Theme: SEVEN (49D. Number of consecutive letters without
2-Down in this puzzle's four longest answers) - A cluster of 7
consecutive non-A E I O U letters span across each theme entry.
18A. "The Meaning of Life" comedy group : MONTY PYTHON. Splynter likes them.
32A. Menace that isn't very menacing : EMPTY THREAT. Like those from Lil' Kim.
40A. Eric Carmen power ballad covered by Celine Dion : ALL BY MYSELF
56A. Title magical caretaker in a 2005 film : NANNY MCPHEE. Never saw it. Starring Emma Thompson and Colin Firth.
2D. Facetious sequence? : A E I O U. As Spitzboov told us before, A E I O U is sequentially contained in the word Facetious.
49D. Number of consecutive letters without 2-Down in this puzzle's four longest answers : SEVEN
C.C. here. Jazzbumpa was ready to entertain you, but "Cruciverb is STILL out to lunch. That's three days running. Grrrr" (Thanks, Dudley). Jazz will be back next Wednesday.
A
rather unique theme. We've seen puzzles with orderly AEIOU letter
strings. Would be more impressive if there were no Y involved, as all of
the 6 Y's in the theme entries are vowels. It might not be doable.
Across:
1. Half-__: 50-50 coffee : CAF
4. Near the back, nautically : ABAFT. Always want STERN. Why does ABAFT exist when AFT already has the same meaning?
9. Flora and fauna : BIOTA
14. Poet's "atop" : O'ER
15. Root vegetable : TUBER. Have you ever seen taro plants in person? Huge.
16. Deck out : ADORN
17. Routing word : VIA
20. Ages and ages : EONS
22. Vote of confidence : YEA
23. Events marked by good-natured insults : ROASTS
24. Occasion to pull together? : TUG O' WAR. Nice clue
26. Backfire noise : BANG
27. Present-day Persia : IRAN
28. Statue of Liberty supporter : PEDESTAL. So literal.
35. Chopper : AXE
36. Open stretches : LEAs. Here is our pretty little one.
 |
| Kazie's Granddaughter Lea |
37. Gut reaction? : OOF
38. Assemble-it-yourself company : IKEA
39. Hostel : INN
44. Inanimate carousel rider : SUITCASE. And 10D. 44-Across attachments : ID TAGS. I imagine Steve travels light.
46. Traditional Cockney delicacies : EELS. Jellied eels. See here. I only like pickled herrings.
47. St.-John's-__ : WORT. Do you believe in herbal medicine?
48. Stalemate : IMPASSE
51. Aussie gal : SHEILA. Where is our Aussie Dave?
54. Flash drive PC port : USB (Universal Serial Bus). Anon T, is your given name Tom also? We've got two Toms (TTP & D-Otto) with computer background.
55. Tool holder : SHED
59. Hail, to Caesar : AVE
60. Up until now : AS YET
61. Gas leak warnings : ODORS
62. Contract signer's tool : PEN. So I caught Pete Weber smoking outside Treasure Islands (MN) last Sunday. He's so friendly in person. Signed my PBA program and pin. But the happiest moment is to meet with Walter Ray Williams, arguably the greatest bowler of all time.
 |
| C.C. & Walter Ray Williams |
63. Moon aspect : PHASE
64. Use a divining rod : DOWSE
65. Minnesota twins? : ENS. This self-referential clue tends to bother Jazzbumpa. And Twins beat his Tigers last night.
Down:
1. Really want : COVET
3. Fragrant flower used in leis : FRANGIPANI. Wiktionary said this word is "from an Italian noble family, a sixteenth-century marquess who invented a plumeria-scented perfume. The name comes from frangi "breaking" + pani "bread," a reference to the family's distribution of bread in time of famine." Good to know.
3. Fragrant flower used in leis : FRANGIPANI. Wiktionary said this word is "from an Italian noble family, a sixteenth-century marquess who invented a plumeria-scented perfume. The name comes from frangi "breaking" + pani "bread," a reference to the family's distribution of bread in time of famine." Good to know.
4. 24-hr. cash source : ATM
5. Tending to float : BUOYANT
6. Daisy Mae's guy : ABNER
7. Spanakopita cheese : FETA. Yellowrocks likes Spanakopita.
8. Give it a go : TRY
9. Sharp weapon : BAYONET
11. Sounds of awe : OOHS
12. Word after fox or turkey : TROT
13. Raggedy dolls : ANNs
19. "The Devil Wears __" : PRADA. Loved the movie. Not enough words to describe Meryl Streep. Genius.
21. Organizes : SORTS
25. "I'm on my __" : WAY
26. Muscular : BEEFY
28. Seriously look into : PROBE
29. Materializes : TAKES SHAPE. Great entry. Lots of nice fill in this grid.
30. Skating jump : AXEL
31. Table extender : LEAF
32. Bulldogs' supporters : ELIs. Yale.
33. Carte du jour : MENU
34. "The Planets" composer : HOLST (Gustav)
38. Mallorca y Cuba : ISLAS. English Majorca.
40. Church candle lighter : ACOLYTE. Needed the crossings.
41. Former Anaheim Stadium NFLer : LA RAM (1946 to 1994). This often stumps non-sports fans. They're now St. Louis Rams.
42. Country club crowd : MEMBERS
43. "Roger that" : YEP
45. Twisted threads : TWINES
48. 1995 R&B hit "This __ We Do It" : IS HOW
50. Blissful environs : EDENS
51. Huddle follower : SNAP
52. Diner breakfast order : HASH
53. Big name in New Age music : ENYA
54. High style : UPDO
57. Grand Banks fish : COD. I wonder if cod tastes great pickled.
58. Legal ending? : ESE. Legalese.
C.C.
I really liked TAKES SHAPE as fill and never heard of Gustav HOLST. The theme was not needed to solve, but it was different.
ReplyDeleteI think there might be debate as to the greatest bowler of all time, but I know it is not me. Happy hump.
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteNice to see you mid-week, C.C.! I had to pick away at this one. Lots of unusual entries that didn’t immediately come to mind, like BIOTA, LA RAM and ACOLYTE. And my mind was on a children’s ride for “carousel,” so SUITCASE took a while to appear.
I liked the fact that the reveal cross-referenced the AEIOU and was symmetrical to it. When I got MONTY PYTHON and EMPTY THREAT, I was looking for some kind of anagram of PTYTH…are there any???
Nice fun puzzle for a hump day!
Greatest bowler of all time. That's easy: Best bowler
ReplyDeletelol
DeleteNice Puzzle not a speed run. LA rams played in Anaheim from 1980-1994. enjoy hump day all.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteSurprised to see C.C. at the helm this morning. Nicely done, and thanks for the shoutout. Interesting about FRANGIPANI.
I got off to a bad start with CRAVE instead of COVET. Those of you who wrote PRADA yesterday got redemption today.
I wish those pro teams would stay in one place like the Milwaukee Braves and Baltimore Colts did. This moving around every third minute has got to stop!
SHEILA is a word I have trouble spelling. Weird.
March time!
HuskerGary: Thought of you when I read this comic in today's paper.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning Everybody! Hope it's going good so far.
ReplyDeleteSome really great clues in today's QWP. I loved 44A: Inanimate Carousel Rider: SUITCASE. Never saw it coming! I was thinking of a merry-go-round until I got ID TAGS.
I also liked 2D: Facetious Sequence?
Didn't know ABAFT, BIOTA or HOLST, but I do agree with Earl A on the World's Best Bowler ;) If we took a poll for the world's worst bowler I bet we'd have a few entries from the Blog. (Including me).
Have a great day!
Also agree Earl Anthony best bowler!
ReplyDeleteUsed to watch him on tv when i was a kid.
"Gut reaction? : OOF"
ReplyDeleteWeak.
Hi Y'all! Fun puzzle, Paul! I didn't quite get the theme or use of the word facetious until C.C. explained it. Thanks, dear lady! Cute kiddie pictures last couple of days.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know HOLST, LA RAM or USB, but perps filled them. I didn't have time to really look over the puzzle after I got TADA. It immediately vanished for the second time this morning. GRRR! I usually try to look for hidden amusements in the puzzles when I'm done.
Marti, there's TYPth for an anagram if you wanta lisp.
Several of our regulars must be on vacations. Hope YR didn't get out in the wilds and have car trouble again. Is CED out trying to perfect the campfire pizza? Barry & Montana at least said, "Goodbye."
My Air Force "widow" DIL has been sending me lots of pictures this week, celebrating two birthdays & back-to-school scenes. Really enjoy them.
C.C., I thought Boomer was the world's best bowler. Well, maybe just the blog's best bowler then?
ReplyDeleteGood morning, folks. Thank you, Paul Hunsberger, for a swell puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the swell review.
ReplyDeleteYes, cruciverb is still down. Thank goodness I was able to print the puzzle from my wife's cousin's computer from Mensa.
I also had CRAVE for 1D for a while. COVET appeared with VIA.
Tried to squeeze HARPOON into 9D, but would not work due to crosses. BAYONET appeared with PYTHON.
So far two big inkblots.
The SW corner was my bugaboo. Had EGGS for a while for 52D. Finally got AS YET. EGGS then became HASH. Had PLAY for 51D. PHASE changed that to SLAP, which I stayed with. Thinking of the players slapping each other on the butt as they leave the huddle. No idea who NANNY MCPHEE is. Of course I had LANNY. Who the heck is SHEILA?
Needless to say the SW corner is one big inkblot. DNF for me with missing SNAP and NANNY.
Other than that a good puzzle.
Going out to pick crab apples and blue berries today.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(nesbse)
PK,
ReplyDeleteYou've got to share those birthdays & back-to-school pictures. Email me.
Earl vs. Walter vs. Pete ? It is certainly a great debate. Earl Anthony was in an era where lane conditions were a little more consistent, and he was left handed so he did not have to deal with the breakdown of oil patterns that the righties encountered. However, Earl did not have the advantage of synthetic lanes and oil, and reactive bowling balls that really send the pins flying. I have bowled in both eras, and although I am a lot older now, my average is 40 pins higher, but so are all the other guys I bowl with. So my opinion is that since all the reasons above applied to all the pros in general, I go with the guy who has won the most titles, (and also has the most second place finishes on the PBA tour) Walter Ray Williams Jr.
ReplyDeleteBoomer
Very nice puzzle, Mr. Hunsberger. Really enjoyed it. - and the misdirection s - and, above all, I completed it. Hooray. Wow, that's my miracle of the day.
ReplyDeleteThank you C.C. For a most informative blog. And, if I may say so, a very nice and pretty picture with Mr. Williams. I guess very important persons always get to meet other very important persons. Lol.
I always thought Frangipani was an Indian word, because 'pani' means ( of / from ). water, in Hindi. Thus limbupani is lemonade, narielpani is coconut juice and so on. Kewrapani is a flavoring from a Kewra herb / plant / flower, ( pandanus fascicularis - Screw Pine ). I thought, likewise, maybe, Frangi was another name for Plumeria.
I knew of Sheila, from Neville Shute's novels ... Like A Town called Alice etc.
Talking of Oz., may I say, a very pretty picture of Kazie's Lea. So absolutely delightful and charming !!!
Have a nice day, you all.
Now, to read up on St. John's wort ....
For SUITCASE I started with SEAHORSE and it changed to SEASCENE because I had SPINES instead of TWINES but then when I got MENU I realized that was wrong. I did get all the themed answers though.
ReplyDeleteFor EMPTY THREAT, I started with PETTY TYRANT. Oddly enough, that gave me a lot of the correct letters but when I figured out the theme I realized I was a letter short.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted KICK for SNAP, EGGS for HASH and TESH for ENYA. I got AS YET and realized they were all wrong.
I believe abaft means toward the rear of the ship, not necessarily at the rear.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteAnother pen and paper solve which is okay, but I miss the TADA! Come Back, Little Cruciverb.
Nice job, Mr. Hunsberger, on a very unusual theme with some great fill. Thanks, CC, for your informative expo. Nice to hear from Boomer, also.
The highlight of my bowling experience was fouling on the lane to my left because I swung my right leg so far behind me, I would lose my balance and fall on my " abaft."
Sweet picture of Lea, Kazie.
Have a wonderful Wednesday
Fun Wednesday puzzle, a little challenging but very doable. Many thanks, Paul! And great expo, C.C. Loved both photo and explanation of FRANGIPANI. Also liked seeing PRADA in a puzzle not long after we had PRADO. I know HOLST only from crosswords. In fact, there is probably a huge gallery of people I'm aware of (especially sports figures) only because they regularly crop up in puzzles. UMA should thank her folks for giving her a name that surely multiplied her fame!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day, everybody!
C.C. Wonderful Pinch-hitting. (I don't solve the Sunday puzzles, so I miss your write-ups!)
ReplyDeleteCaught on to the SEVEN / Non-AEIOU theme early but that didn't make it any easier.
Only "needed" every-single-perp to get FRANGIPANI, BIOTA, HOLST and NANNY McPHEE.
Those, along with several V-8 Can smacks, left me feelin' woozy (woosey???).
Gimmie today was that 'candle-lighting' ACOLYTE since I was one in my youth ...
I always thought the "greatest bowler' was the one worn by Charlie Chaplin. lol
A 'toast' to ALL at Sunset.
Cheers!!!
Happy Wednesday everybody!
ReplyDeleteWay late to the puzzle today. Missed it by 3 squares, thanks to words like FRANGIPANI and ABAFT. Suppose it still meets Wed minimum RDA of crunch....
Totally forgot that the RAMS played in Anaheim for a while there. Still find it hard to believe LA doesn't have an NFL team after all this time....
I guess being an altar boy counts as a kind of ACOLYTE, I sure remember having to light candles on those really high holders....
Would have been nice to see the rest of 18A, FLYING CIRCUS, somewhere in the grid....
Adios!
Just to say I LOVED IT. Great theme, lots of fun!
ReplyDeleteG'Morning All!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun puzzle. Lot's of ???'s at first, then slowly the OOHS started to SNAP. NW was last to fall. The only reason for DNF is the cheese near the back (4a cross 7d). Arggg. But, not bad at all for me on a Wed.
TUGOWAR, SUITCASE, TAKESSHAPE were all fun. Of course my fav was MONTY PYTHON. Here's a link to Birth in a First World Country from the Meaning of Life. Warning!!! It's Python.
C.C. Thanks for the great writeup and yesterday's NYT. See comments from last night. And, if I told you my first name, I wouldn't be Anon anymore, now would I? :-)
RE: LA RAMS in St. Louis - when my brother was in college he waited tables at a TGIF (not in Doha!) and met most of the team after practice. He has a signed football from them.
Have a great day!
-T
Hello, C.C., and all. It's good to "see" you, C.C.!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun speed run from Paul Hunsberger. Thank you.
Interestingly, this filled mostly downward for me, like a waterfall and in almost no time.
I also love spanakopita and practically lived on it in Athens. We would buy a large piece for a dollar at lunch time.
My roofer told me that his father was a DOWSEr and could find a well when others could not.
At our church the sacristan lights the candles, not the ACOLYTE, and I'm the one every other month.
Beautiful picture of adorable LEA.
Our bloggers have some great genes judging by the babies.
Have a beautiful Wednesday, everyone!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteStruggled quite a bit today, and eventually turned on red letters to clean up the mess I made in the SW. Had Twills for Twines, and that certainly bollixed things up. I always have a harder time when Cruciverb is unavailable, because the LA Times site is just harder to use.
Was glad Acolyte was correct; I never knew about them until college, when I was dating a girl of German heritage from central PA. I went to her house for Christmas, and was treated to a Lutheran midnight candlelight Christmas service at her church. It was the prettiest setting, complete with steady-handed acolytes managing all those candles.
A novel theme and BIOTA, ABAFT and FRANGIAPANI made for a nice humpday.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Mom’s warning that she would take us out behind the wood SHED was always an EMPTY THREAT
-The ROASTS on Comedy Central are so filthy I can’t link to them. If that’s good-natured, I’m Gunga Din.
-BANG BANG not from a car or Big Bang
-You go, LEA!
-Hilarious over thinking Assemble-it-yourself on TBBT
-I put a big, pink band on my SUITCASE so it stands out on the carousel
-BTW, Anonymous T’s first name in not Tom but I ain’t sayin’ what it is.
-BTW2, Alan Alda’s real first name is Alphonse and his wife sometimes calls him Phonzie.
-The ODOR of gas prompted a call to the gas company to come check for a leak in 1976 in our town’s Pathfinder hotel. This was the horrific result.
-Meryl Streep called Anne Hathaway’s character a “smart, fat girl” in The Devil Wears Prada
-The BEEFY guys use the free weights at the Y. I mostly use the machines.
-Thanks HG Fan (let’s see that’s one ;-)! My line to kids is, “The birth of a baby or a sunset on Maui is awesome but your chewing gum is not!”
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteA big thanx to C.C. for pinch hitting. I'm well rested today. Gloria picked up a paper when she was out this morning, so I did the puzzle in pencil.
Nice puzzle, too. Correct, I do not like "ENS" - neither the fill nor the clue. Ditto "ESE."
Never saw NANNY MCPHEE, but it does make a great fill. The M-C-P sequence had me scratching my head for a while.
Tigers game ended with MIGGY at the plate as the tying run - but he struck out. He had a rough note 0 for 4 night, and re-injured himself. Bryan Pena fouled a pitch off his foot, then got a single and hobbled down to first base. Then he had to leave the game. Nice win for the Pelfrey [Tigers usually beat him up] and the Twins, but ugly from my side.
AFT is the back of the boat, or towards it, and ABAFT means toward the rear of the boat. Why have both words? That's just what we do in English, I guess.
Cool regards!
JzB
Good afternoon, gang - fairly straightforward solve today, and just right for a Wednesday. I needed perps to get HALF_CAF, not being a coffee drinker. Frangipani I actually knew; when we first moved here, I was admiring the flowers at my neighbors. He cut about a one-foot piece of limb off and said to stick it in a pot with some dirt and watch what happens. Turns out it's frangipani, it grows like a weed (over two and a half feet tall already) and produces beautiful flowers. Neat stuff down here.
ReplyDeleteI screwed up 38D, putting ISLES instead of ISLAS because I'm stupid and didn't focus on the clue. Also, as much of a football nut as I am, I stared at LARAM for longer than I care to admit before I saw it. Favorite clue was 'High style'.
Anybody else watching Breaking Bad? They've got a lot of loose ends to wrap up in the few remaining episodes.
Off to city hall to see what kind of volunteer stuff they have. Enjoy the day.
Nice Weds Pzl.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking for all our combined lordly (and ladylike!) expertise, I find I may pronounce Mr. Hunsberger's creation "most satisfactory."
Seriously, fellow puzzlers, this was both enjoyable and instructive. I appreciated CC's photo of the leis, as it made me realize I have never been quite sure of FRANGIPANI , and whether it is also plumeria (it is). It is really a glorious blossom.
We grow hibiscus, and I sometimes feel they are too gorgeous for their own good. Frangipani, on the other hand, share much of the same lushness but seem to have built-in restraints. They aren't so over-the-top, and there are days when the puritan part of my soul appreciates that.
Nearly DNF today.
ReplyDeleteNANNY MCPHEE total unknown.
YuP instead of YEP. That gave me the Cockney delicacies EuLS. Whaa?
Spelled DOuSE wrong. Waited for AS YET vs. So far.
But scraped it all together in the end.
I LOVE spanikopita and made it at home twice. The hardest part(spreading on melted butter)is working fast on all the layers of philo dough before they dry out.
The filling is easy.
HOLST a gimme, I have the LP from college days.
I'm guessing that "Aft" is the place or direction (the noun) and "Ab" was originally the preposition ("to" or "towards"). So, even today, when asked where the mate has gone, we can answer either, "Back" or "To the back," or in older, nautical lingo, "Aft" or "Ab-aft."
ReplyDeleteCap'n Keith
PS. Now will somebody please work it out for "Avast!"?
Keith, Your frangipani link doesn't work. I have plumeria, but the blossoms are small compared to C.C.'s picture.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon everyone. What a nice surprise to see C.C. preside over today's intro. Cool beans.
ReplyDeleteFinished the puzzle after spending the morning in Syracuse. Liked it. No lookups but BH verified NANCY MCPHEE after first getting it from the perps. Otherwise, got it ALL BY MYSELF.
ABAFT is also a preposition as well as an adverb. "Abaft the beam." "Abaft the after crew's head." Very nuanced. Anybody with salt on his chinstrap would immediately sense the misuse of either word and cringe.
COD has become my favorite fish - ahead of turbot. Love it with any kind of capers sauce.
Sorry I'm here so late, but a breakfast date with friends this morning followed by shopping and yoga is my excuse.
ReplyDeleteC.C.,
Thanks for posting Lea's picture again. Vidwan and Irish Miss, thanks for your comments too!
I thought the theme was easy to suss today, and it certainly helped in some places, though everything was really straightforward.
I don't know the origin of Sheila as a substitute for woman or girl in Oz, but it's pretty much out of fashion these days.
Clever puzzle and theme. Thanks Paul and CC.
ReplyDeleteI tried St. John's wort and didn't notice any effects, good or bad.
I get half-caf if I order espresso much after 4 PM.
Even when Cruciverb is down, I've found the Mensa site reliable. I can get the puzzle at 10 PM local time so I guess that's midnight Central time.
I didn't know FRANGIPANI but plumeria is very common locally. It has a beautiful smell.
Thanks to those of you who responded late last night with helpful input about reading material.
Kazie, did you catch Ellen's shows from Australia? Very funny stuff. Among many other things, they went back to the school where Portia attended.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn't. Maybe I can find them online.
Evening Everybody,
ReplyDeleteWell today was the big day. We took Nicole to move in day for college.
It was well organized with hundreds of volunteers there to help. My DW and I got to meet her roommates and their Parents also. I just never seen Nicole act so hyper in my life! It was like she washed down a box of NoDoz with a case of Red Bull on the way there. Just excited I guess. I just hope no one thinks she's always that way. We're about an hour away so if she gets homesick I can always go get her for a weekend.
Happy puzzling!
Good afternoon C.C. and all,
ReplyDeleteCute picture, C.C.Enjoyed your write up. Like PK, I was confused by the theme, and like many did not know abaft, biota and holst. Morphing stallion into suitcase took some doing and some laughs.
Kauai is having big problems in their taro fields with the apple snails which are multiplying rapidly and devouring acres of plants. The newest plan is to collect them, cook them and sell them to restaurants, as many see them as a delicacy. On a recent visit, we spent a greater part of one day helping to pick off bunches of eggs, which are attached to the stems.
On a happier note, the frangipani is glorious and abundant. It does not grow up in No. CA, but we do have beautiful hibscus.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzles last two days and fine expos. No problems.
Have always been fond of Holtz.
Derm must have used a quart of liquid nitrogen on me yesterday! Russian friend has arrived and managed to get me there on time. But there was a one-hour wait!
A Town Called Alice was a great movie.
Cheers!
HG - Don't brag. A TLA* may knock on your door. :-)
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have kids / grands around 14? I was cooking this eve with mine and let her select the music. Japanese pop?!? What's with these kids today? Is this how my parents felt when I would turn up metal? It seems only The Beatles spans the generations...
For those not familar with NANNYMCPHEE, I saw it with the kids. The nanny shows up and is ugly with WARTS and all as a reflection of the childrens' behavior. As the children learn their manners (through McPHEE's magic), she gets prettier. Cute story. Of course, my darlings didn't need that lesson :-)
Cheers, -T
*Three Letter Agency
This is the NSA/ CIA/ IRS/ DIA / ETC etc.
ReplyDeleteWe have just received notification that someone's been dissin us.
It's bad enough that we are being trivialized in mere crosswords , but this is ridiculous.
- Mr. T#%#€><£. of. Xyzzy Street, Houston TX .... You have been wished a pleasant evening ...
Over and out.
Oh, s***! I just finished decrypting the address. It matches - they got me...
ReplyDeleteWhat's that sound overhead?
Cheers, -T
Really great Lea pic. Thanks
ReplyDelete"A Town Called Alice" is one of my all-time favorite
ReplyDeletebooks. I dig it out every few years and read it.
Manac, good luck to Nicole with her college career and to you with missing her. Hope she lucked out with the roommates. They can be a bigger challenge than the classes.
AnonymousT:
ReplyDeleteYou are so funny!
Manac:
Best wishes for Nicole away from home. My daughter went to ASU right here so there was no departure but I can surely imagine the pain.
BillG:
If you're still looking for books, may I suggest The Kill List by Frederick Forsythe, author of The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, etc., etc. He was in Phoenix tonight and I went to his presentation. He is as entertaining in person as he is in his writing.
I started reading his book while waiting and it promises to be just as heart-thumping as the rest of them.
Lucina, thank you. I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading his books years ago.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of years ago, I am still enjoying new and old episodes of Foyle's War. I think I like the sense of history as much as the murder mystery. The episode I just finished watching made me realize more clearly how much the war affected the common folk, the farmers whose land was requisitioned, the Americans who didn't want to get in the war at first, etc.
I went to lunch at a restaurant in Hermosa Beach, situated right along the ocean next to the bike path. For some reason, I have been wanting to try their beef cabbage rolls and they were advertised on a sign outside next to the bike path. So I changed my plans and went in. They weren't busy at that time of day but as usual, the service was slow and inattentive. I finally left after they had managed to ignore me for 15 minutes. I renewed my vows never to go in there again, cabbage rolls or no.
Lucina - Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week. Be sure to tip the waitstaff :-)
ReplyDeleteBill G. My DW would have had me confront someone about the poor service. Call tomorrow - who knows, you may get the cabbage rolls for free.
Did anyone read about Greenwald's [Snowden leaker journalist] partner detained at Heathrow? I guess in London they didn't have to read him his Miranda rights, even though that's the guys name!
Cheers, -T
Wherefore art thou, Cruciverb?
ReplyDelete