Theme: Kiddie Taxidemy - Animals (all four letters) bookend each theme entry, i.e, they're stuffed.
23A. *High-ranking administrator : SENIOR OFFICIAL. Seal.
34. *Really pricey spread : BELUGA CAVIAR. Bear. Never had Beluga caviar before. Probably never will.
51A. *Home of a 360-member music group : MORMON TABERNACLE. Mole.
69A. *"Love, Actually" actor : LIAM NEESON. Lion. "Love, Actually" is one of Bill G's favorite movies. I like it too.
72A. *Get down and dirty? : MUD WRESTLE. Mule. Mud run is getting quite popular too.
90A. *Teetotaler, for the night : DESIGNATED DRIVER. Deer.
104A. *Vera Wang's field : HAUTE COUTURE. Hare. You can find affordable pieces in Kolh's Simply Vera Wang line.
120A. Cuddly toys, or what can be found at the two-letter "head" and "tail" of the answers to starred clues : STUFFED ANIMALS
From the byline, we can see that Bruce came up with the theme. He probably also had CAT/DOG/RAT in mind when he started. Then Doug narrowed down the theme entry to all 4-letters for tightness & consistency.
Very nicely designed & filled grid. I MET A
(65D. "__ man with seven wives ..." is a bit weak.
Adding cheaters at square 65 & 77 could have avoided the partial,
but I haven't tried, maybe they result in dupes or Bruce and Doug simply
did not want cheaters in this grid and preferred the fluidity of the
current grid design.
Both our constructors today are fast solvers. In fact, Doug finished 15th in the ACPT last year. Look at Doug's T-shirt!
Across:
1. "The Reader" Oscar winner : WINSLET (Kate). She just married a guy with a surname Rocknroll.
8. Really excited : STOKED
14. Refuse to bite one's tongue : POP OFF
20. Copy cats? : EDITORS. I don't quite get this clue.
21. Highly decorated : ORNATE
22. Online self-image : AVATAR. Love Avg Joe's.
25. Mocha native : YEMENI
26. Typically tough life phase : TEENS. Mine was not bad at all. I fell in love at 16 with a boy who grew up with me. We were together for 7 years.
27. "__ only take a minute" : IT'LL
28. Bygone U.N. member : USSR
30. AAA offering : RTE
31. Composer Telemann : GEORG. Never heard of this guy.
38. Far from certain : IFFY
41. Like some drafts : MALTY. Always think of sports first when I encounter "drafts".
43. Jack up : ELEVATE
44. Will Smith title role : ALI
45. San __: Calif. city or its county : MATEO
46. Slip into : DON
47. Doesn't interfere with : LETS BE
56. German import : OPEL
57. Speak bluish? : SWEAR. I wonder why blue is associated with off-color stuff. In China, it's yellow. Porn movie is "Yellow movie" in Chinese.
58. Rattle : FAZE
59. Friend of Rabbit : ROO
60. Chou En-__ : LAI. And 11D. Chiang __-shek : KAI. Both Cantonese. In Mandarin, the dash is not used. Zhou Enlai & Jiang Jieshi. I don't know the reason. Just the way it is.
61. U. muck-a-mucks : BMOCs. BMOC= Big Man On Campus.
64. "Ben-Hur" broke its Oscar record : GIGI. Tough clue. And 3D. Number of Oscars for 64-Across : NINE
66. Yank's enemy : REB
68. Takes painkillers, say : AILS
75. In a deft manner : ABLY
76. It may influence which club you choose : LIE. I'm short but straight.
77. Idyllic locale : EDEN
79. 118-Across's home, familiarly : SoCAL. And 118. Bruin rival : TROJAN
80. ISP choice : DSL
81. Reheat, in a way : ZAP
83. Quaintly small : ITSY
85. Not eating anyone's dust : AHEAD
88. Creepy gaze : LEER
94. Cause to erupt : ENRAGE. I'm so angry at the Manti Te'o hoax. It's cruel.
96. Carry with effort : LUG
97. Moved, as a lifeboat : OARED
98. Monarch's reign, e.g. : ERA
99. Really advocate : PUSH FOR
102. Free-for-all : SPREE
103. Modern diary : BLOG. Like ours.
108. Martial arts mercenary : NINJA. It's written out like this. Two characters. Ja is like English "er" word, "one who....". Nin means "to bear".
110. Important Dadaist : ARP
111. Thoroughly goes over : VETS
112. Bachelor finale? : ETTE. Sweet clue. Bachelorette.
114. Some ATM sites : ATRIA. Are you familiar with Altria?
125. Nasty rumor : CANARD
126. Was jealous of : ENVIED
127. They may be casual : REMARKS. Nice clue.
128. "The Lion King" trio : HYENAS
129. Virginia et al. : STATES
130. Most astute : KEENEST
Down:
1. Early 103-Down player : WEST
2. Tête output : IDEE
4. Not very generous : STINGY
5. Like a muumuu : LOOSE. Pretty.
6. Misspeak, say : ERR
7. General of Chinese cuisine : TSO. No other way to clue this word.
8. Lenient : SOFT
9. Narrow-brimmed fedora : TRILBY. New word to me.
10. Réunion attendee : ONCLE
12. Limo driver's request, perhaps : ETA. Needs an abbr. hint in the clue.
13. Mighty storm : DELUGE
14. Union contract subject : PAY SCALE
15. Stayed too long at the fare? : OVER-ATE. Ha ha.
16. Kitchen spray : PAM
17. "SNL" alum Cheri : OTERI
18. Fruity soda brand : FANTA
19. McDonald's fixture : FRIER
24. Symbol of decency : FIG LEAF. Easy in retrospect.
29. Economical shorthand in store names : SAV
32. Mideast land : OMAN
33. "Rodent" band since the 1980s : RATT. This stumped me last time. "Rodent" certainly helped.
35. Jaworski of Watergate : LEON. I faintly recall this name.
36. Forearm-related : ULNAR
37. Official nix : VETO
38. Alpo rival : IAMS
39. Smooth movement : FLOW
40. Nolan Ryan, notably : FIREBALLER. Fastballs! No Google, tell me how many Cy Young Nolan Ryan won?
42. West Indies island : TOBAGO
45. Dimwit : MORON
46. Coffee pot remnant : DREG
48. Home with a between-floors entrance : SPLIT LEVEL
49. Important thing : BE ALL.
50. Musical dedicatee whose true identity is the subject of much speculation : ELISE. True.
52. Title woman in a Jolson classic : MAMMY. Stumper. For a moment, I thought Al Jolson was black.
53. Web periodical : E-ZINE
54. Wood purchase : CORD
55. Theater chain : LOEWS
62. Hanna-Barbera fan's purchase : CEL
63. Grab hold of : SEIZE
67. Chum : BRO
68. Tokyo brew : ASAHI
69. Crock-Pot utensil : LADLE
70. "Ghosts" playwright : IBSEN
71. Sailing places : SEAS
73. Let drain, as a sink : UNSTOP. Not a word I use.
74. Modern greeting : E-CARD
78. Bumper defect : DING
82. Maneuver, as a ship : PILOT
84. Ached (for) : YEARNED
86. Prefix with nautical : AERO
87. Major bummer : DRAG
89. At attention : RAPT
90. Heads down : DESCENDS
91. Source of knowledge : GURU
92. One less than vier : DREI. German for 3. Vier = 4.
93. Celebrity chef Paula : DEEN
95. "Guerrilla Warfare" author : GUEVARA. A real hero when I grew up.
100. Super-popular : HOT. Old Navy's Activewear series all have thumb holes. Great color too.
101. Stirs : FUSSES
102. Non-negotiable charge : SET FEE
103. Hero with a mask : BATMAN
104. Devise : HATCH
105. Wide assortment : ARRAY
106. Barely leading : UP ONE
107. Prepare for additional use : RE-FIT
109. Actress Pressly : JAIME. She's in "My Name Is Earl". J'aime is "I love" in French. "Je t'aime… moi non-plus".
113. "Bill & __ Excellent Adventure" : TED'S
115. Few and far between : RARE
116. Types : ILKS
117. Part of ADA: Abbr. : ASST
119. Mo. in which the Emancipation Proclamation was delivered : JAN
121. Destructive material : TNT
122. Charlottesville sch. : UVA (University of Virginia)
123. Chest with tablets : ARK
124. Society page word : NEE
C.C.
61 comments:
Morning, all!
Solid Sunday effort today. The theme remained completely opaque to me until I got to the reveal, but it was fun going back and finding the "stuffed" animals in the grid.
Struggled a wee bit in the N/NW section due to TRILBY (only vaguely heard of it), POPOFF (huh?) and DELUGE (which I thought only referred to a flood and not a storm). No major problems, though.
Nice to see MORMON TABERNACLE in the grid (or Mo-Tab" as we used to call it). The current music director of the choir, Mack Wilberg, was the director of the college choir I sang in years ago, and our choir actually got to sing a few times with the MORMON TABERNACLE Choir in concert. Fun times...
oh -- and it's true -- you don't actually need to enter the number part of the capcha. Of course, that doesn't help much since it's usually the letters that I can't read.
Let's see, I think this one is tumiquiv...
Good Morning, C.C. and friends. Interesting puzzle. I liked how the other letters of the theme answers "stuffed" the animals. My favorite theme answer was the Liam Neeson LION.
We had a puzzle based on a DRAG last week.
My favorite clue was Copy Cats = EDITORS. C.C., think of the Copy Editors at a newspaper.
QOD: You never fail until you stop trying. ~ Albert Einstein.
Good morning!
Nice offering from Bruce and Doug. Like Barry, I was late in getting the theme -- didn't need it.
I never thought of the "blue" connection in the expression "swore a blue streak." UNSTOP is a valid description of draining the kitchen sink. You remove the stopper. C.C., what do you call it?
Nowadays FASTBALLER Nolan Ryan pitches foundation repair on TV, and he has his own "brand" of supermarket beef. Couldn't guess at the number of his awards.
I've had ASAHI beer, but of the Japanese brands, I prefer KIRIN. It's an acquired taste, though.
I wanted ASSN before ASST -- dentist before district attorney.
Thanks you Bruce Sutphin and Doug Peterson. Thank you CC.
I will never be a fast solver. 55.16. AOL instead of DSL. ROWED instead of OARED. FASTBALLER instead of FIREBALLER. DENT instead of DING. They did not prevent the TA DA.
Not fooled by Jaworski. FnJ was founded in Houston. One of he accounts I called on at one time.
Nice Pics of the event CC. Was just exchanging emails in the last couple of weeks with a few folks about the St Paul Winter Festival. The subject was, "What if Mardi Gras was held in St Paul ?"
On a flight to LA a few years ago, my Very conservative DW sat next to this guy. It would have been an unusual image to see. She said he was nice.
Got off to a slow start and ended up with a mostly bottom-to-top solution. I had ASSN before ASST, CURSE before SWEAR, and FRIES before FRIER. The last long fill was SENIOROFFICIAL and so, like Barry G., the N/NW was the last area filled. [23:20]
CAPTCHA = typrupol
CC, just read Desper-Otto and forgot your Ryan Express question. No looking. I don't recall any Cy Young's for Nolan Ryan. I'll guess 0. 7 No-Hitters, All time Strike Out Leader. Local (Alvin, Tx) boy does good story.
Well, I may as well just use up 60 % of my daily post limit right off the bat.
Trying again.
On a flight to LA a few years ago, my Very conservative DW sat next to this guy.
Thanks for the nice write-up C.C. Glad that people seem to enjoy the puzzle. This one had a quick turn around... we sent Rich the theme idea on a Friday. He responded within a half-hour (must have caught him at the perfect time) and we sent him the finished puzzle on Monday. Doug is always a pleasure to work with.
-I solved this quickly from top to bottom without skipping around using Across and Down together. Quite easy for a Sunday. Clever theme and fill, although I didn't need or see the theme until the reveal.
-CC, congrats on having a puzzle in the tournament. A hamstring pull is sooo painful. I hope you heal quickly.
-GEORG Telemann is one of my favorite composers.
Link Telemann
-I like ASAHI, but prefer Kirin, especially with sushi.
-I have known BMOC forever, but is it actually used anywhere? We didn't use it at college.
-TRILBY hat in Wiki: “The hat's name derives from the stage adaptation of George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby; a hat of this style was worn in the first London production of the play.”
Hello Puzzlers -
Straightforward solve today, with some of the same goofs already mentioned. I avoided reading the theme unifier until the end. Another clever theme!
Morning CC, enjoyed the tournament photos. A warm library sounds like a good place to be on a St. Paul winter day. :-)
B.M.O.C. was the name of a Brothers Four album. They claimed it meant Best Music On/Off Campus. YR, I never heard the expression BMOC when I was in school, either.
Barry, haven't you ever heard a smart aleck POP OFF?
Bruce, thanks for dropping by. It's always nice to hear the constructor's side of the story.
Good morning everyone. Great pictures, C.C.
WEES. Who said "Après moi le DÉLUGE."? We used to live in a SPLITLEVEL in EDEN, NY.
DREI - three
L.German - dree (long a sound as in 'lake')
Dutch - drie. (Long e sound as in 'eel')
And now we sign off with Mein Hut der hat drei Ecken (My hat has three corners)
What a well built puzzle, with each 4 letter animal split evenly before being stuffed.
Speaking of well built, the mummus in So.Fla. are not stuffed like your link, C. C.
It is great to see a Bruce S. work again and nice to see him stop by.
The tournament looked like a great time and I am sure it was an honor to have a puzzle used. Did not know there were so many constructors from Minnesota.
Hope your hammy heals quickly.
2 grandkids gone. 2 big kids gone. 2 grandkids, 3 big kids still here. Kitchen a disaster. Spent 3 days dishing up "snacks" washing sippy cups. Pretty straight forward puzzle, fun theme. Favorite clue-talking bluish! CC - thanks for the pictures! Hope your leg gets better fast. Off to Sacramento with youngest big kid to see his grandparents. Probably won't need sippy cups. GO NINERS!
ownitSpitz, we pronounced DREI like dry. I haven't heard that little ditty of yours in a while.
The Free Online Dictionary says DELUGE could be a hard downpour (teeming rain) as well as a flood. So a DELUGE (heavy downpour) could produce a DELUGE (flood), both cause and consequence. This is another example of our wacky, illogical language.
Missed the blog, glad to see you all again. I'll have to back up and see what happened.
I love puzzles like today's, where my first pass through the As and Ds only fills a few places, so the detective work can begin. I'm not so much a rote memory guy any more.
The ADA clue was a puzzler right to the end. I couldn't think of "AD Assistant" anything.
Got the theme early on, and used it to get SENIOROFFICIAL, which helped fill the last empty area in the NE.
Anyone who has spent more than a few hours in Minnesota in the winter will know why there are so many crossword fans there.
Good morning:
Thanks to Bruce and Doug for a fun, clever puzzle with a cute theme and catchy cluing. Had a few bumps here and there but, overall, a smooth finish. Great expo, CC, and nice pictures. Hope your leg heals quickly; how did it happen?
Blue Iris from last night: The only thing missing from the "Irish" picture is four brothers and no "Fathers" and four sisters and no "Sisters." :-) LOL
Have a great Sunday and I hope the Super Bowl lives up to it's name. Personally, I'll probably watch the Puppy Bowl!
Hi Everyone ~~
Loved the theme, although I didn't know it until reading the unifier. Like Barry, I went back to find the stuffed animals, and I have to admit, I didn't think of the animals as being "stuffed" with letters until reading C.C.'s write-up. Thanks for enlightening me in a number of places, C.C. ~ I hope your leg is better soon.
I had a number of write-overs: On 9D - I was thinking of "fixture" in a different way so had 'Fries' before FRIER, Like desper-otto, on 117D - thought of teeth before the law, so had 'Assn' before ASST, and I had 'Rough' draft before MALTY.
~ I did get 57A - 'Speak bluish' - SWEAR, but I remember my mother often using the phrase "talked a blue streak" meaning going on and on.
~ Favorites: 24D - 'Symbol of decency' - FIG LEAF and 123D - 'Chest with tablets' - ARK.
~ Last area to fall: OMAN / MALTY / GEORG.
~ Lemonade @9:56 "Speaking of well built, the mummus in So.Fla. are not stuffed like your link, C. C." LOL ~ I was thinking the same thing about any muumuus I've seen.
We'll be watching UCONN basketball this afternoon and then The Super Bowl later. Even though I'm on the east coast, I have to go with the 49ers - one of my brothers has followed them for years.
Enjoy your Sunday!
Good day, weekend warriors. Thanks, C.C. for a great review and though I saw the animals didn't realize the "stuffed" designation. Nice!
This was a lovely sashay for a leisurely morning. Got WINSLET right away as I both read the book and saw the movie. Very dark theme.
Like LalaLinda the last to fall was OMAN/MALT/GEORG as I had IRAN for the longest time. Once I erased it all and started over GEORG made sense and it all came together.
Loved FIGLEAF but sadly, I didn't realize I had LAO not LAI and so ELISE didn't emerge. Drat!
Thank you, Doug Peterson, for stopping by and as Lemon said, it's really good to know the constructor's intent.
Have a SUPER Sunday, everyone! I'm going to the movies but not LOEWS.
The photos of the crossword tournament are really impressive! What an amazing thing to have so many constructors and solvers in MN! Congratulations, C.C. on having one of yours there!
Hmm, stuffed animals theme...
#1
#2
Oh heck! There is way too much sillyness here to link them all!
Barry, haven't you ever heard a smart aleck POP OFF
Nope. I've only heard the expression with the meaning "to leave," as in, "I have to pick up my son from daycare, so I have to POP OFF now..."
Good afternoon everyone.
Thanks for the pictures, C.C., and for the great write up. The tournament must have been fun, especially with one of your creations in it.
I got a few, but only a few answers today. Didn't try too hard because it was too hard (for me). I too lived in a split entry home, and darned if I could resurrect its name! Now that's irritating.
Hope you all enjoy the game. I shall read a good book, or perhaps take Irish Miss's suggestion and watch Puppy Bowl.
Cheers
YR - The first line of your post is partly garbled re: DREI. We pronounced it like 'dry', too.
From yesterday, welcome on board to Maggie, ree, and 'David'. The more, the merrier.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Bruce and Doug, for a very fine Sunday puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the swell review.
Did not finish Saturday's puzzle yet. May work on it some more today. I was busy all day yesterday.
Finished this puzzle this morning, but had to head to church, so I put off blogging until now.
I also could not get a foothold up North, so I went to the bottom. Worked my way up.
First theme answer was DESIGNATED DRIVER. Finally figured out DEER was part of it. Then I had the theme. Helped with other theme answers.
Have tried ASAHI beer and KIRIN, do not like either.
MALTY was easy for 41A. That is the kind of beer I like.
AVATAR was easy for 22A. Never heard of that word until I started this crossword blog. I have learned a lot here.
Never realized GIGI had nine Oscars. I will have to watch that again, now that I have Netflix.
LIAM NEESON is a great actor. Loved the movie "Taken"
Well, off to my day. Watching the Superbowl tonight. I really do not care who wins. Just the points. I have ten squares on a Pool.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
TSO could be clued as musical group with a holiday tour. Trans-Siberian Orchestra Can't figure out how to insert a link, but google them. They're awesome. Hubby and I have seen them at least seven times.
Dave,
I'm surprised you didn't jump
on the Mu-le answer. Ox! ( For the dirty minded)
Spitz - Are you familiar with the interesting Penna. German dialect? I recently found some colorful old programs in that language. They came from the Grundsow Lodge #1 in Allentown, and they all relate to the traditional (and fun sounding) celebrations on Groundhog Day.
Cover art was done by Bud Tamblin, an editorial cartoonist of the day. The oldest program is from 1946.
Hi Y'all, Great puzzle! I enjoyed finishing it at 4 a.m. then found I was too early for the blog. So I got on that MATTRESS left over from yesterday. I'm up and fed again so will come here.
C.C. Thank you for your commentary and the note about young love was heart-warming. I,too, didn't quite get the STUFFED part. But how cute! Hope your injury is soon healed and pain free.
POP OFF? Eh...well, you could say I'm a past master at the art form which gets me a lot of scowls. I've since learned to bite my tongue, especially around my grandkids. My kids have no sense of humor.
POP OFF? The name of the San Antonio Spurs very good coach. Greg Popov (sp?) A USAF Academy graduate. He's been there forever and has several
championship rings to insure his longevity.
This puzzle was easier than yesterday and filled nicely by perps. Did have some red-letter help in that I backed off and rethought when I saw those.
No Superbowl for me. Can't stand all that headbutting.
"Super" Sunday everyone!
Moral victory today by getting all the theme answers, but the dreaded SW corner did me in today – couldn’t give up on GOSSIP…. Also REALLY wanted FASTBALLER….Similar slip-ups as those mentioned above….
C.C., hopefully you won’t have to go on I.R. with your hammy pull….
Dated a girl named ELISE once…. Turns out she wasn’t the one Für me....
Isn’t the BMOC typically the quarterback of the football team?
I also like my frothy adult beverages MALTY….
Is anybody going to be a DESIGNATED DRIVER to and from the Big Game party tonight? You know, the one where we’ll OVER EAT?
Finally, GO NINERS !!!!
Fun puzzle today. None too hard, but not really easy either. Started out with Idee, Tso and Teens in the NW, then ran out of idees. Tried then to get the cross reference of 1D with 103D, but couldn't come off Zorro, so gave that up. Jumped around until it was all filled in. Liked the theme answers, but couldn't connect them until after completion.
Re: 119D. We saw Lincoln last night at our small town local theater. Wonderful movie! Daniel Day Lewis should get the Oscar for that portrayal. And I hadn't even realized that Tommy Lee Jones was in it, but he should get the supporting actor Oscar. His performance was fantastic.
Thanks for the shout out C.C. Hope your hamstring heals quickly.
Go 9ers!
Fermatprime: Please come back! I worry about you when your posts don't appear. You are a blog celebrity! Don't let a nasty anon impersonator "roast" you out of making an appearance. I hope your digestive distress is over.
C.C.: Al Jolson was a "black face" performer in that he painted his face and did his version of Negro comedy. At 12A "limo" would be considered an abrev. although it is so familiar it took me a while to realize that.
Learned something today. Before, I could only count to three in German. A little progress is better than none.
"Heads down" came slowly for me. I was thinking of, "Duck, someone is shooting at us!"
Hello everybody. Fun puzzle today. Thanks for the pics of the Minnesota Crossword Tournament. Gonna go prepare the makings for nachos now. Best wishes to you all.
Oh, forgot one thing. Re: 48D. Split level is a specific style of home, but it usually doesn't have a between floors entrance. Most of the time the entry is on the main level, bedrooms and baths are up a half flight, daylight lower level down a half flight (if there is one), then basement down another half flight. Split level is synonymous with Multi-level. The style that does have the entry between floors is more accurately called a split foyer. But...local vernacular varies, so in some markets the above may not apply.
Lots of fun today. Got the long answers quickly, but did NOT figure out the theme. Thanks C.C.
Great pictures.
Vera Wang also makes
FORMAL ATTIRE which fit but was Wrong.
Misspelled AVATAR.
Sheesh, Tinbeni would scoff at me for that.
Just STARED at BEALL.
BE ALL for crying out loud.
Took forever to get PAYSCALE.
Enjoy the day, everyone
The usual high-quality puzzle expected from Bruce, Doug and Rich. Fun theme but I had no chance of figuring it out until the reveal. Here's a few comments that popped into my brain and then I'll read what everybody else had to say.
I enjoyed Sunday Morning as always. Have you noticed that they have three or four 'reporters' who have very distinctive voices? I could recognize them with the picture off on my TV.
CC, right on about my enjoyment of 'Love Actually.' How do you keep tracK of this stuff? Do you make notes or do you just remember all these little details?
CC again, one of reasons Nolan Ryan was so good is that he had a devastating curve ball to go with his fast ball, but you probably already knew that.
Avg Joe, My first thought was bi-level. I lived in a bi-level house where the front and back doors where between levels. The property sloped downhill front to back. You could go down 5 steps from either door to the lower level with a finished family room, half bath, bedroom, furnace room, garage and ground level walk out to the patio. From the either door you could go up 4 or 5 steps to the main floor, kitchen dining room, living room, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The laundry room was on the landing by the back door, half way between the two levels.
At 10:15 Spitz, the beginning “ownit” was actually part of my Captcha word.
My parents were Pa Dutch (German) and I spent my teen years among the Pa Dutch farmers. We and our neighbors never made much of Ground Hog Day in those years. I know the holiday originated from an old Pa Dutch custom. I would love to see your brochures, Dudley. Ground Hog Day seems a much bigger deal nowadays with all the media hype.
This afternoon our square dance club celebrated Chinese New Year early with a delicious many course restaurant dinner. A Chinese member arranges it for us with authentic foods at reasonable prices. I am STUFFED, but happy.
Sorry Manac, Mule never entered my head. Did not even know about all (item#2) the alternate meanings. But i am here to learn.
DW came home from grocery shopping & found my cat upstairs on her favorite rug, so now i am in the "doghouse."
Gotta give Abejo credit, still working on that Saturday puzzle! (Somebody should tell him most of us DNF.)
Speaking of yest. I thought Wiamea was in California. This website has pics, that if you go full screen, then hit + button, & use your mouse to look around, it is almost like being there! (Except the waves suck! how do you surf here? Do i have the right Wiamea???)
I started this in Lincoln as the Sunday Lincoln Star Journal carries the LA Times puzzle with grandchild “help” and then finished here at home from the Omaha World Herald. Getting ready for game and so not much to add. I enjoyed the tourney pix and sympathize about your hammy CC.
-Theme wasn’t helpful or discoverable from this outpost. Not that I didn’t look…
-Fur Elise is a big favorite in this family with lovely 7-year-old Elise whose bed is festooned with more STUFFED ANIMALS than you can imagine.
-Daughter went to church Trivia Fund Raising contest last night where the BYOB admonition generated a lot of libations but she said no one seemed to need a DESIGNATED DRIVER, even the monsignor.
-The Sound of Music was the first time I heard GEORG(E) pronounce gay’ org. Maria captivated him
-The cruelty of the Teo hoax is surpassed only by his naïveté (some say he was in on it but I don’t)
-A young clerk in a Teavana Tea Shop at Gateway Mall last night was wearing a Trilby. Very cool!
-Your ULNAR nerve is sometimes called your funny bone
-When I think of a FIREBALLER, I think of think of Yankee Ryne Duren with thick glasses and scant control
-Living in a house where ascending or descending steps is always necessary immediately ain’t for us
-Last week’s Kind of a DRAG revisited
-No real rooting interest today but I will PULL FOR my NO CAL friends and say Go 9ers!
After yesterdays brain-numbing puzzle, today provided a nice, solid speed run for me. Definitely needed perps to get everything, but I still made steady progress all the way through. Only writeover was for ASST instead of ASSn. Had the most trouble with the SW, but chipped away, and there it was! After getting BELUGA CAVIAR, and knowing the clue "cuddly toys" I did spend some time wondering why the other theme answers didnt start & end with BEAR, thinking of Teddy Bears. Saw the error of my ways, and moved on. Good puzzle today.
Attempt #2 on captcha...
61 Rampy: You probably answered this in a past blog, maybe I missed it.
What IS that car?
It's obvious from your name, but I googled it and images of it.
Chevy, yes? But is "Rampy" the name or a short version of another name?
Never saw one before. It's pretty cool.
Pas: its a 1961 Corvair Rampside. They were made from 61-64, and not a whole lot of them were made. Mine has lead a rough, working life, but, hey, its over 50yrs old, and looks good from 10 feet away!
Unlike the captcha, may have to try again.
Pas: see if my new avatar helps.
Go Daddy always has good (sexy) ads without really giving much away about what they do.
Rampy, what does an 'auto teacher' teach? Auto repair?
Wow, I know absolutely nothing about sports.
My wife and I popped into the local pub a little while ago. There was some football game on all nine TV's in the place. I noticed unusual blue and yellow lines on the football field and, not knowing what they were, I asked a nearby patron. He said one of them was the Line of Scrotum or something, I forgot what the other one was called.
Dudley, bitter? Ever watched Bambi?
Thanks 61 Rampy!
Wow, I could have used one of those in the 70's when I had a
Shure Vocalmaster PA system,
Heavy-as-lead Fender Rhodes elec. piano,and my Acoustic amp with a cabinet of 6 10 inch speakers LOL
I wondered if it was something to do with Rampart.
Here's a classic car quiz for anyone completely bored with Beyonce.
Car Quiz
BOOM BOOM out go the lights!
Yeah. What a cluster....
Just returned from seeing Quartet. It's a really lovely story with humor provided by Billy Connolly. The director of the Home for Retired Musicians sounds exactly like Joanne Froggett (Anna in Downton Abbey) and looks like a younger version of her. I did a double take when I heard her.
Not being a half time show fan, or like to see the 49ers get slaughtered, i took a virtual tour of Macchu Picchu. (35 minutes)
Fascinating perspective, except the fish eye lens can be a little disorienting. I kept wondering,,, who cuts the grass? ( Oh, it's the llamas!)
Note: Don't cheat yourself, go full screen to enjoy that fear of heights!
Also, i don't know why it is starting 5 minutes in, rewind to the beginning to see the whole story.
Turn out the lights. The party is over.
Pas, thanks for the car quiz. Fun! I got 96 percent. (Probably that's why I found it fun!)
The Niners seem to have been playing in the dark irrespective of the lights. Geez, they are capable of better than that.
Beyoncé looks great, sings great and dances great. If she only sang some songs I like, it would be perfect. I can see her next album now; Beyoncé sings the Patsy Cline songbook.
Yes BillG, I attempt to teach people to become qualified auto mechanics- techincians as they are called now. I teach electical & air conditioning. Neither are easy. I noticed a lack of ELECTRICITY at the Dome...
Thanks Pas, I got 100% on the quiz, tho the hood ornament section involved some WAGS.
Dudley: ROFL! I was watching the commercials and the football game interrupted.
Irish Miss, I just found Brian Williams with a short video previewing the Puppy Bowl. Adorable!
I heard of a fairly new TV series called "House of Lies." One of the stars is Kristen Bell who's always been a favorite of mine. So I recorded one episode and just watched part of it. Geez, it's dreadful. The language was gross and I both enjoyed and was embarrassed by the gratuitous sex and nudity. I'm surprised that Kristen Bell agreed to be in it. Maybe she needs the money. I don't get it.
Hello All - Thanks Bruce and Doug for a fun Sunday puzzle and to CC for the explanations. Hope your leg feels better soon, and congrats on your puzzle in the tournament. This was refreshing after yesterdays puzzler - which I finally gave up on. Today I had all the long answers and the theme, but had no idea what the unifier was until CC explained it. A few unknowns today - TRILBY, RATT, ARP, CANARD, MATEO, ELISE. Other than those, everything else was good.
I ended up finding the puzzle on line as my paper does not have it in their Sunday edition. (I print out the sudoku and CW from the e-edition since I'm away from home.)
Not a fan of split-level houses. Had an expanded Cape for our first house, then a 2 story colonial. Now I wish I had a ranch. Oh well, maybe someday...
Go 49'ers! Joe Montana was my favorite - back in the day lol.
Bill G @ 9:23 - I saw that preview of Brian Williams and the puppies. I agree, adorable. I watched some of the show today and was amused, especially by the half-time entertainment, which was all cat "purr-formers." Meow-ance whisker-synched! LOL.
Bill G and 61 Rampy:
Glad you scored highly on the quiz.
The hood ornaments were the only ones I got. LOL
My brother got them all right.
Have to ask him about the Rampy.
What about the lights out tonight?
Think it's time to go back to Marching Bands for Half-Time and cut the crap with smoke and fireworws and let the guys play football.
Do athletes run plays at the Grammies?
A really good magic trick. Sam the bellhop.
D-Otto,
I don't know. I just "drain the sink". Unclog sounds fine, but not UNSTOP.
Irish Miss,
I was doing lunges! Applied lots of Wong To Yick and I'm almost pain-free.
Bill,
I don't keep notes. But you have distinctive likes/dislikes, easy for me to remember.
Post a Comment