Theme: Bee all that you can Bee, one clue will do.
Well it is Friday and we are presented with our second consecutive Friday single clue, five theme answer puzzle. This is our 4th puzzle from Ms. O'Conor (Don't you want to get her a second N?) since her first published LAT in January. It is impressive watching new constructors get going once they the first one is in print. Structurally, this is a classic Friday, low blocks and word count, and longer words, as well many new or infrequently used clues. Some of the nice fill that jumped out for me included ONE CARAT, RED SAUCE,
GETS USED TO, TURKEY TROT; these multiple word answers made the solving a challenge in places, but let us compare our answers.
17A Buzz: BEEHIVE HUM.(10). When I first saw this answer, I thought maybe it was going to have "HO" removed from every clue. Our onomatopoetic fill.
24A Buzz: LATEST RUMOR.(11). Many local news channels call their gossip segment the BUZZ.
33A Buzz: ASTRONAUT ALDRIN.(15). The second man to walk on the moon and the feistiest of all out astronauts. LINK. He is now promoting the colonization of Mars.
46A Buzz: ARMY HAIRCUT. (11). This is my meh theme clue, as really aren't they really called buzz cuts?
54A Buzz: COFFEE RUSH. (10). I imagine more of us will think of alcohol as the cause of a BUZZ.
Across:
1 Preppy clothing brand: IZOD. Alligators and ex-partner of Lacoste.
5 1996 A.L. Rookie of the Year: JETER. He is trying to come back, but 17 years have passed very quickly.
10 __ club: GLEE. Who would ever believe this would become a hit TV show. Also, a reminder of the price of fame, with the suicide of this young man and the contestant from the Bachelor.
14 It’s frowned upon: NO NO.
15 Slangy event suffix: ORAMA. Saleorama, cyclorama; not one I use or hear anymore, not to be confused with OBAMA.
16 Forever and a day: EONS.
19 Just as it should be: TO A T. One which can be hard to parse, what is a toat, does it rhyme with goat?
20 Patterned cotton cloth: CALICO. With this audience a Tabby would have been more popular.
21 Words said with an eagerly raised hand: ASK ME. I recall more, Me, Me, Me.
22 Three-time Boston Marathon winner Pippig: UTA. A change from Ms. Hagen. I wonder how many of our New England contingent recall her, and her giving new meaning to the winner trotting HOME.
27 Monopoly player?: CARTEL. This was a struggle because, as intended, all I thought about was the game.
29 __ Palace: CAESARS. My favorite casino. 35 black.
30 Kona cookout: LUAU.
31 Dome cover: TOUPEE. You see so many terrible toppers, are there no mirrors?
39 Some discount stores: K-MARTS. They are closing their stores slowly in Florida.
40 Squeal: TELL. My father was very strict in punishing any one of us who squealed on our brothers.
41 Fixes the weatherproofing on, say: RESEALS.
44 Vicky in the Nixon White House: POODLE. I only recall Checkers, the Cocker Spaniel.
49 Pre-1991 atlas initials: SSR
50 She played Ninotchka: GRETA. Garbo. The movie was pitched because the haughty, aloof actress laughed often in the movie.
50 She played Ninotchka: GRETA. Garbo. The movie was pitched because the haughty, aloof actress laughed often in the movie.
51 Moon of Jupiter: EUROPA. One of four big moons, but the astronomers now have counted 67 MOONS
53 Coal-rich valley: SAAR. This is information I learned doing the LAT.
58 Quito questionnaire catchall: OTRO. Other in Spanish. Capital of Ecuador.
59 Treads the boards?: SURFS. This was really tricky, as the phrase is so attached to actors in the theater in my mind.
60 Bounce back: ECHO. How appropriate for an all CLECHO themed puzzle.
61 Thomas who drew Santa: NAST. An extremely influential political cartoonist who did redesign Santa. LESSON.
62 Hush-hush hookup: TRYST. I just love this word, as it makes clandestine romance sound so fun.
63 They hold the answers: KEYS.
Down:
1 Schubert’s unfinished “Symphony No. 8 __ Minor”: IN B.
2 Saldana of recent “Star Trek” films: ZOE. They are making an Avatar 2. She was Uhura in the ST remake.
3 Like some diamonds: ONE CARAT. How big were your engagement rings ladies?
4 Qatar’s capital: DOHA. How cool, a shout out to our Doc.
5 Good-humored: JOVIAL. More Santa?
6 Put up: ERECT. Nope, not going there.
7 Chevy K5 Blazer, since 1995: TAHOE. Do you ever wonder who picks the car names?
8 Swift-running bird: EMU. For all the golfers out there, Tom Morris and his CADDIE.
9 Push firmly: RAM.
10 Learns to cope with: GET'S USED TO. Such an odd string of letters until you break them up.
11 “No hands!” lead-in: LOOK MA. The bicycle ritual.
12 Enthrall: ENAMOR. I am not in love with using an "EN" clue and an "EN" fill.
13 Beer-flavoring compounds: ESTERS. I need one of my brewing boys to write this, but I will let you read this LINK if you are interested.
18 __-et-Vilaine: French department: ILLE. and 37D Misfortunes: ILLS.
21 Tottering: AREEL: An A word!
22 Pac-12 school: UCLA.
23 Cross-shaped letters: TAUS. The Greek T.
25 Rabbits’ tails: SCUTS. A Gareth Bain type of clue; all stubby tails like rabbits and deer are called SCUTS. Also the Santa Clara college Rugby team are known as the SCUTS.
26 Taberna snack: TAPA. Spanish, we have our Taberna here in Hialeah, the word is like our Tavern and if you do not know, TAPAS are like snacks or appetizers.
28 Ragtime round dance: TURKEY TROT. I hope you are up on your dances from the 20's.(2:56).
31 Tibia neighbors: TARSI. The seven bones in the ankle which connect the leg (Tibia) to the foot.
32 Dead to the world: OUT.
34 Home of ConAgra Foods: OMAHA. Another Corner shout out, this time to the golfing legend HG.
35 Simba’s love: NALA. Can you feel the Love TONIGHT? (3:32).
36 Marinara, e.g.: RED SAUCE.
38 Nat or Phil: NLER.
41 Teases relentlessly: RAGS ON. Another tricky multiple word fill.
42 List of slips: ERRATA. Coincidental Steve?
43 Window washer’s concern: SMEARS. I would worry only about the scaffolding and falling.
44 Least spoiled: PUREST. Who among us?
45 Chiwere speaker: OTOE. A new clue for a staple, all perps.
47 Toss back into the hot oil: REFRY. Beans!
48 Perp’s bracelets: CUFFS. The other perp and his handcuffs, if he gets caught.
52 Nursery sch.: PRE-K.
54. Manitoba hrs. CST. Manitoba is just west of Ontario and is in the Central time zone.
55 “__ House”: CSNY hit: OUR. Took me a while to translate Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
56 Reserved: SHY. Yup, me too.
57 5-Down laughs: HOS. Second week in a row for this fill in a Friday puzzle, but I was feeling psychic after my BEEHIVE (HO) HUM thought.
Well we managed another one, and really diverse cluing, not too many proper names, not too many obscurities, but lots of different areas, which should give you all something to talk about and CED plenty of topics for linking. This has been a fun mostly easy week, and I hope you enjoyed this one. Thank you Jean and all of you old and new posters.
Lemonade out.
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Doha Doc, originally Vegas Doc who is now in Doha (no easy beer) for a business assignment.
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Doha Doc, originally Vegas Doc who is now in Doha (no easy beer) for a business assignment.
Great Friday, fun clues, clever fill.
ReplyDelete11D LOOK MA, no hands, no feet, no teeth said the daredevil bike rider.
26D I wanted TACO and 31D I took a while to think why some form of humerus didn't fit. Finally TAPA settled the whole section and I finished the puzzle which was easy for a Friday.
Favorite was dome cover, TOUPEE.
Hello there, Doha doc.
Morning, all (and Happy Birthday, Doc)!
ReplyDeleteHad trouble getting traction on this one for awhile. Had AEON instead of EONS at 16A, I KNOW instead of ASK ME at 21A and CUPOLA fit nicely (or so I thought) at 31A. Both of those slowed me down quite a bit until I finally removed them. I was sorry to see CUPOLA go, but I did enjoy the trickiness of TOUPEE once I got it.
Other slowdowns:
* Didn't know CALICO was a cloth as well as a cat.
* RAM is "push firmly"? How about "smash into at full speed"?
* ILLE took every perp.
* Jupiter has a lot of moons. Fortunately, EUROPA is one of the famous ones.
* Had no idea the Nixons had a POODLE named Vicky, and it wasn't helped by the fact that PUREST and "least spoiled" don't really seem to equate to me.
* SAAR, NALA, TARSI all needed lots of perp help.
See you all in a week or so!
[owasterm]
Bill G.,
ReplyDeleteAbout your puzzle on Wednesday. You said you had 50 coins and one was heavier than all the others. Well, then put the coins in three piles, two with 16 coins and one with 17 coins. Weigh the two piles of 16 coins each. If one pile is bigger than the other than that pile contains the heavy coin. Otherwise the pile with 17 coins contains the heavy coin.
Now you have two possibilities, namely a pile of 16 coins that you know has the heavy coin or a pile of 17 coins that you know has the heavy coin. You thus either make two piles with 5 coins and a pile with 6 coins or two piles with 6 coins and a pile with 5 coins. Repeat the procedure of weighing the two piles that should be the same weight. You either end up with a pile of 5 coins that you know has the heavy coin or a pile of 6 coins that you know has the heavy coin. You now put these coins in either two piles of two coins and one leftover coin or three piles of two coins. You will need only two more weighings at most to find the heavy coin for a total of four weighings.
Now suppose you start with 81 coins instead of 50. You can put them into three piles of 27 then three piles of 9 then three piles of three. So even with 81 coins you would need only four weighings.
I am good with math but I am terrible at Friday crosswords. I wanted JAZZ instead of GLEE and I ended up getting nowhere.
HAVE A GOOD TRIP, BARRY.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! I was just out of sync with this puzzle. Finally finished, but it took some red-letter runs to get me started in places. Interesting once I got going, but it made me cranky when the first half a dozen entries on each clue came up red.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lemonade for the good expo & links. I don't think I'll TURKEY TROT today. The old TARSI won't stand up to all that flinging about.
Never heard of UTA. Her link was TMI! Good grief, I don't understand athletes who punish their bodies to this extent.
The Nast info was interesting. I didn't realize he was Civil War era or had forgotten this.
The plumber who did my work last year wore a TOUPEE to make initial contact. It was a rich mahogany color never seen naturally. Then he'd go to his truck and exchange the toupee for a ball cap to go to work. After the dirty work was done, he'd go put the TOUPEE on again to come in and present the bill. I had a few giggles over this. Such vanity!
Bye Bye, Barry! Won't be the same without you.
Happy birthday, Doha Doc! Hope it's a good one. You always present some interesting viewpoints. Now that my son is over in that area, I'm more than interested.
Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Well, we are back to the Friday level puzzle. This was fun, but did pose a challenge.
ReplyDeleteHow appropriate to have DOHA appear on our very own DOHA's birthday! Hope have a great day!
If I were a professional window washer, I would be more concerned about heights, than SMEARS.
I initially thought CSNY was one of those TV cop shows, and it wasn't until I finally filled in OUR that i realized we were talking of the musical group.
QOD: Don’t underestimate your kids. Don’t be condescending; they’re children but they’re not stupid. ~ Steve Carell (Aug. 16, 1963)
[ircndo]
D'oh! Until Hatoolah's post I didn't catch on to CSNY.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everybody. Nice puzzle for a Friday (aka DNF for me) I did like the theme though - especially the COFFEE RUSH.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite clues were:
- 31A Dome Cover: TOUPEE
- 38D: Nat or Phil: ALER
Nice shout out to Doha Doc for his birthday at 4D. Speaking of which, Happy Birthday! I hope it's a good one. Must be tough being away from home.
Barry G: Where are you headed?
Jayce: How are things at work. (Did you win the Lottery yet?)
Off to read yesterday's comments. Hope we all have a good day.
An astronaut and Omaha in the same puzzle at just the right Friday level made for a fun time even with ZOE, UTA and ILLE. They could run but they couldn’t hide!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Golfing with 12 men yesterday got me the LATEST BUZZ.
-Yeah, Lemon, I’m a golf legend in my own mind!
-The most famous ARMY HAIRCUT (BTW, not quite a Buzz)
-No COFFEE RUSH? Hello 3 pm headache. Who’s addicted?
-JETER must GET USED TO a reduced ability to perform
-Certainly Bert would leave Sesame Street for PaperclipORAMA
-No LUAU for me unless Chefwen is cookin’
-Jerry called George’s TOUPEE his “little hair hat”
-OMAHA police recently said they are stymied by a hundred people at a party who witness a shooting but won’t TELL anything
-In 2010 A Space Odyssey, HAL warns, “All these worlds are yours except EUROPA, attempt no landing here”
-I got TAHOE, but here are a bunch of Chevrolets that start with a “C” and a KEY of course ;-)
-UCLA is just a hop, skip and a $39,000 purse from Beverly Hills
-Doc, have as fun a birthday as you can in that part of the world!
Against Idleness and Mischief
ReplyDeletefrom Divine Songs for Children by Issac Watts
HOW doth the little BUSY BEE
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!
How skillfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.
In works of labour or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.
In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be passed,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.
Isaac Watts
I must get buzzing along now. Today I am busy as a bee. Isaac Watts would be proud of me.
Did you know that many of Lewis Carroll’s verses are parodies of other poems?
ReplyDeleteThis one is from Alice in Wodnderland and is a parody of the verses I sent a minute ago.
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jean O'Conor, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the fine review.
ReplyDeleteWell, I got up a little late today, so the newspaper was in my driveway. I worked the puzzle with pen and paper. And, I do have a couple inkblots.
Started with IN for 1D. Held off on the third letter for a while. BEEHIVE HUM fixed that.
ERECT, TAHOE, and EMU were easy, so I had the center top.
All themes came with some thought and a few perps. Very clever construction.
I also was looking for a Monopoly game piece for 27A. With a couple perps, CARTEL appeared.
My haircut is a BUZZ. I gave up combing a couple decades ago. Mainly because I have little hair left.
Tried RUHR for 53A. That SW corner was just not working. Finally got ERRATA and TURKEY TROT. That gave me SAAR. Finished that corner, but do have a big inkblot there.
Happy birthday, Doha Doc. Never realized you were the former Vegas Doc. Have a great day!
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(fuseforc)
Yellowrocks: Great poetry
ReplyDeleteBarry G: Have a good trip.
Abejo
(isuldge)
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteDagnabit, DW hopped on the computer before I'd completed my post and logged me off. So here goes again...
When ACTS was too short, I thought of KURFS -- cutting grooves in a board to make a tread. Nope, SURFS.
I had mentioned that line from 20210, a sequel to 2001, A Space Oddysey, but now HG beat me to it!
HBD, Doha Doc. Hope you can find an expat watering hole in which to celebrate.
Today was round two of the great cooktop fiasco. A total of $340 later, the burner has been replaced, and everything is now operating. But, the serviceman cracked the glass top while disassembling the unit, so he's coming back next week on his nickel to replace that.
Happy Friday everybody!
ReplyDeleteAlmost fell out of my chair upon seeing Capital of Qatar as a clue - thanks Jean!
Alas, it was a DNF for Da Doc today. SW was just too crunchy. RAZZES for RAGS ON and STREAKS for SMEARS didn't help....
Other write (wrong?) overs include TARTAN for CALICO, I KNOW for ASK ME, and ARTY for ARMY....
Absolutely HATED getting BUZZ haircuts as a kid - must have been a hippie at heart....
Hands up for trying too hard to come up with a Monopoly game piece....
CAESARS was a gimme for this denizen of the desert....
Finally, thanks to all my Crossword Corner friends for the birthday well wishes (C.C., how do those candles stay afloat on top of that mug of suds?). Looks like my stint in Doha should be over in about a month. Be on the lookout for a new SoCal (either Riverside or Corona) Doc user name coming to a blog near you!
I have to disagree with Lemon--I thought there were too many names--not just people.
ReplyDeleteI wanted CREW CUT, which is what they were called in Oz when I was of an age there.
Also never know if it's going to be O, E, or A-RAMA, so have to wait and see.
NLER never occurs to me, Nat and Phil mean nothing to this non sports fan, so I couldn't remember what the last letter of ALDRIN was. I was thinking the name was ALDRICH and couldn't figure how to get that final sound with only one letter. That was my only remaining error.
Thought dome cover TOUPEE was cute--I was thinking arena domes and wondered why they would have an extra cover.
Forgot to say HBTY, Doha Doc! maybe that clue was your birthday gift today!
ReplyDeleteBarry, safe travels!
I'm always nervous to announce any upcoming absences online, so you'll always hear of my trips after they happen.
Lucina (from last night): I, too, enjoy America's Test Kitchen on PBS. DW doesn't eat meat, so I've had to learn to cook in self defense. Last month I bought their humongous cookbook which includes **every** recipe and equipment test from their first 13 seasons. That huge tome cost $28.90, but was worth it. (I did have to fight with them once again to keep them from auto-sending future cookbooks for my "review.") Yesterday I whipped up their "best beef stew" recipe. Yumm.
ReplyDeleteDW says that all CALICO cats are female. Anybody care to confirm or deny? I sure don't know.
Spitz, thanks for yesterday's info about Pomeranians. So maybe the old gal was of German descent after all. Her parents immigrated to the US not long after the Civil War.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteHave a happy Birthday, DOHA and report back to us!
Barry--you are going somewhere sans computer, iPad, whatever? Have a wonderful time anyway!
That was one tough puzzle compared to the rest of the week. No cheats but will refrain from mentioning the time taken beginning at 2 AM!
Thanks so much, Jean and Lemonade! Very clever!
Charlie has been getting her Tumexol® religiously but has now developed swelling in her (useless) front left paw. (There is a great deal of the drug remaining.)
Harv still out of commission.
Russian former colleague coming to stay here for the next two semesters at CSUN. Can't wait! (Really would like something other than lentils for dinner!) I will have to do lots of technical rewriting for him!
Cheers!
Lemon: Thank you for another interesting write-up & links.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday DOHA Doc. How appropriate the 'shout-out' on your day. Sheep Dip Scotch time?
Also fell into the 'streak' before SMEARS ink blot.
That SW corner looks NASTy.
For 'Beer-flavoring compounds' I wanted to enter "CED's Pizza Crust" (but it wouldn't fit!).
Hmmm, a grid with TRYST & HO'S ... it that a DF Mini-theme???
Cheers!!!
Good morning all.
ReplyDeleteHBDY Doha Doc. Nice shoutout today.
Not too bad for a Friday. I agree with Barry ; the RAM clue was strange. Nice BUZZ to the puzzle, though. Favorite BUZZword was BEEHIVE HUM. Perps helped with words like SCUTS and TAPA. On coal valley, figured it was either SAAR or Ruhr.
Chuckled over AREEL. Couldn't quite picture myself using the word in a conversation. (unlike SAAR which I don't have any trouble with)
A TOUPEE is also called a peruke in English. My mother would always say in L. German - Prüük; (Perücke in standard German.)
Have a great day.
HBTY Doha Doc aka Vegas Doc. I didn't realize you were one and the same.
ReplyDeleteTo push firmly = RAM is okay by me. I see in the news that a senior citizen who should not be driving tried to back out of a parking space. She put her car in forward gear instead of reverse and slowly RAMmed into the store front.
Additional dictionary definitons:
1.to cram; stuff: They rammed the gag in his mouth.
YR That is pushed firmly.
2.to push firmly: to ram a bill through the Senate.
3.to force (a charge) into a firearm, as with a ramrod.
YR again push firmly
D O, Yes it's true that all Calicos are female. Well, almost true. Very rare cases are reported, but it's not often. Marilyn Vos Savant even talked about this topic last Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI saw one male Calico once on TV during the local "Take Me Home" segment done on the local noon news where the director of the Humane Society brings pets in that are ready for adoption. Never heard of another one in real life.
HBDTY and many more DD, wjat a fortuitous time for Qatar fill; I am impressed.
ReplyDeleteHG, getting tired, sorry I forgot the double dip with the astronaut reference, though my recent image of Mr. Aldrin is from his run in with a 'fan' and his interview with Ali G.
A chaste young lady is the purest and least spoiled BG. Have a great trip; Dennis with BG gone, you want to pinch hit for a few days back at your familiar perch atop the day?
Nice job YR with the poetry, you are filling part of the void left when Clear Ayes left this world.
For the dancing ladies, which of the movements on the video is the Turkey Trot?
ReplyDeleteFirst things first .... Martin, your math solution was FANTASTIC ! I read it 4 times, only because I was so charmed. I'm not very good in math, but love math puzzles, and though I ignored the original problem, because of some emergent problems, .... Your solution is extraordinarily beautiful ! I now realize why Chinese are so good at math - I know, i know, you're only IN China - of a sort - but I'm sure the location makes all the difference (lol). Well done !!
ReplyDeleteLemonade, your blog explained, what was a mystery.
- shouldn't it be 'Monopoly playerS' ? A CARTEL is a group, ... A single player ... Is a ( drum roll, please -). , a Monopoly. ( duh ! ).
- Visit ConAgra and see the ConTaj Mahal ..... The 6 and a half-th wonder of the world.
- Calico comes from the town now called, Kozhikode, (Calicut), on the coast of the SW. Indian state of Kerala, where the fabric was first found / discovered. The loosely woven fabric, irrespective of color or design or print was, then popularized in the UK.
Desper-Otto, yes , your DW is right. The large majority of Calico cats are exclusively female, and of the XXY or the, more commonly called 47 XXY chromosome abnormality variety. They have impaired vision, and, this may be interest with those connected with cat shelters ----- are generally sterile. That is an autosomal dominant, hypogonadic trait, in genetic terms. ( I think - ).
Was it Erich Segal, the author of Love Story, who wrote, 'Sterility means never having to say you're sorry'. ?
Please note, the above is meant to be a joke. A poor one at that. It is only a joke, and not meant to offend anybody. If you are personally offended, you can cuss me out - but please don't clutter up the blog.
Happy birthday, Doha Doc, and what a wonderful coincidence - you made the puzzle on your birthday. Many happy birthdays in the future.
Lemonade, time to renew your drivers license, if it needs to be done. So long
Who sired the female Calico ?
ReplyDeleteThe male Calicos are all XXY, rather than the traditional XY of a male, as thee genome requires two X genes. There are genetic Human diseases which are only passed on by female children, such as an X-dominant mutation.
ReplyDeleteI read a first mystery Dante's Wood: A Mark Angelotti Novel by Lynne Raimondo where the genetics was part of the plot.
Thank Vidwan, your explanation is more concise, and of course trying to post at work is often interrupted.
ReplyDeleteAny birthday plans this year?
Hi Everyone:
ReplyDeleteI found this fairly easy for a Friday. Clever theme with some great, fresh fill. Fav was Dome Cover=Toupee. Thanks, Jean O'Conor, and thanks to Lemony for a nice expo. (I do want that extra N also, as my mother was an O'Connor.)
Happy Birthday, Doha Doc. Nice shout out on your special day. Nice shout out, also, to our Nebraskan, HG.
Enjoy the day.
This is just a test; I'm having trouble with my Google account.
ReplyDeleteHello, Lemonade,our zesty Friday blogger and all.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, DOHA Doc! How cool to have a puzzle shoutout on your birthday. I hope you do something special today.
Thank you, Jean O'Conor, for a good workout, a tad challenging but doable.
Quite a lot of write overs in this one, I KNOW before ASK ME, REROOFS then RESEALS (I'm very familiar with that one). GARBO changed to GRETA but all were easily perped and filled.
OTRO now seems to be a puzzle staple and once I had JOVIAL, though GENIAL was first, JETER fell quickly.
Now I'll see what you all have to say.
Have a splendid Friday, everyone!
Happy Birthday, Doha Doc!
ReplyDeleteI would love to see a video of people "almost falling out of their chairs." Come to think of it, I would love to see a video of people "LMAO."
I would imagine something like that to be very JOVIAL.
I would appeal to CED for such videos, but I bet we get cute CALICOs and POODLEs.
Just got back from a scrumptious birthday dinner consisting of a sauteed mushroom-topped filet mignon, cheesy mashed potatoes, and a chicken CAESAR salad. No Sheep Dip scotch, but there's a nice Aussie red at home as well as some Jameson's. Dinner was at a place called TAIFs. That's "Thank Allah It's Fridays" to us heathens....
ReplyDeletedesper-otto:
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you also enjoy ATK. I thought about buying their recipe book but opted for their "Cooking for Two" which fits my situation. For any others I print them out from the web site.
Have a great trip, Barry.
Hola Everyone, A challenge for me and I did finish with some Google help. But the Buzz phrases all came with ease.
ReplyDeleteCalico was one of my first answers. I had many calico dresses and made many calico dresses for my girls. We have a yardage shop here in the area called Calico Corner.
I had streak for a window washer's concern but Nast and Otro had me erasing that.
Bounce Back/Echo and Dome Cover/Toupee were my favorites today.
What in the world is a toat? To A T made so much sense once I read Lemon's writeup. Thanks for the help on that one!
Have a great trip Barry.
Have a lovely day everyone.
Zcarguy, to answer your question ; who sired the female Calico .... Let me put it like this.
ReplyDeleteA male donkey, and a female horse, artificially crossbred, (because they are a different species, altogether -) , produce a mule. The mule is sterile, and so thats the end of its genetic line.
A male horse and a female donkey (Jenny) produce a Hinny - another (reciprocal) type of mule - also sterile. End of genetic line.
But the parents of the two types of mules, are still and continue to be fertile. Now, these are examples of Cross-species hybrid, called F1's which is NOT a genetic sex chromosomal abnormality - which is what a Calico is.
A Calico is the color of fur, not a breed. there is no 'purebred' calico. it could be any breed, of any type of fur, with that White, Orange and Black color combination. The Calico's parents are not Calicos. Thus they are not sterile. If a black cat and a orange cat is bred, it MAY result in a Calico - this is not guaranteed. The gene abnormality is only by chance - good or bad luck, as you may deem it. The Calico child, is sterile, and has no further progeny. Calicos are not necessarily desirable, or expensive. Trivia; former Attorney General John Ashcroft is scared to death of Calicos, because he thought they were the product of the devil. (Black cats, altogether now, take a breather - ). Also in 2001, Calicos are the state cat of Maryland, because of the state colors on its coat. Since I don't want to get into any further trouble, I will refrain from commenting further ....
Lemonade, my plans for the birthday, is to get a short and sweet renewal of my driver's license. But thanks for asking.
Doha Doc, Taif, , or commonly Tawaif. Is a Pakistani word for prostitute.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin.
Glad you enjoyed your outing. HBTY.
Happy Birthday Doha Doc. I hope you do something really special to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteJust read about your delicious dinner. That was special.
Another super poem, Yellowrocks. Thank you for that today.
Turner's syndrome is a human female X chromosome anomaly and renders the person sterile and often with stunted growth. Just as Calico Cats are sterile the syndrome is connected with the X Chromosome. Vidwan's post explained it quite well.
What a great puzzle week this has been! (You can tell that a string of pretty easy ones makes me deliriously happy!). This one was doable, clever, and fun--many thanks, Jean! And you, too, Lemonade, for the fun expo.
ReplyDeleteI too don't know my Taberna from my Taverna and wanted TACO before TAPA. Had no idea the Nixons had a POODLE in addition to Checkers. Had ___TREMOR before I finally got LATEST RUMOR. And for my dumbest moment wanted some version of TARP for the dome cover--as though you could cover a whole stadium with a TARP. Cracked up when I realized it was TOUPEE.
Watching the "Bachelor" and the "Bachelorette" is one of our guilty pleasures. So the news of Gia's suicide hit us hard. She was one of the sweeter contestants.
Loved the double whammy of poems, Yellowrocks!
And finally, glad you had a lovely birthday dinner, Doha Doc!
Have a good Friday, everybody!
Happy Birthday Doha Doc!
ReplyDeleteJean's puzzle was a slog for me - many a google and still a DNF. Hands up for "streak" (43d), "I know" (21a), WEES.
No one had Polo at 1a nor Elks at 10a? I was thinking another easy day, then flipped my TOPHAT (31a) [I think 27a put that in my head - Tycoon was there]. Oh, well it wsa still fun. Thanks LEM for getting me squared away (10d wanna be). I eventually fixed most of it, but the NE was still messed up.
Martin - yes powers of three. For any set of coins <=3^n it takes n weigings (I got the i,e,c,"a" rule right YR!).
Lastly, after 55d was sussed out, I was singing Our House from Madness not CSNY. A generational thing I guess...
Cheers and safe travels Berry G!,
-T
I have 7 more years before I have to renew, so my day is free of the DMV.
ReplyDeleteReally great sounding birthday munch DD, though the restaurant name sounds interesting; I see that TAWAIF does refer to the courtesans of days of old. Has the word come to mean a prostitute now? My only URDU speaking friend has changed jobs and I do not see him often.
Doh! i, e, c, "a" rule didn't put the h in weighing... Argg.
ReplyDeleteLem - is spelling easier in URDU? So far, I'm only successful in artificial languages (e.g. C, LISP, FORTRAN).
-T
This has been a great week for puzzles I think. The first four were all maybe a little easier than usual but a lot of fun. I thought today's was a little harder than I would have expected but I really liked the theme and everything else about it.
ReplyDeleteMartin, excellent explanation! You and AnonT did well. I thought dividing the coins into three parts was counter-intuitive.
I finished but only after multiple cheats. I could only get LUAU and SCUTS the first time through. I reckoned I deserved the help just to get my doughy brain refocused after two days of stomach bug misery. Arrgh. I woke up around 3 am Tue/Wed night in severe distress, then managed to sleep fitfully all the way through to Thursday noon.
ReplyDeleteMy wife, bless her, kept me hydrated and cancelled several appointments for me. Now I am just beginning to come around, still woozy and weak, but I think the Xword has awakened another 10% of dormant cells.
Thank you, Ms. O'Conor for stimulating this ol' brainpan.
Happy Birthday to YOU!, Doha Doc.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know you were Vegas Doc, either.
Thanks Lemonade for the write-up. Always enjoyable.
Fun puzzle, never would have finished without red letter help.
Fermat: Who is Harvey?
I wish you could get someone to go grocery shopping for you, so you can stock up on canned or frozen food.
It worries me that you don't have enough food on hand. Lentils? Every day? That's not right.
Can't you get someone to deliver food to you?
Is doing personal business on company time a firing offense and a gross lack of professionalism.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, gang - all my comments about this one have already been covered; I needed perps for several of the names, and even when I had ARM_HAIRCUT for 46A, for some reason I couldn't suss it, and needed TURKEY TROT to get it. Speaking of Turkey Trot, it was also the name of a nasty little exercise our DI's would punish us with at Parris Island. Such happy memories...
ReplyDeleteOverall, an enjoyable puzzle and on the money for a Friday.
Lemonade, thanks for the thought but I think I'll pass, for a myriad of reasons. Besides, four years of being first post most mornings is enough.
Lucina, thanks for that great recipe yesterday. I'm still getting my feet wet with cooking, but I just might be able to put that together. I'll let you all know, either from here or the hospital...
Happy Birthday, Doha Doc, and many more. Sounds like it's been a good one so far.
Have an outstanding weekend; the dreaded school buses make their return here on Monday.
Good afternoon Lemonade, C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to Doha Doc!
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.
Great write-up Lemony, full of fun facts and useful information. I thought it was interesting that we had Thomas NAST today, since he is basically the American equivalent of HONORÉ Daumier that we just had last Saturday. Really fun puzzle, and I had the same thoughts you did about the sparkly fill.
I’ll have to read you all later...
When I was a kid, a buzz cut or crew cut was called a "slitzy"-- or maybe "slitzee"; it was never spelled out.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if anyone else has heard the word? Was it just local to San Francisco, or isolated to the Marina, or to Union Street where I grew up?
I have just recently started getting this crossword delivered to my printer every morning.
ReplyDeleteI found this blog when I was looking for information on the web to answer a clue.
I found all the comments interesting.
What does perp mean?
Testing again, sorry.
ReplyDeleteDixie Darlin, welcome.
ReplyDeleteA perp is a clue/answer that crosses the one you're working on. It's PERPendicular to it.
Dixie - I had the same question a few months ago - Perpendiculars aka the crosses.
ReplyDeleteBefore this blog, there was Puzzle Girl's blog that would eventually finish LAT cross-words on W-F for me. I know she's had a few published, but I haven't seen nor heard about her since. I stumbled on this one one eve and love the gang... Only the Friday Snark is a PITA (pain in the A*** - Another one Misty!).
Welcome to the blog!
-T
Argyle, Is doing personal business on company time .... Yes, unless you work for the government, then it's merely Taking care of business .
ReplyDeleteDennis and Anonymous T, Thanks or the quick answers.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous T - I had a dog that I named PITA on the second day I had her. She was a great dog, but she was also a PITA.
AnonT. Puzzle Girl closed down her blog,. The L A Crossword Confidential., on October 1', 2011. - forever.
ReplyDeleteC.C.'s. L A Crossword Corner - this blog - predates Puzzle Girl's blog.
Duke Ellington's
ReplyDeleteBrown-skin girl in the Calico gown
They are dancing the turkey trot.
ReplyDeleteLink Turkey Trot
Why are all calico cats female? I like this explanation.
Link text
I have a lot more buzzin' to do before dark.. off to the supermarket.
Welcome Dixie Darling. Do become a regular here.
ReplyDeleteAnonT - Is spelling easier in Urdu ? Of course, since all those languages are strictly phonetic. There are no spelling Bees, that would be an oxymoron or redundant. It's when you try to spell Urdu words in the Roman alphabet, (this) that you run into problems. Much like Chinese words.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, Tawaif.s. were like Geishas - a very noble , rich, and learned profession .... 200 years ago. Now, it is just a euphemism for a prostitute. It still retains some class - because, it's what the prostitutes call themselves (!). The "outsiders". have much worse words for them.
If interested, look up youtube with either or any of the. following words -------
Hira Mandi ( Lahore's diamond market), - really a red light district. Also "Shahi Mohalla" -the 'Royal neighborhood'.
Mujra ( a dance that is preparatory to some other serious business ).
Tawaif /. Call girl. / Pakistan.
Etc. plenty of youtube videos to go around. Since the Pakistan TV is limited, by law, and audience interest, in their coverage of the political news, they make hay, and raise their Neilsen ratings by so called 'exposing' the flesh market , in great painstaking detail, and the lurid scenes that follow.
Since there are few subtitles to these youtube episodes, everything is left to your fertile imagination !!
It apparently is very titillating to the local TV audiences to watch on TV, that such 'goings on' can be tolerated and condoned, so blatantly and flagrantly, in an 'strict' Islamic state, where the existing Sharia law requires both the prostitute and the john be summarily stoned and buried alive.
Hated this puzzle, and I'm disgusted with all of you who pretend you liked it.
ReplyDeleteTired of this sort of garbage.
I just looked up from my other computer for a break _and_ Friday snark is back. Seriously dude, move on..//yes I read all your links.....
ReplyDelete@2:09 Anon BTO link made me think of BOC (Blue Oyster Cult) and then this IF you don't know this, THEN you need more cowbell, ELSE ECHO "error." :-).
@3:05 Anon - thanks for letting me know that about URDU. I have a hard enought time with English, so I try to stay away from other languages (Spanish was the only class in HS that I - me? - got a D in!). I will give it a look the next time I can't sleep.
@2:09 Anon - I did not know C.C. had this until PG went dark. I know PG's name starts with an A and she was published in LAT w/ someone else once or twice. I liked her sense of humour and hope she's well. If any one has a better memory than I and can inform me, I'll use my last post to thank them for the update.
Keith welcome back after being OUT.
-T
Gotta go. Need to fill in and sign my timesheet. I'll be back after a few happy hour libations.
ReplyDeleteSee ya soon, lefty!
Wow, talk about a tempest in a teapot! TAIF was simply a feeble (and probably un-PC) attempt at humor, changing the G from TGIF to an A. You know, God to Allah? On the other hand, I now know more about Pakistani prostitutes than I ever thought I would....
ReplyDeleteSince the Cornhusker State got a nod in today's puzzle, it's only appropriate to link this videos Above Nebraska.
ReplyDeleteOur State Bureau of Tourism commissioned a European company to do an aerial flyover of many points of interest in the state to highlight the geographical diversity. There's others on YouTube as well, but I think this one does a pretty good job in the 3 minutes that it's all crammed into.
I clicked on the Above Nebraska and, as it so often happens, it starts up for a secod or two and then stops. Every time I restart it, the same thing happens. Probably 7 out of 10 links that I click on from the blog have the same problem. Does anyone else have this happen? Could it be just an iPad issue?
ReplyDeleteIM, it's not you or your iPad, it's a memory issue. Try starting the video, then hitting the Pause button while the rest of the video "buffers" for a while. Watch the progress bar on the bottom, then when you think enough of the video has been sent to you, hit Play....
ReplyDeleteIM - At the risk of over posting today (and / or thanking whomever knows PG)...
ReplyDeleteI have that issue on the iPad aplenty (another a-word!). I've found that if I tap the link (to stop or close, and then hit the "recycle" looking symbol in the URL bar, it reloads just fine. Basically, just tell the iPad "forget it" and then re-load. The only other issues I have are the videos that must be seen on a laptop (why?) and some of the images in the expo posts.
Ave Joe - I watched that video and they did a great job. Now if I can convince DW to go to Nebraska....
OK, back to the salt mine. Cheers, -T
Good afternoon, all! Thanks, Jean, for serving up a hearty helping of Friday fun. I enjoyed the theme, especially COFFEE RUSH (of course). Great write-up, Lemonade. Loved the CSNY link of OUR House. Glad I wasn’t the only one who was initially confused about that one (I also thought it referred to a cable TV show).
ReplyDeleteSCUTS was a learning moment for me, but got it from the perps. Did CALICO remind anyone else of the old song School Days? I’ve had “You were my queen in calico, I was your bashful, barefoot beau….” running through my head all day. Got a chuckle out of Dome Cover = TOUPEE.
Sounds like it’s been an enjoyable birthday, Doha Doc – may you have many more. Next year you can celebrate State-side.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Lest anyone get a mistaken idea, only MALE calico cats are sterile. I've had some calico females that were anything but sterile. I had a tortoise shell calico that always had three pretty identical kittens of whatever color tom was circulating in the neighborhood. One year I saw her with a black/grey striped tom then a while later with a white tom. She had three black/grey striped babies and three white babies. I figured each of her eggs had the triplet factor. I wasn't thrilled with six babies.
ReplyDeleteAnonT. - the Puzzle Girl's name is Angela Halsted and she made Rank Number 134 in the ACPT. In 2013. Look it up.
ReplyDeleteShe was doing the L A Crossword Confidential, all by herself, and it became too much for her.
So she stopped on October 21, 2011. The date was cut off on my earlier post.
I think she now does the crosswords , on a one or two days basis for Amy Reynolds or Rex Parker.
I really don't know, and I am really not interested. ( in short, that's all the info I can give you .....
Good a luck.).
AJ @ 1555 - Avg Joe - Great video. Thanks for sharing. Breathtaking photography. Great shots of the UP and the NP yards. Even a great shot of HG golfing.
ReplyDeleteI see from Wiki that the Otoe were neighbors of the Omaha. The last fluent chiwere speaker died in 1996.
Irish Miss @ 1616 - When you link up, you may need to give it a little more time to buffer properly, especially if you have band width issues. Just a thought.
We had a female Calico that lived 20 years. She was fearless; once taking on a racoon, (We all got rabies shots including the cat.) And she once chased the neighbor's St Bernard dog out of the yard, hissing and spitting while on only on her hind legs. Her name was Sneaky.
Welcome Dixie Darlin
Thanks for the positive comments about the video. Having lived in Nebraska most of my life, and having been in 87~ of the 93 counties, I've always been struck by the natural beauty surrounding us. I believe the creators of this promotion did a very good job of making it clear that it's not all like driving across the state on I-80.....a point I've been making all my life to anyone that will listen.
ReplyDelete-Joe, that was a great video of our Husker state. I think I’ve been to all those places
ReplyDelete-Spitz, how’d ya know that was me cranking that 5 iron? ;-)
-Yesterday, Splynter was right about “AMUSE” being threateningly in Goodfellas. I found the link and was going to post it, but the language is “off the wall” R-rated. Montana correctly identified The Little White Duck was sitting in the water doing what he OTTER
-Did Peruke in today’s discourse remind you of the name of the unfortunate Turk who met his demise in Lady Mary’s bed on Downton Abbey?
Just read Martin`s post (7:00) and it gave me a headache! No offense, Martin, I have a severe case of mathaphobia.
ReplyDeleteOnce I found two "buzz" answers, the rest were easier.
Barry: A landscape can be pristine/pure and then be spoiled by a developer. If EPA can find a reason quickly enough, the landscape can remain purer than it would have been.
Haven`t we had the tri-colored cat discussion before? I read one post that said" Cats can be one or two colors and be either male or female...but a three colored cat is always female." Must not be true.
Stay safe in DoHa Doc and happy birthday!
Doha Doc, Anonymous T., and Spitz:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your suggestions but I am still at sea. I'm not sure what buffer means, I don't see any URL or recycle symbol, and when I hit pause, nothing else moves. I did wait several minutes before I started the video and it then ran for a full minute before it stopped and then the same startt/stop problem.
Welcome to the weekend! Thank you Ms. O'Conor for helping me to re-engage brain after a hectic week, and thank you Lemonade for clearing up CSNY for me. I honestly didn't realize they were the artists.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Doha Doc, now that I know you are in Qatar I can say sorry you missed my husband who was in that country a couple of months ago, as part of an installation.
I grew up in Centerville, Ohio, where our local grocery store was called FoodARAMA. Our parents cancelled our account there after some overuse of the privilege by my younger sister and myself. I was shocked when I was able to open an account at the little market near us in Hammarland on the Aland Islands in Finland, despite my not being from there nor having had generations of relatives in the area. Perhaps my highly pregnant state at the time was a factor.
Interesting about rabbit tails -- there is a cartoon character called Lille Skutt in a very popular Swedish children's series, Bamse, world's strongest bear (after he eats the special honey his grandma fixes which is of course unpalatable to most other living creatures).
SMEARS were a big issue for me this summer, as I had to wash all the windows of our country home over the summer and it involved 4 sides for every individual opening piece, see time mark 1:30 in the video for the inside dealiwag. Never saw this type of window construction before moving here. Did not worry about falling, only about fly poo,on the woodwork around the windows, which this video does not cover.
I miss my COFFEE RUSH adter my gallstone attack forced a drastic change of diet, but truth is I wake up much better now.
Peruk is Swedish for wig.
Great to check in, boy you crowd do wake up early!
SSM
AvgJoe, enjoyed the Nebraska video. My husband cut wheat in the panhandle around Sidney for many years and we hauled cows to Omaha annually. The state is beautiful to those of us who want liveable surroundings without a lot of humans cluttering up the spaces. By the way, I missed you during your leave of absence.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I said I'd never heard of AP studies. Today my DIL said two of her boys are taking AP math & English courses. Okay, they are only sixth & eighth graders, but then they can skip the equivalent in high school. Wow! Seems good if they can do it. Guess this is like the QOD!
Hands up for not catching on to CSNY before it was explained. This is one of those musical groups that I missed entirely during my child-rearing years.
Misty, I am mourning the untimely demise of GIA, one of the girls you might like your son to bring home. Wonder why things seemed that bleak? I know the player she was dating and he seems to have some anger issues.
Lille Skutt (referencing SCUT) is a bunny, a very fast one who often delivers the honey to Bamse.
ReplyDeleteSSM
That should have read, "I know OF the player she was dating." He's an NBAer with the New Orleans Pelicans, formerly Hornets.
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss... are you using safari on your iPad ?
ReplyDeleteI have had multiple problems with my imac and things it will not open.... I just think I have things fixed and it will quit again.... I gave up one time and went to google chrome... now when it happens I just use the google chrome....
It has happened again the nite before last.... I can't open Av Joe's video either.... among the other things that I cannot get.... two of lemonade's blog inserts where not there for me.....
I can access those things with google chrome....
It is Apple.... if you can get in touch with them by phone you should probably just call them... they should be able to walk you thru it....
I do wish I was more help, but I am a computer moron.... I could tell you to check your plug ins and then I wouldn't be able to tell you what to do... :)
Good luck....
thelma
Aka Thelma: yes, I use Safari on the iPad. I am not familiar with Google Chrome. Thanks for your help.
ReplyDeleteJust figured out that is was this song by the group Madness that was in my mind for the clue ___ House.
ReplyDeleteSM
Aka Thelma:
ReplyDeleteI just downloaded the Google Chrome app and was able to watch Avg Joe's beautiful Nebraska video with nary a bump in the road. Thanks so much for this info; now I should be able to see all the links properly. Thanks to all for your input.
Long day, thanks all. Puzzle Girl, Rex Parker and Orange started Confidential together and eventually she was left on her own. She got some help from Doug Peterson but blogging is lots of work and she has children. Enjoy the rest of the weekend
ReplyDeleteIrish Miss....
ReplyDeleteGlad I could help in some way..... I'm not saying that is the best solution... but it works for now until one figures out what safari is missing... :) :)
Do have a great rest of the evening...
thelma
Oh dear, PK, hope an abusive relationship didn't contribute to sweet Gia's suicide.
ReplyDeleteLemonade, has anyone encouraged Angela to just post on our blog once in a while? It would be nice to hear how she's doing.
One of our pups is in extreme pain tonight. Have given him Prednisone and Tamadrol. Why do these thing always happen on the weekend when our vet is closed.
Misty, I also hope Gia was not abused. How a guy acts on the basketball court may not be how he acts in a man/woman relationship, but an aggressive guy... Those guys spend so much of their year away from home base, I'd think a relationship wouldn't be easy.
ReplyDeleteMy DIL sent pictures last night & tonight of her two middle sons' birthday cakes, ages 11 & 9. Wish I were there. With their dad overseas, they still managed some beautiful smiles. It's the closest I ever get to their birthday celebrations since they've always lived in other states. Wish I could still travel.
All, Thanks for reminding me it was Angela who was PG. I had Googled, but PuzzleGirl A doesn't really a query make.
ReplyDeleteIM - Glad Chrome fixed it for you. I'm going to do some research tonight on why Safari does this to us.
SM - Welcome back. Madness was one of the bands that rode MTV's "golden years" when MTV had, urm, Music! If you like that music, may I suggest the two-CD set MTV Class of '83.
Have a great weekend all! -T
Anon T....
ReplyDeleteApple doesn't like anything remotely related to microsoft.... I have flip for mac and acrobat (think it's acrobat :) downloaded and for awhile it was fine.... couple nites ago not so fine.... I went back to chrome.... tho I am sure there are other browsers that would work....
I haven't been real happy with this thing lately anyway and then to have it quit playing freecell that was the end... :)
Have a good rest of the nite...
thelma
aka thelma - I'm not sure how microsoft fits into this unless I misunderstood IM. I thought we were talking about our iPads...
ReplyDeleteI did do some research and found that under iOS 6's Safari there's only one request to server simultaniously allowed. So this really has to do with the site / Safari compatability. Some sites have AJAX scripts that makes multiple requests at once, and Safari no likie... It's that or DNS pre-fetch, which is not a setting we can change (or I can find) on the iPad. /end nerd talk. -T