Theme: SPelling test. With all the teachers we have here, I bet SP has been written a million times on papers being GRADED.
A classic add letters Friday, with SP added to the last word in a phrase to create a new amusing one. Jack Mac is back. Mr. McInturff, one of our senior regular constructors, and one of my favorite Friday fillers. Heavy themeage, with two grid spanners, 3 others and a reveal. It also has some great clue/fill like BERATES, DOSAGES, LIMPS IN, DULCINEA, GARDENIA, NO BITING, ONE MONTH. Time to solve.
17A. Cherub? : RELIGIOUS SPRITE. (15). A rite becomes a little sprite. A timely clue for a week where a new pope has been chosen.
30A. Slogan for certain Lee fans? : I LIKE SPIKE. (10). My earliest memories are of the 1952 election and the Eisenhower bumper stickers; these days Spike Lee watches basketball more than he makes movies, I think.
35A. Sendoff for a Christmas shopper? : HAPPY SPENDING. (13). Exactly what I used to tell my ex-wife. I had to carefully massage my answer to this to avoid being too DF.
45A. Pepper? : BLACK SPICE. (10). For you Southerners, Black Ice is the kind you cannot see, and often leads to spills and accidents. Pepper is not always black but the most common table form is.
61A. Windy day misfortunes during a spa visit? : HATS IN THE SPRING. (15). Apparently this Spa has a hot spring. Hat in the ring comes from the sport of boxing where it was literal.
The reveal:
66A. "500" index that hints at this puzzle's theme : S AND P. Standard and Poor's.
Okay onto the rest.
Across:
1. Suggests for the future : BODES. Getting 1A, bodes well for my solving experience.
6. Mark on a paper : GRADE. Cute clue, but I bet with all of our teachers, I bet this was easy.
11. Kid's cry : MAA. Kid as in baby animal, I kid you not.
14. Harden : ENURE. I bet Lois has better synonyms than this.
15. It may shimmer in the desert : OASIS. As do mirages.
16. Off-road transp. : ATV. All Terrain Vehicle.
20. Film buff's station : AMC. American Movie Classics.
21. Luanda is its cap. : ANGola.
22. Share the bill : CO-STAR. Last week I had a co-tsar.
23. Put in long hours : TOIL.
25. Chewy caramel candy : ROLO.
28. Carpet cleaners, briefly : VACS. Vacuums.
29. Sicilian resort city : ENNA. enna of you been there? LINK.
33. Part of a process : STEP. Step one, print the puzzle.
34. Sorvino of "Mighty Aphrodite" : MIRA. Another Woody Allen film which I enjoyed, and she was quite fetching and unlikely as a foil for Woody, I think she is close to 6' tall. Since her father, Paul, likes singing opera, Mira may have developed a wonderful set of lungs.
42. Van Gogh subject : IRIS. I will let someone else link the pic.
43. Adult polliwog : TOAD. My brother's nickname for one of his children, who I guess was a squirmer, polliwog to toad.
51. Spanish river to the Mediterranean : EBRO. A crosswordese answer.
52. Firenze fellow : UOMO. Firenze is Florence and Uomo is man, like Homo Sapiens.
53. "But all I want is ___ 'iggins' 'ead!":"My Fair Lady" lyric : 'ENRY.
54. Unburdens : RIDS.
55. Little rascals : SCAMPS.
58. Fish you can smoke : EEL. Not to be confused with 65A. Divine healer in "Xena" : ELI.. An obscure character played by Timothy Omundson, who is a regular on Psych and was also on Deadwood.
60. Oolong, for one : TEA. A variety of Chinese teas and what they had in mind when they said they would not do it for all the tea in China.
67. Unexpected lamp benefit? : GENIE. Does this clue rub you the wrong way or you are a fan?
68. Aspin of the Clinton Cabinet : LES. The long time opponent of the Vietnam war who was the Secretary of Defense.
69. In a fitting way : APTLY.
70. Aircraft fuel portmanteau : AVGAS. The mushing together of Aviation Gasoline.
Down:
1. Reams out : BERATES.
2. Calendar unit, perhaps : ONE MONTH.
3. Beloved in "Man of La Mancha" : DULCINEA. My junior year at the University of Connecticut my two older brothers and I all took Charlie Brover's word literature class, and it was in discussing Cervantes' Don Quixote where we unleashed our triple threat.
4. Airport near a Gt. Lake : ERI. The airport in Erie, PA is actually am international airport.
5. Dreamcast maker : SEGA. I still have my sons' Dreamcast if anyone is a collector.
6. Number beyond comprehension : GOOGOL. Also known as ten thousand sexdecillion; just a really big number 1 followed by 100 zeroes.
8. Biblical mount : ASS. Not one you climb, but one you climb on.
9. Frisbee, e.g. : DISC.
10. Hockey's Phil, to fans : ESPOsito. He and his brother were both All-Stars.
11. Rum and curaçao cocktail : MAI TAI. The original umbrella drink.
12. "Sic 'em!" : ATTACK.
13. Ill-disposed : AVERSE.
18. Crucifix letters : INRI. Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum. There is no "J" in Latin.
19. "Let us know," initially : RSVP. Respondez s'il vous plait.
24. Reindeer raiser : LAPP.
26. Enters the poker pot with a minimum bet, slangily : LIMPS IN. Does anyone watch any Poker on TV?
27. "The Grapes of Wrath" character : OKIE. From the OKlahoma sand storms.
31. Sea eagle : ERN.
32. Living in a blue state? : SAD. Not the red and blue of politics, just not happy.
36. Water ___: dental gadget : PIK. They seemed so revolutionary back in the 70's.
37. Jr. and sr. : YRS.
38. '70s-'80s quarterback Brian : SIPE. played for the Browns. Very obscure player.
39. Road to the forum : ITER. Just the Latin word for road.
40. Mom's admonishment to a rambunctious tot : NO BITING. My favorite clue.
41. Fragrant white flower : GARDENIA. They can be overpowering here in SoFla.
44. Amounts that often specify a time frame : DOSAGES. At meal time.
46. Place : LOCALE.
47. Valuable violins : AMATIS. Either this or STRADS.
48. Dot-___ : COMS. Bubble burst.
49. Spine-tingling : CREEPY. But not Crawly?
50. Buds on spuds : EYES. Like the rhyme.
56. Tower site : PISA. I guess the city dresses left.
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57. Clothes closer : SNAP. No crackle pop, here.
59. Org. for women drivers? : LPGA. Ladies Professional Golfers Association. that kind of driver, See Stay Lewis from Yesterday.
62. Detonation cause : TNT.
63. Cholesterol letters : HDL. The good kind; mine is marginally low.
64. Gun : REV. Let's finish on this NOTE. (3:11).
Another nice visit with Mr. McInturff, and another week done, it will be spring when I see you all next; enjoy
Lemonade out.
Another nice visit with Mr. McInturff, and another week done, it will be spring when I see you all next; enjoy
Lemonade out.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteit on the brutal side today, but I guess not overly so for a Friday.
I finally got the theme at the reveal, which let me go back and make decent guesses at the various theme answers that previously were mostly white spaces. HAT IN THE SPRING did not come easily to mind (especially since I had LDL instead of HDL to start with), but the rest came pretty quickly.
SIPE, ELI, UOMO and RAU were completely out of my wheelhouse today and required all the perps to get.
Liked the tricky clue for ASS. Almost got me, but didn't...
[orgnv]
[itysepi]
Good morning Lemondae, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteFun write-up, Lemony! Great Steppenwolf link. I wasn’t expecting it after listening to the Doris Day link. You should try playing both of them at the same time – it’s a hoot!!!
For “Harden,” I first thought of ICE UP because it has been so cold the past couple days. But OK, I can live with ENURE. I would also like to know what Lois came up with. (^0^)
I figured out the theme at I LIKE SPIKE. The unifier wasn’t really needed in this one, but it did tie things up nicely.
There were a few crunchy spots for me with MIRA Sorvina, Italian UOMO, Santha Rama RAU, Brian SIPE. Had to rack my brain to remember LES Aspin. And I used to watch poker on TV, and often heard them say that someone “LIMPS IN,” but do you think I could come up with that one without perp help?
Happy ides of March, everyone!
Beware the Ides of March! They can (and did) lead to a dreaded DNF.
ReplyDeleteI finished in good time for a Friday. What got me was the LOCALE/ELI cross. I never watched Xena so LOCATE/ETI looked super to me. And for some reason I was thinking ARRY iggins (D'oh!), so it took some time for ENRY to show up.
My HDL is abnormally high. Yea! But so is my LDL. Boo!
I think Lois' first choices would have been ARISE or STAND.
TGIF, all. Gonna be close to 80 here in redneck country.
HAPPY holidays everyone. DOH ! Not so fast kemosabe. Not intending to BERATE you, but it won't BODE well for you, and there will be no HAPPY ENDING if you keep up that HAPPY SPENDING.
ReplyDeleteSP ! I got a Friday theme, and it helped get the puzzle solved !
After 15 minutes I had maybe 60 % done. Most of the West, SW and South. After 30 minutes I had maybe 65 % done.
Big breakthrough in the SE was changing my answer for "Amounts that often specify a time frame" from DamAGES to DOSAGES. Hey barrister, it made sense to me.
Finally turned on Red Letter Assist and found the Gt. Lake airport was not the erstwhile Orchard. Getting rid of the D helped me see RELIGIOUS.
OK, so GRADE was probably a no-brainer for all of the educators, but I first glommed on to water for "Mark on paper", and then to editor's marks. The other one that got me for quite a while was COSTAR. Once I got those, it was looking like a finish, but I've never read "Man of..." and my Sicillian city ended up ENzA.
That makes me 0-5 this week.
Time to start signing on to work and reading Lemonade.
Good Friday puzzle here. Pretty much WBS. Had to change oRd to ERI, and changed EtNA to ENNA. Thought blue state might be dem (or rep), but I was pretty sure MIRA was correct. I got the SE done first, NW was the last to fall. Had to look up three clues. Still, finished, and correctly yet! Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday! As usual, this Friday puzzle was a tricky one. I somehow had TODOs for Suggests for the Future, and I'd never heard of LAPP. I thought I had some wrong letters in there.
ReplyDeleteNice clues today were:
- 59D: Org. for Women Drivers? LPGA
- 8D: Biblical Mount: ASS
- 67A: Unexpected Lamp Benefit? GENIE
I liked seeing the words BERATES and GARDENIA. I hope we're through with BLACK ICE for the year. I'm ready for some sunshine.
What would you do if you were granted three wishes? I wouldn't be doing my puzzles at work, that's for sure!
Have a nice weekend!
I felt so smart after yesterday's puzzle. I was really hoping they would mention "Pi Day" on last night's TBBT so I could show off my new found math smarts. Alas! No luck.
ReplyDeleteI started in the top and when I hit a snag I went to the bottom. I soon had HAT IN THE SPRING. Fridays often have add a letter or some letters, so the SP made the rest easy including the top. The only hiccup was the M at 34A I never heard of LIMPS IN and forgot MIRA. Reciting the alphabet gave me the M as the best choice. We had UOMO before. The U jogged my memory. I had UTE before ATV. I thought MIRAGE, but that wouldn't fit beneath GRADE.
ReplyDeleteFresh clue for EEL.
DULCINEA was easy. I have seen "Man of La Mancha" many times. I love this song.
Link Dulcina
Favorties were
COSTAR, GENIE, LPGA, SAD
When can a spider be an earworm? When he's "creepy, crawly, creepy, crawly"
ReplyDeleteThank You Jack McInturff. I enjoyed your puzzle. As alluded to earlier, I thought I was off and running when I confidently filled in HAPPY HOLIDAYS for "Christmas shopper sendoff." But then I did the perps on that and only the D in the second word was proved. Once I got down to HATS IN THE SPRING and the S AND P answer, I pulled out HOLIDAYS and that area fell.
ReplyDeleteExcellent Write Up Lemonade. It's always a pleasure for me to read your work, but I must take exception to one of your comments today. I don't see how MIRA's lungs could have developed from Paul's singing. I studied that picture for a long long time trying to get a relationship. I should not be so open about this. Her dad might get me whacked.
Brian Sipe doesn't have the current name recognition of some of today's NFLs QBs. He and his teams of the late 70s and early 80s gave Cleveland fans some hope. They went from losers to winners under his leadership but couldn't get to the big game. He and Ozzie Newsome were that era's equivalent of Tom Bardy and Ron Grobkowski.(SP?) They were the "Cardiac Kids" because of their late game comebacks. Then later, some guy in Denver named Elway became even better known for engineering late game comebacks, so Sipe and the Cardiac Kids were left in relative obscurity, except for Cleveland fans and die hard football fans.
OK, I have frittered away enough of the morning and must get to work.
Talk to you all later.
Re: yesterday's late night discussion about posting too many times in one day. In the interest of fair play, might I suggest that all blue posters count their posts and stick to five. Some of us are very faithful about this and refrain from saying something we are itching to say so that we stay within the limit. When I hit three posts I write down my thoughts on paper and try to incorporate several of them in the last two posts to stay within the limit. The blogger of the day is allowed to respond more frequently. That is only fair after all the work they put into their wonderful blogs.
ReplyDeleteWhich reminds me, Lemonade, you wrote another outstanding, witty and wise Friday blog. Thank you.
Also, I don't understand why blue posters post as ANONs. It feels like having a chat in the living room with a group of friends, one of whom has a bag over his head.
Lemon’s assessment works for me. Ain’t it amazin’ what we know if we just think about it?
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Yes, a new Pope, but the beat goes on
-Those spices like PEPPER were as good as gold in the middle ages
-GRADES should indicate what a kid knows and not what he has committed to rote memory
-High center of gravity, narrow based ATV’s have killed too many people around here
-Wayne Rogers thought he was the COSTAR of M*A*S*H and quit when he found out he wasn’t
-I am “TOILing” as a sub today but blogging at the same time. Great work for $130
-I know guys who work on the cryoVAC line here at Hormel’s
-My aunt Betty was forever known as TOAD to her brothers Snuff, Shorty, Tub, June, et al
-Remember when she sang that she was a SCAMP (:11)?
-Number beyond comprehension? National Debt didn’t fit but it may reach a GOOGOL
-I taught next to Jackie Frisbee
-Seniors this time of YR are getting very restless. It comes from “knowing it all”
-I had doTages as “she is in her DOTAGE” for a while
-Everything turns on BUSHELs/acre around here. Irrigated corn can make around 300 b/a
-The Leaning Tower of PISA (4:43) was on my bucket list as it should be for all physics teachers. We went to where Julius was assassinated 2,057 years ago today
-QOD corollary from a poor spelling colleague – “Good spellers lack imagination”
Thank you Jack McInturff for a toughie. I know, its Friday. I got 63.1415926 % done. Thanks Lemonade for your wit, humor and tongue in cheek remarks. (No, not that cheek.)
ReplyDeleteI 'got' I like Spike, Black Spice, and S and P, and Happy Spending .... but no ending.
I am probably the only person, on this blog, who knows of Shanta Rama Rau (!). Her father, Benegal Rama Rao, was the 2nd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, after independence. Like all the US Secy.(s) of the Treasury (and the US Treasurers -), he 'signed' the currency notes, and I have at least 22 diff. currency note denominations, with his signatures on them.( from when I used to collect Indian banknotes - ). He was also the Indian Ambassador to the US, and, at different times, 3 other countries.
As a novelist, Shanta was a so-so, a meh, but I do have 4 copies of her book on Indian Cooking, from the TIME-LIFE International cooking series. ( why 4 - long story - ). I don't refer to them at all, since cookbooks do get outdated, but they sure look good, sitting on one of my book shelves....
Her father was the brother-in-law, of the grand-father, of one of my third cousins, twice removed, - which, in India, makes him practically 'family' - especially, since he rose to such great eminence. (lol).
Have a Good Friday, all.
"Windy day misfortunes during a spa visit? : HATS IN THE SPRING."
ReplyDeleteBullshit
Have to agree with Lemonade that Mira has a well developed set of lungs. They look just as beautiful from the outside and they have developed well.
ReplyDeleteBrian Sipe, the last Great white Hope of Cleveland, of the Siper-bowl fame, was the closest the Browns ever came to the real thing.
I had Hots in the Spring, well whatever turns you on.
BTW, we are leaving for the Southeast early tomorrow and so this might curtail or stop my blogging. Are those crickets I hear out there?
ReplyDeleteIt appears that Tennessee has no papers with the LA Times puzzle and South Carolina only has one. Also, I am only taking my iPhone and I don’t think I can do the puzzle on that and blogging on it is a royal pain and I’m not sure I want to take my laptop but we’ll see.
Just checking in on a dreary, foggy morning. This Friday puzzle did me in. A complete DNF.
ReplyDeleteSince ‘hanging out’ with you solvers, I have been attempting to solve puzzles all week long, rather than only Monday and Tuesday. I challenge myself to see how many clues I can get toward the end of the week. Maybe a dozen? Maybe more? I am only getting started at looking for themes. You have really helped me improve over the last couple years. I can usually always solve Wednesday’s now, and often do very well on Thursday’s. But, Friday’s are still too tough.
Thanks for the daily education, however. I read the blog, even after a nearly white puzzle like today. Maybe the next time a clue comes up, I will remember it. (I’ll bet I never remember the capital of Angola, though!!)
Have a wonderful Friday, everyone,
Montana
Hi All ~~
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed today's puzzle ~ thanks, Jack McInturff. I caught the theme with I LIKE SPIKE and then went back to fill in the first two. Knowing of the "SP" helped with the other theme answers.
Thanks for a wonderful write-up, Lemonade. You add so much to the Friday write-ups ~ loved your comments, pics and links!
~ Perp dependent: GOOGOL, SIPE, UOMO, and RAU. I'm always amazed when I can pull something like LES Aspin out of my brain!
~ Wasn't sure if it would be AMATIS or 'Strads' but went with the former because there was no abbreviation in the clue. But then - would it be necessary on a Friday?
~ ITER is another example of crosswordese I remember from long ago.
~ Favorite: 'Unexpected lamp benefit' - GENIE.
~ My mother's favorite flower was the GARDENIA. My father always got them for her on special occasions - not always easy to find.
Sad about all the drama in the late posts from yesterday. I hope the peace of this wonderful blog can be maintained.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteAfter much brain-numbing angst, the northwest corner finally filled in, albeit with a few WAGS, but no TADA because I, like Desper-Otto, had locate/eti. Aargh!
Anyway, thanks Mr. Mc for a clever Friday challenge and thanks to Lemon for the usual neat expo.
A belated Happy Birthday to JJM, hope it was a good one.
HG, you better take your laptop so you can keep us posted on your trip? (-:
Happy Ides of March.
TTP, my implication was that with a father who sang opera, Mira would join in and belt out some arias as a young girl increasing her capacity. If Paul whacked every male who appreciated Mira's assets, he would be very busy
ReplyDeleteA_M thank you for the story of Ms. Rau, I may actually remember her name now.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jack McIntirff, for a great puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the swell review.
ReplyDeleteGot up before the paper showed up so I printed this from the Trib site. Worked a little bit of it then I headed to the blood bank to donate a pint. Finished after I got home. Was home by 8:50 AM.
I LIKE SPIKE was my first long (theme) answer. Saw the S AND P at 66A, so I figured out the theme. Helped with the other theme answers.
BLACK SPICE was easy. I love pepper and I have driven on Black Ice many times. Scary. You do not realize it until you hit the brakes.
My last section to get was the whole NW corner. I had SPRITE, but not the first nine letters. Did not know GOOGOL. Had the RA for 7D.
Finally I guessed at the airport, ERI. Soft spot in heart. I worked at that airport as a teenager. 730 some feet above sea level. Why do I remember that.
Finally got ONE MONTH by wagging. SEGA was a wag after I wagged ANG. The rest fell together. DULCINEA appeared after the last five letters. Saw that play many times.
I also had LDL for the cholesterol at first. Fixed that to HDL.
Had MRS for 37D. As in Misters for Jr. and sr. HAPPY SPENDING corrected that error, to YRS.
Anyhow, I finished. Took me a couple hours.
TTP, you surprised me. ERI should have jumped off the page at you.
Off to my day as I am now a pint low. Funeral parlor visit this afternoon. A friend's wife died this week. Then off the Sawa's Old Warsaw restaurant for dinner with a group. Cermak Rd. in Broadview.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(semonon)
Happy Friday, all! Thanks, Jack, for a suitably challenging late-week offering. Sussed the theme pretty early on with RELIGIOUS SPRITE, which helped with the rest of the solve. Great write-up, Lemon – I got a kick out the I Dream of Jeannie clip with the late, great Larry Hagman. 60’s TV may have been hokey, but it was fun.
ReplyDeleteStarted off with DULCINEA, a gimme for this Man of La Mancha fan. Wasn’t fooled by the reference to women drivers for LPGA, but really muddied up the mid-section for a while by filling in ANTES UP instead of LIMPS IN at 26D. “Share the Bill” had me thinking of splitting a restaurant tab, but GO DUTCH wouldn’t fit – D’oh! I once had a disagreeable co-worker who doused herself in Jungle GARDENIA perfume; at least we had an early warning when she was coming ;~) Thanks to Argyle @8:53 I’ll have this CREEPY earworm stuck in my head the rest of the day.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Hola, amigos y amigas! Wonderful write-up, Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteBeware the Ides of March puzzles and this came not only with a warning, BODES but with a whack. too, right on the old brain!
Actually GRADES took a while because I thought it might be a trick clue but once DISC fell, so did GRADE.
ESPO is becoming a crossword regular so that came easily. I knew that UOMO was man in Italian but I spelled it UMMO for the longest time and had BASIC SPICE at pepper, then erased it all and it filled in nicely.
Two flowers today, IRIS and GARDENIA both of which I love.
But still a DNF for me as I had TMC not AMC which no longer airs classic movies, but talk shows and sitcoms so that was very misleading but not in a good way.
I also took "reams out" literally so was looking for boring or its synonym.
DULCINEA creeped out of my brain slowly and HAPPY SPENDING was never on my late DH's lips. HAPPY saving, yes.
Last night I also was distressed by the disturbance in our beloved Corner. I wonder how much drinking contributed to that spatting?
Have a super Friday, everyone!
Oh boy, a real Friday toughie, and although I worked as hard as I could I had trouble with the top middle and the SW corner that never got resolved. But hey, I got more than I thought I would and I got all the themes and the reveal, so thanks, Jack Mac. And you too, Lemonade, always.
ReplyDeleteDULCINEA was a blessing. And for some reason I got ATTACK early on. Flowers created confusing problems for me. GARDENIA came quickly, and so did IRIS. But maybe because of them I mis-read "orchardist" as "orchidist" (orchid grower) and so never got BUSHELS. And although I've GRADEd a kazillion exams and papers in my day, I never got GRADE. Probably repression: grading is the thing I miss least about retirement.
A few questions. What is "Dreamcast"? LPGA?
Glad I missed what sounds like unhappiness on the blog last night. I'm sorry to hear it because the lovely support and encouragement and generosity is what I like best about it. So let me end up with: PEACE
Misty @ 11:56 - Re your last two sentences: AMEN.
ReplyDeleteI moved slowly thru this one, but finished it last night after doing Thur puzzle as well. Maybe because of the late hour.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the belated B-Day wishes. Had a great day. One of my redheads won the IL. Sate Hockey Championship for Bantams( 13 year olds), and the other redhead is starring in her first high-school play. All that and St. Patrick's Day on Sun. Life is good.
Yellowrocks @9am,
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Lucina,
Drinking, loneliness, crave of attention, insecurity, mean spirit just to hurt some regulars, & total disrespect of this blog all contribute to the disgusting posts last night.
Hi Y'all, Enjoyed the puzzle, Jack Mac, with red letters to redirect my thinking. I saw the SP on the theme phrases which helped me get S AND P, not the other way around. However, I didn't get the original phrases without Lemon's wonderful help.
ReplyDeleteAh, DULCINEA, no one could forget that after seeing the play. I sang it for months.
One of my friends had a BITING toddler son when he and my daughter were about 18 mos. old. He bit my daughter's whole nose so hard it drew blood and left a ring of tooth marks for months.
Wonder how much it costs SPIKE Lee for front row seats to every Knicks game? Even saw him on the west coast when they played the Clippers.
ENURE was a surprise for Harden. I tried "James", the first name of Rocket's great basketball point guard Harden. Wasn't "beard" either, which he is known for, as in "Fear the Beard."
Harden never happens around me anymore. Too old...
Knew the name RAU. Never read her.
Happy belated birthday, JJM! How nice your grandkids made it special.
ReplyDeleteLucina: Actually there are three flowers today. The two you mentioned and also EBRO. :)
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle, although DNF.
ReplyDeleteGot the S and P, but did not "get" the theme. Thank you Lemonade!
Never heard of GOOGOL.
Is that where Google comes from?
AnonyMouse: I asked you a few days ago about your ethnic cooking.
Maybe you missed it. So....
is it Indian food?
I LOVE Indian food.
Got any great recipes? Saag, maybe?
Well, I got further than I thought I would get today.
Hope you all have a great day.
26 minutes.
ReplyDeleteThis one started easily enough but slowed down as I closed in on the NE corner. COSTAR was the last for me, as I got hung up on the idea that to "share the bill" meant splitting the check.
GOOGOL predates Google, but I'm not sure that one influenced the other. Because computer wunderkinds are mathematically inclined, of course, Page & Brin must have been aware of the similarity.
Good afternoon everyone. Time for lunch.
ReplyDeleteHondo, please come back. We would miss you. Hope whatever is ailing you abates. Cheers.
JJM: belated happy birthday.
As to this puzzle, DNF. Didn't even come close even though I taught for 36 or so years.
Have a nice weekend everybody.
Cheers
I want to make it clear that my blogging team are not restricted to the post limit, even on the days when they don't blog the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThat was a perfectly pleasant Friday outing. Thanks Jack.
ReplyDeleteLucina (11:34), pretty perceptive I'd guess.
I see where fans have raised over 3 million dollars to bring back a movie version of one of my favorite TV shows, Veronica Mars. I hope it flies. I enjoyed the show for the usual reasons; characters I cared about, smart and witty dialog, good writing, etc.
I read The Help, saw the movie and enjoyed them both. I saw the movie on cable a couple of nights ago, recorded it and watched it again. I enjoyed it just as much the second viewing.
Good afternoon everybody.
ReplyDeleteBelated Happy Birthday greetings to JJM.
Not much new to add. Got my best initial toehold in the SE with fill like Toad, EBRO, and TEA. Was pretty sure about AVGAS, too. After getting HATS IN THE SPRING, and BLACK SPICE, saw the SP add in. which then helped suss the last 3 themefills. Surprisingly, while getting SANDP, I didn't parse it into S and P until I was completely done. Favorite clue/fill was biblical mount / ASS. Had ORD (Chicago) for awihile before ERI became obvious, but it was an unknown airport code, so I needed perp help. ANGola, was a gimme, and I was pretty sure about LES Aspin, too. Fairly well textured puzzle as expected from Jack. Liked the misdirection for REV, CO-STAR, SAD and some others.
ERI - Many smaller airports near the Canadian border are 'International'. All they need is a Customs/immigration availability to receive direct flights into the US.
BTW, HBDTY JJM
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long I could talk using only initials? LMAO!
I have read the comments from yesterday a few times, and I do wish people were more transparent, even those who feel it is their mission in life to excoriate me here. There can be no simple response to Hondo, who has bee a long time poster, without a better sense of what aspect pushed him over the edge.
As for a clique(click) controlling the blog, C.C. is the sole creator and master here. Those of us who take hours of our time to provide weekly commentary have no desire to control the blog or the posts. I truly enjoy the far flung discussions and the varied knowledge and experience of our people. I do not want to agree with everyone all of the time, nor have everyone always agree with me. It does seem little to ask that it all be done with civility and respect. And if C,C. says 5 posts, it is not asking too much for everyone to count there own; ignoring the rule is still ignoring the rule.
I saw an aurora once at Cornell, probably in about 1958. It was nothing like this though. Spectacular aurora video.
ReplyDelete[droopymoop]
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteWell, I made a fine mess of this one, despite getting the clever theme. Mispelt GOOGEL; don't know DULCINEA, TCM? TMC? - no AMC!; INURE; never heard of ENNA.
ERI is too obscure, even for a Fri, and the clue for it is just awful.
Lots of good stuff in this puzzle. "Mark on a paper" is great. "Buds on spuds" is fun. But, alas, just a bit too much to not like.
Cool regards!
JzB
Keith Fowler, you are right. The name Google is indeed coined as(from a - ) mis-spelling of the word Googol. 10 to the power 100. That's how the founders developed their trademark. Per Wiki.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you also know about the googolplex which is 1 with a googol number of zeros after it.
A googolplex is 10^(10^100).
BTW, Google had revenues of >US$50 Billion, last year - slightly less than the GNP of Kuwait or Bangladesh.
Pas de Chat, I am truly sorry I missed your query. I do cook Indian food, but more akin to south Indian food. Although I eat meat as well, my meals tend towards a low oil and low fat diet, out of necessity. I love Saag ( spinach, mustard greens etc.). As for recipes, I must regretfully, ask for your indulgence, and suggest you will be better rewarded by a Google search, and especially on Youtube, for Indian dishes that may be of your interest. Bon Appetit !
PK.... thanks for the nice thoughts, but those two red-headed devils are my kids, not grandchildren. It's OK
ReplyDeletePinto@1:10
ReplyDeleteLOL! How very perceptive of you and are you by chance an avid crossword solver?
BillG@1:48
I agree,that was perceptive and proof positive of crossword solving expertise.
C.C.@12:17
How right you are and it's too bad. If the anons who have issues would identify themselves I believe they would have support and comfort from the very caring people who comprise this Corner.
My neighborhood is gearing up for tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day parade. In a few hours, the streets will be closed so the green shamrocks can be painted on the macadam.
ReplyDeleteC.C.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't been to bed yet when I posted on yesterdays blog. I Am ALL for Yellowrocks! The "person/s" who were "talking" to Argyle should just post as who they really are. I think open communication would be of help here. For example, I like that Barry said he didn't particularly like a puzzle. So what? WE all feel like that. I chose to use and avatar name now. (I wish I had done so to initially.)
It is obvious that (just a rough guess here) 95% of the the anon posts are from regular bloggers. But as a person who made a simple error of posting about a TV show I see why some people are afraid to do so. My mistake even got mentioned by Splynter as a moderator. For goodness sake, NO one dare talk about that show here! Did Lemon ever catch up? I don't know... I don't waste time on stuff like that. I don't have a DVR. I meant no one any harm. But there is a feeling here that we must be perfect. Even further, "nicey, nice" I don't think that is what C.C. strives to have here. I think mutual respect is important. My friends know me as a straight shooter. That is to say, sometimes you will not like what I say but you know you heard from me what I thought best.
In that spirit I think it would be great if you wrote up the rules for moderators just like you have them posted for blogger comments. As a poster here I don't always remember who is commentator that day. Perhaps that would help. Hondohurricane I fear anon comments have driven you away thinking someone was talking to you...please don't let that happen. The bully personality exists in all forms. Life is NOT easy. Sometimes we begin to project how much pain we all in to other areas of our life. As to this blog it is a place of fresh air. I read that you, HH have been on the blog for many years. I worry about those of you who don't post for a few days. We have lost members from illness here. Let there be NO other reason to loose longstanding members. Okay I am done, sorry if my post if too long.
JJM: Happy Birthday. I missed this earlier.
ReplyDeleteAbejo
(heniaryp)
In that spirit I must add that I LOVE your captcha's Bill G.!
ReplyDelete[droopypoop2]
Hello everybody. First of all I will add my admiration to that already expressed by many others of the outstanding execution of the Pi Day theme in yesterday's puzzle.
ReplyDeletePretty much WEES about today's puzzle. Some excellent fill, as pointed out by Lemonade, and some shopworn crosswordese as well. One way of looking at it is that it was balanced. I finished it wrong, having filled LOCATE and ETI, never realizing it was wrong until coming here. It didn't diminish the pleasure of solving, however.
Best wishes to you all.
As I have said before, my husband & I do the puzzles together . Alone I am only Monday savvy , but learning daily thanks to the experienced solvers on the blog ! Today it took the two of us a typical Friday time to complete , we struggled in the Northwest corner for a while ! We appreciate the time it takes to post & teach, Thank you!
ReplyDeleteJJM:
ReplyDeleteI have not yet wished you belated birthday wishes. I hope you celebrated in a special way.
Gee, H.G. @9:22, you're much older than I thought.
ReplyDelete1st, belated HBD to JJM, I am sure you have seen enough pies with candles, so this shout out is for you.
ReplyDelete2nd, I am praying that Vegas Doc drops in & can give Blue Iris some help with her achilles tendon.
3rd, I don't believe that was TheHondoHurricane yesterday. I read all his posts, & it does not sound like him! I think some one hacked into his "blueness" & I will believe the same until he posts again...
Anyway,I am only here because this is a great place to learn new stuff, & I try to contribute the only way I can. (& since a picture is worth a thousand words, I figure I am cheating the rules every day,,, bwahahaha...)
Note from yesterday, Re: Bad Links.
All the links I provided were working "if" you are signed on to a Google Chrome account. That is why they worked for me. But if you looked at them using Explorer, or an Ipad, the hosting website not being able to identify you redirected the hotlink. Now I know if "static" appears in the address, it could be a protected website, & I will not use it.
Thank you, Anonymous @9:37 AM. What does "during a spa visit" have to do with your hat blowing off your head on a windy spring day? Too much clue.
ReplyDeleteLucina@3:57 I wouldn't call myself an avid solver. I try to solve this puzzle daily in my local paper when I have the time.
ReplyDeleteAnywho, it is Friday night, & I have the urge to try to entertain with a parody of the puzzle theme. If this bothers you, pls skip to the next post now...
ReplyDeleteIt was really hard to find anything funny about S & P, but I dug a little deeper with my keyboard & came up with this...
religious sprite Hmm, maybe not, you would have had to like the movie "Dogma" & it is not for everyone.
I could not find any I like Spike so that is as silly as it gets...
Happy Spending, (I never did get into shopping.)
Black Spice? anyone hear young enough to get this reference?
& finally, hats in the spring
Can that Eisenhower picture be real? We do like our presidents...
ReplyDeletedoes crossed eye dave do the puzzle or is he the class clown ?
ReplyDelete"Ms. Zetterling, meet Ms. Babalonia" In other words, "Mai, TAI"
ReplyDeleteI guess it's time for me to go blue as my name has been hijacked the last two nights. Oh well...maybe I'll change my nam to Bobcat as well.
ReplyDeleteBumppo @ 1752 - Among other things a spa can be a spring or mineral spring. On a windy day it is conceivable that a hat could be blown off into a spring.
ReplyDeleteJust read yesterdays posts and the spillover for today. Well, I guess I'm upset as well and for all the wrong reasons. I guess I resent the fact that all Anons are being branded as crossbred, good for nothing, cowardly imbeciles. Yet, I bet, most of you enjoy more than a few of their comments. There are basically 2 types of comments, from Anons or otherwise, one Bad, and the other Good. If anybody, Anon or not, is snarky, rude, mean or obscene, they should be ejected, no ifs, ands or buts. And that is what has been happening so long as the Keepers are not asleep in the wheel house. So I take it you are referring to the so called good ones. These, you not only allow, but enjoy their contributions vicariously, royalty free, (Lemonade, unjust enrichment ? ) and after its all over you condescend to call them trolls and other forms of parasitic low life. Thats gratitude for you. Have you considered what motivates a person to contribute to a blog ? By Lemonades stats, less than one person out of 10,000 readers and lurkers will even bother to post on this blog. We rejoice if there are more than 100 posts on any given day, but then strictly limit the postings to 5 posts for fear of what ? of running out of cloud space ? Don't feed the Trolls ! excuse me, but this is not my day job. Tell me who does not crave for recognition, and I will show you a social misfit. And what does this exclusiveness speak of us as social group. Is this some sort of country club ? have we become gentrified ?
ReplyDeleteThis blog is like a stand up comedy club. The jokes are sometimes funny , but only for the moment, and they soon grow stale. You need fresh, innovative material to keep going and thats not going to come out of your blue blood regulars. Unless you want a litany of a myriad of aches and pains and yet another recipe for burnt chicken wings. Why dont you make a policy to delete all Anons and lets see what happens. This blog will be as poor as a doornail on a church dormouse after the Mass on late Friday night. Remember the legendary Puzzle Girl and her ill fated LA Confidential Blog on 10.11.11. Maybe you should hire her as a consultant. by the way Angela Halsted did pretty good on the ACPT. (134th).
ReplyDeletePinto@6:04
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you realize I was jesting when I made that remark. After all, those of us who post here are addicted to crossword, speaking for myself, of course.
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteI didn't get many answers yesterday or today. It was interesting though.
However, my first answer today was 3D. My son was in 'Man of La Mancha' twice, once in Fond du Lac and once in Baraboo, both with the local Theater Guild. He played the sidekick Pancho.
Haven't been on the computer much lately. Have a good evening all!
Marge
Good evening Lemonade, CC, et al., Great puzzle. Excellent write up, Lemonade. You and Marti made me LMAO w/ the HARDEN synonyms comment. I agree with Desperotto’s choices. My first thoughts when I saw HARDEN were Oolong and ATTACK. Even LAPP dance crossed my mind. Even tho’ I LIKE SPIKE and all, if any TOAD (I always think they’re really princes) who LIMPS IN thinking ENURE when he’s with me better watch his STEP at first or he will be riding his ASS down the ITER with MAI TAI snuggly around his… uh…neck.. wishing for a GENIE who RIDS TOADs of pain. But still, … It’s all good.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle. I thought of SANTA Baby for 24D Reindeer raiser but it didn’t fit. I’m already PIKing my list items for when I sit on Santa’s LAPP in Dec. Don’t need a GOOGOL of things. Just S AND P ONE MONTH at a time is fine. We’ll negotiate Santa darlin’. We’ll be ‘in touch’.
Thanks for the fun Mr Mc and Lemonade. Enjoy your night.
CED, I am on a Mac using Firefox and several of the links seemed to be a totally black page except for a tiny white pixel dead center.
ReplyDeleteDowntonabbey 4:03, I'm curious why you believe that 95 percent of the anons are regular bloggers? I've wondered about that too but I am much less sure than you seem to be. Most regular bloggers seem to be willing to speak their mind while blue. So maybe if they want to say something critical they prefer to be incognito? Dunno. BTW, I think it would be great if you were to flesh out your resumé with something in addition to Kemah.
Lois, it was good to hear from you again. LAPP, SPIKE, ASS and HARDEN were just too tempting for you to pass up, eh? How's Virginia weather, etc.?
It's been an interesting two days, huh?
[crappypap]
I've been on a completion of puzzle roll,omitting yesterday.I almost gave up on this one,only 6 absolutes firdt time through but then I just took pen and marked with abandon and this puzzle took shape. Completed and a sense of satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteLoved thinking of Richard Kiley singing Dulcinea!
It seems that if I have a 50/50
ReplyDeletechance between two word choices like
47D I'll get it wrong 100 percent of the time. Took an extra cup of coffee to fix it though.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding. I am only agreeing with what others have said in that the anon post seem to have a writing style like regular posters here do. I had lots of stuff on my "resume" when I was listed under my name. Shoot me another email if there is something you would like to know.
Yellow rocks, and CC both mention that the post appear to be from regulars. I don't mean to offend anyone by saying that. I often just get a feeling about something. I could be completely off on this. Like I said I was just throwing a guess out there. You would be a better judge of the actual percentages involved.
BTW, I forgot to mention that I didn't finish the puzzle today.
Also belated birthday wishes JJM.
Welcome shakil.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I added some stuff back to my resume. Hope that helps.
Yeah, Bill G. As it happened I had the time to play tonight and you're right the offerings were just too tempting to pass up. I cracked up even as I was working the puzzle. The weather is erratic... 32 this AM 70 tomorrow pm rain tomorrow evening and on Sun. So, parades tomorrow will be fine but taxi's will have to drive in the rain the rest of the wkend. That's fine as long as I'm not behind the wheel & my driver is sober. Fun wkend. Hope you have a good one too. How's your weather? Do you ever feel like Groundhog Day?
ReplyDeleteHi Lois, I'm sure you meant something clever by the Groundhog Day question but my brain couldn't suss it out. It does seem like parts of my life keep repeating over and over. When I was teaching, every day was different but much the same too.
ReplyDeleteThe weather here is great, but like Groundhog Day, it's great almost every day. If you looked for a place in the world with pleasant weather most of the time, the coast of California from San Diego north to Santa Barbara would be hard to beat. Even farther north to San Francisco and beyond is nice too but a bit chillier and wetter. Have you ever been out this way?
I am looking forward to corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, mustard, etc. this weekend. I think all the provisions have been acquired except for a big head of cabbage.
Two things: Hondo Hurricane- if you're miffed at someone, shrug it off. I enjoy reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteSecond- Can someone explain what the big deal is about going blue?? The ONLY reason I went blue is so I could post a pic of my Corvair truck. I call it vanity.
61Rampy, going blue allows you to have a Profile (resumé) so other people can find out a little about whatever you'd be willing to share. Maybe most importantly, it gives you 'ownership' of that name so nobody else can sign in (in black) with your name and pretend to be you.
ReplyDeleteI thought you might enjoy this news quiz. I surprised myself and did very well. News Quiz
BillG:
ReplyDeleteI took the quiz and had 11 out of 13 correct. I would say that is good.
BillG, I can't believe it. I took the quiz and got all 13. Usually, I can't begin to understand your puzzles. And I didn't have red letters even. WOOHOO!
ReplyDelete86 degrees here today. I couldn't open up for fresh air because it was too hot. Still 67 degrees yet. My cat will probably be out all night. Supposed to be in the 50s or more normal tomorrow.
Bill: you answered the groundhog question...the same weather pretty much every day. I have been out there. It's beautiful and fun with the biggest grapfruit & oranges I've ever seen. Really enjoyed it. Tbat's a neat News Quiz. I'll give it to my Gov't buddies. See how the kids do. Hope you enjoy your St. Pat's festivities. I'm so looking forward to it all. fun wkend. It's all very good!
ReplyDeleteBill G- OK, I see, especially about the ownership part. Thanks for the reply.
ReplyDeleteI took the news quiz earlier this week (maybe one of those viral things?) and also scored 11/13- this means I am a good guesser.
To everyone: I enjoy this blog, and the goings-on yesterday raised my eyebrows, but HEY this is AMURRICA, and we DO have freedom to say what we believe.
You refer to Brian Sipe as an obscure Cleveland Browns Quarterback. For those of us Browns fans who have had very little to cheer about for decades, Brian Sipe was one bright spot. For the record he was the league MVP in 1980. One of the few things we have had to cheer about. LOL. Enjoy your blog. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI said this on Thursday's post:
ReplyDelete"I discussed the option of only allowing blue posters with my team a while ago. We decided to be open, otherwise, we would lose regulars like Misty and PK and many other good anonymous posters"
So, please don't accuse us of branding all anons together. Totally unfair.
Downtonabbey,
ReplyDeleteGo to the front page of the blog, who blogs which day's puzzle is listed there. My team are already burdened with plenty of rules on the blogging format & they have to deal with various glitches readers are not aware of. And all for free.
Dave,
The post was from Hondo. He wrote me last night. Just a bad hair day, he said.