google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday June 30, 2013 Elizabeth C. Gorski

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Jun 30, 2013

Sunday June 30, 2013 Elizabeth C. Gorski

Theme:"PH Balance" - P & H bookend each theme entry.

23A. 11-part documentary with the episodes "Caves" and "Deserts" : PLANET EARTH
 
37A. "Peanuts" Halloween setting : PUMPKIN PATCH. Remember John Lampkin's Pumpkin puzzle?

68A. Yamaha seat, perhaps : PIANO BENCH

71A. It can help you put on a coat : PAINT BRUSH

100A. Soapbox delivery : PUBLIC SPEECH. And 107A. 1942 Cooper role : GEHRIG (Lou). The Pride of the Yankees. "... today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" is one of the best public speeches. 

121D. Fruity pastry : PPRUNE DANISH

33D. Hybrid language : PIDGIN ENGLISH
 
35D. A former ace might be one : PITCHING COACH

 
Simple theme today. Liz Gorski's NYT puzzles often have an extra layer of visual involved. She's a true artist. 

She's also a brilliant clue writer. Rich probably changed only a few words of her clues.
 
Across:

1. Sixth-day creation : ADAM

5. Iraqi port : BASRA. Sinbad's hometown.

10. Exchange : SWAP

14. Supermodel with a Global Chic collection : IMAN. Never tried her products, but I'm aware of the line.

18. Jared of "Lonely Hearts" : LETO

19. Places of worship : ALTARS

21. Kent State state : OHIO

22. Upscale : TONY

25. Lopsided win : ROMP

26. Trumpeter, e.g. : SWAN. Trumpeter swan. Wiki said it's "the heaviest bird native to North America and is, on average, the largest extant waterfowl species on earth."


27. Motorcade wheels : SEDANS

28. Flea market transactions : RE-SALES

30. Meager : SCANTY

32. Happy outdoorsman? : CAMPER

34. Grafton's "__ for Malice" : M IS

35. "The Little Sparrow" : PIAF (Edith)

36. "My Cousin Vinny" Oscar winner : TOMEI (Marisa)

42. E. African land : ETH (Ethiopia). Has any of you dined at the Red Rooster?


44. Year-span separator : EN DASH

47. After-dinner drink : PORT

48. Noodlehead : SCHMO. The SCHMO in our association has a garage sale almost every week. 8 bikes on his lawn yesterday! He called those who complained about him "Racist". And 94D. Downsizing event? : DIET. Not yard sale, you SCHMO!

49. Quaint writer : QUILL

51. Despondency : GLOOM

53. Personal quirk : TIC

54. Resort NE of Los Alamos : TAOS

55. __ Reader: eclectic magazine : UTNE

56. "Beats me!" : I DUNNO

58. Fancy pillowcase : SHAM

61. Blast cause : TNT

62. "Let __!": "Move on!" : IT GO

63. Power dept. : ENER

64. __-pah band : OOM

66. Personal ltrs. : INITS. How many letters in your name? Mine has 15 and quite scrabbly.

75. Italian fashion center : MILAN

76. Get takeout, say : EAT

78. "Bus Stop" playwright : INGE (William)

79. Visiting the Getty Center, briefly : IN LA

80. Turkish honorific : AGA

82. NASA hire : ENGR

84. Landing strip : TARMAC

86. Britney's ex, in tabloids : K-FED. He was her backup dancer at the beginning. J-Lo's current boyfriend is her backup dancer as well.


87. Long lunches : SUBS

89. Schlep : LUG

91. "... farm, __" : E I E I O

92. Aptly named novelist : READE (Charles)

93. "Dust Tracks on __": Zora Neale Hurston autobiography : A ROAD

95. Apple product : iPOD

97. Bank ad number : CD RATE. Ultra low.

99. El Al home: Abbr. : ISR

103. Humidor item : CIGAR

105. Radio host John : TESH

106. __ Balls: Hostess snack food : SNO

109. Hospitality : WARMTH

112. From now on : ANYMORE

114. Iron target : ANEMIA

118. Berry touted as a superfood : ACAI. This always stumps some on our blog. Super friendly letter combo, so you'd better commit it to your memory.

119. Org. with part of a prominent statue in its logo : ACLU



123. It may be ear-to-ear : GRIN

124. Wild way to run : RIOT

125. Doddering : SENILE. I often wonder if Deep Throat revealed his identity willingly.

126. Sussex streetcar : TRAM

127. Dover delicacy : SOLE

128. Breadbasket bunch : PATS

129. Parts of goblets : STEMS

130. It often takes place in a bar : JOKE

Down:

1. Skier's mecca : ALPS

2. Editing mark : DELE

3. Hardly at all : A TAD

4. Rainier's locale : MONACO. Oh, I was thinking of Mt. Rainier. Not the prince.

5. Cricket players : BATSMEN

6. Bass in a glass : ALE. Bass ale.

7. It may be glassy : STARE

8. Less common : RARER

9. Dance and such : ARTS

10. Touchy subject : SORE SPOT

11. Villagers below Mount Crumpit : WHOS.  Dr. Seuss.

12. Goal : AIM

13. Visits on a whim : POPS IN

14. "Believe you me!" : IT'S A FACT. Never said "Believe you me".

15. Cut : MOWN

16. Constitutional subj.? : ANAT. Great clue.

17. Abbr. on Manhattan mail : NY, NY

20. SeaWorld headliner : SHAMU

24. Tooth coating : ENAMEL

29. Tired : LIMP

31. They may be used for emphasis : CAPS

36. Doohickey : THINGAMABOB. Nice entry.

37. Sound unit : PHON. So is SONE.

38. Reality TV matriarch Jenner : KRIS. Grandma to North West.

39. Ethical complaint : THAT'S UNFAIR

40. "Hurry!" : C'MON

41. Olympics city, e.g. : HOST

42. Furnish : EQUIP

43. Everyone, in orchestral scores : TUTTI

45. Noted Mayflower passenger : ALDEN (John)

46. Origin : SOURCE

50. "Spanglish" actress Téa : LEONI

52. Phone button sequence : MNO

57. Alley in comics : OOP

59. Pay (up) : ANTE

60. Will Smith film series, briefly : MIB (Men in Black). And 104D. Will Smith's role in 60-Down : AGENT J. Tommy Lee Jones is Agent K.

63. "Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes" author : EBAN (Abba)

65. Injured badly : MAIMED

67. Playground ride : TRIKE

69. Grand __ Opry : OLE

70. Bowler, for one : HAT. Nailed it.

72. Lead __: EPA concern : IN AIR

73. Flexible Flyers, e.g. : SLEDS


74. Recent "SNL" regular Bill : HADER

77. Inventor's monogram : TAE. Thomas Alva Edison.

80. Urgent acronym : ASAP. Hurry up to Home Depot, while you're still young.

81. Trusted adviser : GURU

83. College hoops coach with 876 victories : RUPP ( Adolph). Gimme for PK. I drew a blank. Rupp Arena is named after him.

85. Really funny : RICH

88. Grueling workplace : SALT MINE. Yet salt is so cheap.

90. Freaks out : GOES NUTS

92. Capital west of Winnipeg : REGINA

96. Turn down : DENY

98. Cross words : TIRADES. Another great clue.

101. Note in a D major scale : C SHARP

102. Free stuff : COMPS

107. Weight room sound : GRUNT

108. "__ Meenie": Kingston/Bieber song : EENIE

109. Wits : WAGS

110. High opening : ACRO

111. Track boundary : RAIL

112. Tremendously : A LOT

113. Holders of buried treasures : ORES. Love it. Hard to come up fresh clues for ORES.

115. Joan of art : MIRO

116. "Winter's Tales" author Dinesen : ISAK. Only know her "Out of Africa".

117. Words of lament : AH ME

120. Org. in Clancy novels : CIA

122. Spreading tree : ELM

C.C.


54 comments:

  1. Happy Sunday everybody!

    I only have an hour for lunch, so I ended up turning on the red for the last 10 or so squares. Defeated in the corners today, so close but no CIGAR….

    Unknowns: LETO, PIAF, IMAN, MIRO, ISAK, UTNE. D*** four-letter words! Continuing the four-letter fiasco were OH MY for AH ME, AGEE for INGE, and DEAL for SWAP….

    I DUNNO what an EN DASH is…. Any relation to the Mrs….?

    Took a long while to get my head out of Washington State for the Rainier location. Also went through SKIMPY and SCARCE before settling on SCANTY….

    Would a pleased pit boss be a happy comper…?

    My personal SORE SPOT these days - the Giants’ LIMP, ANEMIC BATSMEN…. C’MON, man!

    Favorite beverage, I mean clue, = Bass in a glass….

    Favorite answer = THING-A-MA-BOB.... (a friend’s dad used to refer to his McDonalds breakfast as an Egg McThingie….)

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  2. So many clever clues today.
    Rainier locale/Monaco. It helps you put on your coat/paintbrush (fave).Long lunch/sub. Bass in a glass/ale. Bread basket bunch/pats. Holders of buried treasures/ ores
    Slight hold up in the NW. ADAM didn't come to mind. Duh! I finally saw Rainier was a prince and that sealed it in the NW.
    I had one look up for the D in HADER/KFED. Other wise very smooth sailing and average time for a Sunday.
    I believe en dash is the punctuation mark you see in the clue Year-span.
    Link En dash

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  3. Morning, all!

    Fine Sunday puzzle today. I got bogged down in some of the tricky clues ("breadbasket bunch" for PATS, "long lunches" for SUBS, etc.), but that was all just part of the enjoyment.

    Had THINGAMAJIG until almost the bitter end until I finally let it go to finish that section (which included the aforementioned SUBS).

    Only nit was "Lead IN AIR" which didn't seem like a very natural phrase. Kinda went over like a lead balloon, you might say... ^_^

    [tofact]

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  4. Good morning!

    I got the theme early, because I recently bought the Planet Earth DVD set. Amazon was practically giving it away. I had a few write-overs AMOK/RIOT, OAK/ELM. But in the end, I DNF'd at the KFED/HADER cross. I didn't know either, and plenty of letters seemed to work. I WAGged an N.

    Have you tried any CD's from on-line banks? Last year I moved my emergency fund to an Ally Bank CD. Interest is still puny, but better than the miniscule rate I was getting in a money market fund.

    YR, thanks for the primer on the hyphen, en dash and em dash. I did not know that the hyphen and en dash were distinct. On the other hand, I intend to keep using the hyphen.

    Gotta hit the road for that 10-mile bike ride. Mercury topped 107 yesterday, and today's predicted to be just as hot. If we wait much longer we'll be fricasseed!

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  5. Hello Puzzlers -

    That NE corner got me. I never heard of a supermodel named Iman, so Mown was impossible to get. I forgot about the swan, too. Ah me.

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  6. Hi Y'all, My new grass got an extra soaking while I tried to finish this before going out to turn off the water. I enjoyed the puzzle even rushing the end, with red-letters blazing. Thanks, Elizabeth Gorski. Didn't see the title until after I was done, but I found the theme answers easy. Rest was hard.

    C.C., thanks for another great write-up. Alas, I didn't even see the RUPP clue which perped in, but I didn't know. I DUNNO UTNE or ACAI. Just won't stick in my mind.

    C.C., how does that SCHMO get enough stuff for a yard sale every week? Is he fencing stolen stuff?

    Breadbasket bunch: I was thinking of the "paunch" bunched up around the middle not butter PATS.

    Why would anyone intelligent burden a child with a name like North West? Oh, well...

    I went down "Deadman's Hill" many times as a kid on my Flexible Flyer. My kids used it on the front yard hill at the farm. Now my DIL hangs greenery on it for a porch decoration at Xmas.

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  7. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Elizabeth Gorski, for a swell Sunday puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the swell write-up (hyphen).

    PUMPKIN PATCH was my first theme answer. That helped me with the rest of them.

    EN DASH made no sense to me. Got it with perps. YR explanation cleared that up. Might check it out on a computer when I get home.

    Had URNS for a while until ORES became obvious with perps. Very clever.

    The only way I got AGENT J was getting JOKE first. Not into movies.

    Liked SUBS for long lunches. Excellent! I also am a fan of submarine sandwiches. Love them!

    Yes, I bet SCHMO is selling hot stuff.

    We get ACAI so often I am going to have to try some of those. Maybe the supermarket sells them?

    Enjoyed this puzzle. A few tough ones, but OK.

    Home today from Normal, IL

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    (erndaw)

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  8. My lifelong home is across the street from a popular sledding hill, so naturally I grew up making many trips down and up that slope. A few winters ago I came upon a Flexible Flyer in the barn, and decided to take her for a run down the hill. This was a bad idea. The number of candles on my birthday cakes has grown, you see, and I'm now much less flexible than the Flyer...anyway, one of the early jolts sent me up off the sled, and the descent connected my tailbone firmly with one of the side-bits. Couldn't walk right for a week. Ah me.

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  9. Musings
    -AH ME, don’t we all sit in a PUMPKIN PATCH waiting for something irrational?
    -This Oriole had a nice career playing with Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, et al and then became a PITHCING COACH. Now he lives in North Bend, NE and I play golf with him.
    -After creating ADAM, he took a hundred pounds of clay…
    -I DUNNO was my least favorite response from a student.
    -LET IT GO!
    -My neighbor works for Little Debbie and told me that Hostess has shed its benefits for past employees and is going to start making Twinkies and SNO BALLS again.
    -Most unpopular ACLU Cause?
    -SENILE
    -Downton had some mean BATSMEN
    -Visits (verb) on a whim - POPS IN, Visits (noun) on a whim – POP INS
    -THAT’S UNFAIR! C’mon, fairs come in the summertime!
    -Brazilians aren’t happy about big money being spent on HOSTing an Olympics while people are hurting
    -Leoni and Tomei, hubba, hubba.
    -Sorry to hear of hot weather for some of you. We had to put on a jacket to watch fireworks last night.

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  10. Several families around here haunt all the local garage sales, buying items at rock bottom prices and trying to resell them for more at their own frequent garage sales. One family stores these items between sales in a trailer such as a small landscaper might use. Another family has a huge garage. Some buyers think they can spot antiques and so buy them to resell on eBay. Not my cuppa Earl Grey or cuppa joe, either. Mostly worthless junk and clutter.

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  11. Hi there~!

    Happy B-day, C.C.~!

    And, ouch~!


    Got the theme early, but there were some "?" answers today....

    Splynter

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  12. -生日快乐 C.C.! I hope that doesn’t mean “my umbrella has fleas ;-)”
    -We went garage saleing (is this a word?) yesterday and my wife and daughter can size them up in 10 seconds as we drive by. They aren’t interested in all the old clothes and the real items are outside in the driveway.
    -Off to Home Depot today. Maybe I’ll see Splynter using his, “How you doin’?” line ;-)

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  13. What's this? Is today's CC's birthday? How did our tribal knowledge overlook this occasion?

    So, if that's fact, Happy Borthday CC! Thanks for all you do! May your umbrella have many more fleas! :-)

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  14. Yes, today is C.C.'s birthday. She is off to the flea markets today.

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  15. 生日快乐
    Shēngrì kuàilè to C.C. Hope you do something special, and thankyou for all you do for us.

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  16. Good Morning:

    Thanks, Ms. Gorski, for an above- average Sunday challenge. Hit a few bumps but finished w/o help which is my goal. Lots of fun clues, too. Nice expo, CC, and I wish you a very Happy Birthday! Have a fun-filled day.

    While the Western states are blazing hot, we're getting drenched. Since June 1, we've had over 8" of rain and more storms are predicted for today and the next several days. Some areas to the west have had severe flooding and, so far, one death.

    Have a super Sunday.

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  17. Hello, C.C. and all. Happy birthday, C.C.!!!! I hope you do something very special.

    Well, my PH balance was in place and the theme did help. At first I had PIANO STOOL but then realized it should be BENCH. The same with the other theme entries, PH assisted in their fill as I sashayed around the grid.

    Some very clever clues which C.C. mentioned and I liked, too.

    Alas, though, it was DNF for me as I had no idea who Britney's ex was nor Will Smith's role although I am aware of MIB, Men in Black, just never saw it.

    My fourth grade class loved E.B. White's "The Trumpet of the Swan" and so I have read it many times. It's a sweet story.

    THINGAMAJIG was also my original entry then I realized the J wouldn't work so replaced it with THINGAMABOB.

    Thank you, Elizabeth Gorski, for a fun and just a bit challenging puzzle today.

    Have a super Sunday, everyone!

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  18. Zora Neale Hurston's books are fascinating and poignant but a big challenge to read because she uses authentic dialog which is difficult to pronounce and sometimes to understand. Yet, I recommend them, especially, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

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  19. Hi All ~~

    I enjoy Liz Gorski's puzzles and had fun with this one. I caught the theme fairly quickly and it helped with a couple of the other answers.

    My one trouble spot was filling in 'Elec' for 63A - Power Dept, instead of ENER. It took me a long while to finally see the light, and it finally cleared up the whole area. I wanted 'Pigeon' instead of PIDGIN- so that further messed things up there.

    ~ Had 'Amok' before RIOT for "Wild way to run." EN DASH finally filled, but I had no idea. Thanks for the lesson, Yellowrocks.

    ~ Favorite: Long lunches/SUBS.

    ~ IT'S A FACT is a line spoken by Marisa TOMEI when she's testifying in the trial in "My Cousin Vinny."

    ~Happy belated birthday, Barry G. ~ I hope you had a fun day! I, too, always enjoy your posts.

    ~ Husker Gary ~ I'm picturing Splynter at Home Depot using his Joey (from "Friends") voice - "How YOU doin?"

    ~ Thanks for the write-up, C.C. I chuckled at your comment on ASAP. I hope you have a wonderful birthday and find some great flea market treasures!

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  20. Happy birthday,CC . Thank you for this wonderful site, your interesting puzzles, and expos and all you do for us.

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  21. Happy Birthday, C.C.! Darn, how did we miss it? Hope you're having a great day.

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  22. How self asorbed must you be to not remember that cc's birthday is the day after yours?

    "today's c.c.'s birthday???" - you said the same exact thing last year(2012)! AND the year(2011) before that!! AND, yes, the year(2010) before that!!!! Unbelievable!!

    Archives don't lie.

    Even I, as only a lurker, know that Dennis' birthday is September 26th because mine is the day before.

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  23. Uhoh... Someone left the door open and look who wandered back in! I really enjoyed this puzzle.

    I think the piece of punctuation in the year-span clue was actually a hyphen, but the clue indicates a range of years, which would properly use the en dash, e.g. 2001–2012. As for the em dash—hmm—good for inserting a thoughtful pause.

    Happy, happy birthday, C.C.

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  24. Happy Birthday C.C.
    DH and I are back from Stratford (Ontario) where we saw the SWANs. (Also saw Fiddler on the Roof and Romeo and Juliet -- appropriately for our anniversary!)
    Haven't eaten at Red Rooster but we ate at Habesha Ethiopian restaurant when we were in Nairobi.

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  25. (Heavy Sigh!)

    I meant to get back on the Blog late last nite, but got sidetracked. I happened to tell my neighbor about sheets being ropes as well as sails, & his immediate response was:

    I slit the sheet
    the sheet I slit
    & on the slitted sheet I sit...

    (try to say it fast without pooping...)

    Musical Interlude.

    Sadly, I did not do the puzzle today, but could not help but read the wonderful write up & all the witty comments! (Good ones HG!)
    I would have enjoyed trying to figure out the Thingamabob, but these summer months just keep me too busy... Like making home made July 4th Sparklers? DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

    But I am so glad I lurked today! Otherwise I would has missed sending an HBD to CC!

    Dang it CC! I depend on you to tell me when the Birthday are coming!

    Also, to tell the truth, today is Sunday & there is no mail pick up. I had to get out of the mailbox after a couple of hours,,, (it is really stuffy in there...)

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  26. Good afternoon everyone.

    Happy birthday, C.C. and may you have many more.

    Welcome home, Grumpy.

    Cheers

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  27. Happy Birthday, Dear C. C.! May you have many more as you enhance our lives!

    Hiya, Grumpy! Welcome back.

    My neighbor's second day of yard sale went better than the first. Things actually disappeared from the yard. Two day sales may be a waste of time. Friday was the lookers. Saturday came the buyers. They had started putting things out at 5:30 a.m. At 5p.m. they had taken in what didn't sell, but people were still arriving. I thought they would be tired, but they had a party on the back patio with fireworks in the tree-lined backyard until almost midnight. I don't know why that house always gets reckless people as renters. When they were doing roman candles with the fireballs bouncing off the back neighbor's roof, I wanted to go hose them down. The people, not the roofs.

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  28. Canadian, happy anniversary! How many years?

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  29. CED, I'm sure C.C. will weep to learn you gave up mailing yourself to her so easily. You are a hoot!

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  30. Good Afternoon, C.C., and friends. I enjoyed this pH Balance puzzle. The theme came easily to me after getting PLANET EARTH and PUMPKIN PATCH. I then filled in the P and H in other long answers I figured would be theme clues.

    A very Happy Birthday to you C.C. I hope you do something very special.

    IMAM is married to David Bowie.

    QOD: You have to be taught to be second class; you’re not born that way. ~ Lena Horne (June 30, 1917 ~ May 9, 2010)

    [dvecit]

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  31. That was a very enjoyable Sunday puzzle. I started on Cruciverb late last night and restarted today on the Mensa site. (I like that format better.) Thanks and Happy Birthday to CC and Elizabeth Gorski. The fact that it's probably not Elizabeth's birthday doesn't bother me a whit since I'm sure I missed it whenever it last came around. Seriously CC, thanks for everything. Have a great day!

    I was excited to notice that The Lone Ranger has been remade starring Johnny Depp. Now that I've seen bits of it, I'm not so excited anymore. They've taken an American classic and turned it into a vehicle for Johnny Depp's comedic approach. I wish they hadn't done that.

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  32. As a guess, I suspect an endash would be a hyphen. This is based on the en being half as long as an em in typesetting and a hyphen is half as long as a dash.

    Just guessing....

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  33. No need to guess. Check out Yellowrocks' post @ 6:28 AM.

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  34. Happy Birthday, CC!

    I helped chaperone two buses full of juniors and seniors to the Science Center in Regina. Even though the students were older, they totally enjoyed the hands-on displays. Center was closed to the public on Mondays, so that was the day they had us come. Great trip!

    Montana

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  35. Grumpy, it's so good to hear from you. I like your examples of hyphen, en dash and em dash. As has been said, we mostly use all hyphens. That's because they are all the standard keyboard has to offer.
    Happy anniversary, Canadian.
    CE Dave, the slitted sheet ran through my mind all day yesterday, too.
    NJ has had the wettest June in recorded history, 9.2 inches so far. Thursday UPS dropped my new grill off in torrential rain and I didn't hear the doorbell. The 130 lb cardboard package was so soggy it broke in my hands. It was a bear to drag inside. I had to dry the parts packed in the top and bottom third. The smaller package of grill implements was soaked clear though to the middle and dripping. The summer will probably bring a drought. either feast or famine as Mom would say. Sound familiar Irish Miss?

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  36. Happy Birthday C.C.! Your puzzles and Blog have created enjoyment for all of us.

    Thank you

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  37. God, I'm glad I checked in to read today's comments or else I would have missed being able to say.......

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY CC

    I hope the day , so far, has been good to you and the remainder of the day will be even better. Too bad the Twins couldn't overcome KC, but they'll get them the next time.

    Thanks for the Corner and all the effort you put into making it such a huge success.

    Skip

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  38. Greetings!

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CC! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, BARRY!

    Thanks for fun puzzle, Elizabeth! Great expo, CC!

    Theme sure was easy to get. Was very late and took me a looong time to finish! KFED especially hard to remember, but finally got it! Refused to give up THINGAMAjig for the longest time. (Yesterday's puzzle an utter disaster.)

    Very hot and overcast here.

    Extraction spot still swollen and hurting. Darn!

    Cheers!

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  39. Happy birthday CC !

    Happy (belated ?) anniversary Canadian Eh !

    Dennis, you and your betrothed share the same date as me and mine, but one year earlier. Belated happy anniversary to you, you cradle robber ! :

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  40. That was supposed to be a smiley face... :>)

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  41. Barry, Happy Belated to you too.


    CC, 6 for me to your 66 down, but you already knew that !

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  42. Happay, Happay, Birthday, CC! (I'm channeling Phil from Duck Dynasty.)

    Thank you for your time and all the effort that you put into our little crossword piece of heaven.

    Hope you and Boomer had a terrific day!

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  43. Happy birthday, C.C. May you enjoy 27 more of them!

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  44. What,,,! I missed an Anniversary?

    (I must have been researching, or typing!)

    You did not say what Anniversary it was, so I was going to link a 2nd,,, & a 100th anniversary cake...


    but then I saw this one...

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  45. YR @ 4:23 - Yes, I've heard many "A feast or a famine" over the years; Mom was never at a loss for those pearls of wisdom!

    She was more vocal when I would try to negotiate letting the pots and pans soak in the sink, rather than washing and dring them immediately. This, of course, would delay my escape to meet my friends. Her answer:

    If a task is once begun,
    Never leave it 'til it's done.
    Be it great, or be it small,
    Do it well, or not at all.

    I think you can guess who won that battle.

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  46. Good evening, gang - very late to the blog after a great weekend getaway.

    I really enjoyed the solve this evening; good challenge, with a fair amount of perp help needed. My most glaring mistake was in putting THINGAMAJIG for 36D; otherwise, it was slow but steady fill.

    TTP, thank you (and Linda thanks you for the compliment), and a belated Happy Anniversary to you as well. Hope you did something fun. And a very Happy Birthday to C.C., who continues to amaze with her indefatigable work ethic.

    Have a great night.

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  47. Happy Birthday, my dear CC. Hope you found some rare treasures today.

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  48. CC, thank you for today's expert write-up. I feel that we're cruciverbal twins -- my birthday is a few days away. Happy Birthday, dear friend! I so appreciate your excellent work throughout the year.

    And thank you, everyone, for the delightful comments today. It's always a pleasure. Ever,

    Liz

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  49. Whee! We just had a small earthquake, magnitude about 2.8 located about 5 miles north of here. There was just one strong jolt that rattled the windows and that was that. When it keeps shaking and gets stronger, it's first worrisome and then scary.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Thanks for the sweet posts, everyone. I had a beautiful day.

    ReplyDelete
  51. D-Otto,
    I'll tell Boomer about Ally online. Thanks for the advice.

    PK,
    Our Association Board is now handling the SCHMO problem. Boomer said they want to be very careful due to this very sensitive "race" issue.

    Dave,
    That's the sexiest gift I've never received. Don't be late next year!

    ReplyDelete

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