Theme: All in a year's work or As ye sow, so shall ye reap.
Five common two-word phrases not specifically with agriculture in
common usage, the first word of which is a verb in context, and
figuratively an agricultural reference. In its literal sense, each of
these agri-words can be used as either a noun or a verb. Collectively,
they represent phases of the growing season, and a portion of a farmer's
labor throughout the year.
17A. Deal with, as a stack of dull paperwork : PLOW THROUGH
Chug, plug and grind until the task is done. Then it's Miller time, I
suppose. A plow is an implement for breaking up the soil in preparation
for what follows. As a verb, to plow means to use a plow for its
intended purpose.
24A. Investor's initial support : SEED CAPITAL
The initial funding used to get a new business going. A seed is a
flowering plant's unit of reproduction, or, more formally, "a ripened plant ovule containing an embryo." As a verb, it means to sow the land by spreading seeds.
33A. Create an incriminating trail : PLANT EVIDENCE Place [false?] evidence in a place where it is likely to be found. A plant, according to the Free Dictionary, is "Any
of various photosynthetic, eukaryotic, multicellular organisms of the
kingdom Plantae characteristically producing embryos, containing
chloroplasts, having cellulose cell walls, and lacking the power of
locomotion." Evidently, whoever wrote this definition knows nothing about Triffids. As a verb, "plant" means to stick on of these organisms in the ground in hopes that it will grow.
48A. How long to shop, on a spree? : TILL YOU DROP. I've never understood recreational shopping.
55A. Autumn lunar phenomenon : HARVEST MOON.
This is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. These nights it
might have romantic implications, but in the not so distant past,
farmers took advantage of this bright moon to work long hours bringing
in their crops. The product of this labor is the HARVEST, and as a verb
describes this action.
Hi gang, JazzBumpa driving the combine. This may be the first time we've seen Jean O'Conor in action. Let's find out what sprouts for us today.
Across:
1. "Now I understand" : GOT YA. Slang
6. Congressional proceedings airer : C-SPAN. I have actually watched this. Once or twice. For a few minutes.
11. Much-studied flavor enhancer : M S G MonoSodium Glutamate. Does not taste good by itself, but mixes well with many other flavors if used in small quantities.
14. Wilt : DROOP. Sag, slump.
15. Foodie's words for subtle flavoring : A HINT. A hint of MSG might be just about right.
16. Pint filler : ALE. Excellent idea.
19. Rocky prominence : TOR. Probably of Celtic origin.
20. One may be rolled up : SLEEVE. Preparatory to getting down to work. I always think of this guy.
21. Galsworthy's "The Forsyte __" : SAGA. A series of stories about a new money upper crust extended British family, written between 1906 and 1921.
22. One of a chair pair : ARM.
But only if it's an armchair. The only other thing I can think of with
four legs and two arms is a centaur. They are not compatible with
chairs, but can be used for bare back riding.
28. Very disagreeable : BEASTLY. Brutish, brutal, nasty, unpleasant. Centaurs might qualify.
30. Singer Björk's birthplace : ICELAND. Here she is. I have no idea. Really. Can you HARVEST anything from this?
31. Cosby's "I Spy" co-star : CULP. In over 50 years of TV acting Robert Culp made hundreds of appearances in a variety of different programs.
32. Tour de France stage : ETAPE. Just plug in the French word for "stage." I think it means one day of the tour.
39. Bring up : RAISE. As in children, an issue for discussion or a point of order.
40. Simple beds : COTS.
42. Montana neighbor : ALBERTA. To the north, eh.
45. Defining quality : ESSENCE.
50. AM frequency meas. : KHZ. KiloHertZ
51. Bidding site : E-BAY.
52. Screwball behavior : ANTICS. Here is a fine example.
54. Kitty's love in "Exodus" : ARI. Could he have been portrayed by Sal Mineo?
60. Checker on a board, say : MAN. Such sexism. Game board pieces are never female. In chess, even the queen is a man.
61. French clerics : ABBES. Not to be confused with 21A nor 56D.
62. Duck : ELUDE. Evade or avoid, not go under.
63. Tallahassee-to-Tampa dir. : SSE. South-southeast.
64. Bank job : HEIST.
Actually, any robbery. When somebody asked Willy Sutton why he robbed
banks, he replied, "Because that's where the money is." (1:28 at the clip)
65. Flighty : DITSY. Silly or foolish. But in tracking it down I learned that there is also a thing called a "ditsy print," evidently meaning small scale scattered multi-directional design motifs.
Down:
1. National econ. yardstick : GDP Gross Domestic Product. The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.
2. Fla. NBA team : ORL. The Orlando Magic.
3. Like overly tight clothing : TOO SMALL But it's still a fashion statement.
4. Cry of pain : YOWL. I wanted OUCH
5. H.S. exam for college credit : AP TEST Advanced Placement
6. "Wayne's World" co-star : CARVEY. Dana.
7. Did a smith's work : SHOED a horse
8. More, musically : PIU. I see PIU mosso on music sometimes. I means "more movement" = quicker tempo.
9. Filmmaker Lee : ANG. Do The Right Thing
10. Math degree : NTH. Clever misdirection. The Nth degree is some unspecified higher power.
11. "Hakuna __": "The Lion King" song : MATATA. What, me worry?
12. Maxwell House's "Good to the last drop," e.g. : SLOGAN Classic commercial. No extra charge for gratuitous rudeness.
13. Spiro's successor : GERALD. Vice presidents Agnew and Ford.
18. Obedience school command : HEEL. Sit. Stay. Sic 'em.
21. "Shh!" : SILENCE. My dad used to say, "Keep it down to a dull roar."
22. Preschool song opener : A B C [etc] But it took Big Bird to teach us how to pronounce it.
23. Enlist again : RE-UP. Typically in the armed forces.
25. Bank lead-in : CITI.
CITIbank is the commercial banking division of CITIgroup, the 3rd
largest bank holding company in the U.S. Probably too big to fail.
26. Military sch. : ACAD. Academy. Note abrv in cl & ans.
27. Animated Le Pew : PEPE. The always amorous skunk.
29. In an economical manner : SPARELY. If by economical you mean cheap.
32. Celebration before the celebration? : EVE. Twas the night before . . .
34. Not (a one) : NARY. . . . a creature was stirring.
35. Jackson 5 brother : TITO. Along with Jackie, Jermain, Marlon, and that other one. What was his name?
36. Rebekah's eldest : ESAU. No, that ain't it. Who saw what ESAU saw?
37. Goes kaput : CONKS OUT. Stops working, as a machine.
38. Make an engraving : ETCH. Remember those Engrave-a-sketch toys?
41. "__ who?" : SEZ. More slang, SEZ I.
42. First-stringers : A TEAMS.
43. Some October babies : LIBRAS. The 7th sign of the Zodiac, between 180 and 207.25 degrees of celestial longitude, or Sept 23 to Oct 23 on the calendar.
44. He replaced Ken as Barbie's beau from 2004 to 2006 : BLAINE. But then Barbie and Ken got back together. And I missed it all.
45. Actor Borgnine : ERNEST. I remember him from 60's TV.
46. They're often stewed : SOTS. Drunkards. Prunes wouldn't fit
47. Was nasty to : SPITED. Was deliberately hurtful or offensive.
49. Barry and Brubeck : DAVES. Brubeck just died last month, one day short of 92. Here is one of his gentler songs.
53. Mid 10th-century year : CMLI. 951. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Elfeah, Bishop of Winchester, died on St. Gregory's mass day.
55. "A likely story!" : HAH. Really, he did.
56. 16th prez : ABE. Honest!
57. Slugger's stat : RBI. Runs Batted In.
58. Gorges oneself (on) : O.D.S OverDoses. Borrowed from medial terminology
59. Napoleonic marshal : NEY (Michel). I can never remember this guys name.
Well, I'll call this a bountiful harvest, and now I'm gong to call it a night.
Cool Regards!
JzB
72 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks for nice puzzle, Jean and great write-up, Jazz!
Got ETAPE, SSE from perps. Otherwise, no problems.
Swimming friend will not be able to swim anymore. Her back has a multitude of problems. (She is going to see a surgeon Monday, but there does not seem to be much hope.)
I haven't been able to find a lifter to put my wheelchair in my truck. No one calls back! Need to have EKG to see if it is OK to swim alone. Harv can no longer put any kind of chair/walker in his Jeep. (The tailgates on both our vehicles are hopeless.)
Cheers!
Morning, all!
I'm afraid to look out the window this morning lest I discover I have to go out and shovel...
Smooth sailing today, except for the NW corner where I stubbed my toe a bit. Could only think of GOTHCA for 1A, but there weren't enough letters. GOCHA fit (even though it looked strange), but then I had to change it to GOTHA due to TOO SMALL. I knew that couldn't be right, except that HOWL of pain made perfect sense.
When I didn't get the *TADA* at the end, I went right back to that corner and stared at it until the light bulb finally went off and I stuck GOTYA in there for the win. I still prefer GOTCHA, personally...
Elsewhere, I had to WAG to get the get the crossing of ARI and BLAINE, but nothing else really fit. And I knew ETAPE as "a day's march" but didn't know it was used in bicycle racing as well.
Good morning sports fans. Thank you Jean O'Connor and thank you JzB.
I was "in the zone." Very quick solve, but fun. Was in the ozone when it came to the theme. Missed that completely.
Had to fix 1A from GOT it to GOT YA.
17A from PLOd THROUGH to PLOW. Life is simpler when you plow around the stump. To me, plod is trudge, and plow is break through, so I felt plod would have been more appropriate for that clue.
18D Command - Halt, no. Heel, Yes. "Walk behind me. Ok, with me. Heel !"
PIIU and MATANA were unknown, but perps filled them. At 7 letters, I only saw one possible answer for Montana's neighbor.
29D SPARELY sounds like some combo of Barely and Sparse. Don't doubt it's legitimacy. It would never be a word I would use. Would probably use economically. Or cheaply.
CITIBANK received $25B in aid or IMO would have collapsed. Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns weren't so fortunate. AIG recently did US Taxpayers a huge favor when it decided not to sue the US Gov't for having to take $125B in financial aid. The lawsuit was brought about by Hank Greenberg, former AIG head, not the ballplayer. Talk about chutzpah.
Oh well. Time to make coffee. Have a good day all !
I had the same no *TADA* at the end until I fixed HOWL to YOWL that Barry G. had. Otherwise no problems. I was a little annoyed at "TILL YOU DROP" as it should be "TIL YOU DROP" as a contraction of "UNTIL."
Good Morning, Jazzbumpa and friends. This was an easy Wednesday puzzle, but the 1-Across GOT YA almost didn't come to me (i really wanted Got It). I caught the theme after getting PLOW THROUGH and SEED CAPITAL. Fun puzzle.
I didn't know that Barbie had dumped Ken for BLAINE. Maybe Blaine was more MANly? Since the clue indicates Blaine was around for only a few years, did Barbie take Ken back? Inquiring minds want to know.
Paul Newman played ARI in Exodus.
More rain again today but the weatherman promises it stops tomorrow.
QOD: I wouldn’t trust any man as far as you can throw a piano. ~ Ethel Merman (Jan. 16, 1908 ~ Feb. 15, 1984)
Rojo, 'till' is correct.
Good morning! What a nice surprise to see you, Jazzbumpa! Thanks for the amusing analysis.
This was mostly a sashay but slowed down in a few places, same as Barry, on GOTYA as GOTCHA seemed more common. Had to give up my first fill at 4D, HOWL.
Another write over was STAY then HEEL and ETAPE was appropriate as the stages of farming emerged.
Never knew that BLAINE had replaced Ken. And I may be wrong but I believe Paul Newman played ARI in Exodus.
In my youth SHOP TIL(L) YOU DROP was weekend entertainment but now just the thought of shopping depresses me!
Also, I wanted SPARSELY at 29D but of course it didn't fit.
Thank you, Jean O'Conor for a good but easy workout.
You all have a great Wednesday!
I see Hahtoolah confirmed Paul Newman's role as ARI.
fun little puzzle great write up from Jazz.
Rojo: the phrase is "shop 'til you drop" but the puzzle is theme clues start with farm clues since you use a "Tiller" on a farm to "till" the soil the phrase is modified to "shop Till you drop" thus making it a Pun.
Barry: etape is french for the word Step. which is in english is also a stage thus an etape of the tour de france is a step or a stage of the race. Hope this helps
Good morning.
GOT IT and GNP slowed me down a bit in Washington. Otherwise, this was a quick romp for a Wednesday.
Remember when Kilohertz was the more familiar Kilocycle? Part of our old radio station sign-off was to say that we "needed to rest our kilocycles for a few hours."
The theme seems to run vertically. First you PLOW, buy the SEED, PLANT the crop, TILL the weeds throughout the growing season, and finally HARVEST.
Hi gang, great puzzle today. And I love a good JzB write up!
I got the theme about half way in, and by then I was able to PLOW THROUGH.
I work in an investment bank so I know a little about SEED CAPITAL. (And HEISTs!)
I always forget to look to our Canadian neighbors when I see clues like Montana Neighbor. Speaking of Canadian - NHL hockey comes back this weekend.
I liked seeing Screwball Behavior, DITSY and CONKS OUT. Speaking of, it's too early for this. I just may CONK OUT myself.
TILL YOU DROP
WTF! BOGUS.
Good morning everyone,
From snowy Ct, another disaster for Hondo. I found today's puzzle an arduous task and it turned out to be an incorrect finish. Like others I had HOWL for 4D and would not let it go. I saw Yowl, but did not think it was a word. Was not surprised that I had it screwed up.
TTP cited my complaints about SPARELY.
The theme was cute, but once I figured it out, all the fills were complete.
jazz, thanks for a fun write up.
Guess I'm in one of my "really stupid" weeks considering the struggles I've had each day. Can't wait for Thurs and Fri offerings!
I almost put Craps OUT instead of CONKS OUT for 37D, but realized that probably wouldn’t meet the breakfast test. Then at 47D “Was nasty to,” I had the SPIT** and wondered if it might be SPIT AT. That would be nasty, indeed!
Loved the clue for SOTS “They’re usually stewed.”
But I tend to agree with Rojo about ‘til v. TILL. Other than that, I enjoyed this debut puzzle from Ms. O’Conor!
Barry: etape is french for the word Step. which is in english is also a stage thus an etape of the tour de france is a step or a stage of the race. Hope this helps.
Well, that certainly makes sense! If true, however, it's completely different from the English word ETAPE which means "a day's march" (or "a place where troops camp after a day's march") and apparently derives from the French word estaple (meaning "warehouse).
So, ETAPE and ETAPE are apparently completely different words with completely different meanings and completely different word origins. Kinda like "cleave" (to stick to") and "cleave" (to split apart").
Oh -- and I did have to go out and shovel after all... ^_^
Sal Mineo played Dov Landau. He was too young and short in stature for the other role. Newman actually was a bit young for it at the time too, if you base the character on the book, which I read in high school. Most of my friends were reading it then, many of whom had parents who were either refugees from the Holocaust or had relatives who were.
My only miss here was IT/YA, the latter not being in my vocabulary. I never thought of AP, since our district doesn't have any AP courses. Some foreign language courses achieve the same result with college credit given for the levels they can test out of. The district was too stingy to provide special classes for the few AP students who would have been interested.
Good puzzle, great write-up.
Thanks twice.
I've always added the extra 'l' to TILL when used without its UN-.
Barry,Midtown Bomber,
ETAPE is definitely the same in both languages. My French dictionary gives "a stage, day's march, halting place, distance between staging points" as its definition. A lot of other words are given for "step" but étape isn't one of them.
I own 2 Barbies, and they're green: the Wicked Witch and Lily Munster. I had a "Steve" which I gave to a kid. He was African American, and his sideburns would either appear or disappear in the water (can't) remember which). There's also Brad and Curtis, and there are now Mad Men Barbies. I predict they'll be valuable.
As far as the puzzle, I had hoped the farming would be done in the proper order.
Good morning. An amusing overview, Jazz. Thanks.
Not easy, but pretty smooth overall. I'll add my complaint to the til v. till pile, but to work with the theme it had to be the latter of course. The only other nit I had was that seed and plant can be synonymous, and therefore repetitive, but in the context DO cited, they're not.
I noticed that while it doesn't seem to be part of the theme, RAISE would certainly fit in the middle between planting and harvesting.
Didn't, and still don't get Gorges oneself (on): O.D.S... Is gorges a drug slang, a medical term? What?
How cruel to have this planting theme on this fine puzzle when it is so cold here! The weatherman said last night that from now until mid February is when we have the coldest temps of the year.
Musings
-PLOWs and TILLERs (cultivators) are practically anachronisms around here with minimum tillage and BT SEEDS saving water and fuel. The sequence now is PLANT, spray and harvest.
-I SHOP until I find what I need and get out of there
-Was I out of the room when Foodie became a word?
-The coeds at our Y cut the SLEEVES off their T shirts and then split the shirt down to their waist. Hmm…
-I remember the all the buzz from I Spy having the first black man star in a TV series
-On a clear day, can our Montana see ALBERTA?
-I missed out on the only thing I ever tried to get on eBay by a last minute dollar bid
-Game board pieces are always male and ships are always female. How ‘bout dat?
-A weightlifter friend of mine always wore T-shirts that were too SMALL to accentuate his musculature. At a party we had, another friend asked him, “Didn’t they have that shirt in your size?”
-Plenty of easy fill to rescue PIU from Natickville
-Papa sprung for the tix to take all 8 of us to The Lion King in Omaha this spring
-I just RE-UPped for another teaching certificate
-Ames Brothers’ silly ESAU song
-Lance Armstrong said he never cheated on any ETAPE. HAH!
Anon@9:04 -- Gorge: Eat a large amount greedily; fill oneself with food: "we used to go to all the little restaurants and gorge ourselves".
Delightful Wednesday puzzle--many thank, Jean. And you outdid yourself, JazzB, with research, erudition, and wit! Many thanks to you both. BLAINE was new to me--didn't know Barbie and Ken ever broke up.
Nice way to start a morning without coffee or breakfast. We have a doctor's visit for my husband, preceded by lab tests for both of us. That meant fasting since midnight. Aaaarggghh. Hope we don't gorge ourselves on cereal when we get back.
Fermatprime, so sorry to hear about swimming partner and lift problems. Hope you soon get solutions to these challenges.
Have a good one, everybody!
Anon @ 9:04 - ODS is short for "overdoses."
I O.D.'d on goodies over the holidays, and now I am paying the price when I look at the scale...
-JzB, thanks for the erudite and witty blog. After I started reading I looked for the author and was not at all surprised to find it was you.
-I sashayed through this puzzle apace (without slowing) TILL I came to the NW corner. Like many others, I had HOWL. I could only think of NBA's Heat and Magic. Finally ORL dawned on me and the O prompted GOT YA.
-As Dennis said, TILL is legit. Grammar Girl likes it better than 'TIL.
Link TILL
There was a show called Shop TIL You Drop.
-JzB, for me shopping is a necessity, not a recreation. Some streets in shopping districts are closed to traffic and have benches in the streets for when the "shop till you drop crowd" are ready to drop.
-Our Mexican states and Canadian provinces as neighbors no longer trick me.
Thank you, Jean O'Conor for a very nice, yet challenging puzzle. I had a few errors, but finally solved it. Sparely, Conks Out, and others gave me some problems. I had NDakota instead of Alberta, at first. My geog. is not that great.
Thank you, JazzB for a very entertaining commentary.
I had 'Uri' before 'Ari' - then I realized Leon Uris wrote the book. Paul Newman's father was Jewish, mother Italian, Rom.Cath. and he was born in Shaker Hts., an inner circle city of Cleveland. Shaker Hts., has probably the highest real estate tax rates in Ohio ( and prob. the whole US, lol )- but their schools are not in the top 5, even in Cleveland.
'Shop till you drop ?' - I thought it meant to spend so much money that the 'till' fell off the cash register .... I would rather have had a heart attack, than do that, but my kids have done it several times - they thought they were spending 'other peoples money'.
Talking of money, JazzB, since you also have another blog on Economics - now that we've raised the taxes, but not touched the spending cuts, would you call the much hyped, 'fiscal cliff' to be downgraded to a fiscal ditch or a quagmire ?
Don't tax him, don't tax me, .... tax that guy behind the tree.
Who said that ?
Have a good week, you guys and best wishes.
Last night at 10:45 when I left for the half hour ride home it had just begun to rain. Unlike Friday's puzzle, the
R A
E T
P U
M R
E E
T
started going DOWN from 39. It was 31 when I reached our western hills, but there was still only rain.
This morning we woke late to an inch of snow with the temperature on the RISE and the snow melting on cleared and salted roads. The snow was kind of a non-event for us. I made the right call in not canceling the dance. We had a decent attendance and got home safely.
My day is over and my motivation is gone after a late rise and a lazy morning. I like to rise early full of vim and vigor and gradually run down. If I start run down, I stay run down. I will have to queue up another Kindle book and read. Isn't that a good excuse to take a day off?
Husker Gary - About ships...I was stationed aboard a submarine. She was named the USS Daniel Boone.
Hello Puzzlers -
Have you ever wanted to drive a Zamboni? I know I have. Try out today's Google doodle.
Oops, now I get it... Was thinking Jorge, sp for George... Duh!
Good morning:
Like others, I had trouble in the NW corner, but eventually got the TA-DA w/o help. Thanks, Jean O'Conor, for a fun romp, and thanks, JzB, for a fun expo. BTW, Do the Right Thing was a Spike Lee movie, not Ang Lee. (-:
Looking out on a winter wonderland. We have about two inches of snow on the ground and it's still snowing lightly: just enough to make the trees look pretty,
I finally got to see The Artist last night and absolutely loved it. The chemistry between the two leads was luminescent (sp?) and Uggie, the dog, was wondrous. A thoroughly enjoyable movie. Next up is Hope Springs with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones.
Happy Wednesday.
YR @ 9:50, thanks for linking TILL. That one was bugging me, but it's all clear now.
Spike Lee made "Do The Right Thing"; Ang Lee didn't.
Good morning everyone.
I completed today's puzzle, but saw no need to add further comments.
At C.C.'s suggestion I would like to share with you that we have been commuting frequently to Boston to attend our daughter, (46 years old), who has an incurable aggressive cancer and is declining steadily. We know she will not be with us long. She has an 8 year old son.
Sorry for the sad news. I thank you all for the friendship this blog provides.
Spitzboov: Our thoughts and prayers to your daughter. So sad.
Jazz: Outstanding write-up & plethora of links.
Jean O'Conor: If this was your debut, you created a wonderful, and FUN, Wednesday offering.
Really enjoyed this theme and the "unknowns" (PIU & BLAINE) were easily perped.
HeartRx: At 47-D, Was nasty to, after I had SPIT I thought it might be "ON" before "ED" showed up. (That would be nasty!)
Hmmm, ALE, then SOTS and CONKS-OUT ... sounds like my kinda "Mini-theme."
A "toast" to ALL at Sunset.
Cheers !!!
Spitz, that's very sad news. Parents are not supposed to outlive their children. Our thoughts are with you.
How sad Spitz. My thoughts are with you.
Extra yellowrocks to you.
Spitzboov:
I am sorry for your horrendous news, our prayers are with you and your family. I cannot make the silly comments I had in mind.
Spitzboov,
Terrible news about your daughter. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Pretty easy. Put Konks out instead of conksout. Where is abbreviation in 11A clue? Never heard of piu.
Hi Everyone ~~
I really enjoyed today's puzzle ~ I had to print it out since our newspaper was buried under the snow somewhere. I've missed your write-ups. JazzB ~ wonderful - so informative and entertaining!
I had much of the same experiences as others ~ wanted Gotcha / GOT YA, the til / TILL thing, Evade / ELUDE, and Plod /PLOW THROUGH.
I'm more familiar with "Sparingly" than SPARELY.
~~~~
Spitz ~ I just saw your news. My heart aches for you. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
Two further notes on "TILL": Reinforcing what Yellowrocks (and others) have said; "Till and until are both old in the language and are interchangeable as both prepositions and conjunctions: It rained till (or until ) nearly midnight. The savannah remained brown and lifeless until (or till ) the rains began. Till is not a shortened form of until and is not spelled 'till. 'Til is usually considered a spelling error, though widely used in advertising: Open 'til ten. " - Dictionary.com Unabridged.
Also, "TILL, an unstratified, unconsolidated mass of boulders, pebbles, sand, and mud deposited by the movement or melting of a glacier. The size and shape of the sediments that constitute till vary widely." - The American Heritage Science Dictionary.
It can be hardscrabble farmed but not recommended.
Spitzboov: I had been worried about you since we hadn't heard from you in several days. Now I understand why. I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. It is so sad to see a loved one suffer through a terrible illness. Please know my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, especially your young grandson. You have lots of friends here on the blog who care about you.
Spitzboov, so sorry to hear the news of your daughter. Sometimes life doesn’t seem fair.
Good Wednesday puzzle and thanks, JzB, for your write-up.
I was very proud of myself as I was finishing a Wednesday puzzle, but the one square where the ‘Y’ in GOTYA and YOWL intersect got me. I mentally went through the alphabet and no letter made sense. I turned on red letter help and typed in the alphabet all the way to Y to get the ta-da!
Husker, I first thought of Wyoming (7 letters) for a neighbor but had letters already entered that made it Alberta. On a clear day, I cannot see Canada. I live 42 miles south of Saskatchewan. I need to drive 120 miles west and north to get to Alberta. I once chaperoned a bus full of high school seniors to the Edmonton, AB mall. School policy does not allow seniors to stay overnight on a trip, so it was a l-o-n-g trip. 10 hours to go, 10 hours there, and 12 hours return due to a blizzard. We did get to stay home from school the next day.
I also chaperoned two buses of juniors and seniors to the Science Center in Regina, SK. Much better trip. Only 6 hours on the road each going and coming and the students loved the day at the center.
Interesting QOD in my local paper: “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower
It’s a beautiful, cold sunny day out,
Montana
Spitzboov - So sorry to hear the news. My little household is sending warm thoughts your way.
SPARELY?????
Spitzboov:
We're very sorry to hear the news of your daughter's illness but very appreciative that you've shared it with us. Our thoughts are with you as you deal with it. This is a very caring virtual community. Here's hoping you are able to make the most of your time with your daughter and grandson. Thanks for sharing.
Spitzboov, there are many heartbreaking events in life but losing a child has to be one of the absolute worst. I know you’re strong enough to make it through this and we are all thinking of you.
Spitzboov:
That is dreadful news. I grieve for you and your family. My prayers will be with you all.
Spitzboov, my thoughts are with you and your family. I hope the doctors are at least able to help your daughter remain pain-free. Each day becomes a bittersweet blessing in situations like this.
Dearest Spitz- such heart wrenching news. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
My thoughts and love for you all.
Hola Everyone, I had the same problems with Howl and Yowl as others did. I also wanted 'Til, but settled for till when everything else fell into place around it.
I started out with Got It instead of Got Ya so the Top left hand corner was the very last to fall.
Tor I learned from doing crosswords. It is interesting to note that words I would not ordinarily use in everyday language come readily when doing crosswords.
I had to look up two of the theme phrases today so this was a DNF for me. I couldn't seem to get my brain going in the right direction. Thanks JzB for the great writeup and help with my DNF.
Another cold morning here for us. It was 31 out at 8 A.M. I know that is not cold for many of you, but for us here on the West coast the last 5 or 6 days have been freeze warnings. All of our delicate plants are covered up and our backyard looks like there are Halloween Ghosts everywhere.
Have a great day everyone. Meetings will take up most of my day today.
Oh, Spitzboov. My heart goes out to you and yours. Thoughts and prayers will be coming your way for many days to come. Such sad news.
-Anon @ 10:20, did your shipmates refer to your sub “Daniel Boone” as a “him”? e.g. We’re gonna board him tomorrow. He is in dry dock. He’s a good ship.
-Montana, that is a loooooong way to go to get to a mall! ;-)
-Mills Brothers this time with TIL(L) Then
Spitzboov, I had wondered why one who posted so consistently had been so inconsistent of late. So sorry to hear this news. My heart goes out to you and your family.
Montana, great quote from DDE. Thanks. Also, did not consider Wyoming, Forgot your neighbor to the south. Alberta was a much better fit in this case.
Wow! I never got this theme! Tough fills and even rougher clues... especially for a Wed. I finished but was constantly re-filling single letters to make sense of it. Maybe I just had a massive brain cramp today.
Spitz: I am so sorry to hear such devasting news. I share WH's appreciation for your decision to share your sorrow with your Corner family. My thoughts and prayers go to you and your family.
Spitz, best wishes for all of you from me. I hope your blog friendships can provide a little comfort.
Spitzboov, prayers and warmest thoughts go out to you and your family. Life plays some really cruel tricks sometimes. You were right sharing your pain with your extended online family. We care!
'd just like to comment on Tinbeni's comments on Jazz and Jean O'Conor efforts including the neat theme.
Ditto. Very refreshing. Nice Wednesday.
TILL next time.
Just popped in to see what's what and saw the tragic news.
Spitzboov, I am so terribly sorry for you and your family. My heart breaks for you. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Hi Y'all, I had to PLOW THROUGH Jean O'Conner's tribute to my source of SEED CAPITAL, but enjoyed it since her well-PLANTed perps didn't ELUDE me. I HARVESTed a perfect finish for once.
Thanks, JzB for your well-tuned expo. You always leave us wanting PIU. That Centaur was indeed BEASTLY.
Use "sparingly" is familiar to me, not SPARELY.
Montana, your Ike QOD was very apt right now since there is some question about whether congress will plant another farm bill among us. It is too true that farming is easier from a distance.
Fermatprime: is it ever OK to swim alone? Scary with your health problems no matter what an EKG SEZ! Can't you at least get someone to sit on the side to fish you out if you have trouble? Do you have a pool at your home?
PK- I would say your comments win a golden globe.
Wish I had that talent!
We just got back from lunch at Sammy's Wood-fired Grill. They sent us a twenty-percent off coupon by e-mail. They always exceed my expectations. It's an upscale chain. Do you have one in your area? They produce tasty food and they know how to make their customers happy, a winning combination.
Now I'm meeting Bonnie and Jordan at the coffee shop. It speaks volumes about my life that this is what I have to write about much of the time.
A recap of yesterday's census-taker puzzle follows. Anony-mouse had worked out the solution yesterday.
A census taker goes to a house and knocks on the door. He asks the woman who answers the door how many children she has. She tells him she has three children. He asks her how old they are. She says she won’t tell him, but she will give him some hints. She says that the product of their ages is 36 and the sum of their ages is one more than the number of the house across the street (pointing to the house). The census taker thanks the woman and leaves.
He comes back an hour later, and tells her that he still can’t figure out the ages of her three children. She is very apologetic and says, “I’m really sorry. I forgot to tell you that the oldest child likes peanut butter and anchovy sandwiches.”
That’s the last piece of information the census taker needs. He is now sure of her children’s’ ages. Can you figure out the ages of her children? No guesses, all logic. The answer follows.
First, make a list of all the possible combinations of three ages that have a product of 36. Next compute the sum for each of them. That’s what the census taker would have done. Then he would have walked across the street, looked at the house number and the ages of her children would have been obvious. For example, if the house number across the street was 13, then the sum of their ages must be one more than that, or 14. Therefore, the ages must have been one, four and nine. So why did he come back and tell her that he couldn’t figure it out? It must have been because two or more of the combinations of three ages have the same sum.
1 x 6 x 6 = 36; sum = 13
2 x 2 x 9 = 36; sum = 13
The number of the house across the street must have been 12 and therefore, there were two combinations of possible ages. When told that the oldest liked peanut butter and anchovy sandwiches, that eliminated the first combination since there was no oldest. So, the ages of her children must have been two, two and nine.
New post will be up soon. Thanks for the patience.
Ahhhh, to have Wednesday back ????
Bill G. Why doesn't 1 x 4 x 9 work ???
Can't wait to see the THURSDAY blog appear.
Cheers !!!
you see? I told you that billg's math problem post put our blog into internet jail!
Bill G.
Re-read and then re-read your solution again.
Now I get it (and why 1 x 4 x 9) doesn't work.
CIAO
It's so nice to be "HOME" ~ although I did enjoy the temporary residence. :-) Thanks, C.C.
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