google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, March 14, 2013 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

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Mar 14, 2013

Thursday, March 14, 2013 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel


Theme: "As American As Apple π"

18A. How 58-Across can be written : ENDLESSLY.

27A. 34-Across factor : DIAMETER.

34A. 58-Across times 27-Across : CIRCUMFERENCE. Pi X DIAMETER = CIRCUMFERENCE (Can also be written as 2 π r.)

47A. Mathematically, what 58-Across is : CONSTANT.

58A. Subject of an annual March 14 celebration and of this puzzle, celebrated in its circled squares in both a literal and a numerical way : VALUE OF PI.  Celebrated on 3.14 because those are the first significant numbers contained in Pi (3.1415926...)

But wait! There's more!  If you look at the circles (going from left to right in the puzzle), it is not only the letters you should notice, but their associated numbers:

3.  14   15   9   26
p....i....d....a....y

Clever execution of the theme for National Pi day. Don G. and C.C. often add extra layers to their puzzles. I imagine the circles made it quite a design challenge, since the numbers had to appear in order.  The "helper" square at the end of 1-Across was put in just for that purpose, I expect.

Marti, here, to see what other gems we can dig up.

Across:
1. Retained : KEPT.

5. Music storage medium : IPOD.

9. In the thick of : AMID.

13. Kirin rival : ASAHI. Two well-known Japanese beers.

15. Arp's art : DADA. Jean (Hans) Arp



16. Scale pair : SO-LA.

17. Last one in : LOSER. Because "rotten egg" wouldn't fit...

20. Diamond deal : TRADE.

22. Heartfelt : EARNEST.

23. Quote from a pitcher? : AD RATE. From one giving a sales pitch.

25. Rigid : PRIM.

26. USN clerk : YEO.man.

29. "A Doll's House" playwright : IBSEN.

31. Mil. honor : DSMDistinguished Service Medal.
32. Shout in la arena : OLE.

33. Forensic ID : DNA.

40. 1967 NHL rookie of the year : ORR.

41. Long time : AGE.

42. One of them, maybe : HIM.

44. "Let's Dance" singer : BOWIE. Musical interlude. 4:05

50. Walkoff hit stat : RBIRun Batted In. Learning moment for me - a "Walk-off hit" is any game-winning drive, but it must occur in the bottom of final inning.  The team that makes a walk-off hit can walk off the field without finishing the inning. The term was originally intended for the pitcher, who had to walk off the field alone while the other team celebrated.

51. Sighed line : AH ME. Probably what the losing pitcher was saying to himself, you think?

54. Elect : CHOSEN.

55. Top player : ALL STAR.

57. Gluten-rich grain : WHEAT.

60. Sends out : EMITS.

63. Works that glorify : ODES.

64. Minnesota's state bird : LOON.

65. Leisurely stroll : PASEO. Usually taken in the evening.  It can also refer to the formal entrance of bullfighters into the arena.

66. Caesar and others : SIDS.

67. Fair : EXPO.sition.

68. Post office call : NEXT.

Down:

1. Actor Penn who has worked for the Obama administration : KAL. You may remember him as Kumar Patel on "Harold & Kumar".  He was Associate Director of The Office of Public Engagement for Obama.

2. That, south of the border : ESO.

3. Deli order : PASTRAMI.

4. Spring sign : THE RAM. Crocus also fits...(just sayin')

5. French bean product? : IDEE.  Cute clue for the French "idea."

6. Blast on Broadway : PAN.  "Blast" here means to trash, not a really fun time.

7. Farther out? : ODDER.

8. ___ Lama : DALAI.

9. Part of the LPGA: Abbr. : ASSN. Ladies Professional Golf Association. Stacey Lewis is currently leading the money list in the LPGA. Cute kid!

10. Isn't in a big hurry : MOSEYS.

11. "Let me check" : I'LL SEE.

12. Ohio home of the Wright Brothers : DAYTON.

14. Hopping mad : IRATE.

19. Valuable fur : ERMINE. Here he is in the Championship Fight. 1:10

21. Construction sight : DETOUR.

23. Throw in : ADD.

24. Blu-ray buy : DISC.

25. Its pages are often numbered i, ii, iii, etc. : PREFACE.

28. Common street name : ELM.

30. Outlaw : BAN.

33. Soak : DRENCH.

35. Le ___ Soleil: Louis XIV : ROI. He was known as "The Sun King."

36. Dream up : CREATE.  How do Don and C.C. dream up these clever ideas?

37. Common star characteristic : EGO.

38. Chew out : CHASTISE.

39. German article : EINE. Could mean a, an, one, you, someone or somebody.

43. Atlas abbr. : MTN. I was looking for misdirection and thought of the Atlas MTNs.  But those are always plural.  So it's just the straightforward Rand McNally atlas we're talking about.

44. Met cheers : BRAVOS. Really? When the Mets play baseball, the fans say "bravo?" ;-D

45. Start of a Beatles title : OBLA DI....obla da. 3:10

46. Left (to) : WILLED.

48. Blind followers : SHEEP.

49. Unanimously : TO A MAN.

52. Nonnative Hawaiian : HAOLE. Hoo boy, I needed perp help for this one. Totally forgot the word.

53. Dahl's "Fantastic" title critter : MR FOX.

56. Dope (out) : SUSS.  Were you able to suss the theme on this one before coming here?

57. Lush : WINO. And 62-Down. Lush : SOT.

59. Burst open noisily : POP.

61. DDE's birthplace : TEX.as. His mother originally named him David Dwight.

That's all for this week - see you next time!

Hugs,
Marti


Notes from C.C.:

1) Don came up with this creative theme.  I'd never have dreamed of this concept!

2) More sweet pictures from ACPT:



Here is a picture of Marti and Mike Alpern, who organized the annual ACPT Cru Dinner and warmly welcomed Marti. Thanks again, Mike! The picture is not as clearly as the above two as I stole the above from Mike's Picasa page. Please click here to view all of Mike's pictures.





121 comments:

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Wow! Wow!! A clever Pi Day theme, well executed! My hat is off and held high to the DGCC team.

Morning, Marti! Thanks for today's piece of Pi.

:-)

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Well, I give high marks for a creative them and a complex execution thereof.

Having said that, I really, really hate puzzles full of cross references, and the fact that my version had stars marking the key clues instead of circles really made much of the cleverness totally invisible to me today.

Which is to say that I can appreciate the puzzle in hindsight (especially after reading about it here on the blog), but didn't have much joy solving it, sorry.

YEO? Is that actually a real abbreviation of yeoman? I'm not a navy man, but it just seems odd to me...

[peedsa]

Middletown Bomber said...

Happy Pi Day all hopefully you will celebrate the day with some Pie.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Marti and friends (Nice photos, Marti). What a clever, clever concept for the Life of Pi.

Some lovely fresh clues, too.

I really wanted Alas for Sighed Line.

I expected on of the Lush answers to refer to greenery, so was surprised when both were synonyms.

Ken Rudin had just recently noted on NPR that Dwight David was originally named David Dwight.

QOD: Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves. ~ Albert Einstein (Mar. 14, 1879 ~ Apr. 18, 1955)

[mntyped]

Anonymous said...

I'm a big fan of Pi Day. Loved the theme.

Here another quirkily thing about Pi.

Write out 3.14. Make sure to close the top of the 4. Now look at it in a mirror. It spells PIE.

Argyle said...

7:15Anon, if you are going to give us great little tidbits like that, could you at least make a name for yourself. Better yet would be to join in on regular, blue, basis.

I had cherry pie with my coffee.

Dennis said...

Good morning, gang - certainly no speed run for me today, as I had a number of write-overs. Great theme concept.

My first stumbling block was YEO - as with Barry, I've never heard or seen that used for 'Yeoman', but I'll defer to Spitz for the final word. Next, I put RTE for 'Atlas abbr.' which fit CHOOSE for 'Elect', and both of those took a bit to shake out. Then, in the south central, I blanked on 'Nonnative Hawaiian', didn't have a clue as to the Dahl critter, and put SOSO for 'Fair'. Not a pretty looking finished product, but I did finally remember that LOON was Minnesota's state bird and was able to deduce the rest. Nicely done puzzle.

Argyle, that's a great idea -- there's never a bad time for pie.

Marti, superb write-up as always; I can always count on learning something on Thursdays.

I just caught up on past episodes of Monday Mornings; is anybody watching it? It's one of the better medical dramas I've seen; excellent cast, and it deals with interesting ethical dilemmas. Monday nights at 10 on TNT.

Have a fun day.

Argyle said...

Yes, shades of Twin Peaks; Cherry Pie and coffee, an ad by David Lynch.

61Rampy said...

What a workout today! I was not on the same wavelength as DGCC at all. It took a while, but i finally SUSSed the theme, which gave me what I needed to finish. Had the same issues as Dennis. Also had TauRus instead of THE RAM. That was the last to fall. Now I need a nap, and its only 6 AM!

beriffo

desper-otto said...

"Let them eat pie!", she said.

Marti, did you really notice the 3.1415926 progression of the circled squares all by your lonesome? Awesome!

Interesting that SOT and WINO appear at the bottom where the dregs settle.

Hand up for never hearing anybody say YEO for Yeoman. But I have seen it before in a cw...maybe even a DGCC cw.

Off to read yesterday's late posts...

Mari said...

Wow, this one just wasn't in my wheelhouse. I often joke that it's strange I work in finance because I'm not a fan of math. Although I do admit, ANON @ 7:15 is very clever. I can't believe I've never seen that before!

I wanted DVDS for DISC, ALAS for AH ME, and TAURUS for THERAM.

I really liked:
- 16A: Scale Pair: SO LA
- 5D: French Bean Product? IDEE
- And of course the two lushes

Argyle @ 7:46 am: I love Twin Peaks! I have the DVD set and two music CDs (smooth jazz). David Lynch comes up with some amazing films too.

Have a great day!

Mari said...

Speaking of pie.

Yellowrocks said...

Terrific Puzzle. So many layers! I didn't see the 3.1415926 layer until Marti pointed it out. I learned the rounded 3.1416. Getting DIAMETER from some perps gave me the theme which helped considerably.
Write overs were firm/PRIM and soso/EXPO. DALAI fixed PRIM. Wagging FOX fixed EXPO.
Wonderful puzzle. DGCC. Great EXPO, Marti.
I loved SID Ceasar and Imogene Coco years ago. . I got lost this morning viewing thim on YOUTUBE.
I was surprised yesterday that no one remembered funeral PARLORs, beauty PARLORs, ice cream PARLORs.
After finishing this puzzle I went to my home page and there was an article about PI DAY. I’m glad I didn’t see that before I worked the puzzle.

TTP said...

I took a DETOUR trying to get this puzzle done. I missed the sign leading back to the puzzle and was all over the place.

28D "Common street name" Not mac, nor bud, nor pal...

Last one in is a rotten egg. My "Sighed line" was OH ME. I did not know how to spell HAOLE. My fair was even. I was on a route, not a mountain.

Loved the clue for EGO. My flock of "Blind followers" were mices. There were three of them. Neither lush had anything to do with fertile. How do you spell Dolly ?

65A, as in the PASEO de San Antonio in beautiful downtown San Diego where you can enjoy a macchiato at the Bijan Bakery along with tortes or a piece OF PI.

I am now 0 for 4 this week. YEO Adrian! I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody. I may have mashed a couple of movies there...

BTW, Cooks Info indicates that today is Potato Chip Day, not PI Day.

Great puzzle CC and Don. I am so impressed.

Thank you for the wonderful write up Marti, esp. w/ the interludes and the Championship Fight.

HeartRx said...

d'otto @ 7:57, I noticed the 3, then the 14. But the 15 , 9 and 25 were just a logical progression from left to right. I really didn't know anything past 3.14, and had to look up the value of pi to be sure I was making the correct assumption...

TTP said...

D'OH !!! See, told you my mind isn't in full working order this AM. I got my SANs wrong. The Paseo de San Antonio is in beautiful downtown San Jose.

Yellowrocks, our farmhouse was built in the mid to late 1800s and had a parlor. We did not use it as such.

kazie said...

At first I was cursing this with my lack of sports knowledge, and not remembering what "celebration" was on March 14th, but just poked around aimlessly until I had enough perps for CIRCUMFERENCE to jump out in the middle. From there on I felt I knew what to look for, and gradually it all filled itself in.

I couldn't understand ASAHI, since I've never heard the names of any Japanese beers. SOLA also made no sense until Marti enlightened me, and I've never heard of PASEO. I couldn't remember the spelling for OBLADE/-DI or HAOLI/LE either. So all in all a tough solve.

As I struggled with it though, I was recognizing the brilliance of its creation and the many layers. It felt like quite an achievement to get through intact!

Congratulations C.C. and Don!

As for PI Day, I had coincidentally made a meat pie for supper last night, which we will eat more of tonight, on the right day!

Marti,
Great write-up and wonderful souvenir photos!

Diane said...

Oh my....if I just hadn't assumed we were talking about St Patrick's Day this would have gone a lot quicker! The fact that I got "day" inside the circles just exacerbated the madness. I finally saw the error of my ways and managed to finish.
Quote from a pitcher? I kept trying to fit in "tip me over" or "pour me out"...

Spitzboov said...

Good Morning Everyone.

I normally shun the special meaning of circled squares, so when Marti explained it, I was blown away. The theme fill itself was spectacular. Much other clever fill, too; AD RATE and IDÉE to wit. Finally SUSSed THE RAM (Aries) and liked that, too. I don't remember ever seeing the abbreviation, YEO (we would use YN), but I have no problem with it. Somehow remembered HAOLE, too.
BRAVO Zulu to Don and C.C.

Off to play some bridge.

Husker Gary said...

Fabulous!! KAl/Asahi crossing cost me a 100% but I loved the abuse today. The elegant layers of this puzzle for this math major were astonishing. Like π, I was irrational (for Ferm and Bill G).

Musings
-The math teachers at our school had kids bring pies on this day and let’s just say the local supermarket bakeries got cleaned out. There were very few homemade efforts but they were still yummy.
-I can’t imagine buying a record, tape, disc or whatever with iTunes out there
-My favorite TBBT scene involved Sheldon getting Leonard Nimoy’s DNA
-BOWIE’s version is fine but I’ll take this one everyday and twice on π day
-That pitcher definitely said AH ME if he walked in that “Walkoff RBI”
-Did you also see Elect as a verb before as a noun?
-Do you remember this movie with a big scene about LOONS?
-The PASEO is this in KC
-Oh, not the Roman emperor (Beware tomorrow Julie!) or the salad!
-What’s wrong with DC? Look at KAL’s 10 word title. Really?
-What Shakespearean character did Richard Dreyfuss play in The Goodbye Girl that got PANned
-Ohio was home to the first airplane fliers and the first man on the moon
-Taylor Swift sold 18,000 tickets for her concert in Omaha last night and construction had many DETOURS all around the Century Link Center. Traffic and parking were a mess!
-I have been to Abilene, KS where DDE was raised many times but not his birthplace
-Marti, great write-up, pick up on 3 14 15 9 25 and pix!

Lemonade714 said...

What a well crafted puzzle, and a fun write up as always, as the Thursday Dynamic Duo and marti show returns. Wonderful seeing you center stage at the ACPT miss m.

You all have already hit the highlights, but HAOLE did bring to mind the days when we had three posters with Hawaiian ties, and the book I am reading, Damned in Paradise, the fictionalized account of Clarence Darrow's last trial , written by Max Allen Collins. The story tells of a sensational murder and trial concerning a young but not very innocent Navy wife.

Anony Mouse said...

Thank you Don. G. and`C.C. for a very creative and interesting puzzle. I found it difficult, and nearly gave up, ( its a Thursday, for one ) when I realized its "Pi day". I immediately got 'Cicumference' ( first spelt Circumfrance ? ), diameter and endlessly. Then I started feverishly searching for, looking for Irrational Number, Ratio and Function. ALAS, it was not to be. I stopped cold at the lower half. My Hawaiian word was 'Lanai' and my state bird was 'Nene'....

Pi, occurs remarkably frequently in 'higher math' as in Barnes Integral.

CAUTION:- This will give you a headache, - don't blame me. Take an Advil, if required.

Thank you, Marti, for a lucid explanation, and the elucidation of the insight to today's pseudo-geometrical construction. The Picasa pictures were great. Its always fascinating to see the 'Einsteins' of today's Puzzle World.

Have a good Thursday, you all.

CrossEyedDave said...

I love it when constructors I know have puzzles on Thurs/Fri/Sat etc... because it makes puzzle it out in ink instead of rushing thru it on the computer screen. Lots of WAGs & write overs, Choose/chosen CPO/YEO, I had no idea what a paseo was, but I got it!

I finally had to Google Mr. Fox, & non native Hawaiian, but it helped me suss out that difficult SW corner. The final nail in my D(n)F coffin was I had no idea who 1D was, so I put "Ken,"which gave me a beer I had never heard of, & made me stare at 17A "last one in= "N"oser? (wait a sec? you can win by a nose, but how can last one in be a noser??) Oh well....

Pi in trouble

Well, back to work,,, it's getting late...

Anonymous said...

Well, it looks like I'm the only one who doesn't understand how "chosen" works for "elect."

Help?

Avg Joe said...

More difficult than typical for a Thursday. Thanks for the challenge Don and C.C., and for the explanation Marti.

All my foibles have been mentioned. More or less worked from the bottom up and finally got enough perps to guess diameter...that gave me the theme. Still had to flip a coin for the final space at kAl and Asahi. Guessed right, but could have easily been E.

Anon @9:56, choose was my first fill for elect as well. But if you think in terms of "Senator Elect" or somesuch, it makes sense.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Don and C.C., for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for the equally excellent review.

Wow, what a puzzle. I started it on my IPad before the newspaper showed up. Then I saw the clue about the circled letters, which are not on the IPad version, so I stopped until the newspaper was delivered. Worked it in ink on the paper, which I prefer anyway.

Got the North fairly easily and therefore the PI DAY. Then I remembered what this was all about. I had forgotten.

I thought this puzzle was extremely clever. I never saw the 3 14 15 9 26 scheme. That really put the icing on the cake. Congratulations, Marti, for discovering that.

I had CHOOSE for 54A for a while. Fixed that to CHOSEN after a few Downs in that area.

I missed SIDS for 66A. I had SYDS. That Beatles thing going down did not help me. can't win them all.

AD RATE, very clever. Took me a while to SUSS that out.

I knew 52D was something like HOWLIE. I just did not know how to spell it. My key to the SW was getting EXPO for 67A With that I was able to finish, except for the one I missed, SIDS.

To anon at 7:15 AM, very clever with PIE in a mirror.

Well, I went to Chinatown last night and had a Chinese dinner with about 50 people. It was actually pretty good. However, when I got up this morning I could hardly open my eyes. I went on line and searched on puffy eyes chinese food and it told me the MSG in the food causes that. That blew me away. I do not eat chinese food very often. Maybe my body is not used to that additive.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(llanaio)

CrossEyedDave said...

not funny!

Kinda Funny!

musical Pi?

JD said...

Good morning Marti, C.C., et al,

Happy Pi Day! And no, I did not suss out the theme, but knew it was math-sigh. LOTS of write overs. First sweep: 12 right, 12 wrong- choose to chosen, deco to dada... Mr. Fox and haole came easily,but sooo many others were A-ha's. Didn't fill "Spring sign" = the ram (tulips also fit; they are really glorious now in our area). Did not fill ADRATE either.

Wino and sot made me laugh as I was still into yesterday's green at first.

I'm not a fan of cross references either, but it is Thursday. Celebrate with a piece of pie.

anon@7:15-very interesting about 3.14 :-)

AnnieB8491 said...

Good Morning all - Thanks to Don and C.C. for a toughie - but brillant - puzzle today. Superb expo Marti. Started on paper, but didn't get very far. Then went to computer. Only had to look up 1 clue, then managed to get the rest with the red letter help. Managed to fill in DIAMETER AND CIRCUMFERENCE and figured it had something to do with circles, but completely missed the pi theme and references.
My iPod is my music storage when running.
A couple of unknowns (Quote from pitcher?? was thinking thrower not ad man). Did not 'get' pi day, I'll have to remember for next year. Right! Pulled out IBSEN from my brain somewhere.
What's a THERAM?? - ah THE RAM! Tulips also fit.
Nice pics - putting a face with a 'name' is always nice.
Thank you C.C., JD and Hahtoolah for thoughtful words last night. The police/FBI were in a stand off with him all night, then this morning they sent a dog into the building which the suspect killed. The FBI then shot him. So it's over, thankfully.

Have a nice day everyone.

buckeye bob said...

Excellent puzzle and theme, Don and C.C.! Very timely and very clever! Great expo, Marti! Congratulations on seeing the 3.1415926 progression, Marti! I did not see that one.

A lot of misdirection made this a true Thursday tough one for me, but a good challenge. I think the fun is in the trip, more than the arrival, but I want to get it right too.

I had 4D = TULIPS which kept me from getting the NW corner, until I got 27A DIAMETER. Then I was on my way there. I think two-word answers are hard to get.

I also struggled in the SW corner. For 66A, I had SENS (senators), and I misspelled 45D OBLADE. When I finally got 46D WILLED, I couldn’t figure out what 66A SEDS was (SIDS), so I left it. Never got it until now. D’uh!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This is my third attempt to post.
The first one disappeared with some error notice, the second was cleared by Windows doing updates, so I'll try again.

Don and CC never cease to amaze me and this was clever beyond clever. Hats off to you both. I didn't finish because I never heard of obladi and couldn't come up with the y for yeo. I did get idee right off the bat!

Super write-up, Marti, and great pictures from the Tournament; thanks for sharing.

Dennis @ 7:38 - I have been watching and enjoying Monday Mornings. Alfred Molina is super and the dynamics and strong story lines make the show compelling. One small nit would be that it sometimes goes over the top, but I guess all shows are guilty of that.

Happy Thursday.

Anonymous said...

In addition to Nation Pi day and Potato Chip day it is also National Popcorn Lovers day and Learn About Butterflies day. This should keep us busy eating and learning today.

Tough puzzle but finally workable for me.

Anonymous said...

Too many clues that just didn't work, (yeo, chosen......prim?). If your gonna do a puzzle like this, all the clues and answers should be solid, no "iffy" interpretations.
Congratulations to the creators for such a clever puzzle, but you left out the fun of solving it.
Meh

Dudley said...

Nearly forty years ago I came across this little rhyme in a restroom at the old Lowell Technical Institute:

Secant, Tangent, Cosine, Sine
3.14159
Alpha, Lambda, Square Root of Chi
We're all here at L.T.I.!

Has a nice ring to it, huh?

Mari from two days ago - Thanks for clarifying your name. It's comforting to know that others have gotten it wrong too...

HeartRx said...

Anon @ 9:56, Think of the "chosen" one. He would be the elite, crème de la crème, or "elect." Its an odd usage for the word elect as a noun, but it works for me!

CrossEyedDave said...

Bill G!!!

I went out to get my newspaper from the driveway at 6:30 this morning, picked it up, & turned around to get out of the cold, when over my head i spied a satellite. Not just any satellite, this thing was huge! Bigger than Jupiter! It came from the SW & zoomed toward the NE in about 1 minute.

Sure enough, it was the International Space Station (as per this chart.)

This chart was for Morristown NJ, but on the preceading page you can chose any town/state/country & it will give you the times to watch!

hmm, according to this chart, I can see it again tomorrow morning at 5:40am, & twice Saturday morning!

(I wonder if the have pie up there?)

P.S. 1st page of website. on middle left under "United States" click go & follow directions, it's easy...

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Wow - this was hard. Would have really been stuck if I hadn't SUSSED the theme. And I probably wouldn't have done that if Gloria hadn't mention that today is PI day. I never think of it

Wow - speaking of PI, what amazing execution - to the 7th decimal place.

Had a hard time seeing "elect" as a noun. Pitcher threw me. HAOLE is total unknown that I'll soon forget. Always have trouble parsing multi-word verticals. THERAM looks like it could be a word. TOAMAN doesn't.

Didn't know PASEO in that context.

Like the baseball references.

Oh, those bleating SHEEP. Mindless, TO A MAN.

Whence the EGO? I RATE!

Tigers let Bosch go. I wonder where he'll land.

Cool regards!
JzB

HeartRx said...

H.G. @ 9:26, I know it takes a village to raise a child, but didn't know they could be raised more than once?
"I have been to Abilene, KS where DDE was raised many times..."
(^0^)

Yellowrocks said...

One of our square dance callers with the initials P.I. has chosen ╥ as his logo. Cute.

I have no nit with chosen/ELECT.
From: wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
chosen: an exclusive group of people; "one of the ELECT who have power inside the government".

The thesaurus has these synonyms for PRIM: fussy, choosy, stiff, proper, rigid. They all sound fairly rigid to me.

I got YEO easily, but I can see why it is a stretch. I can't find evidence of its use. But my B-I-L was a Navy yeoman and I had the Y from MOSEY so it had to be YEO

Annie what a horrible event you discussed last night. I'm glad your friend survived. This sort of thing does shake one up. In our relatively quiet neighborhood, a thug came in just after the diner we used to frequent closed and slit the owner's throat. It is believed that it was done for a gang initiation. For the past two years I pass that diner every day and never fail to think of poor Steve. Is violence creeping into areas where it was heretofore unknown?

At noon today it was very windy and below freezing, not normal for the middle of March here. I had to resort to wearing my heavy winter coat.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi Everyone ~~

Thanks, Don & C.C., for a great challenge. I love looking for the extra layers often included in your puzzles! I had a number of trouble spots but enjoyed the struggle.

I had an idea of the theme after getting DIAMETER and CIRCUMFERENCE but missed a few of the finer details ~ thanks, Marti, for showing and explaining all the complexities.

~ I took forever to get THE RAM and I, too, was looking for a different meaning for LUSH in either 57 or 62D - tricky!

~ Having 'Her' instead of HIM at 42A made that section slow to fill.

~ I knew KAL Penn from his role as a doctor on "House."

~ ASAHI AND HAOLE were new to me and held up those areas.

~ Favorite: 23A 'Quote from a pitcher' - ADRATE.

~ AnnieB ~ I'm glad the horrible ordeal is over but so sad to read of the deaths and injuries.

~ Anon@10:56 - to me, it's the "iffy interpretations" that make solving puzzles so much fun!

Misty said...

I was so excited to see we would have a Dynamic Duo with bubbles this morning. And I immediately got the NE corner which made me think "speed run." Boy, was I wrong. This was hard, hard, hard--especially for an anti-math dummy like me. But slowly, very slowly, very patiently, with lots of false starts and erasures, most of it filled in. In the end I goofed up only the SW because I stupidly had A LISTER instead of ALL STAR, which gave me WIILED for the perp. In the end I loved the challenge--many thanks C.C. and Don.

Marti, terrific photos. Did you ask Rich if he reads the Corner?

Diane, I had the same thought about the pitcher, and found your post hilarious.

I'm off to give a lecture on Gertrude Stein at the Senior Center this afternoon. Have a great Thursday, everybody!

Anonymous said...

What a great theme! I'd never heard of Pi day, but I'm all for it! The puzzle gods smiled on me and allowed me to get the gist early on, but I needed the perps at 13 A and 67 A.i am so impressed with the construction , WOW! Thanks for a fun ride, and a great write up . It's so much fun to be able to see others thoughts and how they tackle the puzzles. Thank you SO much for this site.

Dog Mama

Bill G. said...

Good morning! I didn't remember today is PI Day but I appreciate the reminder. This puzzle was tough for me but I enjoy getting 'er done. Thanks for both a clever puzzle and an enjoyable writeup.

My only nit is with the fourth note of the scale being given as SO instead of SOL but we've had that discussion before. I know both are correct but it still doesn't feel right to me.

BTW, if you go HERE, you can enter your phone number or something similar and the program will show you where it is found in the first 200 million digits of Pi.

CED, for two of your links I just get a black page with maybe one lonely pixel illuminated at the center. It has happened before and I have no clue why.

Yesterday, I had mixed emotions about the race car driver taking a Camaro out for a test drive and terrifying the poor saleman. I enjoyed the driving and the idea of the video but I couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor salesman who no doubt was both scared and upset worrying about the company's car. It was all fun and games when it was over but it was the only time I have felt sorry for a car salesman.

[poopydoop]

Husker Gary said...

Dang, Marti, I saw that when I reread it on the blog but thought I would get away with it ;-)! It looks like I’ll have to eat some humble π.

Rob Roy said...

Bravo! at the Met (Opera). RR

Anonymous said...

Bill G. - I have to agree with you. I also saw the video of the race car driver driver driving, what was NOT his own car, a 'test' drive, no less, and scaring the bejesus out of the car salesman, who was decent, friendly and totally trustworthy !!.

I have no problems with CED linking it - but the practical joke was assinine, dangerous and down right wicked.

Do it with your own car, and do it on your own property. I don't care if you're a race car driver, a US President or Pope - it is unforgivable. The car salesman should have called the cops and had him arrested ! This only confirms my very low and contemptuous opinion of race car drivers, in general.

HeartRx said...

HG, you should know that nothing escapes the sharp eyes of this blog. If I hadn't picked up on it, someone else would have. B'sides, I enjoy razzing you!

Rob Roy @ 11:58, my comment about BRAVO was tongue-in-cheek. (Smiley face at the end of it.)

But just imagine Mets baseball fans sitting in the stands, drinking their tea (with scones instead of hot dogs, of course), giving polite golf claps when a home run is scored, and calling BRAVO and "encore" to the home team...

...or, just imagine opera fans responding to José Cura's "Otello" aria with clanging cowbells and chanting "JOSÉ, JOSÉ, JOSÉ!!!"

Maverick said...

Thanks for the reminder! I'd forgotten in was Pi day! When I first saw the clue for 58A, I thought of "PIRATE DAY". It fits but I think it is some time in the fall. And thanks to HeartRx and Yellowrocks. I had "MTS" on the perp and couldn't wrap my head around why CHOSEN should not have "elected" for a clue.

Seldom Seen said...

Hey! A shout-out to the host city of the start of March Madness.

A little history lesson for those who care:

After the Wright brothers cashed in on their invention they built this house in the exclusive suburb of Oakwood just outside of DAYTON. Wilbur died before they moved in.

DGCC were timely in including DAYTON in the grid as next week is the 100 year anniversary of the Great Dayton Flood. It was the worst natural disaster in Ohio's history.

Avg Joe and Husker Gary might be interested to know(which I did not) that it was linked to Omaha's Easter Sunday tornado of the same year. Link is at bottom of wiki article.

Lucina said...

Hello, all. Great to really "see" you, Marti, in those photos.

Well said by everyone. What a brilliant puzzle by the dynamic duo. My write overs were the same as Dennis and others, CHOOSE/CHOSEN, SOSO/EXPO, SYD/SID.

The NE went fairly easyly so I got PI Day early on but then had several interruptions and a long phone conversation. When I returned to the puzzle it was with fresh eyes. Sadly I erased RBI as OBLADI made no sense.

This was a wonderful challenge that proved too much for me as I had no idea about ASAHI/KIRIN. Too bad I'm not a beer drinker.

Thank you DD and CC.

Have a lovely PI DAY, everyone!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Cool!
I didn't know there was a Pi-Day.
This was a bizarre DNF for me. For an unknown reason I could not associate Hans (Jean) Arp with Dada, and yet I knew that. It screwed up four other words in the NE corner.
A senior moment?
But isn't that the point of doing these puzzles? To forestall such momentous moments?

Jazzbumpa said...

Continuing the Let's Dance sequence.

Cheers!
JzB

PK said...

Hi Y'all, the puzzle was a lot more clever than I. Good theme, C.C. & Don. I did suss the theme like Kazie, after I got CIRCUMFERENCE. I'd been looking at those circled letters and seeing PAY DI. HUH? But knowing the theme helped me very little. Some though.

Great expo, Marti!

I had a diagonal E half of the puzzle and assorted letters filled in before I had to do a red-letter run. I tried a BRonx cheer. I didn't remember OBLA DI until Marti's link.

I learned HAOLE as a child when a Hawaiian lady came to our class with my teacher's daughter. We learned a hula and some Hawaiian words--we were all HAOLEs which we called each other for days.

john28man said...

I am embarassed, an engineer and did not remeber that it is Pi Day.
Needlessly to say, I had to go to red letters to finish it.

PK said...

BillG & whoever: My AF son sent me the car salesman link because I had worked in two car dealerships. Manac was kind enough to "blue" it.

I thought it was hilarious. Did you notice at the end he said, "Can we go again."?

If you had any idea of some of the dirty tricks and outright lies a few of them pull to get a commission, you would NOT feel sorry for him. The guy looked like one whom I knew and could not trust. (He was a SOT & LUSH and died of a pickled liver. I used to cringe if he took out a customer when he was impaired.)

I have also known some very honest and upright salesmen who take good care of their customers for decades. Fortunately, they stay in business much longer than the other kind.

CrossEyedDave said...

The following is a linkage test:

Pi in trouble

actual link =

http://static.themetapicture.com/media/funny-pi-number-long.jpg

not funny

actual link =

http://static.themetapicture.com/media/funny-tip-ticket-pi-math-teacher.jpg

Argyle said...

A different Jeff Gordon link. It appears the whole thing was staged. Read the description, then the comments. I wouldn't be surprized that it is a Jeff Gordon dealership.

Pookie said...

Great puzzle, Don and C.C.!
Had me beat, though and had to "Google" a LOT.
Don't know how you two managed to insert the 3.141526. Pretty fancy!

Thanks from last night to TTP who linked the follow-up of Klepto Kitty.
CED, still can't see pi in trouble even when I paste the link.

Anonymous said...

http://static.themetapicture.com/media/funny-tip-ticket-pi-math-teacher.jpg

Doing a test for crosseye!

fermatprime said...

Hello all!

What a fabulous puzzle, DG and CC! Loved it! (A real treat for a mathematician.) Swell expo, Marti, as usual!

Some of the same confusion as others have mentioned, but I eventually prevailed. Technically, however, a DNF, as I spelled SID as SYD, not being at all familiar with Beatles oeuvre. So a red letter.

Dennis: I, too, enjoy Monday Mornings! Lots of food for thought. Superb acting. (Really get a kick out of the Asian guy!)

Swell pictures, Marti!

Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

test.

Pi-ed Piper said...

CED, I couldn't get both the links, but when I pasted the links, I got them both.

They're both funny.

The first one is a teenager Pi, talking on the phone, being called 'inside' by her mother, - by his/her 'full name' - 35 numerals. So he/she knows he/she is in real trouble.

The second is a tip of '2-Pi' ( ~ $ 6.28) on a diner bill of $ 33.72 - to make a total of an even $ 40.00. The picture is of the lower half of the credit card receipt. Why is it not funny ? Because the tip is too small ? It happens to be 18.6239620403 %. That would seem reasonable, -- if the cashier knows how to make head or tail of it.

Bill G. said...

PK, right you are. I have had several bad experiences with car salesmen. We bought our last car with a Costco referral. They gave us a price lower than I had been able to negotiate myself, we wrote them a check and drove the car home. Easy peasy.

BTW, I saw something similar to PK's car video in a video with Kyrie Irving disguised as somebody's old uncle and playing in a pickup basketball game making shots the other hotdogs couldn't believe. I'm sure you can find it on YouTube. I think somebody here linked it before.

As much as I enjoy Ellen, she does one thing that makes me uncomfortable. She has one of her staff members with a hidden camera go into a store like JC Penny and start talking to someone in song lyrics. The person is befuddled, the joke is revealed and everybody has a good laugh. It makes me wonder how I would react? First, I wouldn't recognize the popular and modern song lyrics as such. I might think the person was a bit odd or even mentally handicapped. So I would probably be confused and make an effort to either ignore the person or make cautious pleasant conversation so as to not give offense. I know it would make me temporarily uneasy and watching it on her show makes me feel the same way. I know, I know, it's just a joke. I'm being too sensitive...

Anonymous said...

Hi everyone! Crosseyed's daughter "backseat driver" here! I did a couple of anon posts to test what he did wrong. Just looks like he coded the html wrong. The "test" hyperlink is the first pic he wanted you to see. Thank you Pi-ed Piper for describing!

And dad, I'm using your computer and yes I can see it even though I uploaded on the other one!

desper-otto said...

Anon@3:12 -- good to see that somebody's trying to keep C-E-D in line. Your blue "test" link worked fine. I was able to copy/paste the two links C-E-D listed, and they worked fine. His blue ones were broken.

Isaac Asimov wrote the most famous mnemonic for pi: "How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics!" -- the number of letters in each word correspond to the digits of pi. I believe he also wrote a short story about the 10,000th digit of pi, back before computers were able to calculate it. He was happy to learn that the digit he arbitrarily selected was the same digit the computer calculated.

HeartRx said...

d-otto @ 3:27, thanks for that mnemonic. I will probably only remember, "How I want a drink." But at least that gets me to two more decimal places than I could ever remember before!!

Cautiously curious said...

If anybody has time to chew the fat - could someone, anyone describe what the young David Steinberg has on his T-shirt ?

You know, on the picture, on the previous page, with Marti and Rich Norris.

I can read:

I came.

I litzed ??

I conquered.

I know its some sort of play on words, on Caeser's comment, I came, I saw, I conquered. ( Veni, Vidi, Vici )

But I can't make out the word on the second line, no matter how much I expand the picture, on my Ipad. Maybe some of you have better eyesight. Thanks in advance.

Husker Gary said...

-Marti, I’ll try to be more careful where I stick my, uh, modifiers.
-Very funny cartoons Dave, worth waiting for!
-I went to this web site and found my phone number starting at the 11,561,282nd digit of π after the decimal point:
… 14727475191429525887 7210831 97456860602510790651…
-I have bought my cars from the same people for 40 years and always feel like I was treated fairly, especially AFTER the purchase.
-The waiter would probably not know what $2π means. Yesterday I was talking about our SE trip to a 20-something college graduate (exercise science) and asked her what she thinks of when she thinks of the civil war. She gave me a look like I had asked her to translate The Odyssey from the original Greek. She finally said, “I don’t know, uh, the red and blue?”
-Time to start packing

Pookie said...

C.CURIOUS @ 3:47
Apparently it has something to do with
THIS

but I don't have time to read it now.

Spitzboov said...

C. Cuerious - To litz means to type each clue and entry into a crossword software program, from which the data so entered may then be exported as an AcrossLite file.

Sfingi said...

Was there any significance to the arrangement of the circles?

PI, of course, is also a relationship. Before people had a firm grasp of fractions, they knew that the C was @ 3x the D, plus change. It took a while to determine the 22/7.

@Anon 715-Liked the mirror image of PI idea.

I had to Google for ASAHI, KAL, LOON and MRFOX.

Italians call PASEO Passagiata.

Caut Curious said...

Thanks, pas de chat and Spizboov for the explanations. I just learnt another new word. I saw 'litz' and I thought it might be 'litzened' (listened), and that some letters might have gotten lost in the flap or curl of the T-shirt, as young David bent down and forward. I am so relieved to know my eyesight isn't as bad as - my hearing (lol). I tried reading it with a 15x, aspherical, achromatic Bausch & Lomb, loupe and it still was not working.

Seeing young David, is thrilling and but yet, ( and I hate to admit it ) - quite depressing, by the idea that such young people can advance so much and so fast in this CW world, when the biggest assets we have is our memory, having 'lived' through the past 5 and 6 decades. How could he have accumulated so much general and cultural knowledge without actually living through the eras ? God knows, he deserves his success.

Anonymous said...

Google doesn't know Litz, except for the Litz river in the Alps, and a German word for braided (electrical) wire.

HeartRx said...

Sfingi @ 4:23 said Was there any significance to the arrangement of the circles?

Other than the fact that the numbers in the circles are the first numbers in Pi: 3 14 15 9 26 and the letters in those circles spell out P I D A Y, no significance to the arrangement. Did you discover some circular equation in their placement that I missed???

Anonymous said...

I thought Pay Di was what a hourly paid laborer would call every Friday. Especially in New Jersey.

HeartRx said...

Caut Curious @ 4:26, David is an absolutely self-effacing person, despite his brilliance, and seems to feel awkward as the recipient of any type of praise. He is just one of those wunderkinds who can absorb knowledge like a sponge, and seems to think everyone else around him is so much smarter than he is. GO FIGURE!!

Anonymous said...

or what Price Charles might mutter, under his breath, after the divorce.

Argyle said...

Irish Miss had trouble link this so I'll give it a try.
Link

Pi Pi Birdie said...

For Pi, aside from the common, 22 / 7, the next more common, accurate fractions are


22 / 7 = 3.14 28 57...14 28 57...14 28 57 {+0.04%}


223 / 71 = 3.14 08 450 {-0.026%}


311 / 99 = 3.14 14 14 14...14...14 {-0.0057 %}


355 / 113 = 3.14 15 929 2035 {+0.000008 %}

thehondohurricane said...

I.m mad. How come there are different rules for different posters? There have been numerous past occasions when posters have been reprimanded for excessive postings & times when they have been completely ignored. Today is an example of the latter. I want to know how come?

It's been a couple of awful days, so I'm going on an extended hiatus. I have not meant to tick anyone off, but I suspect I have, and for that I sincerely apologize,

See you somewhere down the line.

HeartRx said...

OK, I am a "cat person," but this one really got to me, (for all you dog lovers)...link

HeartRx said...

thehondohurricane @ 6:00, I am not sure I know which poster you are referring to, but if it is I, then the person who does the write up is allowed to answer any questions or comments as they come up...Send me an email with your concerns, OK?

Hahtoolah said...

Hondo: I am sorry you are having a rough time. Please reconsider and come back. I enjoy your comments and insight.

Snorkley said...

Happy Birthday, Albert (Einstein) and you lovely irrational number. What a joy to see Pi celebrated in a cw. No student was ever absent on March 14, since that was the day we sang songs, recited poetry in homage to the endless series of digits, which were memorized - 200-plus - by some kids every year. (Fourth graders!) We also sold slices of the more than 100 pies we made, in order to get enough money to send kids to science camp. even the kinders got to participate. Now no one will ever forget the ratio of a diameter to the circumference is 3, "and a little bit more."

Ree said...

Our newspaper looks like a Thanksgiving pie that was devoured by ink! After numerous write-overs, we finally completed it! The South went well but the north was a work-out! The challenge is why we do it!!! Thanks to all!

TTP said...

Hi Sports Fans ! (Yes, doing Crosswords is a sport.) Back after another long day.

As I relative "newbie", I'm in awe of the constructors that create these gems, and in those that are speed solvers and those that can compete in the tourneys.

Someone commented about the stretch of some clues/answers. True, the puzzles later in the week are tougher and do not have the immediate and clear relationships as in the early week puzzles. IMO, that's where some of the fun comes in. They make you develop that 'out-of-the-box' lateral thinking. It's good to keep stretching the old bean.

True, as you do more and more, you'll start to 'see' and not struggle as much with crosswordese words and tricks like "Mute sound" = to longu. And when you fall for them more than once, you'll start banging yourself in the head with the old V-8 can. PK, are you doing ok ? :) It's just good clean fun competing against yourself AFAIC.

I don't mind the multi-word answers or the cross-referential cluing. The 'add a letter' and 'drop a letter' and other real word modification type of puzzles get the better of me many times, but I still enjoy the challenge, as Ree said.

It's all good. Don't let the small stuff sweat you.

Irish Miss said...

Marti @ 6:06 - I will probably have this silly grin on my face for the rest of the night; you made my day.

Take a peek at the link Argyle posted at 5:21.

chefwen said...

@Anony Mouse - This HAOLE can see Nene from her lanai.

Anonymous said...

Hondo, right on!

aka thelma said...

Yellowrocks 8:25
I remember all the parlours/parlors.... :) and don't forget the beer parlors... :) I have been trying to think of any others...

thelma

TTP said...

Good stuff Irish Miss and Marti ! Enjoyed both of those. Like so many of the post and the exchanges.

Continuing on the theme of my earlier post, I'll be the first to admit that I have difficulty with some of the three and four letter fills when they are animal sounds. Getting pretty confident with the crossword rules on sheep and goat sounds MAA and BAA, but they're pretty interchangeable in the real world, at least according to my ears, and each is at least four syllables. The other day I wrote "Ooh, he's so scuzzy. Ooh." It probably should have been "Ewww" or something like that. Not good on translating sounds.

I think it's fun when we see some of the regional words and phrases, as long as they aren't so restrictive that only that one area would know of them. The general populous would know "thing", while "do hickey" might be more selectively upper midwest, as in some 'yooper-speak', but I would doubt that few outside of those that speak Texan would know that 'deal' can mean the same thing. "What's that deal?" "That deal is broken!" I think Rich does a great job of keeping a fair balance so that the puzzles can be enjoyed by all.

See all y'all later !

Pookie said...

Hey guys, Hondo's been havin' a couple of lousy days. Let's get something to cheer him up.
MAYBE THIS?

Manac said...

Marti @ 6:06
Loved that link. It made my day. I've been working in a home with a Great Dane. I'm the only "stranger" she allows in the house or around the family. Just a dog lover thing I guess.
CED, Nah... I won't link it again:)

PK said...

Hondo, you said yesterday that you were heading for the chiro (practor?) and cardio. Are you having physical pain? Heartfelt wishes for healing to you, guy.
Don't leave us wondering about your health. We care about you.

Anonymous said...

The use of elect = Chosen is from the
King James Version of the Bible as in
"God's Elect" = the chosen ones.

McBeal

Bill G. said...

Hondo and others, I haven't observed anybody who regularly abuses the privilege of posting here. I never count my posts and I am sure there has been a time or two when I've gone past five. If so, I apologize.

Marti, I really enjoyed your dog video.

Anonymous said...

Hondo.
I understand. There is a click here of people who ignore those of us who dont comply with the unspoken rules. Dont let them take away your enjoyment.

Blue Iris said...

Hondo, please reconsider. E-mail CC or Marti with your concerns. Sometimes in friendships, something may be accidentally overlooked. I'm not the most regular of bloggers, but enjoy your comments.

In Judeo-Christian heritage, the elect are the CHOSEN of God. I've seen these words used interchangeably many times.

Besides despising math (to be an RN I only had to take basic chem), there will be no pie for me. I have gone 6 weeks without sugar. (a substance to which I am addicted).
Argyle, I guess I will be eating the cherries and not the cherry pie.

I'm going to complain now...Sorry! I can not walk on my left ankle for the last 3 days. I did not injure it, but my Achilles Tendon is on fire. I haven't seen a doctor because I know he will charge me for an XRAY and then tell me to wrap it in an Ace, elevate, apply ice, and take an anti-inflammatory. I know that and have been doing it. Very frustrated. Sorry to be Debbie Downer!! If anyone has a mind to,please pray for me.

Anonymous said...

Honda, please come back. We'll miss you very much.

If the constant bother was me - I would like to profusely, and genuinely apologize, as well.

If your reasons for leaving are some health related problems, I sincerely wish you the best and would like to empathize with you.

Good friends awarded a truly rare in this world, and life is too short to carry grudges. So, live and let live. Best of everything.

Pinto said...

Is there a 'click' that controls this forum? Absolutely.

Is that their privilege? Sure.

Is it welcoming? No.

Is this mike on?

Dennis said...

anon, I'm curious -- who do you perceive to be in this supposed clique?

Pinto said...

can you hear me now?

Anonymous said...

I cant believe i did well on this puzzle. Very interesting. Had fun. I started at break at work. Then took me all day. Five minutes here, five minutes there. Love these kinds of puzzles. Good job!

Dennis said...

anon, there's nothing "unwritten" about the rule regarding "no personal attacks". It's right there at the top of the comment box.

And yes, I've had a comment deleted.

Blue Iris said...

Dear Annie, I just went back to finish yesterday's comments. So sorry to hear about the tragedy in your hometown. Glad to hear your friend came out of surgery okay. So sad that one deranged person can destroy our safety and security. Did the police finally get him? Much love...

Bill G. said...

Blue Iris, that's good advice to Hondo. You get lots of sympathy from me but nothing helpful. I had achilles tendonitis for years, aggravated by playing pickup soccer games on an uneven field. I did everything I could to help the problem without babying myself. I even ran the LA Marathon one year. Finally, it let go completely while between second and third base in a softball game. I thought someone had kicked me. Some very good doctor drilled holes in my heel and rethreaded the tendon through the holes. It healed up better and stronger than ever. I hope you will improve with a less drastic solution. Good luck!

windhover said...

It's not the Full Moon, that's almost 2 weeks from now, but there is some definite weirdness going on. There must be (as the weather guy says) an "upper-level disturbance". Is it too late (or too soon) to point out that this is something we do for fun? The stakes aren't exactly high, it isn't life or death, and like the saying goes, "On the Internet you can be anything you want; why choose to be petty or stupid? " Relax and enjoy. Puzzling and blogging are timeouts from real life. Leave the s--- behind when you log in.

Lucina said...

BlueIris:
Yes, you have some prayers for me. I'm sorry about your pain, but I hope it shall soon be alleviated.

Hondo:
The same for you. I sent some prayers so that your travails may be lifted or that you may have the grace to deal with them.

AnnieB:
I also read the posts from yesterday and I'm so sorry about your friend as well as all the people who were fatally shot. What a terrible thing.

Anonymous said...

My point, Windhover, is that this blog is special. I know you realize this. This is not your typical blog. This being the case, we should be privy to all known facts.

94.8% of all posters are good people, with good stories. things get stale from time to time. we should welcome outside contributions. and we should be aware of known questionable people. its just good policy. i dont see any logical reason to ignore this.

btw, good to hear from you.

Argyle said...

You make a case for not allowing anonymous; you sure you want that?

Irish Miss said...

Can't we all get along? ALA Rodney King?

Argyle said...

Do you mean this one?

"Hondo.
I understand. There is a click here of people who ignore those of us who dont comply with the unspoken rules. Dont let them take away your enjoyment."

Anonymous said...

sure Argyle. any of them. sticks and stones.

JJM said...

Good puzzle.
I love Pi Day.... because today (14th) is my Birthday.
I had a great day!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday JJM!

can't wait until 3.14.15

Anonymous said...

actually,its, 03.14.15:92:65

JJM said...

People always wish me "Happy Pi Day" on my Birthday.

downtonabbey said...

CC and Don congrats on another puzzle. I finished it box by box. Toughie with lots of learning moments. Hondohurricane dont leave. Take a break if need be. We support you.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Hondo,
Are you referring to the constant abuse by anonymous posters? 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.

But trust me, I groan every time overposting happens. I don't have many rules and I hate when others break my rules, whether by regular blue posters or anonymous. The worst is when blue posters posting anonymously.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Michelle,
You're up early!

JJM,
A belated "Happy Birthday"!

Blue Iris,
I'm feeling your pain. But maybe you should see the doctor. It sounds quite serious.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

To regular posters,
I'll repeat what Sallie constantly reminds us: Don't feed the troll. Don't engage mean-spirited personal attack anonymous posters. Just ignore them. Your engagement will only make things worse as that's exactly what they want: Attention. It's futile and frustrating to explain or respond to these people.