google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 Jerome Gunderson and Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

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May 29, 2013

Wednesday, May 29, 2013 Jerome Gunderson and Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Theme: Abbott and Costello, or "confusion at first" - the first words of each of the theme answers are anagrams of each other.

[Late breaking - check out the constructor's notes at the the foot that I received after I wrote up the puzzle - you're perfectly entitled to skip my stuff and cut to the chase!]

17A Hit a ball caught by Ted Williams, say : FLIED TO LEFT. Right off the bat a baseball reference - "The Kid" played all 22 years of his professional career as left fielder for the Boston Red Sox. On second thoughts maybe I should say "Left off the bat ..."



29A Outdoor sport with sticks : FIELD HOCKEY. I played this at school in the UK. It's tough on the shins, let me tell you. It's technically a foul to wallop your opponent's tibia, but schoolboys aren't big on technicalities.

45A Tried to collect unemployment benefits, say: FILED A CLAIM. I have a friend who works in the unemployment office who tells me her job is to make it as difficult as possible to do this.

60A Longtime Cuban leader : FIDEL CASTRO. Possibly as famous for loving baseball and cigars as being "El Jef Maximo".

Happy Wednesday everyone - Steve here with a collaboration between Jerome Gunderson and our own dear Marti. I've not "met" Jerome before, and as there seems no possibility of making "Rich Norris" out of any part of his name, I'd say congratulations are in order on his debut! (Notes from C.C.: Jerome was absent from the blog when Steve arrived. Read my interview with Jerome here. Like Marti, he's very witty and has a big heart. He supported me and this blog from the very beginning when we shifted to LA Times Crossword.)

The theme was a big help to me today - I'm an anagram fan and when I'd got "FIELD" and FIDEL" I saw what was going on and filled in a lot of the blank left-hand-side of the grid which was giving me trouble. The 3-2-3-2 theme word count was pretty neat too.

Lots more to discuss, so let's get started:

Across:

1 President of Syria : ASSAD. Two world leaders in one day.

6 Foreigner, to a Polynesian : HAOLE. I've finally stopped trying to spell this "howly". It took me a while.

11 Many SSI recipients: SRS. It took me some time to understand this, but now I see that many seniors receive Social Security Income .

14 Rich kid in “Nancy” comics : ROLLO. I remembered this from a C.C. puzzle in January and Argyle's helpful cast of Nancy characters

15 K.T. of country : OSLIN. Crosses for me. No idea.

16 Bounce : HOP

19 Future flounders : ROE

20 Motorola smartphone : DROID. The "Droid" name is used under license from "Star Wars" creator George Lucas because of these two chaps:


21 On the line: AT STAKE.

23 Bar order in a very small glass : SHOT. The shot glasses in my bar are on the large side (I'm not complaining, Tinbeni wouldn't either!).

25 Potter’s oven : KILN

27 Seat of Garfield County, Oklahoma : ENID.

28 “Mazel __!” : TOV

32 Rock or horse follower: OPERA. The Who's "Tommy" was the original rock opera with Pinball Wizard the iconic song. There are no standout horse versions almost by definition - if you have a formulaic western series - a "horse opera" - the very fact it has that label attached means it's not standing out from all the others. Fun phrase!

34 Firewood wood : BEECH

35 Bug on the phone : WIRETAP

38 Solo performance : RECITAL

42 Reference ending : -PEDIA Wikipedia being the friend of bloggers everywhere.

44 Grammar school sequence: AEIOU

50 UPS delivery : PKG

51 Polluted Asian sea : ARAL

52 “The Galloping Gourmet” : KERR. My mother was in love with Graham Kerr - the problem was she didn't pay any attention to his recipes or instruction. God rest her soul, but my siblings agree that her cooking constituted cruel and unusual  punishment. We all learned to cook in self-defense - perhaps that was her cunning plan to get out of kitchen duty.


53 “... baked in __” : A PIE. Food! Four and Twenty blackbirds this gourmet filling. I know of an Australian company, "Four 'N Twenty,  which produces meat pies, and a two-restaurant chain here in LA called "FourN20", originally selling dessert pies.

54 Garage event : TAG SALE

57 Bank holding : MONEY.

59 Short life story? : BIO.

64 Barcelona bear : OSO. Need to be on your Spanish toes (dedos de los pies Espanõl) today with three answers in Spanish. This is numero uno.

65 Get a chuckle out of : AMUSE. I get many chuckles out of these blogs. Cheers!

66 Showed dissatisfaction, fan-style : BOOED

67 Itch : YEN

68 Move to new soil : RE-POT

69 Run through 57-Across : SPEND. That's me.

Down:

1 Weimaraner warning : ARF. Any dog noise is a warning as far as I'm concerned. Grrs, Barks, Arfs and I'm wary.

2 San Juan sun : SOL. Numero dos.

3 Made room on a crowded bench : SLID OVER

4 Heads-up : ALERT

5 Ignoramus : DODO. I feel sorry that the poor dodo is now synonymous with a dolt - they weren't ignorant in the unintelligent sense of the word, they were trusting and friendly - and ignorant of the fact that the humans they were cozying up to had nefarious intentions.

6 Sweatshirt with a head cover : HOODIE

7 Syst. with hand signals : ASL. American Sign Language was developed by Thomas Hopkins Galluadet in 1817 and was taken directly from French Sign Language. The British, as they are prone to do, refused to work with Gallaudet when he traveled to the UK to learn the English method, whereas the French were delighted to share (also the Brits refused to have anything to do with the French as per normal). Ergo, the two English-speaking powers developed completely different systems. SNAFU.

8 Poisonous flowering shrub : OLEANDER. Pretty, though. I'm not sure if it's native to Southern California but there's certainly a lot of it about.




9 Hitchhiker’s hope : LIFT

10 Tolkien’s Treebeard et al. : ENTS

11 Got smaller : SHRANK

12 Dugout newcomer : ROOKIE. Jerome Gunderson today?

13 Quick : SPEEDY

18 Polynesian carving : TIKI. To sell to the HAOLES.

22 Computer wonk : TECHIE. Guilty as charged.

23 Stash : STOW

24 Kachina doll maker : HOPI. These are awesome! The Hopi spirit-creatures from Arizona.


26 Me. retailer, initially : LLB. I missed the period in the clue and was stumped as to who would be selling "me". Then oh! Then oh! L.L.Bean!

29 Destined : FATED

30 Bray beginning : HEE. Needs HAW to finish.

31 Philosopher William of __, known for his “razor” : OCCAM. Was he a "one hit wonder" in philosophy circles? I don't recall hearing about his toothbrush or his comb.

33 Drives away : REPELS

36 Cavity filler’s org. : ADA. That reminds me, I need to make an appointment with my dentist.

37 Paid for everyone, as the tab : PICKED UP. A very popular person, the check picker-upper.

39 Step stealthily, informally: TIPPYTOE. More nursery than informally, I'd say.

40 World Golf Hall of Famer Isao: AOKI. A hugely entertaining Japanese golfer now playing the PGA Senior Tour.


On a side note, after 30 years of playing golf badly I've now hired professional help and I'm taking lessons. When my teacher saw my swing for the first time she said "Ohhh - that's funny". It's a good job I've got a sense of humor.

41 Swift sled : LUGE. Swift indeed. This is what 80MPH flat on your back on what amounts to a tray looks like.

43 Bar pint : ALE. You need one after the luge run.

45 Oxymoronically named British DJ __ Slim : FATBOY. I knew the name, I didn't know that he was a British DJ. Now I do, and I won't confuse him with the restaurant in Pulp Fiction, Jack Rabbit Slim's. Which I did.

46 Poker declaration : I RAISE. I'm a coward. I FOLD.

47 Coral reef enclosure : LAGOON

48 Sleeve band : ARMLET. You don't see these much any more - springy things to go around your arms to make your sleeves the correct length. You get the "just so" amount of cuff protruding from your jacket. Nowadays we buy shirts the right size, it seems the better approach somehow.

49 Camaro __-Z : IROC

53 Greek fable writer : AESOP. He of the convenient vowel-count.

55 Miles away : AFAR

56 Garnish for a Moscow Mule : LIME. Vodka, ginger beer (not ginger ale) and lime. A friend insists it doesn't taste the same unless it is served in the copper mug.


58 Arrests : NABS

61 That, in Spanish : ESO. Numero tres.

62 Bug-eyed TV dog : REN

63 Peculiar : ODD

I think that about wraps it up. Lots of food and drink references so I'm off to figure out what to cook for dinner tonight. Bon appetit!



Steve
P.S. Constructor's insight -thanks to Jerome for sharing these notes!

"I thought it intriguing, rare, and somewhat odd that you could have a five letter word that begins with a scrabbly F and no matter how you anagram it, it will still begin with an F. 

Thus, FIELD, FILED, FLIED, and FIDEL. 

And there’s a fifth one, FELID, which means cat-like. However, that one’s on the cutting room floor with other obscurities. I knew this type of theme wasn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off… especially the crossword hip Corner crowd, but I hoped some might see it as interesting as I do.

For some reason I had a tough time creating a grid that allowed for some juicy and fun fill. I think those damn F’s kept getting in the way. Out of the blue I asked Marti for some help, and like the puzzle pro she is, she designed today’s grid with those lovely NE and SW corners, and found a way to work in a whopping eighteen entries that are six letters or longer. 

After tweaking the grid a little and writing the clues, it was off to fame and great fortune with a puzzle you could say was all about the F-word. Or for the critics in the peanut gallery, the F-bomb."

46 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

A very fun Wednesday solve that ended up being surprisingly in my wheelhouse. HAOLE, ROLLO, OLEANDER, OCCAM, KERR, OSLIN, AOKI, ENID etc., are all the sort of obscurities that would normally give me fits, but I guess my brain was firing on all cylinders this morning and I managed to get them all with little or no help from perps.

I kept waiting to see some sort of unifier somewhere, but none was actually needed since I figured out the theme pretty early on.

[foomsly]

TTP said...

Good morning all.

Sailed smoothly through this Wednesday offering from Jerome and Marti. Didn't hesitate at 17A. The 'splendid splinter' was amazing. Got FIELD HOCKEY shortly thereafter, and jumped down to the remaining long fills and entered them.

Wasn't certain about a couple of spellings - HAOLE and TOV - but the perps fixed that. Perps to the rescue on FAT BOY as well. Same for Moscow Mule garnish. Lime is an easy answer with the perps, but I have never heard of the drink.

Wonder which clip HG will post for 11D ?

Thanks you Marti, Jerome and Steve !

thehondohurricane said...


hello everyone,

Thanks to two letters another DNF. 6A, 15A & 7D were total unknowns. If I knew ASL, I would have finished. Oh well!

The rest of the puzzle went smoothly and without any hold ups. The clue for "Teddy Ballgame" was a no brainer for me. The other theme fills were no problem either. I was at Miami when Fidel came to power & still there when the Cuban people began migrating into So Fla.

have a nice Hump day.

desper-otto said...

Happy mid-week to you all!

Anagrams? From Jerome Gunderson? Who'd a thunk it? Steve, I'm surprised you thought Jerome to be a ROOKIE. He's a regular poster here. And this isn't his first rodeo, though it may be his first collaboration. Nice job, Jerome and Marti.

I thought perhaps _OO_IE was going to be a mini-theme when HOODIE and ROOKIE appeared. My only write-over today was SHRUNK/SHRANK.

I thought we were making room on the beach, he said dyslexically.

OCCAM's razor (not Motorola's RAZR) has come up several times before -- if you see hoof-prints, think horses, not zebras.

Almost time for that 3-mile march...

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

WBS. I just happened to know all the answers, even the golfer this time because he has played a round in our puzzle before. Nicely done, Jerome and Marti!

We have a rain delay in the process of pouring concrete footings for our new house. Just as well, I need the rest.

Sfingi said...

Did not know IROC or OSLIN.

KERR's books definitely showed up in my mother's collection, most of which I gave to a friend who actually cooks, unlike myself.

Sorry to see that so much of China is polluted.

OCCAM is spelled so many ways that one has to wait a bit before totally filling it in.

Mari said...

Good morning everybody. Welcome to another day.

Great puzzle today. Nice to see FIELD HOCKEY as DH and I have been watching the NHL playoffs. Tonight is game 7 (the final game) between Chicago and Detroit. (Go Hawks!)

I tried OSKAM instead of OCCAM, but other than that things filled in pretty nicely.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Argyle said...

D-O, you mean your one league march?

kazie said...

Fun and fairly easy for a Wednesday --thanks to Jerome and Marti. I too am surprised Steve hadn't noted Jerome before, but hey, he did a great and amusing job of blogging.

We don't see too many BEECH around here, so I took a while to come up with that, but otherwise all fell in fairly easily. My other slow spots were OSLIN and ENID, but perped them.

HAOLE gave no problem, but while I've heard that referenced in Hawaii, the other Polynesian answer, TIKI, I've only been aware of in New Zealand.

Thanks Steve, for the reminder about Aussie meat pies, though that brand is not one I remember. I do remember Big Ben's, but the best of all was our local cake shop, which offered a variety of meat packed--not sloppy gravy-filled--taste treats.

PICKED UP had me remembering that in Oz we'd say SHOUTED for everyone. OLEANDER reminded me of the time as a little kid that I participated in a battle with neighbor kids involving the use of oleander buds as grenades. Boy, was their mother mad when she saw how few buds were left on the bush.

kazie said...

My new avatar is a more recent shot of Lea showing one of her first smiles.

I also wanted to say that Graham Kerr seemed to be in Oz for a long time before he came here searching for wider fame and fortune. However, on checking just now, I guess he was really in New Zealand at that time.

Lemonade714 said...

What a treat, nice to see Jerome and Marti' s maiden effort. Anagrams are always fun, and it is amazing that so many can be derived from those same 5 letters all beginning with F.

We just saw a Jerome Monday solo effort on the 13th with the Adam and Eve theme.

Beech was was not the wood which came to mind and I have no idea of K T Oslin, but it was all good.

Have a happy hump haoles

desper-otto said...

For those of you unfamiliar with K T Oslin. It's country, but not twangy country. Kinda grows on you.

Argyle, guess you could call it that. Not certain if it's American or National League, though. Maybe it's in a league of its own? It was a very humid league today.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

A sparkly offering from our Norwegian Finn Dynamic Nordic Duo. Got FLIED and FIELD right away, and FIDEL was a gimme; so figured we were dealing with 'F' anagrams. Finally remembered HAOLE and somehow, Graham KERR, from quite a few years ago. Had 'ride' before LIFT, but the rest was smooth sailing. Never heard of OSLIN but the perps took care of that. Liked the horse OPERA clue. Steve, thanks for the constructor's notes. Very interesting. BZ

Have a great day.

CrossEyedDave said...

1st time I ever caught on to anagrams right away, thanks Jerome & Marti! Haole & Oslin were total unknowns uncovered only by a total WAG of the O & L in Oleander. ( I was hoping "hay-ole" was pronounced something like "asshole" but the dictionary says different.

I looked up "how to luge" on Youtube & discovered it is not just a rocket, you actually steer it with your feet!

52A Horse Opera (how can I pass this up!) This is the 1st thing I found under "Horse Opera." (8:39) I watched one minute & 22 seconds & thought, Yep! this is silly enough to be posted by CED, & shut the damn thing off..

JD said...

Good morning Steve, C.C., et al,

A job well done all around! This was so much more fun than yesterday's. I chalked it up to being a bit rusty.Loved Ireland & Scotland, but am happy to be home.

Should have known the theme would be an anagram. Jerome, I so appreciate your brain, but being a dodo at times, I never saw how clever they were. Yet, it went very smoothly. Learned a lot from Steve (William Occam, armlets, Moscow Mule).

Enjoyed techie, rookie, and hoodie. Wondered about "flied". DH has been a Red Sox fan since his dad took him to a R.Sox - W.Sox game when he was 9.He has all the bios of past players.

I think our neighbor's oleanders are slowly killing our Japanese Maple, as the leaves blow over the fence.Any thoughts? Half of the tree has no leaves.

Nice heads up to Dodo. We miss you.See you soon.

CrossEyedDave said...

Hmm, I remember Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet. He always started his show with a joke. I only remember one because it was so awful. I tried to find it on Youtube, without success. I believe it went something like this...

A man goes to a pet shop for a parrot, & discovers the most ugly, hideous creature. It looked like a brain, with blood vessels pulsing all over it. He asked the shop owner what it was, & he replied, "it is the most rarest animal on earth." "What's it called," he asked. "A Rarie." was the reply. Well, he decided he must have it, & bought it on the spot.

Having brought it home, & feeding it for several months, The Rarie started to grow. & grow,,, & grow, soon becoming enormous! Concerned that his house would be damaged, he rented a dump truck, loaded up The Rarie, & proceeded to a nearby 200 foot cliff overlooking the Ocean.

He engaged the mechanism that began to lift the dump truck bed when he heard a high pitched voice...

"Oh you must not do this terrible thing." the voice said...

Why not? he asked....


Because...

"It's a long way to tip a rarie!"

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Jerome and Marti! Fun with "F's"!
I play an anagram game on Kindle daily so I was geared up for this. Took a bit to remember the first 4 names, but perped them in. Someday I'll remember how to spell HAOLE.

I wanted Orem's for OCCAM, but, wait that's a town.

Steve, I laughed about your mother's cooking remarks. My mother didn't cook so much as concoct. Some of her concoctions made me ill. I spent much of my first 18 years with a stomach ache. Got better when I left home and was cooking for myself.

My eldest grandson had a real stomach ache this past weekend. They went for a visit with his other grandparents and he ended up with emergency surgery for a hot appendix. My old friend and surgeon did a laparoscopic removal. He was in the hospital less than two days then out walking around. They do wonders anymore.

PK said...

Steve: I enjoyed your write-up and KT Oslin clip. I got side-tracked with some Kelly Pickler stuff on the side with Oslin. Now I'll go back and watch some of the other clips.

Steve said...

My apologies to Jerome for not being familiar with his history! I have no idea how that happened :(

Montana said...

This was an enjoyable puzzle. Thanks, Jerome and Marti. And thank you, Steve, for the explanations. I was about a third of the way through, when I wondered who the constructor was. I looked up and Marti was involved. Nice!

I needed help with a few letters in this puzzle so a DNF, but I find many times, that just one letter will trigger the memory of an entire word.

SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is supplemental income for disabled or extremely needy people. I have a DROID RAZR telephone. I do not use all its bells and whistles but my kids got it for me. They tell me I need to join the 21st century.

Females—if you have a chance, link to KT Oslin’s “80’s Ladies” on Utube. It will really bring back memories to many of us.

I watched Graham Kerr every chance I got when I was young. He was on a Canadian station we picked up. Then when he did a new show about heart-healthy cooking, my husband was retired and he really enjoyed it. My husband even wrote down recipes on occasion, for me to try.

When I was first in Hawaii, I was called HAOLE several times. My grandkids were into learning Hawaiian terms since they were going to live there for five years. My granddaughter was discouraged that she learned Mahalo (thank you) right away, and then never found anyone using it. Even in school! Then we saw a McDonald’s trash bin and it said Mahalo on it. She was satisfied by that.

Yes, my avatar is newest grandson. I will share when I make my trip to CT and maybe can connect for coffee or Pepsi while I am in the northeast.

Severe thunderstorms and flood warnings for this afternoon so I am off for my mile+ walk right now,

Montana

Misty said...

Wow! It's always exciting to see a Marti puzzle, but who's Jerome, I wondered? Are you really OUR Jerome, as Desper-otto suggests? How exciting to have a Dynamic Duo from the blog!

I woke up at 5 exhausted, so figured this would probably be a DNF for me. But miracle of miracles, I actually got the whole thing. Mind you, I worried about a Natick with KERR and IROC since I never heard of the car and couldn't remember the chef. Graham KERR, of course! I used to watch him on TV.

Anyway, a fun Wednesday puzzle. Just hope I get a nap after my husband's therapy this morning.

Have a great day, everybody!

JD said...

Had not heard of "horse opera" before, so enjoyed your link, CED.Here's a Woody Woodpecker version (in Spanish).

Kazie, Lea is a doll!

PK, glad your grandson's surgery went well.And yes, it is amazing! DH's scar is about 7 inches long!!

HeartRx said...

Good morning peeps!

What a nice write-up, Steve! Jerome had this idea, and I just went along for the ride. It was really fun to collaborate, and his talent for anagrams really shined on this one.

And yes, Misty – he really is “our” Jerome, LOL!

Spitzboov said...

For CED - Das Boot_從海底出擊 ( It's A Long Way To Tipperary)

TTP said...

PK,

I know what you mean about someday remembering to spell HAOLE correctly. I chalk it up to be one of those funny words. But there is one word in the English language that is always spelled incorrectly.

I had an emergency appendectomy when I was 12 or 13. That scar seems to have gotten bigger through the years.

Lucina said...

Hello, HAOLEs. You, too, Steve, and I see several posters have informed you of Jerome's status on the blog.

I shall repeat, anagrams from Jerome? Who would have guessed?? Jerome and Marti has a nice sound, doesn't it?

I immediately confess to a DNF because I refused to accept FLIED although thinking on it, I realize it's been used before this and still sounds strange. Also congratulations on using SHRANK in the correct tense! "Shrunk" drives me absolutely bonkers.

Otherwise I had all kinds of fun as I SLID OVER this puzzle.

I don't know where OLEANDERs originated but they have certainly made their home out here throughout the west.

Have a terrific Wednesday, amigos!

Irish Miss said...

Hi Everyone:

Kudos to Jerome and Marti for a fun, challenging Wednesday offering. Caught on to the theme quickly and, as Lucina would say, sashayed right along. Any iffy areas were solved by perps. Neat expo, as always, Steve.

I believe I read that Graham Kerr was an alcoholic and was often drunk on the set of his show. Chopping vegetables is dangerous enough when you are cold sober.

Have a good day.

Pookie said...

Thank you Jerome and Marti, this was fun to solve.
Thanks Steve, but I never saw the theme without your review.
Think I'm getting denser all the time.
Didn't get BillG's word puzzles either!
Hondo, same for me DNF for 2 letters.
D-O, I read "beach" instead of "bench" also.
Wrote FLyED and SPEeD not FLIED and SPEND.
Off to do some errands. Have a great day!

Lucina said...

Kazie and Montana:
Your little bundles of joy are just that and more. So darling. Enjoy them as long as possible as they grow up so quickly.

Jerome said...

TTP- As a part-time bartender I make a lot of Moscow Mules. Trouble is, people keep stealing the copper mugs. There's also a Dark and Stormy. Same drink, but with dark rum.

JD- I liked TECHIE, ROOKIE, and HOODIE too. Marti came up with the first two.

Lucina- We wanted to use SHRUNK, but decided not drive you bonkers.

I was a bit worried that Rich might reject HAOLE. It can be an affront. Kinda like A-HOLE.

Marti says she went along for the ride. I'm here to tell ya she did half the driving.

Sfingi said...

I learned HAOLE from my nephew, and, as I recall, it was pronounced "howly." It didn't bother him since he was chunky and half Filipino and could pass. I, on the other hand, am as white as printer paper and couldn't take the Hawaiian sun.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Cool puzzle today; I enjoyed solving it. Hand up for misreading it as "make room on a crowded beach."

For years I mispronounced MAORI as "May Orry" until I was taught the correct pronunciation. On the other hand, I had heard "howly" long before I saw it written, so HAOLE only made me do a double take once. Even so, I wrote in HAOLI at first, but ENTS set me straight on that real quick.

Funny how REPOT does not rhyme with DEPOT.

I, too, thought of other firewoods before BEECH, but the perps were solid and none of the firewood woods I could think of have 5 letters. I don't think we've ever burned beech in our fireplace. How much wood would a firewood wield ...

Somebody get that murderer ASSAD out of there. He must be totally insane to truly believe "My people love me."

Would you eat an OSO buco?

I thought AMUSE was a transitive verb.

Loved TIPPYTOE.

And with that I bid you all farewell.

Anonymous said...

OK Jayce, I'll bite. How is Maori pronounced?

And since you brought it up, it's also funny how Assad doesn't rhyme with asshat.

desper-otto said...

Anon@3:45 -- I've heard it's pronounced Mow-ry. Sort of rhymes with How-ly.

kazie said...

Desper-otto,
That is correct.

JD and Lucina,
Thanks for the comments on Lea. I think all babies are beautiful, but it's also fun looking for family similarities and watching for traits that show up after a while when it's one of your own. We're really excited that we'll see her again in just over two weeks when they visit.

Jayce said...

Darned if that picture of Ted Williams doesn't bear a striking resemblance to our Splynter.

fermatprime said...

Hi, all!

Not many people blogging these days.

Thanks to Jerome, Marti and Steve! Great work. No problems except needed perps for OSLIN.

Yes, indeedy, Graham and his producer-wife were raging alcoholics. Taught me to drink wine while cooking. (Drat.) She eventually "saw" Jesus and they both quit. Cooking show became religious too and did not last long.

My appendix scar is also incredibly long and wide--my mother gave me an enema before calling the doctor (house calls in those days). I was eight.

Caregiver changed the bed while I was swimming and I cannot find the TV remote. Bummer.

Happy hump evening!

GarlicGal said...

I feel your pain Fermatprime. My husband went out of town and I swear he took the remote with him! hehehe
Maybe yours got kicked under the bed?

Happy hunting.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, A fun puzzle today. Too bad I am Anagram illiterate and didn't get the theme until I read Steve's writeup. However, I didn't have any lookups today and I thought this was an easier puzzle than the one yesterday. I think I have Tuesday and Wednesday mixed up.

Thanks Jerome and Marti for the fun puzzle and congratulations on your collaboration debut. The two of you did us all proud.

My granddaughter went to Cuba as part of her Semester at Sea and the whole ship sat through almost three hours of a Fidel Castro speech in Spanish. She knows Spanish (teaches it), but a lot of the students didn't. Talk about a restless bunch of kids!!!

I played field hockey in High School, but my daughter went on to play in College. It is a rigorous
sport. However, I think girls play nicer than the boys. No hitting of shins unless you want a penalty!!! Unfortunately our Sharks lost in game 7 in their ice hockey finals. Even so, it was fun to watch.

The Coven cherishes the visits with Dodo. She is hardly an Ignoramus. We always come away from her place with memories of merriment.

Have a wonderful evening, everyone.

Manac said...

One question about Field Hockey.

How do they get the puck to glide across the grass ???

Bill G. said...

Manac, you silly person! They either freeze the grass or they put oil on the grass.

Barbara played field hockey in high school. She went to try out for the girls' team at Cornell but realized those girls played at a much different level than what she was used to.

We have pretty stone steps going from our driveway up to the front door but no rail. Now with Barbara's new knee, a railing to hold onto seems important. The contractor came by to take measurements this afternoon. They will be wrought iron, study and attractive. So soon our steps will be pretty and safer. Wrought iron. 'What hath God wrought?' What verb is wrought the past tense of?

Spitzboov said...

Bill G - to work

Lucina said...

Jerome@1:45:
LOL!!!!!!!

Bill G. said...

Spitz, you old smarty pants! Hi ho, hi ho, it's off TO WORK we go...

Is the upper Mohawk Valley anywhere near the Finger Lakes region?

Abejo said...

Good evening, folks. Thank you, Jerome and Marti, for a great puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for the great review.

Well, I worked this puzzle on the way to Chicago this morning on the way to the Cubs/Sox game. Had no time or tool to log in to the blog.

Now I am on my way to Pennsylvania and, after finishing a novel, found time to stop in here.

The puzzle was very good and not too hard.

HAOLE was easy because the book I just finished is entitled "Moloka'i" by Alan Brennert. Outstanding story about a leper colony on Moloka'i. HAOLE was all through the book.

Theme came easily.

Did not know FATBOY but figured it out.

I had SHRUNK first then fixed it to SHRANK.

It is getting late and I will sign off.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(ptbrount)

Spitzboov said...

BillG @ 2317 - Finger Lakes start ~ 80 miles west of here.