google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday Jan 13, 2013 Gail Grabowski

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Jan 13, 2013

Sunday Jan 13, 2013 Gail Grabowski

Theme: "Editorialization" - ED is added to the first word of each common phrase. 

23A. Snow-laden spruce? : COATED TREE. Coat tree.


25A. Noble in a he-man contest? : OILED BARON. Oil baron.

49A. Aghast runway figure? : FLOORED MODEL. Floor model. Model Brooklyn Decker, wife of Andy Roddick, in case you wonder.


 70. Posse? : ARMED BAND. Armband.

95A. Intimidated ballplayer? : COWED CATCHER. Cowcatcher. Who's the catcher who got punched here? (Don't click on the picture & cheat.)


 118A. Disgraced stage production? : FOULED PLAY. Foul play.

122A. Saloon wholly endorsed by its patrons? : BACKED DIVE. Back dive.

 36D. Hoodwinked management group? : SNOWED BOARD. Snowboard.

 48D. Philanthropic Mensa member? : GIFTED GIVER. Gift giver.

Notice that the second words are all clued in a different sense than what they are in the original phrase? It's the key to this type of letter(s) addition theme type.

I'm always amazed by how clean Gail's grids are. Every entry is solid. She knows her fans very well. She's not going to get you with hip entries like YOLO (You Only Live Once) or obscure fill like LEK (Albanian coin). Just clean & solid words.

Across:

1. Primary : MAIN

5. Lays an egg : FLOPS

10. Part of a pot : ANTE.  And 21. Agreement : DEAL.

14. On the level : LEGIT

19. Start of an afterthought : ALSO

20. Out of whack : ASKEW

22. Hot : IRATE

27. Throw with effort : HEAVE

28. Introductory course : SALAD. And 69. Take in a course : EAT. Food, Steve!

30. Sandbags may be used for them : LEVEES

31. 13½-inch-tall honors : OSCARS. "Lincoln" this year.

33. People often see patterns in them : STARS. I was thinking of STATS.

35. San Joaquin Valley city : FRESNO. "Raisin Capital of the World". San = Three in Chinese.

39. Curved shapes : LOOPS

42. Beethoven's Third : EROICA

45. Seven-Emmy actor : ASNER. That's a record Emmys by a male actor.

46. Biblical trio : MAGI
52. Reveal, in verse : OPE

53. Etcher's supply : ACID

54. Powder mineral : TALC

55. Wagner heroine : ISOLDE. "Tristan und Isolde".

56. Ill-gotten gains : SWAG

57. Justice Dept. bureau : ATF

58. "No arguing!" : BE NICE!

60. No longer in force : NULL

61. Dramatic start? : MELO. Melodramatic.

62. Wintertime lost-and-found item : MITTEN

64. Assert with confidence : AVER

67. Interfered with : MESSED IN. Non-theme ED word.

73. Tourist transport : CAB. I was surprised that the taxis in Brussels are all Mercedes Benz. I was also at a loss about bidets there.

74. Source of colorful autumn foliage : RED MAPLE


77. Botch : RUIN

78. Hardly around the corner : FAR OFF

81. "Picnic" playwright : INGE

82. Film feline : ELSA

84. Become involved : STEP IN

87. Styled after : A LA

88. Warts and all : AS IS

89. Frère's siblings : SOEURS. "Sisters".

92. Product created by a Kansas Dairy Queen owner : ICEE. New trivia to me.

93. Increase : GROW

94. Letters seen near an 8 : TUV. Phone button!

97. City SSE of Sana'a : ADEN

98. Battleground : ARENA

100. Informant : SNITCH

101. Ocean predators : ORCAs

103. Colorful cover-up : SERAPE

105. Milo of the movies : O'SHEA

107. Kicks out : EXPELS

111. Took care of a toy? : PET SAT. D'oh!

114. Socks away : SAVES

117. Uncanny : EERIE

124. Exudes, as confidence : OOZES

125. Pic Sans Nom, par exemple : ALPE. Pic Sans Nom is in the French Alps. Literally "Peak without a name". Marti might know it.


126. Refers to : CITES

127. Sailed through : ACED

128. Steal passwords, e.g. : PHISH. Those people, any on-line thief, virus creator are the worst of human kind. They're no different than terrorists. Jerks!

129. Saloon supply : RYES. Liquor.

130. Plods : SLOGS

131. Young kilt wearer : LASS. I guess they do. But often LADs wear kilts.

Down:

1. Like Eastwood characters : MACHO. Seems like Qli loves "Dirty Harry". What's your favorite Eastwood movie? 

2. Succulents that soothe : ALOES

3. Son of Sarah : ISAAC

4. Full of holes, in a way : NOT VALID

5. It runs its course quickly : FAD

6. WWII carriers : LSTs

7. Pickled or deep-fried veggie : OKRA. I love pickled food, esp herring. Never had pickled or deep fried okra though.

8. Sheds some skin : PEELS

9. Skiwear item : SWEATER

10. Hoo-ha : ADO

11. Bronx-born playwright : NEIL SIMON. Nice full name.

12. Grimm account : TALE

13. High-sign letters? : ELEV. Great clue too.

14. Ample : LIBERAL. Liberal amount of .... vinegar. Good to remove kitchen stains.

15. Wipes clean : ERASES

16. Long-snouted fish : GAR

17. Jurist in 1995 news : ITO (Lance)

18. Decimal base : TEN

24. Designer Saarinen : EERO. To live forever in Xwords, your name has to be short, and vowel heavy. ERLE, ESAI, e.g.

26. Dict. entry : DEF. I had a few interesting email exchanges with Kazie, JD and Lucina last week on Long U sound. Do you also call the oo sound in MOON long U? To me, only the "yoo" sound in MULE, or USE are Long U's.

29. "Is it too risky?" : DARE I

32. Give in somewhat : SOFTEN

34. Casting needs : RODS

37. Katmandu native : NEPALI. Mysterious country.

38. Crater Lake locale : OREGON

40. Get ready for the wedding, say : PLAN. Traditionally, Chinese brides wear red in weddings.

41. Diva highlights : SOLI

43. Newspaper part : COLUMN

44. In a fog : ADDLED

46. Hat-tipper's word : MA'AM

47. Play period? : ACT I

50. William of __, for whom a logical "razor" was named : OCCAM

51. Ocean burrowers : EELS

56. Bit of ugly politics : SMEAR

58. Key letter : BETA. Always a stumper for me. Fraternity/Sorority key.

59. "Did you __?" : EVER

63. Brings under control : TAMES

65. Part of an academic address : EDU

66. MLB stats : RBIs.

68. Reading at the checkout counter : SCAN

70. Tolerates : ALLOWS

71. Watched again : RE-SEEN

72. Marx trademark : ANTIC

74. Vaqueros' gear : RIATAS

75. Make certain : ENSURE

76. Tampico tender : PESO. Easy guess. No idea where Tampico is.

78. Intense : FIERCE

79. Arctic sight : FLOE

80. Young Faline, in "Bambi" : FAWN. Faline's mother is ENA.

83. Recording of a sort : AUDIOTAPE

85. Return call? : ECHO. Great clue.

86. Look closely : PEER

90. They're needed for returns: Abbr. : RCTs. Or RCPTs.

91. Goldman __ : SACHS

93. Step on it : GAS PEDAL. This clue used to bother me, as grammatically the clue ≠ answer. Same as "What's up" for SKY.

95. Facetious "Get it?" : CAPEESH. What's the non-facetious "Get it"? Capisce or Capisci?

96. Preschool subject : THE ABCS

99. Caruso's birth city : NAPLES

102. Gave the boot : AXED

104. LAX datum : ETD

106. Help : AVAIL. Thanks for the Java disabling instruction, JJM.

108. Soap vamp __ Kane : ERICA. "All My Children".

109. What seatbelts save : LIVES

110. Origins : SEEDS

112. Yard or boom, e.g. : SPAR. Did not know "Yard" has a spar meaning.

113. One on your side : ALLY

115. Prefix with plasm : ECTO

116. Surfboard fin : SKEG. I'm borrowing a picture Splynter used before. Looks like some surfboards have 2 skegs, some one. Wiki said "A surf board fin improves the board's directional stability..."


118. Dandy : FOP

119. "I'm impressed!" : OOH. Rarely do I read a "tepid" comment from Yellowrocks on a puzzle. But technical errors like last Friday might happen again. Crossword software Across Lite just does not allow empty clues or unnumbered entries. So, the editor/constructor has to put a "-" to indicate that there's no clue for that fill.

120. Action film firearm : UZI

121. Okay : YES

123. Tricky curve : ESS

C.C.


60 comments:

  1. Greetings!

    I have been absent for a few days. Have not been feeling at all well. Tonight I was given dinner. That helped!

    Great puzzle, Gail! Swell expo, CC!

    The theme was easy to get!

    I sent a check for $100,000 to the mortgage company, which had given me too much money. I registered it, return receipt given. They cashed the check within two days. Six weeks have gone by. After hours Fri. night I rec'd an email with the original amount still owing. (I only get the mail when Harv comes. Box is locked at street, a long distance away.)

    Have been stewing ever since! Have worked as many crosswords and sudokus I can find. Liked Merl's most of all. Lots of references to the number 13!

    Have a nice Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good morning, C.C. and gang - I fortunately guessed that the theme title meant that there'd be an 'ed' in the theme answers, and that certainly helped. Thought it made for some very clever theme answers.

    I really only had one snag in the solve, and that was with BEHAVE for 58A, "No arguing", and it took OCCAM for me to realize it didn't work. Stared at PETSAT, which I parsed as PETS AT, for quite a while before I figured it out. Needed perps for ALPE, as I didn't have a clue what 'Pic Sans Nom' was, even though skiing the Alps was a long-time bucket list item. And for some reason, I got a kick out of OOH crossing OOZES.

    Rented WaveRunners yesterday, and had a ball running up and down the Intercoastal. They're about 50% faster than the ones we owned back in NJ (60+mph) and I can see why there's so many accidents; you've really gotta have your head on a swivel. Dudley, I saw a Dornier seaplane today that had both puller and pusher props above and behind the cockpit; never saw anything like it before. I've never had a seaplane ride either, but I'm hoping to correct that now that I'm in seaplane heaven.

    Hope it's a great day for everyone; I'm really happy for my NJ buddies who are luxuriating in the 60-degree weather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good destination for a seaplane trip. Went there last year (by ferry though) and loved it.

      Delete
  3. Morning, all!

    Mostly enjoyable puzzle with a fun theme and tons of quality theme answers.

    Wasn't crazy about some of the cluing, however. Dennis mentioned "No arguing" for BEHAVE as well as a totally obscure (to me, at least) mountain for ALPE. I also struggled with PETSAT for the same reason Dennis mentioned, except that I also misread the clue for 129A as "Salon supplies" and had DYES. As a result, I never did figure out what PET_AT was supposed to be.

    Hope everybody gets/stays healthy!

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  4. Good morning!

    It's dark and rainy here this morning, and it's already as warm as it's gonna get. I stand by my rule that the temperature should never be less than my age.

    Oh, the puzzle. Liked it just fine. Like Barry, I misread the clue, and was certain DYES had to be right. But SPAD for yard or boom made no sense. I PEERed at it for several minutes before SPAR swam into view. Oh, SALOON not SALON. I hope those new specs arrive soon.

    C.C., to me "u", "oo" and "ou" can have identical long "U" vowel sounds: Rupee, Moon and Soup, for example. Doesn't hold fast with Coupon, though. Some folks say KOO-PAHN and some KYU-PAHN. I think both are accepted.

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  5. Another day of very heavy fog here in the beautiful mid-Hudson valley. I guess it's the result of (relatively) warm air hitting the (decreasing) snowpack.

    Things were looking grim at several points. SKEG was a complete unknown (I first wanted KEEL) and "Pic Sans Nom" looked like some sort of State motto. I finally filled all squares but no TaDa! so the search began. I was sure it was a wrong word but it turned out to be a typo (ELDA instead of ELSA). By the way, one of my rules is no research (e.g. Google) so I should confess to looking at a phone to get TUV. [27:54]

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  6. Good Morning, C.C., and friends. Fun Sunday puzzle. I realized we were adding "ED" with the ARMED BAND. That did help with the other theme answers.

    Hand up for misreading Saloon Supplies as Salon Supplies.

    Tristan and ISOLDE will be performed by the Houston Opera later this season. Not a fan of Wagner, but DH wanted to see it, so we have tickets.

    I thought of a (tour) Bus for the Tourist transportation instead of CAB.

    My favorite clue was Introductory Course = SALAD.

    High-Sign Letters = ELEV was also a fun clue. (it made me think of part of our Friday's ELEVATOR theme answer.)

    One of my favorite Eastwood films is Grand Torino.

    QOD: I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better. ~ Sophie Tucker (Jan. 13, 1884 ~ Feb. 9, 1966)

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  7. Hi there ~!

    Hey, C.C., I don't remember posting that picture....surfing is not my thing....

    On a sad note, the man who is pictured here, the man who was involved in an accident driving that Mustang in the snow back in 1975 and diagnosed with poly-cystic kidneys - MY DAD - passed away yesterday evening after suffering from dementia and kidney failure (he had a transplant for 20yrs).

    My mom, brother and I all got to say our good-byes before dinner, and then the nursing home called to say he had died. In truth, we are all relieved, because he was hurting, and not the man he used to be.

    Splynter

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  8. -I loved this puzzle and CC's expo, especially the snowy evergreen pic. Beautiful. If it were 80+ degrees all the time, we would never see that. Ask me at the end of Feb. and I might have had enough of winter by then.
    -We taught that the long u had two sounds as in moon or tube and as in use or cube.
    -I was looking for an educational course for quite a while, before I caught on to SALAD.
    -Like several others, I read SALON instead of SALOON and had DYES until SPAR came along.
    -In Japanese, too, SAN is three and has the same character as in Chinese. At indoor recess I used to compare Japanese characters with my Chinese students. Many were the same. The parents were very appreciative that I encouraged their kids to feel proud of being Chinese Americans.
    -I laughed that my B-I-L called his 95 year old mother’s friends her POSSE.
    -Does anyone tip his hat anymore? Men seldom wear that kind of hat these days..

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  9. Splynter, sorry to hear about your dad. I understand your mixed feelings. Sometimes it's better this way. My across the road neighbor died this past week. He'd had a recurrence of leukemia, and had been going steadily downhill for months. It was inevitable. His wife is relieved that it's over.

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  10. Spynter, I just read your your post. My deepest sympathy on losing your father. It is so hard to lose a parent even though the lose has been gradual as in dementia.

    Thanks for the tip on Friday's puzzle, CC. Instead of being unnumbered as in the print version, the - is the give away for a run-on.

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  11. Good morning all ! I see GG and CC at it again. TT(P) here. Thank you both !

    I have learnt that I need to be cautious when doing Gail's puzzles. She seems to lull you into as sense that there's going to be a lot of Mon - Tues fill, and then wham ! (OK, part of it is the haphazard way I sometimes solve puzzles.) She throws a SOUERS and Pic Sans Nom and SOLI and SKEG at you when you least expect it, and then you're left PHISHing for the right letters. I had to take a couple of SWAGs at the end, and finally turned on red letter help. I wasn't too FAR OFF. Just slightly ASKEW.

    I liked Clint in many many movies, but not the ones with the monkey and not Bronco Billy. Those old spaghetti westerns he did were fun.

    Listen to the pronunciation of the title in this song Blue Bayou

    59D. Did you hear ? No. Did you know ? No. Did you ever ? Yes.

    I'm more in favor of RCPTS, but for Gail, RCTS is fine with me.

    Slepped in today, so time to make the coffee and wake sleeping beauty. She looks just like Brooklyn Decker, only different.

    See ya all later.

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  12. Splynter, my condolences. We never want to lose a loved one, but sometimes it is better with the passing.

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  13. Splynter- I am so sorry to learn of your father's passing. I know he had been ill for a long time. My thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.

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  14. Splynter - so sorry to hear about your dad. My father passed away in a similar situation, and it was a bittersweet time for all of us. But we always remember him in better days, and smile.

    I did not know the Pic Sans Nom, C.C. But I assumed it was in the French ALPEs. We usually ski in the Tiroler Alpen or the Dolomiti...

    I didn't like the clue for RYES, "Saloon supply." But it wasn't because I misread it. I thought it should be a singular answer like BEER. Of course the perps weren't much help, because I had PETted instead of PET SAT. I finally did some backtracking and finished it off, so no complaints.

    Have a relaxing day of rest everyone.

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  15. Good morning:

    Splynter, you have my sincere sympathy on the loss of your dad. My thoughts and prayers go to you and your family.

    I enjoyed this puzzle very much. For the most part, it was easy-peasy but there were a few dicey areas. I had berg before floe and sale before scan, but they were quickly corrected. I, too, read salon but caught it before entering dyes. Good job, Gail, and nice expo, CC.

    Have a super Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good day, friends.

    Not exactly a sashay but still fairly easy to solve puzzle today. Thank you, G.G. and thank you C.C. for your valuable insight.

    Knowing that -ED was contained in the theme answers was helpful and so I skipped right along until the SW corner. Finally, PHISH seemed right and wasn't sure about the spelling of CAPEESH as I've seen it in the different ways C.C. noted.

    Return call, ECHO was my favorite clue.

    Those RED MAPLES looks gorgeous.

    I'll have to research SOEURS as I thought SOROR was sister.

    Learning moment, SKEG, did not know that.

    Long U is controversial because of the YOU pronunciation. Some books don't even treat it as such but simply group certain words such as cube, utility, use, fuse, etc. then another group for moon, pool, roof, etc. without calling it long U. This is done for consistency to go along with the silent E mode as in RIDE, RATE, CUTE, METE. Children in primary grades and ESL students, too, can learn with those patterns.

    I hope your Sunday is super, everyone!

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  17. Splynter, my deepest sympathy for the loss of your father. It's never easy regardless of the circumstances.

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  18. It’s a gelid (how ‘bout that cwd word?) 8°F here but Gail’s puzzle was a lovely distraction and taught me SKEG, SOLI, OSHEA, Pic Sans Nom, et al.
    So sorry, Splynter. We have had the same experience with 3 of our 4 parents. It’s never easy.

    Musings
    -Mike Piazza is one of the top three CATCHERs of all time but neither he, nor Bonds nor Clements got in the Hall of Fame this week. Baseball continues to struggle with its morality PLAY. I guess all current members were saints and never cheated, drank, etc.
    -Some OSCAR voters are starting to question the excessive violence in movies (UZI, etc). Quentin Tarantino refuses to talk about reel/real violence in this contentious interview
    -Jack Lew’s signature loops signature made the news this week
    -Being a SNITCH in certain neighborhoods can have dire consequences.
    -A friend just back from Sea World said the trainers don’t get in the tank with the ORCAS anymore
    -I knew what “sans nom” meant and I thought we might be going for an alias or some such
    -I told Joann to quit angrily replying to spam emails to avoid PHISHing
    -Fav Eastwood movie? Gran Torino – we can all change, learn and grow.
    -ELEVATOR in two columns on Friday and now abbr.
    -What Henry Fonda movie showed the danger of a POSSE being judge, jury and executioner?

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  19. Splynter - My deepest sympathy on the loss of your father. It is never easy to lose a loved one, but as you said, it can be a relief in certain circumstances.

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  20. CC - 95A - I think the catcher is A.J. Pierzynski of the Chicago White Sox (based on "catcher" and the "Sox" uniform).

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  21. That catcher on the receiving end of the punch is A.J. Pierzynski.

    "It's easy to call him feisty and indicate that he's misunderstood, but the honest stance is that he's just plain mean and one of the most loathed players in all of baseball.

    A Sports Illustrated poll of 215 players back in 2011 revealed Pierzynski to be the meanest player in all of baseball. More recently, a survey of 100 players by Men's Journal carried out earlier this year revealed Pierzynski to be the most hated player in the league by a mile."

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  22. Good morning to all!

    Splynter-So sorry to hear of the loss of your dear dad. What a blessing that you and your family were able to say your goodbyes, with the knowledge that he is no longer in pain.

    As for the puzzle, hand up for mis-reading SALOON, but soon saw my error. Gail Grabowski is one of my favorite constructors for the reasons C.C. enumerated, and I found this puzzle did not disappoint. Thanks, Gail!

    Enjoy the day!

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  23. Hi Y'all, I really liked this puzzle and seemed to be on Gail's wavelength. Lots of good stuff in this one.

    Great expo, C.C.! You are certainly right about PHISHers being terrorists. They terrify me into not buying much on line.

    I did have two errors: NOnVALID & CAPEESe. I wanted "coned" TREE, but it ended up "coaned". Oh well! Had trouble with spelling on several areas: SOEURS & OCCAM also, but got them right.

    Lucina, I looked up SOEURS in my French dictionary to see I had it right. Maybe SOROR is Greek since the sororities are Greek.

    The only Clint Eastwood film I liked enough to sit through its entirety was "Gran Torino". My folks had a powder blue Gran Torino with a black vinyl top. My daughter took it to college.

    My Friday puzzle copy had NO hyphens.

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  24. Splynter, my condolences for your loss! Kidney problems and dementia seem to go together. My mom had them so I understand your relief. When the pain nightmare stops, we can then better remember the loved one's earlier good traits and celebrate their lives. The older I get the more I believe that there are worse things than death.

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  25. Where are those red maples? Wonder who planted them? Also sorry about your loss of your Dad. Reading Proof of
    Heaven. May help some.

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  26. Hello Puzzlers -

    Sorry for your loss, Splynter. It is among our saddest duties in life to usher our parents gently to their rest.

    As for the puzzle: WIMS. (What Irish Miss Said).

    Bidets seem to have made gradual inroads into American life. I've seen a few in classy houses around here. As a guest in such houses, I find myself wondering: if you elect to use the bidet, how do you thereafter select the right guest towel? :-)

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  27. Rumor has it that surf boards have fins to confuse sharks into believing its other sharks swimming upside down.

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  28. Seems like a pretty lame rumor, huh?

    Splynter, sorry to hear about your dad -- as others have said, even when you know it's time, it's never time.

    Dudley, did you see my comment to you about that seaplane?

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  29. Oops! I just realized that Ancestry doesn't work at all without Java. But, Oracle promises they'll have a patch to fix the problem available by Tuesday.

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  30. That "Oops!" was my comment. Don't know why it showed up as anon.

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  31. Dudley @ 11:41, now you know why I don't have a bidet in my guest bathroom!!! (^0^)

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  32. PK
    Of course, you're right about soror being Greek and I, too, looked up SOEUR and found it to be French. My thinking cap gets turned around at times!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hello everybody. I very much enjoyed the puzzle today and agree Gail Grabowski's are among the best. Some of the clues seemed a little bit ASKEW, however, not quite matching the answers (eg: Saloon supply - RYES).

    The discussion about SAN (three in Chinese and Japanese) made me think of how another word, also pronounced SAN in Japanese, is used after a person's surname, such as Kobayashi-San. The word is "mountain" in English (Shan in Chinese) and implies greatness and majesty. It is usually translated as Mister in English. Interestingly, "Mister" in Chinese is "born first" or "born earlier" ie: older (and therefore wiser) than I.

    Languages are so interesting!

    Hand up for Gran Torino.

    Best wishes to you, Splynter, and to you all.

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  34. Splynter – my sincerest condolences on your loss. Really not looking forward to having this experience, but Mom and Dad are 86 and 90, respectively, so….

    Oiled Baron was the theme cracker for me today. I also liked how Magi crossed with Gift….

    Count me in for reading Salon, not Saloon, as well as wanting Behave….

    Apparently the presenters at the Oscars get Swag bags, as if they really need them….

    A.J. Pierzynski was a Giant in 2004. He contributed very little to the team, but he did set a personal record by grounding into 27 double plays….

    Speaking of Alpes, my favorite Clint Eastwood movie is The Eiger Sanction. But only because it was the movie that was playing on my first date. She was more interested in necking in the dark and I was too naive to know any better….

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  35. The fantastic combination washlet (bidet) toilet is used in many of the hotels, department stores, and even modest homes in Tokyo. There were no guest towels there in the public places or private homes. The TP is sufficient to mop up. Unless, of course, you are like my roommate who experimented with the controls, not knowing what they were for. When she was squirted with warm water she was startled and jumped up screaming. There was water all over the stall to be mopped up. LOL
    It seems a European bidet would leave the average person wetter than the Japanese combination.

    Jayce, language is indeed interesting. I had thought of that meaning of san. Fuji-san. Kobayashi-san. As you know, in both Chinese and Japanese that character is different than the one for 3.

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  36. Splynter and family,
    Sincere sympathy to you, your Mom and brother.
    You know the time is near and think you are prepared, but you're never really ready when the time comes.

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  37. Yellowrocks - that's valuable information, seriously. Thanks! I bet your roommate learned a lot in that one day.

    Marti - Oh! Maybe you can trade in for one of YR's Japanese models...

    Dennis - Yes, I forgot to mention it. The Dornier is the only aircraft of any type, except dirigibles, that I can think of that uses the tractor/pusher engine pod. It looks kinda snazzy, IMHO. Now you need to take a ride in a Super Cub or something on floats. Florida is indeed a haven for that! I took my seaplane checkride on Lake Jesse, near Winter Haven. (That was in 1988, three days after I watched "my" Shuttle launch at KSC)

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  38. Splynter, sorry about your father. We're never ready.

    Gail, great puzzle. Classy expo, CC.

    Husker Gary, the Henry Fonda movie was The Ox-Bow Incident. One of my favorites.

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  39. Jayce
    Yes, you're right. SOROR is Latin and I am embarrassed as that is something I do know and failed to identify!

    My fav Clint Eastwood film is Bridges of Madison County.

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  40. I'm very sorry to hear about your father Splynter. As everyone has said, it's never easy.

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  41. Splynter, best wishes for you and the rest of the family. As my parents were aging, those were hard times for them and for me. Good thoughts headed in your direction.

    Have you noticed some really unpleasant advertisements lately? Allstate is the first one that comes to mind. They show pictures on some cars getting destroyed with a safe falling on it or getting crushed between another parked car and a truck backing up, etc. I change channels as fast as I can.

    Sunday Morning had a humorous segment this morning of a class for people wanting to learn about football. Right away I was struck with the difference between a good teacher and a person who just knows the subject matter. I doubt that many of the 'students' came away with a satisfied feeling like they now understood football much better.

    Ooh Lucina, I agree. That movie was a really emotional tug-of-war.

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  42. Lucina & Jayce, I only knew "SOEUR" because I had a record by the Singing Nun in the dim distant past whenever she was so popular. Most foreign languages are "Greek to me". LOL!

    Fermatprime, I hope you aren't paying interest on that $100,000 extra they think you owe.
    My daughter had an almost year-long battle with her credit union where she had paid off a loan and they had a "computer glitsch" that insisted they owed much more than the original loan and were behind in their payments. She went in every month and they promised it was corrected. She reached the point where she just wanted to sit in the middle of their bank and scream with frustration. I told her to take a tape-recorder next time she went in.

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  43. Splynter, so very sorry to hear about your Dad. It’s good that you all got a chance to say good-bye, and I hope it is a comfort to know he is no longer suffering. My thoughts are with you and your family.

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  44. Watching Sunday Morning 'The Moment of Nature', I was again struck what ungainly animals are mooses. Loveable but ungainly.

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  45. Good evening, folks. Thank you, Gail Grabowski, for a great puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the swell review.

    Splynter, first, my sincere sympathies to you and your family on the loss of your father. it is never easy.

    As far as the puzzle, it was not a cake walk, but very much fun and work. i enjoyed it.

    My first big error was entering MOLTS for 8D. took a long time to redo that as PEELS. That whole area was blank for a while. I was sure that MOLTS was correct. oh well.

    The theme came easily. Helped with many of the answers.

    FRESNO was easy. Been by there a hundred times on Route 99 in the "Big Valley."

    Thought TUV for 94A was a great clue/answer. Tough one for me, and it should not have been. I was a phone man for 36 years.

    SOEURS was tough. I perped it.

    Having a brass band practice tonight at church. See you all tomorrow.

    Abejo

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  46. Hi Everyone ~~

    Just wanted to check in ~~ I've been a bit out of the loop lately. I've tried to keep up with most puzzles and blogs and I hope to be around more regularly.

    Splynter ~ I'm so sorry for your loss. May happy memories of times with your Dad bring you comfort. My thoughts are with you.

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  47. Splynter - My deepest sympathy to you and your family over the loss of your Father.

    Absolutely love Gail Grabowski puzzles and this one was not an exception. Had a little difficulty in the SW where I had dog SAT before PET and Sail before SPAR. 67A needed a lot of fixing when I slapped down tampered. Obviously that wasn't going anywhere except for SMEAR.

    Great puzzle.

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  48. Hello there! What a great week of puzzles! Again, thanks to all who construct, blog, comment, make jokes, QOD's and share life's ups and downs

    Splynter, truly sorry and as others have said, NEVER easy , please know that he loved you and was very proud of you

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  49. Splynter, I am so very sorry for your loss and will pray for you to have strength to make it through this sorrowful time. I understand what it is like to want a loved to no longer suffer. However, knowing that somehow doesn't ease the loss. Cyber hugs for you and your family. michele

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  50. Crossword girl: It's been a long time. Good to see you here again.

    One doesn't often see Snow-Covered Palm Trees. A massive snow storm in Jerusalem last week virtually shut down the city.

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  51. Splynter, Sorry for the loss of your father. Did the transplant allow him any normalcy of life over those 20 yrs? I hope so.

    d.otto, I like your mantra that temp. should never drop any lower than your age. I'm surprised how much more the cold bothers me now.

    I didn't know my favorite treat, an ICEE, was created in Kansas. I order half coke/half cherry.

    Liked introductory course-SALAD

    Had ROLE before RODS for casting needs.

    My favorite Eastwood movie is "Forgiven." It seemed like the character in the movie was making atonement for the actor's violent past roles. Not a typical western.

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  52. Blue Iris,
    The title was "Unforgiven" and I
    Liked that one also.

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  53. Splynter....

    My deepest sympathy for the loss of your father... I am so very sorry. With each new day may peace find a place in your heart...

    thelma

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  54. Ooh La La, big happenings at Downton!

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  55. Anon- Thanks for helping me out...I knew it was unforgiven. Just a brain glitch.

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  56. C.C. thanks for all the info on the puzzle today. I am really becoming fond of Gail's Sunday puzzles. This one took me about the average time to complete. I had a few errors. Hacks before PHISH and fab/FOP. Also wrote in gain/GROW but realized that was wrong as soon as I wrote it.

    Enjoyed Downtown tonight and then watched some of the Australian Open.

    Ferme, please feel better soon!

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  57. Splynter: I know how you feel, conflicted. So very sorry.

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  58. I thought the southwest corner had some problems.

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