Theme: Floridation - FL is added to each familiar phrase.
24A. Jaw-dropping reaction to butterflies? : FLUTTER AMAZEMENT. Utter amazement. FL is added to the vowel-starting words in all the theme entries.
 |
| Who am I? |
43A. Salutation to an out-of-shape friend? : DEAR FLABBY. Dear Abby. Our Star Tribune has "Dear Amy".
52A. Outrageous ice cream concoctions? : WILD FLOATS. Wild oats.
65A. Masters of the felt-tipped pen? : FLAIR ACES. Air aces. Flair pen.
82A. Bulletproof linen fiber? : BATTLE FLAX. Battle ax.
112A. Cuban tortilla king? : FLOUR MAN IN HAVANA. Our Man in Havana.
89A. Cowering caterpillar? : FLINCH WORM. Inch worm. I always thought Flinch is just a verb.
3D. Botany major's hurdles? : FLORAL EXAMS. Oral Exams.
68D. Turkeys no one knows about? : COVERT FLOPS. Covert ops.
C.C. here. John wrote me a note the other day. It sums up this puzzle perfectly:
"And
ooh, look at that, a pair of cheaters. I think that's only the second
time I've used them in a 21. And no pangram. The fact that it's nine
theme entries and a 140 means that something had to give in order to get
decent fill.
I wonder how many solvers will notice that "Floridation" has nothing to do with adding flouride to water. The chemical symbol for flourine is F. FL = Florida of course, and "Floridation" is a made up word."
Not that there's anything wrong with cheater squares. But John has his own high standards and he likes to make every black square count. We have 70 black squares today. Often it's 78.
Also, notice the theme intersection in this grid? It takes luck and skills to make it work, esp if your theme entries are limited and you don't have much wiggle room.
Across:
1. Drift, as smoke : WAFT
5. Macbeth's hallucination : DAGGER. "Is this a DAGGER which I see before me.". And 115. Macbeth's burial isle : IONA
11. Pearly entrance? : GATES. Pearly gates.
16. Pedicure place : SPA. Husker Gary, don't bite Dudley's bait!
19. That girl, in Quebec : ELLE
20. Plaza Hotel girl : ELOISE
21. Performer with a whip : LION TAMER. I was picturing those kinky bondage/whipping.
23. Poker, e.g. : TOOL. Great clue.
26. Bellyacher : SORE HEAD
28. Auth. unknown : ANON. I'm very annoyed at some anonymous posts on the blog. Those who steal others' avatar identity disgust me. Not cool! Not funny!
29. Within reach : DOABLE
30. Birthday tiara, e.g. : PAPER HAT. This picture is from Truman's 5th birthday. Lovely.
32. Mike who married Liz Taylor : TODD
34. Gets out of shape? : MELTS. Another great clue.
36. Legal deg. : LLB. So is LLD. More 95. "The Good Wife" fig. : ATT. And 38D. 95-Across's org. : ABA.
I talked with Lemonade twice on the phone. His voice is very young. I
also talked with John Lampkin once. He's a real gentleman.
37. Backwash creators : OARS. I like "Creators" in the clue. Trick others think of people. "Legend creator" for ACURA is another good example.
39. Bi- halved : UNI
42. Uncommon : RARE
47. Animals : FAUNA
49. Beat it : RAN
50. Like some beans : WAXY. No idea why Spitzboov hates wax beans. They're tasty.
51. Tripoli's country : LIBYA
54. Mobile phone site?: Abbr. : ALA. Oh, Mobile Alabama.
55. Neuter, as a horse : GELD
56. __ Na Na : SHA
57. Research foundation, often : GRANTEE
58. Barrel cleaner : RAMROD
60. Like pitfalls : UNSEEN
63. George who plays Stokes on "CSI" : EADS. Stranger! Call me maybe?
64. Dough hoarder : MISER
67. Hunter's trick : DECOY
71. Israel's Netanyahu, familiarly : BIBI. He often appears dismissive & derisive.
73. It helps dough rise : GLUTEN. No gluten in rice/corn.
74. Climbers' spikes : PIT-ONS
75. Officer's ornament : EPAULET
78. Future father's sch.? : SEM. Fun clue.
79. Flower bed wetter : RAIN
81. Ex halved : VEE. Alright, Roman numerals. V is half X.
84. Scrub the mission : ABORT
86. What's needed for the job : GEAR
87. Scrap for Rover : ORT
88. Going on, to Holmes : AFOOT
91. Unspecified degrees : NTHS
93. Boffo abbr. : SRO (Standing Room Only)
94. Happiness : GLEE
96. Some crash programs : DIETS.
Oh, I have a question regarding tuna steak. Do you cook yours rare in
the middle? I'm worried that I'll get sick if I do not cook it thorough.
Our grocery store tuna is not Sushi grade.
98. 1957 war movie title river : KWAI. "The Bridge on the River Kwai".
100. Hoi polloi : RIFFRAFF. Ellen's show has a Riff Raff Room.
105. "I Have __": 1963 speech : A DREAM. 6-letter partials are allowed in LAT.
108. Costly : HIGH
110. Aquamarine : NILE BLUE
116. Nuclear family? : ATOM BOMBS. I'm in constant in awe of John's creative brain.
117. Faddish : TRENDY
118. Some state-spanning rds. : TPKS (Turnpikes)
119. Postal motto word : NOR
120. Big name in vacuums : ORECK
121. Accent : STRESS
122. In __: actually : ESSE
Down:
1. Prepares for shampooing : WETS. I've been loving Pantene Overnight Miracle. It smells great. But I haven't noticed any result yet. I wish I could pull off Marti's hairstyle.
2. Throw for __ : A LOOP
4. Work for the small screen : TELEPLAY
5. Table : DEFER. Verb "Table".
6. God of Islam : ALLAH
7. Big wheel in delis : GOUDA
8. "Beat it, ya varmint!" : GIT
9. This, to Juanita : ESTA
10. Pre-splashdown stage : RE-ENTRY. Solid Re-word.
11. Pancreas, for one : GLAND
12. End : AIM
13. Horned __ : TOAD
14. Carmaker Ferrari : ENZO. I finally remembered him.
15. Power plant output : STEAM
16. Harbor suspicion : SMELL A RAT. Our mouse is gone. Not caught. He just disappeared.
17. Get behind, as enemy lines : PENETRATE. OK, "as enemy lines"...
18. Met acquisition : ART. The Met.
22. Insect preserver : AMBER
25. Aussie hoppers : ROOS
27. Lang. of Israel : HEBR. Hahtoola speaks Hebrew.
31. Belch in "Twelfth Night" : TOBY. Sir Toby Belch.
33. __ citizenship : DUAL
35. Common quality? : SENSE.
40. Pokes : NUDGES
41. Structural opening? : INFRA. Infrastructual.
43. __ Lama : DALAI
44. Beat it : FLED
45. Like Abner—but not really : LIL
46. Season 1 judge on "The X Factor" : ABDUL (Paula). Simon Cowell let her go after only one season.
47. Betrothed : FIANCE
48. Folk tale rubber? : ALADDIN
50. Affectionate : WARM. Chinese, and other East Asians, as a whole, are not very affectionate. Friendly, yes, but reserved.
52. Thresher grain : WHEAT
53. Dawn : ONSET
55. Animal named from a Greek word meaning "tribe of hairy women" : GORILLA. New trivia to me.
56. Shot contents : SERUM. Not the shot I had in mind.
59. Prove otherwise : REBUT
61. Pesters persistently : NAGS AT
62. Big name in coffeemakers : SILEX
65. Made to suit : FIT FOR
66. Bankrupt energy giant : ENRON
69. Late retirement time : ONE AM. Not for Argyle. He's still wide awake then.
70. River of Flanders : YSER
72. Bellyaches : BEEFS
74. Central part : PITH
75. WWII Treasury offering : E BOND
76. Especially fond of : PARTIAL TO. Does anyone have good wild rice soup recipe for Avg Joe?
77. Where you might experience hard knocks? : AT THE DOOR
80. Arrow's path : ARC
83. Take a gander : LOOK
84. Canterbury quaff : ALE. And 85. Cologne quaff : BIER. Beer.
86. Raided the fridge : GOT A BITE. Lots of goodies in our fridge right now.
89. Parts of darts : FLIGHTS
90. Hard or soft ending : WARE. Learned a lot about my PC from TTP last week.
92. Doodle on the guitar : STRUM
94. Advance : GAIN
97. __-Croatian : SERBO
99. Beat in the kitchen : WHISK
101. Birdbrained : INANE
102. Comes across : FINDS
103. Criticizes harshly : FLAYS
104. Depressions : FUNKS. Funk looks like a word that can't be pluralized.
106. Love, to Luis : AMOR
107. "We Need a Little Christmas" musical : MAME
109. Partner of Rodgers : HART (Lorenz). Rodgers and Hart.
111. Mollify : EASE
112. Source of support : FAN
113. "Football Night in America" network : NBC
114. Part of KJV: Abbr. : VER (Version). I had to google KJV. King James Version.
Happy Year of the Snake! I bet Barry G (Maybe Jacye too) is having freshly made Chinese dumplings for lunch/dinner, traditional Chinese New Year food.
When
I was a child, meat/sugar/oil were all rationed. I so looked forward to
every New Year when I could help my grandma prepare dumplings. Pork was
so delicious!
Our living standard improved a lot in the
1980s & 1990s, esp after I graduated from college in 1994 and found a
well-paid job in Guangzhou. But I could not stomach pork any more.
Whenever I visited Xi'An, my dad would make Tofu & Chinese chives filled dumplings for me. Cheap, simple & tasty. I tried to duplicate my Dad's recipe, the dumplings were never good. I think it's the memory of him that I miss, rather than the dumplings themselves.
C.C.
96 comments:
Good morning C.C. et al.
Thanks for the wonderful exposé on the theme and a nice look behind the constructor’s thought process. I would not even have noticed the cheater squares if they hadn’t been pointed out to me. I thought the fill was extraordinarily clean, and solved from top to bottom in one pass.
I loved the theme, but I thought we were in for “insect” puns when I filled in FLUTTER AMAZEMENT. I did wonder briefly about the spelling of Fluoridation in the title, but was quickly engrossed in the puzzle and never gave it another thought until I read your write-up!
We have a wonderful fish market in town, and we get sushi grade tuna from him. So we eat it raw. Sometimes I coat the outside with fresh cracked pepper and sesame seeds and sear it quickly on the grill, so that the inside is still red. Yum! But I would never do that with grocery-store tuna.
Today we have to tackle the four-foot drifts covering 150’ of sidewalk in front of the house. I hope the snowblower holds out!
Morning, all!
We were actually planning to go out for ginger lobster tonight to celebrate the New Year, but I'm not sure we will be dug out in time for that. I finally got the bottom of the driveway shoveled out just as the plow came back and plowed us back in...
Wonderful puzzle! I had a few missteps along the way (RICH for HIGH, LLD for LLB, HIDDEN for UNSEEN), but it all came together pretty quickly. The theme answers were all good, although I'm not all that familiar with FLAIR pens.
Oh -- and tell John that I guessed exactly what the theme was going to be ("add FL") as soon as I saw the puzzle title. That rarely happens.
Hello all.
Terrific puzzle, John! Swell write-up, C. C.!
Really got a bang out of the (prolific) theme! Thanks!
Did not realize that I am staying awake late again. I worked Merl's puzzle too. (Washington Post site.) It has the word LOVE denoted in many places by the letter L. I recommend it! Tried to get our puzzle from cruciverb to send away to crossword-solving friend but the site would not cooperate.
That seared tuna sounds great, Marti. Will have to look around for some on the web. Lately it has been impossible to get fresh-caught salmon for less than $20/lb.
Good day, all. I hope storm Nemo dies away.
CC and John: Great write up and puzzle. The title theme Floridaization had me thinking about the state so I was thinking i had to add FLA somewhere in the theme clues then realized it was FL all that was needed I was not thinking of Floride at all. After all of the panic of a potential blizzard every one purchasing there french toast ingredients. we had a total of a half inch which was ice by yesterday morning. of course I was out of icemelt but they had my blend at the store so I was good this morning dryway looks clean and dry. I do feel sorry for my Newengland friend espessially the one who just moved there from Kansas, and hasent seen real snow since 1978.
A brisk -2.8°F at sunrise here in the chilly (but always beautiful) mid-Hudson valley. Coldest morning of the year by my reckoning and, I can only hope, the last morning in single digits.
I bounced all over the puzzle today but things were looking good until I stalled in the SE corner. Oddly enough, it was TPKS that broke it open. [20:31]
Please, can someone tell me where to find the puzzle from where I can print it. I find it difficult doing it one the computer. We are snow in here in CT and won't get a paper probably until tomorrow (Monday) when I shall get three!
Thank you.
Good morning, all!
I noticed that John managed to get his butterfly FAUNA into his FLORA puzzle.
Mike Todd's company had a patented widescreen movie format named Todd-AO. Remember that?
My NILE BLUE was NAVY BLUE at first. Well, heck, I'm color-blind.
I learned about GLUTEN from Christopher Kimball on America's Test Kitchen.
My wife's niece has DUAL citizenship -- both German and U.S.
And Happy New Year, C.C. According to the Barnacle, this is the year of the Black Water Snake. I wasn't aware there were different kinds of snake years.
Good Morning, C.C., and friends. I thought we were due for a John Lampkin puzzle. I had fun with this one. FLORAL EXAMS was my first theme answer. That answer also paired well with the FAUNA that also made an appearance.
Our Man in Havana is a novel by Graham Green.
I wanted Party Hat instead of PAPER HAT for the Birthday Tiara.
My favorite clue was Where You Might Experience Hard Knocks = AT THE DOOR.
The LLB, which stands for Bachelor of Laws, is no a degree that is earned in the US.
PITONs are used by rock climbers.
MelissaBee informed us once that the phrase we think of as being the Postal Motto, is not actually the motto.
Thanks for the shout-out, C.C. By the way, BIBI is very nice in person.
We cook our tuna steaks so they are still pink inside.
Happy New Year of the Snake, C.C.
QOD: What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone? ~ Bertolt Brecht (Feb. 10, 1898 ~ Aug. 14, 1956)
Good Morning - Not sure what the problem is but I can't get Sunday's puzzle on LAT website. It comes up as Saturday's. Is anyone else having this problem?Thanks
Hi there~!
Well, was I wrong yesterday ~!! When I got out to shovel, there was 28" of snow, not the 10" I could see on the shed roof - so that's how I spent my B-day, digging out....thanks for the kind responses and "42" links ~!!!
I enjoy JL's puzzles immensely - very witty , with clechos and misdirection; it was not until I came back for my second across pass that I looked at the title, and figured it was add "FL"
My fav was "AT THE DOOR"
Supposed to go out for the family dinner today, but I'm not sure if we can get out the driveway yet....
Splynter
A belated Happy Birthday to you Splynter. Sorry you had to spend it digging out snow. Glad to hear you, and others affected by Nemo, are safe.
Hello Puzzlers -
I just have to marvel at the complicated grid symmetry JL invented for today. I took note of the title and figured the theme would tie to Florida somehow; the first theme answer confirmed it. Lots of misdirection in the clues!
Had a little trouble connecting "boffo" to SRO. Still not sure how it fits...
Morning, C.C., and Happy New Year! Are you suggesting Husker should not try a pedicure?
OW from CT 7:26 - I get puzzles from Cruciverb.com, but there are easier ways. This link will take you to the Chicago Trubune puzzle site. You can print today's puzz as well as yesterday's.
Dudley: Many thanks for the info. I have printed it out - thank you so much. Now I can wile away the time whilst my driveway is being dug out by a pay loader!
Send that Payloader up here, willya? :-)
Very punny puzzle today John. While I never noticed the incorrect spelling, I did pick up the theme quickly and it helped a great deal. Favorite theme answer was Dear Flabby. No speed run for me, but a pretty steady hunt and peck to completion.
I did get the sympathy soup made on Friday, CC. It turned out well.
Very windy here today, but very little rain and no snow. Glad to see so many of you in NE checking in and hope you all have power, or at least get it restored soon.
Dudley - I saw your post to OW from CT regarding today's puzzle. I have saved link in case I have trouble with the LAT site - like I did today.
Thanks
Highly enjoyable Sunday outing. Thank you.
"Affectionate : WARM. Chinese, and other East Asians, as a whole, are not very affectionate. Friendly, yes, but reserved."
Q.O.D. 2: Some things are better left unsaid.
Hahtool; BIBI is a nice person, his brother, at Entebbe was even better. As for the unmotto of the USPS,'Neither snow nor rain nor dark of night , - from the swift completion of their appointed rounds' is all very good, but the ill advised defined benefit pension plan, which Congress has mandated to be fully and concurrently funded will put a complete kibosh on Saturday delivery by August 5.
X Halved is Vee. fine.
Bi- halved is Uni ? Why not quatro or quatri.
i know, i know, bi-cycle and uni-cycle but the rules of logic must be consistent within the puzzle. Whatever.
Confused in Charleston,
You will have to shorten your name if you want to be regular here. But remember, CiC is taken. ;~)
Welcome.
Good morning everyone. Nice intro, as always, C.C.
No serious problems today, although a few areas needed a series of criss-crossing perps. to complete.
WAXY - C.C. nailed it. Always enjoy doing a John Lampkin puzzle.
Welcome to Pjmugs.
Enjoy the day.
Welcome, PJMugs. Are you any relation to J. Fred Muggs?
Happened to notice this in today's AWAD composite. Any relation to you, Marti? "René Duguay-Trouin was a very successful French corsair who named two of his warships Diligente and Railleuse (mocking, scoffing)."
Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome!
I was able to figure out the theme which was helpful. I especially liked Folk tale rubber for ALADDIN and Common quality for SENSE (some days I wish I knew more people with some of that, like some family members for instance).
Argyle, our two small dogs are pugs. The second half of my name refers to the older boy, Mugsy. In fact, I was trying to post his pic as my avatar but couldn't do it. Perhaps someone could give me some pointers?
To everyone still digging out, be careful, stay safe and take plenty of hot chocolate breaks.
desper-otto said, "Welcome, PJMugs. Are you any relation to J. Fred Muggs?"
LOL, good one! I bet it would have been easier to get J. Fred outside for a potty break than these two delicate flowers.
Pjmugs, in order to have an avatar, you have to "go blue" -- either by creating a Blogger profile for yourself (like most of us) or a Google-Plus profile (like Marti).
Hello, my friends.
No time today to read anything as we ladies of the family are going to High Tea today. This is an idea cooked up by one of my sisters to celebrate our sister-in-law's birthday.
Almost finished with the puzzle, just have the SE corner to complete so I'll "see" you all later. I hope you are having a super Sunday, everyone!
Good morning:
I found this a tad more difficult than the usual Sunday offering but managed a completion w/o help, slowly but surely.
Had party hat before paper hat and delay before defer. A small nit: shouldn't father's future school have father's capitalized?
In any case, thanks, John Lampkin, for a fun and clever challenge and thanks to CC for her usual informative and spot-on analysis.
Have a wonderful Sunday.
Hi All ~~
As soon as I got FLUTTER AMAZEMENT I caught the theme, and also pictured John Lampkin with the butterfly on his nose. Love that photo and really enjoyed your puzzle, John!
To use Abejo's term, I "bounced around" filling in here and there. Knowing I needed 'FL' helped in a number of places. I loved COVERT FLOPS - it didn't come to me right away - I was thinking of actual turkeys at first.
~ Like Hahtoolah, I had 'Party Hats' before PAPER HATS and that really slowed me down in that area.
~ Once again, thinking present tense of the verb instead of past tense gave me problems: 'Run' before RAN on 49A and 'Flee' before FLED on 44D.
~ On 81A - 'Ex halved' - I thought of the letter X being cut across the middle leaving a V on top - hmm ...
~ Favorites: 35D - Common quality?' - SENSE and 78A - 'Future father's sch.' - SEM.
Our streets still haven't been plowed so no newspapers and no mail (that made me smile at 119D - Postal motto) We're supposed to get freezing rain tonight and tomorrow morning ~ a real mess to be sure. But we do have power, so no complaints!
Happy New Year, C.C. ~ I loved reading about your early life!
Interesting: My 11:10 post was still in the comment box and there was a message that I didn't have the correct captcha, so please try again. Yet, my post went through. More ghosts and gremlins!
I'm in good company this morning as I had party hat and nayv blue, eventually found how I had erred. What a great puzzle, theme and grid. John Lampkin, you are amazing! Fermatprime, thanks for suggesting Merl's puzzle today - I usually try it but get bogged down, today's offering was very enjoyable, but I had to work hard to not cheat after I saw your comment about the L's. Happy day to all. TO those in Nemo's wake - do you ever make snow ice cream? As a child in the Midwest, it was the first thing we did after a fresh snow. Don't try it if there is any yellow!
Inez, I think father is capitalized when it's part of a name, like Father Lardner.
pjmugs, I thought so.
Check out the Olio section, on the right side of the blog. Lots of good stuff there.
-Like LaLaLinda I got FLUTTERAMAZEMENT right away and thought of JL's avatar. That gave me the very helpful theme. I’m crazy about butterflies.
-CC, I like hearing about your early life. Thanks for the great blog. We grill our tuna until pink inside.
-Boffo describes a very positive theater review or a success. SRO= standing room only, a sign of a huge theatrical success.
-Bridge on the River KWAI is one of my favorite movies.
-That was an interesting tidbit about how gorillas were named.
-I read the clue Future father's son. So at first I thought sem meant semen. D'oh.
-We used to play a bidding card game named FLINCH on the school bus.
Terrific puzzle , John. Clever miusdirections.
Tinman, did you send me an email? I didn't click on the link because I was afraid to trust that it was you who sent it.
Merl's puzzle (WaPo site) has a note at the top to read. It says to put in Ls where a word is missing. I am sorry that I told you what the word was--did not realize that it was perhaps not totally obvious.
Thanks for the help desper-otto and Argyle, I think I was successful signing up for the blog and posting the picture. We'll see when I post this..
Hi everyone, well our road has finally been plowed, after 24 hours and a call to the highway department. We sure could use that pay loader OW! Our local paper does not carry the same puzzle on Sundays, off to print it out and check back later with the blog! Thank you for making me feel welcome!
Ree, capitalized and blue, way to go.
Patricia, blue and Mugs, too. Impressive.
You might want to stay pjmugs if you can. Probably safer.
Yellowrocks - so you like butterflies? OK then, when you come up here for salmon we'll have to go to the local butterfly place. They have lots of varieties flying around, landing on the visitors. Occasionally you'll see one with mismatched wings; that means a broken-off wing was repaired by gluing on a replacement. It's amazing to see this done.
C.C. Happy New Year !!! Wonderful write-up and info.
This was my "All-Time-Favorite" John Lampkin puzzle solving experience.
A "toast" to ALL when my FL sun sets.
Cheers !!!
Yellowrocks: No email from me to you (this week).
pjmugs & Ree: Glad to see you joined the FUN.
Cheers !!!
(This is a lot easier with my broken clock perpetually indicating that it's
"Five O'clock ... at Villa Incognito" (Always!!!)
Wow! While waiting for my daughter to pick me up I finished the SE. What a clever theme and puzzle. Loved it. Thank you JL.
Still haven't read the blog or the comments and shall have to wait until later today. I am FLUTTERing with AMAZEMENT!
Today's puzzle and write-up were excellent. However..
Ex halved = VEE
I understand the concept, I just don't like it.
With today's theme in mind, why not clue it as Flying Flock Formation?
An email supposedly from Tinman was sent to me, as well as to Bill G. Windhover, Mari, Lemonade,and Splynter plus two others I don't recognize, postmarked at 1:50 AM this morning. It had no subject line and seemed strange. I deleted it and didn't click on the link. All the others I named, beware!
A belated welcome to Patricia and Ree. (And that adorable Pug.) Reminder to all the dog lovers out there: Westminster Kennel Club dog show starts Monday night at 8:00pm on CNBC.
Happy New Year, CC.
I was one of the others, YR. The message did come form Tin's account, so something is amiss. Funny, we were talking about this just the other day.
D-otto, interesting link to René DuGuay-Trouin. I don't think he's one of my relatives, though!
Welcome to Ree and pjmugs (Patricia). Cute avatar! Blogger allows you to have an alias, but if you sign up for Google+, you have to use your real name. I upgraded to Google + when we were having some blog problems, so that I could share my Thursday write-ups with C.C. Now I don't know how to go back to my original "HeartRx" identity!
Hi Y'all, Really fun puzzle, John! Made me laugh at 4 a.m. Thanks to the computer I finished, but didn't understand everything I had, such as UNI, ALA, VEE, KJV, SRO. I perped my way through.
C.C. Happy New Year! Enjoyed hearing about your early life and learning I'm a "sssnake". Thanks for clearing up most of what I didn't "get". Hope you don't have to SMELL that mouse after a few days if he succumbed rather than vacated.
Boffo? Does that come from "box office"?
KJV: King James Version? Never saw that abbreviated in my life that I remember.
Did you notice today we got two words FAN & TRENDY that we wanted yesterday?
I tried COVERT FLOck before FLOPS & "yeast" before GLUTEN.
Still not sure how 102A Comes along is FINDS. I was thinking of the tool with pulleys they call a
"come-along".
I had ABD__ and couldn't think of Paula ABDUL to
save me. I knew she was on there but I refuse to watch anything ever again with Simon Cowell.
YR:
I got the same note you did, and took the same action you did. It was spam, and possibly a risk to open. I often get mail from some person on my email list, though usually the other addressees are not people I know or recognize. These were all blog members, so the source is probably blog related.
Local newspaper printed this Sunday puzzle yesterday as the Saturday Crossword. I completed it last night while hubby was watching the NHL Montreal/Toronto game. When I came to the blog for some explanations, I discovered the mix-up. LOL!
Hand up for PARTYhat. Also liked ATOMBOMBS and DEARFLABBY. Interesting background info about GORILLA. The things you learn doing crossword puzzles!
I had to google for HART. I wanted Hammerstein! Apparently Rodgers originally partnered mostly with Hart and then with Hammerstein after Hart's death.
Small nit- I don't see BATTLE from Bulletproof flax?!
We got 30 cm (1 ft)of snow here but sunny and beautiful today.
I just reverted back to Blogger...
No emails were sent by me.
Running full scan now.
Good morning C.C. and all,
Happy New Year C.C., and all who celebrate.Loved your dumpling story which brought back a memory of my mom making the BEST cottage cheese pancakes whenever I came home to visit.I cannot duplicate them either, and yes, I agree... it is the memory that we miss.
tuna-has to be pink in the middle, or else it is ruined
John, love loved your CW. Started off strong, which gave me hope.LOL Flinch worm and Dear flabby were hysterical.Like most Sundays, I have to continually crisscross to inch my way to the bottom.
John, always enjoy your photos. I just bought Monarch and Milkweed, a lovely picture book to get the boys ready for our yearly Monarch adventure over to the coast.
Hand up for party hat.Wow! What a great looking family ;)
Welcome Patricia and Ree
Crazy busy and late tot he dance, but what a wonderful JL puzzle and C.C. write up. Wonderful way to start the week.
In honor for John's love o words, The Washington Post's Style Invitational asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.
The winners are:
1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the
subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.
8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease.
9. Karmageddon (n): It's like, when everybody is sending off all these
really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's
like, a serious bummer.
10. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day
consuming only things that are good for you.
Thought I signed up for the orange "B", ended up getting the red "g+", tried to revert back to the B, who knows what will show up when I post.
Thanks for alerting me to the name thing Argyle, I didn't notice it.
Irish Miss, thanks for the heads up about Westminster! Even though the pug NEVER wins, I do enjoy watching.
Welcome newcomers; did I mention it was all wonderful? even the snow wonderful.
Welcome, newbies. It's always nice to grow our circle of crossword fanatics.
It's the final weekend before Mardi Gras. Since it's a short season this year, the parades are stacked on top of each other. Lots of beads left in the streets. It's like driving on sugar.
Lemony, loved the Post words. Bozone and sarchasm are definitely going to become part of my vocabulary!!
Avg Joe@12:46 said: The message did come form Tin's account
Probably not. It just looked that way. Real e-mail addresses end up in the wrong hands when people click on "Reply All" and send dozens of e-mail addresses to every recipient. Best to use BCC ("blind carbon copy"). Further, it's unlikely that simply opening an e-mail message will infect your computer. It's clicking on a link in the message that usually does the damage. In any case, if you use an e-mail program such as Thunderbird, you can download only the headers and examine those before downloading the rest of the message.
Welcome Ree and Patricia! Very cute pup!
Here is something from the tvguide News website. A summary, not a spoiler, I think:
DA romances.
Good afternoon everyone.
Didn't go to church this morning; had a Bloody Mary and delicious brunch instead. Therefore got this puzzle pretty well done. Missed some of the theme answers, but it was all fun.
Welcome pjmugs and Ree. You'll have a good time here.
Now for a nap and a good read.
Cheers
PS: (Why do I so frequently think of something else I need to post after I've done one?)
Great words Lemonade.
And good to hear from so many in path of the blizzard. My son and grandsons in Manhattan also reported they're OK.
Of course, that's why I live in SW FL.
Just checking in to say "hi"
Very nice puzzle, Mr. Lampkin.
Had me stuck in SE, but it was FUN!
Maybe I can read comments later. Got housework. Spent too much time solving today.
Hope you all survived El "Nemo"
Hi CC. I really enjoyed John's puzzle and your writeup. John's puzzles always seem clever and fun to me. I figured out the theme right away and it helped with the solving. I discovered I didn't know how to spell ALADDIN. I had two Ls instead of two Ds. Lots of good fill. Of all the puzzles I've done lately, this is one of my favorites.
CC, you asked about cooking tuna. Yes, cook it rare or seriously pink in the middle. Otherwise it's tough and not worth eating.
I started watching the Lakers playing the Heat. The Lakers look overmatched so far.
Half-time of Lakers-Heat game. Very close game, but LeBron hasn't turned on his second wind yet. Go Nash, Go Lakers.
Lemonade: really liked the Washington Post "new" words. What I like most about this blog is "talking" to other people who relish words like I do. I love delicious and amusing words.
Being an old battle ax whenever the opportunity arises, I laughed at BATTLE FLAX, although I really struggled to get it.
I don't know why this Anon won't publis so I'll put it here.
Anonymous@2:28 PM :
Clue 112 across for today's crossword is WRONG. A tortilla in Cuba is not made of flour. That is a Mexican word. Cuban tortillas are omelets. If you are going to use a foreign work, please make sure that it is correct. We do make bread with flour!
We are just back from spending a weekend with the kids in that city where “everything is up to date and they’ve gone about as fer as they can go!” Because of travel, Joann’s dislike of driving in big cities, activities and curfews for short people, I did not get to blog yesterday’s lovely puzzle.
Musings
-新年快乐 CC!
-John’s fun puzzle and CC’s inclusion of his familiar picture in her always great write-up made for a fun Sunday. BTW, one of Hudson’s favorite rappers is FloRida (pronounced (flow ride’ uh)
-Twins Dear Abby and Ann Landers were estranged for years and now the last one has died
-I’m resisting Dudley CC but those darn toenails keep getting further and further away!
-I loved bi and ex halved, uh, eventually.
-Libya and the rest of North Africa are trying to figure out this democracy stuff. They don’t want tyrants but they don’t want to go back to the 7th century either even for someone’s interpretation of ALLAH
-I have seen some incredible waste of federal funds by GRANTEES under “use it or lose it”
-Misers make great ancestors
-We saw thousands of non-DECOY snow geese in corn fields between here and KC
-Have you seen this incredible Climbing commercial?
-Some friends saw a liftoff ABORT after waiting for 5 hours at KSC
-The first sighting of dinosaurs and the AMBER explanation was a favorite cinematic experience for me
-Diphtheria SERUM was the reason for the first Iditarod
-My wife’s twin is still emailing at ONE AM
-Does everyone pretend they are not home when they hear religious people KNOCKING at your door?
-Snow starting here but it’s much more benign than what hit our NE friends!
Thank you John and thank you CC. Happy New Year.
Did the puzzle early, but laid down. Longest nap I've had in quite a while.
Doh ! Had PArtyHAT for "Birthday tiara", MIdas for "Dough hoarder", FITted for "Made to suit", and lecTiN for "It helps dough rise." Maybe that's why I can't bake.
The one that really messed me up was WILDtreATS until I saw the theme.
Liked seeing both FLORA and FAUNA in today's creation. Did you know that if you have G---LL- that gazelle fits in, but is not FIT FOR the clue ?
Yesterday was "Athletic supporter" = TEE, and some wanted fan. Today we have "Source of support" and I thought of tee, but no, it was FAN.
I see that I should probably comment on some of the other activity written today...
We enjoyed this puzzle, although there were a few detours along the way! Much more entertaining than what our paper had in store for us today. We were able to take the time to do both due to being snowed in again. They cancelled school for tomorrow already in our town; not surprising as there are eight elementary schools , two middle schools and one high school lot to be cleared.
Y-R, those were the correct actions.
Some thoughts about getting spam from someone you know... I'm not a security expert, but...
If you are on the receiving end of one of these spam emails:
- If you know the person that sent the email, as a courtesy, notify them. If not, delete.
- Delete emails that have nothing but a link. IMO, that should be your default action every time.
If your friend(S) notified you that they think you sent spam:
- First do a deep scan on your computer with your antivirus program to make sure you have no bugs.
- Make sure you have the latest definitions
If you do have a bug, get rid of it FIRST.*
If you don't have a bug on your PC, chances are that your email account has been compromised.
- Sign in to the account and reset your password to a strong password.
- If you have multiple accounts under that provider, change the passwords on all of them.
- Check your email account for suspicious activity.
For illustrative purposes, let's assume that Tinbeni has been told by friends on the blog and other people he emails with that they have received spam from his ID. His outgoing mail doesn't reflect that. He does the deep scan and has no viruses.
His email account has probably been compromised. Lot of that going around lately.
Tin uses Yahoo, so he needs to go to account settings and reset his password. In Yahoo, there is an exclamation point in the upper right corner. From there, a user can sing in to their account. Under "Sign In and Security", there is a link to "View Your Recent Sign In Activity." Tin notices that besides logging in from FL, there are recent logins from some other state or country. Let's say it was from Oregon. Tin doesn't share his userid and password with anyone in Oregon. The fact that someone is signing in to his account from somewhere else is a sure sign that the email account been compromised.
Tin changes his passwords and security questions. He also changes them for other userids in his Yahoo account. Tin also uses GMAIL and AOL, but no one is getting spam from any of those email providers. Nonetheless, he changes the passwords on those accounts to much stronger passwords.
In the example above, the spam that was coming out under Tin's name was being sent from somebody in Oregon. They just needed to signon to Yahoo with his userid and password, and start sending Spam to everyone in his address book, and to any other addresses they've harvested from anywhere else, such as distribution lists, or as Al suggested, from Copy lists on emails.
* Why do I suggest that you get rid of any possible bugs first ? Especially when the email provider says to change the passwords first ? Simple answer is keystroke loggers. If your machine is infected, and has a Keystroke logger as part of the malware, your new password is being sent to the perps. The email provider wants the spam stopped first. IMO, protect yourself first.
I love reading this blog everyday.
Husker, you said: -Misers make great ancestors
My children are trying to get me to spend everything I have on myself, doing things I enjoy. I have already set up a fund to pay for my funeral and airfare for each of them and their families. They want nothing else. Interesting.
Montana
Hello everybody. Our DSL has been down a lot today, with a few very brief periods of up-ness. So I must write and send this quickly.
Loved this puzzle, and like JD I burst out laughing at DEAR FLABBY. Loved the trivia about GORILLA. Highly admire the structure of this puzzle.
Last week I told my wife I wished Downton Abbey was 2 hours long, and tonight it is! It's the first wish I remember ever having come true!
...
Dang it, DSL went down again. Back now. Submitting! Best wishes to you all.
恭禧發財!
pjmugs @ 1:36 - There was an article in today's Albany newspaper about a local couple who have a Golden Retreiver named Sir Galahad (aka Finley) in the Westminster Show. A Golden has never won, either. Our dog was a Bichon Frise named Fluffy, so I was thrilled when a Bichon won Best In Show several years ago.
Thanks to HG's link @ 4:17, my acrophobia went into full throttle! (-:
We are now under a winter advisory warning for tomorrow: ice, snow, sleet/freezing rain. Stay-in-the-house weather!
I was remiss in not wishing all a happy new year....but that begs a question as well. I'm not very strong on my Chinese cuisine and don't think I've ever had dumplings (other than the northern germanic variety). However, I have made handmade noodles for our dinner tonight. Is that a reasonable substitute?
Could somebody please explain "cheater squares" to me? I have read the definition, but I still don't get it. Maybe an example?
Thank you!
Thanks John for a fun puzzle and C.C. for a great write-up. I suspected FL or FLA or FLO was going to show up somewhere. First one I got was FLUTTER AMAZEMENT (the Z from ENZO was helpful there) so that set the trend for the rest of the puzzle. This was a fun puzzle - I skipped around a lot, but eventually everything came to me or were filled in by perps. I did have to solve it on-line (our paper does not use LAT on Sunday) and used the red letters, but must say I didn’t use them as much as I thought I would. Hands up for thinking PARTYHAT first. Didn’t ‘get’ FLAIRACES until C.C.‘s write up. Love Bridge on the River KWAI. First answer I thought of. No lookups today - Yea!
Favorite clue was Backwash creators. HG - cool commercial, but it does make me dizzy. I finished the cw earlier but went to the beach this afternoon. Boy this retired life is rough. :)
Lovely family C.C.
Gary, good commercial. I wouldn't want to stand there even if a helicopter dropped me off.
Sunday Morning always ends with A Moment of Nature. Featured today were the songbirds of Galveston, Texas. They were beautiful! I realize that's one thing I'm missing living where I do. For some reason, there aren't nearly as many beautiful songbirds around here.
I always have trouble understanding 'cheater squares' even though it's been explained several times before.
Part 2, and then I'm off the subject.
Wait. How did Yahoo know that someone was logging on in Oregon ? (No offense Oregonians, it's just an example.)
The IP address. Is it perfect for locating the sender ? No, but pretty doggone close. If interested, you can search IP address geocode or geolocation.
The above example of Bloggers getting spam email supposedly from Tin also is a good illustration of why using "View Message Source" and looking at the Return Path ID DOESN"T ALWAYS indicate who the "real" sender was. When a perp has signed onto and is sending spam from your account, the Return Path is most often going to indicate your userid. The real sender is the sending IP address.
In some cases there will be a clear difference, and you can use the Return Path to try to determine if an email is spam or not. Do I use it ? Rarely. Next time you get an email from Amazon or an order confirmation from somebody that filled your Amazon order, or some other known sender, take a look at Return Path. It most likely will not say Amazon.com. Probably could have said that more succinctly. You get the point.
Is it really necessary to look at every email ? Heavens no. Most email providers have active spam filtering to catch the garbage and either get rid it before it gets to you or put it in your email account spam or trash folder. Emails with known spam subject lines get caught. Spam that comes in with no subject line is a bit harder to catch, but the guys in the white hats are improving their processes every day.
OK, so enough of this. Finally right ? Just use a good antivirus program, and keep it updated. Use strong passwords on your email accounts so the perps can't solve them, and trust your instincts about clicking on links in suspicious emails. The internet is as safe as you make it.
Yowza! I just finished reading the Blog and all the comments. Firstly, thank you, C.C. for explaining ex halved, VEE. Had it but didn't get it. Also, VER. No idea KJV was King James Version.
WEES about learning tidbits of your past such as the ones you shared today.
I really loved this them from JL and like some of you laughed aloud when I saw DEAR FLABBY, FLINCHWORM and hard knocks, AT THE DOOR.
The High Tea was so much fun. We wore hats or flowers, 14 of us, and had a roaring good time with the small, tiny actually, sandwiches, etc., and the remarks from our host. If anyone who has visited here knows the Arizona Biltmore, you will know where we went. It's an elegant hotel/resort.
Then five of the group went to audition for Family Feud. I hope they make it and I'll certainly let you all know about it.
I love Japanese pan fried gyosa dumplings. My DIL’s are the best. I understand that these dumplings came from the Chinese originally.
Dudley, I'd love to see your butterfly place. I have never heard of replacing damaged wings. Interesting. We went to an excellent butterfly place in Costa Rica. It was difficult to photograph the butterflies because every time they alit (dreaded A word) they folded up their wings. The undersides were not nearly as colorful as the top sides.
Happy Chinese New Year!
How quickly I forget! Happy New Year, C.C. and all who celebrate!
Oh - and Happy New Year to all who observe.
Thank you all for the kind words. I really enjoyed creating this one although the grid was a challenge. And thanks CC for digging out that pic. What a surprise!
Happy new year. C.C. If I had thought about it I would have saved my Hiss-story puzzle for today!
It's great seeing this blog alive and well. Best to you all.
John Lampkin
CC, I just read the WIKI on Guangzhou. One of the things I noted was the the sub tropical climate seemed so much like Houston. Interesting reading.
Hey pinto, i don't give a flying flock!
Super puzzle Mr. Lampkin, enjoyed every minute of the solve.
I guessed that I wouldn't be the only one who laughed out loud at Dear Flabby, wild floats was pretty funny also. Had dear before HIGH at 108A, not noticing that DEAR was already in the puzzle, that was my last little area to tidy up.
I wear a little gold WHISK on a chain around my neck, my husband had it custom made for me, I receive a lot of comments on it.
Anon got me wondering...and they are right about Cuban tortillas. Cuban tortilla.
Years ago, Barbara and I really enjoyed a TV mini-series called "The Last Convertible." It's a story from the WW II era centered around some Harvard students and their 1938 Packard convertible. I have tried to find a DVD of the mini-series but it doesn't appear to exist. I found an old paperback that looks to be almost as old as the mini-series. I started reading it and I think I'm going to really enjoy it. I'm also reading "Lonesome Dove" at the suggestion of one of you fine people here. Two good books at one time!
I have changed my blogger name so as to give Lemonade plenty of forewarning. hehe
C.C. Happy New Year. I loved J. Lampkin's puzzle. Perfect for the drizzle outside.
I know what it is to miss the loving dishes prepared by a loved one. My grandmother was a very simple cook but the food always seemed so good!
Reading the posts today made me hungry. We have a new restaurant that delivers here and I had dumplings last night. Does that count for the new year?
I have had a hard time getting over a very bad stomach flu. Each time I thought I was well from it I had a relapse.
I was able to discern today's theme right away. Having lived in North Carolina during college I heard the coined versions of Florida often.
Evening all!
Bill G @7:43 - I recommended Lonesome Dove to you a while back and am glad to hear you are reading it. I promise, you will not be disappointed.
Good evening, folks. Thank you, John Lampkin, for one excellent puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the usual great write-up.
This was a barn burner. Loved it. Started in Reston, VA, and finished at 32,000 feet probably over Indiana.
I could not get started easily up North, so I headed South and oozed my way up to the top. I did not bounce around as LaLaLinda did, however, I do that a lot.
My first theme answer was FLINCHWORM. Then I had the theme and used it to my advantage several times in the puzzle.
To buckeye bob: Cheater Squares are black squares that have no letters touching them. This puzzle has two, right below 1D and below 70D.
Liked BATTLE FLAX. I take flax seed oil each day for my eyes, per my eye doctor.
A couple Hamlet Clues/words: IONA and DAGGER.
Happy New Years to all that celebrate it. I cannot keep up with all the holidays. I used to celebrate Now Ruz. It was kind of in my face.
Almost home now on the train from Chicago. See you
tomorrow.
Abejo
Abejo: thank you for the explanation of cheater squares. I was wondering about that too.
I don't usually comment this late, so if this is redundant from anyone else's post - mea culpa- I'm too tired to scroll through each other comment carefully enough. But for @avg joe - my favorite wild rice soup recipe is originally from a Minneapolis based company - Byerly's:
http://www.lundsandbyerlys.com/Recipes/Recipes/W/Wild-Rice-Soup.aspx
Byerly's link.
I must be such a dunce because I still can't understand cheater squares. I read what Abejo had to say, I looked up Cheater Squares on Google and on the FAQs on Rex Parker's blog and they aren't the same. The concept of "black squares that do not change the puzzle word count" doesn't make sense to me. If you leave out some black squares, some words would have to be longer but I don't see why the word count would change. Surely some of you clever people can explain it with examples that would make sense to my few remaining brain cells...
I started watching a few minutes of the Grammys to see LL Cool J (who I like from NCIS Los Angeles) and to see some hot chicks. The 'music' doesn't make any more sense to me than cheater squares. I wonder if Hank Williams, George and Ira Gershwin, Willie Nelson, Cole Porter, etc. were still writing music, would modern day consumers enjoy their stuff or has time just passed them by? Taylor Swift seems like a nice person and can sing OK but her songs about old boyfriends who did her wrong seem vapid to me. Twenty years from now, will anybody still listen to her songs she wrote this past year? When I was younger, I liked rock and roll but I still enjoyed big band music from my father's era. Oh never mind...I think I'm babbling now.
Oh, no! Only one episode of DA left! I want it to be longer.
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