google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 C.C. Burnikel

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Jun 25, 2013

Tuesday, June 25, 2013 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Dyn-o-mite! - The reveal let's us know we are looking for "word 'and' word" phrases and each word starts with a "T".

17A. Proverbially, they wait for no one : TIME AND TIDE

23A. Ragged : TATTERED AND TORN

47A. Semi : TRUCK AND TRAILER

57A. Simple breakfast : TEA AND TOAST

57D. Big bang cause, and an informal hint to 17-, 23-, 47- and 57-Across : TNT

Argyle here. Our own tried and true constructor, C.C., gave us a slight respite from yesterday's puzzle but added some solid fill. The four nine letter vertical columns are neat. Two grid-spanners are great. Some fresh cluing rounds it out nicely.

Across:

1. Praline nut : PECAN

6. Grueling grad grillings : ORALS. Say the clue three times fast.

11. Nebraska panhandle hrs. : MST. (Mountain Standard Time)

14. Wear down : ERODE

15. Jousting weapon : LANCE

16. Irish actor Stephen : REA. He has played a wide range of roles.

19. Separating space : GAP

 20. Rocks in a bar : ICE

21. It's often used as a synonym for "thesaurus" : ROGET. He compiled one of the most famous thesauri.

22. Desert largely in Mongolia : GOBI

27. Salinger heroine : ESMÉ. Ah, but where is she now; Downton Abbey, perhaps.

28. Battery terminal : ANODE

29. Two foursomes : OCTET

32. Rock legend Frank : ZAPPA. He was here Friday. Have you forgotten him already?

35. Revolutionary Franklin : BEN. I'd like to see more of him in my wallet. That would be revolutionary.

37. "Gotcha!" cries : A-HAs

38. Birth state of two presidents : TEXAS. Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Surprised? I was.

39. Bowl over : DAZE

40. Stout of whodunits : REX. Creator of the detective Nero Wolfe.

41. Takes the risk : DARES

42. Sale rack abbr. : IRREG. You can find some bargains in the irregulars.

43. Overzealous : RABID

45. Spork point : TINE. A bit short for a true tine but hey, it's a spork.

53. Jekyll's alter ego : HYDE

54. 2010 Super Bowl MVP : BREES

55. Connecticut collegian : ELI. Yale(the Eli's) is located in New Haven, Connecticut.

56. Press initials : UPI. (United Press International)

60. "__ Along, Little Dogies" : GIT


61. Duma dissents : NYETs. The Duma was a one time Russian elective legislative assembly.

62. Singer Tennessee __ Ford : ERNIE

63. Provençal possessive : SES. French for its.

64. Short and snappy : TERSE

65. Red and rosé : WINES. But Red Rose is a tea.

Down:

1. __ four: small cake : PETIT. French, meaning "small oven". So are there petit four recipes for Easy Bake ovens?


2. Susan's "All My Children" role : ERICA. Susan Lucci / Erica Kane. She has the most Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama and won in 1999.

3. Celestial streaker : COMET

4. Citrus drink : ADE

5. Most closely related : NEAREST

6. Eccentric senior, affectionately : OLD GEEZER. But watch out for them on the road.

7. Classified : RATED

8. Singer Baker : ANITA

9. Digital scale display, for short : LCD. (liquid-crystal display)

10. "Understand?" : "SEE?"

11. Hershey's treat in a yellow wrapper : MR. GOODBAR


12. Shore cooler : SEA BREEZE

13. Putter's gimme : TAP IN

18. Standard : NORM

22. Pontiac muscle car : GTO

24. Beach shirts : TEEs

25. Dozes off : NAPS

26. Forensic evidence letters : DNA

29. Rower's need : OAR

30. George Washington's favorite fruity dessert? : CHERRY PIE

31. Stressful reviews for filers : TAX AUDITS

33. Tool for the Tin Woodman : AXE

34. Like verbs describing what happened : PAST TENSE

36. Reverse pic : NEG. (negative)

38. "Yay, me!" : "TADA!"

39. Three, to Angela Merkel : DREI. She is the Chancellor of Germany since 2005 and has a marvelous range of facial expressions. LINK

41. Cartoonist Browne : DIK. Creator of Hägar the Horrible.

42. Rather worried : IN A STEW

44. Dating letters : BCE. (Before the Common Era)

46. Hopping mad : IRED

47. Tough guys : THUGS

48. Knick or Celt : NBAer

49. Mild oaths : DRATS

50. Rimes of country : LEANN. Here is the song that launched her career. (2:45)

51. Borden mascot : ELSIE


52. Religious ceremonies : RITES

58. Needle-threader's target : EYE

59. "... __ quit!" : OR I


Argyle


59 comments:

  1. thought this one was a bit easier than Mondays. noticed that I was first.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Morning, all!

    Delightful Tuesday effort from our fearless leader. Amazing that so many long theme answers that were totally in the language.

    Loved the tricky clue for BCE. Almost got me with that one... ^_^

    [lystais]

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  3. Thats Terry Thomas below 16 Across, right?

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  4. Good Morning, Argyle and friends. I enjoyed this Explosive puzzle. It seemed a tad easier than yesterday's puzzle.

    Peter Mark ROGET was a physician, but he is best known as a lexicographer.

    I generally think the term Old Geezer is used in the pejorative rather than affectionately.

    J.D. Salinger's short story was originally published as For ESME ~ With Love and Squalor.

    Hershey's treat ~ Did this make anyone think of Mad Men?

    QOD: All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. ~ George Orwell (né Eric Arthur Blair, June 25, 1903 ~ Jan. 21, 1950)

    [saorook]

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  5. Besides Tried and True, I offer This and That and, for Friday, Totem and Taboo.

    TEA and TOAST is the alternative in Brit prisons for bread and water, I assume.

    Anyway, cute theme.

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  6. Terrific Tuesday everybody!

    Consarn it, one square from the TA-DA today. Somehow managed to convince myself that Trei and Taze were acceptable…. Dag-nabbit….

    Speaking of Two Ts: Argyle, was the Two-Tone Terry Thomas picture a subtle homage to the T ‘n’ T Theme Today?

    Other Twin Ts in the puzzle body – pasT Tense, ocTeT, peTiT, Tax audiTs….

    Breakfast of Champions: TEXAS TOAST….

    Complete unknowns: ESME, BCE, REX, SES, and PETIT….

    This OLD GEEZER wanted BRADY for BREES….

    Does anyone else equate Git a long little doggie with Purchase a dachshund…? NYET…? Okay, Ta Ta….

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  7. Buenas Dias,

    After yesterdays struggle, back to normal thanks to CC. A pleasant experience with clever cluing.

    12D putters gimme/TAPIN I take exception to. No such thing when I played....missed many gimmes back in the day. What say you HG?

    Never have I thought of ROGET as a synonym for thesaurus. I guess it;s accurate, but to me he's the author/creator.

    We are in day two of hazy, hot, and humid. Even though we have AC, it's too early. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

    [filluc]

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  8. Good morning, folks. Thank you, C.C., for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the equally excellent review.

    Nice to see you, C.C.

    Zipped through this pretty easily. as someone said, more like a Monday level.

    I own a ROGET. Seldom use it.

    Liked the theme. My favorite was TEA AND TOAST. I drink tea every morning and many evenings. Earl Grey,of course.

    I go along with George Washington, CHERRY PIE is my favorite pie, as well.

    Enjoyed the hockey game. Go Hawks! Sorry New Englanders.

    Time for breakfast and then work.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    (eflink)

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  9. Good morning!

    This was a snappy little puzzle, considerably easier than yesterday's IMHO. Nice, C.C.

    Argyle, that is not at all how I pictured ESME.

    YR, glad you found those pictures.

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  10. Yellowrocks,
    Great analogy of cupfuls with counters in Chinese/Japanese. We say "Yi Ge Pingguo" (One apple), then "Liang Ge Pinguo" (two apples"). Ge is the same, just change the numbers.

    Most of the Japanese-rooted words are well adopted into English. We see plural "Obis" , "Kimonos" & "Tycoons" all the time, so I expected Samurai of "Seven Samurai" to have an S ending also.

    I guess in my mind they're countable. It'll be weird to pluralize Miso.

    ReplyDelete
  11. A just right Tuesday exercise by our TRIED AND TRUE leader; that I worked while I wait for the rain to clear Nebraska here in the Central Time Zone. Those Mountain Standard Nebraskans feel more aligned with Cheyenne than Omaha. Argyle’s summation paragraph was spot on.

    Musings
    -I only lasted 15 minutes on this John Wayne movie supposedly set in the GOBI. Double UGH!
    -There are a lotta Drew BREES’s for every Aaron Hernandez in the NFL
    -Halley’s COMET has one of the most mispronounced names in science. NEG on Hay’ lee.
    -Angela is not inclined to have Germany support other European Union Nations that can’t manage their own affairs. She’s a heroine of villain depending on your point of view.
    -Hmmm… THUG and NBAER adjacent? Commissioner David Stern has cleaned up a lot of that.
    -Hondo, it had better be hanging over the cup before my good friend tells me to “That’s good”.
    -What Mother Goose rhyme had a man all “TATTERED AND TORN”?
    -FORE!

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  12. Enjoyed todays puzzle, T & T.
    Terry Thomas and the separating space in one!

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  13. Good Morning Everybody! Thanks to CC and Argyle for your hard work.

    Nice puzzle today, I agree it seemed easier than yesterday's QWP.

    I kept reading Stork Point for 45A instead of Spork Point. I tried KNEE at first - I think I was picturing a long legged crane instead of a stork. Oh well. Too much over thinking for a simple spork!

    Hondo: It's odd hearing you talk about heat and humidity while looking at your avatar :)

    The Chicago Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup last night, so DH can finally relax...... Until football starts.

    Have a great day!

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  14. THIS IS THE HOUE THAT JACK BUILT
    This is the priest all shaven and shorn
    That married the man all tattered and torn
    That kissed the maiden all forlorn
    That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
    That tossed the dog that worried the cat
    That killed the rat that ate the malt
    That lay in the house that Jack built.

    I, too, think OLD GEEZER is pejorative.

    31D At first I read fliers instead of filers.
    BREES, all perps and the only unknown.

    Fun puzzle and great expo. Piece of cake.

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  15. Good morning to everyone from the OLD GEEZER albeit affectionate.

    Puzzle was quite easy; no strikethroughs nor lookups. Favorite TNT was TIME AND TIDE. Perps sufficed to get unknowns like BREES.

    Here is some DREI Ecken

    Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken,
    Drei Ecken hat mein Hut,
    Und hätt er nicht drei Ecken,
    So wär es nicht mein Hut.

    My hat has three corners,
    Three corners has my hat,
    Had it not three corners,
    It wouldn't be my hat.

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  16. I love to rock out in a bar but no ice for me! Neat thank you.

    Cheers!

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  17. Enjoy it while you can, Snowden. The end is near.

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  18. Good morning after a night of wild thunderstorms. I was awake so worked on the crossword.
    When I saw CC, I knew this puzzle would be enjoyable and it was. Thanks, Argyle, for the expo.

    Montanagsitiz

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  19. No baseball in the grid? How about...

    15a Baseballer Berkman

    19a Area between left and center

    38a Home of the Rangers

    62a Banks of Chicago

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  20. Mari,

    I would much prefer the kind of day pictured in my avatar.

    Tell your DH congrats. I was pulling for the Bruins, but can't complain about the outcome. We were Whaler season ticket holders for many years and Quenville was a favorite.

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  21. Good morning. This was much easier than yesterday. Thank you C.C. for the fun. Thank you Argyle for the entertaining write-up.

    I don't post much because others say what I have to say but in a better way, but today there's something on my mind. I've recently been forced to join the gluten-free society. I do not like practicing what they preach, but when I don't, the consequences are ugly. I've been reading about what gluten does to your body and it can be pretty nasty. I won't say that it causes muscle/bone/joint pain, but if you've got some pain the gluten can make it much worse. For Corner members who suffer, would going gluten-free be beneficial? I've been reading "Wheat Belly" by Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist and it's quite an eye-opener.

    Have a great day everyone!

    Pat

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  22. Hi gang -

    I agree - easier than yesterday.

    Fine long fill in both directions. Was surprised to see C.C.'c byline. No baseball?!?

    Went to Nate's game last night. He hit a sharp grounder past the 2nd baseman, but the right fielder was playing so shallow he threw him out at first. The boy has Bumpa's legs.

    They went on to win 6-4. The other team scored two in the top of the 6th. Then, with 2 out, our pitcher picked a kid off 2nd to end the game. Awesome! Both teams played rally well. You can't a;ways count on that with 10 U.

    Rest of the week looks to be rainy here.

    Cool regards!
    JzB wallowing in incipient Geezerhood


    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi Y'all! C. C. really fun puzzle to start Tuesday with a bang! I caught onto the them early. Only problem the puzzle vanished twice & had to start over.

    Argyle, great to hear "Blue" once again.

    I had forgotten Eisenhower was born in Texas. Abilene, I believe. I have been to the IKE museum in Abilene, Kansas. I also toured a mansion in Abilene, KS owned until death by two old maids who were daughters of a doctor. They never married because none of the local boys were "good enough" for them. Very amusing when two boys who were their contemporaries were Dwight Eisenhower and his brother Milton who became a college president.

    pje, yes, I heard something about the doctor who is bad-mouthing wheat. As a wheat grower, I am annoyed. I think of all the nutritious foods which have been bashed in the media: eggs, beef, etc. Gluten may be bad for some people. I am allergic to foods everyone else can eat. However, blanket food phobias disturb me. To say that wheat is bad for everyone is ridiculous. It has nourished multitudes.

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  24. Hi All ~~

    Thanks for an enjoyable Tuesday puzzle, C.C. I agree that it was easier than yesterday's but had some fun stuff. I really liked saying "Grueling grad grillings." Not three times, though, Argyle. :-) Nice write-up ~ another cool (hot) title!

    ~ I remembered ZAPPA's recent visit.

    ~ I'm with those who don't think of OLD GEEZER as being an affection term.

    ~ In elementary school I was teased with the name "ELSIE the Borden cow" because of my initials then.

    ~ Abner @ 9:19 ~ I liked your alternate baseball clues!

    ~ pje & PK ~ I, too, have Dr. Davis's book and though wheat may not be bad for everyone, eliminating it from my diet has made a world of difference. My husband, however, eats plenty of wheat and foods containing wheat, and has no problems. I guess it can be compared to thin people who eat whatever they want and never gain weight. (Not me!)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Good Morning:

    Seeing CC as the constructor always bodes well for an enjoyable solve and today's offering was just that. Clever theme and cluing, added to a lot of long and fresh fill made for an easy but fun puzzle.

    Time and tide popped right out as one of my adage- addicted mother's favorite pronouncements was: "Time nor tide waits for no man." She had a penchant for using aphorisms on any and all occasions and for any and all situations. The one I remember best is when one of my sister's got engaged to a rather capricious young man: "Many a slip between the cup and the lip!"

    Nice job, CC, and neat expo, Argyle. Argyle, did you have the same t-storm with the hail last night? It was quite a storm, although relatively brief.

    I also have a Roget's and a Bartlett's quotation volume but neither gets much use as the weigh almost as much as I do.

    Happy Tuesday.

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  26. The storm up here skirted the village to the south. I don't know if they got hail but I saw many lightning strikes. We lost power long enough to start things blinking.

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  27. Old geezer is not at all pejorative in my experience. I actually wanted old fart in there. I do not object to being either one.

    36D was a problem. There was one of those random color blobs in my paper that made the "pic" look like "pio" so I set about trying to reverse pio to make anything intelligent. I got it right but didn't understand why it was right.

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  28. Fun entry today, but I have to say, I was not very puzzled. (for CED to say this, the puzzle "must" have been too easy...) although 39D had me puzzled, foreign languages do not count as fair puzzlement.

    Time & Tide (a little Sandy humor...)

    Tattered & Torn ( we have been thru a lot together.) Sorry no humor at all on this one...

    Truck & Trailer remind me not to follow this guy!!!


    I am sorry, but you just cannot make fun of something as pleasant as tea and toast.

    The TNT guys thought this puzzle was easy too, (but they were wrong!)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh, I forgot!

    I don't know how to politely say this,


    but to make the next puzzle a little harder, (& to fit in with your DF fans.) Instead of T&T, how about a puzzle with a little T&A?

    WooHoo!

    (oh gosh!, I know I am going to be apologizing for this one for the next month. Besides, you would never get it past Rich...)

    hmm, unless T&A were transit Authority??? (Naw! it would never work...)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.

    Wonderful puzzle today, but I am late so everyone has already taken the words out of my mouth!

    We could use a nice SEA BREEZE right now - it's in the 90s today, and muggy. DRATS!

    I loved seeing a couple nice WINES finishing off the fun. Thanks C.C.!

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  31. Good morning Argyle, C.C.,old geezers, and all,

    Always a delight to wake up and see a C/W from C.C.Loved the "down" fill and the theme.Ha,ha,.. I was thinking of the Big Bang theory. Loved the theme and it actually helped . Would have been better if I had not have read filers as fliers!!Wagged x and then wondered how taxes had anything to do with pilots!

    Have to admit that I did not know spork. Thanks Argyle.Also loved LeAnn's Blue.That pretty little thing now looks like she's been fasting forever.

    I do not find old geezer disparaging, but sometimes when younger people use that term, it could be derogatory.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Another gem of a puzzle from C.C., but I must take a moment to say how awesome the write up is, with the aforementioned Terry Thomas doing double duty as a theme enhancer and a gap. Neither Michael Strahan, Lauren Hutton or my Uncle Richard would have done as well.

    The rose Red Rose comment leads me to FOUR ROSES a bourbon I met somewhere in my life.

    C.C., awesome; Argyle, you da man.

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  33. I agree with Argyle. I believe that frequently an author’s name is substituted for the name of his work. Speaking informally we can say, “I found that synonym is in my Roget.”

    “Laugh-In” had a lot of catch phrases, that were repeated over and over including “You can bet your bippy,” “Here come de judge,” “Sock it to me,” and “Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls.”
    Funk and Wagnalls is a publisher of reference books, a dictionary, an encyclopedia, etc. Here the publishers name is used in place of the book’s name.

    “For a beginner, Shakespeare can sometimes seem like a bunch of strange words put together in no sensible order. Once you learn to read and understand Shakespeare, you'll find out why IT has inspired students and scholars for centuries.”
    Here “Shakespeare” stands for his works, not for the man himself.

    For most of my life my Roget and my dictionaries were well thumbed. I enjoyed studying them. Now I carry on with this online. The school where I taught had a fascinating book which explained the tiny nuances among synonyms. I wish I had noted the exact title so I could buy it now.

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  34. Hola Everyone, Back to our schedule. This was a great Tuesday puzzle by C.C. and a bit easier than yesterday, but still enjoyable. I didn't "get" the theme until I put in the unifier, but knew it had to do with all those T's.

    Thanks Argyle for another enjoyable write up.

    I love pecans in cookies, salads, pies, and candy. Anything else good with pecans added?

    Ses and Brees were not forthcoming except with the perps. My foreign language and sports knowledge is really lacking.

    Mr. Goodbar is a favorite of ours.

    Have a great day everyone.

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  35. CED, Does that truck ever turn over or does the truck following ever get to pass? What a nightmare.

    Your links today were exceptionally entertaining.

    Another gloomy, dreary day here. Not much rain as predicted, just clouds, and no sun. This kind of weather is really hard on our solar grid. We don't produce much electricity when there isn't any sun.

    Time to put up our Fourth of July banners and flags. Our neighborhood parade will be marching down the street before we know it.

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  36. Fun puzzle, C.C.
    Thank you, Argyle, those petit fours sure look good!
    When am I going to learn to re-check my answers??? DRAT!I spelled ERIkA wrong. IkE looked good. What could be wrong?
    Never knew of BCE.
    Thanks Abejo for your post last night. You're all doing a wonderful thing! Stay cool.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Very Nice Puzzle C.C. - I really enjoyed it. Very nice commentary Argyle - really enjoyed that as well. I had ERIKA before ERICA, and TAX RETURN before TAX AUDITS. I knew Stephen REA from 'The Crying Game'. I had 'BUSTA' before 'LEANN' ( ha, Ha). I had EMMA before ESME.

    'Old Geezer' seems like a pejorative to me. Never heard it said of me, and I would never use it myself.

    I solved the puzzle early this morning, but could not come to the blog, because of computer problems, and then had a doctor's appointment. I met a guy at the doctors' office, today, solving the LA Xword. He was having some trouble in the center of the puzzle. Told him all about our enlightening, little blog, and about C.C. and her life story, and 'Word Play' - the DVD, and about everything else, until one of us had to leave. I guess, my good deed for the day.

    I thought the Bush(es) were born in Texas. So, it was IKE and LBJ.

    Have a nice day, you all.

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  38. Good day to all. Nice Tuesday level CW. Thanks C.C. (and Argyle) but no Tada because I completed it in my newspaper. Didn't even realize my mistake until I saw Doha Doc's note about TREI and TAZE!
    Nice alternate baseball clues Abner, but my Blue Jays lost last night (although DH was watching Stanley Cup game).
    Thanks Argyle for noting Red Rose Tea - "only in Canada" and my favourite.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi, everybody! We're back from our little "staycation" at a great Hyatt Hotel only 20 miles from home. Had a lazy, quiet time, with the LA Times puzzle every morning but no computer. Can't believe I got my first Silkie ever in my life on Saturday, and wasn't able to get on the blog to brag about it! That's karma for you!

    But being able to do a C.C. on our last morning at the Hyatt was great. I feared I didn't manage that B crossing two sports references down in the SE corner, but it turns out I even got that! Yay! And of course enjoyed Argyle's write-up, as always.

    It's great to be back. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

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  40. I enjoyed the puzzle and writeup. Thanks CC and Argyle.

    Argyle, until I listened to your LeAnn Rimes link, I didn't know how much I liked her. She's got a great voice, she can yodel really well and she sings some old classics that I always love. I'm now a fan.

    Function puzzle:
    I never heard of functions until my freshman year at Cornell. Now, students are often introduced to functions in seventh grade.
    Here are five functions:

    A(x) = 4x - 3
    B(x) = 3x^2
    C(x) = 7x + 1
    D(x) = x^2
    E(x) = 2x + 7

    I am going to connect them in alphabetical order and use two as the input number. The output of the A function would be five. Then the B function squares five (25) and multiplies it by three (75) which goes into the C function. Its output is 526 which goes into D. That function’s output is 276,676. Function E multiplies that number by two and adds seven resulting in the final output of 553,359. Can you use two as the input number, rearrange the functions using each function only once and get a larger output number?

    ReplyDelete
  41. I thought some of you might like this video

    Wild Sweden. (9:11) 1080p. Spectacular Winter and Summer scenes.

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  42. Spitz (Wow) @ 9 minutes i thought it was going to be too long.

    Awesome!

    I had 3 links all set to go, but I cannot compete with that one...

    My only complaint is that I almost froze my (expletive deleted!) off until it warmed up!

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  43. Double Wow!

    I just watched it again, & I can't believe how much I missed!

    Love the sunset@8:15!

    I am really pissed that my email is down, & I can't forward it to friends...

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  44. Spitz:

    Thanks for sharing that incredibly beautiful tribute to Mother Nature.

    Bill G. @ 4:43 - Please pass the Extra-strength Tylenol! (-:

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  45. Good evening, everyone! Thanks for a fun and very doable puzzle, C.C. Here’s how our good friends on the Red Green Show use TNT. Great write-up, Argyle. Loved the old-timey “GIT Along, Little Dogies” clip.

    Really enjoyed this no-muss, no-fuss solve. For Daughter and SIL’s wedding we had a silver tiered tray of PETIT Fours to supplement the cake; it looked very elegant. Hand up for assuming the TEXAS-born Presidents were Bushes I and II; thanks for the learning moment, Argyle.

    Looking forward to a break from the 90 degree temps this weekend. Hope you all have a great night!

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  46. Spitzboov! Nice!
    I want to see the Northern Lights! (someday)
    Supposed to get into triple digits this weekend.
    The video will keep me cool.

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  47. Spitzboov, WOW! That was lovely.. will watch again.Thanks

    Chickie, add ice cream and Crescent Caramel Pecan Rolls to your list.

    @ Erica: I taped A.M.C. for way too many years and was relieved when it was over because it really was an inane addiction. Heard they have it on the computer now.. not going there.

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  48. Just came across this great map...wish I could just send the map like Argyle does.

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  49. Spitz, great video! I'm going to send it to a couple of my Internet friends in Sweden.

    I see where UCLA is doing well in the College World Series.

    A guilty pleasure for me is "Franklin and Bash." Improbable courtroom scenes where suspension of disbelief is a necessary struggle. Also, there's a very annoying minor character. Still, I enjoy the final result of this legal buddy drama.

    Java Mama, as your temps are starting down, ours (greater Los Angeles area) are heading up. It would be unbearable for me where FermatPrime is but here, nearer the coast, it will still be too warm for good sleeping for me (no A/C).

    No takers on the Function Challenge? It's not that difficult. Did I not explain it OK? Even Irish Miss could improve on my first attempt.

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  50. Hi, all!

    (Assuming anyone reads this. I seem to be posting after everyone else lately.)

    Loved your puzzle, CC! Great expo, Argyle! I really loved Terry-Thomas.

    Disappointing dentist appt. today. More extraction tomorrow. Six days with very soft food diet after that. (After I broke legs, ankles and shoulders and was completely confined to bed, I brushed with little disposable toothbrushes and really didn't floss.)

    Bill: Do not feel up to trying all 120 permutations. Did you?

    Weather quite nice here!

    Cheers!

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  51. I know LBJ was one Texan, as JSC (Johnson Space Center) is just down the road. I've always wondered if Husker Gary lived in Nebraska or just went to school there considering NASA logo.

    pje: Glutin may not be a lasting thing. My daugher got a stomach bug that cleaned-out all the good bacteria and was glutin/dairy/etc. free for 4 months while she built the enzymes back up. Now she eats like a kid again...

    Chickie: Pralines == Yummy!

    Thanks all for daily lessons!

    Cheers,

    -T

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  52. FermatPrime, no I didn't try the 120 permutations. A little insight told me which two should be last. That left only six to fiddle around with.

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  53. Bill G: C,B,D,E,A. Intuitive, B is the steepest curve, any number > 5 fed into B will be higher on the Y-axis. C is the greatest output for x=2. Since A is the only function with - it goes last. If my arithmetic is correct, the series will result in 3,645,025.

    -T

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  54. Anon (10:13), good approach but there are some ideas that you missed with your insight. For example, one of the squaring functions should go last since it would have the biggest effect on an already large input number.

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  55. I have celiac disease. Gluten causes diarrhea! It's no fun getting old!

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  56. Bill G:

    But the problem wasn't to maximize, just get a number >5.5x10^5. I think an order of magnitude counts :-)

    Yes, I'm an engineer...

    -T

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  57. Bill G:

    Last answer before I script this - C,B,E,A,D. That gives you 2.94 x 10^7. Sorry, couldn't sleep until I went there...

    Cheers,

    -T

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  58. Anon, ya got me. I didn't say to maximize. Your answer is a good one. Years ago, when I gave this to my class, I thought I knew the biggest answer. A student came up with an answer three times bigger than mine. I kept looking for his mistake but he hadn't made one. I had made a bad assumption and he had found the biggest answer. So if you are interested, you can find other answers bigger still, like more than 1000 times larger.

    Good job and good night!

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  59. Bill G:

    Sonnnava... Never mind, I need to sleep. My gig starts at 7a.. I'll play over lunch. We need to hook-up off-line; you seem like fun!

    -T

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