google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday April 7, 2013 Don and Barbie Gagliardo

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Apr 7, 2013

Sunday April 7, 2013 Don and Barbie Gagliardo

Tittle: PC Connection- Each two-word theme entry starts with P* C*, and every Across theme entry is connected with a Down theme answer. 

23A. Track team : PIT CREW. Racetrack. Crossing 3D. Vet visitor's burden : PET CRATE
 
25A. Betty Boop feature : PIN CURL. Crossing 15D. Fir coat feature? : PINE CONE. Fun clue.

34A. Where to see a guest's name : PLACE CARD. Crossing 10D. Part of JFK's legacy : PEACE CORPS

70A. Solo product : PLASTIC CUP. Solo Cup. Crossing 51D. Statistical circle : PIE CHART

73A. Restaurant specialist : PASTRY CHEF. Crossing 49D. Makeshift storage container : PAINT CAN

106A. Burgess's "I'd rather see than be one" critter : PURPLE COW. Crossing 77D. Movies, hit songs, TV, etc. : POP CULTURE

118A. It has a tip, a shaft and a butt : POOL CUE. Oh, it has a butt. Crossing 86D. Head of the world? : POLAR CAP

122A. Talladega leader : PACE CAR. Crossing 89D. Office owie : PAPER CUT

Perfect puzzle title!

16 intersecting theme entries. Isn't this amazing? For this grid type, you have to have plenty of theme material to work with, long and short, to make the crossing work. And you have to have the skills and patience. 

Don is brilliant in grid designs. He always pulls off feats which I think are impossible. So nice to see Barbie as well. She's a very sweet, caring & creative person.


Don & Barbie
Across:

1. Bebop aficionado : HIPSTER. Jazz!

8. Bond phrase : AT PAR. At face value. Not that Bond, you dummy!


13. Harness : TAP INTO

20. Soul mate : ONE LOVE. Love the Bob Marley song.

21. Vatican City statue : PIETA

22. Landlord, at times : EVICTOR

24. __-foot oil : NEATS. Never used it.

26. Subst. for unnamed things : ETC

27. Wonderland visitor : ALICE

29. White House title: Abbr. : CIC. Commander-in-Chief.

30. Suffix with cyan- : IDE

31. Unlike cons : PRO. Adjective here.

32. Bit of fan support : RAH

37. Actor Firth : COLIN. Oscar for "The King's Speech".

39. Gouge : SOAK

41. __ volente : DEO

42. City in Florida's horse country : OCALA

43. Bounded : LOPED

44. "Rain Man" subject : AUTISM. 102. College subj. in which 44-Across would be discussed : PSY. Sorry PSY. But you had enough exposure already.


46. __ Alto : PALO

48. Prone's opposite : SUPINE

50. Jenny Craig suggestion, e.g. : DIET TIP. I don't like those no-fat, low-fat stuff. Takes the joy of food completely.

52. Lady's man : LORD

54. Changes for the better : AMENDS

57. Drawing for beginners : ART I

58. Piano lesson subject : ARPEGGIO. Don is a piano technician.

61. Zoo channel : MOAT

63. "Green Eggs and Ham" narrator : SAM

66. Toward the back : AREAR. Hey, our A* word.

68. Soup __ : SPOON

69. "You got it!" : BINGO
75. A, to Aristotle : ALPHA

76. Ruin, as a scene : HAM UP

78. Like the main point : FOCAL

79. Buckeyes' sch. : OSU

80. Short court plea : NOLO. Nolo contendere.

81. Sore loser : BAD SPORT

83. Droughty : ARID

85. Keeper's counterpart? : WEEPER. Oh, Finders, keepers/Losers, weepers.

87. Graf __ : SPEE

88. It's directly behind the three : NINE PIN. I bet TTP nailed this one. He's a great bowler too.


92. "The Merchant of Venice" heroine : PORTIA

95. Parking spot border : CURB

97. Ace-queen, e.g., in bridge : TENACE. For Spitzboov, who will also love 12D. Imps : RASCALS.

98. Gave out cards : DEALT

100. Name derived from Nicholas : CLAUS

104. Eject : SPEW

105. Caesar's first attacker : CASCA. Caesar was stabbed 33 times.

108. Civic border? : CEE

109. Call the game : UMP

110. Basic ed. trio : RRR

112. Go (for) : OPT

113. German camera : LEICA

115. Tach readout : RPM

120. Hot spot : SAUNA

124. Cheaper for residents, as a college : IN-STATE

125. Jetson son : ELROY

126. Sign of an error : ERASURE

127. Poker-faced : DEADPAN. Manac's link last night is so funny.


128. D-backs and Cards : NL-ERS. National Leaguers.

129. Like a leopard moth's wings : SPOTTED

Down:

1. Bob with jokes : HOPE. I was picturing Saget.

2. Still alive : IN IT

4. Great Basin cap. : SLC. Salt Lake City.

5. Holy scroll : TORAH

6. Sinister-sounding daredevil name : EVEL

7. Use another dustcloth on : RE-WIPE

8. Sleep disruption : APNEA

9. Neck wrap : TIE

11. Historic Greek region : ATTICA
  
13. So-so : TEPID

14. Like a real go-getter : AVID

16. Former trucking regulatory agcy. : ICC. Interstate Commerce Commission.

17. Sequence of unspecified size, in math : N-TUPLE. No idea, Bill.

18. Steamy : TORRID

19. Acrylic fiber : ORLON

28. Every other horse sound? : CLOP. Clip clop.

33. Japanese spitz : AKITA

35. It may be part of a code : COLOR

36. "This Is India" novelist Santha Rama __ : RAU. We had her before.


38. Amateur night feature, briefly : OPEN MIC. Great entry.

39. Bummed : SAD

40. French consent : OUI

41. "The Comedians" composer Kabalevsky : DMITRI. Unknown to me.

43. It might be a stretch : LIMO

45. Layers : STRATA

47. Shakespearean calls to battle : ALARUMS. Also new to me.

53. Sparrow portrayer : DEPP (Johnny). Jack Sparrow. "Pirates of the Caribbean".

55. Honolulu-born jet pilot/pop singer : DON HO

56. Wise guys : SAGES

59. Not let get away : GO AFTER

60. "I would __ far as to say ..." : GO SO. Tough spot. Otherwise you would not see two GO's in the same area.

62. Soy stuff : TOFU. I like Tofu & chives combo.


63. Bridge stat : SPAN

64. Permit : ALLOW

65. Syrup source : MAPLE. Do you store it like honey or does it have to be in the fridge when opened? Never had maple syrup.

67. USAFA part: Abbr. : ACAD

69. Print credit : BYLINE

71. Waterproof boot : SHOE PAC. New term to me as well.

72. Little yippers : PUPS

74. Albino, for one : RARITY

81. Ernie's pal : BERT. "Sesame Street".

82. Waste not : RE-USE

84. Thick : DENSE

90. Milieu for axels : ICE

91. Fresh : NEW

93. Site for serious treatment, briefly : ICU

94. Slugging teammate of Bob Feller : AL ROSEN. "The Hebrew Hammer". Both with the  the Indians.

96. Fraternal gp. since 1868 : BPOE

98. Singer Vic : DAMONE

99. SeƱor's wife : ESPOSA. Esposo for "husband".

101. Shock : APPALL

103. Slides through a reader : SWIPES

105. God with a bow : CUPID

106. Clean, bird-style : PREEN. How are your owlets, Michelle?

107. Pottery sources : CLAYS

108. Chocolate source : CACAO

111. "Hollywood Squares" semi-regular __ Lee : RUTA. Can never remember her name.

114. Nitpick : CARP

116. Cut the skin from : PARE

117. Steed who could read : MR. ED

119. Old Ford : LTD

121. "... tears __ prayers shall purchase out abuses": Shakespeare : NOR

123. Approx. number : EST

Good luck with the road test tomorrow, Splynter! You can do it!

C.C.

50 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

This one was well outside my wheelhouse today, I'm afraid. I struggled throughout with stuff like PIN CURL and NEATS and PLASTIC CUP (due to the clue) and TENACE and AL ROSEN and ALARUMS and NTUPLE and PET CRATE (I believe that's what I call a "pet carrier"), but did manage to muddle my way through (I never thought I'd actually be glad to see SPEE in a puzzle, but it gave me a much needed foothold).

In the end, though, I was defeated by the crossing of SHOEPAC and CASCA. Never, never heard of SHOEPAC and just couldn't remember the Shakespearean character. Thought it was CASIA, but I was thinking of CASSIA. Thought it might be CASSA, but no. CASCA? Doesn't sound familiar and it would give me the utterly ridiculous SHOEPAC, so that can't be it...

[mamaus]
[hobside]

Anonymous said...

ALARUMS

NTUPLE

SHOEPAC


Ugh Ugh Ugh

Lemonade714 said...

Well I was blown away with the skill that was involved in creating this 16 theme answer affair. Shoepac
Was new but I have seen the scene where Julius Caesar is stabbed often enough to dredge up Casca. N-tuple is a logical extension of quintuple so it eventually appeared. I chalk it up to the learning part of solving. The Sunday NY Times taught me much growing up.

Today is my eldest brother's 30 th anniversary, which I mention only because it was his fourth marriage, proving that try try again, may work.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I usually like Don G's efforts, but I thought this one was a slog. The design may be elegant, but the solve was not. Maybe I'm just being a BAD SPORT, but this one didn't do it for me. In the end I wagged my way to a DNF. It could have been DEI or DEO; it could have been CLIP or CLOP. I guessed wrong.

emjay said...

Wow! I was blown away by the complexity of this puzzle.
Great write-up, C.C. I hadn't noticed the intersection of all the theme answers before you pointed it out.

Lemonade714 said...

For those who recall our dear departed friend CA and her fondness for Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, they announced today they are exhuming his body. Poets and politics do not mix.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C. and friends. Fun and clever Sunday Puzzle.

My favorite clue was Every Other Horse Sound = (clip) CLOP.

MAPLE Syrup should be refrigerated once it is opened.

I never saw a PURPLE COW,
I never hope to see one,
But from the milk I'm drinking now,
There certainly must be one.

Not a Poker Face, but interesting nonetheless.

QOD: Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what is more than enough. ~ Billie Holiday (Apr. 7, 1915 ~ July 17, 1959)

[rpcommm]

HeartRx said...

Good morning C.C. et al.

I have a feeling that this is a puzzle you either loved or hated. I was amazed at all the theme entries that were stuffed in here, and really liked the fresh fill of DEADPAN, HIPSTER, and those PC entries of PURPLE COW, PEACE CORPS, POOL CUE and PACE CAR (nice clue for that one, too!) What's not to like?

I did have a problem with SHOE PAC because I wanted SHOE PACk, but ran out of room, so I thought it might be SHOE PAk. But CASKA didn't look quite right, so "C" it was. TaDa!!

Have a lovely day, everyone!

MetaRex said...

Hated it. Train wreck fill.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either, although I certainly admire Mr. And Mrs. G's craftsmanship in creating such a complex puzzle. I didn't see the intersecting of the theme answers until CC pointed it out in her, as usual, sharp write-up. Casca and shoepac gave me a DNF. Another (n)ice shout-out to Tin!

We are under a wind advisory until 6:00 pm. I'm glad I don't have to go out as I might, literally, blow away!

Happy Sunday.

Husker Gary said...

OMG, SHOEPAC and CASCA were right!

Musings
-We drove by the TALLADEGA Raceway just below the Talladega Mountains east of Talladega, AL
-When Emily saw that PET CRATE, she LOPED away frightened
-Isn’t everyone here impressed with CC’s knowledge of our POP CULTURE?
-Elaine called Kramer a “HIPSTER Doofus”
-My sister got behind on her rent and I helped her pack while her fuming EVICTOR watched. Awkward.
- Janet Leigh made a salad with NEATS foot oil instead of olive oil in Angels in the Outfield
-Gas stations have been known to try to GOUGE people fleeing hurricanes
-Every ART I teacher has told me I could draw or paint if I wanted to. I told them they could do calculus if…
-I agree on your BAD SPORT picture, CC, but he did apologize
-If every UMP would use the actual strike zone, the games wouldn’t last over 3 hours
-My wife has absolutely no capability of showing a POKER FACE
-I took off the fierce BOA and put on a mundane TIE
-My first amateur night image was not of someone needing a MIC
-We had a “wise guy” on the bus who was a pain and not a SAGE
-Gee, I wonder why this SPAN in Memphis is referred to as the Dolly Parton Bridge
-My cheap friend had his FIL pick up his trash, dump it and wash out the bags so he could REUSE them
-If you’re $15,000 in debt and still SWIPING your card, you need to get a clue

Husker Gary said...

If you do nothing else today, please watch this

The winning touchdown in yesterday’s Husker Red/White scrimmage was scored by a player named Jack Hoffman. The only thing is, Jack is 7 years old and suffering from pediatric brain cancer. If you watch this fabulous, heartwarming video (2:13) of Jack scoring the touchdown, you will feel a lump in your throat and see that sometimes athletics can be a vehicle for something very noble. Jack is wearing #22 for his Husker hero Rex Burkhead who has worked with him for 2 years. I have never been prouder of being a Husker than yesterday.

Yellowrocks said...

I found the puzzle interesting, about average or very slightly more time than for an average Sunday. I liked the intersecting theme answers.
I find that when I sit in my computer chair, I come up with answers more easily. Weird?

How can a FIR tree produce a PINE cone? Impossible. This is a common misconception.

Another common misconception is that a person lying flat on his back is PRONE. PRONE is face down.
Supine is face up, flat on one’s back. This puzzle avoided this problem.

I got SHOE PAC quite easily. I relate to the PAC spelling, although PACK is also correct. The addition of the word SHOE is also correct, but makes the answer more challenging.I just call them PACs American Heritage Dictionary:
SHOE PAC, also SHOE PACK: a heavy, warm, waterproof, laced boot.

Here is the version of Purple Cow that I know:
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. Good intro, C.C.

Just a little crunchy, but eventually it all came home. Got all the PC stuff OK, but never really focussed on it until reading C.C.'s take. Don't remember doing a Don/Barbie before, but with Don's involvement, it was fun. I thought the cluing for MOAT and MR ED was especially clever.

62d, TOFU - C.C. I don't eat tofu but I love chives. (German: Schnittlauch - love that word)

24a, we always used NEATS foot oil to work into baseball gloves to keep the leather lithe and supple.

C.C. thanks for the shout out. We don't seem to use the TENACE word in my two bridge groups, but it certainly fills a specific vocabulary need. I have seen it in write-ups in bridge columns.

Splynter - Good luck with your UPS driving test.

Splynter said...

Hi there ~!

Thanks for all the good luck tomorrow - I have 'driven' the truck before, but UPS doesn't know about it....

I was disappointed with this brilliant puzzle because of SHOE PAC crossing CASCA - really?

I went bowling for the first time in 5+ years, and throwing out my first game, I averaged 146.5; here's my best game - not my highers score, but having knocked over "NINE PINS" 3 times in a row after a Turkey - DAR~!!! Don't tell Boomer....

Splynter

Splynter said...

That's "highest"

Splynter

desper-otto said...

Cute video, Husker. Wart-harming. We have to pay quarterly for trash pickup in our little city. I know one family who doesn't pay. Instead they drag their trash across the road and leave it in front of their neighbors who do pay. How cheap can you get?

I used to enjoy bowling. The last time I decided to bowl, about ten years ago, I threw my back out. I hadn't left the house. I was sitting on the end of the bed trying to put my socks on. A few years after that I put the bowling ball out on the curb for trash.

Spitzboov said...

The two British cooks at the Vatican, Margaret Jones and Tina Evans, have managed to upset the new pope on his first morning. All they did was ask him if he wanted a full English breakfast. Apparently he is very sensitive about the Falklands and shouted, "Don't fry for me, Marge and Tina".

Lucina said...

Hello. You are in good form, C.C. Thank you for garnishing the already delicious wordfest.

Yowza! A product from not one, but two Gagliardos! Their children must be geniuses.

All that notwithstanding, WBS, however, Solo PLASTIC CUPs are well known to me as they appear in every family party; preference goes to the red ones.

Also since waterproof boots are alien to me SHOEPAC is, too, though I meant to return to the scene for the last letter, C, and forgot. That and CASCA, too.

Otherwise it was an enjoyable sashay around the neighborhood with such words as ESPOSA, ERASURE, POP CULTURE and ARPEGGIO which I know from watching Disney's The Aristocats too many times.

WEEPER was amusing. Finders, keepers, losers, WEEPERS.

And what is not to like about COLIN Firth.

YR:
That is interesting about PRONE/SUPINE.

Have a happy Sunday, everyone!

PK said...

Hi Y'all! I recognized that this is probably a masterpiece with all the PC's, ETC, Don & Barbie. How long did this take you? Thanks!

Thanks, C.C., several things I filled OK but didn't "get" until you 'splained them: AT PAR, ICC. We had ICC, ICE, ICU. I kept waiting for the other vowels and ICK to show up.

FIR COAT stymied me far longer than it should. A bit far fetched. YR: what does one call fir cones?

I struggled with the NE to the end. Harness & TAP INTO don't equate for me. Couldn't get 13a,22a, 17d. Finally, resorted to running the alphabet with red-letter help to get the starting "T". Then it filled.

I sussed the bowling pin part. Don't know why. Only bowled once in my life & had both elbows out of place. Needed chiropractic. Also endangered folks by throwing the ball behind me. Sports are not ME!

My niece in OCALA is expecting a baby girl any day.

Splynter, remember: Turn Right Only! Good luck!

Manac's hilarious link: Tattoo or paint?

Lucina said...

Spitzboov:
LOL!! That is too, too funny!

PK said...

Now that I'm addicted to red-letter redirection, our newspaper has come out with a larger xword format that I can read. Too late. I've gone electronic. They went tiny over a year ago. Surely I'm not the only one who sent them an email complaining.

Spitz: LOL!

Barry, I too glommed onto SPEE with relief.

NTUPLE? GO on, you made that up...

Lemon: maybe your brother just didn't have enough money left to shed another wife.

fermatprime said...

Hello, all!

This one was very nice, Don and Barbie! Lots of fun. Amazing number of theme answers! Great write-up, CC.

No cheats. CLOP just seemed to come naturally. (Had CL_P.)

SPLYNTER: Lots of good wishes!

I enjoyed Katie Couric's retrospective of General Hospital. I used to watch it and a few other soaps whilst mending kids' clothes, ironing, etc., when not teaching or preparing to teach. Spent quite a bit on my first VCR!

This is a sextuple: (a, b, c, d, e, f). Here is an n-tuple: (a1,a2,...,an). (Formatting subscripts does not carry over. Drat.)

It promises to be a rather ugly day here. Drat!

Happy sunday!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Man oh man, this puzzle did me in. I very much appreciate the skill it took to construct it, but, like desper-otto, I didn't have much fun solving it. I balked at pine cone, and wondered how it was okay to have "ten" in both the answer and clue for 97 Across.

The site I had found that had the "old" style formatting suddenly only has yesterday's puzzles in it, so I used the LA Times site. Not knowing what would happen if I completed the solve (would the puzzle disappear so that I could not look it over?), I left the C crossing SHOEPAC and CASCA blank. Besides, I didn't know it anyway.
...
Ah, okay, I just filled in that C and was startled by a blaring sound effect, but at least I now know I can view the puzzle.

Good joke, Akitaboov :)

Hahtoolah said...

Akitaboov: I shared you Pope joke with an Argentine friend. She thought it was hilarious.

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Don and Barbie, for a great Sunday puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a swell review.

Well, I got this one done. Took me from Chicago to Bloomington. Finished just as I rolled into Normal, IL.

I did not consider this as difficult as some Sunday puzzle, however it was not a cake-walk either.

The theme appeared early and helped me throughout the puzzle.

I had no problem with CASCA. My problem was with SHOEPAC. I entered SHOE MAC, thinking of the British Mac for a raincoat. Eventually I straightened that out.

Did not know the author RAU. If we had her before I do not remember. Perped that one.

AUTISM came slowly for 44A. Never saw the movie The Rainmaker.

POOL CUE came slowly. Mainly because I did not know Ruta Lee.

I put FIVE PIN first for 88A. PAINT CAN fixed that to NINE PIN. I should have thought about that a little harder.

I was amazed at how many theme answers the constructor baked into this puzzle. Excellent job!

Now I am going to try my luck at finishing Saturday's puzzle. I was tied up all day and could not finish. It was tough.

See you later today or tomorrow.

Abejo

(heidnes)

Neil N. said...

Hi!

I use your puzzle blog pretty much every Sunday. Mostly to get help though sometimes just be be sure I was right. (Fewer of those!)

So I like it - and your commentary - a lot. But today ... you really should have addressed a bad clue.

"Fir coat feature" is not OK. Sure the writer has to take some license now and then. But here the alleged answer is "pine cone". Too much license.

A pine in a whole different species. A fir tree cannot produce pine cones no matter how hard Ms. Lewis cheers it on!

Pine trees have pine cones. Fir trees have ... ta da .. fir cones.

Here's a link.

So hey - first complaint n 2-3 years of LA puzzles and your blog-spot. Pretty good overall!

Keep doing it.

Argyle said...

And Friendly's has ice cream cones.

Yellowrocks said...

Neil,my point exactly, at 10:42. I always cringe when people call every type of conifer cones pine cones. I am APPALLED. Someone asked me what these cones are called-- simply cones or fir cones, spruce cones, hemlock cones, etc.
Rainman was a great movie.I saw it twice.
Splynter, I KNOW you will succeed. You deserve the upgraded position. Best wishes.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else have a problem with Sam being called the narrator of Green Eggs and Ham? He holds up signs in the beginning, but the narrator is the other character.

Yellowrocks said...

From Wiki: A character known as "Sam I Am" pesters Sam's friend to taste green eggs and ham. The unnamed character declines, claiming to dislike green eggs and ham.
SAM:
I am Sam

I am Sam
Sam I am

SAM”S FRIEND
That Sam-I-am
That Sam-I-am!
I do not like
that Sam-I-am

SAM:
Do you like
green eggs and ham

SAM’S FRIEND
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
I do not like
green eggs and ham.

SAM:
Would you like them
Here or there?

SAM’S FRIEND
I would not like them
here or there.
I would not like them
anywhere.
I do not like
green eggs and ham.
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am

Link full text

Montana said...

My two-year old grandson, Sam, asks to have the story, "Green Eggs and Ham," read to him over and over. We oblige.

Storm warnings are out. Winter is returning to my area.

Montana

Qli said...

Argh, defeated by CASCA and SHOEPAC. But the rest was fun, Barbie and Don! Enjoyed the PURPLE COW clue. Had to study Ogden Nash in school, which was not a hardship. Thanks for the Bond, C.C. and the bit of learning; I never knew Don Ho was a pilot.

I was waiting for someone to link "Red Solo Cup" by that C&W singer, I forget his name... catchy little ditty.

Great Pope joke, Spitz (Hahaha, Hahtoola; AKITAboov!)

Blue Iris said...

I assume this gird was much harder to create than to solve on a Sunday. I found PC connection very helpful and filled those in pretty quickly then slowed down to a Sunday pace.

Didn't know RUTA, AL ROSEN, ALARUM,N-TURPLE or SHOEPAC. I chalked it up to being Sunday difficulty. Usually have trouble with more than that at the end of the crossword week.

Bob HOPE-Oh, how quickly we forget...

BERT and Ernie were also pals in "It"s a Wonderful Life."

Our grade school served Green Eggs and Ham on DR Seuss's Birthday(March 2)every year. I wonder if our First Lady would approve now:)

YR, I remember Supine because you are lying on your spine.

Argyle,we don't have a Friendly's, but an ice cream cone sounds good about now.

Spylnter, have a good driving test!

Have a relaxing Sunday evening all!

HeartRx said...

HG @ 10:38, truly a LUMP-IN-THE-THROAT video!

Here's another "uplifting" one form today's igoogle site. 4:39

HeartRx said...

Qli @ 4:57, glad to oblige with Toby Keith's
"Red Solo Cup"!!!

Rojo said...

I didn't realize they all crossed each other! Neat!

SHOEPAC hurt me for a while, but a fun puzzle overall. I was especially pleased with PURPLE COW, as me and my sis used to chant that ditty all the time as kids.

Avg Joe said...

Late to the party due to gardening duties. Enjoyed the puzzle and got it done except for two cells. Did not know shoepac or Casca, so wagged the SC and lost. Cest la vie. Still, lots to like and it was fun.....although I did have the same gripe already voiced about that Fir cone.

From yesterday, Manac, I had the same thought about Rio Bravo and El Dorado as I watched. But they both also had the same self deprecating attitude where they were just having fun...especially liked the scene where Dean Martin asked Walter Brennan for a light. Not so much as a smile. Hahahahaha! But I also believe that Robert Mitchum is the far better actor.

Bill G. said...

Happy Sunday. This puzzle was a struggle for me in places but that's the way crossword solving goes for me. I never heard of SHOEPAC and a couple of others. I had heard of NTUPLE but it didn't pop into my mind from the clue. A pine cone from a fir tree didn't make sense to me. Oh well...

Gary, I enjoyed the video!

Good luck Splynter!

We took Jordan, his mom and Uncle Tim to The Olive Garden for a birthday lunch. We got there early so it wasn't crowded. He filled up on fettucini Alfredo.

CrossEyedDave said...

Oh dear! I so easily get sidetracked... 88A "It's directly behind the three" immediately made me think "toighty!" (to explain) The M*A*S*H* episode where they say goodbye to Henry, & they are all drunk in Rosie's, & Henry has to go potty... Radar says, you go out the back, past the 1st tree,,, past the 2nd tree,,, & the third tree is the "tioghty." ( I cannot find the clip, possibly because I have no idea how to spell "toighty.")

HG, Hmm, that bridge is too small to be named after Dolly Parton...

Fir coat had me going for a while, until I Googled Fir Cones.

Horse sounds reminds me of coconuts.

The hardest to grasp in this puzzle? SHOEPAC.

61Rampy said...

Unlike some others today, I thought this puzzle was fairly easy. Still, DNF, not because of CASCA, but because of ETC and PETCRATE. Arrgh. I had ETs and PETsRATE, thinking of aliens and the vets fee for looking at your pet.
Speaking of which, a few weeks ago I posted that I feared the worst about my 10 yr old cat, who was very ill. After putting him in a PETCRATE and taking him to the vet, the vet announced he could see nothing wrong. So, we paid the PETs RATE, took him home and waited. He is now playing like a kitten!! WHOO HOO!

61Rampy said...

CED: Thank you for the Monty Python clip!! Holy Grail is one of my favorite movies!!!

Lucina said...

Ice cream! Of course. That's what we'll have for dessert especially since my A/C is not working and no one will come to repair it until tomorrow! Mmm, ice cream with strawberries. Thank you, Argyle.

Hahtoolah said...

Qli: I have to give credit to Jayce for the wordplay.

TTP said...

Thank you Don and Barbie Gagliardo.

A very special thank you to CC. I enjoy the puzzle and the write ups each day.

I did pick off NINE PIN.

AFAIC, a first ball buried shot that leaves a standing 9 pin is the only true "tap" for a right handed bowler as is an 8 Pin for a left handed bowler.

Thank you for the great compliment. Your husband is a great bowler and I am not. I only carry a 20x average, and have never thrown a 300 game, but have been close many times. I will bring my balls the next time I come to Minneapolis and play against Boomer if he spots me pins !

Bill G. said...

Are any of you woodworkers? I never would have imagined creating a lampshade out of a big log. The result is beautiful though. Wood lampshade.

TTP said...

I just read what I wrote, and before D-O or Lois comments, I was talking about my Hammer and Brunswick balls.

Manac said...

This was a DNF for me and a DNC (Did Not Care) because its Sunday and I like to tackle them leisurely.

CC. Did not expect my link to make the front page today.. Thanks for the shout out.

Bill, Lampshade, Verrry Interesting.... But my first thought was to start up the log splitter.

TTP, You name the left and right ones? I just name the big... Oh screw it , lets not get DF here

Lemonade714 said...

ABEJO we just had RAU on the March 15 Jack McInturff effort.

fermatprime said...

Note: NTUPLE makes no sense. It is N-TUPLE.