17A. Rossini's "Cinderella," e.g. : COMIC OPERA (Cop)
23A. Judge's protective ruling : NO-CONTACT ORDER (Actor)
37A. When-all-else-fails act : LAST- DITCH EFFORT (Chef)
48A. Like a good project manager : DETAIL ORIENTED (Tailor)
59A. Employee crimes, and literally, the positions hidden in 17-, 23-, 37- and 48-Across : INSIDE JOBS
Argyle here. I got the reveal first but it didn't help. I wasted my time looking for the word JOB in the answers. Then I looked for crimes, like theft. Didn't find them either. It was TAILOR that set me straight.
So there is some baseball and bra's; just what I would expect from C.C. and Dennis. A solid Thursday offering.
Across:
1. "Steeerike!" is one : CALL
5. Good-sized slices : SLABS
10. U.K. awards : OBE's. (Order of the British Empire)
14. Slobbering comics pooch : ODIE. Garfield's companion.
15. Core group : CADRE. Dennis was in a Corps group.
16. Going around in circles, maybe : LOST
19. See : DATE
20. Pluto, for example : ORB. The planet, or whatever they're calling it now.
21. Administered by spoon : ORAL
22. Self-gratifying outing : SPREE
27. Golfer nicknamed "The Big Easy" : ELS. (Ernie)
28. Shady plot : ARBOR
29. Tantrum in a restaurant, say : SCENE
32. Clip : PACE
34. Docs who deliver : OB's. (Obstetrician)
41. Cooperstown's Mel : OTT. He played right field his entire career for the New York Giants (1926–1947).
42. Tricky rink move : DEKE. A fake, a feint, a juke.
43. Like X, in some cases : ROMAN. It is if it represents the number ten in Latin.
44. Noted Titanic passenger : ASTOR. His wife survived.
47. Groupie : FAN
54. Greek labyrinth island, in myth : CRETE
55. He plays Jack on "30 Rock" : ALEC. (Baldwin)
56. November honoree : VET. Dennis again.
58. Bike basket escapee of film : TOTO. "The Wizard of Oz."
62. Isaac's oldest : ESAU. A little tougher way to clue him.
63. Carved symbol : TOTEM
64. Pod veggie : OKRA
65. At the front of the line : NEXT
66. Subject of a sports deadline : TRADE
67. Rotary Club symbol : GEAR
Down:
1. First name in fashion : COCO. Figuratively: Gabrielle "Coco" Bonheur Chanel.
2. Sew on rickrack, for instance : ADORN
3. State of oblivion : LIMBO
4. Floral garland : LEI
5. Pooh-poohs : SCORNS
6. Splash gently against : LAP AT
7. "A Passage to India" schoolmistress : ADELA. IMDb.
8. "It's too darn cold!" : [BRR!]
9. Mermaid's milieu : SEA
10. Veteran : OLD PRO. Dennis again!
11. Decision-making setting : BOARDROOM
12. First name in skin care : ESTÉE. (Lauder)
13. Pilot : STEER
18. Lost enthusiasm : COOLED
22. Have a good cry : SOB
24. Euro fraction : CENT
25. Hidey-hole : CACHE
26. Apple, for one : TREE. Gave me pause; a plethora of possibilities
29. __-mo : SLO
30. Alley lurker : CAT
31. Subject of IRS Form 706 : ESTATE TAX
32. Prefix meaning "wing" : PTERO
33. "Good grief!" : "ACK!"
35. Two-piece piece : BRA. Nothing to say.
36. RR depot : STN.. (station)
38. Star frequently gazed at : IDOL. Tricky.
39. Coneheads' home, so they said : FRANCE. From a popular Saturday Night Live skit.
40. Type type : FONT. More than alliteration.
45. Warmed the bench : SAT OUT
46. Ascot or cravat : TIE
47. What a baby's cry often means : [FEED ME!]
48. 747 competitor : DC TEN
49. Irregularly notched : EROSE
50. Many a reggae musician : RASTA
51. Fibber's admission : "I LIED"
52. Bring forth : EVOKE
53. Messing of "Smash" : DEBRA
57. Old autocrat : TSAR
59. Addams cousin : ITT
60. Hide-hair link : NOR
61. Nudge : JOG. Not JAB.
Argyle
Notes from C.C.:
1) Marti probably lost electricity last night due to snow. A big "Thank you" to Argyle for blogging at the last minute. I seriously can't live without him!
2) This theme came to me while glancing at an article in our local Star Tribune. Dennis and I searched through a ton of professions and worked out the current four that can be hidden. He came up with the essential COP (one of his buddies is a cop) and its contained phrase. Filling was rather smooth considering the 5 long theme entries (63 theme squares) in place, and I thought we had to add a couple cheater squares. We even put in Dennis' favorite BRA!
Dennis has been my trusted guinea pig. He's a patient and solid sounding board on many of my themes and fill. We talked about making a puzzle together for years, but finally got time to do so after he settled down in Florida last spring. We made 3 puzzles together. This was one. The second one was accepted by the NY Times! The last one was rejected by both editors :-(
3) Happy Birthday to our handsome pilot Dudley!
 |
| Dennis, Florida |
3) Happy Birthday to our handsome pilot Dudley!
 |
| Dudley and his wife at their Block Island wedding in 2008 |
68 comments:
Up and out with the dogs at 5:00 AM to be greeted by about four inches of very heavy snow here in the beautiful mid-Hudson valley. It looks like a good day to stay home.
Today's puzzle proceeded in fits and starts and, in the end, I had to guess at ACK (since DEKE was unknown to me). [12:37]
Hello Puzzlers -
A bit more pepper in the recipe today. I handicapped myself till the very end by putting in No Contest Order. Glad I recalled Deke, though. Congrats to CC and Dennis for your successful collaborations!
Morning Argyle, as I said before, you are THE trooper. I can well believe Marti could have lost power and/or Internet. We have a standard Wintry Mess on our hands today.
Greetings!
Happy birthday to Dudley!
Late HBTYs to Andrea and SL Zalameh!
Congrats on your collaboration, CC and Dennis! Thanks for cool expo, Dennis!
Son, wife and granddaughter came for Christmas dinner. We had a nice time. (Of course, they make a joke out of my dietary restrictions and brought things filled with gluten, lactose and hormones (from beef)). I managed to survive but was up all night. Slept all day and woke up to temperature of minus infinity in my room.
Hoping to go to sleep soon and try to swim tomorrow!
Cheers!
Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Interesting puzzle, probably one of the easier Thursday puzzles in a long time. At first I thought the inside jobs might be "inside" job related because I saw the COP the COMIC OPERA.
For once the Apple clue didn't pertain to the computer company.
I hope Marti and our friends in the Northeast are all safe and sound. Good to see Dudley still has electricity.
Happy Birthday, Dudley. Hope you have a great day.
QOD: Think twice before burdening a friend with a secret. ~ Marlene Dietrich (Dec. 27, 1902 ~ May 6, 1992)
Morning, all!
Wow, C.C. and Dennis today -- what a treat!
I struggled a bit with this one. I think the hardest part was grudgingly accepting that NO-CONTACT ORDER was a real thing. I'm sure it is, but all I could think of was RESTRAINING ORDER.
The various "jobs" remained completely hidden until I finished the puzzle and went back and tried to figure them out.
We've only gotten rain (and lots of it) with this latest storm, but I fear all of my relatives who are supposed to be coming over today got dumped on and won't be able to make it...
Forgot to thank all of you that wished me a happy birthday Christmas Day! It was grand!
Oh, I forgot. If anyone watched DEBRA Messing in Smash, season 2 of the series starts up again in February.
Triple Treat Thursday ! Thank you CC, Dennis and Argyle. You three are just like the double mint twins. :)
Got the theme answers quickly, and saw con, COP and CHEF, but failed to see ACTOR and TAILOR. Originally wanted something along the lines of TRY AND TRY AGAIN for 37A When all else fails...
Have to reboot my laptop. Spater !
Good morning everyone,
Congrats to CC & Dennis on a challenging puzzle. Argyle, thanks for pinch hitting... you are an ace trooper.
This was no walk in the park for me and in the end a DNF because of one blank box and one incorrect fill.
322 & 33, across & down were the culprits. I had ICK for 32D, refused to change it and left me with no clue for 32. ACK never came to mind.
A couple other slowdowns were LAPUP rather than LAPAT for 6D and STA instead of STN for 36D. Otherwise, I eventually parsed everything else.
Happy birthday Dudley.
Good morning, all!
Nice job, you two -- three counting Argyle. I had no idea Dennis was interested in a third career. I thought he had his hands full with just two.
When I saw the reveal, I went back to the top and saw COP = steal, so I thought there would be an inside crime in each theme answer. Not!
It's still cold here in the southland, (near freezing, BRR ACK) but should warm up nicely later today.
Happy Birthday, Dudley!
CC, I figured out what my bug was. Alles gute !
Happy Birthday Dudley.
Dennis, all I can say is, well, never mind. Just watch the weather forecast Chicago Weather Forecast
Technical DNC, as I had "ach" for 33D; never heard of "deke". Other than that a fun Thursday puzzle. Thanks for the great write-up
fun run, thanks CC and Dennis. only DNF was the Deke/Ack cross, but looks like I am already in good company.
Good morning everyone! Great puzzle today - thanks to CC & Dennis!
20A Pluto could have gone with DOG or ORB. Luckily I took ORB
My vocabulary has expanded to include new words DEKE and PTERO.
These were some great clues:
-43A: LIke X in some cases: ROMAN
-26D: Apple, for one: TREE (simple, yet unexpected)
-38D: Star frequently gazed at: IDOL
Dennis: Amazing you have time to create puzzles, with your side job and all ;)
Thanks for sharing the photos. Great looking bunch of puzzlers we have here! Happy Birthday Dudley!!
I hope Santa was good to you all. My cats haven't lost all their new toys yet, so we're happy.
How nice! A puzzle from Dennis and CC. Great fill. The only unknown was that FRANCE had something to do with coneheads. I got it from perps.. After the reveal I quickly found the hidden jobs. I was able to finish this by doing blocks in order, instead of skipping around. I did it while in a conversation, so it went a little slowly.
Thanks, Argyle for pinch hitting and everything else you contribute to this blog.
I thought of NO CONTEST, but realized it was not a judge's ruling. I wrote STA and had to change A to N.
I hope the storm did not cause anyone here problems. We had a few inches of snow followed by sleet. There were many traffic accidents and power outages. We stayed home and did not lose power. Later the weather changed to a warm rain. This morning the roads are wet, but not slippery.
Happy birthday, Dudley. There seem to be so many December birthdays here.
Nice Thursday outing. Thanks.
"Technical DNC, as I had 'ach' for 33D; never heard of 'deke.'"
Hand up. "ACK" is a little iffy.
congratulations you two. when will the nyt puzzle be published? this was a very fun romp. I liked the cluing very much.
HBDTY Dudley. stay safe all in the ne. hope we hear from Marti.
A fun puzzle, but certainly not an easy one. Had to pick my way through it, and the last two cells filled were the A then the P in pace. Clever stuff. And yes, the first thought was of Cathy when ACK appeared.
Thanks C.C. and Dennis, and Argyle for pinch hitting.
Oops. Forgot. Happy Birthday Dudley!
Congrats, Dennis for a new début! And to C.C. on a successful new collaboration, and a big thanks to Argyle for his usual sparkly blogging!
Not so for me--I hung onto NO CONTEST and although I want CACHE, couldn't see it without a C to begin. Of course DEKE is a total unknown and the 1A clue didn't even make sense until I was here despite getting CALL with perps. I couldn't parse clip to get PACE either until after reading the NO CONTACT here and finally putting in CACHE.
Happy Birthday to Dudley!
Outside looks like a snow globe today and C.C.’s and Dennis’s puzzle is a ray of sunshine. You’d go BRR in your BRA today. I looked hard for the theme but didn’t find it but a smooth solve that took some effort made that irrelevant.
Musings
-Sheldon got a NO CONTACT ORDER from Stan Lee and Leonard Nimoy
-CHEFwen has promised me a recipe with pineapple after I made her Wenderful muffins
-Dutch Rennert was known for the most exaggerated Steeerike call in baseball
-Has anyone else nearly gotten LOST trying to figure out how to get out of mall parking lots these days?
-Pluto PUP and DOG? Not so much.
-I got $50 in coupons from Macaroni Grill by not making a SCENE but merely telling them online of a bad experience in their restaurant. You catch more flies with honey…
-Great baseball DEKE
-As TTP referred to last night, being retired can feel like a state of LIMBO
-Daughter and boy friend spent the night for funeral today. He is into Apple iMacs, iPods, iPad and gave up cable for Apple TV. I have most of those too and so Apple was a tricky clue for me also.
-Alas, residential Alleys have been a thing of the past for years
-PICA instead of FONT dates me, doesn’t it?
-Happy landings on your BD today, Dudley!
ACK! A DNF today. I put bEAR in place of GEAR. Yet, I knew JOG was the right word. Never did figure out the inside job theme until I came here. Now it all makes sense. Nice puzzle today. Hope everyone is OK after that storm.
Congratulations C.C. and Dennis on a great collaboration and a duo-debut !
I just looking at a picture of Gen. Petraeus, in full uniform, with medal regalia, but without his face, on an old cover of TIME, (Nov. 26, 2012) ,and I was thinking of Dennis.
The puzzle was very challenging and I was 'lost', until I realized the -'date' - it's a Thursday. The only clue I was sure of was Estate Tax. It was gone for a year, now, its back again.
Nothing is as certain as Death and Taxes, but the latter outlives the former ....
Thank you Argyle, you're as familiar, gentle and reassuring as Mr. Rodgers of the Neighborhood.
Have a great week, you all, and best wishes.
58A: Kept thinking about the last scene in ET, rather than Dorothy's dog.
Re: DEKE. Been around since 2008. Click here. If you use the 'ctrl + F' and put in DEKE in the search box, you can find all the references about it.
I don't know if 'ctrl + F' works for everyone, but I have found it a Godsend. In fact, I'll use it to see if I can find who mentioned it.
Thanks, CC and Dennis for a Thursday puzzle I could solve. Thanks, Argyle, for the great review.
There was a blank area in the puzzle where I was stuck and I know nothing about golf (except tee). My son's f-i-l walked through the room and I asked about a golfer called the Big Easy. He promptly stated Ernie Els--don't you know that? No sir, I don't, but that answer gave letters I needed to finish the puzzle. (He golfs 4x/week.)
Family from Brisbane is loving the snow here in CT. It snows but melts away rather quickly. I like that it is so much warmer here.
Husker, all the towns in MT still have residential alleys. Most of my alley-mates get together twice a year for a potluck block party.
Keep warm everyone,
Oops! Happy Birthday, Dudley,
Montana
Thank you, CrossEyedDave, for that shortcut.
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Good morning:
Terrific puzzle, CC and Dennis. Clever theme and some tricky cluing made it a fun solve. I remembered deke from previous puzzles so that helped and ptero and some others came with perps. And thank you to Santa for saving the day with his last-minute " delivery."
It is snowing like mad here; we were supposed to get 6-10 inches but it stopped during the night. I don't know when it started up again but it's coming down at a good clip and the roads look a little dicey. Perfect day to sit by the fire with a good book.
Happy Birthday, Dudley; have a great day. Nice pictures, Dennis and Dudley.
Have a nice Thursday, everyone, and stay safe and warm.
Yowza! C.C. and Dennis together in a puzzle collaboration! How cool is that? Congratulations to both!
And the commentary by Argyle, our own Santa and Superman!
It was a fun run. I sashayed through the whole top, then the bottom and got stuck in the center as I wouldn't give up ICK and PTERO never entered my mind. Felt like I was in LIMBO until the blog revealed it.
DEKE and EROSE are standard crosswordese and the only reason I know them.
Hand up for STA before STN, TOM then CAT, SCOFF changed to SCORN. Had not heard of ADELA but it made sense.
Great fun today!
Happy birthday, Dudley and happy landings!
You all have a terrific Thursday and stay warm, everyone! I hope we hear from Marti.
Great Puzzle.I had difficulty with the top half , but breezed thru the bottom half. Go figure.
Thanks for the birthday wishes, everybody! You can't beat the Corner for hospitality.
I should probably come up with a more recent photo for CC's files.
I just called over to Marti's house and spoke with her husband. Turns out they got the days mixed up, what with Christmas distractions and all, and she forgot it was Thursday already. So we can expect a remorseful message from her later in the day, I'm sure. :-)
Loved this C.C. and Dennis puzzle even though, thanks to that rotten DEKE, it was a DNF for me too. But I don't care--it was still a lot of fun! So thanks to you both, and to heroic Argyle for stepping up today. And what a huge relief to hear that Marti is okay!
I had ACH for ACK, like several of you. Makes me really miss "Cathy."
Great pics, Dennis and Dudley, and have a wonderful birthday, Dudley!
Great to be home again on a Thursday! Have a good one, everybody!
Hi Everyone ~~
I didn't know Dennis' last name so I thought C.C. had yet another new beau. ;-) Finding out that this was OUR Dennis made this even more special ~ great puzzle, you two! There was so much 'fresh fill' - or as I call it - "good stuff." Really liked the cluing for TOTO.
I needed the unifier to discover the theme, and I, too, first looked for 'Jobs' to be hidden in the theme answers. Seeing COP got me started - ACTOR was my last. Somehow I really messed up the NE corner - stupid mistakes - it finally all fell into place.
~ Always happy to find a CAT in a puzzle. =^.^=
~ It seems every day I hear of a new Red Sox TRADE - time will tell if things will improve on last year's disaster.
~ ORAL antibiotics didn't do anything for my husband's leg infection ~ they next tried heavy duty IV stuff in the hospital - no improvement. The staph infection (they diagnosed it later) was encased in the bursa below the knee ~ thus the surgery. He's finally on the mend ~ thanks again for all your kind words!
~ Thank you, Argyle, for your last minute pitch-hitting.
~ Happy Birthday, Dudley ~ enjoy your special day and have a great year!
Dennis:
I've been studying your photo and I like what I see, especially those long, strong hands. They look like they could handle almost anything so I'm sure your business must be thriving. I'm surprised you had time to create a puzzle.
Good morning Argyle, C.C. and Dennis,
3x's FUN! Great collaboration! Of course I had several wrong answers, like bear for gear..if I had only relooked at the clue for JOG, it would have helped.And, who knew the Rotary Club's Symbol was a gear? I had scoffs for scorns for awhile.In some spots I pondered over just ONE letter to finish.Clever hiding/clueing.
Laughed at coneheads...hilarious skits.Loved "like X in some places" Also thought of ET before Toto.
Although deke and erose are common in cw-ese,my brain did not remember them, and I am ashamed I did not think of ptero. Everyone knows that a pterodactyl has wings!
Thanks for the challenge.
Dudley, happy birthday
Hahtool, thanks for the heads-up on Smash.I am looking everyday for Season 2 of Homeland ...obviously the money people are not ready to share it yet with non subscribers.
I think this will be a dry day in our area...sun is out. Time to cut down a Passion flower vine(jungle) that fell off the fence during the winds.
Argyle: Great Write-up. Good job pitch-hitting for Marti.
C.C. & Dennis: Thank you for a FUN Thursday offering. (Nice debut, Dennis).
Dudley: Happy Birthday.
PACE was the last to fall (off that 'A' in ACK). Whole mug-of-java solve. Guess I was pacing myself.
My gimmie of the day was the Form-706 being for the ESTATE TAX.
Filled out probably a hundred over the years.
Only nit, having VETERAN as a clue (10-D) and VET as an answer (56-A).
A "toast" to all at Sunset.
Cheers !!!
PS BRR !!! It's down to 63 degrees here.
Hi Y'all, Very interesting puzzle, C.C. & Dennis! I Unfortunately, I got creative and mangled the NE 2/3. I'm proud of what I did get though. Three out of four theme lines and the reveal ain't bad for me on Thursday.
Santa, you are the gift that keeps on giving! Thanks for straightening me out.
I didn't figure out who D. Ryall was until I hit BRA--oh, that Dennis!
My big hangup was putting in SCOffS then an "E" on ADELe. No clue about a Euro fraction. For 23A I ended up with NOt OffTen____. I was thinking along the ORDER of not being effective, since so many women are maimed after getting the ORDER. Couldn't come up with a word. Had ORDER, thought it was wrong.
DEKE? DEKE? Is that hocky? I wanted an "axel".
Ptooey on PTERO! I tried "aero" even made a big A to spread into both squares. Alas, didn't fit!
Happy Birthday, Dudley! May all your flights be smooth!
Hello everybody. Great collaboration, you two, and thank you.
Stumbled several times during the solve, which I often do on Thursdays and later. Had ADELE at 7D and NOCONTE___ at 23A, so I wanted NO CONTEST something, but then, like Yellowrocks, I realized that is a defendant's plea, not a judge's order. Changing ADELE to ADELA helped out there.
Also stumbled in the DEKE (wanted axel or lutz there), PTERO, ACK area.
Man oh man, I have to run fast to keep up with the mechanations of your mind, C.C. You seem to be a high GEAR person.
Happy birthday, Dudley, and best wishes to you all.
Good afternoon, everyone! What a delightful C.C. + Dennis collaboration!! (Mari @ 8:14 – LOL at your comment about Dennis’ “side” job, though I think of him as more of a “front” man myself.) The theme eluded me until the reveal, then it took a long time to finally find ACTOR hidden in 23A. Loved the cluing for TOTO. W-a-y overthought “Apple, for one” and gave myself a li’l head slap when TREE became obvious. Great write-up, Argyle / Santa / Mr. Rogers (lovely thought, Anony Mouse.) Thanks for ‘splaining DEKE; hope I can remember it next time.
Happy Birthday to Dudley – Clear skies and soft landings! Nice photo of you and your lovely bride.
The young folks (daughters and SIL) are headed out to a movie, so DH and I are babysitting 3-month-old granddaughter solo for the first time. Wheeee!
Have a wonderful day, all.
Dennis
When I saw your name (with C.C.) as the co-constructor, my first thought was:
"I wonder where he hid the BRA."
Also liked how you had LAP-AT crossing ORAL ... Rimshot
You get the first "toast" (and "It's 5 o'clock somewhere!")
Cheers !!!
Hey guys, thanks for all the great comments. We've een on the other side of the state on Sanibel Island so. I'll have more later today.
Happy Birthday Dudley
I saw this waterfall on Facebook today, & just had to share it....
CC & Dennis, well i wish i could say i aced your puzzle, but my neighbor came over in need of a ride to pick up his car. I was eating a sandwich while doing the puzzle, & to keep him occupied, i kept bouncing clues off him. Dang it if he didn't get every one!
CED - It looks like that cake's plane could use a Moyle(mohel).
Fermatprime: I can identify with your dietary need being ignored. I got to the lunch with son & DIL and found not one thing on the table that didn't have an ingredient to which I am allergic. My daughter-in-law is a fantastic cook and everything was delicious. In honor of peace on earth, I smacked up everything and otherwise keep my mouth shut. Agony later.
What really hurt was having to cancel my meeting with my brothers and their wives because I was too sick to eat again. We may try that again in a few weeks when they get back from Florida.
Thank you Argyle - you are a rock. And C.C. and Dennis, you rock, too! Cool puzzle, and I loved the theme reveal - I don't think I would ever have figured it out without that bit.
Dudley - Happy Birthday! I hope it was really special for you.
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.
Pinto, LOL! I didn't see that. When i linked it, it was just a tiny little pic...
Hi gang -
HBD Dudley. Today is oldest grandson Danny's 16th. They're turning into adults. It's terrifying.
Wow! CC and Dennis. What could be better. Congrats for this fine Thus offering. Love the reveal + what Tinbeni said.
Wanted ALAR- for PTERO and E.T. for TOTO. Granddaughter Rebekka is going to be an Apple TREE in an upcoming production of the Wizard of Oz.
Went with Gloria today to pick out her new eyeglass frames and there was a little girl there making an amazing SCENE - total melt down. Very impressive.
Thanks for filling in Argyle. You are amazing!
Cool regards!
JzB
CC and Dennis - what fun for me- us! Outstanding puzzle. Loved the solve and the new word for me DEKE.
Happy Birthday, Dudley! and many more.
Good excitement and Argyle, you rock!
Hope you're rested Marti. You give it your all.
Good afternoon folks. Thank you, C.C. and Dennis, for a swell Thursday puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a great review.
Took me a while to get through this. I am quite ill with a head cold and no spunk.
Got through most of this with no problem. My hangup was the NW. I wrote in LYRIC OPERA for 17A. That was my downfall.
I get the theme, except for COP. A COP is usually an outside job. It can be an inside job.
DEKE was easy for 42A.
Wrote in STA for 36D. Fixed that to STN.
Thank goodness the only french word was FRANCE for 39D.
RASTA was perped.
Liked PTERO. Took me a while to get, however.
Happy birthday, Dudley.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
35D Two-piece piece: BRA: "Nothing to say"? Isn't it a bit dirty?
Of greater concern are the next clue and answer, 36D, RR depot: STN. If the clue calls for an abbreviation for "Station" (or "Arrival" or "Departure" point) and the answer begins with D, it's always DEP (for depot). But when "depot" is part of the clue or another clue calls for an answer beginning with S, we've been getting a lot of STN's lately instead of STA's. Shouldn't there be some standards?
This was a DNF thanks to Deke and Pace. However, we did better than we usually do on Thurs.
Belated "Happy Birthday" to all the recent honorees. I hope the coming year is the best you've had in many years, Fermi.
I was quite surprised to see our picture yesterday. I believe I read that your restaurant is expanding, Andrea. Congrats on your success.
You were ALMOST right with our ages, CC. Irv will be 99 in Mar.; I will be 85 in Apr. I'm happy to report that our health is improving. Still can't find a cause for my anemia but at least the count is not so low & is holding steady.
Dot
ARBOR crossing TREE, nice.
Appletree by crossword friendly Erykah Badu
Does your Blogger interface look different? The comment box is at the bottom now for me. Seems awkward.
We just got back from seeing "Lincoln." It was quite good and deserving of whatever awards come its way. That being said, I have some other thoughts.
* It is fairly long (two hours, 30 minutes). I find any movie over two hours tends to make me antsy.
* Parking can be iffy. We got lucky. It would be easier during the week after the holiday season is past.
* These theaters have gone to assigned seating. Dunno why. If the theater is not crowded, it certainly doesn't accomplish anything. It takes longer to sell tickets. I like to sit on the aisle and all those seats were taken.
* I enjoy seeing movies on the big screen. However, if I'm willing to wait a couple of months, I'll be able to see it on cable. Having a DVR and a decent HD TV has spoiled me. Plus, when I need a short break, I can get up and type on my computer as I'm doing now. Then I can get up when I get antsy. Going pee is definitely more convenient.
Bumppo @6:11
"BRA ... Isn't it a bit dirty?"
No worse than your trips behind the barn, with your Dad's Playboy. Grow-Up!!!
Geez, BRA is "standard" crossword fare.
Made "famous" here at the Corner by Dennis and his "on the side, profession" ... LOL !!!
Hi Kids, WEES
NO CONTEST here too.
Congrats to C.C. and Dennis.
How very special that we are honored to have such talented constructors right HERE!
This is an exciting day for C.C.'s Corner. Well done, you two.
Husker Gary - Ooops! Pineapple recipe will be winging its way to you shortly.
CED - Now that's what I call a waterfall, gorgeous!
Puzzle not a stroll in the park for me, after I changed hunger to FEED ME at 47D I was able to wrap her up. Didn't help that I kept reading 1A as steer like. DOH!
What a great puzzle, and wonderful construction crew. leave it to our Dennis to include BRA as an answer! (Pretty sure that wasn't C.C.)
My favorite clue was the one for TOTO! Hand up for ACH and BEAR. I had never heard of a DEKE; will have to remember that one.
We enjoyed temps just above zero today, but now it is -2. Everyone is saying "thank goodness there's no wind" to make the windchills really nasty.
Stay warm, everyone, and enjoy the evening.
Bill G. - you mentioned that the Blogger comment box appears at the bottom of your screen. I noticed the same thing when viewing on a smart phone or tablet; however, when viewing on my laptop, the comment box is still at the top of the screen. Maybe they just changed the mobile interface?
Bill G. @ 7:14
My comment box has been on the bottom for about 8 months now, ever since i changed the zoom to 110% to make the type a little easier to read. Every time you change the type/screen size, the comment box winds up somewhere else.
Also, when i open the blog page, it goes straight to the bottom, & the comment box, & I have to scroll all the way back up to the top if i want to read it from the beginning. But if i use my wifes Ipad, it opens straight to the top/1st entry.
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A farmer could not understand how his cows were getting out each night, so he set up a camera & discovered it was an inside job...
Good evening, gang, and thanks again for the great comments -- although I'm sure you know that C.C. does the bulk of the work in these collaborations. We got pretty lucky in getting our first one accepted by Rich, and incredibly lucky in getting accepted by Will Shortz on the first shot. I'm stopping while I'm ahead, and so I can focus more on my 'front' job (thanks, Java Mama).
creature, great to see you; hope your spirits are improving.
Lucina, actually business is sagging a bit (remember, the population is older down here).
Tinbeni, I like your thinking.
And I do appreciate those folks who follow the adage, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all." Always good advice.
Spent a couple 'spur of the moment' days on Sanibel Island, "the shelling capital of the world". Pretty neat experience; highly recommended.
Again, thanks - you guys are great.
Java Mama, good guess except that I'm on the same desktop iMac and the same browser that I've been using right along.
CED, damn! I don't remember changing the type size but I just made everything one notch smaller and the comment box jumped back to the top. Damn again! Thanks.
What a fun treat from CC and Dennis. Deke was my last fill, and a wag at that.
Dot, nice to see you! Our restaurant is expanding - will be finished Jan 10. Maybe we can have another Madison meetup!
Happy birthday, Dudley.
What a great puzzle by our own CC and Dennis. So proud of you two. Congratulations to both of you.
And thank you, Santa Baby, for your stepping in for Marti. I hope she's ok. You obviously are better than fine and recovered from your hard night. You truly rock!
Thought this was perfect for an end of week offering. The theme completely escaped me but that's not unusual. The NE corner and center stumped me but eventually the perps came through and made it clear.
Dennis: Had to laugh at BRA being here. Guess the Boob and Lube is still up-lifting. Loved Lucina's comment about your handsome pic and your strong hands. I'd take my DD's there. Then I really LMAO at your sagging business. Maybe when it warms up again, business will perk up even be over-flowing.
Fun puzzle. The Dynamite Duo hit a homerun! Thank you. Congratulsations!
Happy Birthday, Dudley. Happy Trails and safe landings to you.
A police officer sees a man driving around with a pickup truck full of penguins.
He pulls the guy over and says, "You can't drive around with penguins in this town!
Take them to the zoo immediately."
The guy says okay, and drives away.
The next day, the officer sees the guy still driving around with the truck full of penguins -
- and they're all wearing sunglasses. He pulls the guy over and demands,
"I thought I told you to take these penguins to the zoo yesterday?"
The guy replies, "I did. Today I'm taking them to the beach!"
~ Latest survey shows that 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the world's population.
Lois, it's good to hear from you again. How's the weather in your part of Virginia? One of the baristas in the coffee shop I visit goes to school in Blacksburg. Is that near you? My father used to take the family camping in Douthat State Park. That's near Clifton Forge, Covington, Lynchburg and Roanoke. Near you?
Good night...
Lemonade,
Probably in 2 years' time. Long waiting in NY Times.
Linda,
Ha ha. Dennis is likely my last "fling".
Creature et al,
Thanks for the sweet comments.
TWO YEARS?!?!? Wow
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