google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 David Poole

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Jul 16, 2013

Tuesday, July 16, 2013 David Poole

Theme: Vowel Progression, with a Twist. - The theme entries begin with an H, followed by a long vowel sound, progressing from A to U.

18A. Subjects for Monet : HAYSTACKS. And if he were still painting today, would it be these?

                                     Source

22A. Sounded like an donkey : HEE-HAWED. Another update.


38A. Like someone needing a lot of attention : HIGH MAINTENANCE. Like Lisa Douglas.


49A. Barn dances : HOEDOWNS


58A. "Love Actually" actor : HUGH GRANT


Argyle here.(no video) A few crunchy nuggets to break a tooth on but a grid spanner to make it better. Nearly a pangram, to boot.

Across:

1. Oxymoronic shrimp type : JUMBO

6. Sets, as a price : ASKS

10. Overcast : GRAY

14. Opera solos : ARIAs

15. Chop __ : SUEY

16. The stuff of legends : LORE

17. Fish organs : GILLS. The equivalent of our lungs.

20. Pocketed, as a pool ball : SANK. If you sank the 8-ball on the break, did you win or did you lose? The start of many a bar fight.

21. Broke the Tenth Commandment : COVETED

24. Wimp : SISSY

28. Tanzania's __ es Salaam : DAR. MAP.

29. Thomas More's perfect world : UTOPIA

30. With 41-Across, thing sometimes resisted : THE. 41A. See 30-Across : URGE

33. Words welcoming speakers : INTROS

37. Pre-Easter season : LENT

42. Gourmet's prefix : GASTRO

43. __ Moines : DES. Iowa.

44. Self-described "short, stocky, slow-witted bald man" of "Seinfeld" : GEORGE

46. Bankbook cred. : INT. (credit/interest)

48. Taste, e.g. : SENSE

54. Lame excuses : COP-OUTS

56. Absorbs, as a loss : EATS

61. State whose motto is "Friendship" : TEXAS

62. Kin of -trix : ENNE

63. Willy of "Free Willy," e.g. : ORCA. Hey, we haven't seen an ORCA in a while. Or OKRA, for that matter.

64. Embellish : ADORN

65. Umpire's call : FOUL

66. Turns green, say : DYES

67. Quintet of assassins? : ESSes

Down:

1. Sprees : JAGS

2. Awful Heep : URIAH

3. Hundred Acre Wood creator : MILNE

4. Refused to cooperate : BALKED

5. Covert WWII agcy. : OSS. (Office of Strategic Services)

6. Vote by __ of hands : A SHOW

7. Like Cary Grant characters : SUAVE

8. Excited, with "up" : KEYED

9. Part of TBS: Abbr. : SYST. (Turner Broadcasting System)

10. Flower with sword-shaped leaves : GLADIOLA. Today's flower.


11. Legendary bird : ROC

12. Noah's boat : ARK. No rocs in the boat.

13. "You betcha!" : "YES!"

19. Midterm, say : TEST

21. 2011 Polanski comedy with an ironically violent title : "CARNAGE". IMDb LINK.

23. "The Lost Boys" actor Corey : HAIM. A short life. Wikipedia LINK.

25. Go on a shopping spree : SPEND

26. Because : SINCE

27. David who directed four Harry Potter films : YATES. From Order of the Phoenix to the last Deathly Hallows.

29. Log-in needs : USER IDs

30. Hooligans : THUGS

31. Newly employed person : HIREE

32. Goad : EGG ON

34. Alejandro's aunt : TÍA

35. ER VIPs : RNs

36. Giant star Mel : OTT

39. Astronomer who discovered Uranus : HERSCHEL. Sir William Herschel, 1738 – 1822

40. "Mustn't do" thing : NO-NO

45. Trivial Pursuit category: Abbr. : GEOG. (Geography)

47. Stereotypical professorial attire : TWEEDS. With leather patches on the elbows.

49. White with age : HOARY

50. 1/16 of a pound : OUNCE

51. James and Jones of jazz : ETTAs. Both were American singers.

52. Greek vacation island : NAXOS. The largest island in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. Travel guide LINK.


53. Fixed look : STARE

55. Poke : PROD

57. IRS identifiers : SSNs. (Social Security number)

58. Publisher wearing p.j.'s : "HEF". Hugh Hefner

59. 108-card game : UNO

60. Bearded beast : GNU


61. __ kwon do : TAE


Argyle


Note from C.C.:

Here are a few pictures of Montana's beautiful grandkids: Diana Nicole, born on July 13, 2013 (last Saturday) &  Gabrielė.

 Diana Nicole


 Gabrielė, age 22 months

 Gabbie checking out her new sister, Diana.



70 comments:

  1. Hello Puzzlers -

    Hardly a speed bump in sight today...when all was done, I went back to suss the theme. A vowel progression in order, I see! Nicely done, David.

    Morning Argyle, liked the modern take on haystacks! Now that I think of it, I have probably never seen a haystack in the wild. Compressed bales were well established by the time I came along.

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  2. Morning, all!

    Blew through this one with little hesitation. I had to read some of the clues a few times, though (like "Words welcoming speakers") before the meaning penetrated my early morning brain fog...

    [adprote]

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  3. Dudley and Barry, you might want to go back to the write-up; I made some updates,

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  4. Good morning Argyle, C.C> et al.

    Very fine write up, Argyle! I had HAYSTACKS and HEE-HAWED, then went below to fill in the HIGH-, HOE- and HUGH- themers. So yes, a nice twist on the vowel progression.

    My GLADIOLAs are just starting to pop open, so that was nice to see. I never heard of Cory HAIM (have I been living under a rock???) And sadly, HERSCHEL was almost all perps. But still, it was a typical Tuesday for me, with a couple crunchy areas and nice theme. Thanks, David!

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  5. Happy Tuesday. DAR was not in my Trivial Geog. memory bank.

    The TWO COREYS were very popular.

    Thanks

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  6. Good day to all,

    Got through without too much difficulty, but the central zone took a bit longer then the North & South.

    46A, Bankbook Cred/INT gave me a chuckle. Earned bank interest today goes into the right hand side of the petty cash drawer. At least mine does. Thankfully, the bank does not manage my finances.

    CARNAGE, HAIM. HERSCHEL were all perps.
    Three unknowns.

    Thank you Joyce for your puzzle & Argyle for your usual quality write up.

    My lawn is starting to look like the bales of hay Argyle displayed. Have to conserve so we don't run the well dry.






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  7. Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Another early week speed run. The theme was rather different for the Vowel Progression, but presented no problems.

    I wanted Safe instead of FOUL for what the Umpire might call.

    Is "Friendship" in the Texas motto ironic?

    My husband visited DAR es Salaam several years ago, but I decided to forgo that trip.

    Congratulations on your new granddaughter, Montana.

    QOD: I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever died of ignorance. ~ Rubén Blades (July 16, 1948)

    [wanterm]

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  8. Good morning!

    Argyle, you were a linkin' fool this morning. That Hee Haw, The Next Generation was funny.

    My only writeover was MDS before RNS. Are RNs really VIPs in the ER?

    Those haystacks look suspiciously like round bales. I can remember seeing haystacks in my ute. I also remember hay mows, upper sections of barns reserved for loose, dried hay. If used for baled hay, they were called hay lofts.

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  9. Ouch! Desper-otto, You have obviously never been in an ER, which is very fortunate. Unfortunately, I have had an experience in an ER and, yes, the Registered Nurses play a very vital role. I had more interaction with the nurses than I did with the doctors in the ER.

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  10. Morning all. Thanks for the writeup Argyle, esp. filling me in on the theme - didn't even notice before I came here.

    DNF at 28a / 23d; I guessed DuR. No cookie for me.

    Other hiccup was 58a as GRANT was part of 7a's clue. I finally went with it.

    Liked both SENSE and SINCE, having cents would have rounded that out :-)

    Hahtoolah: Yes, it is. When you cross into Texas on the freeway, you'll see "Drive Friendly - The Texas Way." If you really think it's ironic, you probably only visited Dallas (snark!)

    Can anyone explain ENNE for -trix? I can only think of the (nasty) breakfast cereal.

    Cheers,

    -T

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  11. Nice one today. JUMBO SHRIMP are called King Prawns in Oz, not so oxymoronic. I always hesitate between ETTE/ENNE, but this time the perps made it clear very quickly. Had to wait for ETTAS to learn how to spell HOEdowns.

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  12. Very nice puzzle David Poole.

    Thank you Argyle. Liked the clips and links.

    In addition to the vowel progression, a subset rural theme as well.


    Thought of:
    Yellowrocks at Hoedowns.
    Desper-otto at Texas
    Me at 38A.

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  13. Anon@7:29 -- They are female suffixes: Dominatrix, Executrix, Equestrienne, Comedienne. The suffix indicates that the person is a woman.

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  14. Good Morning Everybody! After a week of "staycation" I'm ready to get back at it.

    Good puzzle today. The AEIOU helped me get HIGH MAINTENANCE.

    I had MASTRO for GASTRO which taught me something new. I keep hearing about "gastro pubs" as being the hot new thing. I had no idea what they were and thought the term sounded off putting. Who wants to go to a pub and get gas?!!

    Now I know what GASTRO means, and thus the definition of a gastro pub: A bar that serves high end food and drinks. Thanks to CC's blog for teaching me another new thing!

    I PERPED 67A: ESSES but didn't understand it until I came here. Very clever!

    I couldn't help but laugh that 44A: GEORGE's description is definately not SUAVE.

    It's hot and sticky in Chicago. Have a great day and be safe!

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  15. Thanks, David, for a nice Tuesday morning. On my iPad the whole top of the write-up was white space except for the Haystacks, but an enjoyable expo anyway. You can still see the old-fashioned piles of hay in fields in SW Montana.

    I like a puzzle where I don't know a number of clues but by solving the perps I can, the answer to the original clues pop into my brain with an, "Oh, yes, that's the answer." I wasn't fooled by the ESSES.

    Thanks, everyone, for the well wishes about new granddaughter. A bit of excitement for her to be born less than 10 minutes after getting to hospital, but she is home now and we are all adjusting.

    Montana

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  16. Argyle - I see what you mean! Great clips. I particularly liked Hee Haw.

    As for Aaron Copeland's Hoedown: that video is a good example of coordinated violin bow strokes. it doesn't happen automatically - somebody has to decide the direction all the bows will travel, for every note, so they all look the same. It then falls to some junior employee to mark each performer's score before rehearsals begin. A good friend of mine was once a music librarian for the BSO; she got that assignment.

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  17. Good morning, folks. Thank you. David Poole, for a very good puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the great review. Liked all the clips at the start. Green Acres was an old favorite of mine. As was Hee Haw. Junior Sample was the man. BR-549

    Could not get JUMBO right off the bat, but it came with a couple of letters. I enjoy shrimp cocktail now and then.

    Figured out the theme after I was finished. Very clever, not of me but of David Poole.

    TEXAS gave me NAXOS. The X

    I have no problem with TEXAS and Friendship running together. I have been to Texas a few times and never had a problem, except for the half case of Shiner Bock that I drank one night. A long time ago.

    We keep getting UNO in puzzles. I guess I will have to learn about that game. Must be two decks, plus the jokers. Just an educated guess. I did play Cinch while in Pennsylvania recently. That's a good card game.

    Did not know there were two ETTAS. OK with me.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    (ientent)

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  18. Good Morning Everyone.

    Always like Argyle's choice of pictures to 'splain the flowing narrative. Favorite today was the HOARY GNU.
    Cool theme; well executed. Also liked the 8-letter downs GLADIOLA and HERSCHEL; covered a lot of crosses. Wasn't sure how to spell TAE but ESSES took care of that.
    URIAH - always think of the Hittite.
    Ariadne auf NAXOS - An opera by Richard Strauss.
    JUMBO shrimp is a real oxymoron.

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  19. I went back to find the theme and was so proud I found this fun idea! The esSes/naxoS crossing almost got me since CAPRI didn’t work and I’ve never heard of NAXOS.

    Musings
    -HIGH MAINTENANCE kids can hurt a classroom
    -Selling your house? You can ASK whatever you want.
    -More Oxymorons
    -COVETED? Are you sure God was talking about your neighbor’s donkey?
    -Extreme SISSY Bars
    -Sea World is trying to acclimate the ORCAS to trainers again. There a reason they’re called Killer Whales.
    -Calling the homerun ball fair or FOUL as it goes beyond and above the FOUL pole is tough
    -There is a lot more pressure to vote by A SHOW of hands than by secret ballot.
    -My good friend’s 90 year old mother has become addicted to HSN and gone on many SPREES she can’t afford. They had to step in.
    -“Music” by and about THUGS isn’t good for anyone
    -Sheldon discovering URANUS
    -QOD corollary - A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
    -What game played with a regular deck of cards is a poor man’s UNO?

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  20. Montana, congratulations on your new granddaughter, Diana Nicole. I hope she lives near enough to visit often. Of course, nearby in Montana, is called “far” here.

    d/o I have the same memories about haystacks and haylofts. It was fun to play in the hayloft.

    Dudley, interesting about coordinating bow strokes. Copeland's Rodeo, which includes Hoedown is one of my favorite compositions.

    Mari, although I understand the GASTRO prefix I still find it off-putting.
    That reminds me, although I know what it means, the term digestive biscuit so common in the British Commonwealth sounds off-putting to me. More of a treatment than a treat.

    TTP thanks for the shout out.
    Our square dance club is holding a BARN dance on July 30. In our case that means a square dance open to the public with no experience required. Many experienced dancers, called angels, attend to guide the newbies. Our style of dancing, called Modern western Square Dancing, is quite different from old fashioned hoedowns.. Modern Western square dancing is danced to a variety of music types, everything from pop to traditional country to Broadway musical to contemporary country music—even rock and techno. We do use a little hoedown music among many, many other genres.

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  21. I just published 3 photos of Montana's beautiful grandkids (at the end of Argyle's writeup). Or you can click here.

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  22. Good morning all,

    Another fun run, although I am still stymied by abbreviations, int., OSS, syst.Dar, Garth and enne slowed me down. Like Hahtoolah, I had safe because I put alf instead of gnu.Gnu is so much better! Like Kazie, I waited to see if it was hoe or how.

    Martie, the 2 Corey's were a big deal about 20 years ago. I never saw the fascination, but then I don't get the Bieber mania either.

    I'm not a big fan of Gladiolas, as they need to be staked and they pop up in the strangest places. They seem to spend a great deal of time multiplying underground. have to admit they are lovely for a few days.

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  23. Thank you David Poole for a challenging puzzle. Really, really enjoyed it. Thank you argyle for a charming commentary.

    I had 'Bob' Guccione (?) before HEFner.

    At the beach, where I was recently ...... I saw two toddler T-Shirts ........ One said, 'IPOOD '. And the other said, 'High Maintenance' ....

    'Dar es Salaam' ..... Comes from the Arabic - Dar means door ... Salaam = Shalom , means Peace. So the city is named 'Door (to / of. ) Peace'. It's the same words as in Urdu and Hindi. Must have been a quiet costal town with no pirates.

    On other matters, I'm glad, RN 's are also being recognized as VIP's at the ER's. Meanwhile, what about the patients ?? .... Are they also not VIP 's ? ..... Or are they merely 'users' and a 'necessary (evil )' ?

    Thug(eree -) was a particularly gruesome form of highway (?) robbery / murder / plunder in Central India, during the 1700's and early 1800's. They preyed mostly on pilgrims traveling long distances between far off towns. Since travel was inherently dangerous, most pilgrims travelled in groups. The Thugs, as a fairly sizable group, would 'befriend' the pilgrims, and gain their confidence, and then at an opportune moment, in a remote part of a forest, attack, kill and slaughter the whole group, and bury their bodies, and leave no trace. Their weapon of choice was a long silk handkerchief, used for strangling (garotte ?) . There were thousands of such gang members, and it was considered a hereditary profession. They were eliminated by the British militia / constabulary groups.


    Have a nice day, you all.

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  24. Husker, I loved that Sheldon clip. I must've missed that episode.

    Hahtoolah, I've actually been to the emergency room a couple times. But in each case, it was a real emergency, and although I was somewhat conscious, my memory of the event is pretty hazy. I don't specifically remember any nurses or doctors, just an antiseptic smell.

    Cute pix, Montana.

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  25. Just looked up the Tenth Commandment...not too sure whether I've busted that one, because it's a little unspecific on the details. My neighbor hasn't got any oxen, or servants, so nothing to covet there. I certainly don't yearn for his ass. Now his wife's ass, that's another matter. That's an admirable bit of rump roast. Is appreciation the same as coveting? These rules are so hard to figure out. :-)

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  26. From 7:29 Anon:

    Desper-otto: Thanks for the examples, I shall not forget for at least 24 hours...

    CC - I will go back and check out the new pics. Congrats Montana!

    -T

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  27. Print edition left out clues for 60&61 down. Fact that no one else mentioned this confirms my sense that few still subscribe.

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  28. Good Morning:

    Found this a tiny bit crunchy for a Tuesday, but all went well without help. I didn't get the vowel progression until reading Argyle's expo; I just thought the theme was farm-related, with haystacks, heehawed, and hoedowns. (The heat is affecting my brain!)

    Nice offering, David Poole, and super expo, Argyle. I am still chuckling about the warranty call on your "Troyota."

    Beautiful little girls, Montana.

    I thought of Bill G when I saw Love, Actually; that is one of his favorite movies.

    Welcome back, Mari, we missed you!

    Speaking of RN's, my niece, Marie MacKay Murphy, whom I mentioned a while back, passed the Massachusetts Boards last week, so she is now an RN. The two professions I admire most are nurses and teachers.

    Have a terrific Tuesday.

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  29. Forgot to mention: CC, I love your Ninja avatar!

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  30. UNO the time HUGH GRANT had THE JUMBO URGE and SANK so low and ASKS the HOARY for a PROD? He GNU better. Paparazzi did STARE at this NO NO and raised a big HEE HAW which made CARNAGE of his reputation. If HUGH GRANT had had an OUNCE of SENSE, he'd have found a nice remote HAYSTACK in friendlier TEXAS for this FOUL deed. GRANT COVETED what HEF SPENDs time doing.

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  31. Hi Y'all! Fun puzzle, David Poole! WOW, Argyle, you were inspired and busy!

    I read Tarzana and thought the clue must be a cafe in that California town. Argyle had to 'splain it to me. The right reading wouldn't have helped. All perps for DAR.

    Montana, super cuties are your descendants!

    Good RN's are crucial to a patient in any hospital situation. They can assess the illness and call the doctor in to focus on the problem. They are usually more empathetic and pay more attention to details.

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  32. Delightful Tuesday speed run--many thanks, David! Lots of fun clues, and I even "got" the theme when I was done. Argyle, thanks for reminding me of "Green Acres," one of my favorite sit-coms of all times!

    My husband's second wife planted gladiolas in the ground around our house decades ago, when she lived here with him. I've never planted a gladiola, but they still pop up every year in the oddest places. I kind of like that, though, that nature has a mind and logic of its own.

    Anon 10:32, I do the puzzle in the LA Times and I too noticed that the clues for 60 and 61 down were missing. Thank goodness I still got the answers anyway.

    Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

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  33. Made even more challenging with missing clues for 60 and 61.

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  34. @10:29 Anon: H-Chron had both 60d and 61d printed...

    -T

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  35. Hahtoolah said: "Is "Friendship" in the Texas motto ironic?"

    What is that supposed to mean?

    Another underhanded leftist comment I suspect.

    I personally find Texans to be very friendly.

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  36. Vidwan, interesting info on thugs... very similar to the highwaymen we read about in English novels.

    Montana,Gabriele looks like one of the Precious Moments dolls. Diana is darling.

    Argyle, just reread your write-up to catch all the tidbits I miss the 1st time around. Just got "eSSes", and the A-E-I-O-U. d'oh

    Does anyone find it strange that very few Greek wines are imported here, considering that they are one of the oldest wine producing areas? Even Hippocrates prescribed it. Maybe all the wars along the way kept them from mastering this art.

    Hooray for JK Rowling for using a pseudonym (Robert Galbraith) to publish a new novel (The Cuckoo's Calling). Surprisingly, it was nixed by one publisher. Now her secret is out and it will become a best seller on her name alone.

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  37. Good day, to all especially Argyle.

    60, 61 down are printed in the Arizona Republic.

    Loved this puzzle and was on David Poole's wave length with only one write over, CRETE/NAXOS. And, surprisingly, I caught the vowel progression.

    My daughter loved Corey Haim and was devastated when he died. I, on the other hand really like HUGH GRANT and Love Actually, especially.

    When traveling through Montana two years ago we saw dozens and dozens of rolled bales but no HAYSTACKS.

    I'm surprised no one has commented on HOARY as it is one of those words used in books more than in conversation.

    Montana:
    What beautiful granddaughters!

    Dudley:
    That's very interesting about synchronizing the bows.

    Have yourselves a delightful Tuesday, everyone!

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  38. Are you smart enough to get these nerdy jokes?

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  39. Argyle: I'm always impressed with your Monday & Tuesday write-ups.
    With all the links today, you out-did yourself. Thank you!

    Montana, Great photo's of your grand daugthers.

    YR: I immediately thought of you at HOEDOWNS.

    Mari: Great to "see-you-back" from staycation.

    Needed every perp to get Corey HAIM and David YATES, otherwise a speed run.

    Thought the 10th Commandment (at first) was the one about adultery ...
    and my captcha is "boinks" ...

    Cheers!!!

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  40. Hi there~!

    Guess what I passed on the way home today - and I don't usually see this -

    Splynter

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  41. Splynter - those are straw bales. If they were arrayed in a pile it would be a straw stack. We had HAY stack today. Nice pic; were you way out on the eastern part of the Island?

    Montana - nice pix. She's bright as a shiny penny. Congratulations!

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  42. I enjoyed this Tuesday puzzle and writeup. Thanks. I got stuck for a while at the intersection of NAXOS and ESSES but once I figured out the quintet trick, I was off to the races again.

    Irish Miss, good memory!

    Montana, cuties all!

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  43. Lucina, I agree with you about hoary. In Grimm's fairy tales, there seemed to be a lot of hoary characters.I don't think I've ever heard it spoken.

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  44. Fun romp today. My only hang up was mis-reading the clue for 10D as plural, so I entered Gladioli, but that straightened itself out. Enjoyed the theme, especially that way the vowel sounds remained true.

    I've put up a lot of hay. I worked as a ranch hand in the NE sandhills during my summers in high school, and we'd typically put up about 600 stacks of native prairie hay per summer, using a Slide Stacker. Our process was a lot more automated than depicted here, and the stacks were smaller, but you can get a lot of hay put up with these devices.

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  45. Thanks for the warm welcome-backs, folks.

    Abejo @ 9:00 am: UNO is it's own card game. I mean it comes with it's own deck and doesn't use standard playing cards. You'll have to fill us in on "Cinch".

    Cute pictures! Thanks for posting them.

    These are my kind of haystacks.

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  46. Hey Puzzlers, am I the last one to hear about the embarrasment that happened at KTVU in San Francisco?

    The news anchor read the "names" of all four pilots on board the Asiana flight, not knowing they were all bogus. Example: she spoke the captain's name as Sum Ting Wong. Ouch!

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  47. Jeff Foxworthy @ 10:20, hilarious nerdy jokes. I especially liked the ones about the Buddhist monk, and how to tell a scientist from a plumber. HA HA!

    C.C., love your ninja avatar. Thanks for posting those sweet pics of Montana's grandchildren.

    Avg Joe, I can't even imagine how that stacker works, but it sure looks like it would be fun to slide down!

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  48. Dudley:
    Yes. But that wasn't the worst one.

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  49. Hahtoolah, why is 'friendship' in the Texas motto "ironic"?

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  50. What a good theme! how do you constructors do it? It was fun to come here after a harrowing half-day of work...instruments and computer system shell-shocked after a wicked electrical storm last night.

    We made haystacks when I was growing up, but not with one of those Slide Stacker things; we had a frame and just put loads of hay in with a thingy on the front end of the tractor made up of long metal teeth to gather the hay from the windrow and a pusher board to push the hay onto the stack. It was all hydraulic. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, but it was fun to run, except when you ran it into a molehill and bent the dickens out of one of the stacker teeth. (not that that ever happened to me or anything...)

    Great links, Argyle. I hadn't seen the Sheldon/Uranus one. Enjoyed the nerd jokes too!
    Cute grandkids, Montana. and nice to see you again, Mari.

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  51. Thanks, CC, for posting the pictures. One was from iPod, one was on iPad and professional one was e-mailed from son's desktop. Too many devices these days!

    Ave Joe, that Slide Stacker you linked is the type of implement still used in the hay valleys in SW Montana. Lucina, I have never seen them used anywhere else in MT and there are no major roads through those valleys. I also like Mari's haystacks!

    Gladiola bulbs need to be dug up and stored over the winter here. Then in the spring, they can be replanted. Many, many gardeners grow glads.

    Abejo, I also was unfamiliar with UNO. My son just pulled out a deck and explained the game to me. He says I played it with my kids when they were young. (I don't remember it.)

    YR, my granddaughters are in Denver. It is a 4 hour drive to airport, but roundtrip tickets can be <$200 so that isn't bad.

    Have a good evening, all,
    Montana

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  52. Found this on the web:

    "What does the word "Texas" mean?

    Texas is from the Caddo Indian word "teyshas" (meaning "friends" or "allies"). In the 1540s Spanish explorers took this to be a tribal name, recording it as Teyas or Tejas. It came eventually to mean an area north of the Rio Grande and east of New Mexico. The alliance concept is also incorporated into the state motto, which is simply "Friendship."

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  53. Hahtoolah was clearly making a political comment as evidenced by a similiar comment about the subject in her own crossword blog, QOD.

    She has showcased her disdain for Texas, its residents and its politics on several previous occasions. But again its okay because of the liberal bias she and this blog prefer.

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  54. Hi all,
    This was a nice puzzle for a Tuesday. I usually don't get it done but did get most of it (with the help of my DH).

    Montana, your granddaughterd are beautiful. In two weeks our great grandson (and family)will be here. I can't wait!

    Des Moines- we go past it every time we go to NW.Missouri to visit family.

    I was amused at how the 2 Hugh's came together on 58 down and accross.

    In my early days of nursing we were basic care givers and passed meds. Now the nurses do many more things the Dr.s used to do.

    I was impressed by one of the nurses who cared for me in the emergency room when I cracked my pelvis last Dec. She was looking at my chart and looked at me and said "you're 80 years old?" I said yes and smiled.

    Haystack-There are some Amish communities in this area and every year one group has a 'Haystack'dinner to raise money for charaties. They hand you a plate and you go through the line and pile it as high as you you can stack it without spilling. Then there are the desserts,etc. Fun.

    I guess it's time to think about getting. Have a good evening!
    Marge

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  55. Spitz:
    That is interesting about the origin of TEXAS. I once had a professor who after discussing the war between TX and Mexico declared that land was appropriated from the Mexicans who had settled there because they were not sufficiently intelligent to possess it and manage it.

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  56. My mother-in-law was born in 1897 and helped with the farming with horses until her marriage. Somewhere I have her taped voice telling about building a haystack which was considered an art. Her German-born father wanted the long prairie grass laid a certain way using a pitchfork especially on the top of the "loaf" so the water would run off and not into the stack. Wet moldy hay was toxic to livestock.

    Living in Gunnison, Colorado about 50 yrs. ago, I saw the type of apparatus AvgJoe linked at work in many high mountain valley meadows.

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  57. I couldn't find a decent video of the slide stacker in action, but did find This article which gives a decent explanation along with a set of photos.

    The ranch I worked on in the early 70's had made a number of adaptations. The cage was solid rather than wire, and in halves. Half was on the slide, the other mounted on the front of a big tractor. Behind that half of the cage was a tall pedestal that had a "hydra-fork" on top. This eliminated having anyone in the stack (the worst job). The first year, I ran the tractor that pulled up the slide, then pulled that half of the rig to the next spot for a new stack. By year two, they made that hydraulic and the big tractor with the other half of the cage also pulled the slide, eliminating one more man.

    Back home in Eastern NE, we had always used a Farmhand or even a Jayhawk. The slide was much faster and allowed a lot more hay to be "made". Best day I can remember we put up 29 5-ton stacks. It was never used outside of the sandhills in NE that I'm aware of, but they were everywhere up there.

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  58. Really what does any of that have to do with Texas where the people are very friendly as well as often quite beautiful. As one often accused of being a liberal, and as one who understood the name history, friendship is perfect for the state. When I used to go on tour with a rock and roll band and we spent a week criss-crossing Texas it was wonderful.

    Coincidentally, I see today is COREY FELDMAN's birthday. You can link on the Two Coreys inside Argyle's Corey Haim link.

    Montana very precious.

    Have we ever had a hay vs. straw debate here?

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  59. And I too love the whole C.C./ ninja movement.

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  60. Nobody else commented when I said I had found "Robin and Marian" with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn on cable and was watching it again. I savored it slowly and am finally up to the end. It is so sad and romantic that I tend to watch it in small pieces.

    Speaking of sad, I first heard of this young girl on Ellen. I just found that she died today. Cover girl Talia.

    I wasn't sure about the difference between hay and stray but I bet Windhover knows. In summary, this is what I found. Hay refers to grasses or legume plants cut down fresh and baled for animal feed. Hay bales are usually greener than straw bales, the plant material finer. Hay smells really nice, too. You would not want to use this stuff as mulch, or you’d end up sprouting a yard full of alfalfa or whatever. It’s also more expensive than straw, about three times as much, depending on the grass type. No one would use hay as bedding.

    Straw is the dried stalks of cereal plants, like wheat. It’s a by-product of harvest. If any seeds remain on the stalks, it’s by accident. Therefore, straw is nutritionally void, and is not animal feed. However, that lack of seeds makes it a fine mulch, and an inexpensive bedding material.

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  61. Dudley at 2.26 pm - thanks to you I read the article on the WTVU anchor 'naming' the hapless pilots' of the Asiana flight 214, on their evening broadcast.

    I can't believe how the TV station , with a 140 person newsroom, fell for this age old trick .....

    And the NTSB confirmed it ....

    Would that be the NOT TOO SMART BROTHERS .?

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  62. Bill G - The Pennsylvania Hay Report shows hay and straw prices from last winter. Since their uses are different one wouldn't expect them to compete with each other. I know good quality straw for race horses at Saratoga is always at a premium, for instance.

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  63. Nikola Tesla shows up in crosswords all the time. He was a great scientist but here's what he had to say about women, probably about 1900...

    “The female mind has demonstrated a capacity for all the mental acquirements and achievements of men, and as generations ensue that capacity will be expanded; the average woman will be as well educated as the average man, and then better educated, for the dormant faculties of her brain will be stimulated to an activity that will be all the more intense and powerful because of centuries of repose. Woman will ignore precedent and startle civilization with their progress.”

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  64. Greetings!

    Thanks David and Argyle! Great work!

    A friend and I drove to San Antonio, Texas for a Math Assoc. Mtg. I presented one of my math videos. Wish I could have stayed longer. Everybody was extremely nice!

    Cheers!

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  65. Forgot to say how adorable your grandkids are, Montana! Hope you read the late posts!

    Dudley: I will be horribly disappointed if the Lewis series ends!

    Bought some of the old Morse series on DVD. Love it!

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  66. Maybe Hahtoolah does not know what "ironic" means. Just sayin'...

    It seems that its unanimous, "Friendship" is a appropriate motto for Texas.

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  67. Dudley, how about linking a photo of the neighbor's wife's body part in question so I can more knowledgably advise you in this matter. :>)

    I have to say that I think baseball does their All Star game better than any other professional sport. Very classy, year after year.

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  68. BillG: What? Are you trying to get Dudley arrested for taking and transmitting porn pictures of his neighbors wife? At the very least, he could make an enemy of his neighbor & wife. LOL!

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