google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Dec 1st, 2012, Barry C. Silk

Gary's Blog Map

Dec 1, 2012

Saturday, Dec 1st, 2012, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 70

Blocks: 31

White rabbit X3, and we begin December with a Saturday Silkie~!  A non-threatening grid from our constructor, with NO triple-stacks and two 14-letter climbers:

5D. Lake Michigan feeder : KALAMAZOO RIVER - BIG map

16D. Range exercise : TARGET PRACTICE - Makes me think of this song, only because it's in the middle @ 2:56

Lots of 3-letter words today "*", with just a couple of abbreviations.

Onward~!

ACROSS:

1. Hints at, with "of" : SMACKS - "Well, that just SMACKS OF sarcasm...."

7*. Hikes : UPS - Aww, couldn't we get a seasonal shout-out to the boys in brown???

(taken at "lunch", then at departure time)

10. A little later : ANON - yeah, uh that driver will be returning "anon"....

14. Bar subject : TAX LAW

15. Writer's framework : PLOT LINE

17. Cartoon bird on a cap : ORIOLE - nailed it - it's the reason why I liked the team from Baltimore in the first place, back when I was a 'young'n'


18. Apparent displacement due to observer movement : PARALLAX - and the Parallax Second, or PARSEC....warning~! Science Content

19. Actress Massey : ILONA - this lady

20. Gain, for one : DETERGENT - You know, I was on this wavelength, and said to myself "hey, that's laundry soap, but it won't fit"

21. Brie alternative : CAMEMBERT - looks the same, but here's more

23*. Word on U.S. coins : GOD - I went through all my Latin; E. Pluribus Unum,  Annuit Coeptis,  Novus Ordo Seclorum,  and then realized that every coin says "In GOD We Trust" - and I say it every time I pick up an abandoned penny

24. Loosely worn garb : SARIs - Indian Garb.  I tried SHIFT

25. Red Cross headquarters : GENEVA

28*. Bars on market shelves : UPC - Universal Product Code

31. Go the other way : ZAG - So if you go the first way, you ZIG~?

32. Femur neighbor : PATELLA - Ah, the knee bone; and also; 48D. Knock-__ : KNEED

 
33*. __-jongg : MAH

34. Dominate, in sports lingo : OWN - Last year, the NY Rangers (see also 45A.) OWNED the Philadelphia Flyers, taking all 6 games plus the Winter Classic; curse the NHL and its Players Association

35*. Impudence : LIP - because SASS didn't fit

36*. Mariner : TAR

37. Places where cell phones are prohibited? : PRISONS - HAR-HAR~!  'Cell' phones, get it?

39. "As __ beneath a waning moon was haunted": Coleridge : EER - here's the poem, and it's not The Rime of the Ancient 36A.

40*. Block back? : ADE - BlockADE

41. Halting one? : SENTRY - "Halt~!  Who goes there?"

42. Volga region language : TATAR

44*. Graynor who played Olivia's sister on "Fringe" : ARI - this lady; you think Mr. Silk likes blondes?

45. Hit on ice : BODY CHECK - for Eddy B

49. Designed to prevent intrusion, in a way : ANTI-VIRUS - Intrusion on your computer, that is

52. Native of Odessa or Paris : TEXAN - I like these deceptive clues

53. Do recon on : SCOPE OUT - Surveil didn't fit (the back formation of Surveillance)

54. Supermodel Bündchen : GISELE - Tom Brady's lady, right?

55. Statement-making accessory : POWER TIE

56. Two-direction section : S-CURVE

57. Hyphenated IDs : SSNs - The ol' Social Security Number, bottom and east friendly

58*. Also : AND - not TOO

59. Like Consumer Reports merchandise : TESTED
   
DOWN:

1. Hard to move : STOIC - in opinions, that is

2. Sokoloff of "The Practice" : MARLA - nope, not just blondes

3. Universal principle : AXIOM

4. Imitates : CLONES - a carry-over from yesterday

6*. Öland Isl. site : SWEden - Map

7. Shoe parts : UPPERS

8. Oliver of "Frost/Nixon" : PLATT

9. Vexed : SORE

10. Used up : ALL GONE

11. Alexandria setting : NILE DELTA

12. __ equal basis : ON AN

13. First in line : NEXT

20. Stoops : DEIGNS

22. Ripped, so to speak : BRAWNY

25. Merriment : GAIETY

26. 2004 A.L. MVP Guerrero, familiarly : VLAD - C.C., do you have his card~? (C.C: I do. I like #27. )


27. Rhein tributary : AARE

28. They closely monitor slides : UMPS - More baseball for our host; bet she nailed this one, as well

29. Shave : PARE

30. Where lion dances may be seen : CHINATOWN

32. Addresses the court : PLEADS

38. Rank indicators : STRIPES

42. Hyped : TOUTED

43. Animal for whom a blood factor is named : RHESUS - The "+" or "-" in your type: I am B+; I like to say "Be Positive~!!!"

45. Oud __: Belgian beer : BRUIN

46. Wield : EXERT

47. Have a cow : CALVE

49. Egyptian symbols of royalty : ASPs - Not ANKH, which fit, but....

50. They're often seen on base: Abbr. : NCOs - Non-Commissioned Officers

51. Speck : IOTA

54*. Setting at 0 degrees long. : GST - Greenwich Standard Time; I am at the 73.1000W longitude; where are you~???

Splynter

76 comments:

  1. Hello Puzzlers -

    Well, it's Saturday, and a Silkie, so I just have to accept a Technical DNF. The northwest corner was being obstinate, since I didn't know Marla or Ilona. It stayed empty except for Swe and the incorrect Tenet at 3d.

    While using Goog to read up on rivers, I stumbled upon an excerpt from Splynter's write-up - specifically the Kalamazoo River part. That unintentional bit of cheating cleared the logjam. Oops.

    Cheers all!

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  2. Rabbit rabbit.

    Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.

    Wow, that is quite a load you hauled, Splynter – Santa has nothing on your “sleigh,” LOL!! I woke up this AM to a dusting of snow all over the ground. Bah, humbug! Hopefully it will melt before I have to go shovel it.

    The puzzle was looking pretty dismal when all I had on my first pass was UPC, MAH, UMPS and PARE in the mid-west. But after picking and poking around I managed to get everything filled. My last letter was the L crossing MARLA/ILONA. Like Dudley, I didn’t know either one, but made a WAG to finish.

    Loved seeing PARALLAX. RHESUS was a gimme, as was GISELE. Those two actually got my engine started in the SE, and I worked my way back up to finish. Yay!

    Have a great Saturday, everyone!

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  3. Morning, all!

    Another example of a puzzle that seemed much harder than it actually ended up being. I freaked out a bit at all the unknowns (whether actually unknown or just hidden by obscure cluing), such as KALAMAZOO RIVER, ARI, TATAR, BRUIN, VLAD, etc. Once again, though, it was perps to the rescue.

    Just bought Season One of "Fringe" on DVD and am enjoying it immensely. I've only made it through the first few episodes, though, and haven't seen any indication that Olivia has a sister. Of course, it wouldn't have helped since I've never heard of ARI Graynor before anyway...

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  4. Good morning, Saturday soldiers!

    This one was SILKie smooth. It's the first time I've done one of Barry's puzzles top-to-bottom. Usually I'm hopping all over the grid.

    Splynter, thanks for all the learning moment links. You were in fine form this morning.

    I'm not sure how I dredged up ILONA Massey, but I knew it immediately. The picture doesn't look familiar, though. Do you suppose she was related to Raymond Massey?

    A Negative @ 95 Degrees and 09.683 minutes West Longitude.

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  5. Had to resort to Mr G with 37 cells remining. Still FIW though cuz I accepted quoted and Qatar at the 42 crossing. Arghhh!

    Still it was a fun outing. I managed to wag Kalamazoo River with only the OOR in place, so that broke open a huge swath and felt pretty good. And the only googles were for bruin, platt and Marla, so the battle seemed valiant.

    Dense fog on the prairie this morning. No rain, but at least it's wet.

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  6. Good Morning everyone. Splynter, I am at 75º 13' W. Long. EST.

    Smooth as Silk today. Got the E side relatively quickly. Since Rhein was the German spelling, AARE (German part of Switzerland) was a good guess because of the 3 vowels. Had 'high stick' before BODY CHECK. KALAMAZOO (something) was a good guess but had to wait for the perps to get RIVER. For NCO'S I thought of CPO'S but NCO is more generic. Favorite clues were for SENTRY and UMPS. My left PATELLA has been acting up but Doc says there is nothing wrong with it. No searches were needed.

    With Barry's puzzles one trick I've learned is to not over think the clues - the fill is not that arcane. Just let your mind loose, and relish where it takes you.

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  7. Spitzboov, that is excellent advice for Barry Silk's puzzles. I knew I was over thinking when I started, and had such scanty fill. I usually end up solving his from the bottom back up to the top, once my mind has "relaxed."

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  8. 39A from Kubla Khan, one of my faves:

    In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
    A stately pleasure-dome decree :
    Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
    Through caverns measureless to man
    Down to a sunless sea.
    So twice five miles of fertile ground
    With walls and towers were girdled round :
    And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
    Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;
    And here were forests ancient as the hills,
    Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

    But oh ! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
    Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover !
    A savage place ! as holy and enchanted
    AS E'ER BENEATH THE WANING MOON was haunted
    By woman wailing for her demon-lover !
    Link More of the poem

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  9. What a thrill and privilege to be on Barry Silk's wave length. I anticipated all his misdirections.

    UPS, UPPERS, NEXT, and PARALLAX gave me a running start to romp through the eastern half, top to bottom and then the western half, bottom to top.

    I thought of UPS as tax hikes (quite appropos these days)and liked finding it close to TAX LAW.

    I've seen ILONA in quite a few puzzles and remember her because I had a colleague named Ilona.

    Splynter, I like your funny take on cell phones. Seriously, I read that cellular phones are not allowed in prison, but are ubiquitous contraband and are used to cause prison riots, hits, and criminal undertakings outside the prison walls.

    Great puzzle Barry and great links, Splynter.

    Yellowrocks from Kathy

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  10. Happy Saturday all. You missed the asterix for 39 D Splynter but thanks for showing the unusual number of 3s.
    I think having UPC made cluing UPS hard.
    With my sons and nephew all working and writing about beer I want to nominate OUD BRUIN as the obscure clue of the year.
    Alabama or Georgia?

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  11. I had been sensing that this would be a saturday silky and I was not suprised or disapointed but it just seemed a little easier than most of his work I plodded through and was able to get most of the clues on the first pass the perps helped me with the rest enjoy your weekend all.

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  12. Hi there~!

    HeartRx, I am more like the "elf" that loads before Santa leaves....

    Ah - so I did, Lemon....

    So I figure D-otto is in Philly PA, and Spitz somewhere around Kansas City? I like this game - more chances to "guess" at this website

    Splynter

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  13. Thank you Barry Silk and thank you Splynter !

    Slowly, steadily, and most-oft, surely. I wasn't very confident that I would complete this puzzle after the first pass. 8 words across and 10 down. A few were iffy and eventually proven to be wrong. I had North for Oliver and Ired for vexed, but after I moved to a quiet spot in the house, I got NEXT, ALLGONE and NILE DELTA, so I knew North and ired were incorrect.

    "Parallax Error" is an inside joke with a buddy of mine as we've worked on carpentry and cabinet making projects. Measure once, cut twice.

    Mimics just didn't look correct aside KALAMA so I took it out. Then got ORIOLE, ---LAW, SMACKS, STOIC, CLONES, TAX then AXIOM in that order. Good thing because I had no idea on Brie alternative, but wagged the A to complete it. Final letter was that crossing L at MARLA and ILONA.

    I liked DEIGNS, CALVED and KNEED, although I wanted Knock WURST. mmm good. Nailed TEXAN.

    Like Spitzboov said, best not to over think the Silkies.

    Have to go with 'BAMA' on this one Lemonade.

    88 and 18 Splynter

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  14. Splynter, - I posted 75º W; not 95º W.

    PARALLAX was an important element of learning Gunnery in the Navy. I suspect it is also key to learning Astronomy.

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  15. "Actress Massey : ILONA"

    "Graynor who played Olivia's sister on 'Fringe' : ARI"

    "Sokoloff of 'The Practice' : MARLA"

    "Oliver of 'Frost/Nixon' : PLATT"

    Mr Silk:

    If you don't stop spending so much time at the movies and in front of your television, you are going to get even fatter and your heart disease will get worse.

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  16. Meant to mention that the clue for Texan was great. That was an early fill in my solve, but probably wouldn't have been if I'd never seen Paris, Texas. Very strange movie!! And I'm not sure I'd recommend it, but hey! It helped with this solve. :-)

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  17. Good morning:

    Not a walk in the park by any means, but a thoroughly delightful and doable Silkie. Loved the clues for prison, Texan, and sentry. I finished w/o help but it took some time.

    Thanks, Barry S., for a challenge without the hair-pulling and teeth-gnashing angst you sometimes induce. And thanks, Splynter, for your great expo.

    HeartRX @ 5:56 - I awoke to that same dusting of snow. Oh well, it is December.

    Happy Saturday.

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  18. Splynter, I think you transposed Spitz with me. I'm the one at 95 degrees, but considerably south of Kansas City.

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  19. Lemony & TTP, DH is a real southern boy, and he's going with 'Bama, too. Should be a good game, though.

    Splynter, 42.0750° N, 72.0339° W. And for an elf, you sure do pack it in there!

    Irish Miss, I'm baking cookies. So I'm not complaining about a little snow (as long as I don't have to shovel the stuff!!) It just adds to the ambience. Hmmm...maybe a little glüwein would be called for today?

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  20. 107° 52’ W, 48° 21’ N for me, Splynter. I do enjoy your write-ups every Saturday whether I can solve the puzzle or not.

    I did the crossword last night. I did very well on a Saturday Silkie. There were lots and lots of answers I would not know if they were one clue puzzles, but I seemed to know the perps whenever I needed. SO, a completed Saturday puzzle.

    Qli, your college team and mine are in the Division 1 football playoffs today, but not against each other. The only time they will meet is if they each make it to the championship game. But I also cheer for my son’s alma mater, EWU, as well as Montana State, so I do have two chances to reach the championship.

    Have a joyous weekend,

    Montana

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  21. HeartRx @ 10:44 - the snow is pretty to look at but I think it will be all melted by the end of the day. A "little" gluwein is probably in order, but only after the cookies are baked! LOL.

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  22. PS: The longitude and latitude of their hometown is a question on the first Earth Science test of the year for our high school freshman. Most of them remember it as adults.

    Montana

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  23. Hmm, Rh = monkees? I must read this someday.

    I learned how they measured the distance (of some of the closest ) stars was by using Heliocentric Parallax.

    & just because i am frustrated at trying to solve Saturday Silkies, Skydiving cats! (note, no cats were traumatized during the making of this video...)

    Oh, I rec'd my 1st
    Xmas card today! These are my Cousins, (I especially like the dog...) but because it was so cute, i clicked on the "make your own" button. Then i downloaded a bunch of pics of CC, Lucina, D-Otto, & Bill G. from the Blog & put their faces in the video! It would have been hilarious, except, at the end, before you can send, they ask for a buck to join up 1st:(

    (Well you know i am not only cheap, i am broke! So if anyone would like to finish what i started, it only costs a buck. (if you trust computers...)

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  24. 54 down is GMT for Greenwich Mean Time, and 56 across is M curve - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harnack%27s_curve_theorem

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  25. This amateur astronomer got PARALLAX first and then the entire east side was done. Working CW my last fill was CAMEMBERT. A very satisfying Saturday Silkie. As sick as I have been for the last 3 days, all I can wish you is Bunny, Bunny.

    Musings
    -I gotta a gal in Kalamazoo zoo zoo zoo zoo
    -Take those 20,000 pg of TAX LAW and give me a flat tax
    -iLona/marLa a complete WAG
    -I certainly remember pre-UPC days when checkers had to punch in all your purchases with varying degrees of accuracy
    -We are born sans PATELLAS but cartilaginous material that ossifies in a kneecap around 4 years old
    -Old Detroit Tiger Frank Lary OWNed the Yankees from 1995 to 1961
    -Giselle said of her husband’s teammates after the Super Bowl loss, “Tom can’t f**kin’ catch the ball and throw it.
    -I wonder if this was an S CURVE
    -My UMPS (U_ _ _) worked for the USGS at first
    -STRIPES
    -I’m at 41.4333° N, 96.4978° W
    -I’ll take the Bulldogs and the 8 points AND I’ll take the Huskers and lay the 3 to go to the Rose Bowl.

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  26. Taking a cue from Avg. Joe’s comment about Paris, TX only being worth using for a crossword puzzle - I actually heard the word TEC used in the first scene of My Fair Lady this week. Professor Higgins was transcribing all of Liza’s poor English from behind a pillar outside the opera house and one of the street people accused ‘enry of being a TEC (detective). I’ve seen the movie many times but the word stood out in this last viewing because of what we do here in Crosswordland. Maybe Steve can tell us if that is a more common word on that side of the pond.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Well, I got a very small toehold today with GISELE, TEXAN, and PARALLAX, but that was pretty much it. After that it took so much cheating I can hardly claim to have done the puzzle. But at least Yellowrocks giving us some "Kubla Khan" salvaged something of the morning.

    So what's with all the RABBITS?

    Have a good weekend, everybody.

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  28. Hello everybody. FIW, dang it. Had GMT and MCURVE and never realized it was wrong until coming here. Maybe Anonymous at 11:16 AM has a point.

    Hand up for entering USGS at first.

    Had to change SOON into ANON, although I liked OIL as the first 3 letters of 11D. Then I entered NILE river which I subsequently had to erase.

    The only actress named Massey that I could think of was ATHENA Massey, but her name is too long. It was WAG city in the NE corner.

    Splynter, I loved your writeup, especially your comment about ZIG. Thank you!

    I agree that it is excellent advice not to overthink a Barry Silk work.

    Best wishes to you all from a very soggy 37.3041° N, 121.8727° W.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Irish Miss and HeartRx, how delightfully festive it is to bake cookies while the snow is drifting by the window, and afterward to snuggle up to a fire with gluwein or merlot, a joy those in warmer climes must forego. I love the changing seasons at this latitude. We had our snow on Tuesday.

    No cookie baking today for me. I am having a much more prosaic Saturday - laundry and office paper work. On the bright side, at the end of the day I will have two baskets of sweet smelling clothing and linens and a greatly reduced TO DO list.

    I am having a big party two weeks from today with quite a few relatives "sleeping over." That is taking precedence over Christmas, for now, but I will have lots of company for Christmas, too. I love this time of year.

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  30. Another vote for GMT

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  31. Splynter: Thank you for another GREAT write-up & links.

    At one point I looked at my grid AND other than MAH & SWE the West was blank and the East was complete.
    Alas, FIW because I like M-CURVEs.

    Villa Incognito is 82W / 28N (close enough for gov't work).

    I'm with Husker Gary and Avg.Joe, cheering on Nebraska tonight.
    Going with the 'Dogs in the other game (because I like Dogs!).

    Don't know how this is actually possible ... but I hope y'all's teams win.

    Cheers !!!

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  32. Good morning Splynter, C.C.,et all,

    Decided to try a Sat. Silkie, although I know I'm not quite at this level yet. Surprised myself by finishing 3/4 of it(unaided), but that SW corner was way into overtime.I did look up Ari, which, of course, didn't help.Fun anyway, and always like the chit chat.

    Thanks for the finishing touches, Splynter.

    CED, cute card. DH did a jib jab card a few years back. I think the 2 of us laughed at ourselves more than anyone.Did love that dog too.

    Another day of lovely light rain. Think I'll make cookies too.

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  33. Happy (Rabbit)^3 Day!

    I got 'er done with more enjoyment than is typical for me for a Saturday.

    33.8799°N, 118.3885°W for me.

    Jordan and I enjoyed an hour long Monopoly game last night. It was good fun for us.

    Two questions:
    1) Why are almost all CW puzzles either 15 x 15 or 21 x 21? What's wrong with 17s or 19s?

    2) I heard somebody on TV say that they wanted something really badly. Is that correct? I was thinking maybe it should have been bad instead.

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  34. Dear Constructors,
    What happens when 2 letters are a good fit both across and down for a single box? Do you suppose that maybe that type of ambiguity should not be allowed?

    54D and 56A, as some have said, GMT could plausibly cross M CURVE; however, just as plausibly GST could cross S CURVE. (Greenwich Sidereal Time)

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  35. Hi again~

    Yep, I completely gaffed the longitude comment - and I am pretty sure that Spitz is in upstate NY, too....

    I am interested in plotting the other lat/lon postings today, too - just to see where people are at - and I am pretty sure I know where Montana hails from....

    Splynter

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  36. Uncle! Uncle! I give up. I never get a Silkie.

    First pass through I had NEXT, MAH, ZAG, SSNS, GOD & TEXAN (The last two are thought to be synonymous in the mind of a native latter). And thats ALL I got until I sought out Splynter's wise advise.

    I had Menominee River which flows on the Canadian side. My map didn't show Kalamazoo. Hmm!

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  37. My grandson's 7th birthday is today. I planned to go to his party this evening. At 12:30 noon my son finally called to say the party was taking twelve 6 & 7-yr-olds bowling at 1:15. Would I pick up the cake? The cake place was in a traffic congested area where I never drive, so I declined.

    An hour later my son called back and said they were at the bowling alley with 12 excited imps trapped in three cars. The bowling alley hadn't saved them the three lanes they needed. All full.

    Trying to teach 12 kids that age to bowl would be like herding cats high on catnip. Possibly the business owner felt the same way.

    So they were all headed to a nearby park where there is some creative play equipment. Sounds like a better plan. It's a lovely warm day.

    I'm not going though. They thought I could help ride herd on the boys and I'm too tired. Been there done that. Best party I ever had for boys that age, I gave them buckets of water & squirt guns and turned them loose to run the farm under my watchful eye on a hot summer day. They loved it.

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  38. Greetings!

    34.2283° N, 118.5368° W

    Definitely easier than most Silkies. But was unwilling to spend lots of time w/o turning on red for a bit to check (5 goofs). After that things went OK. Had not heard of KALAMAZOO RIVER. ILONA Massey was a gimmee. Massey not her real surname. Starred with Nelson Eddy in a few films.

    Feel like a popsicle. Warm nightie was itching so took it off after working puzzle at 2 AM. Then evidently crawled out from covers a bit at some point. No helper today, but friend Chris wants to swim. Must hurry!

    Cheers!

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  39. I don't have a clue where i am latitude and longitude-wise--or elevation-wise either. How do you find out? Looking at a GPS? Don't have one. At my age, I figure I'm doing well just turning at the correct street to get home. (Once in a while I don't.) So much for my prosaic life.

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  40. PK @ 1616 - Use this site. Flash Earth.

    Click on Explore the Earth. Then use the zoom bars on the mid right to locate yourself. While zooming in, click on your location each time and it will center. There is a small cross in the center. When you have located your house, The Lat and Long. are shown on the left. Good luck.

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  41. I was blown away by the fact that I got about half a Silky without help. Amazing.

    Hello from drouthy 38o 54' 15.77" N, 104o 51' 21.00.

    Does anyone know how to make superscripts?

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  42. so what does white rabbit x 3 mean?

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  43. YR @ 1:57, there actually is a name for puzzles that have more than one possible solution:
    "Schrödinger puzzles" was the name coined by Joon Pahk. Whoever can create one of those is an absolute genius, IMHO !!

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  44. Anon @ 4:30, some people say "rabbit, rabbit" or "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit" first thing on the first of the month. It is supposed to give you good luck. I know - it's a silly superstition, but it does spark curiosity and interesting discussions sometimes...

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  45. Hi All ~~

    I'm at 41° 39' 40" N / 72° 46' 48" W. (I hope it's right) Like PK, I had no idea how to figure it out, so I just typed my location into Google. :-) Amazing tool!

    I'd been hoping for a Saturday Silkie since it seems we haven't had one in a while, so I smiled when I opened the newspaper this morning.

    I got through the right side of the puzzle without too many problems but the left side was tougher, especially the NW corner. I filled in 'Irene' Massey - no idea why - so it messed things up for a while. I also was thinking for 1A - 'Stinks' of so SMACKS took some time - DUH - should have known that! It did all come together with no look-ups so I was happy.

    Fantastic write-up, Splynter - so many great explanations! I love your "Har hars." I actually needed you to point out the 'cellphone'/PRISONS thing - another DUH for me!

    Favorites were the clues for SENTRY and UMPS.

    Enjoy the evening!

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  46. I hate to be the one to harsh the buzz on this public airing of locations, but Prudence is in order. Way too many of you announce when you are out of town, and with a potentially huge audience of lurkers that do not have good intent, I doubt it's wise to give out your exact coordinates.

    Just sayin'.

    On another note.....Go Big Red!!

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  47. Anon at 4:29, just to clear up a little bit of silliness, 2^3 doesn't mean 2 x 3 but 2 to the third power or (2)(2)(2) or 2 x 2 x 2 = 8. So I intended (Rabbit)^3 to mean (rabbit)(rabbit)(rabbit). HeartRx explained the rest.

    Marti, I'd love to qualify (in your mind) as an absolute genius, but I didn't create this. I just found it and thought it was very clever. I may have posted it here before. If so, pardon me, but you might enjoy seeing it again anyway.

    Here’s a little 3x4 telekinesis crossword puzzle created by Jeremiah Farrell. You’ll need to draw a grid with three rows, four columns and no black squares.
    First toss a coin and note the result.

    ACROSS
    1 Your coin shows a ___.
    5 Wagner’s earth goddess
    6 Word with one or green

    DOWN
    1 Half a little laugh
    2 Station terminus?
    3 Dec follower?
    4 Certain male

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  48. Wow, Spitzboov, that Flash Earth site is neat.
    I put the cross right on my house and found out the location we have always made students memorize is right on. We started before Internet days, so got the coordinates from an almanac. Still interesting that they are so exact.

    Thanks,
    Montana

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  49. Dan Naddor wrote a puzzle with a Monkey theme. One entry was RHESUS PIECES. That still cracks me up.

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  50. Good afternoon, folks. Thank you Barry Silk, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for the excellent review,

    41.9950 N. 88.1856 W

    Tough getting started, as usual on a Saturday. I think I started with TATAR, PLEADS, and BODY CHECK.

    The SE corner fell first. Got RHESUS easily. For some odd reason I knew that. I give blood a lot.

    Got the two long ones quicker than I usually do.

    Enjoyed PARALLAX. Good clue.

    On our way to a Christmas dinner in Chicago tonight.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  51. Rabbit Rabbit (better late than never). Good evening all. Had the devil’s own time with this Saturday Silkie. Thought I finally conquered it, but came to the blog and found I goofed with the GMT / M-CURVE crossing. But wait! I read the comments and found it may be legit after all. Waiting to see what the panel of constructor-judges has to say. At least I got a chuckle out of the clues for UMP and PRISONS. And as always, enjoyed Splynter’s write-up as much as the puzzle itself. (Aren’t we lucky to have “Santa” and a first-class “Elf” on the team?)

    Thanks for the poem, Yellow Rocks. It’s one that I recognize bits and pieces of, but can never remember the source.

    Wishing everyone a great weekend from 39 deg. 5’.50.4” N 84 deg. 30’ 24” W. (Seen, check it out on the Flash Earth link Spitzboov provided @4:27 – it’ll make you smile.) Average Joe @ 4:54 – you have a very good point. I went with a well-known nearby landmark rather than my actual house.

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  52. Avg Joe, good point! Being a geocacher, i was going to give the co-ordinates for both my front, & back door. Surprisingly, there is a big difference! The N was off by .001, & the west differed by .015!

    Bill G, I got 1A & 1D in both possible versions, but i am having trouble with the others!
    Sta terminus is not dpt, & dec follower is not Jan????

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  53. Hello, all. Thanks, Splynter, for your spicy (i.e.links) analysis.

    The day is almost ALL GONE and I just now finished this wonderful Silkie. My granddaughter spent the night and helped me set up and decorate the Christmas tree. Then we finished shopping for her gifts.

    Because there were so many unknown names I just immediately looked them up to save time. ILONA I knew and insisted on Oliver STONE. Didn't give it up until the bitter end then recalled OLIVER Platt.

    TEXAN didn't fool me as I have met people from both places, all TEXANS.

    Also I started with SKEET PRACTICE before TARGET became apparent and that sealed the NE corner. Loved seeing all of KALAMAZOO RIVER.

    I hope Saturday went well for everyone! It's gorgeous weather here and we are relishing it.

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  54. Hi again~!

    Went to the Flash Earth site, good deal - thanks for the link, Spitzboov~!

    Java Mama, LOVE the "first class ELF" comment - I am running with that at work on Monday ~!

    Splynter

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  55. That flash map is amazing!

    33, 29' 28.9" N
    111, 54' 7.7" W

    I don't know how to post the degree symbol. Anytime I leave my home I set the alarm. But thanks for your concern, AVg Joe.

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  56. thanks for the rabbit explanation- Heart Rx, it would be interesting to know its origins.

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  57. CED, right, Station terminus is like 'ending' or 'follower' and the same idea for Dec follower. Both are word endings. Let me know if you want the answers. I think it's a really clever puzzle and worth the effort.

    No answers for my two earlier questions?

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  58. I found this which elaborated further on your explanation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_rabbit_rabbit

    I guess one can find about anything on WIKI these days.

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  59. Lucina - On Apple's Safari, for º (degree) simply press option plus numeral 0. On Windows you have a character set. Here is a link which explains many special letters and symbols: Link. for MacIntosh.

    You might also check out special character viewer (command + option + T) on a Mac. Also has superscripts and subscripts, which I think John24 asked about. Windows also has special characters.

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  60. Just back from a new Indian restaurant in the next town. Seems we had Naan in a puzzle just a day or two ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since. The naan was brought to me hot out of the oven, brushed with ghee. mmmmmmm

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  61. Bill G. ~~


    T A I L
    E R D A
    E Y E D

    H E A D
    E R D A
    E Y E D

    ??

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  62. Lucina - I didn't read Spitz's link, but from past frequent use I know the degree symbol is (alt) 248 on a PC. For some reason, it works if the 248 is entered on the numeric keypad to the right of the usual letters, but not when entered on the numerals directly above the letters. I never learned why...

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  63. Spitzboov: Thank you for the Flash Earth suggestion. Very interesting. However, forgive me if I don't share. As usual I'm paranoid. Once one has had one's home invaded at 2 a.m., it is hard to be otherwise.

    I was ecstatic to find my AF son's new home address on Flash Earth. Regular Google can't find the street in their relatively new addition. The post office couldn't find it for two months because I had a 6 instead of a 5 as the last zip code digit. In our town I've been off much more than that in the zip and the PO finds the house. Anyway I got to see my son's very nice house on a large wooded lot from the aerial view with the correctly named street in front. No view from the street yet.

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  64. LaLalinda,
    I sent Bill two emails with both answers and it never occurred to me to type it that way. I'm such an idiot sometimes!

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  65. Windhover, I didn't see your post about the Moran great grand scoundrel until after midnight. Hey, we may be kissin' cousins! I'm sure it wasn't my genteel grandfather who was born in 1884. However, he had five older brothers... One brother was born in 1870 and was a wanderer. He even went to the Alaska goldrush then showed movies of Alaska all around the country. Just know the family lore not the years on that. Have no idea where he was in 1899.

    Lots of Moran's though. Ours have large families, heavy on the male gender. Very handsome men too, so you'd fit right in.

    My great grandfather who came from Co. Mayo was born at Roigh Newport according to my family book. Came to America unmarried in 1861 and was a coal miner in Penns. before he came west in 1879.

    A priest named Moran told my grandpop the first Morans in Ireland swam ashore from the wrecks of the Spanish Armada. Haven't verified that.

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  66. 37.2267°N /121.9736°W

    10.8 sq. mi./pop @ 30,000

    temp.now 61° :-)

    THANKS DUDLEY..I had no idea where to find the degree symbol.

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  67. There is no such thing, officially, as GST. It is GMT, Greenwich Mean Time

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  68. Fastest Saturday in a long time, finished it like a Thursday. There were really no areas of any resistance. Plenty of openings in every section of the puzzle other then the NW but plunked in AXIOM. Silky smooth, would prefer more difficulty like the last two weeks.

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  69. 43° 14' 9.5" N 73° 29' 28.3" W

    If crooks can find anything valuable in here, they're doing better than I am.

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  70. Argyle, YOUR LIFE is valuable! Some crooks are careless with people or downright murderous.

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  71. LLLinda, right you are! Pretty clever, eh? I wish I could have thought of it...

    I discovered today that I didn't know how to spell camembert. For some reason, I always pronounced it as if it had an 'n' instead of the second 'm' and so I always spelled it wrong.

    Speaking of prudence as Avg Joe did earlier reminded me of one of the singers of this song. Tonight You Belong to Me.

    I had a relevant discussion about theft, Flash Earth, etc. with Barbara today. She commented on a package that got left on our porch. She said she had read about thieves stealing stuff right off porches. I mentioned that the one package that gets stolen is covered; the ten-thousand that don't get stolen never make the six o'clock news.

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  72. Dudley@7:30
    Thank you. I'll have to experiment with that.

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  73. Dudley and Spitz
    I'm sorry to say your suggestions didn't work for me but in frustration I began researching and found a tutorial for ° and it works!

    Num lock then press ALT 0176 on the number keypad

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  74. ANON @8:47 Ask the University of Maryland.
    Link GST

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