cyst. In my case, the cyst grew inward rather protruding, putting pressure on the nerves. The swelling and inflammation was from the synovial fluid that had leaked out. Aspiration and elevation cleared it up. Hope it's simple for your husband.
One more on the puzzle. Ft Knox transport ? I did basic training at Ft Knox. Our transportation was our legs. Thee were three major hills en-route to all training areas. Agony, Misery and Heartbreak. Aptly named. The 20 and 25 mile marches (with gear) caused a lot of shin splints and blisters.
Lemonade, EOS "...took a while to dawn on me" was classic.
I can't believe I got THE WHOLE THING! On a Friday! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jack, for making my day and my week! I was sure many of my fills were wrong, like SBARRO which looked totally ridiculous to me. I finally decided that a Stromboli was probably some exotic car model and SBARRO some sort of European manufacturer. But I did get the theme early and that helped with fun clues like that PORK COP. Anyway, a totally delightful romp--so, again, many thanks, Jack.
Ah, Ethel Merman. Thanks for posting her, Lemonade.
Oh dear, Barry, that sounds awful and sorry for the morning headache. But it sounds as though no concussion, so that's a blessing. And I'm so sorry to hear about your ongoing worry about your husband, LaLaLinda. My thoughts are with you.
We're looking forward to our staycation at a lovely local hotel tomorrow, but were totally disappointed to hear that there were no more dinner tables for the Christmas Day dinner available. Sigh. With husband in wheelchair, we don't want to drive out at night to go somewhere else.
If I don't check in tomorrow, have a wonderful Christmas, everybody!
I love this site! I just stumbled across it when I was trying to find out what some of the cross-word speak ( wags, Perps, etc,). Anyway, I've figured out what a wag is but still don't know what a perp is. Will someone fill me in? Thankyou all who make this such an interesting and informative venue for all avid puzzlers to enjoy.
Dog ON
Perps are the perpendicular ( horizontal or vertical ) words that have been solved, and hence assist in the word clue, in question.
WAGs are Wild A-- guesses.
Point of Order@10:51 -- that's why I added the smiley face to that post.
Anon@11:41 -- Perps are the Perpendiculars. Take a look at Comments Section Abbrs on the R-H side of the main blog page.
I think that's my quota for today.
Easy, Peasy...
Good day all,
As this has been a day not to remember so far, why would I expect anything other then a DNF. I'll not bother sharing my assorted griefs because the language would likely get CC to ban for me life from the blog.
As far as the puzzle. most of my issues have been discussed, but I refused to consider that DOG SLED might be wrong. Then 68A & 70A were both unknowns and my WAGS were not very close. There were a couple more.... dumb type mistakes.
At least tomorrow I get to see the UConn ladies play UHart. Looking forward to seeing all of Geno's new players in person.
Montana, welcome to Ct. Enjoy your time here.
What a difference an 'a' makes .... Hvala
Havala is a Yiddish derogatory, pejorative ( redundant ?) for a Jewish girl, otherwise pretty, with some obvious physical ugliness.(contradictory ?)
Havala / Hawala is also the process by which over 90% of money is transferred in the Middle and Far East Asia. It means 'transfer', 'wire' or ' to keep in trust / custody' in Arabic. It is cheaper, faster and more reliable than Western Union, Paypal, Chexx, Xoom or even MoneyGram. I have used this many, many times , both as sender and receiver. The U.S. Govt., and the U.S. Treasury is extremely allergic to this process. Hence their efforts to tie this innocent, informal fund transfers to the work of Terrorists and the Al-Qaeda Organisation. The enterprises survive and prosper because they offer a service that the established financial banking institutions cannot compete with.
Barry G,
Ouch! What did Joshua say?
Fermatprime,
Wish you a quick recovery as well. Love Mercola's juicing rationale.
LaLaLinda,
I hope your husband is out of pain soon. This has been a tough time for you. Do take care of yourself.
Misty,
Just in case you don't come back tomorrow, Happy Birthday to you!
Let's see if I can cook a virtual meal for you:
1) Avocado salad
2) Sesame-crusted tuna
3) Grilled artichokes
4) Dark chocolate ice cream
Merry Christmas!
Good afternoon everybody.
Barry, that wound looks like the accident was painful. My thoughts and best wishes are with you.
Lets all be careful this holiday season. We don't want any more mishaps for our community!
I did get 15 correct answers (out of 18 – whoopy).
It's cold here and very windy. This is the 2nd attempt to write this. My good ole Mac just quit a few minutes ago. By cold I mean 69, and that's terrible for Naples.
Cheers
Ouch! What did Joshua say?
"Do you want me to call 911?"
Idiocy update - The Omaha World Herald had a story today saying that our area is in the throes of a 24 hour Stomach Virus (graphic description warning). That is obviously what I had on Wednesday during the big snow and even though I had eaten or drank practically nothing during the day (or regifted what I had), I went out to blow some snow that night. Duh! Thus I got light-headed and had to lie down on the garage floor to “get right” again. Any of you have this affliction in your neighborhood?
Hello everybody. Good to read all your comments.
At first I thought the theme was to replace "T" with "C", as in TAT becoming CAT and TART becoming CART. The WILD GOOSE CASE straightened me out on that and enabled me to solve the top half.
DNF today because I put in LAMB COP at 58A which obviously made getting the SE corner impossible. Never thought of PORK for some reason.
Best wishes to you all.
Just had an office luncheon, hard to return to work, but we will be closed Monday, so stuff to do.
Barry glad mit was not serious, HG, you sound better, marge too and now we need Lala's hubby and we will be right as rain (what the hell does that mean?)
Misty, Ethel Merman was a performer. Jayce, no pork eh; glatt kosher maybe? Or the Islamic version.
TTP, thanks for noticing, I try to sneak one little one at least each week.
Hi Kids, DNF again today Couldn't let go of BRISK, but had to.
Googled the moolah. Couldn't see PORK COP at all. Saw the theme NO H but thought BOBSLEDS would be wrong because of the theme.
Barry, that's a nasty cut and your eye looks red and bruised. OUCH.
All you snow people, be careful.
When I lived in Boston, fell on my tail bone and hurt for months.
Good puzzle, Mr. McInturff.
C.C. Everthing looks good except the RARE tuna....no thanks.
Nobody answered Husker Gary's question?!?!? It was Jerry Seinfeld.
Lemonade, neither kosher nor Islamic, just a paucity of imagination this morning.
We had our little team lunch yesterday, which was nice. It was at the Olive Garden, which was pretty mediocre.
Misty, if you aren't here tomorrow to eat your birthday meal, don't plan on any leftovers. It looks positively yummy!!
I just finished making (yet another) batch of cookies. DH is looking more an more like Santa Claus...
Hi Y'al, Groan! This puzzle tripped me up forward and backward so I feel stupid EAR TO EAR. I did get the bottom 3 rows and the NW corner, sort of. Thanks to Lemon, I was able to fill more squares.
1A started as "relax". But Walt's dad's name probably didn't start with "X". 14A was "award" but 1D, hey, that has to be AMEBAe so 20A "B", that would be "Brinks?" who haul around valuables. 30A "eero" (saarinen) maybe lives in Novi Sad, where ever the hell that is? Finally, started over.
As a parent, I ADaPTED for a while. "O"!
Hey I knew MAB was the Irish fairy queen. Looked up the BAHT & RIELS. Got MINOR CORD.
As a solver, it is disheartening that Barry, though bloody and with a headache, did better than I. But it showed me that Barry is indeed mentally healthy and probably not concussed. Hoorah! Heal well!
Don't guys PET their dogs by scratching behind their ears? Girls don't want their hairdos messed.
Hi gang -
Fine puzzle, but this ON LINE CAT was baffled until WILD GOOSE CASE made it clear. Thought I was in for another DNF, but finally got the SE and NW corners to fall.
Chords are made op of the root (first) third, and fifth notes of a scale. Minor scale -> minor chord, etc. The major and minor chord sounds are qualitatively different
The first line at each link provides a brief sound demo, plus more information than you will ever want to know.
Major chord
Minor chord
Now to read comments.
Cool regards!
JzB
Hi everybody! WEES.
It took about 12 phone calls among me, the pharmacy and my doctor's office to get a change in a prescription straightened out. I started early because I figured nobody would be around to attend to it for several days over the holiday.
My bike-riding friend, Ralph, took these two shots last night. I thought some of you might enjoy them. First quarter moon. (Double click the images.)
Another busy day, this would definitely be a DNF without red letter help.
Sorry to hear of so many injuries this week! & Barry G, pictures too!
(actually that pic reminded me of what DW could do with a frying pan...)
HG, if you could update your map with Blog Regulars that came down with the Flu, vs Flu induced by Flu Shots + stomach bugs, i am sure you could get the attention of the CDC!
Sometimes it is funny to just type crossword themes into Google images, here are some examples:
PorkCop
OnLineCat
BarCart (actually, it is a motorized beer cart.)
WildGooseCase
MinorCord
With baseball season coming up, I thought you might enjoy a new version of "Who's on First."
With Easter coming up, where do I get the best chocolate eggs?
Musings
-Fun links Dave. My only salvation was that my disorder only lasted 24 hours. By the succeeding morning I was ready for some oatmeal and toast! Tweaking the map to show our various afflictions would be a daunting task! I hope we all get through these maladies.
-BTW, the World Herald chronicled a very overweight firefighter (var. PORK COP) who sued to keep his job after he had been fired when it was determined he could not perform required duties.
-Yes, Vairnut, Jerry Seinfeld stole that Marble Rye
-Bill G, it seems every time I need to contact a medical professional, it is on a weekend when no one is available.
Greetings!
Nice puzzle and write-up, Jack and Lemon. Theme very cute. SBARRA gave me fits.
Harv was here and took me to Fedex after dentist to retrieve packages. Turns out that they left them in the truck outside of my gate! (Gate not locked.) Just what I cannot deal with right now--stolen presents!
Feel better, Barry!
Cheers!
Ohhh, John Lampkin. You devil. You have my curiosity piqued!
My goodness, C.C.--I'm so glad I checked back in tonight for that glorious virtual birthday gift of yours! How did you ever remember? And how did you know that in the real world, your menu would be absolutely the perfect birthday dinner! I am just--moved--and delighted, and thankful, and for your comment too, Marti.
Since I didn't manage to go blue, I'm especially touched and pleased that you all include me in your community. Thank you so much!
Hi all,
Thank you for your good wishes. I am having more pain today than yesterday. I'm counting on getting better by Chistmas day.
Our son Dan is coming in on Sat. He likes to cook.
My favorite word today was adopter, as our kids are both adopted. They have blessed our lives.
Montana- the Minneapolis Arport is the best airport I'v traveled through. They are very customer oriented and make it easy to get around.
Kazie-our paper also didn't come today. I really missed it. Our TV didn't work either as the satalite Dish had too much snow and ice on it. It finally came on around 3PM.
My DH copied the LA Times Puzzle for me and also a Chrismas puzzle so I was able to work on those and also to read. Walking is very painful.
We hope all of you who celebrate Christmas and those of your who celebrate Hanakkah have a blessed Holiday.
Marge
Evening:
Enjoyed your write up Lemon. I got caught in the middle because I put in SLEDDERS for 37A and ADOPTED for 36D. Ended up not with a DNF today because of the southwest corner.
Still dealing with a virus that has now gone past the 24 hr point. Barry, that is a nasty bang on your head. I imagine you are sore. LaLaLinda, I am glad they are following up on the hubs and let's hope the leg gets better soon. Happy Birthday Misty!
I agree with d-otto, too cold in these parts. I hope my friends in Kansas are getting some of this snow as the drought has been quite bad.
Watching the Good Wife, even the reruns are good!
Health and safety to all!
Michele, I love The Good Wife too. I wonder what Juliana Margulies is like in real life? She seems like a normal intelligent person you might meet at work or socially. Kalinda is more complicated.
Eight-year-old Jordan just tried my patience. We took him out to the cold dark but lighted tennis court for a little practice for his upcoming lesson tomorrow. He was so silly and whinges (whines) so quickly when he doesn't hit the ball well (which is pretty often). Having such a low frustration tolerance is hard on me and it will not serve him well in real life outside of the tennis court.
BillG:
Be patient. He's only eight. With your example and counsel he will mature into a fine young man.
JohnL:
You have definitely piqued my interest.
BillG: Maybe Jordan was just too tired this evening or maybe tennis isn't his game. Eight seems awfully young for such an athletic endeavor with strict rules to me.
HBDTY MISTY. Thank you all for the fun
Bill G,
When I was nine, I started taking tennis lessons with a professional tennis coach. That makes it sound very serious--it wasn't though. He was more or less retired from the game himself and gave lessons to kids like me in classes of 4-5 kids at a time. I guess my point is that if you could find someone like that, Jordan might be more willing to take notice and the professional coach person would perhaps be better at sending easy shots to him so he gains confidence with less frustration. And then you could enjoy some time on the court with him and not feel you had to get him to be serious about it after he gets a bit better at it.
Bill,
I am intrigued by Julianna M. She is so beautiful and doesn't seem to age.
When you are not playing tennis sometime talk to Jordan. Ask him about how he would handle it if a friend mishit the ball. Kids his age aren't good at seeing these things they do. But given some insight from you I think he can learn to be more patient with himself. Is he an only child? Some kids try so hard to be the perfectionist. There are some good books out there about it. As others mentioned it may have just been a bad night for him. However, I think you wouldn't have mentioned it unless you had noted this problem at other times.
Michele, Lucina, PK and Kazie, very insightful, all. Please don't misunderstand. I don't have high expectations for Jordan. So far, at least, he doesn't seem to be very athletic at tee ball, soccer or basketball and as a result, he hasn't wanted to make much of an effort at any of them. Now, he is taking a very beginning individual tennis lesson once a week. This evening, we weren't 'playing' tennis with him; just dropping the ball and having him hit it over the net or he and Grandma playing very informally against me (they always win). My issue isn't with his lack of skill. It's with his silliness and whining when he doesn't do well. I just want him to make an effort and to have fun so I can have some fun with him too.
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