Theme: Twist and Shout, it is anagram time!
Well
this Thursday offering from our new Titanic Twosome, had me twisting in
the wind in places until I finally shouted Eureka! I used up my anagram
last time I blogged this pairing, so you all are on your own. Anagram
puzzles are different because either you see it or you do not, which
would make it very hard even with the reveal, but remember words like,
Change, Shake Up, or in this case SWITCH etc. tell you it is an anagram.
Lemonade here pinch writing for our shy Thursday thumper, unraveling
the product of two beautiful minds. I am still not used to the day, but
this had some very nice intermediate fill, such as NUDISTS, PARASOL,
PATROLS, PLOPPED, CATWOMAN and SEAFARER and a couple of real challenges.
Let's take a walk on the wild side and see.
20A. *Garden display : FLOWER PETALS. (12).
34A. *Paper fastener : METAL STAPLE. (11).
41A. *Feature of some kilts : KNIFE PLEATS. (11). As the grandson of a Tailor, I am embarrassed to say I did not know this TERM.
51A. Electrician's covers, and a hint to the ends of the answers to starred clues : SWITCH PLATES. (12).
Time to flick to ON and get to work.
Across:
1. Like much Oscar-night attire : CHIC.
Not an easy one for me to see and I was struggling with 1 down too;
This is one of those puzzles where I could provide a link for almost
every answer, but I will restrain myself so you can focus on their
words.
5. Under-the-sink installation : P TRAP. Is there a hyphen? For all you DIY people.
10. Take a shine to? : BUFF. Okay, maybe a few.
14. Jazz singer Horne : LENA. 70 years ago. LISTEN. (5:05). A real treat.
15. Island near Curaçao : ARUBA. Two of the three Dutch ABC islands off of the Coast of Venezuela.
16. 1930s migrant to California : OKIE. A no no? 23A. Oklahoma tribe : OTOE.
17. Far __ : EAST.
18. River where Romulus and Remus were abandoned : TIBER. My son the archaeology major named his dog REMUS, but after the Harry Potter character!
19. Hot : SEXY. Equal time.
24. Sends regrets : SAYS NO.
28. Crazed Muppet drummer : ANIMAL. A man, a woman and now for you furries, HIT IT. (0:43).
31. Bright light : NEON.
33. Bamboozled : HAD. Tricky clue for a little answer.
36. Where Andy Capp 'angs 'is 'at : 'OME.
37. Noggin : BEAN. Mr. Bean would be at 'ome with Andy.
38. Go in haste : HIE. A Shakespeare word, how cool.
39. Stretch : SPAN.
40. Med. lab letters : LDL. Low-density lipoprotein The bad cholesterol. Lipo proteins often lead to liposuction.
45. Actor Wallach : ELI. He played the UGLY. (5:04).
46. Creatures of habit? : NUNS. Really fun example of the minds of our constructors.
47. Unfancy to the max? : LOATHE. Fancy meaning to like, not the adjective. Did it fool you?
48. Ready to be served : SEATED.
50. Three French horns, in a Prokofiev classic : WOLF. A true CLASSIC. (4:11).
57. Take a verbal shot at : ZING. Not to be confused with Bazzinga.
60. Small porch : STOOP. To me, it just means the steps in front of the porch.
61. Sitarist Shankar : RAVI. His famous daughter is Norah Jones, this is ANOUSHKA. (6:23).
62. Busy : AT IT.
63. Mel-Tones frontman : TORME. The velvet fog and muse for Night Court.
64. Place for the first 42-Down? : EDEN. Really cute cross-referential with 42D. Colony residents : NUDISTS. No ant colony for these two, and of course I have to add
65. Opens, as a car trunk : POPS. So many choices.
66. Sprinter's asset : SPEED.
67. Stinky : RANK. May be from our word RANCID?
Down:
1. Pitch indicator : CLEF. Man I need to go back to music class, when I was in school I was not only tone deaf, but pitch black.
2. Get back on one's feet : HEAL.
3. "You are __ much trouble!" : IN SO. a common sibling comment.
4. Supervillain with a whip : CATWOMAN, There have been so many beautiful women in that costume, who is your FAVORITE?
5. Pounds a beat : PATROLS.
6. Sheer nonsense : TRIPE.
We know of the food made from entrails, so I guess it makes sense for
the Slang definition: something, especially speech or writing, that is
false or worthless; rubbish.
7. Hick : RUBE. I guess there were a lot of Reubens in the country.
8. Disable the security system for, say : ABET. Complicated clue for a simple answer.
9. Lightweight umbrella : PARASOL. This is actually from the French to protect from the SOLEIL.
10. Domineering : BOSSY.
11. Maui strings : UKE. Where are all the the Hawaiians?
12. Tough spot : FIX.
13. Tina of "Date Night" : FEY. She is out of work and not happy, I hear.
21. Abbr. for the nameless? : ET AL.
22. Shipping route : LANE.
25. Patronize : SHOP AT.
26. Jet legend : NAMATH. Joe Willie, will the Jets ever have another hero?
27. Danish seaport : ODENSE.
I am not really familiar with this city, though I can see the name
coming from the Norse god, Odin and therefore a Jerome clue/fill. It
looks like Aruba with the orange roofs.
28. Moseys : AMBLES.
29. Compass point? : NEEDLE. Another one, where you say, damn north, east, south, west are all too short.
30. Venezia's land : ITALIA. For marti our travelling saleswoman.
31. Innocents : NAIFS. The same stem as naive; there is a similar Yiddish word.
32. Foil kin : EPEE. Not tin or aluminum.
35. Deli slicing request : THIN. So why do we get it sliced thin and then out 6 pieces on the sammich?
39. Old salt : SEAFARER. Swabbie, sea dog, tar...or our missing marine?
41. More than suspected : KNEW.
43. Sat (down) ungracefully : PLOPPED. But did not fizz.
44. Hang out in the hammock : LOLL.
49. USAF E-6's : T-SGTS.
"Technical Sergeant is the sixth enlisted rank (pay grade E-6) in the
U.S. Air Force, just above staff sergeant and below master sergeant. "
No longer a rank in the Army and not to be confused with 52D. 'Vette
roof option : T-TOP. marti loves those 'letter-word' words.
50. Question before "Yeah, you!" : WHO ME?
53. Pear remnant : CORE. How cute, let's trick them and not use apple.
54. "Yay, me!" : TADA. Almost time.
55. Neck and neck : EVEN. I hope you are keeping up with me.
56. Hole on the green : SINK. Hole the verb, not the noun/ "Man, he holed a 50 footer!"
57. Static jolt : ZAP. Don't drag your feet on the carpet.
58. Skater Midori : ITO. I always link her for dear Clear Ayes, but this time I will pour a Midori sour.
so we can finish up with a
59. Swig : NIP.
What
fun it is to toast these two, even with green liqueur on the rocks
(sorry Tinbeni). A bit confusing for my Friday brain, but much fun. I
leave you with some words from the divine one.
This
is another puzzle that Jerome and I co-constructed. I love it that Rich
published both in the same month! I was working on a theme idea with
the unifier "SWITCH PLATE" that had anagrams of "plate" in it. When I
got stuck trying to find good entries, I turned to the master of
anagrams and asked for help. He suggested making PLATE plural, and came
up with the theme entries.
Having only four entries, I told him I thought I could design a respectable grid, and he said: "I DON'T WANT TO BE PART OF ANYTHING RESPECTABLE!!" So that's how 42-Down got into the grid...
Having only four entries, I told him I thought I could design a respectable grid, and he said: "I DON'T WANT TO BE PART OF ANYTHING RESPECTABLE!!" So that's how 42-Down got into the grid...
Note from C.C.:
Please click here to solve Marti's "Top Bananas" puzzle published at George Barany's website. Love that banana picture! Click here
to see a cool picture of Marti and a funny bio. Who else on our blog
can brag that he/she had a hole-in-one? Husker Gary's was a great mulligan.
72 comments:
He bet that his team made the grade
In the bowl game, but he was betrayed.
He'd vowed, for his shekels
To wear FLOWER PETALS
Then to march, a one-man Rose Parade!
No, wait, I can't use that! That was one of yesterday's limericks! (Guess I was just being prescient.)
Views from orbiting vessels
Show rivers that wind like some pretzels.
While some are strait lines
Surrounded, like vines,
By lakes you could call FLOWER PETALS!
You think, as you lay out the table
That the diet for humans is stable.
But what of your robot?
Does he drink wine from grapeshot?
Eat Ore-os? Deem nutbread METAL's STAPLE?
Consider the Scots on the heaths.
Their companions say nothing but bleats.
They wear kilts, which they crease
(For there's nae else beneath)
With their blades, to look sharp with KNIFE PLEATS!
Have you ever noticed on dates,
Whether casual or out with mates,
Their order looks tasty
While yours just looks pasty?
They're thinking the same, so SWITCH PLATES!
A bonus today I do tell!
I thought that this theme was just swell!
Though anagrams as a trick
Can make some people sick,
Turn their color the PALEST PASTEL!
I'll pass on the other two candidates: SEPTAL (divider PLATES between nostrils or between chambers of the heart) and TEPALS (the outer PETALS of a blossom, which may be different from the inner PETALS).
Strait was not a misspelling; and because I was curious, KNIFE PLEATS.
I SAYS NO when I hear my wife SAY SNO!
Seconding and amplifying upon what C.C. just wrote about Marti's fun "Top Bananas" puzzle (http://tinyurl.com/martitopbananapuz), may I recommend that after completing the puzzle, return to its page and click on the various links at the end of the opening paragraph. Hope you enjoy it, and congratulations to Marti for today's "double play"!
Morning, all!
I made it through today's puzzle in decent time and certainly appreciated the theme when I figured it out after solving. But there was definitely some weirdness going on during the solve...
P-TRAP was a complete and utter unknown. So unknown, in fact, that I thought there was some sort of trick going on here like a rebus. But no, just P-TRAP. Whatever that is.
And then all of the theme answers just seemed a bit off to me. FLOWER PETALS and METAL STAPLES seemed awfully redundant. Surely, it would be enough to simply have FLOWERS and STAPLES given the clues? And KNIFE PLEATS was another complete unknown. All of the theme answers were quickly guessable, so they didn't actually hold me up. They just seemed a bit off, as I said. No harm, no foul.
My son's classmate is going as CAT WOMAN for Halloween this year. I have no idea whether she will be carrying a whip, but I suspect not...
[omposerv]
I'll see this puzzle this evening, but after reading yesterday's blog late last night, it's apparent that William Golding was right. They walk among us.
Good morning!
As soon as I saw Jerome's name along with Marti's, I started looking for anagrams. Got the theme at the second theme answer. There was some really nice fill along with the cute theme. Well done! I noticed that C.C.'s photo was also included on George Barany's wall of fame.
There's a nudist resort just a couple of miles from our town. It elicited some spicy commentary on our local message board.
Barry, a P-Trap is that curved piece of plumbing pipe under the sink that is always filled with water. That's what keeps the sewer gases from coming back up.
OK, I've delayed long enough. I have to own up to a DNF. I thought "ready to be served" was SEARED. So I wound up with R-SGTS. Hey, it coulda been!
Barry, a P-Trap is that curved piece of plumbing pipe under the sink that is always filled with water. That's what keeps the sewer gases from coming back up.
I've always just called that the sink trap...
Good morning, folks. Thank you. Marti and Jerome, for a very good puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for the fine review.
Could not get started at all in the NW. Finally got OKIE in the NE. That was my foothold. Spread from there.
Got all the theme answers including SWITCH PLATES. Then the theme appeared. Very good jumble.
Had a problem with OTOE and TRIPE. Had OTOS and TRIPS. Close, but no cigar.
Tried STOP AT first, then fixed to SHOP AT.
Our good friend EPEE. Frequent word.
ODENSE took me a while. Had enough perps to make it work.
P TRAP was a new term to me. I had always just called it a trap, as Barry said. I have taken out and installed a number of them through the years. The most recent being last Saturday. The tough part, as I get older, is getting under the sink. You have to be like a pretzel. I will be working on another trap in Pennsylvania this weekend. Long story.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(statxt)
PETALS/STAPLES? OMG, I got it and it gave me PLEATS when I had no idea on KNIFE! Lemon’s summation works for me verbatim. A lovely way to spend a Thursday morning with my still sick grandson who’s going to the doctor today and hopefully will HEAL.
Musings
-I’ve been called lots of things, CHIC ain’t one of ‘em
-Online Horne looked exactly like Home (no paper here)
-It appears Scarlett’s wardrobe could be kept in a manila envelope
-Crissy loves the Creatures of habit at her school, esp. Sister Maximillian
-We’re Seated, why can’t he see us?
-Peter and the Wolf and the Nutcracker taught me the orchestra instruments
-Penny taught Sheldon that a tie on the doorknob meant someone was Gettin’ Busy
-It’s been at least 20 years since we’ve had a car with a trunk
-My fav Catwoman! Meow!
-Crime goes down when officers Pound a beat
-Wouldn’t having this PARASOL be loverly?
-Hole in three? ;-)
-Did your high school cheerleaders ever chant this during a free throw, “SINK it, Gary, SINK it”
-What movie featured this scene in a shipping LANE
Good morning, everybody. I have a day off and have caught up reading about the last few puzzles.
CC’s yesterday was great. And, every Youtube video in the blog was there and worked on my iPad as did all the links. Usually, like today, I just get a huge white space. Argyle, your links under the white spaces the last few puzzles have all worked. Thanks. Someone once made a comment that those iPad people don’t know what neat videos they are missing. That’s true.
It is Thursday and a Marti puzzle with a Jazzbumpa write-up. Wonderful!
I made dozens of passes through this one (wasn’t that Marti’s advice to keep at it) and I eventually solved it. I almost gave up a couple times, but I started last night so set it aside and came back. TADA. I also got the theme. TADA.
Like Husker, I learned the instruments from Peter and the Wolf and the Nutcracker. It took me a long time to get PATROLS. I needed lots of perps.
When my son was married in Kauai, my future d-i-l passed out parasols to all the females present. Music was by guitar, thought, not UKE.
When I had many children growing up in my house, I knew a lot more about sports than now. NAMATH was my first thought.
My son is a USAF E-6, so TSGTS was an easy one. He is stationed in Hawaii now. Sure is better than having him in war zones. He has had 8 deployments to places mothers worry about, in the last 16 years.
We have been having those incredible fall days lately. Nice.
Off to solve Marti’s other puzzle,
Montana
Good morning everyone.
Piece of cake. No lookups, no strikethroughs. This puzzle had a distinct Scandinavian 'feel'. Seeing KNIFE PLEATS showed the theme; anagrams of PLATES. In the Navy we called knife pleats 'military pleats'.
Great puzzle. Loved seeing NUDISTS.
BZ to MDC and JG.
Off to play some bridge.
Hi Gang -
POLITICS!
There - got that out of my system.
I was just thinking it's been a while since we heard from Jerome. I guess I missed the earlier collaboration.
Tough puzzle, but ultimately doable. Really nice anagram theme. Clever cluing. Got a chuckle from both NUN and NUDIST. Amusing cross.
NEEDLE - Arya Stark's sword.
62 A always makes me think of something one might see at a colony.
Velvet Fog
Cool Regards!
JzB
Only 11 posts by lunchtime on the East Coast? Or maybe everyone else is doing Marti's other puzzle.
Tough, but doable. I must admit Odense was a total WAG, & I came to the Blog thinking I had an FIW, but was pleasantly surprised...
Bit of trivia,,, 28A, the Muppet Animal is said to be based on a famous drummer. I always thought it was because he was a great percussionist, but maybe it was because of this incident...
Hmm, switchplate, Nah, that's too easy, I guess I should go look for some funny anagrams...
I missed getting ZING/TSGTS today because I had SIP/TSETS, having no idea about either of those or ZING.
Also got LDL, ELI, and EPEE without using the clues. I had actually looked at 40A, thinking it would be LAB, but the perps filled it before I went back and ruined it.
I drove through Denmark in 1970 and was in ODENSE, which is Hans Christian Andersen's home town.
I've never played golf, but my older son tried it once and accidentally got a hole in one because the ball bounced off a tree onto the green and into the hole. I guess he thought he'd never do better than that, and as far as I know never played again. Soccer was more his style.
The marti/Jerome puzzle was Friday October 11, 2013. Great catch with Arya Stark and Needle.
I thought the P Trap link explained it pretty well, but I was never a handy person so I never called it anything.
I wanted DETEST for LOATHE and FRAMES for PLATES but then I saw PLOPPED but I still couldn't figure out those two fills.
"P-TRAP was a complete and utter unknown. So unknown, in fact, that I thought there was some sort of trick going on here like a rebus. But no, just P-TRAP. Whatever that is."
Barry, P-TRAP has been in the LAT at least a few times before. You even blogged before that you never heard of it. Maybe the next time it will seem familiar.
Oh and when I did get PLOPPED I then wanted POCKET for PLEATS. I also had REST for LOLL for a while. Oh and while I did have SPAN I had STOP IN instead of SHOP AT.
Some challenges today but a fun solve when I got the theme and the TADA. Thanks Marti & Jerome.
Fun clues for NUNS, BUFF, NUDISTS and EDEN. Some misdirection for LOATHE and KNEW and new cluing for EPEE & UKE.
It seems like forever since I heard about NAMATH.
And here I was -- just solving away -- with no idea there was an anagram at play. Anagram, spamagram, this ol' boy just did the job. I just noticed today that I rarely pay attention to the hint that there *is* a hint.
I like misdirections that play on verbs flipping with adjectives or nouns, such as "Unfancy to the max" and "Hole on the green."
Thanks for a pleasant Thursday pzl.!
My apologies to CC and Jaz for publicly airing an opinion which should have been handled privately and for bringing out so much ill-will. I write "letters to the editor" also...and a rule I adhere to is, "Write it, but sleep on it before submitting it." I should have done that this time. From hence I shall do so.
The shipping Lane was in "Castaway", with Tom Hanks. Just saw him in "Captain Phillips" and enjoyed it.
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Marti and Mr. Disrespectable Jerome! Great expo, Lemonade.
Well, if you stand them up on the long pipe, they sorta look like "P's". Those traps I always called "U's". I had heard the term but didn't know what they were talking about on a TV renovation.
I made a short KNIFE PLEATS skirt for my daughter's drill team outfit. The designated fabric was a double knit which wouldn't stay KNIFEd, so I top-stitched each pleat front & inside. It held the pleat, but a local seamstress who had made about 6-8 of the other girls' skirts was pretty mad because hers didn't look as good. She called me up to complain. I wasn't about to rip out all that stitching so she'd look better.
The Duh du jour: I first thought USAF E6's was a plane. Spitfire didn't fit. Oh, RANK!
I have TV today! When I got up the TV still had all snow. Knowing the tech would be here this afternoon, my pride forced me to dust. I decided since I can never punch the buttons right to use the VCR & DVD player, I'd just disconnect them. The cable signal was routed through the VCR. When I connected the cable straight to the TV, the TV transmission was perfect. I cancelled the tech visit. The urge to make a clean impression has saved me a big house call bill.
Greetings!
Great puzzle, Marti and Jerome! Swell expo, Lemon!
Took very little time for a Thursday.
Many thanks to all of you who offered condolences over the death of my loyal friend, Charlie. It is very lonely here now. Thanks especially to Average Joe. Before seeing your link, I could not cry.
Cheers!
Hello, Lemonade and all. How nice to see you today, Lemonade!
Yowza! What a fantastic week of puzzles, C.C.'s brilliant opus closely followed by the terrific twosome of Marti and Jerome. How great is that! This one had plenty of ZING.
Seeing SWITCH PLATES, I quickly scanned the references and immediately saw the anagrams of PETALS, PLEATS, STAPLES and PLATES. Jerome's handiwork, no doubt, aided and abetted by Marti's clever wit. Or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, this was just fun and I chuckled as I sashayed right down to the bottom.
Interesting to learn the origin of PARASOL which I researched after reading your comment, Lemon. I had always assumed it was Spanish as it literally translates "for the sun."
And having been a frantic seamstress in my "ute" as the guys say, KNIFE PLEATS are quite familiar to me. No comment on NUNS as I gave up the habit long, long ago.
For some reason a bout of insomnia hit me last night. The sandman finally arrived at 4:00 A.M and now I'm behind on everything. Since it's so late, haven't read your comments. I'll do that now.
Have a beautiful Thursday, everyone!
PK:
Your comments are always so funny! Who knew that cleaning house could result in saving money?
-Daughter is tired of “let it run its course” and so she is taking Hudson in to the doctor today after 6 days of fever that is only controlled by Advil.
-Right you are Tech, in the vein of “even a blind squirrel finds some acorns”, Tom Hanks’ raft does find a cargo ship in a shipping lane.
-What a lovely way to learn orchestral instruments (3:24). 3 French horns at 2:15)
-Adjunct to hole-in-one story. I hit the same slice on a windy day on the same hole and my second shot off the tee went… Alright, it didn’t go in but it landed 18” (~45 cm) from the hole. Tap in par.
-PK, move over, I was in the E6 plane too
A lovely young lady with a PARASOL
Spilled over while filling with gasohol
To fight the stench
This winsome young wench
Used perfume in she had in an aerosol
-Leave it to the pro?
Lemon: Great pinch-hitting today. (Hey, that gives me an idea ...)
Marti & Jerome: Thank you for a FUN Thursday.
When I see Jerome as a constructor, I know anagrams will be in the theme.
Liked the 'mini-theme' BUFF, NUDISTS and A-TIT.
Though at Hedonism II you will see more than one-of-them (They travel in pairs).
My fave today (of course) was NIP for Swig. (I've been known to do that ... occasionally).
Cheers!!!
Hello everybody. Terrific puzzles all week. This one had Marti's, um, fingerprints all over it. Also liked the Top Banana puzzle. As Lois used to say, it's all good.
Hi Everyone:
Late to the dance due to errands, shopping, etc. A challenging offering from Marti and Jerome. When I finished w/o the TADA, I went back and found I had put loaths, changed it to loathe, then got the TADA!
Thanks M and J, and thanks, Lemon, for your humorous expo.
Very chilly and windy today, but bright and sunny.
HG
You are clearly limbering up your limerick muscles.
Lucina, my background gives me a French perspective, and one place where I looked for etymology supported the French history, but your Spanish sounds much simpler.
Rose, as always a class act. The reason C.C. does not want politics etc. here I am sure is because people do tend to (over)react and do not think before memorializing anything.
We have not had P TRAP since April, 2011, so I doubt many had it on their short list. You just have to remember marti likes those letter/word fill. Every author has a voice and a style which is reflected not only in cluing (which often is edited by Rich) but in fill.
Now I will see how long I remember knife pleats.
Owen, btw, I am amazed by skill and efforts here.
I have been playing catch-up all day. Between house guests, work, and contractors coming and going next door, my head is starting to spin.
Thanks for the kind comments. I almost wish I hadn't been one of the constructors on this one, because I could sure use some relaxing crossword puzzle time!!
Unclothed but not naked
Even the PALEST not ashamed
UNLIKE the critics
HG, now that we're in the same plane, isn't it a lovely crisp day to fly? Should give good lift.
I call my bedroom the NUN cell, because I get NUN there. Like Lucina, I no longer have the habit.
Well, my browser is acting up so I haven't been able to get on the Corner until now. And it still won't let me scroll down to read your comments, so I'm still out of the conversation.
But let me just say that a C.C. puzzle followed by a Marti and Jerome puzzle--well, it doesn't get any better than this! I loved the theme and the switched letters in each theme answer. And I thought having BUFF and SEXY in the same corner was really cute.
I'd best keep it brief before my computer crashes, but hope you all have a great day!
Another hot haiku
crossword corner and poetry post all for the price of one. And you all complain.
7 anagrams for PLATES, pretty amazing word.
I enjoyed the puzzle but I knew I would. Thanks Marti, Jerome and Lemon.
Esquire will get no argument from me.
It's good to see Windhover's name in blue again.
Lucina and PK, I'm too dense. What is it that you're having NUN of anymore?
Here are two short videos I enjoyed.
Cool costume
Passing grade in math
Bill and PK:
In my case it's literal; some of you know that I was a NUN and wore a habit for 16 years. My life has greatly changed since then.
For all of you a lesson in treating Ailurophobia.
My goodness, Lucina, what a complicated, interesting life you've had. Am I right in thinking that starting as a NUN might not be a bad way to begin a responsible life, even if it becomes necessary to change and go back into the world. And it sounds as though your subsequent life was greatly rewarding. What wonderful people we meet on this blog.
Hola Everyone, I did finish--eventually, but had some rocky starts. I put in Hokum for tripe, Anon for Etal, and Con for Had. My eraser got a real workout today.
But I did get the anagrams! This isn't usually the case. But I think Jerome's name gave it away!
Congratulations, Marty on your double whammy today. I printed out the Top Banana puzzle to do later this evening. I'm looking forward to that.
LDL came just about last as I was looking for some kind of letters on the door of the Lab, not one of the tests.
Peter and the Wolf was one of the classical music pieces we taped to take with us on an over seas assignment. We had very little room for household goods, so we taped our favorites and took a tape recorder with us.
My format looks entirely different today. Does anyone else have that happening? There are no interview listings, or older blogs listed.
Have a great rest of the day everyone.
Lemon, Your Thursday CW brain worked just fine.
The clue for Nun/Creatures of Habit was so much fun. I immediately thought of Lucina. But the Coven knew that from our visits with her. We DO meet some of the most extraordinary people on the Blog.
Marti:
Your Top Banana puzzle was a hoot! What a keen mind you have.
Misty:
Thank you. I have been very fortunate in my life and feel grateful for the training and discipline I received in the Convent. Transitioning from Convent live to the laic one was challenging and lengthy.
But after coming home being dispensed from my vows, I met and married a most wonderful man. His guidance and deep insight helped me tremendously. It is riches, indeed.
Additionally, to add to my treasures I found this wonderful community of talented puzzlers who constantly surprise me with their wealth of knowledge and experience. You are such a one, Misty, and I admire you along with all the other Cornerites.
Lucina was a nun ?
I better watch my language around here.
As everyone knows, Lemonade lives in sunny Florida and loves it there. Here's a little story. When Lemonade bot his house, it came along with a big huge back lot, which was full of lots of tall grasses, and over grown weeds and lots of trees and underbrush, and a really large wading pond.
so, Lemon fixed up his huge back yard, bit by bit, and planted some apple and pear trees at the back .... and also constructed a smart swimming pool, at the back, so he could get some exercise ... and a tan ...and sharp abs ....So far, so good.
So one day, he decided he would harvest some of them apples and pears. So he picked up his trusty rusty bucket, and ambled over to the back of the house.
Imagine his surprise, when he found a small bevy of pre pubescent beauties, sunning themselves at HIS pool. ! They were there uninvited. Also, to his shock, they were famously skinny dipping ... Which he found mildly irritating.
When the young nubiles saw him, they all jumped into the water, and swam to the deep end. And they all started chortling and saying.... You old geezer, we are not coming out until you leave our line of sight. You ought to be ashamed of yourself .... Now leave us alone, and begone.
And he said, while waving his rusty, trusty bucket .....
I did not come here to look at you folks. I didn't even know you were here.
I'm just here to feed the alligators.
GROAN!
Too bad, argyle! - you don't live in a sunny state - and you don't have a swimming pool.
Lots of pools and ponds; no alligators, although we do have snapping turtles.
Pre-pubescent? South Florida? More likely to have the pool filled with grey hair.
Lucina, I am happy for you.
There once was a young man of Argyle,
Who was often given a blog to reconcile,
He shouted,'Great Scott'
I think I've been got,
By some treacherous act, most vile.
Go nag a ram.
Lucina, one of the nuns that taught me in high school (the same one that prayed to St. Jude for me!) eventually left the convent. It was a real shock to meet her years later at my BFF's house, where she appeared...in jeans, and drinking beer!! Huh? You mean, she was a real person, after all? We still meet occasionally, and have fun to this day...
So, after a super long day at work...
Great puzzle Jerome and Marti ! I have to claim another DNF, but I don't remember why. I knew it was 40 + minutes, but that was so many hours ago. The phone rang early.
I just caught up on the great write up and so many of the comments - some of which echoed my own thoughts.
Windhover, I hear you. CC was so correct. I'm drawing closer. I'm in eastern PA now. I wonder if my friends in Mountain View can get me a little closer...
JzB, you can be so funny. Thanks for the laughs and the Mel Torme link.
There once was a nun named Lucina
Whose devotion was ever so keener,
But she told the Holy Spirit
That her heart was not in it,
But if you know of good deeds, you've seen her.
Lucina et al., speaking of nuns, have you ever seen the one-woman play called "Late Night Catechism"? If not, I highly recommend it. It's very clever and funny.
Ooh, I thought of a good math puzzle for you guys for tomorrow. Actually, it doesn't require much math; just multiplication, division by two and addition. Calculators allowed. Everybody can do that stuff, right?
Boy, do I have egg on my face. I had no idea you were a nun, Lucina. No disrespect intended. I was being strictly facetious and dirty minded as usual. I am in my celibate period now because I gave up the habit of having some. And I really do call my bedroom the NUN's cell, mainly because it annoys my daughters.
Actually, I had Roman Catholic relatives who sent us religious materials when I was preteen. I devoured the books and also loved Reader's Digest Condensed Books about NUNs. I wanted to become one like one of our cousins. However, when my first boy friend started paying attention to me at age 13, I seemed to loose my enthusiasm for a religious calling.
BillG, who are your friends in your new avatar?
Bill G ..
.. This multiplication and division by twos ...and additions.
. This does not have anything to do with sex education ... Right ?
By the way .... Calculators allowed ????
For addition and multiplication by twos ... What do you think we're a bunch of dingbats ?? Lol.
Well then, I'm glad I risked appearing stupid and asked about the 'nun' comments.
PK, in the new avatar are my brother-in-law and his wife. We were having lunch at a Jewish deli out in the San Fernando Valley north of here about four days ago. They lived in Chatsworth during the BIG earthquake. Now they live in Virginia Beach. He is a just-retired pediatrician and also, a very good country songwriter/performer who goes by Dean Dobbins. I think his best songs are every bit as good as anything I hear on the radio but he hasn't gotten lucky with the right connections.
Dingbats? No! But there are some people who hear the word 'math' or see numbers and decide a puzzle is going to be too hard for them. I've got some hard math puzzles for sure. However, some of them are tricky and/or interesting and require very little math but some clever thinking and analysis, much like clever/tricky crossword clues.
Dearest PK, Please no disrespect, but could you please tell me why you annoy your daughters on purpose? You are not the first person to say this,I just don't ever want to annoy anyone, much less my child. Really it is a question I always wondered about. P.S. Lots of time when I check the blog, yours is one I love to read. You are very downhome and I like that. Also, the puzzles have been great, can't wait for the next one. And especially Saturday! No matter who constructs it, good night
Anon @ 9:35
Are you kidding us???
That is the first lesson in the parent handbook! How to annoy and embarrass your children :) As our parents did to us!( the book is handed down from generation to generation ) :-)
Humphff, I was always able to embarrass and/or annoy my children without a handbook and without really trying. I just seemed to have the knack...
Bill,
Handbook or not...
Its Still funny as Hell!!
Right on, Manac and PK.
There must be a genetic correlation between the act of posting anonymously on internet blogs and the inability to recognize humor, satire, and sarcasm in the posts of other bloggers.
Did any one else actually think that PK was describing being intentionally offensive to her daughters? Maybe, like my own children, they are somewhat tight-a---d and think their parents are (or should be) sterile paragons of virtue whose raison de être is to be a role model and occasional babysitter. My children are, at this stage of our lives, also friends. There are things about their lives I don't need to know and vice versa. They know but don't want to discuss, the fact that their aging father still has, let us say, some lead in his pencil.
Similarly, where did this idea that various clergy are avatars of perfection originate? We don't live in a Reader' Digest fantasy. I have several friends (including Lucina) who are nuns and/or former nuns, one who is a priest, and several close friends who are Christian ministers, even though I am (as they know) a non-theist. All of them are full fledged humans with all the normal foibles. Some drink, some smoke (it IS Kentucky) and some curse better than I do, and I'm damned good. :)
They are also dedicated to their vocation and the people and cause they serve.
Get real, grow up, & get over it.
BTW, great puzzles the last two days. Lots of fun. I'd write a limerick about 'em if I had a creative bone any where in my body. Other that THAT one. :)
G'Eve All:
I did the puzzle earlier today and enjoyed it (thanks Marti & Jerome!) and LEM's write up (The snark is a day early - guess you can't fool 'em with a Thurs writeup).
It was a long day of work (still another hour or so to go).
Luncina - forgot you were a NUN. Dad wanted to be a priest; I'm kinda glad he didn't take that fork in the road :-)
Fav c/a was 28a ANIMAL. 1. Keith Moon & 2. I read as Great Muppet & wrote gonz... ooops. Runners up: SWITCHPLATES & PTRAP because I was able to PLOP those in w/o anything else. WEES NUN, NUDISTS, EDEN, ETAL.
Bill G. I'm already working on the math puzzle :-)
Owen - more classics for your book.
Cards took game 2. This will be fun!
Cheers, -T
Re: embarrassing kids... It's just a hobby...
The other day I took eldest & three of her friends to a play. She was, u know, all, like "dad"... I was, like, yeah..
I was quizzing the kids on geo-politics. Being exchange students, they got 99% right...
When she returned home after the play, she said... "My friends said I was lucky to have a cool day. Dopes, all of them..."*
C, -T
*embellished story - she did give me a big hug (and she also got 99% right).
I must say, OWENKL is brilliant!
Windhover, well said as usual.
PK:
Believe me, non taken. One of the hardest things for my family especially was to accept me as a person, such as Marti described. Sometimes my behavior shocked them though it was normally accepted for my other sisters. That took years to unfold.
I am now a very, very different person. It has been 44 years since that other life, I've married, had a child (you know what that means)though my own daughter won't admit it. She insists she was born "immaculately."
Furthermore, my adjustment into regular living is thorough!
Nagging Ram:
Thank you for the lovely limerick. I do try to be a good person but that doesn't exclude a little ribaldry now and then.
I may try your puzzle, Bill.
Lucina, I just read your message now--just before bedtime. I can only thank you for all your kindness, to me, to everyone on the blog. And to say that the appreciation and affection is mutual.
I'm just a shy anonymous, and haven't figured out the whole identity thing. Have to say that I usually just look at comments after I finish the puzzle, then move on with my life. After reading tonight's comments, I feel like I've missed the after parties. Just saying. Will check in later in the day from now on! G.
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