Words: 70
Blocks: 34
Well,
it certainly looked intimidating, and if it weren't for a few long
answer WAGs, I think I would have never gotten a foothold; as it turned
out, I still had to red-letter one cell in order to complete the grid,
but still, a good mental workout from our regular Saturday constructor.
The big spanners:
29A. Study of change? : NUMISMATICS - the study of collectible coins, or "change"; also paper money and medals, according to the dictionary - might be a wheat penny in my pile....
35A. 1971 crime thriller with four sequels : DIRTY HARRY - "Well, do ya, punk~?" - and a clecho 8D. 35-Across, e.g.: Abbr. : DETective Harry Callahan
40A. Some annual victims : APRIL FOOLS - the best one on me was when someone, who will remain nameless, rubber-banded the sprayer on the faucet; I went to make coffee, and....
44A. Rookies : NEW RECRUITS
And two 10-letter climbers;
12D. Show with jumping : FLEA CIRCUS
28D. 1954 film based on the short story "It Had to Be Murder" : REAR WINDOW - Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; strangely, in looking up Farmer's Wife (see 11D.), that, too, was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, too, 1928
On~ward~!
ACROSS:
1. One who heads south for the winter : SNOWBIRD - there are a lot of snowbirds in my 12-step program; most of the ones I know are in Fla right now
9. Try to reach : AIM FOR - started with ATTAIN, then ASK FOR
15. 1959 Mystics song title word repeated before "Oh my darlin' don't you cry" : HUSHABYE - it really is repeated, but not nearly as much as the "oh"s at the beginning
16. Legendary Irish princess : ISOLDE - clued different from what you'd see mid-week
17. Modern means of connecting : ETHERNET - I threw in INTernet, and that was good enough to get going
18. Attach, in a way : GLUE ON - I tried GRAB on, until I got "fleas"
19. Job follow-up? : PSALMS
- ( OK, I cheated, sort of; I have a list of Bible books, and I caught
on to the misdirection "J-oh-B", not "J-ah-B", but can't remember one
book from the 'next' - literally
20. Unvarying : SAME - Had SANE; well, it could be....
21. Pinkish yellow : PEACH
24. "Island in the Sun" novelist Waugh : ALEC
26. ATM initials : NCR
33. Steams : IRES
36. Defunct defense gp. : SEATO
38. Cultural prog. funder : NEA
39. Reduces to bits : RICES - not Dices
43. Romance novel emotion : LUST - what, not "LOVE"~?
46. P and Q, in D.C. : STs - Map, North of the White House
47. __-Z: collectible Camaro : IROC
48. Govt. issue : T-NOTE - not T-BOND
50. Last Stuart queen : ANNE
52. Full-bodied : ROBUST
56. United : WEDDED - not JOINed
59. Shimmer with color : OPALESCE
61. Get excited : AROUSE - been reading those "romance novels" again~???
62. Novelist Chinua Achebe, by birth : NIGERIAN
63. Southern legume : COWPEA - Learning moment
64. Rock from a sock : SEE STARS - Nice rhyme; took me a minute to grasp the idea of rocking from being socked by a punch
DOWN:
1. Old-time bandleader Fields : SHEP
2. "Dang!" : NUTS
3. Org. concerned with whistleblower laws : OSHA
4. Whippersnapper : WHELP
5. They mix well : BARMEN
6. 1930s-'50s Arabian monarch : IBN SAUD
7. Sourdough alternative : RYE
9. Bailed-out insurance co. : AIG
- right after the '08 collapse, my investment club bought into these
guys, and when they got their bail-out money, we benefited, too.
10. Easter, for one: Abbr. : ISLand - I knew this, but my ATTAIN was messing me up
11. Souvenir for the farmer's wife? : MOUSE TAIL - I did not know this - the Wiki
13. NBA forward Lamar __ : ODOM
14. Actress Russo : RENE
22. Key of Beethoven's Fifth : C MINOR - I didn't need "the rules" for this clue; I had -MIN-- to start; still had to wait on the "C", though
23. Work for a fee : HIRE OUT
24. March of fiction : AMY
25. "If I Were King of the Forest" singer : LAHR - The Wizard of Oz
26. Month after Adar : NISAN - Hebrew calendar
27. Party paper : CREPE
30. Yalta conferee : STALIN
31. Wave peak : CREST
32. Methods: Abbr. : SYSTemS
34. Agitated : STIRRED UP
37. Dairy case item : OLEO
41. TV monitor : FCC - Good misdirection; technically, TV is an abbreviation for TeleVision
42. Flash drive function : STORAGE
45. Wraps : STOLES
49. 1975 Pulitzer winner for criticism : EBERT - Roger, the "thumbs up" film critic; more learning for me
50. "Never Wave at __": 1953 film : A WAC - IMDb
51. Poppaea's husband : NERO
53. Former VOA overseer : USIA - United States Information Agency, and the Voice of America - more here
54. Lingering sign : SCAR
55. Second place? : TENS - as in 142,857
57. -speak : ESE
58. Traffic reporter?: Abbr. : DEA - Drug traffic, and the Drug Enforcement Agency - reminds me of this video, which tells a pretty good story
59. Switch positions : ONs
60. Bake-off entry : PIE
Splynter
Splynter: Excellent write-up & links. Here, in Tampa Bay, I have a 4 step program.
ReplyDeleteCongrats again on making it to 8 years on Jan. 8th.
Silky, Ya almost got me with the NIGERIAN, can't believe my "perps" came to the rescue.
(Make no mistake, my grid does look like an Ink Blot, but my write-overs were solid!)
All-in-all, a FUN Saturday offering, Thank you Barry Silk.
Time for some sleep.
A "toast" to all at Sunrise?
Cheers !!!
Splynter, Special Thank-you for the "Smuggler's Blues" link.
ReplyDeleteOK, in honor of DIRTY HARRY ...
I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING (0:28) lol
Silky, a very satisfying puzzle, very smooth and quick to solve. I loved annual victims/APRIL FOOLS, souvenir for the farmer's wife,/MOUSE TAIL, traffic reporter/DEA. I was on your wave length and rolled right through this with only two slight hiccups. ODOM was all perps. When I changed Internet to ETHERNET I was home free. That enabled wags for HUSHABYE and SHEP.
ReplyDeleteSplynter, fine write up. Your Mystics link brought back youthful memories. Although I didn’t know the song the style was so familiar.
It’s 5 AM here. I’ll be able to get an early start today and hopefully I will get things done.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteChallenging, but mostly smooth Saturday Silkie. All of the tricky clues gave me pause, as usual, but I managed to get all of them with a little thought.
Biggest struggle was in the NW. Didn't know SHEP. Never heard of HUSHABYE. IBN FAUD was on the outer fringe of my knowledge (but still there, fortunately) and BARMEN just seemed wrong (I've only ever heard them called BARTENDERS, personally). It took a lot of cogitation and WAGs to get through that mess, but I managed to finally do so.
Any puzzle with OPALESCE and NUMISMATICS in it is a winner in my book, btw. I've returned to the joy of coin collecting in recent years after a long absence, now that my son is old enough to share the hobby with me. And OPALESCE is just a fantastic word, period.
I figured it was about time for a Saturday Silkie. The NW was the toughest section for me, too. I immediately thought SNOWBIRD for 1A, but I held off, and it turned out to be my final entry.
ReplyDeleteWas it FAUD or SAUD? PSALMS settled it. MOUSE TAIL came to me immediately; isn't that the Three Stooges theme song?
Back in the '60's the USIA had a huge antenna farm in southern CA and beamed US progaganda all over the world from there. If they were to shut off their transmitters, the Russians would almost instantly come up on that frequency. So when they weren't broadcasting VOA, they'd broadcast Armed (later American) Forces Radio programs to the troops overseas.
Either Barry was having an off day or Rich felt pity on the unwashed for yesterday's brute. Either way, this was the easiest Silkie I can recall.
ReplyDeleteNot a speed run, but any means. But an amble from start to finish with no major sticking points. I'm usually all over the grid with a Silkie, but in this case it was methodical, going from quadrant to quadrant. It took a lot of wags, but every one was correct. ANd the only real unknown was USIA, but all the perps were rock solid, so it had to be.
Thanks for the enjoyable puzzle, Barry, and thanks for the writeup Splynter as well as Congratulations.
Silky smooth and a nice sashay today with excellent commentary from Splynter.
ReplyDeleteSNOWBIRDS are here in huge numbers from October to April so that was an easy fill. And though I AIM FOR perfection, NCR fouled me up as I thought PISAN instead of NISAN. I should memorize those months.
NIGERIAN also fooled me so had to research that and didn't realize REAR WINDOW was based on a novel so more research.
But 90% was quite doable, thank you, Barry Silk.
Job follow-up was a nice misdirection as was show with jumping, FLEA CIRCUS and my favorite, rock from a sock, SEE STARS.
Have a stupendous Saturday, everyone! I'm returning to bed.
Good morning all. I got the TA-DA and it was well earned. Some of the long entries were immediate, such as SNOWBIRD, ISOLDE and intERNET :>, But SHEP AND IBNSAUD were total unknowns that came via the perps when I finally filled in WHELP and BARMEN.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest thing that slowed me down in that area is that I'm always in trouble when you get far from the primary colors. I had conCH instead of PEACH. Conch sounds like one of those Crayola colors to me.
At 52A, I thought of Jane Russell. I wonder why ? 55A OPALESCE was no problem. Do any of the other denizens of the Corner have pieces of opalescent glass ? I have a few pieces. Less than 20, so not much of a collection, but some are prized.
Did anyone else notice the misspelling at 28D. Looks like the second word is spelled backwards.
D-O, did you see the gov't warning about Java ? It's trending on the net. Am disabling mine now.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Splynter, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteSo exactly how did that APRIL FOOLS gag work, Splynter? One year my late husband’s sister-in-law called us at 6 AM to tell us that his brother had been in a bad car accident. Of course, we both gave her a hard time, saying “Yeah, yeah – ‘April Fool’”…but it turns out, he had been in a car accident and it was no joke! We got teased about that for years afterward.
Hand up for ETHERNET starting out as intERNET. But my FLEA CIRCUS (loved that entry!) also started out as “equestrian.” So I had to sink to the bottom and work my way back up before I got all that straightened out. I worked it on paper, so no red letter help and no lookups – yay!
TTP, LOL at your comment on 28D. Yes, I thought it should be WODNIW, too!!
Have a great start of the weekend everyone!
SNOW BIRD started me off great and then the work/fun began. Like many things in life Silkies take effort but are so rewarding when finished!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Loved NUMISMATICS, PSALMS, FCC, TENS
-I had trouble believing Grace Kelly could be happy with anyone living in Jimmy Stewart’s tiny apartment with that REAR WINDOW.
-My brother and I spent many golden hours trying to GLUE ON Revel model cars!
-Hebrew letters and months are tough but usually gettable for me. Oy vey!
-I just finished my cup of ROBUST java
-I had WELDED first, Splynter
-OPALESCE is one of those words I didn’t (soon don’t) know but what else is it going to be?
-The last time I did SEE STARS I caught an 85 mph fast ball with my forehead. Speaking of stupid…
-Don’t you think of the Battle of the Bulge when you hear “NUTS”?
-The History Channel periodically has shows that postulate that the Easter ISL. statues were left by aliens
-The former FCC Chairman Newton Minnow is famous for calling TV a vast wasteland. What does it say about us when commercial TV makes big money but some fine art takes an NEA grant?
-I’m off to the 2013 Midwest International Auto Show in Omaha. This is the sixth year in a row for me and a certain 4th grader! Good times!
Well, I'm back to being frustrated by Saturday puzzles. I got SNOWBIRD and HUSHABYE right off the bat so, cruelly as it turned out, I had hope. Then I somehow (guesses and perps) got everything but the last two letters in COWPEA (seems obvious now?) and the perps were no help (ESE would never have occurred to me). So, approaching 30 minutes, I turned on the red letters only to see I had also erred with SEMISTATICS (whose starting "s" work with a plural answer for 5Down's "they" but not so much with AMY March). So: close but no TaDa. [DNF]
ReplyDelete12 down comes from the lyrics of "Three Blind Mice"- " they all went after the farmer's wife, she cut off their tails with a carving knife..."
ReplyDeleteI finished in my usual Saturday time with no cheats (Yesterday fully defeated me though) and I only really showed up to the blog to figure out what "Second place?" was about, because I still didn't get it even after solving. Now I get it, but I don't like it.
ReplyDeleteTesty Saturday romp. COWPEA and MOUSETAIL was what fit but it took me a while as I never heard of either. TENS was totally weak. BARMEN.. didn't like clue. BTW Barry, King Fahd (not Faud) was King Saud's son.
ReplyDeleteGoing to go ride me bike. 54 degrees here in Chicago.
I finished with lack of red letter help. The NW was mostly white; my musical knowledge had let me down. (no Hushabye) So I turned on the red letters to verify that SNOWBIRD was correct. Managed to finish and not get a red letter but it helps to know immediately your WAGs are right.
ReplyDeleteThe rubber band trick is a classic.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a kitchen sink with a seperate sprayer, you tighten a rubber band around the lever on the nozzle and point it toward the front center of the sink(where the person will be standing). The next person to turn on the water will get blasted by a stream of water. Depending on their height it's possible to soak them in a very funny area. Not to mention that it startles the hell out of you.
Video
TTP, thanks for the heads up. I hadn't seen the warning. Few of the apps I run require Java, so I went ahead and removed it from my PC. I'll reinstall if/when Oracle fixes the problem. I wonder if Android devices are affected. And, if so, what the heck can you do about it?
ReplyDeleteJJM, I was the spelling-challenged individual, not Barry.
Good morning:
ReplyDeleteUnlike some other solvers, I found this to be the hardest Silkie in a long time. Northwest and Southwest were particularly slow in filling in. But, with a lot of patience and perseverance, I finished w/o help. A great accomplishment after yesterday's " thumping."
Thanks, Mr. Silk, for a challenging Saturday and thanks, Splynter, for a charming expo. (What I like about Barry's puzzles is at first they seem so intimidating you
think you'll never finish without help, but with enough time and effort, you eventually get that oh-so-satisfying TA-DA!)
BTW, were any of you TBBT fans as disappointed in Thursday"s episode as I was. I thought it was ridiculous and one of the least funny shows I have ever watched.
Have a super Saturday.
The Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary says that BARMAN is chiefly British for bartender. I found BARMAN (MEN) in many American dictionaries. The LAT puzzles have had quite a few British words, such as pram, etc. late in the week.
ReplyDeleteI taught elementary school math students. In discussing whole numbers, i.e. integers, we taught that counting from right to left the first place is the ones place and the SECOND PLACE is the TENS place. The answer was second nature to me.
Good afternoon Weekend Warriors! Nice to see we’re back on solid ground with a terrific Saturday Silkie. Thanks for a witty expo, Splynter, and congrats on your 8th Soberversary (great link, Avg Joe).
ReplyDeleteAnother technical DNF today since IBNSAaD and NaMISMATICS seemed plausible – should have looked them up. WLS (what Lucina said) about the misdirection for PSALMS, FLEA CIRCUS and SEE STARS. My dear departed stepdad was a legendary prankster for whom APRIL FOOLS Day was practically a religious holiday. Fortunately, he could take a joke as well as dish it out – like the time “someone” sewed the flies in all his undershorts shut.
DH is making use of the 60-degree temps to take down our outdoor Christmas lights. Always makes me nervous when he’s up on the roof, especially when it’s been raining. Guess it beats trying to do it in the ice and snow, right?
Have a lovely weekend, everyone!
Another challenging but doable Saturday Silkie puzzle. Thanks, Barry! Great write-up, Splynter! On the first pass through, had only 6 answers filled in, but eventually got it without cheats.
ReplyDeleteI especially like what Husker Gary said at 8:30 AM: “SNOW BIRD started me off great and then the work/fun began. Like many things in life Silkies take effort but are so rewarding when finished!”
Pretty much what Splynter said and WEES. Lots of misdirection. Lots of clues required some thinking and help from the perps. But that made it fun and challenging!
17A had internet before ETHERNET, 29A had numismatism before NUMISMATICS, 39A had dices before RICES, 43A had love before LUST, 44A had raw recruits before NEWRECRUITS, 48A had c note before TNOTE, 50A had Mary before ANNE, and 10D had hol before ISL. Lots of inkblots today, but finally got there!
My heart always sinks when I see a "dreaded Silkie" on a Saturday morning, but thanks to Marti's encouragement a while back, I am getting much better at them. I got SNOWBIRD right away and before long had 3/4 finished before I had to start cheating a little. It helped that a number of clues evoked children's stories, films, rhymes: AMY March from "Little Women," Bert LAHR from "The Wizard of Oz," "Three Blind Mice." And it was lovely to see a reference to REAR WINDOW, one of my favorite movies of all time. Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart were wonderful, as was Raymond Burr. So thanks, Mr. S, and you too, Splynter, for the helpful write-up.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend, everybody!
@ Irish Miss 10:51 AM, I am a big TBBT fan too. And I agree that it is not as funny this year as the old shows. Maybe different writers. Maybe TBBT has run too long. I don’t know why. But if you don’t like it, remember you always have choices. You can change the channel. You can watch TBBT re-runs on TBS. You can turn off the TV.
ReplyDeleteSplynter, is there any significance to the number 142,857?
ReplyDelete8 x 365 = 2920 nope...
2920 x 24 = 70,080 not it...
well, i'll just ask.
Like Yellowrocks, I had no problem with TENS as that is how I taught numerical placement in math, first place, ONES, second place, Tens, etc.
ReplyDeleteMisty, congratulations on going forward with Saturday solving! Persistence and perseverance are the path to success, I believe, in life and in puzzling.
Hello everybody. I echo what most of you have already said: a fabulous, excellently-constructed, clever, witty, fun-to-solve, not at all a coughy sneezy headachy helps-you-to-sleep puzzle. I loved it. Awesome fill, such as NUMISMATICS, MOUSE TAIL, and HUSHABYE, and some laugh-out-loud clues.
ReplyDeleteWhat with the weather being so cold recently, DW and I have been semi-joking about becoming snowbirds, but a look at the national weather map shows that the Phoenix, Arizona, area is pretty doggone chilly now too! Not gonna rush into buying a house there just yet.
Best wishes to you all.
After yesterday's fiasco, it was nice to see a Silkie. For once, I was on Barrys wavelength and picked my way through it. I, too, thought that NUMISTATICS was a pretty cool word in a puzzle. Only write over was OLEO insead of OrEO. Thinking OREO ice cream?!?!? At least puzzles can be fun again.
ReplyDeleteI find that many times I can't think of what answer would satisfy the clue until, through the solving of some perps, the answer emerges. Then I often think, "Ahh, so that's it. Of course! Makes sense." Such was my reaction to "Second place" and "-speak".
ReplyDeleteJayce, OK, for four days this week, we are supposed to be below freezing, but generally, PHX winters are pretty nice!!! (summers are a bit toasty)
ReplyDeleteWhoops, I meant NUMISMATICS...
ReplyDeleteVairnut, yeah, summertime there is pretty toasty! I agree winters there are generally pretty nice. We have family in Tempe whom we visit once or twice a year, so we've been there in summer, fall, and winter. My wife wilts in the summer heat, and even I, who loves warm weather, am worn down by the summer heat there. I think if we were to live in Arizona, I would check out places like Cottonwood and Jerome. Flagstaff is nice, but there's not much to do there that we haven't already done, it's very cold in wintertime, and it's literally breathtaking at 7000 feet!
ReplyDeleteWhen my parents were still alive, living in Tucson, we visited there a few times a year, too. It is generally about 10 degrees cooler there than in Phoenix; still damn hot, though. I was chatting once with a neighbor there, a grizzled desert-rat kind of guy, and asked him why he doesn't wear a hat in the sun like so many people do. He replied, "I like the sun. I guess I'm about 90% plant."
Gee, now I feel bad ...
ReplyDeleteJust came in from hand-washing the CRZ, while wearing shorts, a T-Shirt and barefooted.
Winter's are Hell in Tampa Bay.
Jayce:
ReplyDeleteI echo what vairmut said but you should know that cold winter temps prevail for about two weeks. That is the extent of our winter.
Tinbeni, yeah, but I hear the mosquitoes are a bitch.
ReplyDeleteLucina, yes, you're right.
DNF today, but really liked this one.
ReplyDeleteGot all the long answers, but
NCR/NISAN and OPALSESCE stumped me.
Went back and saw 124 comments for yesterday's puzzle. LOL!!
Stirred up a lot of talk. Hope I get time to read them all.
Have a good day, all!
Pinto, I have no idea why Splynter glommed onto that particular number. But as a decimal, 0.142857 = 1/7. It's a repeating decimal so it's really 0.142857142857142857....etc. To see something interesting, also check out the decimal equivalents of 2/7 thru 6/7.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, folks. Thank you, Barry Silk, for a great puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for a swell review.
ReplyDeleteWorked this traveling to Quincy, IL, today. Fun puzzle.
Enjoyed the long answers. Lots of hard work for the constructor.
Thought NUMISMATICS was pretty good. FLEA CIRCUS as well.
SNOW BIRD applies to this time of year.
I have a lot to do in Quincy. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Yes, this one was fun after yesterday's disaster! Of course starting out with SNOWBIRD was great. Good Canadian song by Gene MacLellan rocketed a young Anne Murray's career to stardom.
ReplyDeleteHand-up for DICES (I guess RICES makes smaller bits!)
Don't know COWPEAS - recipes anyone?
Loved April fool and see stars but didn't get Easter Island meaning until I read the blog.
Warm weather here today (for us!) and dirt was unfrozen enough so that I was able to pull the Christmas bows and ornaments out of the pots of greenery in front of the house.
I guess I can see cowpeas being a stumper, but to a gardener that grows them, it pops right up. Nothing more than blackeyed peas. Or peas, as southerners would call them (as opposed to English peas). In the seed rack they are always identified first as "cowpeas".
ReplyDeleteCanadianEh!
ReplyDeleteGood choice.
Snowbird
Except she sings of the snowbird that comes with the snow, not to avoid it. Our snowbirds. Juncos.
Buckeye Bob @ 11:55 - Yes, I know I don't have to watch TBBT, but I guess I am a masochist, hoping each week that it will be back to its old funny self. As far as the reruns, I think I have seen every single episode at least 5 times. Either the show has new writers or else they have run out of funny story lines. Whatever the reason, I really miss the "old" Sheldon and his gang.
ReplyDeleteMisty @ 11:30, before you know it, you will be rubbing your hands in glee every time you see a Barry Silk byline!
ReplyDeleteCanadianEh! And Argyle, great song sung by Anne Murray. I haven’t seen any Juncos this year – we usually get them, as well as cardinals around our house. Maybe they all decided to retire permanently to the South this year?
Good Saturday Silkie. I had all the blocks filled in, even though some were filled in wrong! but still fun. Love those "aha" moments when you figure out the answer for "rock from a sock" or "traffic reporter".
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Splynter! BTW, is your blog name from a cartoon series??
I'm kind of envious of my SNOWBIRD friends. With wind chills approaching -40 here, it's a great day to be snuggled up with a good crossword. Maybe later we'll watch a DIRTY HARRY on Netflix.
Irish Miss, I kind of enjoyed TTBT a little more this week, but agree that it is lacking something this season.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marti and Lucina! The encouragement from blog friends is one of the things that makes our Corner so special!
ReplyDeleteAfter yesterday, I feel a little guilty about some of the negative remarks about that puzzle. Funny, with a few little changes, it might have been one of my favorites. All Ian or Rich would have had to do to fix the theme (for me) is to find a better way to connect the two adjacent clues so I would notice that one was read up and one down. Then if they found some way to replace JAVAS and reclue NAMES, I'd have been a really happy camper.
ReplyDeleteHey Jayce, if you are serious about moving somewhere with really nice weather, I don't think you can find anywhere better than the southern California coast between San Diego and Santa Barbara. The property values are high though you recoup when you sell. No mosquitoes either.
Tinbini (and others), do you know the algebra about why that little mindreading trick works?
I think if somebody pulled that faucet trick on me twice, I'd be looking for a new friend.
Qli:
ReplyDeleteI am a Netflix fan, also. Just watched "Bernie" with Jack Black and Shirley MacLain (sp?). It is based on a true story and is what I would consider a dark comedy. Jack Black is superb but I couldn't get over how much weight he has put on since I saw him in Holiday with Carmen Diaz, Jude Law, and Kate Winslet. He is just huge. Anyway, check out the synopsis to see if it appeals to you. I really enjoyed it.
Thanks for the Saturday puzzle and Splyter's explantions. A DNF but I improve as I practice.
ReplyDeleteWe get Junco's here for the winter. They like to eat 'under my picnic table' rather than on top or from feeders.
Abejo, why are you in Quincy, IL? My daughter attended Quincy University for four years. She was able to return for a reunion with friends a few months ago.
Montana
Hi Y'all, Oh, Happy Day! WOOHOO! I actually did a Saturday Silkie! First time ever! I rechecked the name to make sure it was Silk, I couldn't believe it! I almost didn't try to do it after yesterday's disaster.
ReplyDeleteI was very tired after carrying in groceries. Maybe all the freezing air I was gulping super-oxygenated my brain. And I was watching a basketball game while I worked so I wasn't concentrating fully.
Thank you, Splynter, for assuring me that those answers I thought must be wrong, weren't.
Well, I gotta go see if Kansas can beat Texas Tech.
If my friend got so upset at a little water and a funny harmless joke, I think the end of our friendship would be a mutual decision.
ReplyDeleteI have performed that prank and been the recipient many, many times. It is funny every time.
I also loved the clue roc from a sock...very clever.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this puzzle. I was able to do most without googling.
Watching football..very cold in Denver.. glad to be in warm Texas..
Irish Miss,
ReplyDeleteI loved the movie Bernie.. My friend's aunt is in the movie. She lives in Carthage Texas.. and knew the real Bernie....
Jack Black is great..
Rent the movie..
Barbara got a big of clementines (a variety of manderin orange) at Costco last visit. They are spectacularly good; easy to peel, seedless, really sweet and juicy. When I used to walk Jordan in his stroller (to try to convince him he was sleepy), we would pass a neighbor with manderin oranges growing on a dwarf tree. I would help myself to one or two that had fallen on the ground. Hard to beat.
ReplyDeleteDear Ima, If both of you were laughing, then it was a good joke. If you were the only one, then not so much.
Congratulations on your Silky solve, PK. Good for you, Misty. You are getting better and better.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your long sobriety, Splynter.
We haven't seen any of our usual juncos this winter. Thanks for the Snowbird clip, CanadianEH.
Montana:
ReplyDeleteI am in Quincy with the Knights Templar. Had a big meeting (conclave) today. On our way back now. 5 hour drive. They have a beautiful Masonic Temple here. Four stories tall. Great architecture. Right across the Mississippi from Hannibal, MO. Mark Twain's stomping grounds.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
Just back from my book club meeting. Our next book is The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. Has anyone here read it?
ReplyDeleteHello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteHyper late today. It was a technical DNF again - I couldn't stop thinking nouns for "Rocks from a sock", thus it became a major D'oh moment when I red-lettered my way to a verb phrase. Hey, I was tired.
Irish Miss - we just watched TBBT "The Bakersfield Expedition" on TiVo - is that the most recent? It wasn't exactly a riot, but not horrible.
When I see Saturday Silkie, I'm very happy when I get fills. I got SNOWBIRD right away and that gave me courage to tackle this one.
ReplyDeleteWrote NUMISMATIC with help of perps but didn't know what it meant until coming here.
ISOLDE- googled legend of Isolde and Tristan. Learning moment.
OPALESCE- great descriptive word
Are cowpeas the same things as black-eyed peas??
MOUSE TAIL-My husband's college Children's Lit textbook is so violent and a little disturbing.
Congratulation Splynter! I worked alcoholic detox for 4 years. I'm glad you are a strong person and always learn something from your write-ups!
I always take your guys' recommendations. I've been trying TBBT but as others have already noted, it's nothing special these days. I have given Elementary a try hoping for the best but I can't warm up to either of the main characters. On the other hand, I've been enjoying Vegas. The stories are fun and the characters are user-friendly.
ReplyDeleteWe had a exchange student, Samuel, from Ghana over to dinner when my son was 5 years old. My son ask why he was called black when he was more brown. Samuel said "What color are you?" My son said,"they call me white, but I guess I'm more PEACH."
ReplyDeleteWe visited Samuel, who is a NIGERIAN educated physician living in Tenn. now. We laughed as he shared this story 20 yrs later with his family.
Always enjoy a puzzle with Clint in it.
ReplyDeleteLucina, I've read "The Kitchen House" several times. It has some really different twists. I liked it, if you can "like" a book about slavery conditions. Interesting, I thought.
ReplyDeleteFirst Saturday in a while that made me work hard. I wasn't sure if that NW would ever fall. Lots of old trivia, felt like a black and white movie but finally fell. Not as satisfying as usual, kind of meh on most of the fill and cluing.
ReplyDeleteBlue Iris: Enjoyed your story on color. When my oldest was about nine months old, we were in a Sears and my husband was looking at TV sets. We had a black & white TV that had seen better days. This nice-looking "black" salesman was showing him the various models.
ReplyDeleteMy baby had never seen a black guy before and she couldn't take her eyes off him. I kept turning and trying to get her interested in something else to no avail. I was hoping the guy didn't notice. It was embarrassing.
Finally, the guy said to my husband, "You'd really like looking at a colored TV. And I know your little girl would like to look at colored--just see how she's looking at me!" We all laughed.
If we'd have had the money then, he'd have made a sale with that attitude.
Dudley @ 8:06 - Yes, that was the episode I saw. I guess I am just getting bored with some of the silly antics and the emphasis on the comic book super heroes. I know they are supposed be nerdy but, to me, they are being childish.
ReplyDeleteBill @ 8:18 - I like Elementary and I think the two leads have a certain chemistry. I wish Aidan Quinn got more face time. I also like Vegas. Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis are very good, as is the rest of the ensemble cast.
Another favorite is starting on Jan. 17 th. Suits, on USA at 10:00. If you have never seen it, it would help to check out the back story before watching it.
Quite some time ago, I mentioned that one of my favorite John Grisham books was The Painted House. Someone replied that she liked the book and also the movie, (It might have been Fermatprime, Lucina, or Chickie; I'm not sure.). In any event, I ordered the movie from Netflix and just watched it and enjoyed it very much. (The reason I wasn't aware of it being a movie is that it was a Hallmark TV movie and I didn't get that channel until recently).
For those who are inexperienced/uncomfortable with computers, here's how to disable your Java: (even Homeland Security recommends you do it)
ReplyDeleteSafari
Choose "Safari" and then "Preferences" on the taskbar or hit control and comma simultaneously (⌘-,). Click "Security" on the top row of the new window. Uncheck the box that reads "Enable Java" if checked. Restart your browser.
Internet Explorer 8,9, and 10
Go to the "Tools" menu and select "Manage Add-ons." Go to the left of the window that pops up and in the drop-down box below the heading "Show:" select "All Add-ons." Scroll down the list on the right of the window until you find a subheading under the category "Group" that reads "Oracle America, Inc." Select each item and disable it with the "Disable" button in the bottom right-hand corner of the window. Restart your browser.
Firefox
Go to the "Tools" menu and select "Add-ons" or hit ctrl, shift, and the letter 'a' simultaneously. Select "Plug-ins" on the left-hand side of the new tab that shows up. Scroll the list on the right-hand side of the screen until you find an item that reads "Java (TM) Platform [somethingsomethingsomething]." Click the "Disable" button on the right. Restart your browser.
Hope this helps all of you.
Ok, Its after prime time and this is the cleanest dirty joke I have right now.
ReplyDeleteOn their first night together, a newlywed couple go to change. The new bride comes out of the bathroom showered and wearing a beautiful robe. The proud husband says, "My dear, we are married now, you can open your robe." The beautiful young woman opens her robe, and he is astonished."Oh, oh, aaaahhh," he exclaims, "My God you are so beautiful, let me take your picture. Puzzled she asks, "My picture?" He answers, "Yes my dear, so I can carry your beauty next to my heart forever".
She smiles and he takes her picture, and then he heads into the bathroom to shower. He comes out wearing his robe and the new wife asks, "Why do you wear a robe? We are married now." At that the man opens his robe and she exclaims, "oh, OH, OH MY, let me get a picture". He beams and asks why and she answers, "So I can get it enlarged!"
Irish Mist, I was one of those who read The Painted House twice and recommended the movie. Glad you enjoyed it. This week I read Grisham's Skipping Christmas and the Appeal. Liked both.
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss - That pretty well matches our feeling about TBBT. It seems to have lost its style.
ReplyDeleteIrish & YR, I also read "The Painted House" several times & saw the movie. I really like "The CLient" also because I think Grisham does children so well. I have read all of Grisham's books.
ReplyDeleteOne I particularly liked is "Playing for Pizza" which is not a murder mystery.
My favorite Grisham is "The Pelican Brief" and the movie with Julia Roberts is a favorite I watch anytime I see it offered.
I better qualify that about Grisham's books. He has started a series of young peoples books about a boy lawyer which I have not read. I bought one and found it less engaging so I gave it to my grandson who always has a book going. He didn't read it. I asked him if he had when the next book came out. It started out too tame for him too.
ReplyDeleteYR @10:37 - I am sorry, I didn't remember who recommended the movie, but I am glad you mentioned it as I did enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Grisham is A Time To Kill, then A Painted House.
My next Netflix DVD is The Artist. Anyone have an opinion?
PK, I liked Playing for Pizza also. I have liked most of his books. Even in his better legal dramas, he excels at telling a good tale and then, IMO, falters at bringing things to a satisfying conclusion. I didn't like his recent The Racketeer much at all.
ReplyDeletePK- anytime I see a young person reading a book today, I get a good feeling. It seems all young people today can read is texting. Reading real words seems to be a lost art.
ReplyDeleteMy grandson loves to read and likes to be read to. I feed him whatever I can including comic books. I think they're part of the reason I'm a good reader.
ReplyDeleteJordan's father, Bonnie's divorced husband, is African American. Jordan seems completely color blind.
Now if I can only get him to memorize the rest of his multiplication tables...