google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, December 24, 2012 Robyn Weintraub

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Dec 24, 2012

Monday, December 24, 2012 Robyn Weintraub

Theme: Adjunct - Taking words starting with ad and parsing them to mean a commercial.

17A. Commercial assignment? : AD MISSION

28A. Commercial style of speaking? : AD DICTION

49A. Commercial undertaking requiring capital? : AD VENTURE

66A. Commercial speech? : AD ORATION

9D. Commercial sun shade? : AD VISOR

45D. Commercial attire? : AD DRESS

Argyle here. I admit my expo may not nail it but I think the idea is clear enough. This is Robyn's second LAT puzzle and it shows strong construction. A little something for everybody.

Across:

1. Like the rides in a kiddie park : TAME. Ah, but not to them.

5. Scrabble play : WORD. Question: Have you ever bluffed a non-word at Scrabble?

9. Rose petal pest : APHID

14. Persian Gulf country : IRAN

15. Nautical "Howdy!" : "AHOY!"

16. Ross of the Supremes : DIANA

19. Tofurky eater at Thanksgiving, perhaps : VEGAN


20. Monarch's tenure : REIGN

21. Giraffe kin : OKAPI. "Do these stripes make my butt look big?"


23. Lend a hand : AID

24. Blood disorder that causes weakness : ANEMIA

26. Words after "Oops!" : "SO SORRY!"

31. Expensive ballpark spot : BOX SEATS

34. Museum artifact : RELIC

38. Street sign abbr. : AVE. A lot are just AV now.

39. Sulks : MOPES

42. It pumps up the band's volume : AMP

43. When tripled, a story shortener : YADDA

46. "Please go first ..." : "AFTER YOU"

52. Cricket cousin : KATYDID. They play the night shift.



55. London chimer : BIG BEN. (in the Elizabeth Tower)

59. LAPD broadcast : APB. (All Points Bulletin)

60. Threw a hissy fit : RAGED

63. Transform for Halloween, as a pumpkin : CARVE

64. Raffle reward : PRIZE

68. Skin openings : PORES

69. Really bug : RILE

70. Make off with : TAKE

71. Chilean mountains : ANDES. The length of South America.

72. Pedometer unit : STEP. You program in the length of your stride. I wonder if they have a integrated GPS model now?

73. Greek god of war : ARES. The astrological sign is Aries.

Down:

1. Wonder Woman's headpiece : TIARA. And not just for keeping her hair in place.Wonder Woman uses her tiara as a boomerang. Link

2. Shakespearean forest : ARDEN. (from "As You Like It")

3. She liked Ike : MAMIE. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower.

4. Real puzzlers : ENIGMAs

5. "Kilroy __ here" : WAS


6. Toledo's state : OHIO

7. Chess piece that can't move diagonally : ROOK

8. Ruler by heredity : DYNAST. I looked it up.

10. Place for 24 blackbirds, in verse : PIE. Wasn't that a dainty dish, To set before the DYNAST? Let them eat Tofurky!

11. Comics Viking : HAGAR

12. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR

13. "Yankee Doodle __" : DANDY These two(12&13) make a nice pair.

18. Mean and sarcastic : SNIDE

22. Luau dish : POI

25. West who played Batman : ADAM. He retired and now is Quahog's eccentric mayor on "Family Guy".

27. __ of a kind : ONE

29. Simpson judge : ITO

30. TV from D.C. : C-SPAN

31. Miami's Biscayne __ : BAY

32. Lab eggs : OVA

33. Marked the spot : Xed

35. Hens do it : LAY

36. Texter's "Here's what I think" : IMO. (in my opinion)

37. PC brain : CPU. (central processing unit )

40. Baby newt : EFT

41. Ticket part you keep : STUB

44. 24 hours : DAY

47. Novelist Jong : ERICA

48. Yachting race : REGATTA

50. By way of : VIA

51. Awards for mystery writers : EDGARs. The Edgar Allan Poe Awards ®

52. Phi Beta __ : KAPPA

53. Cook's cover-up : APRON

54. Car daddy took away, in a Beach Boys song : T-BIRD. Fun fun, fun.

56. Pipe material : BRIAR. Something Sherlock Holmes might smoke.
 
57. Conjure up : EVOKE

58. Babies, in Barcelona : NENEs. Not as simple as it seems; been better off sticking with Hawaiian geese.

61. Make less wordy, as an article : EDIT

62. Ration (out) : DOLE

65. Alphabet ender : ZEE

67. Account exec : REP. Look! A rep leftover from yesterday.
 
 

Argyle

62 comments:

  1. I'm dogsitting two large German Shepherds so I was up before the sun (with a temp of 24°). Then it was on to this pretty typical Monday puzzle which was completed pretty much as fast as I could type the letters. [5:00]

    Speaking of pets, one of my pet peeves is people who refer to the entire DAY before Christmas as "Christmas EVE" when, I think, it only begins around 6:00 PM. Which, as I think of it, sounds like a Scrooge-like thing to say on Christmas Eve . . . Day.

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  2. Thanks, Argyle, for making an easy puzzle more interesting. I had to erase and replace the I & O in niƱos with E & E when I did the across clues, but two erasures don't slow one down much.

    Montana

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  3. Good morning everyone,

    Thankfully, a quick and smooth run today, Only unknown was 52A KATYDID, but the perps got her (it) taken care of, Liked the ASD clues a lot, very clever Robyn.

    Expensive ball park spot/BOXSEATS was right on. I couldn't enjoy a game if I had to shell out that kind of money.

    Having old friends in for Christmas Eve lunch. Wifr is already in a dither so I'm going on duty.

    To those of you who celebrate the day, Merry Christmas.

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  4. I didn't get the theme, myself, and am not sure I understand it yet, even after Argyle's explanation.

    Aussie guests outnumber us from Montana making a very enjoyable holiday. Son treated us all to a car ride to Radio City Music Hall where we watched the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular show. Afterward, we walked to Rockefeller Center where we saw the gorgeous tree and watched ice skaters. The displays in store windows are a sight, themselves.
    Ate at a place called Smith and Wollensky's. Best steak I have ever been served. An appetizer was a 'tower' of seafood-incredible. Only complements on the wine and desserts, too. Car picked us up and we shared stories and laughed, all the way back to CT.

    Have a nice evening tonight,
    Montana

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  5. Morning, all!

    Day before Christmas and I actually got so sleep in a bit for a change...

    Fun puzzle today. Not particularly hard, but I have to admit the theme eluded me until almost the very end. It didn't help that I had METE instead of DOLE at 62D for awhile.

    Got a lot of cooking to do today before family arrives this afternoon. Hope everybody has a great day!

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  6. Benign Monday offering. Thanks.

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  7. Happy Monday and Christmas Eve when it starts.

    The theme was taking words which begin with AD and by separating the word into two pieces and using clues to make each fill represent a type of advertisement. Very clever with so much Theme fill.

    Montana you had a well planned day. Great.

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  8. Argyle, I guess your explanation of the theme wasn't enough.

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  9. Good morning, all!

    Today's theme was hard to miss, so even I got it. My biggest problem was trying to think of a sport that would be a cousin to cricket. Baseball wouldn't fit.

    I know from experience that judges don't like to hear "Yadda" while swearing in jurors.

    Street signs are one of my pet peeves. More than half in my town are illegible, and the city won't budget to replace them or to fix the streets. But the council was preparing to spend money for new Christmas decorations. Public outcry put the kibosh on that.

    While we were walking this weekend a driver stopped to ask directions to Gladiator Drive. I told him to turn right at the next cross street and then take the second left. He blew right past the cross street. We saw him twice more as we walked back home, each time going in the wrong direction. We saw him again when we reached Gladiator, so we flagged him down and pointed him in the right direction. How he managed to find our town, I'll never know.

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  10. A lovely puzzle to start the day. Thank you Ms. Weintraub and thank you Argyle. I think you nailed it. I noticed the repeat clue of commercial (something) and the repeat of AD in Admission and Advisor. I thought it clever. Did you intend to link at 1D ?

    Al, have fun with the GSDs ! Mine got up to see what I was doing at 4AM (getting the ham started) and then went back to his bed. I'm an all-day Eve'er.

    Montana, sounds wonderful. Did they bring the steaks on a platter and then plate them table side ? I think that may be the modus operandi for Smith and Wollensky. We have one in Chicago. There is something brazen about a Manhattan based steak house colonizing on the Chicago River, but I admit, they served one of the best steaks I have ever had. S & W are dry aged steaks. Of course we also have the NOLA based Ruth's Chris Steak House and our own Chicago based Mortons, both serving wet aged, and Mortons serving grain fed. There are so many great steakhouses in Chicago that I don't think I'll ever get through them all. I also liked Harry Carays and Keefer's and Gibsons. It's one part of commuting that I miss.

    Merry Christmas to all !

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  11. Desper-otto,

    The driver's befuddlement looking for Gladiator Drive is an example of why I am called "Pathfinder" by those who know me well.

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  12. Desper-Otto , as they say ,

    "Two wrongs don't make a Right .... but 3 Left turns will do it ..... "

    Thank you, Robyn W., for a charming, wonderful puzzle. Really, really liked it ... and the Ads were so clever, so lovely.

    Thank you Argyle, for your witty commentary - I was surprised to NOT see anything at the Katydid link - then I realized, you're supposed to close your eyes ... and LISTEN.

    I was at Home Depot, last night, buying a snow-blower err, thrower .... and as I talked to the manager, about the engine size, OH Valves, and no. of cycle engine , yadda, yadda, yadda .... a dozen (yes !) people came and asked him if the store had any Xmas trees and/or Xmas tree posts ... (they were all out of stock - )...

    .... and I thought I was a Procrastinator. ( The manager is expecting about 50 requests, for Christmas trees, today, as well.)


    Merry Christmas to whomsoever it applies, Happy Chanukkah to the appropriate others, and to the Pagans ( like me - ) Joyful Solistice ... it can only get better, the days are going to get longer !!!!


    ( per the Maya calender, which has been SO prescient before - )


    Joy and Happiness to all, and Season's Greetings.

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  13. Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Good Monday level puzzle. The theme amused me for some reason.

    Because The Simpson's animated characters appear so often in the crosswords, I paused briefly when I got to the Simpson's Judge, before I realized we were referring to the actual judge in the OJ trial.

    Another storm is headed across the country. Stay safe and warm, everyone!

    QOD: Deep down, I'm pretty superficial. ~ Ava Gardner (Dec. 24, 1922 ~ Jan. 25, 1990)

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  14. TTP, I did indeed intend to place a video link at 1Down but forgot. When I went back, I discoverd the video I wanted wasn't available to embed, I guess. I'll use a standard link instead. Thank you.

    Link

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  15. Nice Monday level and fun theme with no problems. Judging by the lack of puzzle comments here so far, nobody else had any problems either.

    I started thinking about the "ad'" prefix. It comes from the Latin preposition meaning "to" or "towards". In most cases, where it appears in front of an English word, you can rationalize some of that sense into it, although I have trouble doing it with ADMISSION (sent to?). But AD-DICTION--being attracted/led to something, ADVENTURE--coming to a place or experience, ADORATION--expressing ADMIRATION for (marveling at).

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  16. Good morning Santa, C.C. et al.

    Fun puzzle today, and thanks for the write-up, Argyle. I cracked up at your OKAPI comment!!

    I did a double take when I filled in ADMISSION, and wondered how it could be a "Commercial assignment." But when I saw that the clue of AD DICTION was "Commercial style of speaking," the theme hit me. Really clever, and well-executed. You don't often see six theme entries in a Monday puzzle, especially with such lovely fill!

    BOX SEATS and KATYDID added sparkle, and T-BIRD evoked memories of my teens. Fun, fun, fun, indeed!

    Have a lovely day/eve, everyone.

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  17. Good morning all!
    Some snow left on the ground here in northern 6D. Walking is a trip literally with icey sidewalks.

    Enjoyed the puzzle today and happy to say I got the theme early on.

    Enjoy the season however you celebrate it.

    NanInOhio

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  18. A very enjoyable romp today and great writeup, Argyle. No nits, no clunkers and clever puns. What's not to like?

    Looks like the Bay Area got some serious rain yesterday. My son even made the 10 PM News. He's the barefoot car mover. As he said: "Why ruin a perfectly good pair of shoes." Glad he didn't get a foot gash out of the deal.

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  19. A just right Monday with lots of theme fills, Robyn! I agree with Marti about the Okapi comment!

    Musings
    -My neighbor raises African violets and did not get APHIDS but he did get microscopic cyclamen mites and lost hundreds of plants this fall and has to start over
    -Expensive seats at UNL games are skyboxes that lease for $75,000/year for 10 years for 700 sq. ft. There’s a bunch more opening this next fall and there’s a waiting list.
    -My wife’s Greek heritage makes her prone to thalassemia, a form of ANEMIA
    -Yesterday we had pouty and pules and today MOPES. Ho, ho ho!
    -Even I can CARVE a pumpkin now.
    -Red alert in CHILE
    -Does anyone think Kim Jung Un would go anywhere if he weren’t a DYNAST? Me either.
    -Count me among those who would trade “...bombs bursting in air…” for “…amber waves of grain…” for the national anthem
    -I think of that hen LAYIng when I have to decide between lie and lay
    -What a fun clip, Joe. Buy that boy some shoes ;-)!

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  20. Hello, friends! Great form, Argyle though I miss your Santa persona. Loved your comment on OKAPI. LOL.

    Thanks to Robyn Weintraub for the creative, fresh and easy (wouldn't that be a nice name for a market?) puzzle. I sashayed through it in double time.

    Surprising myself I parsed the theme answers right away! Very clever. No ENIGMAS and no NITS.

    In answer to your question, yes I have bluffed a WORD in Scrabble but later found that it was a real WORD.

    Lots of cooking today as my brood will be here for dinner.

    Have a wonderful Christmas Eve all who observe and a great Monday to everyone!

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  21. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Robyn Weintraub, for a swell Monday puzzle. Very clever. Thank you, Argyle, for the excellent review.

    Zipped through this pretty easily. The first word stumped me for a while, TAME. Once I had a couple letters I was in.

    Liked ENIGMAS for 4D. Wasn't that a German encoder/decoder? WW-II?

    I also wrote in METE instead of DOLE for 62D. Fixed easily. Just a minor ink smudge.

    KATYDID was interesting. I always though that was candy. I guess they must base the candy on the bug.

    Lots of bugs. APHID

    I also thought of the Hawaiian Goose for 58D. That is usually how we get it.

    HAGAR the Horrible is my favorite comic strip. Used to be Lil Abner. Then Al Capp died.

    Theme appeared easily. Helped with a few of the answers.

    I can never remember if ERICA is with a C or K. CARVE fixed that. Never read the book.

    TTP: Sent you a couple notes last night on the blog.

    Merry Christmas all. Playing in the church orchestra tonight. Usually we have four. Tonight we have 20. Lots of college kids home. See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  22. From what I could gather, 'nenes' is used like we would use 'kids' but used for babies, not so much.

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  23. Argyle:
    That's right. NENE would only be an infant, never an older child. Often pejorative as in "no seas un nene!" Don't be a crybaby. Also complimentary, "Que NENE tan preciosa!" What a precious baby.

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  24. Good afternoon, everyone! An easy-breezy Monday with nary a speed bump in sight. Robyn, thanks for a fun puzzle with a very clever theme. And thanks for an amusing write-up, Argyle; your OKAPI comment made me giggle. After seeing such an abundance of AD---- words, I tried to think of more, but could only come up with: Commercial poetry? ADVERSE.

    Gary, I agree that “America the Beautiful” would make a lovely national anthem.

    Abejo, you were right about the ENIGMA being a German encoding/decoding machine used during WWII – here’s the Wiki. (Apologies in advance if someone has already linked this before I finish my post.) There have been some terrific PBS and History Channel shows on the subject.

    My very dear, late step-dad was born on December 24, and always felt slighted as a kid because his birthday was usually overlooked in all the Christmas hub-bub. So when he became part of our family, December 24 was no longer Christmas Eve – it was Pop’s birthday party day. He passed away in 2000, and I still think of him often. Happy Birthday, Pop!

    Have a very Merry Christmas tomorrow, everybody!!

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  25. WOW that was fastest puzzle i have ever done. But 5 question clues on a monday??????

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  26. Robyn: Thank you for a FUN Christmas EVE offering. I ADmire your talent.

    Well my ENTIRE DAY of Christmas Eve started out with a "Festivus for the rest of us" hangover.
    Nothin' quite like dancing around the Festivus Pole on December 23rd, Yadda, yadda, YADDA ...
    Needless to say there were a plethora of "Festivus miracles" here at Villa Incognito.

    Tonight I look forward to "toasting" my friends at Sunset.
    Cheers !!!

    Merry Christmas to ALL
    and to ALL a good night!

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  27. Anon@11:32 You went so fast you missed one question mark? There are six.

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  28. Hello everybody. I adored this puzzle. I am filled with admiration. It really got my adrenalin going. But I had to admonish myself not to be too filled with adulation, lest I become too adaptable.

    Now I'll read what you all had to say.

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

    T'was a delightful Monday romp, although it took me awhile to parse Robyn's clever theme. Could picture an ad dress...amusing. Loved yadda.
    Speaking of stories, I was stumped with the clue "pipe material"- more stumped by the answer. Briar rings to me only of the old Uncle Remus stories. This and the Edgar awards were my learning moments.

    Yes, I've done some bluffing on Scrabble games in the past (actually I probably thought or wished it was a real word), but it is impossible on Words with Friends.

    Avg Joe, yes, constant steady heavy rain here all day yesterday. A neighbor's GIGANTIC oak tree keeled over on his house.sad

    Wishing all of you a merry merry celebration.

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  30. I really enjoyed this puzzle. Quite a clever theme. It looks like a green Christmas for us again this year but I don't mind one bit. Lots to do today. We have a full house this year. My wife's sister and her family are coming up from North Carolina. To all those who celebrate have a Merry Christmas and take care.

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  31. Argyle, thank you for a very witty writeup. My wife requested me to ask you if you are retired, and what is/was your line of work.

    Robyn Weintraub, thank you for this clever and enjoyable puzzle.

    So, Avg Joe, that barefoot guy is your son, eh? Cool.

    I've never bluffed in Scrabble. I'm not smart enough to pull it off.

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  32. I ADmired the puzzle. (A commercial venture stuck in the mud.)

    Hands up for America the Beautiful.

    Did you ever play the old word game GHOST? It was one of the best. It was even made into a TV panel show.

    JD, you northern Californians are getting more than your share of the rain. We been getting your leftover drizzles and showers but no serious rain.

    My cable company sent me an email telling me to restart my cable modem to take ADvantage of a 50-percent increase in download speed. Depending on which test I use, we're somewhere between 11 Mbps and 30 Mbps. In any case, it's damn fast. I remember the old days of a dial-up modem. The biggest problem was getting disconnected when somebody else picked up the phone.

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  33. After filling the BR, I wanted BRASS for pipe material, but a few seconds later the other perps revealed BRIAR. My dad used to smoke briar pipes. And cigarettes, millions of cigarettes. He died of emphysema. They call it COPD now.

    JD, yes, sad that their house got smushed by a tree. Several years ago that happened to the house of some friends of ours who lived in La Honda at the time. Lots of gigantic trees there. They didn't rebuild; they moved to Sunnyvale instead.

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  34. Yep, Jayce, that's my son Amahl. I guess a screen debut that's weather related is far more desirable than one of him doing the perp walk :-)

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  35. Enjoyed today's puzzle. As a 24 year Vegan, loved the Tofurky clue! Can't start my day until I finish all 5 puzzles on the puzzle page. merry Christmas,

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  36. Hi Kids, I liked this puzzle. No nits for me.BRIAR was the last to fall.
    Thank you all for this most enjoyable group. Always savor the comments, jokes, banter and links.
    Have a safe Christmas, and enjoy your friends and families.

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  37. Good afternoon:

    Late to the dance due to a bout of temporary insanity manifested by a trip to the liquor store and grocery store on the day before Christmas. 'Nuff said.

    I actually did the puzzle last night and truly enjoyed the clever theme and cluing. No hitches or glitches, just smooth sailing. Thanks, Robyn, for a fun romp and thanks, Argyle, for a neat expo.

    Merry Christmas to all.

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  38. I need to start baking again. Did cwd while watching "White Christmas" on AMC. I've never watched it all the way thru. Really corny. Forgot how pretty Rosemary Clooney was in younger years.
    My parents liked Ike so much they named me after his granddaughter.
    My daughter nickname is Katydid.
    Montana, I want to copy your Christmas experience someday.
    Ms. Weintraub enjoyed the theme and Argyles's write-up gave me a few giggles.
    Merry Christmas Eve!

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  39. Greetings!

    Cool puzzle, Robyn! Swell write-up, Argyle!

    Got the theme after 2nd entry. No problems.

    Bill G: It seems to me that further up the coast in SF Valley, there has been quite enough precipitation for a while! (Just ask my dog, who refuses to go out in the rain!)

    Cheers!

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  40. Bill G. Did I miss the answer to the 100 gifts/$100.00 puzzle?

    Montana @ 6:07 - What a wonderful way to enjoy New York City at this time of the year. The Radio City show is always spectacular; glad you got to see it.

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  41. We always welcome the rain up here to fill our reservoirs, as most of the year it is dry.Water bill is higher than gas/electric. Yet, there are those who always complain after a few days of precipitation.

    Had to make a quick run to the store for some cheese to put together an asparagus Guyere tart. As soon as I got home, I found out that we needed beer!!(I only worry about the wine) Sheesh...out again. Was able to pop in and out both times. :-)

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  42. Montana:
    What a wondrous time be in NY! I know you are enjoying it.

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  43. Irish Miss, several folks had the correct answer. Here is my approach to the original puzzle that had animals instead of presents.

    A farmer bought 100 animals. These included cows at $10 each, sheep at $3 each and chickens at 50 cents each. If it cost him exactly $100 for all the animals, how many of each kind did he get? (You must include at least one animal of each kind or it’s too easy.)

    I wrote two algebra equations. If K equals the number of cows, S equals the number of sheep and C equals the number of chickens, then

    K + S + C = 100
    10K + 3S + 0.5C = 100

    After a bit of algebraic manipulation, I got the equation 19K + 5S = 100. The only possibility for K is five since the number of each animal has to be a positive whole number. My final answer was five cows, one sheep and 94 chickens. (Drumsticks for all!)

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  44. Irish Miss @3:17:
    If you remember Santa needed 100 gifts, had to spend $100.
    To choose from were:
    $10 model planes
    $3 little books and
    fifty cent ($.50) Candy Canes.
    (And he had to choose at least ONE of each).

    His correct selection was:
    5 model planes = $50
    1 little book = $3
    94 candy canes = $47
    Which totaled 100 gifts and $100 spent.

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  45. Bill G and Tinbeni: Thank you for the math lesson. Now, I think I'll take two Excedrin and go start dinner! :-) LOL.

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  46. Irish Miss, I'm with you!! (But I really enjoy "trying" to solve these puzzles!!) I liked Tinbeni's solution:
    2 model planes ($20)
    10 little books ($30)
    100 Candy Canes ($50)
    That way he spent the $100 ...
    Got the 100 little presents he needed ...
    And on his way back to the North Pole ...
    He ate(enjoyed for himself) the remaining 12 Candy Canes.


    Right now, according to the official NORAD site, Santa is in now in Bettlach, Switzerland...

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  47. You beat me to it Marti ! I'm watching Santa Tracker on Google. According to them, he's in Paris now and heading to Monte Carlo next. I'm so exited !

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  48. Merry Christmas All!
    A Tin Man's style Toast to all,
    "Here's to looking up your ad-dress"

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  49. Merry Christmas wishes and most excellent holiday greetings to you all!

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  50. Someone commented that Mondays are less taxing and this one proved to be so. Thanks and happy holidays!

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  51. TTP et alii--
    You can also track Santa on the Norad site: http://www.noradsanta.org/en/track.html He's currently in east Africa. When he hits North American airspace, Norad will dispatch a couple of fighter jets to escort him for saftey...Norad had been doing this for several decades now. Have a Jingly Holiday, whichever you celebrate...Jingles

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  52. Evening everyone,

    Thanks to all for a great blog today. Enjoyed this puzzle. Caught the theme early and thought it was a cute Monday idea. I didn't know BRIAR but got it from perps. Used to live in Toledo many yrs ago.

    Had a good visit at nursing home today. Wishing everyone a joyous holiday.

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  53. Really loved this one. Thank you Robyn.

    One silly write-over (for me) was SO SORRY over I'm SORRY. Fixed by the staple food served at Luaus.

    Mele Kelikimaka everyone!

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  54. Hi Y'all, Super fun puzzle, Robyn! Great as always, Argyle!

    Just wanted to wish everyone happy holidays no matter who or what you celebrate.

    I spent the afternoon with two of my grandsons, son & DIL and her dad. I finally got the rest of the Dec. 1 birthday gift to the 7-yr-old--several matchbox cars with a matchbox semi & flat-bed trailer. In the lull before the glamorous electronic toys are opened, he and the 11-yr-old had a ball racing these cars. I was afraid he'd think they were too boring. Timing IS everything!

    My son gave me two nice new outfits to wear to next week's family parties. The past few years what he picks out become my favorite things to wear--always pretty and always fit. So unexpected of him, a master mechanic.

    I did the last two days puzzles but was too late to blog. I went on a two-day & evening "Roots" marathon. I worked on the puzzles during the most horrific scenes. Is that a major cop out or what?

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  55. Merry Christmas / Happy Chanukkah / Joyous Solistice to all and to all a good morning ....

    Like FermatP , I couldn't sleep and since Santa is busy ( typing - )in Upstate New York, I just had to come and see the 'Corner'.

    Have a great morning all, and the rest of the day - and the rest of the week.


    Lets hope for Peace and Earth and Goodwill towards all Mankind.

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