google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, September 23, 2013 Jeff Stillman

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Sep 23, 2013

Monday, September 23, 2013 Jeff Stillman

Theme: Pet Food - The theme entries can begin with "I AM" (IAMS is a pet food brand).

17A. Ending from Ali : THE GREATEST. Former boxing champion, Muhammad Ali.

21A. Ending from Nixon : NOT A CROOK. Former President, Richard Nixon.

39A. Ending from the Elephant Man : NOT AN ANIMAL. His real name was Joseph Merrick and died at 27 from his deformities. The quote comes from a movie about him.

57A. Ending from Lennon and McCartney : THE WALRUS. From a 1967 song by the Beatles, goo goo g'joob.

64A. Ending from Beyoncé : SASHA FIERCE. Recording artist Beyoncé Knowles' third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce. Beyoncé says Sasha Fierce is who she becomes when she performs on stage.

71A. Beginning for this puzzle's five endings : I AM

I am Argyle. Where should I begin. What a Monday. Two overlaps of theme entries on a Monday?! I admit I never heard of the last theme entry but it doesn't surprise me; not in my wheelhouse. There are a lot of three letter words (28) but offset by strong fill. Should be many comments.

Across:

1. Clods : OAFS

5. Got a chuckle out of : AMUSED

11. Roulette bet : ODD. I bet on RED and lost.

14. Lawyer's assistant, for short : PARA. (paralegal)

15. Vox __: voice of the people : POPULI. Rare crossword.

16. Architect I.M. : PEI

19. Plumbing pipe initials : PVC. Poly(vinyl chloride), the white, solid pipe.

20. Very long time : EON

23. Civil War soldier : REB. First name, Johnny.

25. Unhittable serve : ACE

27. Proverbial waste maker : HASTE

28. Ship's front : PROW

30. Dilbert creator Scott : ADAMS

34. Poet's "at no time" : NE'ER

35. Abandon on an isle : MAROON

37. Superman and Batman wear them : CAPES

42. Parcels (out) : DOLES

43. Car window adornments : DECALS

46. Atlas pages : MAPS

49. Boss's nervousness-inducing note : [SEE ME]

51. Banjo support of song : KNEE. "Oh Susanna"

52. "It's __!": warning shout : A TRAP

54. Humanities major : ART

56. Archer's wood : YEW

61. Miss. neighbor : ALA. "I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee."

63. Salt, in Quebec : SEL. (French)

68. One: Pref. : UNI

69. Copenhagen's __ Gardens : TIVOLI


70. Hullabaloos : ADOs

72. Annie, for one : ORPHAN

73. Sibilant "Hey, you!" : [PSST!]

Down:

1. Make a choice : OPT

2. Backrub response : "AAH!"

3. Not a child of bondage : FREEBORN. Rare crossword.(if ever)

4. Pudding starch : SAGO

5. King Kong, e.g. : APE

6. Sounded ghostly : MOANED

7. Until : UPTO

8. Bird feeder filler : SUET

9. Movie lioness : ELSA. "Born Free"

10. Roadside depression : DITCH

11. Go up against : OPPOSE

12. Spend, as time : DEVOTE

13. Haggle : DICKER

18. Genetic letters : RNA

22. Plunder : RANSACK

23. Turntable no. : RPM

24. Time in history : ERA

26. Ear passages : CANALS

29. Carpentry tool : WOOD SAW

31. __ of mistaken identity : A CASE

32. "Oh, brother!" : "...MAN!..."

33. "Itsy bitsy" waterspout climber : SPIDER

Itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

36. Plains native : OTO

38. Suffix with phon- : EME. PHONEME - "distinctive sound or group of sounds,"

40. Born, in society pages : NÉE

41. Refs' whistle holders : LANYARDS

44. Grant's opponent : LEE

45. Put in stitches : SEW

46. 2009 World Series MVP Hideki : MATSUI. C.C.? (Yankees had a Hideki Matsui Bobblehead Day on July 28 this year to honor his retirement as a Yankee.)


47. Goddess who advised Odysseus : ATHENA

48. Bout before the main event, briefly : PRELIM. (preliminary)

50. Garam __: Indian spice mixture : MASALA


53. Meal, in Milan : PASTO

55. Mai __: cocktail : TAI

58. Bear's home : LAIR

59. "We'd appreciate your answer," on invitations : RSVP

60. "This is bad!" : "UH OH!"

62. Vault : LEAP

65. Half a sawbuck : FIN $10 / $5

66. Comedian Bill, informally : COS. William Henry "Bill" Cosby Jr.

67. Repair quote: Abbr. : EST.


Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

Crossword LA tournament will be held on October 26, 2013 (Saturday). Please click here for details.

The host Elissa Grossman said "This year's event will include crosswords and puzzle games constructed by Liz Gorski, Jeffrey Harris, Aimee Lucido, Todd McClary, Andrea Carla Michaels, Pete Muller, Trip Payne, John Doppler Schiff, Dave Shukan, Marc Spraragen, David Steinberg and Zoe Wheeler (with development managed by Tyler Hinman). It's likely that Merl Reagle will join us for the event finals. All money raised (over costs) is donated to a great non-profit (Reading to Kids)."

Those are all brilliant constructors. I hope those in Southern California area will participate. You'll have fun! Doug Peterson will there too, and probably our own Steve & Garlic Gal and many other CA area constructors and top solvers.

55 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Fun puzzle. Like Argyle, the last theme answer was completely unknown to me, but the perps took care of it. I had a brief hesitation at the initial letter, however, since I wasn't convinced that PASTO was a real word (wanted PASTA at first, but the O was rock solid). In the end, though, I went with the "S" since it seemed the most likely.

Isn't a WOOD SAW usually just called a SAW? I mean, I know there are other types of saws out there, like a bone saw, but I've never actually heard somebody refer to a normal saw as a WOOD SAW before.

TIVOLI and MATSUI were potential hangups, except that I've seen them enough times now in crossword puzzles that they actually didn't cause me any grief today. A little perp help to get me going and voila!

[ralpha]

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Misty,
Manac was correct. Marti successfully shifted to her blogger account from Google + last time. Maybe she can give you some tips.

PK,
Nope. Bo Xilai built many affordable housing for the poor. He fought hard the corruption and organized crime. Sign! He was on his way to the very top.

Husker Gary,
Personal opinion: I found Cantonese women very loyal and men unfaithful.

thehondohurricane said...

Howdy all,

Let's see; This weekend UConn lost again, the Gmen lost again, the Yankees lost on Sunday, & those Damn Red Sox clinched. Business on Saturday was only so-so. Why then, not continue into Monday? No reason not to that I can think of.

Mr Stillman's offering was difficult, but yet, a pleasant challenge....until the South. SASHA FIERCE, THE WALRUS, PASTO, & MASALA were all out of my limited sphere of knowledge, I thought MASALA was Ben Hur's friend/enemy. I gurssrd the 2nd A. It was dumb luck.

For 53D I wagged an R instead of the S. Parto & Rasha..... they looked better then Nothing!

Had a few earlier conundrums that were successfully corrected. 11A Red/ODD. 35A Strand/MAROON. 23D Rps/RPM.

A Monday DNF is pretty embarrassing and hopefully the rest of the week will turn up aces.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Interesting and somewhat obscure theme for a Monday morning. Not a fan of Beyonce, so didn't know she was Sasha Fierce. Good thing the perps could give me her alter ego.

Hand up for Red instead of ODD.

I have been to TIVOLI Gardens. It is an interesting place.

I liked seeing the reference to Oh, Susanna and ALAbama in the same puzzle.

Seeing FREE BORN reminded me of The Lost German Slave Girl, which is in interesting book about slavery and its laws in Louisiana.

For all you science geeks, you must see this video. All you wanted to know about String Theory and more. This young man is brilliant.

QOD: When all men think alike, no one thinks very much. ~ Walter Lippmann (Sept. 23, 1889 ~ Dec. 14, 1974)

[xecultho]

HeartRx said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.

Arrgh, I see Cruciverb does not have the puzzle this morning. So frustrating! But you did admirably, Argyle. I wasn't to crazy about the theme. I AM NOT followed by I'M NOT just didn't ring my chimes.

The overlapping theme entries were impressive, but I thought there was some really crunchy fill for a Monday puzzle. POPULI, FREEBORN, MASALA, MATSUI, PASTO and TIVOLI. Any or all of those could be roadblocks for the new solver. And SASHA FIERCE? Really? On a Monday?

Misty, about switching from Google + back to a Blogger account. You have 30 days to do it. In blogger/home page , click on the settings icon on right side of the page, next to the language drop down. Select 'Revert to Blogger profile' option.
OR
Go to the URL below:
http://www.blogger.com/revert-profile.g
Click on the button "Switch to a limited blogger profile." And that's it. You should have your limited Blogger account back. Let me know if you have any problems.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

This was a crunchy Monday puzzle with some nice non-theme fill like FREEBORN, RANSACK and LANYARDS. I fell into the RED/ODD, STRAND/MAROON (hi Hondo!) trap. If PASTO is a meal does that make antiPASTO a non-meal? Or maybe an upchuck?

HeartRx, I don't think Misty ever had a regular blogger profile. Can she still "revert" to one?

DW finally gets home this evening, so I've got L-O-T-S of cleaning to do today. I'd best get at it...

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Seemed like quite a bit of pepper in this puzzle, by Monday standards. That Beyonce thing was all perps.

Morning Marti - Not sure what trouble you're having. I got the file from Cruciverb last night, and it seems to be there now as well.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! The theme reveal was a major GROAN. I took "endings" to mean the last words and just didn't get it until Argyle explained it. Thanks, Argyle. I thought IAM was like iambic meter or something. Duh!

UHOH, the SW corner & center were almost A TRAP for me. Didn't have a clue on either Beyonce or Beatles songs. SEL, UNI, IAM? I thought TIVOLI was in Rome. UHOH, I missed getting a MATSUI bobblehead. Also missed MASALA & PRELIM. Not PHONE ME, maybe?

Red-letters aided me in correctly filling all the squares, but left a really sour mood for a Monday.
Can I go back to bed and try the day again later?

Dudley said...

Hahtoolah - Wow, wow, wow! That singing science kid is amazing! That's the most complex multitrack I've seen so far. I can't imagine how much time went into that project. Brilliant.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff Stillman, for a fine Monday puzzle, albeit a little tough. Thank you, Argyle, for the fine review.

Dudley: FYI, an airplane pilot landed his plane on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago yesterday morning. Single engine two seater. He had mechanical problems and was forced to set it down. Good landing. He timed it with the traffic lights. After he was down two cars clipped his wing.

This puzzle seemed more like a Wednesday level to me. Was not aware that cruciverb was down, since I got up a little late and used the newspaper. Got through it and finished it 100 percent correctly, with many perps and a few wags.

Theme was fine except for SASHA FIERCE and THE WALRUS. They appeared with due diligence.

Well, now I know how to say salt in French, SEL.

MASALA??????? Perped it.

Tried A BIRD, then A RAID for 52A. Finally got A TRAP. Lots of ink on that section. Also tried SEED for 8D. SUET appeared. We throw bird seed on our deck. Lots of birds show up, and a few squirrels. Yesterday a hawk dove down and got one of the birds and ate it on our deck. Fascinating to watch. I did feel bad for the bird that got eaten, however.

Anyhow, off to my day. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(albeou)
(cansfco)

LaLaLinda said...

Hi All ~~

A good Monday puzzle with a couple of tough spots for me. The crossing of MASALA and ART almost did me in. I should have known ART was right. Duh.

~ Like others, I did not know SASHA FIERCE and I had 'Red' before ODD.

~ Needed perps for TIVOLI and PASTO.

~ I just saw Hideki MATSUI yesterday when I watched the tribute for Mariano Rivera. ( Hondo ~ you said the Damn Red Sox clinched. Isn't the phrase "Damn Yankees?" ;-) )

Thanks, Argyle. I enjoyed your write-up ~ interesting info ~ I liked FREEBORN and your "Born Free."

Enjoy the day~~

Husker Gary said...

Wow, a Monday Natick! SASHA FIERCE/MASALA/PASTO didn’t get me but…

Musings
-ALI was the best self promoting athlete ever
-I was AMUSED and shocked by this Wheel of Fortune incident. Should he have gotten the million dollars?
-All pols claim to be hearing the vox populi
-Tom Hanks lost 50 lbs to play the MAROONED man in Castaway
-My only DECAL is one that gets me into all Nebraska State Parks
-Joann’s cousin has a degree in ART but had no hands or fingers and therefore paints and draws with his toes. He teaches art at Lincoln Pius X in our capital city. His story is truly inspirational
-AHH, AAH, OHH, OOH, AHA, UHHO, OHOH… The Swiss Army Knives of cwds
-I liked all the KING KONG movies but remain AWED by the 1933 version
-SUET blocks only attract annoying starlings to our yard
-What musical contains the nice ballad Hopelessly DEVOTED To You?
-COS seems to be a voice in the wilderness by calling on black kids to pull up their pants, use actual English, quit having babies you can’t afford, doing dope,…
-Interesting info on Cantonese relations, CC.

Yellowrocks said...

I never heard of SASHA FIERCE, either, but got it from perps. Only unknown.
Argyle, I, too, bet on red before ODD.
In Copenhagen from my hotel room I could see TIVOLI Gardens, which was closed for the winter season.
As a camp counselor I helped many kids weave LANYARDS.
I thought of antipasto, which means before the meal, so PASTO was easy.
Many traps for newbies.

CanadianEh! said...

A little crunchy for a Monday but finally turned on the red letter help. Didn't get PEI for architect IM. Learning moment when I googled and found him.
Remembered my Latin for VOX POPULI and my French for SEL.
Hand up for pastA. Guess I need to learn Italian!
FREEBORN reminded me of big hit at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) "12 Years a Slave".
Husker Gary @9:02 - GREASE

Mari said...

Good morning everybody. I found this puzzle a bit difficult for a Monday. Most of the fill went well, but I got hung up on the SW and S Central sections. I had a lot of write overs and a couple of blank cells.

Desper-Otto @ 7:00 am: I lived your "anti-pasto" comments.

Have a great week everybody!

CrossEyedDave said...

Italian crossing performers I don't care about?

"WTS"

(what Thumper said...)

Husker Gary said...

-I am subbing today and walked into a computer room 5 minutes late due to poor instructions from the OAF for whom I’m subbing. As I walked in, a sixteen year old boy at a computer looked back at me, jumped and hurriedly manipulated his mouse to close the window he was looking at without an adult in the room. Many subs would have confronted him and demanded to know what he was looking at (the reply would have been “nuttin’”) and/or sent him to the office. I just laughed and he went to where he was supposed to be and class went on very nicely. In teaching and life you gotta decide what are mountains and what are mole hills. Is this a hill I’m willing to die on?
-Yes, Grease had that lovely DEVOTION ballad and was sung by Olivia Newton John. It was composed after the shooting had wrapped and ONJ had to return to Hollywood to put it on film. It got an Academy Award nomination.
-No opinions on the Wheel Of Fortune ADO?

Yellowrocks said...

Anonymous T from last night, I have Zealot on order. Let me know what you think of it
Windy, you might find this book interesting. I read that Reza Aslan makes many points similar to those made by J.D. Crossan.

HG. I think the Jeopardy ruling was fair. The contestant seems to never have heard of curio. I do think it is unfair to blame Pat for the ruling. The rulings are not made by him.

HG You are correct about being clear about what is a mountain and what is a molehill.
I attended a parenting seminar led by a very sophisticated, fastidious woman. on this same subject she said, "You have to pick your noes." It would have slid by under our radar until she realized how it sounded and was totally horrified causing th whole class to roar.

HeartRx said...

d-otto @ 07:00, I was just responding to C.C.’s post @ 6:06 about Blogger.

Dudley @ 7:26, when I tired to use Crosswords on my iPad, the archive for today did not show up on the LAT calendar. I just went to the Mensa site, instead, to do the puzzle.

Hahtoolah said...

I have not read Zealot, but is did read No god but G-d: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, also by Reza Aslan. I found that book fascinating and informative.

Qli said...

MAN, was this a challenging Monday or what? I'm so glad I didn't have the only DNF; after last week I was feeling sort of stupid...

Hahtoolah,, the String Theory video was amazing! I am sending it to my uncle the physicist. He is 81; wonder if he will know the Queen song? Yeah, he has kids...and Google.

I was puzzled by FIN. I figured it was French, but no indication in the clue. (was there?)

Liked ELSA and FREEBORN!

desper-otto said...

Husker, I think W-O-F was correct. In the past they refused a $1M prize to a guy who mispronounced "Singin' In The Rain". As I recall, he said "Singing."

YR, that is too funny!

kazie said...

Marti said "POPULI, FREEBORN, MASALA, MATSUI, PASTO and TIVOLI. ...And SASHA FIERCE? Really? On a Monday?" I agree wholeheartedly.

I have never been interested in Beyoncé, so had no clue there. Otherwise it all fell into place easily. I remember Tivoli Gardens too, from being there in 1970. I remember the name as well because it was the name of the theater where, as a child student of ballet, our group performed at Christmas pantomime shows there every year.

As to antipasto, I found myself looking it up to make sure of the spelling--and it is anti-, not ante-, as you would expect, since the meaning is "before the meal".

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I agree that this was a tad crunchy for a Monday but perps saved the day. Red before odd and pasta before pasto. Was not familiar with the walrus or Sasha fierce but, as mentioned, perps to the rescue.

Nice job, Jeff, and nice expo, Argyle. Pet food, indeed!

I used Cruciverb last night and it's fine this morning. These disparities make you wonder. How many times has Abejo been missing circles in a puzzle when the rest of of have them? Strange.

According to an interview with Bob Newhart, the reason he appeared on TBBT is that it is filmed before a live audience. Some people have complained about a laugh track but I guess that's not the case. Mr. Newhart won an Emmy for his guest appearance. And Sheldon won for the 3rd time.

Chilly enough today for the fleecies! At least for always-cold me.

Have a fun Monday.

Misty said...

Marti, many thanks for the suggestions. I created a Blog Profile, but my posting options still list my Google Account rather than the blog. I'll try it and see if it works, but if not, could use further suggestions.

Misty said...

Testing my Google account option.

LaLaLinda said...

Yay, Misty! :-)

Misty said...

Thank you, everybody, it worked! I've finally gone blue after two years (more or less) on the blog!

Loved today's puzzle. Of course, I always love a Monday--many thanks, Jeff, and Argyle.

Was surprised by PASTO--never heard that expression. But still got the whole puzzle. A great way to start the day and the week!

Have a good one, everybody!

desper-otto said...

Misty, good to see your "blue" self.

Qli, it's not French as in fin de siecle, but fin as in fish. Some people call a $10 bill a sawbuck, and some call a $5 bill a fin. It's just good ole American slang.

HeartRx said...

Misty, yay!! So good to see you go blue! Cool picture.

Lucina said...

Greetings, friends!

I AM flummoxed! Had to check the calendar to make sure it was Monday. When I reached the south was totally mystified as I know NOTHING about Beyonce and didn't know PASTO, tried PARTO but that didn't make sense and in Spanish it means birth.

However, MATSUI worked out but DNF today.

My sister is here from Charlotte and we are going to meet her high school chum for lunch.

Have yourselves a wonderful Monday, everyone!

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

I AM - not AMUSED
by the PASTO - SASHA cross.

Beyonce is beautiful and talented, but i don't follow her, so this was my Natick. Otherwise, a good theme.

Lots of high quality fill, especially in the verts, but the DNF is sticking in my craw.

After '09, Matsui left the Yankees for the Angels, and had one more good year. Then his offensive production fell off badly. He spent one year each with the A's and Rays, then retired from MLB after the 2012 season. It's hard to keep up with the kids when you're 38.

Pretty nice 10 year career.

Cool regards!
JzB

Chickie said...

HOla Everyone, "I am" glad that I am not the only one unfamiliar with Pasto and Sasha Fierce, but "S" seemed the only logical letter. I thought I had it all wrong, but everything else around those two entries was solid. Hands up, too, for Red instead of Odd. I had to use the eraser on that NE corner.

The rest of the puzzle fell into place nicely, with RPM emerging with other perps. I was looking for a number, but once RPM was in place it made so much sense.

Garam Masala is one of the favorite blends of spices in my cupboard.

This was a little harder than most Monday puzzles but it was just my lack of knowledge in some areas.

Misty, Good to see you made it to "blue" today.

Lucina, enjoy your sister's visit and your lunch today.
Have a good day, everyone.

CrossEyedDave said...

Yay Misty!

In checking to make sure I did not have a Gmail acct, I accidentally created one! (What the heck I am going to do with a CrossEyedDave Gmail I have no idea!)

I just hope I remember to check it once in a while....


WJzBS
(What Jazzbumpa Said...)

Tinbeni said...

Misty it is great to see you made it "Blue" !!! (Maybe PK can join you).

Liked the first four theme answers, not so much the last one. (Only needed 11 'perps' to get it).

V-8 head smack when I changed 'ten' to FIN for that 'Half a sawbuck'. Duh!

Hondo @6:20: Too funny about MASALA! lol

Should be interesting America's Cup races today.
Well the Sun is 'over the yardarm' ... Cheers!!!

JD said...

Good morning all,
Congrats Misty! Love the picture too.

Liked the theme, but had to work hard to fill it. I don't think any of us knew Sasha fierce, but loved the challenge . Hand up for red and seed at first..

Cruciverb came through for me. Will go back and open links after a brisk walk and a little bit of quarter poker slots. No roulette for me.

lanyards- I worked part of my way through college as a rec. leader and could make those lanyards in my sleep...later it was friendship bracelets.

Lucina, give your sister a hug from me . Have a great time.

thehondohurricane said...

La LA Linda @ 8:42

Damn was as soft as I could say it. I had a lot of other candidates, but they likely would have got me ousted from the corner.







Lemonade714 said...

WEES, which is what I could expect being here late. Misty, great to see you blue. In 42 years in and around lawyers I have NEVER heard anyone refer to a non-lawyer as a PARA, never. besides, could it not be a PARAtrooper, or a PARAmedic, or maybe a PARAnormal, or my final guess, for all you pizza lovers, a PARAnoid.

Bill G. said...

Monday, Monday...

Add me to the list of those who were clueless about SASHAFIERCE. And then to have it cross PASTO seemed to be a bit much, especially for a Monday.

I have recovered from being bored to death with the Emmys. I always enjoy the IN MEMORIAM, a remembering of those who have died during the year. Barbara opined that it was bad form for people to clap since some people got much more applause than others. It would have been better, we thought, to suggest that everybody hold their applause until the end.

I agree with JzB that Beyonce is talented and good looking. However, her talent is in an area of entertainment that is too young for me. Also, I'm not sure what to make of her efforts to lighten her complexion. It's very noticeable.

I am looking forward to at least one more good America's Cup race today.

Misty, maybe you already know this but if you click on your blue name, it brings you to a page where you can edit your profile. That makes it easy to change your avatar photo whenever you choose.

Have a nice afternoon. Go Dodgers! Happy racing!

Bill G. said...

I loved these! National Geographic wildlife photo contest.

klilly said...

Thanks for the link to the national geo pics.

Saw the play elephants man.. Very powerful.

I have read the book about the German slave girl..very good..still a mystery I believe..

john28man said...

I just got this one done without having to resort to RED LETTERS. I count a puzzle done if I don't have to do that. I did look up dome stuff in Almanacs and the web.

I also agree this was little tough for a Monday.

Lemonade714 said...

I was unaware of any efforts made by Beyonce to lighten her complexion; is this common knowledge? Bill G's comment did make me wonder, since I spend a few hours now and then trying to darken mine, does that give people pause?

OwenKL said...

Mississippi Masala, one of a plethora of movies with masala in the titles at IMDb. Most probably Bollywood. Guess we can add it to the crossword class with OLIO and OLLA PODRIDA.
Indian is bad enough. I'm supposed to know Italian, too? I had TASHA instead of SASHA. Trekkies remember Tasha Yar?
For once, I was glad my paper doesn't carry the puzzle title. Pet Food would have been misleading since it's IAMS, not I AM. But maybe plural "I AM's" count. "Paul Iams, an animal nutritionist who graduated from Ohio State University in 1938, founded The Iams Company in 1946 in a small feed mill near Dayton." (from Wikipedia)

PS, I tried, and whoever mentioned it the other day was right, the number part of the captcha is ignored. It can be wrong or even left off entirely.

Tinbeni said...

OwenKL: Only the Sunday puzzles have titles.
The titles 'here' are decided/determined by whomever is doing the Monday through Saturday write-up.

WOW ... Oracle is back in it at the America's Cup.
If it weren't for the 2 race penalty they received (before the regatta began) they would be tied 8 to 8. (As such, they still need 3 wins to retain ...)

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Too crunchy for a Monday! The threat of having to perhaps cheat on a Monday was no fun. I luckily scraped by.

Newhart, one of my favorites, needs make-up to look less a hair away from death.

Chris returned to my pool today! Delightful to have company!

Cheers!

Al Cyone said...

Hahtoolah (10:31): The title of Reza Aslan's book is not "No god but G-d"; it's "No god but God".

This was a (hopefully) rare Monday DNF for me. I was done in by Beyoncé.

JD said...

Bill G., thanks for posting those beautiful pictures.

Hahtoolah, what a clever guy on the A Capella Science. Enjoyed the link to the Tivoli Gardens too...had only heard of them.

Not thrilled about Mon. Night Football.

Anonymous T said...

G'Eve All:

Gotta admit the DNF. I spelled MATSUI with a z, reversed my vowels in LAIR (I should have wrote it HORT). TEN/FIN and One was my bet on the wheel. Arrrggg.

Hahtootah - is that a Chiluly in the new avitar?

YR - Zealot is good so far. The history is amazing and sad when you compare to current day (...the more the things stay the same...)

Beyonce's family used to live in my old neighborhood; DW would see her out jogging sometimes. Does that mean I knew 64a? No.

Fav clue was 66d - just 'Cuz I like the 'Cos.

Cheers,

-T

Dennis said...

Good evening, gang - full day today, so I'm just now getting to read the blog. Not a particularly happy day, as I had to shell out $1300 for new tires, plus I got a $158 red-light-camera ticket in the mail (for turning right on red at barely a crawl).

I echo the comments of many as far as SASHA FIERCE and PASTO; never would've gotten them without the perps. Clever theme and a little meatier-than-normal Monday puzzle.

Gonna bite my tongue on the rant (after reading HG's comment yesterday), but it's the second time a Random Act of Kindness, which we love doing, has left me more than a little disappointed in human nature, especially with youth.

Hope it's a great night for everyone; lots of good TV this week as well.

HUTCH said...

Husker Gary! You said "In teaching and life you have to decide what are mountains and what are mole hills.I can't let that pass without complimenting you.

Anonymous T said...

Hahtoolah - String Theory video is wicked fun. Thanks. I wish I understood it more than just a model (I have trouble thinking >4D - but maybe the ghost hunters are right :-)).

Cheers, -T

Lucina said...

Chickie and JD:
My sister hugs you back. Now that she retired she visits every two or three months, a couple of weeks here and matches that in California with the clan there.

PK said...

Some scroungy looking guy just came knocking on my door and wanted to borrow some jumper cables at 11 p.m. I talked to him through the window and told him I didn't have any. So many thefts and home invasions these days, I'm afraid to be a good Samaritan. He left right away -- I hope....

Anonymous T said...

PK

At first I thought this was along the lines of Bill G.'s "push" joke last week. But, this is scary.

Call the police and let them know that there's a (supposed) stranded motorist that needs help. If he comes back, say you've already called for assistance.

-T