google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday September 10, 2013 Donna S. Levin

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Sep 10, 2013

Tuesday September 10, 2013 Donna S. Levin

Theme: HITS THE TRIFECTA (55A. Has a big track payday (and a hint to hidden words that begin 17-, 27- and 43-Across) - WIN, PLACE & SHOW are hidden in the first word of each theme entry. 

17A. Oenophile : WINE CONNOISSEUR. I think WON (34D. Took the cup) should have been avoided in the grid.

27A. Response to snake oil, perhaps : PLACEBO EFFECT

43A. Privacy protector of a sort : SHOWER CURTAIN. Still remember Dennis Kozlowski's $6K shower curtain?

C.C. again. Argyle is now back at home. He might drop in on the blog today.

We've seen Win/Place/Show grids before, mostly with BETS as a reveal entry. The beautiful Donna has a very snazzy reveal & brilliant fill. This grid is a good template for 4-theme entries with 15, 14, 14 & 15 letter length.

Donna S. Levin, Newsday

Across:

1. Uniformed figure in the National Toy Hall of Fame : GI JOE. Scrabbly start.

6. Corp. fiscal execs : CFOs

10. Kiss from 10-Down : LICK. And 10D. Heroic TV dog : LASSIE. And 36D. Sound from a contented kitty : PURR. So, no fight between dog lovers and cat lovers on our blog today.

14. Epps and Sharif : OMARs

15. Sow's squeal : OINK

16. 43,560 square feet : ACRE

20. Indianapolis-to-Fort Wayne dir. : NNE

21. Sleepover wear, briefly : PJs. 

22. Shiny finish : LUSTER

23. Lone Ranger's pal : TONTO

26. iPhone's voice-activated personal assistant : SIRI. Ready for iOS 7?

31. Steering system component : TIE ROD. Argyle would nail it. He knows all about cars.

32. Caresses : PETS

33. GM labor gp. : UAW. Our neighbor Andy never shops at Walmart. He said they're Anti-Labor.

35. Redding of soul : OTIS

36. FG's three : PTs. Field goals.

37. Hockey great Phil, familiarly : ESPO

38. Tails and tongues do it : WAG. Also means Wild Ass Guess in our blog. Mine is Onager (Asian Wild Ass) guess.

39. Feng __: decorating philosophy : SHUI. Literally "water". Feng = Wind.

41. Redeem : CASH IN

46. Close to : NEAR

47. "Incorrect!" : NOT SO

48. Ready to mate, animal-wise : IN HEAT. I've learned not to put HOOTERS & G-SPOT in LAT crosswords. BONERS is acceptable though.

51. Pouch : SAC

52. Just minted : NEW

59. Against : ANTI

60. Dutch cheese : EDAM

61. A driver who forgets something might make one : U-TURN

62. Info : DOPE

63. Toupees : RUGs. Did you know we lose up to 100 stands of hair every day? Amazing we still have some hair left.

64. Evaluated : RATED

Down:

1. Graduation wear : GOWN

2. Poker declaration : I'M IN

3. "Psycho" Oscar nominee : JANET LEIGH. I just can't handle this type of movie.

4. Prospector's quest : ORE

5. "Never mind" PC key : ESC

6. Grifter's game : CON JOB. Another srabbly entry.

7. Swimming aids : FINs

8. Artist who lives across from Central Park's Strawberry Fields : ONO. Gimme.

9. Way up the slope : SKI LIFT

11. Rapper-turned-actor : ICE T

12. "Mötley" group : CRUE

13. Actress Deborah : KERR

18. Went (for) : OPTED

19. Pokes around on the Internet : SURFs. Thank you, Al Gore, for the Internet.

24. Some regatta equipment : OARS

25. Cpl., for one : NCO

26. Takes in, as a movie : SEES

27. Greek deli stockpile : PITAs.  This is Xi'An style Pita. Very popular street food.


28. Vision-related : OPTIC

29. Pillow-shaped diamond style : CUSHION CUT. Irish Miss knows rings. This is a new term to me. Doesn't look like pillows though.



30. Golfer's gimme : TAP IN

31. __ truck : TOW

37. Those gals, in Guadalajara : ESAS

39. "Don't __ the small stuff!" : SWEAT. Hard to do.

40. Moor flora : HEATHER

41. Early spring blooms : CROCI. Next year I'm going to plant peonies. Not fond of Crocuses or Croci.


42. ABA member : ATT

44. Layette suit : ONESIE

45. Strips of weapons : UNARMs. Yeah I know. DISARMS is more common.

48. "If __ my way ..." : I HAD. To PA Don, just for you, I'm not going to root for the Pirates any more. Wow, was I powerful! 

49. Spanish lad : NINO

50. URL opener : HTTP. OK, so the Blogger folks provided this patch code for the Template CSS part. That fixed the Header glitch (big empty space) yesterday afternoon. Maybe TTP and Steve know what this gibberish means. What the heck is "important" in a code?


#header-inner {
    width: 1000px !important;
}


51. Deer dad : STAG. Sweet clue.

53. French 101 infinitive : ETRE

54. Mascara applicator : WAND. Flirt! Far Out for Splinter!

56. University URL ending : EDU

57. Pelt : FUR

58. H-like Greek vowel : ETA


After reading all the comments/emails, I've decided to keep the old Template for the time being. Thanks for the quick feedback for my various bumbling quests yesterday, everyone. Can't tell in words how lucky I am to have loyal & caring readers like you. 

C.C.

68 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Fine Tuesday puzzle from Ms. Levin. Didn't need to know the theme to get the theme answers, but it was a nice little *AHA* moment when I figured it out at the end.

CUSHION CUT was a complete unknown that I needed perps and an educated guess to get. Really nice to see CONNOISSEUR in the grid, although I needed a lot of perp help to remember how to spell it. Everything else was smooth sailing.

Anybody else think of the connection between 3D and 43A?

[lsolse]

Barry G. said...

Oh -- and congrats to C.C. for getting a Tuesday puzzle published in the NYT!

River Doc said...

Happy Tuesday everybody!

Well, it was a tad over the typical Tuesday time, but we got ‘er done….

Enjoyed the horse race finishing theme – good SHOW Ms. Levin…

Favorite (word as part of an) answer = CONNOISSEUR….

Do-overs that caused consternation (and closer to a Wednesday / Thursday time) were FETAS for PITAS, WIGS for RUGS, and DATA for DOPE…. Internet SURFing knowledge to the rescue (!) for the last two - HTTP and EDU showed me the error of my ways….

As C.C. mentioned in the expo. I’d prefer DISARM to UNARM for “strips of weapons.” You are Unarmed after you’ve been Disarmed…. Which reminds me, Thanks D-O for the bell ringer jokes the other day…!

What an odd couple – Motley CRUE side by side with Deborah KERR….

Barry, nice catch on the 3D / 43A association…!

“I've learned not to put HOOTERS & G-SPOT in LAT crosswords. BONERS is acceptable though.” Well, that’s just plain sexist of Rich, now isn’t it…?

Speaking of which, is anybody else familiar with the phrase “Don’t SWEAT the petty things, and don’t PET the sweaty things…?” More DF clues and answers – In Heat, Lick, Kiss, Squeal, Purr, Stag, Tongues do it, Caresses, Strips – okay, it’s official, I’ve been in the Middle East WAY TOO long….

Finally, and with that last thought in mind, it’s one week and counting until I’ll be back Sittin’ On Da Doc of Da Bay (Thank you, OTIS Redding…!)

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C., and friends. I am so glad to hear that Argyle is back home. I hope to "see" him soon.

We hadn't had a Donna Levin puzzle in a long time. So good to experience her pithy puzzles once again. I had fun with this, although it wasn't until I filled in the unifier that I caught how the other clues fit together.

My favorite clue was Tails and Tongues Do It = WAG.

Like Doha Doc, I, too, wanted Data instead of DOPE.

I also tried Wrong! instead of NOT SO for Incorrect.

QOD: I’m a working-class person, working with class. ~ Karl Lagerfeld (Sept. 10, 1938)

[ollozip]

Lemonade714 said...

Fans and their superstitions, C.C. I bet you did not know you controlled the outcome of baseball games.

Loved seeing Me. Levin and as an infrequent bettor the theme was fun. The rest was exactly WBS.

Off to do the NYT, thanks.

Dennis said...

Good morning, gang - a nice smooth solving experience today, and it's a great puzzle that has CONNOISSEUR in it. I always look forward to Donna's offerings and she never disappoints.

I too saw the connection between 3D and 43A, but only because I was still looking for a theme at that point. I was pleased to see CON JOB used for 'Grifter's game', as opposed to the usual 'scam'. Don't think I've ever seen IN HEAT in a puzzle before, either. TAP IN reminded me that I'm off later today to continue depositing golf balls in inaccessible places around the area.

The use of 'important' in code is difficult to explain within the confines of a post, but it's basically an 'override' command. There's information readily available online.

Hope it's a fun day for everyone; still basking in the Eagle's BIG win last night under their new head coach and his fast-paced new offensive scheme.

thehondohurricane said...

Hello all,

I've always enjoyed puzzles from Donna Levin because in spite of the day, she will manage to ramp up the challenge and today was no exception.

Had the same issues as others:

Data/DOPE. Wigs/RUGS. 45D Strips of weapons/unarms was a Duh moment. Wanted some type armament issued in a strrip form. Are there any?

No such thing as a gimme in golf. Sink the ball or take an incomplete for the hole.

Riley, as well as all his predecessors. are/were my "buddies." Nothing heroic about them, other then tolerating me.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Donna Levin, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

Could not get 1A until I had a couple downs. Then it came. GI JOE.

Had ENE for 20A for a minute. That is because I had ROBE for 1D. GOWN fixed that to ENE. Been to both cities many times. Should have know NNE.

CONNOISSEUR came because I had most of the letters. WINE came a little later. Had no idea what Oenophile meant.

Not sure what the term PLACEBO EFFECT means. Got the words. I will look it up later.

No idea what a Layette suit/ONESIE is. Got it with perps.

Liked the theme. Made sense.

HEATHER was easy. We are getting a lot of Moor clues lately.

Doctor's office visit today. Just a check-up. My new routine.

Maybe I will try the NYT puzzle since C.C. is in it. I seldom do that one.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(otnmerj)
(stregate)

TTP said...

Good morning all !

Thank you Donna S Levin and thank you CC. I was getting a lot of imagery and visuals from the clues, answers and write up.

CC, I'm no coder, so I defer to D-O and Anonymous T for better explanations, but CSS is the defined style sheet for your web page. That line says that the header is to be 1000 pixels wide, and the 'important' says to override any other defined or default values for header width.

I saw that DarkUFO provided the fix. Sounds creepy. I imagine he or she is probably a 14 year old in their bedroom somewhere. Whether true or not, it was a good fix.

Avg Joe said...

Fun little romp today. Filled as I went, and could not figure out the connection in theme fill. Needed the unifier to get that aspect, but probably could have solved the whole thing without it.

I had the same thought as you Hondo. Was thinking along the lines of a bandolier. That would make a good clecho. Strip of weapons = disarm / bandolier.

Glad to hear Argyle is out of the hospital. Hope you feel better!

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Donna! Great expo, C.C.! Applause for your tenacity in conquering the problems.

I ran through this puzzle like I was IN HEAT or on DOPE. Then the internet ate it half done and I had to do it again. But it wasn't any harder.

My first thought for "Strips of weapons" was "bandoliers", but I realized that was the ammo not the weapons.

Oops, there is my timer, gotta go change my water on the grass. I'll almost be glad for winter!

HeartRx said...

Good morning C.C. et al.

We get a triple treat today, with C.C. leading the commentary on a wonderful Donna Levin puzzle, and a C.C. bonus puzzle in the NY Times! Wow, my cup runneth over!!

I truly did look for the theme before the reveal, but it just was not showing up. And it's all because the three first words have different pronunciations than WIN, PLACE and SHOW. Very clever, and when I did get to the reveal, it was truly a nice "Aha!" moment. So thanks, Donna!

Have a great day, everyone!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Managed to complete Donna's pzl and C.C's NYT pzl (thanks, C.C.) before time for the 7AM march. The sun's coming up later now, so soon I'll be able to dial back the start time.

Ah, dyslexia! I was wondering why Lafayette wore a ONESIE. I had trouble parsing the PLACE BO EFFECT, I thought maybe Ms Peep should be involved. Onager -- that was cute, C.C. I'm surprised DW doesn't call me Origami.

I've seen those 100 strands and many more; they all wind up caught in the bathtub drain. What a hassle! Today my plumbing project is to replace a faucet in the laundry room.

Excellent coding description, TTP.

I'm no great fan of Wally World (Wal-Mart), but it's either 8 miles to WW or 13 miles to someplace else. Guess who wins most of the time?

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. Nice breezy intro, C.C.; thanks.

Very enjoyable puzzle, and well-suited for a Tuesday. Theme was fun. I always thought the SHOWER CURTAIN's function was to keep the shower spray in the tub. Never thought about the privacy thing. Why do they make clear ones?
Always enjoy Donna's puzzles. Thanks.

Glad to hear Argyle is home.

Thunderboomers here this morning. Primary voting later.

Have a great day.

Martin said...

Two days in a row I was two letters short: yesterday I missed the B in BAMA and BISQUE and the T in ROTH IRA and ASTER. Today I missed the C in CROTI and CASH IN and the S in ESAS and CASH IN. Two days in a row I completed all the theme entries.

Yellowrocks said...

ODE TO WINE by Pablo Neruda
Day-colored wine,
night-colored wine,
wine with purple feet
or wine with topaz blood,
wine,
starry child
of earth,
wine, smooth
as a golden sword,
soft
as lascivious velvet,
wine, spiral-seashelled
and full of wonder,
amorous,
marine;
never has one goblet contained you,
one song, one man,
you are choral, gregarious,
at the least, you must be shared.
.........................
Drink it,
and remember in every
drop of gold,
in every topaz glass,
in every purple ladle,
that autumn labored
to fill the vessel with wine;
and in the ritual of his office,
let the simple man remember
to think of the soil and of his duty,
to propagate the canticle of the wine.
Link Middle verses

TTP said...

Speaking of "Pokes around on the internet", one friend that SURFS quite a bit sent this link that makes me reminisce Nostalgic Trips Back In Time

HeartRx said...

Montana is coming to visit her son in CT, and we are planning to meet for lunch in Hartford on Monday. Dudley and I will both be there, and would love to know if any of our other members of the New England contingent can make it?

Please email me if you are interested, and I will send you the details. Thanks!

Martin said...

C.C., I would guess !important is a comment. It doesn't do anything. It just tells people not to delete that line of code because it is important.

Yellowrocks said...

Interesting puzzle, Donna and great expo, CC.
Glad you are home again, Argyle.
Spitz, that was my take on the shower curtain, also.
My older son was a CFO and now is VP in charge of accounting for many large real estate firms.
GI JOE, OMARS, and GOWN gave me a quick start today. I had the downs first, so DOPE and RUGS were no prob.
It is amazing how PLACEBOS sometimes can trick our bodies into wellness. But with all the expensive meds my son takes, often the real thing is needed.
Who among you practices FENG SHUI?
Amazingly TIEROD was a gimme for me. I have been responsible for the care of my car for a long time.
Back to work. CUL8R

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Nicely done, Donna S. Needed some perps here and there but had no hang-ups. The only head-scratcher was pillow-shaped diamond style=cushion cut; I have never heard either expression. Thanks, CC, for your fine expo (3 days in a row, no less) and the shout-out. (I bet Tin shuddered filling in 11D.)

Glad to hear Argyle's back home and send best wishes for good health.

It's been raining "CEDs and Manacs" all morning. Supposed to reach 85 today and 92 tomorrow, then, by Friday, 61. Crazy weather.

I hope everything is okay with Mari; she hasn't posted in awhile.

Hondo, how is the PT going-any improvement in your shoulder?

Enjoy the day.

Tinbeni said...

Enjoyed both Donna & C.C.(NYT) puzzles today. What a FUN Tuesday!
Argyle: I'm glad to hear you're home.
Irish Miss: I'm waiting for the ICE-T -v- Iced-T discussion. lol

First 'toast' today at Sunset goes out to Husker Gary.
Happy Birthday Eve!
Cheers!!!

Splynter said...

Hi there~!

Glad to see all is well with the header, and that Argyle is recovering~!

I had FETAS and DATA B4 PITAS and DOPE, too, Doha.

I was thinking this puzzle had all the fodder necessary for a good story from lois...

Oh yes, long lashes, and dark eye shadow - and by all means, please flirt~!

Splynter

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

An excellent Tuesday undertaking, with all the elegance that seems usual for Donna Levin. Needed the unifier to spot the theme.

I'm no Feng Shui expert, but in our present house there exists a flaw: the stairs end right at the front door. A visitor warned us that with this arrangement the force called Qi just whooshes down the stairs and right out into the yard. Hmmm. That's not easy to fix.

Our new house has the stairs arranged so that anyone descending them whooshes right into the kitchen, aligned with the coffee pot. I wasn't told what effect this would have on the Qi. The master bedroom is laid out so that the head of the bed is at the north; somehow this feels right to me.

CrossEyedDave said...

(I kinda wigged out on this puzzle)

I never saw heather, & had EDI for URL ender. I guess I thought "hew" was some kind of English Flora. ( What Heathew is I have no idea...)

Win!

Place! Right Manac!

Show! (what a ripoff!,,, or was it a conjob?)

Anonymous said...

Peonies are best planted in the fall - so go get a couple of plants now and put them in the ground. You'll be happy come next spring.

Misty said...

First of all. C.C. we are the lucky ones, having a loyal and caring blog manager like you. Thank you for all your extra hard work in the last two days!

What a great way to start the week, with a Jack Mac on Monday, and now a Donna Levin on Tuesday! Loved this puzzle for so many reasons, including the grid spanner right near the top and all the sweet PETS references to LICKing dogs, giving us kisses (boy, do they ever), PURRing kitties, WAGging tails, and the reminder that they need to be spayed before they get IN HEAT.

I might not have gotten the theme if I hadn't dated a guy (years ago, before I met my husband) who used to take me to the track (Santa Anita, Del Mar). I loved it and turned out to be a surprisingly good gambler, although I'm pretty sure I never HIT A TRIFECTA.

So glad to hear that Argyle is home again.

I used to live in Michigan, and must say that the way the CROCI announced the coming of spring was always a little thrill.

Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Dee-Lightful Donna Levin offering today. Cool theme, nice fill.
Odd that the Lone Ranger's pal was named Tonto. All in good fun, tongue in cheek, I presume.
L8R

JD said...

Good morning C.C., et al,

I always smile when I see a Donna Levin puzzle. Thanks for posting her picture, C.C.

Had only one write over-wigs to rugs, but had to have perp help with the spellings of connoisseur and shui.DH gave me the 2 letters I needed for Espo, and I'm sure my daughter could have filled me in on cushion cut, but that was an easy WAG.

Not familiar with the crocus, but that must be the flower we see up at L.Tahoe. The daffodil announces the beginning of spring in our area, and is used by the ACS as their symbol for hope.Do you have Daffodil Days in your area?

So glad Argyle is home and healing.

YR, lovely poem

Dudley, I had never seen Qi used before, and yet it is probably the most used word in Scrabble - an a-ha for me.

Have a lovely day. I'm off to the doc to see if my toe is broken or dislocated... either way, it is UGLY.

Dennis said...

Garlic Gal, Misty, what'd you think of Sunday's Newsroom? There's an awful lot of loose ends, and next Sunday is the finale already.

Dudley said...

C. C. - Hand up for peonies! They are lovely and sweet smelling.

Part of my house project involved eliminating all my late mom's flower gardens. It was a sad sacrifice, but I transplanted as many things as I could for eventual re-use. I carefully divided and saved her faithful peonies. I hope to put them nearer the street next year, so passers-by can enjoy them.

Lucina said...

Greetings, friends! Thank you, C.C. for your excellent subbing and I'm glad Argyle is now home.

Yowza and caramba! It's just great to see a Donna Levin puzzle. It's been a very long while.

Since I started with ROBE that slowed me for a bit but then WINE CONNOISSEUR became apparent and GOWN debuted.

Of course JANET LEIGH easily filled though I've never seen the complete Psycho but only the SHOWER scene. Like you, C.C., I can't manage those kinds of movies.

ONESIEs are what every newborn baby needs by the dozens. They are the one piece outfit that snaps at the bottom, with or without legs.

Only one write over today when I mistakenly had MATTE at 23A until realizing TONTO belonged there and LUSTER at 22A.

I'm going to write CONNOISSEUR again because I believe it's the first time I've experienced writing it and wasn't sure of the spelling.

Thank you, Donna! Thank you, C.C.!

Everyone, have a splendid Tuesday!

I love XWords said...

I often come to this web site, to get some of the answers and also to learn more of the clues, and often the all-important ' Themes'.

I notice CC uses the word, "scrabbly" , quite often, while in her blog, about some other crossword construction.

What does "scrabbly" mean ? I looked up the online dictionary, and found it means, "sparse of trees and bushes - as in a desert".

But, in the context of a crossword puzzle clue, what does that connote ? Is it a mild pejorative ? Is it something a constructor should have avoided ? Does it reduce the 'class' of the constructor , or is it to be considered inelegant ? I presume it is not a compliment.

Does scrabbly mean 'scrabble-like' or 'scrabble-esque' and what are its implications or the meaning for somebody, say a sixth grader.

Please could somebody explain. I have been trying to Google the definition and meaning, and am getting totally confused.

CC , great job on the fixing the site, and all the commentary on your blog. Donna Levin, fantastic puzzle, and very, very enjoyable.

Love you all.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, TTP for Nostalgic Trips. Strips of weapons-I kept picturing the strip we loading in cap pistols--of course, that was ammo, not the weapon! LOL!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Same here regarding CONOISSEUR, a fine word that I never remember how to spell. I suppose it would be easier if it were pronounced CON WAH SOOR. But even with French words English is notorious for not pronouncing as they are spelled.

As a kid I remember laboring diligently to pronounce "Worcestershire Sauce" correctly, not just getting all the syllables in but giving them their approximate weight and rhythm. Then when I visited England for the first time, I found they just elide it to "Wooster Sauce"--except for one soul who just asked me to "Please pass the Lee & Perrins."

Pookie said...

Hi C.C. and all,
No time to read comments from yesterday or today. Hope to catch up manana.
I read UNINFORMED figure in the N. toy hall of fame. DUH
Misread the UTURN clue also.
Fun puzzle
Took all the perps to suss CONOISSEUR.
Good day, all.

Husker Gary said...

This fun puzzle hearkens back to when Aksarben (Nebraska backwards) Racetrack was one of the biggest horse tracks in America. Betting on the dogs supplanted it.

Musings
-WIN(e), PLACE(bo), SHOW(er) theme stood out like a brick in a punchbowl to me!
-I knew CONNOISSEUR but had to use perp training wheels to spell it.
-GI JANE
-I’ve seen collies on farms but never with a perpetual perfect coat like the TV dog ;-)
-Surrounded by hostile Indians, Lone Ranger says, “Looks like we’re finished TONTO.” TONTO replies, “What you mean, we, Kemo Sabe?”
-Anyone here ever CASH IN these?
-My graduation GOWN was black and we sat down in a natural depression (Willow Bowl) in full sun in the middle of August to get our degrees. I got sick!
-Psycho was scary without being revolting
-My friend does not believe in gimmes in golf
-Thanks, Tinman, I’ll be subbing on my 67th birthday!
-What fictitious TV doctor’s hometown was Ft. Wayne, IN?

Tinbeni said...

Husker: Frank Burns in M*A*S*H
Thought you be out playing 36 holes tomorrow on your 67th.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Husker Gary @ 2:01
reminds me that before we transferred our ever-growing commencement ceremonies to our indoor arena, we held them on a lovely but hot hillside on the south side of our campus.

I was often the "Reader"--the one who calls the names of the graduates--so I had a fine view of the hundreds of black-gowned new BAs and MAs as they swayed woozily under the sun. I could see that most of the (fewer) PhD candidates distinguished themselves and their intellects by removing their mortarboards while they sat waiting to be called. Those flat topped black head covers operated as perfect solar panels, conducting the sun's rays directly to their brain pans. It was predictable that it was mainly the BAs who would pass out.

(Once it was my graduating son's grandmother, but for her it was age, of course, not a m'board that counted against her. Quick! Into the shade, lay her down, feet up, sips of water!
Oh, these wonderful family occasions!)

Joe Schmo, BA said...

Such a charming story, Keith, without any hint of elitism that usually runs rampant on our college campuses.

Husker Gary said...

-Here is Willow Bowl 1 showing “only mad dogs and bachelor recepients go out in the noon day sun!” Note the dignitaries and PhD’s in the shade, replete with their scholarly plumage, while the academic hoi polloi are baking to a turn in the Nebraska (Aksarben spelled backwards) sun. Willow Bowl 2 in color.
-Great adjunct story Keith. To quote Puck, “What fools these mortals be.” I love to throw in Shakespeare for you when I can.
-No golf tomorrow, Tinman. I’ll be slaving away for a mere $135 and then heading to Lincoln for supper with a lotta peeps with my DNA. And right you are on “ferret face” Frank, of whom Hawkeye said, “He’s created more widows than salmonella”

Don said...

See.CC...It worked, despite what other bloggers scoff at. The Pirates won one yesterday.
You are amazing in so many ways :o)

Bill G. said...

Tuesday, Tuesday. Hello! I enjoyed the puzzle. No big hangups. I started out with Wigs instead of RUGS but got it fixed quickly.

I see I got outvoted. I usually tend to be stressed by change but in this case, I thought a new blogger template would be refreshing. The old things I'm used to are comfortable so I'm OK either way. Thanks CC for your effort to keep things running smoothly.

HG, yes my parents cased in books of stamps. I also remember Blue Chip stamps too. Happy pre-birthday!

I woke up this morning and discovered that my memory foam pillow has Alzheimers.

A blind man walks into a drug store. He walks down every aisle dragging his cane on the shelves knocking everything on the ground. The pharmacist asks him, "Can I help you, sir?" The blind man says, "No thanks, I'm just looking."

Lucina said...

YR:
I love Pablo Neruda's work, one of my favorite poets! Thank you for posting Ode to Wine.

Did anyone ever see the movie, Il Postino? It's a tribute to him by the Italians who loved him as well.

HG:
Yes, I recall Green Stamps quite well. One of my grandmothers, the OCD one, once asked my sister to paste them in the books for her. When Marge (sister) finished she showed them to said grandmother who was horrified that they were haphazardly pasted, upside down, crooked, etc.

She told Marge to steam them off and re paste them!

HeartRx said...

I love Xwords @ 12:27, "scrabbly" is actually a compliment when it comes to crosswords. It means that the constructor used high-point scrabble letters in the grid, like Q, Z, X and J. The words with those letters are often more interesting that words using R,S,T, L, N or E. I just constructed one that is a "pangram." That is, it uses every letter of the alphabet at least once. Most solvers don't even realize when a puzzle is a pangram, but analysts always look for them. I just hope Rich accepts it for publication!

pat said...

Tonto had his ear to the ground, hmm, he said, two horses, two men, one wagon with two men pulled by two horses. Great! said the Lone Ranger, you can tell all that just by putting your ear to the ground? No, said Tonto, they just ran over me

Luv Crosswords said...

Thank you HeartRx for the explanation of "scrabbly". Very Grateful for your consideration.

I can't see though, how my notions, could have been so completely off base. I wonder how I could have thought of it as a 'put down', when in fact it is meant to be a compliment.

So - " G. I. Joe" is scrabbly, because it makes the use of the letter 'J'. ( Oh, oh, I see Big Bird around the corner .... ).

BTW, could someone write this explanation and a comment on it, into the Merriam Dict. Online, so that the next person will not have to ask this question, at least on this blog, ever again.

Luv Crosswords said...

HeartyRx. , I wanted to wish you the best of luck and best wishes, in getting your puzzle published., and soon.

Rich, if you're reading this - that gives her an extra 50 brownie points.....

Anonymous said...

Yes, Luv Crosswords, I will write that for you only if you can tell me why the L.A. times doesn't print their own puzzle on Sundays so that question never gets asked again.

Steve said...

C.C.: Martin @ 9:33 has it correct - the ! character indicates the text following is a comment - it's

Funny that they gave you the patch code which was obviously missing when it was !important :)

HeartRx said...

Luv Crosswords @ 5:03, "scrabbly" has been added to Merriam Dictionary online. It may take 3-4 days to appear, but thanks for the suggestion!

Anon @ 5:08, "It's a mystery..."

desper-otto said...

Anon@5:08 -- It's a serious contagion, which if not stopped, could become a pandemic. A couple weeks ago the Houston Barnacle, which had been carrying the LAT Crossword seven days a week, dropped the Sunday puzzle. Instead they carry a week-old NYT Sunday puzzle. They claim they do it so as not to upset the NYT fans. Hmmmph! Citizens hear me out, this could happen to you!

desper-otto said...

Manac, all I see is a blue screen with the caption "FunnyChill.com" -- is that what you meant?

Irish Miss said...

Mari asked me to say hi to everyone for her. She is fine but extremely busy at work and unable to post. She'll be back when things get back to normal.

Manac said...

OH! And a word to wise. Never, Ever, Ever Google Boner! I learned my lesson.

Abejo said...

C.C.: Well I tried to download the NYT Xword from cruciverb today. Could not do it. Tries the NYT web site. I had to buy an account. So, I did not. Went to my library and got the Times, copied the puzzle on the copy machine (15 cents) and worked it. Great puzzle, C.C. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

creature said...

Glad Mari is cool.

PK, I'm having lots of trouble getting around because of a hip-upper leg pain. Had this same situation about 8 or 9 yrs ago. went to Orth doc, he took pictures gave me some pain pills and life got back to normal.

I think I've slept funny on it, but I'm worn out with it. I have gained about 14 lbs! and noticed your remarks from yesterday(?) I can see where this is disastrous! What keeps you off you feet? Sorry I haven't paid better attention.

Creature

GarlicGal said...

Late to the party.WEES.

C.C.. enjoyed your NYT offering. Nice to see your name!

It would be fun to take part in the Minnesota event this week BUT even more fun to meet up with the Hartford contingency!! What an interesting, varied and adventurous group C.C. has amassed. Have a ball...just don't tell your kids you are meeting up with someone you met on the internet, (i.e.stranger), in a new place, for an afternoon of talking about crossword puzzles. ...CUE the EYE ROLLING...

Dennis @12:08. OMG - The Newsroom. Poor Charlie is doomed!! Mac is doomed!! Don is doomed!! What are we going to do? Riveting.

CrossEyedDave said...

Manac, your 6:49 link is not working either.

I got a redirect screen, & using it's links gave me a Google Chrome MALWARE AHEAD WARNING!

It would be best to delete that post, & run your antivirus, anti malware programs just to be safe.

Manac said...

CED
Thanks for the heads up( not meant to be DF) I got my best man checking out my laptop ( no need to go there).
That little pirate has the best anti malware and virus software you can get.

He'll let me know in about an hour

61Rampy said...

Yikes, I agree with CED. I clicked on Manac's link and managed to get a Trojan, (not the kind that goes on a BONER) which I think McAfee has fixed. It took a few scans to clear it too. Maybe its Manac's revenge for all of the Kute Kittie links?
Also, Thank you TTP for the hour-long trip down memory lane!

Anonymous T said...

G'Eve All!

Very late to the party today, but enjoyed everyones posts. Ms Levins's puzzle was wonderful! I even beat MIL today (she was stuck on PLACE t/bO EFFECT).

And bonus PTS for a C.C. NYT! (Still trying to crack the NW, but fun).

In code I read ! as NOT, so CSS* is NOT important :-) Who else pronounces punctuation?:
! - Bang
@ - at
# - sh (arp)
^ - carrot / hat
* - splat
? - huh

HG - S&H stamps redeemed at the A&P.

Bill G. "Just Lookin'" hehehehe

Argyle - God Speed!

Anyone watch the Pres's speach? Did it change anyones position? Didn't think so.

C.C. Even if you stopped liking the Astros, that won't help us at this point. At least we have the Texans!

Cheers, -T
* Cascading Style Sheets - default formating in HTML

Manac said...

Ok Laptop came through clean as a whistle. he's running a different scan now to be absolutely sure. I sure hope he doesn't erase all my Sofia Vergara Pics :)
Sorry about the link. It was just a silly cartoon.

Bill G. said...

HEY MANAC, if you lose your Sofia Vergara photos, I'll ask her to send you some more.

The trouble with us and Syria (using chemicals against its own citizens), it feels a little like driving past a bully beating up another kid. You feel like you ought to do something but you might be asking for problems if you get involved. There isn't any good answer to problems like that.

CrossEyedDave said...

Manac,,, Don't look at that website!

& for CC, Goodnite all!

Misty said...

Dennis, we tape "Newsroom" and so haven't seen the last episode yet. Hope it works and that we can see it and get back to you and Garlic Gal about it. It's been incredibly dramatic this season, hasn't it?

Anonymous T said...

Lucina:

Almost forgot to thank you for the Sloppy (GI) JOES! Made it tonight. Thanks!

-T

Lucina said...

AnonymousT:
You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it.