Words: 70 (missing F, J, Q, X)
Blocks: 28
I figured we were headed for a Silkie, and this was no disappointment -
in fact, I feel like it was made just for me - 36A and associated
clechos. 9's and 7's intersecting in the NW & SE corners, and
nothing longer than that. Lots of Periodic Table references, too, so I
better add a link for your viewing pleasure and edification~!
36A. Game with checks : ICE HOCKEY
- I have been working on a board game that centers around the way chess
men move, and so I was stuck in that kind of "check"; then I got to -
48A. 36-Across great : ORR - and thought "hmmm, OTT and baseball~?" - and ducked, right before the V-8 can hit me; and it doesn't end there -
12. Dramatic 36-Across final-minute situation : OPEN NET - in the last 90 seconds or so of the third period in a one-goal game, an NHL coach might pull his goalie for an extra skater, giving the team's offense a chance to score as if they were on a power play; the down side is that the defensive team can just shoot for the empty net - although that might lead to 'icing', and now it's getting complicated....I am never 'pulled' from goal when I play - we suffer the ignominious defeat
BONUS:
62A. Line on New York's state quarter : ERIE CANAL
\ 'ȯn- wərd, 'än- \ ~!
ACROSS:
1. In an innovative and memorable way : SEMINALLY
10. There's a point to it : SWORD - I went with SPIRE first
15. Dangerous element : PLUTONIUM - Uranium was too short; Pu worked (q.v.#94)- why did they not go with Pl for the symbol?
16. Get to the point? : TAPER - like a candle
17. Site of 1890s gold rushes : AUSTRALIA
18. "Your wish is my command" : "USE ME"
19. Fort Laramie hrs. : MST - I threw in PST, just to see - I was off by three letters (M-N-O-P) & one time zone
20. Kirshner of "The L Word" : MIA
21. Audited : SAT IN ON - like a class, not your tax return
23. __ en scène : MISE - Mise en scène, Frawnch "placing on stage", the use of all the tools in filmmaking to produce a more dramatic effect; I found a pretty good site here
25. Cartoonist awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2000 : SCHULZ - Charles, for 'Peanuts'
27. AEC successor : NRC - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission - keeping their eyes on 15A
28. Poetry slam, e.g. : EVENT
30. "__ for me" : SAME - I tried "DO IT..."
31. Coordinate nicely : MESH - MESH, MELD, went with the wrong one first
32. Almost went down : REELED - like in boxing
34. Make milk : LACTATE
38. Brand of attachable rotary mower : BUSH HOG - I had not heard of this company, but I am sure there are plenty on the blog who have
40. Job seeker-to-be, often : SENIOR - from college; I was already working at Grossman's when I was 16, and a sophomore in high school
44. Shut (up) : PENT
45. First to be called up : ONE A - Draft status; Saturday cluing
47. Israeli statesman Dayan : MOSHE
49. Rhoda's sister : BRENDA - a WAG, with some perps in place
51. Brae toppers : TAMS - hills and hats in Scotland
52. Issue : PROGENY - I have always heard this meaning 'offspring' or children, but the dictionary says it applies to products, too
54. Pro-__ : AMs - Like poetry slams for professionals and amateurs
56. Well-connected co.? : ISP - Internet Service Provider
57. Israel's southernmost city : EILAT - map
58. First stroke for many : DOG PADDLE - I was thinking golf at first - DRIVE, TEE SHOT, etc
61. Whoops : YELLS
63. Christopher Hitchens work : ESSAY
64. "Lend a Hand - Care for the Land!" spokescritter : WOODSY OWL
1. Modern junk dealer? : SPAMMER - Spam, Hormels' "SPiced hAM", now redefined in the digital age as the junk you get in your email inbox
2. Hard to pin down : ELUSIVE
3. It's highly touted : MUST SEE
4. Sitcom cousin : ITT - Du-du-du DUN (snick, snick)~!
5. Benchmark : NORM
6. First name in erotica : ANAIS - Nin, usually the fill we see; more on the "DF" here
7. Sweet-smelling bloomers : LILACS
8. That guy, to Guy : LUI
9. Singer known as the "Peruvian songbird" : YMA SUMAC - again, we usually get "YMA", or "SUMAC", but never the two together~!
10. Bearcat maker : STUTZ - I am familiar with the "Blackhawk" - I have the Hot Wheels version; here's the 1912 Bearcat
11. "How __ to know?" : WAS I - "But how was I to know/that she'd been shuffled before/said she never had a royal flush/but I should have known....what song? what band?
13. Contrition : REMORSE
14. Saturate : DRENCH - what UPS does to my shirts
22. Smart ones? : ALECKS
24. Join : ENLIST
26. Fluorine or iodine : HALOGEN - in orange on the table, the "Salt formers", Fl,Cl, Br, I, and At - Astatine (q.v.#85), which, according to EMD's PTE, occurs naturally in such small quantities that the whole Earth contains about 70g.
29. Texas __ : TECH
31. Lack permission to : MAY NOT - no, you mayn't....
33. Make safer, as livestock : DE-HORN - along with "lactate", "erotica", and "must see" in the puzzle, who will be the "smart alecks" to pull it all together?
35. Overflow : TEEM
37. Muskmelon cultivar : HONEYDEW - learning moment for me; didn't know what a 'cultivar' was; I had Honey BEE to start; the Wiki
38. Smoothie sweeteners : BERRIES
39. Presents for display, as blueprints : UNROLLS - Ah, I had SPREADS first
41. Emphatic turndown : "I SAID NO~!"
42. Current principle : OHM'S LAW - Electrical current, that is
43. Edit, in a way : RESPELL
44. Robin Williams title role : POPEYE - never saw this movie; Mrs. Doubtfire did not fit
46. Slowly : ADAGIO - music scores
49. Title auto in a 1978 Harold Robbins film : BETSY - I wanted VW Bug (Herbie, the Love Bug, but that was 10yrs prior) - never heard of this movie - lots of famous names in there, too
50. Pumped (up) : AMPED
53. Big party : GALA - which one, GALA, or FETE~?
55. Pouches : SACS
59. Número atómico 79 : ORO - last chemistry of the day - Gold, in Spanish (um, well, q.v.#79....)
60. One might be lazy : DAY - rainy days are lazy days for me
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to dear Melissa, who delights us every month with her beautiful write-ups and incredibly picture & video links. I still remember vividly the first time when Melissa visited our blog. She brought us this hilarious "Sex Bomb".
66 comments:
Hi Y'all! Whew! Gasp! I'm not enough of a smart ALECKS to do this one unaided. Had to red-letter a lot to get some toe-holds as usual. Thanks, Barry. First time through, I had only ITT & MST (I've been to Laramie). Then remembered SCHULZ being surprised at the award.
1A SEMINALLY was all perps. Not in my vocabulary & still don't quite understand this one.
Thought 1st name in erotica was Hughy (Hefner). Oh, my least favorite diarist.
Gimmees: 34a LACTATE (4 periods of my life), MOSHE & YMA SUMAC (which took a minute).
I thought WOODSY OWL said only, "Give a hoot, don't pollute" so I was left wondering. I'd give more of a hoot over another woody.
Our cattle were Polled Hereford which are genetically DEHORNed. Knew BUSHHOG.
NEW: EILAT, Israel. Will I remember that?
Thanks, Splynter. HBD, Melissa! C.C. great link.
Thanks, Splynter for the elements table. I hadn't scanned that for awhile. Left me with a question: what the heck do they put in HALOGEN lights? For some reason, I thought HALOGEN was a gas like neon.
I googled HALOGEN lighting and am thus now enlightened on the subject, I think...
Morning, all!
Struggled throughout, but managed to get through it unassisted. All except the entire NW corner, that is, which remained a sea of white until the bitter end when I finally gave up and resorted to Google, IMDB and red-letter help.
I shot myself in the foot from the outset by guessing LES at 8D. I should have known better to even try guessing French. Once I put it in, I forgot it was just a guess and didn't think to take it out when nothing else worked up there.
I did have YMA SUMAC, LILACS, MISE and ITT, but that was it in that section. Eventually used IMDB to get MIA and Google to get MST. Then I finally abandoned LES and used red-letter help to insert random letters until I got LUI. That was enough to get me PLUTONIUM, and the rest fell into place after that.
[testeemb]
"I googled HALOGEN lighting and am thus now enlightened on the subject"
Consequently, the federal government is now enlightened about your interest in halogen lighting.
Good morning Steve, C.C. et al.
Happy birthday, melissa!! Hope your day is really special.
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.
Steve, I filled in ERIE CANAL for “Line on New York’s state quarter,” but I didn’t “get” it. So I eagerly opened your blog to have you explain it to me, but thought you gave me nada! After staring at the coin trying to find the words, I finally saw the line stretching across the state. HUGE D’OH!!! So thank you for once again ‘splaining what I don’t understand!
Then I went to the MISE en scene link you provided, and spent almost an hour reading it. Now, “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!”
Yesterday’s NYT was a Silkie themeless as well, so I had practice before doing this one. But I still had a couple missteps. I first thought of Erica Jong instead of ANAIS Nin for erotica. And aSk ME instead of USE ME really slowed me down from seeing OPEN NET and STUTZ. That was my last bit for the finish.
Lucina, glad to hear you are now high and dry!
Have a lovely day, everyone.
Hello all,
Rare Saturday attempt for me and a similar experience as Barry. Nailed it UNTIL I reached the SE corner. Had I Cannot for 41D & Restate for 43D. I really believed MOSHE was Moche & 58A, First Stroke For Many was all about Golf. Making it even more confusing was I did have HONEYDEW & ADAGIO. Oh Hell, a Silky Saturday conundrum. I guess BG & Hondo were diagonally opposites today.
Melissa, a very happy birthday. Hope you get to do whatever you want to on your special day.
Good morning, Saturday solvers!
My NW was a vast, snow-covered wasteland. Eventually I found a toehold in the center and was able to spread out from there. I had a couple of missteps (EVASIVE/ELUSIVE, BANANAS/BERRIES) that slowed me down. When I finally came up with PLUTONIUM in the NW, the snow melted up there. Wow, there are lots more elements in the periodic table than when I was in school.
I'm not keen on the Brae / TAMS business. Brae's don't wear hats.
PK, I take it you're not referring to Woody Guthrie, Woody Allen or Woody Woodpecker.
My take on the SENIOR job-seeker was somebody over 50 who got downsized in '08 and is still out of work.
Splynter, I think it's you who DRENCHes the shirt while at UPS. In the summer I can manage that feat just by walking out to the mailbox and back -- 260 feet total.
Happy Birthday, Melissa.
Time for that bike ride...
Looking at this sea of white, my first impulse was to blacken a few dozen squares, but gave that idea up. MST was the first fill, Stutz the second and Amped the third. From there it was a serious wagfest, but it eventually came together. Last entry was the T in the Betsy Eilat cross, but I gave that better odds than an S.
Tough....very tough....but doable.
Splynter, did ya know "the jack" is Australian slang for gonorrhea? We Americans refer to it as "the clap".
d-otto, I had the same thought about "brae," and wanted to put in TorS. Good thing I held off, because the perps definitely made it TAMS. When I looked it up afterwards, I see that Brae is also a settlement in Scotland (pop. 660.) And maybe all of the people there wear tams?
51-Across. Brae toppers : TAMS
We are owed an explanation or an apology.
A worthy challenge. I had SPAMMER immediately, but it took a while to get on Barry's wave length. Then slow and steady won the day. There were no periods of just staring. It was not like stop and go traffic, but traffic that inches along at 10-20 miles an hour.
-I took ISSUE to mean offspring or children, so progeny was a gimmie.
-Just the G gave me BUSHHOG. And the final O gave me ORO.
-I had ITT for ISP until I needed it in the NW and bananas before BERRIES.
TAPER, the verb, to come to a point, was an easier image for me than TAPER, the candle.
SEMINAL, meaning having possibilities of future development, is just like semen which has the possibility of development into a new being . It has the same root. I just have to remember to use an I in the middle instead of an E.
I had the image of a TAM sitting on a hill. It seemed a nit at first. I rationalized it as being akin to “Paris topper-BERET”. The beret does not sit atop Paris. Please notice that A words come in handy.
Lovely picture Melissa. Oh, to be so young. I wish you a very happy birthday.
FYI: Julie Kavner, who portrayed Brenda Morgenstern on Rhoda, is the voice of Marge Simpson.
You know how good you feel when you finally get that popcorn hull out of your teeth. That’s a Silkie feeling in that it takes effort but you know you’re gonna get it. Periodic table and hockey knowledge helped. BTW, Splynter, we are thinking of going to Home Depot to look at mowers today, there’s this Russian woman…
Musings
-Hiring Bob Devaney in 1962 was a SEMINAL moment for Husker football where he raised the NORM to national championships
-You can AUDIT a class at home like these Yale lectures
-Hmmm… A SENIOR with a degree in Renaissance Art. You want fries with that?
-Releasing your PENT up emotions can be dangerous
-My MIL’s grandchild PROGENY and spouses all have multiple college degrees
-My first stroke off the tee can look like a DOG PADDLE, Splynter
-Junk? When do pickers become hoarders?
-Acoustic version of song with ELUSIVE in lyric
-This film based on the Leopold and Loeb story had a pair of glasses and a STUTZ as plot elements that foiled their “perfect murder”
-Ever seen this TEEM?
-My smoothie sweetener was a BARISTA at first
-HBD, Melissa Bee!
Good Mornin' to all:
Happy Birthday to Melissa!
What in the world is LUI ?
NE corner was my last fill.....guess I just have to be different...most had trouble with the NW, where I started.
This morning is a beautiful start to a great day. The sun is shining; the baby cardinals are getting some color; the hummers are fighting over the feeder...Life is Good!
Good morning everyone.
Happy Birthday Nelissa B.
Another gnarly Silkie. But kept my wits about me and did not overthink it and so was generally successful. Looked up at. no. 79 - gold so ergo: ORO. That yielded DOG PADDLE and WOODSY OWL and, voilà , it was done. Favorite clue was for OHM'S LAW.
EILAT - I think Israel's coast on the Gulf of Aqaba only extends something like 4 miles.
DEHORN - Very painful for a grown animal. We learned to use dehorning paste on calves when they were a few weeks old. Rub it on the horn nubbin before it starts to grow.
SAT IN ON.- I audited a course on Glacial Geology in Grad school. Very interesting and time well spent.
Have a great day.
I too ended up with back to back Silkie Solves but I enjoyed this more than yesterday's NYT.
Thanks for the melon link, S., we had a discussion of Casaba and Cranshaw during lunch at work yesterday and I would have contributed more if I had read the article. I loved the answer being next to BERRIES since apparently melons are just big berries. I always thought they were MUSH MELONS, not MUSK.
PK I was taken aback by your comment, well done.
I never saw the line in the map of New York before, but with magnification there it was.
Argyle, with our Simpson dissing crowd I do not think they care about Julie.
And most importantly HBDTY Melissa and many more.
Good Morning:
A typical Saturday Silkie but a tad tougher to crack. Thought I would have to get help to finish the Southeast corner, but I finally got rid of Woodstock for Woodsy Owl and the rest soon fell into place. Also had restate before respell and ITT before ISP.
Kudos to Barry S. for a very challenging and satisfying puzzle and thanks, Splynter, for a neat expo.
Enjoy your day.
Oops! I forgot to wish Melissa a very Happy Birthday. Have a wonderful, fun-filled day!
Hi again~!
Oh, Marti, I will have to refer to you as "Argyle" next week....
Anonymous - that's the song~! - and yes, I knew the double entendre there....
Erie Canal is OK on the coin, but Lawn Guyland is seriously malformed
Splynter
Southern Belle@8:51 -- Guy is a French name, as in Guy de Maupassant, a famous 19th century French writer. LUI is a French pronoun (I think). On Saturday they're allowed to give arcane clues/answers.
Oh Splynter, my Saturday hero! I am truly heartbroken that I miswrote your name. But I wouldn't mind being called Argyle - that way, people would think I am really smart!!
For no apparent reason-
Our yard in August
Hello Puzzlers -
Zoomed right through, unusually so for a Saturday Silkie. Just happened to know today's clues, except for Eilat. Was confused at Woodsie Owl, knowing only the Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute slogan. The sports clues were, for once, within my knowledge because I actually played high school hockey (wasn't too good, but I had fun).
Happy Birthday M Bee!
Cheers All
Yay! A completed Saturday Silkie (unlike yesterday's NYT) under an hour. I almost hurt myself doing a cart wheel in the kitchen.
I had a few erases - ENTR no, SITU no, ahhh, MISE en scene. Of course, HA. My Latin knowledge is sorely lacking. Res ipsa locuitor...
Melissa B-Happy B-Day! I hope someday you'll be available to join the California Coven for coffee. I'll buy!!
Feliz Sabado a todos...ARRIBA!
Well, I've got such low expectations of doing a Silkie, that getting 2/3 actually felt okay. I got much of the North thanks to YMA SUMAC. But got in trouble with MELD and BUICK instead of BETSY. Thought the BUICK would go well with the STUTZ. But what do I know about cars? However, I did get both ICE HOCKEY and ORR even though I know as much about sports as I do about cars. But I should have gotten POPEYE. If I can't get a cartoon I'm in big trouble, but I too wanted the impossible MRS. DOUBTFIRE.
Sleep problems continue. Tried a Sleepytime tea at bedtime last night but it acted more like a stimulus than a soporific.
Nice expo, Splynter, and have a lovely birthday, Melissa.
And have a great weekend, everybody!
Marti @ 10:43 - I know how really smart you are, from personal experience! (-:
HG @ 11:17 - Lovely pictures. Someone has a green thumb! Thanks for sharing.
I picked my first 3 homegrown tomatoes this week and bought a sacksful of local tomatoes at the farm store. Yum!
Not so yum --- Last week I saw black dots on the leaves and suspected it was insect droppings. Yesterday I found some stripped stems and today I found two small partially eaten green tomatoes and quite a few green tomato hornworms. I read you should pick them off with tweezers and drown them in soapy water. The little devils are hard to spot because they lie along the stems and blend in. I will now buy a bacterial insecticide that is harmless to humans, Thuricide.
Maybe next year I will just buy my tomatoes at the farm store.
"Empty net" is the more recognized term. OPEN NET is a bit of a stretch.
I miss eddyB.
Hello everybody. This is one of those puzzles where I do better to just walk away from it for a while and do something else; suddenly a halogen bulb lights up in my head and the answer announces itself. "Oh! Progeny! Of course!" What kind of hog? Ahhh, a BUSH Hog; makes sense!
Loved DOGPADDLE and OHMSLAW (not to be confused with Cole Slaw).
They only answer it took all of the perps to get was EILAT.
Extra special best wishes to you today, Melissa.
Hello, stalwart solvers. Thank you, Splynter, for the chemistry and other diverse lessons today.
Happy, happy birthday, Melissa!
Yowza! A Saturday Silkie is a main EVENT which left me PENT up at times. For some reason I can usually start at the bottom on his puzzles.
Accordingly, SAC began my slog through the mire along with MOSHE, a name I've managed to remember. That led to OHM'S LAW then RESTYLE which eventually changed to RESPELL. And so it went.
EILAT just appeared and I trusted it would be correct. Finally I had to search for MIA and AUSTRALIA which enabled me to finish the top.
Great fun on this puzzle but it took much longer than usual and now I have to go as I'm going to a movie with a friend. We love RED and now RED 2 is out. It's silly and fun with a great cast.
Tomorrow I'll go see Blue Jasmine.
You all have a splendid Saturday!
HG: Beautiful yard! Thank you for sharing. Could I hire you to do mine? My yardman hasn't got a clue what is a desirable plant and what is a weed. My gorgeous white iris and a good stand of periwinkel are gone.
DO: Right! Not one of those Woody's. How'd you guess?
Why mothers go gray: Al Quaida warnings and embassy closings the week my AF son lands in the middle east. Or I guess he did. His email said only he'd seen some familiar faces which helped in transition. Oh well, maybe I don't want to know. I guess I'd rather he'd be cryptic than blabbing all the national secrets.
PK, maybe I was thinking Woody Harrelson? Nah. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
In my study of halogen lights, I noted that they burn hotter than other lights and some had been known to cause fires. Oh goody! That's the light I have been using for an all-night light. One more reason to have insomnia. I've been using it that way for several years so ODDS are, this one is okay. Isn't it?
EILAT was just in the news a couple days ago...
I was shocked that I got all but the SW rather quickly (for me)on a Silky. A little red lettering allowed me to finish. I'm not in the class of solvers here who rarely have a DNF.
Damn, PK I was sure it was Woody Woodpecker you were hoping to see in your bushes. Be careful of Splinters, not Splynter's
tabuidHola Everyone, A big DNF for me today, though I did get about 2/3 of the puzzle before I had to throw in the towel.
The whole NW corner was empty except for Australia and Yma Sumac. I finally realized ITT was an actual cousin in a sitcom, not another type of sitcom or program. Duh!
I mainly wanted to wish Melissa Bee a very happy birthday and many, many more. I always enjoy her write-ups and watching the links she finds for all of us.
Thanks, too, to Steve for your writeup today. I wouldn't have gotten any of the Chem clues on my own. As a Natural Science major Chem was one of the subjects not required for my major. What knowledge I do have is very limited and I've always regretted not having taken this course to broaden my science background.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Splynnter: Are you getting an inferiority complex today?
Oops, ignore tabuid at he beginning of my post. Somehow the word we have to type to post was put at the beginning of my dialogue today. I wondered what had happened to the word when I typed it in and had to type a second one. Sorry about that.
Hi everybody! Happy birthday Melissa B!
I got it done with some red-letter help. I thought OHMS LAW was especially clever. PROGENY was good too.
Time-Warner and CBS are having a big fight. Since yesterday, we don't get anything involving CBS and related stuff. Two billionaires fighting about wanting a bigger share of the pot. I will miss Sunday Morning tomorrow. I wonder how much longer this will drag on? If I start missing The Good Wife and NCIS, I will consider switching to FIOS.
Thanks, Splynter for clarifying some of the more ELUSIVE fills. And thanks to Chickie for explaining that ITT was a character within a sitcom, not another form of TV show.
I really wanted SENATOR for 40A because so many in congress are just waiting to retire to an overpaid lobbyist job. Damn, wouldn't fit.
This was appropriately tough for a Saturday puzzle, but I finished with only one help. I could not for the life of me come up with SEMINALLY. Like others, I had SPECIALLY and couldn't shake myself free. Perps were no use.
Finally I resorted to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary where all you need to do is enter the letters you know, with ? to mark the missing ones, to get the likely words. I entered SE???ALLY--and BINGO! - the answer. After slapping my forehead twice, I felt that special afterglow that accompanies a slightly tainted victory.
5l across: a "Brae topper" is NOT a TAM! What a bad clue!
For those of you who think we all need to know about the tomato plants you bought, what kind of bugs are on them, and what movies you are going to see.......WHO CARES? Why not write how many times you go to the bathroom, what day you take a shower, or if you have a hangnail or not??? It's annoying!
Steve Finnell,
Your post is a good example of why we don't discuss religion and politics in any detail on this blog. You just "dissed" so many others who feel they are believing Christians. This is not the place for your sermons on your own brand of Bible teaching. Others are just as convinced of their own understanding of the faith.
Before I settled on OHMS LAW, a principle first enunciated by the great Herr Professor Doktor Georg Simon Ohm , I had what I thought was an equally correct but more amusing fill: OHM RULE. It gave me a good laugh.
Then of course I had to wipe the smile from my phiz and capitulate to Xword correctness.
Yellowrocks and Mr. Finnell,
While I agree with Yellowrocks' concerns about how Steve Finnell's peroration disses others, I have to say (as a nontheist) that I don't mind the occasional disruption by eager believers.
While such windy rhetoric is truly off-topic, it isn't that much different from the verbal assaults we're used to hearing/reading/enduring in other venues.
I'll stick up for free speech--as long as we can breeze by it or turn away. On our campus recently we have seen examples of truly oppressive disruptions, of the sort where an audience is captive and unable to even hit a "pause button." Mr. Finnell doesn't come anywhere near that kind of disorder.
No politics, no religion and no personal attacks.
Paper was wet today, so the Menza site came in handy.
I thought I had a chance with all the Hockey clues, but I was outwitted by clues like "get to the point" = taper (very clever) & the incomprehensible "shut(up)"=pent (which in hindsight makes perfect sense.)
HBD Melissa
Tx for reminding me HG, now I am off to see if I can get my guitar to sound like Bob Lind! (Never heard the acoustic version before...)
Husker Gary @ 11:17 am.
I love your garden shots!
They remind me of how much I miss a good looking lawn. But then I do NOT miss the mowing-- and wrestling the dogs off such an inviting "restroom." Nowadays our place is surrounded by pavers (easy for a wheel chair!) and all our garden is elevated along the outer fences and wall. No lawn, but easier to keep up. Here's one view of our South Garden Wall .
Keith:
That is a dramatic change for your Avatar. Is that the current you or your stand in?
Marti and others:
Thank you. Yes, it's wonderful to be "high and dry" though our rainfall is sparse, it can do damage. Mucho dinero, though.
HG:
I am envious of your beautiful back yard. But then I always am once I leave my own dry, desert habitation.
anonymous@2:13
You are free to skip anything you don't want to read. Most of us care about each other and take an interest in what concerns us.
BillG:
You might be able to watch some of those programs on your computer. It's too bad about the big dispute.
I have no problem with Brae topper or the tomatoes.
However, there is something very apropos about CED spelling Mensa as Menza. Thanks for the smile.
Happy birthday, Bee. And I know, somewhere, eddyB is is wishing you the same...
Happy birthday Melissa!!!
Husker, your property is GORGEOUS!!
No weeds, beautiful plants (are those hostas? I love hostas!)
Do you do all the work yourself?
Beautiful.
This was another Silkie Sinking for me.
Company today. Gotta cook.
Nice day, everyone.
I found this blog via Google a long time ago. I even particpated a few times and was goaded into turning "blue". After which, I was begged to flesh out my profile more. I'm a somewhat shy and private person and soon stopped posting. In time I found that the comments were becoming less informative, less funny(df), more mundane and even platitudinous.
I began to skip over certain entries to the point where I eventually stopped reading the entire comment section. Frankly, I don't understand how some of you do it. I assume you are bored and have alot of free time and for that I am truly sorry.
Due to an injury that has me housebound, I have again tried to read the comments and find myself even more disinterested than before. It reminds me of Facebook.
I did go back and read some of the blogs I contributed to. Good times. It was nice to see C.C. and how she was soaking up American idioms and culture. What happened? Did you learn everything and stop engaging your minions? You should post more often. Lemonade, shame on you! You misrepresented yourself to me in a e-mail exchange we had. Clearayes, Grumpy1, Seen, Windhover, Dennis, Jeannie and others I am foreggetting were interesting, funny and informative.
Sorry for my rant, but I find myself bored with too much time on my hands and no CBS channel to watch.
Good luck with your blog. I still read the write up daily.
HG - Nice yard
Happy Birthday Milisa..
I missed Steve's post so I assume it was redacted...
Keith - where's the pup?
YR - Wish I could help with the tomato bugs. I've only dealt with bottom rot (eggshell water cured that). I won't have any more tomatoes until Sept. or Oct. when the flowers can set again, though I did enjoy them all through April & May. Houston does have it pluses.
Fun Total (not Technical) DNF. After I look at the answers, I fill pencil. Right now there's more lead (Pb - #68) than ink. Ouch. But I did enjoy the Silk challenge for every aha I could get. I got all the Hockey clues/ans.
Thanks Splynter for providing the ans + write-up. My favorite was OHMSLAW - EE was my undergrad major.
See you guys Monday when I can feel "smart" again.
-T
Thanks for the comments on the yard. I supply labor and Joann does the planning and a lot of the upkeep. We must have at least 30 types of flora on the property (we added ornamental kale this year) and we have bloom the year round. The bushes across the back are Korean LILACS (7 Down today) and perfume the air every spring. Our cukes and tomatoes are going nuts and I made the BLT’s today with “just off the vine” T’s and some free sweet corn from our neighbor who pulled in with his pickup literally full of big, plump ears. Our hybrid fescue lawn is perfect this summer and we have no dogs supplying external, undesirable fertilizer. We probably appreciate our yards more because we know what January looks like around here.
Keith, I enjoyed your banana pix and was blown away by your Facebook page! What a resume’.
ANON who found my tomato blog boring, please don't read this.
HG, lovely yard. I can see how much energy and loving care it takes to keep it up. I am jealous because I am no longer game for that.
I grew up in the country. We had a half acre garden and another smaller one. We six kids and my dad tended all of that by hand, even the many hours of weeding. Then we spent hours shells beans and canning or freezing produce. My dad, a country pastor, received fruit and vegetables from his farmer parishioners and we put that up, too.
I live in a condo now, so we have landscapers. Last fall's hurricane devastated our beautiful park like common areas. We still have not recovered. I personally have three tomato plants and a flower border. It is all I can handle now. I will probably win the tomato worm war, but I have little heart for that kind of work now.
Gary, hands up for appreciating your yard and garden. It looks much different from the nice yards in this area.
(B said): Yes, I'm sorry for your rant too. You seem unhappy with your lot. Normally, I'd be too polite to mention it but since you seem so judgmental, I'd suggest maybe that you became more 'uninterested' than before. Oh well, no big deal...
I just came across this great boogie-woogie performance on two pianos. I really enjoyed it.
Boogie Woogie
AAAARGH!!!
How did I miss it? Happy Birthday, Melissa!
BillG., maybe you could badger him or her to go blue again. That should do it.
Hi Sportsfans ! Solving puzzles is a sport, is it not ?
I had about the same odds of completing this puzzle unassisted as I do of winning the Power Ball lottery. 1 in 170 million or whatever it is.
Started at 4 AM, and got about 25 % of it done, then tried to doze back off before going to my BIL's to replace his water heater. Then tried again later around noon, and got to about 75 % complete before turning on the the red letter assist. It wasn't evasive and it wasn't pro tem. In the region of the World Champion Black Hawks, we don't (or at least I don't) say OPEN NET, we say empty net.
Correcting those errors got me back on track, and ELUSIVE and that southern hemisphere penal colony got me back on track. Still.. LUI and YMA SUMAC were all perps. As were others, like EILAT.
I also smiled at OHMS LAW. Algebra taught me how to derive the unknown given two of the variables. Thank you Mr. Flitcraft.
Happy Birthday Melissa !
Oh yea, check this guy out and read his Blog. especially his May 21st address to the senior class: Keep Your Head Out of the Elephant's Ass
Sounds like good advice to me...
Good evening, folks. Thank you, Barry Silk, for a great puzzle, albeit quite difficult. Thank you, Splynter, for he great review.
First, Happy Birthday, Melissa Bee. And many more.
TTP: I read the Class Adress. Very good. Basic truths.
Husker Gary: Great yard. Congrats on hard work. I think I saw a weed in one of those shots.
As far as the puzzle. I got started, slowly. Worked for about two hours and got 85 percent of it. The NW corner was my bugaboo.
Worked on 17A forever and tried to fit some form of ALASKA in. Finally, with some perps figured out AUSTRALIA.
SEMINALLY, for 1A? What does that word mean?
SPAMMER eventually appeared. Tried ERUDITE for 2D. Thought I was pretty clever to even remember that word. However, no cigar. ELUSIVE won.
23A MISE was all perps, however, only four. Maybe I should take FSL. ( french as a second language)
EILAT was also perps.
I gave up after two hours and looked at the puzzle again this evening. Looking forward to tomorrow. Sunday is always my favorite.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(daqaff)
I wanted to add Gunghy to my list. He always linked good music.
Happy Birthday, Melissa Bee, - how young are you ? (That's what the Chinese say - ). Hope you have a happy day.
HG, you have a beauty of a garden. I have a 2 acre lot, and a slightly bigger back woods, but have never gathered the patience to make a garden. Even now, I oiiooioiooooocan see a neighbor toiling at her garden, on her hands and knees, from my study window. While the sight of her rear is not entirely unpleasing, I am not tempted to emulate her, and the thought of me doing that is quite tiring. So then , I feel satiated and then I drive to the nearby farmers market, to make my greens and fruits purchases. No guilt whatsoever.nk
Keith Fowler, I liked your 'alter ego' better - even the picture of your little dog. You used to look young and distinguished. Now, you look somewhat more mature, but still distinguished. Well whatever makes you happy.
Lemonade, never mind what the trolls say, we all love you, very much. Your genial humor spreads love like Johnny Appleseed.
As for the other old timers, they move in and out, like the tides, and some new names and faces move in. What is important is that the show goes on.
What we need is a crossword puzzle tournament based on THIS blog !!
Question; Where did Splynter nearly get hitched ? H---D----. Etc., et. al.
I'm a little late in catching up with the comments, but I had once heard that SPAM stood for Specially Processed Assorted Meats.
Happy belated birthday, Melissa.
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