google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, September 6, 2013 Steve Blais

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Sep 6, 2013

Friday, September 6, 2013 Steve Blais

Theme: Science Ed Adding "-ed" to a scientific item (all eponymous names) creates a new fun phrase!

18A Physicist got all wound up?: TESLA COILED. Tesla used his coils in a number of different experiments including the attempt to transmit electricity without wires.

29A Mathematician got ready for a shower?: MOEBIUS STRIPPED. If you cut a Moebius strip in half along its length, you get two loops interlinked, one of which is another Moebius strip. Awesomely weird!

36A Seismologist rose to new heights?: RICHTER SCALED: I'm very familiar with Mr. Richter's scale, living as I do in shaky Southern California.

44A Physicist made an opposing move?: GEIGER COUNTERED. The official name is a Gieger-Müller counter; Herr Müller must have been sore at being frequently forgotten.

61A Microbiologist spread some gossip?: PETRI DISHED. Funny, we had Petri the Pianist on Wednesday. Growing bacterial colonies in one of these was a highlight of high school biology.


Happy Friday everyone. Steve here subbing for Lemonade who is off celebrating Rosh Hashanah. Shanah Tova!

What a nice puzzle from Steve Blais today. I loved the theme - extremely clever to find five scientifically-related objects and add the common suffix. Two 15's, two 11's and a 13 (Thanks, Abejo). Really slick stuff!

Let's check out what else we've got:

Across:

1 Sign of trouble: SOS. Sometimes thought to stand for "Save Our Souls" it doesn't actually stand for anything - the Morse coding 'dit dit dit dah dah dah dit dit dit" was chosen because it is very recognizable.

4 Sword holder: SHEATH

10 San Joaquin Valley concern: SMOG. A concern shared by all of Southern California's valleys.

14 PC core: CPU. Not designated as an abbreviation any longer, originally the computer's Central Processing Unit.

15 Yes or no follower: SIRREE

16 Dance that tells a story: HULA

17 Farm girl: HEN. Third time this week for the egg-layer(s).

20 Prefix with European: INDO-

22 “Enough!”: STOP THAT

23 Race line: START.

25 Fireworks reaction: OOH.

26 “The Stepford Wives” author Levin: IRA.

34 Swing around on an axis: SLUE. Nice word.

35 Sigh of sorrow: ALAS!

42 California’s __ Valley: SIMI. No smog in Simi today - I was there for lunch.

43 Unrefined type: BOOR

52 Explosive letters: TNT. Trinitrotoluene.

53 “I’ll meet thee on the __-rig”: Burns: LEA.  To a Scot, a ridge of land yet unplowed (or unploughed, if you're a Scot).

54 Fur piece: STOLE

55 Socrates, for one: ATHENIAN

60 Selma or Patty, to Bart Simpson: AUNT. Two great characters from the show.


[Homer enters the room]
Selma: Am I wrong, or did it just get fatter in here?

64 Even up: TIE. In the score-tying context.

65 On the lower side, in a heeling vessel: ALEE. We had this on Wednesday with a different meaning.

66 Twitterpated: IN LOVE. A new fun word for me. I was thinking along social media lines until the crosses helped me out.

67 Half of nine?: ENS. Two of them in the word, so 50% of the letters.

68 Insurance deals with it: RISK

69 Conical shelter: TEEPEE

70 Web address component: DOT. The O resolved my El Niño/Niña uncertainty.

Down:

1 Religious split: SCHISM

2 Not against entertaining: OPEN TO. I thought at first this was entertaining in the "having a party" sense, but actually it's the "considering" sense.

3 Cherry-topped treat: SUNDAE

4 Former flier: SST

5 Makes haste: HIES

6 In the past, in the past: ERST. I think the preceding "hies" has a touch of the erst about it.

7 He sang between Melanie and Joan at Woodstock: ARLO. Guthrie's set came between Melanie of no-last-name fame and Joan Baez of useful-last-name-for-crosswords fame.

8 Where to get a brew: TEAPOT. I'd never thought of keeping beer in a teapot before.

9 Victim of Achilles: HECTOR. Before dying, Hector pleaded that Achilles treat his lifeless body with respect. Achilles didn't exactly comply with that request - he decided to drag it back to Troy behind his chariot instead. 


10 LaBeouf of “Transformers” films: SHIA

11 Six, nine or twelve, for three: MULTIPLE

12 Cry for a matador: OLE. "O heck" if he drops his cape.

13 Wander: GAD

19 Greeting to an unexpected visitor: OH HI. Or the Matador to the Bull, having dropped his cape.

21 Saturn, for one: ORB

24 Mrs. Addams, to Gomez: 'TISH. An affectionate contraction of Morticia.

27 Interpret, as X-rays: READ

28 They may be classified: ADS

30 Final: Abbr.: ULT.

31 Mystery writer Grafton: SUE

32 __-Croatian: SERBO

33 Amigo: PAL

36 Nothing, in Nice: RIEN

37 Knocks off: IMITATES:

38 One might be bummed, briefly: CIG. Can you bum anything else other than a cigarette?

39 Almost worthless amount: SOU. A French term originally, now widespread. French slang "sans le sou" means "broke" - without even a sou.

40 Put one over on: CON

41 Fine things: ARTS

42 Pepper or Snorkel: Abbr.: SGT. Not familiar with Snorkel, but very familiar with this

45 K thru 12: EL-HI. Elementary + High (school)

46 Make more changes to: RE-EDIT

47 Fang: INCISOR (Correction: It's CANINE).

48 Greek vowel: ETA

49 Much more than edged: ROUTED

50 Periodic weather disruption: EL NIÑO. I had to wait for 70A to choose between Niño and Niña

51 Not fancy at all: DETEST. Last of the misdirection clues today - I was thinking "plain" for a long time. The SE corner was tough for me.

56 Long migration, say: TREK

57 “Lost” setting: ISLE. Never saw an episode. Apparently it was pretty good.

58 One bounce, on the diamond: A HOP

59 Campbell of “Scream”: NEVE.


61 Birdie plus one: PAR. I'm playing golf tomorrow - hopefully plenty of both. A chap in my foursome had a hole-in-one last time out. My turn!

62 “Hostel” director Roth: ELI

63 Low grade: DEE

That's all from me - have a great weekend!

Steve



Note from C.C.:

"An Evening with the Puzzle Master" - Will Shortz, editor of the NY Times crossword, is visiting Minnesota next Thursday Sept 12, 2013. He'll answer all questions about puzzles. Please click here for details. I think all of Twin Cities crossword constructors will be there.

61 comments:

  1. Morning, all!

    Mostly smooth solve today with a delightful theme. My one problem was how to spell MOEBIUS, but the perps helped out with that.

    I also couldn't decide whether to go with EL NINO or "nina" but DOT helped me decide. The rest was fairly straightforward.

    I think that's WBWS...

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  2. Happy Friday everybody!

    Well, that was A HOP, skip and a jump of a puzzle, especially for a Friday! A bit intimidated by having to figure out all those famous scientific last names, but once the theme became apparent, it was not bad – not bad at all….

    Biggest problem was entering ELEM for EL HI in the SW….

    North Central was also hung up for a while until I figured out that it wasn’t a Yes or No ANSWER….

    TWA for SST, HORA for HULA, EWE for HEN, SPIN for SLUE, and NTH for ULT were the only other write-overs….

    REALLY enjoyed learning how to spell MOEBIUS again – he was the first theme answer to fall….

    Twitterpated…? Thought it might have something to do with a social network at first….

    I think Lucina can confirm that it's El Nino and La Nina, even when referring to the weather patterns of the same name....

    It looks like the many different ways to refer to letter(s) in a clue word are the new “a” words….

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  3. Morning, all!

    Delightful theme today. Pretty easy overall for a Friday, with the only total unknown being LEA. Lots of tough cluing, however. "Half of nine" for ENS, "On the lower side, for a heeling vessel" for ALEE, "Much more than edged" for ROUTED, "Not fancy at all" for DETEST, etc., all gave me momentary fits.

    [typezza]

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  4. El = masc., Word ends in (O).
    La = fem., Word ends in (A).
    Modifier must agree with the gender of the noun in Spanish.

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  5. I finished it today. I had to google a few words like SCHISM and SHEATH. INDO-European is a language group. Similarities in the grammar of Indian and European languages suggest they had a common origin.

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  6. Twitterpated comes from the movie Bambi.

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  7. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Steve Blais, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for the excellent review.

    Steve: 2 15's, 2 11's, and 1 13.

    Wanted KNIGHT for 4A, but SHEATH appeared after a couple downs.

    Got the whole top easily. TESLA emerged and finally COILED was tried. And worked.

    29A had me puzzled until the end. Never heard of MOEBIUS. Enough perps and a wag and it worked.

    The other three themes were easy.

    No idea about RIEN for 36D. Four perps.

    Twitterpated is a new word for me. IN LOVE appeared.

    SERBO is an easy word around Chicago. Our former governor was of Serbian descent. Milorod Blagoyevich.

    Got through all this puzzle much easier than a normal Friday.

    Off to a Cubs game today. Weather should be fine. Then a Red Cross dinner in Chicago.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    (tioldar)

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  8. But for one letter, I would have solved a Friday crossword!
    I did not know SLUE and ULT did not come to mind.

    I got all the theme phrases right away. When you have that much of the puzzle done, it isn't too hard to finish.

    One more day over 90°, then it is supposed to cool down.

    Have a great Friday, everybody,

    Montana

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  9. Good morning!

    Fun writeup, Steve. I enjoyed the puzzle, but had some issues with it. I know that an imitation is a KNOCK-OFF, but never heard KNOCKS OFF to mean imitate. And OH HI, really? Plus we also had the dreaded EL HI. And does "not against entertaining" really need the "entertaining?"

    Steve, one nit. My INCISOR was a CANINE. I'll bet yours was too.

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  10. Greetings!

    Swell Friday puzzle! Thanks Steve and Steve!

    Easier than most. No problems.

    The correct spelling is Möbius. Each cut strip is such a strip.

    Have a great Friday!

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  11. I always get stuck on the Bart Simpson clues. Never watched the show.
    47 down - I get canine, not incisor.

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  12. I finished one of my very rare Fridays .... Thank you thank you, thank you Steve Blais and our very own Steve....

    I am on top of the world.

    Thanks to the science friendly clues ... 'Got' them all. Woo Hoo !

    Have a great weekend all of you.

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  13. Hello Puzzlers -

    Enjoyed today's science theme, even though the puzz was a tad easy for a Friday. Some clever clues in there. Thanks for filling in, Steve.

    Morning Spitz, I see Argyle got there first with tugboat info. Drop a line if you're thinking 'bout going.

    Construction update: laying of wood floors delayed by last weekend's humidity. It takes a while to dry out a house to the levels for new flooring. Next week, I guess.

    Cheers All

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  14. TGIF everyone,

    Well, color me the dumb puzzler of the day, because
    I got my arse kicked big time. Managed to successfully complete the North thru 34A & 33D. From there it was lots of empty space.

    Looking over the solution, I could have spent the whole day on it and never would have finished. I mean, how the Hell does Knocks off result in IMITATES? And I am familiar with the term knock off, just not in the plural when referring to a fake.
    plenty of other issues, but I'll not bore you with them.

    Working weekend, so see you Monday as I try to restore my ego. Hope it's pleasant weather for everyone.....we all deserve it.

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  15. Corrected the CANINE error, everyone.

    As Marti mentioned yesterday, it's complicated to describe to you how we do our write-ups.

    Thanks for reading carefully & pointing out our mistakes.

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  16. Marti et al,
    Click here for a great Washington Post article on Erik Agard, who has made 5 puzzles for the LA Times. Here is his old Afro hair.

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  17. Good morning everyone. Thanks Steve for doing yeoman duty on pinch-hitting today.

    The nature of the theme fill helped assuage the static of a Friday puzzle. Still a few great misdirections to keep the right intensity. Best one was 51d, DETEST.
    If memory serves, TESLA was a Croat; sort of a clecho?
    INDO-European includes languages like English, Norwegian, Albanian, Hindi, and Hittite. Finnish and Hungarian are in another group.
    Liked the cluing for SGT. Snorkel gave me the 'oh - I get it.'
    GAD was a learning
    To SLUE a gun mount is to 'train' it.

    Anon @ 0844 - on some animals the equivalent of the canine tooth grows long and is commonly called a fang.

    Have a great day.

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  18. Ooops - my apologies for the CANINE/INCISOR mix-up. Quite how I managed to type what I wasn't thinking will always remain a mystery.

    Thanks for the edit, C.C.

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  19. Easiest. Friday. Ever.

    But I'm not complaining!

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  20. One Dimensional LoverSeptember 6, 2013 at 10:07 AM

    A Moebius bottle .... Er, a bottle made with the same concept f a Moebius strip, a two dimensional object with one continuous surface ... Is called a Klein bottle.

    Link Klein Bottle

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  21. C.C., thanks for the article - he really is a cool kid!

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  22. Good Morning:

    Although this was an easier than usual Friday offering, it still had enough bite to make it an interesting solve. The theme was quite impressive; all I could think of was when Sheldon went to Penny's Halloween Party dressed as the Doppler Effect.

    Great job, Steve Blais, and thanks to our Steve for doing double-duty this week with another witty and concise expo.

    Happy Friday.

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  23. In my ute, most farm tractors were equipped with a moebius belt to power equipment from the auxiliary drive. This allowed both sides (I know, there's only one side of a moebius strip) of the belt to wear, extending its useful life.

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  24. Thanks Steve and Steve. I really enjoyed this puzzle. I enjoyed the theme and it helped with the solve. No red letters needed for me! It was as if my brain was an unfinished jigsaw puzzle and each clue fit into place perfectly. I love it when that happens. (Thanks again Steve to the second power!)

    I see I'm not the only one who likes her. Sophia Vergara!

    It's even hotter here today. I hope the electricity stays on (and I don't lose my wallet again).

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  25. Steve: Nice 'Pinch-hitting' for Lemon. (Hmmm, that gives me an idea!)

    Hondo: I'm with you buddy. DNF ... but a sexy Ink Blot.

    Write-overs: NAPA before SIMI, SKIP before A-HOP ... yaddie, yaddie, yadda ...

    TESLA was a SERBO-Croatian.
    I visited his home town, Smiljan, when I lived in Croatia (after they rebuilt it in 2006).
    Interesting 'lunch' side-trip on my drive from Split to Zagreb that turned into a half day off.

    Go Canes!

    Cheers!!!

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  26. Need a QOD? Here's one:

    "And through the window in the wall

    Comes streaming in on sunlight wings

    A million bright ambassadors of morning."

    - George Roger Waters ca. 1971
    b. 6 September, 1943

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  27. Hi Tinbeni. How can there be a language or ethnicity called Serbo-Croatian? Aren't Croatian and Serbian very different, even written with different alphabets (Croatian using Roman letters, Serbian using Cyrillic)?

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  28. I found myself, when I finished this off, checking the top of the newspaper page to be certain that this is indeed --a Friday!

    Judging solely by the level of challenge in Mr Blais' pleasant pzl, I might have sworn this was a Monday or Tuesday. I see some others have commented similarly on the surprising ease of today's concoction. As soon as I saw that my first fill--SOS, at 1A for "Sign of trouble"--was NOT a naive error, I began feeling suspicious. My apprehensions grew as only one trip through the NW sector was sufficient to fill everything in.

    For a time I felt sure that it was all a massive trap, a slyly conceived series of misdirections that would surely unravel around the pzl's mid-point.

    But No! In the end I see I should have timed it, because this was certainly the fastest Friday crossword I have ever done.

    Are we going to pay for it tomorrow?

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  29. Greetings, friends! Thank you so much, Steve, for double duty this week.

    I loved this puzzle! Thank you, Steve Blais.

    I was on his wave length almost immediately and zipped right through the top where the theme became apparent. Very clever!

    Chuckled at SUE Grafton's name instead of a title, S is for . . .

    Twitterpated? I guess I'll be forced to watch Bambi once again.

    Though I've never watched the Simpsons I'll soon have the complete roster memorized thanks to crosswords. AUNTS was a complete WAG.

    EL NINO is so named, I understand, because it first occurred in December close to Christmas and was so dubbed in honor of the Christ child's coming. I'll have to read up on la nina's name.

    TGIF for all you who labor. Have a terrific Friday, everyone!

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  30. Jayce:
    The blending of genes of ethnicity don't really care which alphabet (Roman/latin or Cyrillic) letters are being used when a Serb and a Croat are IN LOVE and produce off-spring.

    Wiki Serbo-Croatian

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  31. Besides a cig, one can bum a ride.

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  32. Or bum a light (for the bummed cig)

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  33. Regarding Mobius strips, I don't agree with Steve or FermatPrime. If you cut the loop once around along the center line, you get one double length loop with a full twist which is therefore not a Mobius strip. If anyone is interested, I've got a couple of other fun cutting projects with Mobius strips that you might enjoy.

    My son knows I love toys and science stuff so he bought me a Klein bottle. It's sitting on the counter behind me as I type.

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  34. Well some of us science guys cashed in big time today on Steve’s fun puzzle!

    Musings
    -SOS is also a military meal staple
    -I hope America keeps its Sword in its SHEATH in Syria
    -Wendy, could you share a recipe as a HULA?
    -Are you the one parent that never yelled “STOP THAT” at your progeny?
    -I was the clerk of the START line at many spring track meets where kids in were running in snow flurries!
    -Most famous use of the word ALAS, Keith?
    -TWITTERPATED
    -I wear Knock Off Eternity cologne
    -Off to help Joann prepare for a garage sale.

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  35. I made it half way thru in ink before I ran out of time & went red letter. Daughter #1 helped me with the sneaky 39D sou which was not clued as French, & 36D rien (which sort of was clued as French in a nice way.)

    8D really messed with my head. I had the "T" from sheath, so, where to get a brew had to be "tavern." Then when 22A changed the "e" to a "p", where to get a brew had to be "the pub." (^^%$#&^% teatotalers..)

    19D greeting to unexpected visitors = "oh hi," I was thinking Uh Oh.

    I will spare you watching the entire Bambi movie again. hmm, I wonder if instead of saying nothing, or posting the 11 second Thumper clip, we could just say the puzzle made us twitterpated??? Martin@6:18 was right, the dictionary says the word originated in the 1942 movie, Bambi!

    Irish Miss@10:49, I am not a Zebra...

    &, an image that pretty much sums up my attempt to solve todays puzzle!

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  36. ONE letter! I missed by one letter!
    Thought half of nine was EN E
    as in N E. That gave me DETEeT.
    Arghh!.
    Really liked the puzzle theme. I'll bet all you science lovers were happy today.
    Moebius unknown to me.
    Stay cool, or warm, wherever you are! ^o^

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  37. Now, now math geeks. Just watch this.

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  38. Why did the chicken cross the mobius strip?

    Answer: Watch this.

    Bazinga!

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  39. CED @ 1:46 - That is the exact picture of Sheldon that I had in my mind. Also loved the Quantum Physics cat which reminds me of the episode when Sheldon and Amy break up and Sheldon consoles himself by acquiring numerous cats and names each one after the scientists who worked on The Manhattan Project!

    Möbius Stripper @ 2:17 - Fascinating clip, at least to me, a mathophobic!

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  40. Argyle, I thoroughly enjoyed your "Cah!" joke the other day. Thanks for posting it.

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  41. OMG Sheldon, you just made us watch a YouTube video of people watching a YouTube video! I think Georg Cantor (mathematician who, posthumously, made the infinite go mainstream) would have something to say about that.

    Glad you all enjoyed the puzzle :)

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  42. Hi gang,

    My wife and I teamed up on today's puzzle.

    It's been a long while but here's a
    SOS classic ABBA song.

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  43. OK, so my husband thinks I have gone completely over the edge. I have spent the last half hour making Möbius strips and cutting them in slices...

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  44. I DID IT!! I DID IT!! I solved a Friday all by myself! This must mean that it was a piece of cake for you regular posters. Tomorrow I will be reminded of my ineptitude. Thanks, Steve Blais, for the ego boost. Thanks, Steve, for the great review.

    Loved twitterpated but didn't remember what it meant. Perps filled in nicely where I needed them.

    Wonderful weather lately. It's nice being able to open the windows.

    Have a great weekend.

    Pat

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  45. Congratulations pje, (but if this was a piece of cake,,, it is all over my face...)

    Irish Miss @ 2:38, that's worth a link...

    More Cats!!!

    (This should ruffle Manacs' feathers:)

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  46. You gotta love a scientific puzzle that uses "twitterpated" for romantic love. The school nurse had to go into the science class to teach the facts of life yearly in our school district. Very uncomfortable subject for many science teachers.

    City-wide garage sale today. Traveled around town in my hover-round and spent a $1.50.

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  47. pje, congratulations!! A Friday puzzle solve is always reason to celebrate...I will drink a glass of wine for you!!

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  48. Good Eve All!

    First. Thanks Steve and Steve for the puzzle and the writeup, respectively. :-)

    Bill G started this last night and said I would like today and he was right! Loved it!

    Not easy, but very enjoyable once I caught the theme. It was probably good that I looked away a while and came back or I'd have thrown in the towel (I did the puzzle in stollen minutes here and there - I'm stealing this time before taking daugter for birthday sushi). Only one bad square (E for SEMI Valley - it crossed French, so what do I know/care?).

    HG - Lucina's recipie told by HULA - funny. I wonder if she's OPENTO it? If she dances like she cooks, yes SIRREE!

    Steve CPU was clued with PC - Personal Computer. Does that not count as init. cluing?

    CED - Is that cat dead or alive?

    STOLEn time up. Gotta run.

    Cheers,

    -T

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  49. Clearly I should have thought more clearly about Möbius band. Had my classes bring scissors and tape and make a zillion of them when I was teaching! Next time cutting along middle you get two such strips, not first.

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  50. To Bill. G. , Anon-T, C.E.D. Jayce, and anybody interested in a math puzzle.

    Here is a math puzzle from a puzzle museum in England. It has a map and cardboard pieces for the persons. It was made in 1865 (!), and the answer is given, at the bottom of the puzzle page...

    .... It is quite difficult and I don't understand the solution.... So, if you can understand it .... Let me know tomorrow. You will need a small, vanity mirror, as the answer - solution is in mirror-image form of print.

    It involves 24 nuns under a Lady Abbess, and 4 knights come in and take 4 nuns (with their volition and assistance -) , and then 4 pages come in and take 4 more nuns, again, with their cooperation ..... And 'fool' (?) the Lady Abbess. The puzzle, which was meant for children, seems to be pretty racy for the time.....

    Link Blind Abbess and her nuns puzzle

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  51. Vidwan, thanks; I'll work on it. (Even I are a engineer, I suk at math.)

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  52. This evening there is an extraordinary program on CBS simply called "Teach". With this crowd, I doubt further recommendation is needed. Watch it, find it on repeats if needed.

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  53. Husker @ 1:41,

    I thought it was Branagh at first, but I see it's Derek Jacobi. I liked Branagh's film, but never saw Jacobi's Hamlet. I did cacth his Prospero in Stratford and thought he nailed it. What a vocal range--more stops than the Grand Ophicleide organ!
    "Alas, Poor Yoricke. I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest...."
    I've always relished how this speech ends. "Now, get you to my lady's chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that."

    Shivers and smiles....

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  54. Keith, I had a good time trying to figure out what that last line meant (making fun of vanity) as my Shakespearean deciphering skills are minimal at best but I love the exposition of what was said. BTW, I had to look up the meaning of the passage.

    I waiver about the value of having certain populations of school kids read the Bard.

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  55. Ouch! That is a rather elitist statement, HG! What segment of society are you from?

    Willie the Shakes.

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  56. The power on our street went out at 1 am last night and stayed out until 7 pm (Pacific time) tonight. That meant a whole day without computer, electricity, microwave, or television. Thank goodness for crossword puzzles and books because there wasn't much else to do all day.

    This puzzle was a total delight and a rare Friday speed run to boot! And what a terrific theme--many thanks Steve! And thanks to our other Steve for the cool expo. This has been a great puzzle week--wish they could all be like this.

    Back to watch "Jeopardy." Have a good night, everybody!

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  57. Avg. Joe, I am recording TEACH and have watched the first 10 minutes or so. I think I'm going to like it a lot. Thanks for the heads up. O course, the Dodgers are on too.

    Vidwan, I'm interested to see if that math puzzle is worthwhile. At first glance, it looks too unstructured to be appealing but maybe I'm wrong. I often am.

    It has been a good puzzle week. Of course, I seldom enjoy Saturday puzzles but we shall see...

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  58. Alright, dance card cleared, two chocolate martinis later and DW is out and kids are in bed. Me time.

    Youngest just turned 11. Being a school night last night, we couldn't really go out. "Pick anything and we will do it tomorrow," I said. "Sushi" she cried. We have a place up the road that Aunt Susie from SF found more than to her fancy! Susie is a sushi fiend, so much so that she now has to watch her mercury levels (she was actaully on 60min years ago w/ mercury poisoning during that scare).

    CED - Super-positioned cat video is hilarious. I love how the dog does nothing until it moves.

    So, puzzle fun...

    I always thought SLUE (or SLEW?) was a whole latta something. Like a slue of dimes.

    To bring dow the IQ furhter here Socrates the ATHENIAN.... Pronounced so-Krates.

    Arlo's "Significance of the Picke"

    And, Keith, I hope this doesn't ever mess up your head in a performance..

    Many years ago (grad school days) Me, DW & another couple were playing scrabble and drinking copiously. DW & her friend were taking Shakespear at the time and were talking about the class. I pipe up. "Alas, fel***, I knew him well." DW hit me while everyone laughed. I thought it was because I messed up the line. No, what I said rhymed with Heratio, but honestly, I didn't know what that word meant! I do now.

    Cheers, -T

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