google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, April 19, 2013 Gareth Bain

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Apr 19, 2013

Friday, April 19, 2013 Gareth Bain

THEME: I swear, I am so mixed up.

The second word of a fairly clued two-word phrase is chopped up (anagram-med) into a mild curse, which is revealed in the middle of the across clues. What makes this so impressive is even knowing more than 50 cuss words, I could not come up with another anagram, heck I tried.  RATS I so wanted that gold STAR. A workout by one of regular young constructors  our South African veterinarian friend Gareth Bain, who doubles as a blogger of the LAT on Amy Renaldo's Crossword Fiend site. The anagrams were simple, except 59A, which took a bit because it is not 4 letters like the others. It begins as a geography-centric puzzle, which is always hard for Americans. Tricky, but lots of short words and lots of blocks and even a J. I always have a good time with a GB original.

18A. *Celebrating the big five-oh, say : MIDDLE AGED.(10) Anagrams to EGAD.

23A. *Small museum piece : OBJET D'ART.(9) Becomes DRAT. A little American French.

53A. *Dancer with many fans : SALLY RAND. (9)  DARN. She appears in many of Max Allen Collins historical mysteries, along with her famous fans, as opposed to her many fans. Love the play on words.


59A. *Profit factors : COST PRICES.(10). The tricky one because it is not 4 letters, CRIPES, and the fill does not roll off my tongue.

and the unifier:

37A. What the answers to the starred clues end in, in more ways than one. MINCED OATHS. (11). Minced meaning chopped, which like twisted and many others is the sign that an anagram is required.

Across:

1. Their first parts are geog. indicators : SSNS.  If you did not know, the first three of the Social Security Number is based on where it was issued.

5. Her last film was "Two-Faced Woman" : GARBO.

10. Newspaper page : OP-ED. I am not opening this controversial door again.

14. Injure, in a way : CLAW. I am not sure our vet friend had cats in mind,  and I bet you all have been clawed..

15. ___ dome : ONION. An obvious architectural TERM, but one I did not know I knew.

16. Denpasar's island : BALI. It is the site of their airport.


17. ___ mentality : HIVE. We must learn from the honey BEES.

20. ___-Locka, Florida : OPA. The also have an airport.

21. Sum, sometimes : I AM. (Soom), the Latin for I am.

22. Country across the sea from Eritrea : YEMEN. Across the Red Sea (happy belated Passover) before you get to Ethiopia.

27. Oil-rich African country : GABON. One of the surviving pieces of French Equatorial Africa, a small rich place.

29. City on the Rhone : LYONS. More geography, it is called  LYON in French which made this extra hard, though the clue was in English, so....

30. "___ Theme": "Doctor Zhivago" song : LARA'S. Very pretty TUNE (3:18).

32. Tram contents : ORE. As it is taken from the mine, they load the trams.

33. Hog : sow :: rabbit : ___ : DOE. Reminds me of the LSAT. A word animal clue.

35. Freak (out) : WIG.

36. Court cry : OYEZ. Also sometimes, OYER et TERMINER. It stems from the old days when judges travelled to the courts and the people had to be advised the court was there. More law stuff, 46D. Put forth without proof : ALLEGE. Sounds bad, but you allege what the facts are in a complaint and then prove them at trial.

40. Pigeon-loving Muppet : BERT. I missed this whole phase.

42. Fjord cousin : RIA. Bodies of water.

43. ___ Victor : RCA. Do you recall his name?


44. Bargainer with GM : UAWUnited Auto Workers.

45. LeVar's "Roots" role : KUNTA. Kinte.

47. Bender : BINGE.

51. Icky coating : GRIME.

55. Its young are called crias : LLAMA.  Gotta love the CAMELIDS. Our vet always gets some of his specialty in the puzzles. Also, 6D. Member of a large kingdom : ANIMAL.

57. Rock's ___ Lobos : LOS. Sing along,  LA BAMBA.(3:05). (More animals, wolves here).

58. Touch clumsily : PAW. So when she said he was pawing her, it was the clumsiness that mattered. (Animal paw?).

62. Siouan tribe : IOWA.

63. ___ d'amore : OBOE. I do not know much of the OBOE of LOVE. JzB? LINK. (2:49).

64. Terse observation : ADAGE. Interesting clue, as I think of the word like aphorism, apothegm, axiom, maxim, proverb, not just terse. Terse seems unfriendly.

65. W.S. winner in four of the last five years : NLER. baseball World Series being dominated by the National League, lately.

66. Flex : BEND.

67. Leafy recess : BOWER.

68. Pirate played by Laughton : KIDD. He played the CAPTAIN.(3:17) He seemed a bit foppish to be blood thirsty.

Down:

1. Art movement : SCHOOL. Like the Pointillists.


2. Elude : SLIP BY. His youth eluded him.

3. Code talkers' tribe : NAVAJO. Did you all see/like this MOVIE? (2:19).

4. 5-Across's home: Abbr. : SWEden.

5. Lose it : GO MAD.

7. Clear : RID.

8. Spa specimen : BOD. y?

9. Lacking siblings : ONLY. Child?

10. President with a B.A. from Columbia : OBAMA.

11. Shoulder-length hair styles : PAGEBOYS. Like this?


12. The "you" in the 1968 lyric "Gee I think you're swell" : ELENORE. The spelling gave away this TUNE.(2:32)

13. Imitated : DID. Frank Caliendo did John Madden so well. Sorry to hear that Pat Summerall died.

19. Brain tests, briefly : EEGSElectroEncephaloGramS.

21. "Put up your dukes, then!" : IT'S ON.

24. Break up : END IT.

25. Statistician's input : RAW DATA. GIGO.

26. Common folk group : TRIO. Kingston anyone?

28. ___ Perce tribe : NEZ. Not related to the eye glasses.

31. Seaweed extract : AGAR. A wonder of the world for cooks and scientists LINK.

34. Beige relative : ECRU. Can any of the guys tell them apart?

36. Atheist activist Madalyn Murray ___ : O'HAIR. She was always being talked about when I was young as the founder of the first organized Atheists. She led to the banning of prayer in schools and was eventually murdered. LINK  (2:21). We will not talk religion or politics here, but when she died my father's words rang in my head during her funeral. "All dressed up and no place to go."

37. Dennis the Menace neighbor : MR. WILSON. Now living somewhere in Boca Raton.

38. German opener : EINS. One in German.

39. Super Fro-Yo sellers : TCBYSThis Can't BYogurt.

40. Eat at : BUG. This clue irritated me. In fact it 49D. Ate (at) : GNAWED at me. A tense clecho.

41. Drop zone? : EAR LOBE. OK GB, explain this one, drops meaning earrings?

45. Dole's running mate : KEMP. Former Buffalo Bill quarterback Jack. Lots of athletes make it to politics. How many do you know?

48. City SE of Roma : NAPOLI. Italian for Naples.

50. "___ Scissorhands" : EDWARD. Johnny Depp, ladies? No, okay NOT JOHNNY DEPP.(3:29).

52. Checked for the last time? : MATED. I am not sure if this is a pun on the state of matrimony, or just a reference to the game.

54. Like one who is 52-Down : LOSER. I repeat, I don't know....

56. Fast horse : ARAB.

59. Pen's mate : COB. (oops, don't we have MATED above?) Of course he is speaking of swans
 

where the adult male is a COB and the female is a PEN.  He then ends with. 62A. Pen filler: INK. to enhance the confusion, I love it.

60. Brief commitment : I DO. With such a high divorce rate, brief may be the operative concept.

61. Crow's croak : CAW. And alliteration clue to fill, nice.

Well it is great to be back to Friday, even though blogging marti is always a treat. Gareth is also much fun and a very pleasant young man, willing to answer questions. While you are reading this, I am getting ready to get on airplane to Buffalo  which to me is now Charlotte's ville, current home of my granddaughter. See you all next week.
Lemonade out.


64 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Got through this one without too much trouble, but was very glad to be able to come here and find out what the final MINCED OATH was. CRIPES! I had no idea that even qualified as an oath, to be honest, let alone a minced one. I wonder what the derivation is. EGAD is a minced form of ye god(s), DRAT and DARN and minced forms of damn, but CRIPES? Hmmmm, maybe it's a minced form of Christ, now that I think about it...

Got DID via the crosses, but couldn't figure out its relationship to "imitated." Again, thanks to Lemonade it is now clear.

[emitspa]

HeartRx said...

Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.

I always learn things when I read your write-up, Lemony, so thanks today for the OBOE d’Amore. I had never heard the name of the instrument, although I have certainly “heard” it in Ravel’s Bolero and pieces by Bach and Mahler. Great link!

Oh, and the RCA Victor dog was a pit bull, named “Nipper.” Buster Brown’s dog that we just had last Friday was also a pit bull, named “Tige.” I used to get the two mixed up, but I think now I finally have them straight!

Fun puzzle from Gareth, as always. Loved the misdirection of “Sum, sometimes” for I AM.

Like Barry, I also had trouble figuring out CRIPES. (Glad I wasn’t the only one!) I was wondering about the revealer phrase, “…in more ways than one.” Now I realize that it referred to the fact that there were four different minced oaths. Duh.

TGIF!!

HeartRx said...

I just read Gareth's explanation of his puzzle, and see that I didn't "get" the "...more ways than one" bit after all. (Sigghhh.) Maybe he'll stop by later and enlighten me.

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

Sallie & Dave,
People complained and left when I implemented the 5 posts/day rule. People complained and left when I implemented the 20-line rule. So your reactions yesterday were not something unfamiliar to me. You have the right to disagree. However, this is my blog. I have my principles and rules, and I want them to be honored. No personal attacks. That simple.

Tinbeni would just pounce at any possible term (EX-CON last Thursday & DISBAR yesterday and many more before) and mocked & humiliated & engaged Lemonade, in his oh-so-subtle-I-can-fully-deny-it's-an-attack post, even after our email exchanges in February.

You guys probably don't remember or even noticed his attacks on Barry G, I do/did. You guys have no memory of the Tinbeni/Entropy farce, I do.

If you don't trust my judgment on my decision for my blog, I have nothing more to say. The end. I don't want to continue this topic on or off line.

Gareth Bain said...

Hi all!

@Lemonade: Yes, re DROPZONE, and thanks for the kind words!

@HeartRx: As Barry elucidated above, the oaths have already been minced once before I anagrammed. EGAD = "Oh G--!", DRAT = "G-- rot!", DARN = "Damn!" and CRIPES indeed = "C-----!"

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I really thought this one was going to defeat me. I was halfway through the across clues and the only things I'd entered were YEMEN and LARAS (back for an encore). I had several missteps EINE/EINS, SLIME/GRIME, ASSUME/ALLEGE, OHARE/OHAIR, OTOE/IOWA that didn't help matters. This was definitely Friday level in my book.

I am familiar with CRIPES; I heard it often in my ute. Grandma would say CRIKEY, the kids would say CRIPES.

Doing taxes this year was the first time I'd run into someone who's SSN began with the same three digits as my own. Yup, we grew up in the same state (confusion?).

Middletown Bomber said...

This puzzle got me. (i guess you could say this puzzle {all puns aside} was my "bane") Thank you to Lemonade and to Gareth for the write up and the brain challenging puzzle.

TTP said...

Good morning all ! Thank you Gareth and thank you Lemonade.

Couldn't fill the NW and North Central. Perhaps if I had turned off the news. The computer solved 18 of the 187 letters in the puzzle, which is the worst Friday I've had in a while. It gave me an A-, but I feel like I only deserved a B. Couldn't get SSNS GABOR CLAW ONION HIVE and OPA.

I only had time to scan the write up for now and need to run. Before I do, if anyone has one of those Edison cylinder record players and is looking to get rid of it, let me know.

Barry G. said...

Glad I did the puzzle this morning before turning on the news. My mother lives a few blocks away from the shootout scene and my wife has to work from home today due to the city of Boston being locked down. Let's hope this gets resolved soon and peacefully...

61Rampy said...

Tough but doable puzzle today. I finished, correctly, but it involved lots of WAGs. So many of my first answers were right, but I couldnt see where perps would fit in- like with NAVAJO- how was a J gonna fit in the museum piece? S l o w l y it all came together. I did manage to see CRIPES, but only after the whole puzzle was done.

AnnieB8491 said...

Good Morning all - This was a big DNF for me. As pleased as I was that I knew some of the fill-ins - OPED, BALI, YEMEN, OBJETDART, PAGEBOYS, EARLOBE, KIDD - to name a few, the unfilled were plentiful.
Thank you Gareth for a real brain buster this morning. More miscellaneous info to try and retain for next time. Great expo Lemonade. I did not know the info regarding the SSN's. Has that always been the case since their inception?
Another hot one here today. Have to enjoy it since we are on our countdown to going back north.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Paras G. said...

Very interesting puzzle. MATED for 'checked for the last time?' comes from the chess game.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. Nice informative intro, Lemonade.

Got the central and east ok. Had to use red letter help in the NW with HIVE, and in the SW with OBOE. Liked GRIME which gave me MATED, with its masterful clue. Had heard SALLY RAND somewhere; it seemed to fit so…….

20a, OPA could have been clued: "What Spitzboov is to his grandkids." :-)

A learning today about GABON. There's a lot of oil in the Gulf of Guinea.

Have a good day

Diane said...

Had a lot of trouble in the southwest corner--didn't know oboe and for some reason cost prices just didn't sound right. Mated was also a problem......and "cripes"? That being said, I really enjoyed the puzzle! I'm recuperating from some surgery and it really kept me engaged for a good long while.wfairnsu

grams said...

I remember my dad was a fan of Sally Rand -- much to my mom's disgust! Clever puzzle, but DNF for me! Can't seem to remember "cob." Crias ?? Try to put that inthe memory bank! Once owned an alpaca jacket! (Llamas). Great write up. Very enjoyable.

CC, love your blog!

Montana said...

Morning, everyone.
Great FRIDAY puzzle that I needed a whole lot of red letter help on. Although I got the theme entries, I couldn’t figure out “CRIPES.” Thanks Lemon, for the expo. For the rest of the puzzle there were so many clues I couldn’t get that I won’t list them here.

SSNs—I am a volunteer who helps people in my county with Medicare issues. I often surprise old railroad workers when I know they worked on the RR in their youth. Years ago, when teenagers started working on the railroad, they would be assigned a SSN. It was not geographically based.

I have 90 miles to drive this morning to a hospital for not an EEG, but an MRI of my brain. It’s a checkup because of a benign tumor removed some years ago.

Road report says it is snowing along the way, but melting when it hits the road. We still have white yards from the last snowstorm, but the roads are dry now. I hear there is another snow event moving in on us from Canada starting tomorrow. I am truly ready for spring!

Take care,
Montana

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Answers and theme were a bear but bearable. COST PRICES?
-Even my toehold was tough as to how you spell ELENORE
-All my peers’ SSN’s started with 507
-I read OP-EDs from all points of view
-It ain’t St. Basil’s but our city does have an ONION Dome ;-)
-Bert’s pigeons and paper clip collection were daily fare with our daughters
-“Nipper, your master isn’t in there!”
-My dad never went on a BINGE; he was just always under the influence
-Like Captain KIDD, Billy the Kid’s portrayal is usually “Hollywoodized”
-Some pioneer women on the prairie were said to have GONE MAD from the life here
-I don’t think this Chechen killer will SLIP BY the BPD
-Lewis and Clark are believed to be the first white men to encounter the NEZ PERCE
-Legendary athlete/coach Tom Osborne ran for governor here and was defeated by my friend Dave Heineman

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Well, I finished the puzzle, but sure didn't get the theme until explained here. I think part of the problem is that I have a poor grasp on this use of the word "oath" to mean an expletive. In my childhood we just called such words "swears", and my dad was pretty good at 'em.

Argyle said...

"Its young are called crias"

I just learned this word due to an upcoming county fiber tour. Not as tasty as the cheese tour however.

Frank said...

TCBY became "The Country's Best Yogurt"

HeartRx said...

Gareth, it all makes sense now. Thanks!

I think I would have liked to see "ground hogs" instead of COST PRICES. Still, a fun puzzle within a puzzle.

Marti

Busch said...

Thanks David M O'Brien for the photos. Looks just like pictures of my 30th b-day party, right down to the old mildews and the bong on the table. Seems like a good group of friends.

Irish Miss said...

Good morning:

This one nearly did me in but Irish stubbornness perservered. Had to WAG cob/oboe and was correct on the first try. Had slime before grime; found the NW and SW hard to crack but finally broke through.

Kudos, Gareth, for a very challenging Friday which may have elicited one or more "minced oaths" from some of us. Nice expo, Lemon. Enjoy your time with Charlotte.

Happy Friday.

Virginia said...

Wow! Definitely a Friday, Lots of trouble for me but the one that stuck was that I had never seen Elenore spelled that way.

A little doggy trivia: Nipper was actually a Bull Terrier/Fox Terrier cross. He showed up in ads later in his career with a pup named Chipper.

Anonymous said...

Check mated

Lucina said...

Greetings, Lemonade et alii.

Well, I had to CLAW my way through this MINCED puzzle and had fun in the process. It started slowly with a fill here and there until gradually I could pull it together. Some fill, GARBO, KUNTE, LARA'S, OYEZ (which I've learned here) helped me find a toehold.

But ultimately I did not know and failed to get BERT and OBOE. It has been many years since I watched Sesame Street.

Thank you for the entertainment, Gareth. I always enjoy your puzzles. And thank you, Lemonade, for your always entertaining analysis.

Kudos to the FBI, the Boston PD and all who searched for the bombers. Stay safe.

Have a fun Friday, everyone!

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.
I got all of 13 correct answers today;
only the most obvious ones. With NAVAHO and NEZ Perce I thought for a moment that we were doing American Indians. No such luck. But it was great fun getting the 13.

Cheers

Natick Notable said...

New puzzle clue - top half of Boston bombers - Tsar ( -naev).

NOW, we don't have to worry about or remember the despot, anymore. :>0)

Also, hopefully we don't have to put up with those insufferable types who claim THEY ran the Boston Marathon. :-oo)

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Gareth Bain, for a tough but well constructed puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the great write-up.

Lemonade: I was just in Buffalo earlier today. Have fun.

Well, this puzzle beat me up. I got it done, but with a couple look-ups.

Had trouble in the NW corner with OPA, HIVE, SSNS, AND SCHOOL.

Did not get COB or OBOE in the SE.

KUNTA was with perps, but only five.

Got the theme answers but not the theme. By the time I got the puzzle done I was tired.

Back in Illinois now.

See you tomorrow, maybe. I have a big day.

Abejo

(exelapp)

Lemonade714 said...

ABEJO, get the weather to cooperate, please.

Barry g. Thanks for helping explain the theme.

GB SO good to see you.

Golly, Marti never saw gosh. Osh Josh.

PK said...

Hi Y'all, Always enjoy Gareth's puzzles, but CRIPES, there was a lot to learn in this one. (One of my favorite "oaths" in my ute since my dad objected to "craps" coming out of my mouth.) Thanks, G.B.

Lots of good explanations from Lemonade. Safe journey as you shuffle off to Buffalo to hold that sweet child. Especially appreciated learning SUM & OBOE d'mour & CRIA.

One of my father-in-law's treasured moments in life was seeing Sally Rand during the world's fair in Chicago (I think that was the city).

HG: If I had to keep a sod house clean on the windy prairie, I'd GO MAD too. Horrible time for women.

My aunt had some tear-shaped pearls hanging on gold chains she called her EAR DROPS.

Diane: best wishes for a speedy recovery.

EGAD! Boston lockdown? Barry's wife walking to work? For the third time in as many days, the blog has scooped current news for me. I loved Boston & Copley Square living in Mass. 52 years ago.



Ol' Man Keith said...

Drat. Darn. DAMN!

I thought I had this one, although I hadn't a clue as to the theme. And that was why I missed it-- by just ONE #&@! letter. I ended with MINCEDEATHS--and of course no idea what that could mean.

When I checked into the "Corner" and saw it should have been MINCED OATHS, it all made sense for the first time. Yes, all my other hard-won answers were right, but this goes to show how one can answer a crossword piece by piece and still miss the core.

I almost missed out too in the SW corner because I wasn't sure that COB went with "Pen" (until I Googled after the fact). Prior to that I had LOB, giving me LIST PRICE too (which actually sounds better than COST PRICE). But then I had no decent answer for "Drop zone." Once I found EARLOBE, it made sense. We've had references to ear rings and eardrops before--reminding me that 15% of crossword success is familiarity with previous puzzles.

TTP said...

It's nice to take a Friday afternoon off and extend the weekend. Finally got a chance to read the write up and explore the links.

I did not know that the first 3 of the SSN were geographically based. I did not know Denpasar was a place. I thought it was a person in one of the world's great books that I never read.

I also missed court cry = OYEZ. I was thinking of Sharapova grunting on the tennis court. Had all but the Z.

Frank Caliendo does do Madden well, but I really like Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin.

Drop Zone had nothing to do with jumping out of a perfectly good plane, like Rangers do. And checked for the last time had nothing to do with final proof. Gareth had my mind wandering all over the place. Then I get to Pen's mate, and Teller popped into the old noggin.

Thanks for the great write up Lemonade. And thanks for the great puzzle Gareth.

Abejo, I think you brought cold weather back from Buffalo.

PK said...

Well, back from a trip to TV newsland where I heard people who knew these suspects say what sweet guys these were.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" They have cast a great shadow of sorrow on our land.
But like Gary, I believe in the goodness of most of the people most of the time to rally against this madness.

dianej said...

Your dad was awesome!

Sfingi said...

Never figured the theme.

DNF - had beST, not COST, and slIME, not GRIME and couldn't shake them.

Spelled OHAIR wrong for a while.

Had to Google OPA. I know we had it before, so I looked up images of the town to get a memory - the town hall is a mosque!

Took a chance on LYONS rather than Nimes, Arles, Dijon. So, Frenchies, when is it LYON and when LYONS?

Lucina said...

I was in a hurry this morning as I had a movie date with my daughter. The movie is The Big Wedding and I found it so-so in spite of a really stellar cast, DeNiro, D. Keaton, S. Sarandon, K.Heigl and Robin Williams. It's a quite cynical portrayal of family and marriage but maybe true to life in some respects. It has some very funny scenes.

And so I failed to mention that NAVAJO is a definite given for me since they are from AZ and the code talkers are much admired. If you don't know about them, they confounded the Japanese during WW II by using their native language which could not be decoded and so changed the course of history.

The word CRIAS (pron. cree-ahs) literally means brood or litter and refers to animals but also facetiously to a "litter" of children.

john28man said...

My wife and I lived within a mile of each other until we got married.
(Of couse, we only stay there for five years before we started moving for my work.) So how come my first three numbers is seven leass than hers. Does anybody know?

PK said...

John28: I'm wondering if it also has to do with the year the application to get SSN was made. My husband and I grew up six miles apart although I was born l50 miles away. We had the same first digit but the 2nd & 3rd digits are 8 numbers apart. I think I got my SSN at 16 and he didn't have one until he joined the AF. He was 10 year older than I. I got numbers for my 4 kids when they were born. First digits the same as for us, but the other two numbers are all over the place and they were all born in the town near where we lived.

CrossEyedDave said...

This puzzle kicked my butt! Without the Blog I would have had no idea what was going on. ( wait a sec, even with the Blog, I have no idea what is going on...)

Oh well, at least i am able to identify with 40A. Bert & Bernice play checkers

59D Pens mate = Cob really had me confused. Sort of like this goose. Sorry about the 30 second ad, but it is an interesting avian clip...

Lemonade714 said...

No he left plenty of cold weather here. It was 72 in Buffalo this morning, 38 when I landed. But Charlotte is worth it all.

Lemonade714 said...

Sally Rand performed often in Chicago, so your dad likely saw her there.

Anonymous said...

Fan dancer Sally Rand at 1934 Chicago World's Fair.

Charlotte said...

Thank you! I am still struggling but it feels so good when I get a word.

Good weekend everyone!

GarlicGal said...

Good afternoon Folks. DNF for me. The upper corner was a total loss. I had ERNs for 1A...you know like north-ern, south-ern, etc. etc. Finally got GARBO, but had LOREN for the longest time. Which led to trying to fit ITALY in 4D. ACK!!! Never did get HIVE/SCHOOL. A lot of forehead slapping when I finally got to the Blog!

Thank you Lemonade, Gareth and C.C. for the fun write up, puzzle and blog.

I just hope tomorrow isn't a Silkie Saturday.......... LOL

Sfingi said...

Oh. in 1995, Madalyn Murray O'HAIR was murdered. Unsolved. Some sort of inside job.

Jiminy said...

Re "cripes" as MINCED OATH", I had no problem with the word itself since it was long ago one of many causes of wash-your-mouth-out-with-soap threats. Was the 6- to 4-letter change that caused delay. Also remember "Crikey", altho it was always preceded by "by". OTOH "Criminy" was used both w/ & w/o the "by". And then, from deep memory, up popped "Jiminy Cricket" (for J- C-?). So I just had to goog it & found foll on Wikip:
1. The very 1st line under "Origin of Name" (as the personification of Pinocchio's conscience in 1940): "... is a play on the minced oath ..."
2. As minced oath it was also used earlier in Snow White, Wiz of Oz, & other films as early as 1930, so it's been around for a while.

Bill G. said...

CED, I love that goose video. I'd seen it before but it was well worth seeing again.

AnnieB8491 said...

CED @ 4:50 - Cute goose video - thanks for sharing.

TTP said...

Re: the Navajo... I had read about the code talkers many years ago. I've also recently learned that the State of Arizona does not recognize Daylight Savings Time, unless you are on the Navajo Reservation, which does. However, the area of Hopi Reservation (which is within the Navajo Reservation) also does not observe DST.


Hopefully they have finally got the last perp.

Spitzboov said...

Regarding all the hooha on the tv news, tonight. Here I am in peaceful bucolic upstate NY, and this drama is playing out one mile east of where our grandson lives with his Dad. He lost his Mom, our daughter, in January. Small world.

HeartRx said...

Wheeeewwwww!!! Suspect in custody!! Boston can breathe easy (ier ?)

Thank you police, FBI, and all agents who helped bring this to a finish.

Crispy816 said...

Evening All,

Finally! Got my laptop back from the local PC repair shop - not too much $ for a new screen but way too long.

This one kicked my butt from the beginning. Had only bits & pieces, SE corner filled in, just couldn't do it.

Thank you Lemonade for the enlightening write-up & Thank you Mr. Bain for the most excellent head-scratcher!

fermatprime said...

Second bomber caught!

PAcrossB said...

Hello folks! It's been a busy few days. I simply was not in sync at all with this puzzle today. Thank you for the fun blog, Lemonade!

There were simply too many unknowns for me that I needed to ask for help or look them up (e.g. O'HAIR, EDWARD, OPA). I counted more than 20 proper nouns, which to me seems like way too many for a 15-by-15 grid. I had ROCOCO for SCHOOL and GHANA for GABON. I loved the clues for MATED and I AM, though!

Thank you Barry G. et al. for elucidating the second way the theme answers are minced. Thank you for coming by, Gareth! It's really a great theme!

I'm looking forward to a Saturday Silkie - maybe tomorrow?

Thank goodness the other suspect has been apprehended. Thank you to everybody involved in finding the suspects. Have a good night, everybody!

Bill G. said...

Good work Boston Police, FBI, people of Boston and Watertown and everybody else involved!

TTP said...

I hope all my Boston friends can rest a bit easier this evening. Glad they got the rat bastard.

If you see something, say something.

fermatprime said...

Cannot believe that I had the TA-DA on this one w/o any cheating. Tried to work it last night but had many holes. Got back to it after swimming, eating, etc., today. My WAGs worked. What a surprise!

One of my Russian friends called tonight to chew the fat on his way home from OSU. He is going to be teaching at CSUN in the coming year and will stay at my abode for a while in May. Am looking forward to the company. (He is not bringing his entire family of seven this time!) He spoke at length of the evil deeds of Chechnyans in general.

Have a great weekend!

PK said...

Glad they got the terrorist. What a huge bunch of armed men for one horribly misguided teenager! I wondered if it would have been all right for the older brother to severely beat a woman in Chechnya and he couldn't understand why the police gave him trouble here.

I met some people on a bus trip once who taught at a large college with many middle east students. They had rallied people in their church to "adopt" students and take them under their wing for the school year to try to show them American goodness. Bless their efforts. They said it was very difficult because the cultures are so different. Especially, the difference in the attitude toward women.

PK said...

Thanks for the Sally Rand video. That would have been about the right time. FIL & his Pa loaded a bunch of Poland China hogs and rode the railroad car with them to Chicago to go to the World's Fair, if I remember right. Left Grandma & pregnant MIL with 3 other kids at home on the farm. 30 years later MIL still got mad if she heard the Sally Rand story told in the next room.

Bet the old men smelled great after riding with the hogs. Probably why Sally was waving those big fans around.

Anonymous said...

Those two brothers might have planted those bombs but if anyone thinks they planned and paid for the dastardly, cowardly deed...you`re crazier than my great Aunt Sallie who thought she was a chicken and fried herself!

JD said...

Thanks Gareth, Lemon,and C.C.,

Lemon, even when I can't find the time to finish the CW, I do read your write-ups...ALWAYS a learning experience. Know that you are enjoying every moment with Charlotte.Truman just got rid of his training wheels, and I am so proud...as if no kid has ever done it before. Sappy? Yes, but that is the joy of being a grandparent.

Cria..baby camelids...who knew? :-)

C.C. @6:52- well said.

Hey Gary, maybe our dads were related.

Sallie, we seem to be at the same level. Gareth, the genius, is so out of my mental range, but love to try.

adding a smile to your evening

Jayce said...

DNF, CNF

JJM said...

I got the theme but this puzzle was horribly clued.

I'm sorry but Art Movement is not a SCHOOL
SSNS for geog indicators. Goes from bad to worse.
OBJET ART… seriously
Even weaker is MATED…Checked for the last time?? C'mon lousy clue.
I DO…Brief Commitment. Again bad clue.
EARLOBE for Drop Zone… ridiculous