google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Nov 16th, 2013, Barry C. Silk

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Nov 16, 2013

Saturday, Nov 16th, 2013, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 70 (missing K,Q,X)

Blocks: 30

   Again I sensed we were getting a Silkie....Lots of 'awards'* in this one. Triple 9's in two corners, and double 10-letter climbers in the other two; curiously, but probably not unplanned, the first pair both end in "-DAY", which resulted in baseball related crossings:

2D. Event celebrated in "Through the Looking-Glass" : UNBIRTHDAY

3D. When "you're gonna want me for your girl," in a 1963 hit : "ONE FINE DAY"

30D. Album that includes "Michelle" : RUBBER SOUL - The Beatles
 
31D. Disbeliever's comeuppance : "I TOLD YOU SO~!" - I seem to say this a lot; guess I need to be a little more insistent the first time....

o n w a r d

ACROSS:

1. Elevates : BUOYS - I was feeling jaunty today, and just went right ahead with whatever thought came to mind; so this was "LIFTS" at first - hey, I figured the "S" was right....

6. Nearly : JUST ABOUT - and this went right in as well - and stayed

15. Reaction to flatness : ENNUI - I thought we might be looking for a variation of "PTUI", spitting out flat soda

16. Not predestined : AVOIDABLE - UPS has a category of accidents they classify as "avoidable" - in other words, one that they can blame on "ME".  We did get our computers installed for the new "ORION" system this past week - see D-Otto's comment from Tuesday

17*. 1975 Pulitzer winner for criticism : EBERT - well, now that I see it, seems pretty obvious

18. Early German fliers : ZEPPELINS

19. Whiskey purchase : FIFTH - not QUART

20. Jolts : ZAPS

21. Substantive part : MEAT

22. Sanskrit term of respect : SRI

23. Old Spanish bread : PESETA - money slang

25. Safe investment choices : T-NOTES - went with T-BONDS, which was 67% right

28. Bad mark : DEMERIT

33*. "Monster" Oscar winner : THERON - Charlize

34. Court service : JURY DUTY

35. Accessory : ADD ON

36. "Shirt Front and Fork" artist : ARP - Image

37. Drum accompanying a fife : TABOR - ah, not snare, but essentially, a portable snare drum; the classic image

38. Team nicknamed the Halos, briefly : L.A. ANGELS

40. Risk : GAMBLE

41*. Five-time 30-game winner of early baseball : CY YOUNG - and the MLB pitcher's award

42. Got tight : TENSED

43. Moisture overload results, in plants : EDEMAS

45. Manhattan part : RYE - the mixed drink, which was popular with my family, but not me

47. Door support : JAMB

51. Source of a cc : ORIGinal - the carbon copy cc, not a "VIAL" cc - and a shout out to our host~!

52. "Lolita" co-star, 1962 : MASON - IMDb

54. Side unit : ONION RING - side DISH would have to be plural

56. One way to think : ALOUD

57. Court expert : TENNIS ACE

58. "The Liberty Bell" composer : SOUSA

59. Made more attractive, as a deal : SWEETENED

60. Serf : HELOT

DOWN:

1. Gripes : BEEFS

4. Mongolian dwelling : YURT - fixed my "LIFTS"

5. Jedi foes : SITH - fear of the "Darths"

6. Spices (up) : JAZZES

7. Eye parts : UVEAs

8. Absorbed : SOPPED UP

9. Adviser of a sort : TIPSTER

10. Cannon attachment : ADE - Cannonade

11. Soother : BALM

12*. Drama Desk relative : OBIE - Broadway Awards

13. Prismatic bone : ULNA - well, you can sort of see it in this image - 


14. Lab work : TEST

23. Parker product : PEN

24. "The Joy Luck Club" author : AMY TAN - won a BAFTA award

26. Campus town near Bangor : ORONO  - Ha HA~! I knew this would come around sooner or later

27. Shoe part : TONGUE
29. Semi-hard cheeses : EDAMS

32. London flat? : TYRE - British spelling for the rubber that meets the road - and sometimes a nail or screw in that same road

33. It's 1 on the Mohs scale : TALC - Hardness - for minerals, that is - see here

34. Some coll. students : JRs

36. Constantine native : ALGERIAN

39. Back : ENDORSE

40. Some microwaves : GEs - I went with LGs first

42. Caught stealing, say : TAGGED - I tried NABBED, but the two crosses ending with "B" seemed a bit too much

44. Chop up : MINCE

46. Stop by : END AT

47. Little bits : JOTS

48. Fresh : ANEW

49. Place for a rock group? : MINE - nice

50. Something to pick? : BONE - "I've got a bone to pick with you~!" - a bit of history

52. Plymouth potato dish : MASH

53. 11-Down substance : ALOE - good way to avoid having to clue this "lotion ingredient"

55. Young louse : NIT - and those little things in crosswords that tend to irk some solvers~!

Splynter

65 comments:

  1. UNBIRTHDAY and ONE FINE DAY gave me a good start on this Silkie. I questioned the two adjoining AAs and YYs at first.

    T BONDS before T NOTES gave me pause.

    LA ANGELS, ADD ON and CY YOUNG came easily and cinched the West CENTRAL. THERON was all perps.
    ANEW and SWEETENED were my anchors in the SW.
    I TOLD YOU SO and AMY TAN were the anchors in the SE. I enjoyed TAN's Joy Luck Club and the Kitchen God. I only say I TOLD YOU SO when people have dismissed what I had to say out of hand without hearing me out. It is taken for granted that seniors don't know much.

    I find it interesting that Brit's call mashed potatoes MASH as in bangers and mash. Sausage and mashed potatoes.
    I came to a screeching halt in the 4x8 cells of the NE so I went to bed. When I awoke I finished in 2 minutes as I changed MOST to MEAT and cannonnEER to cannonADE.
    Not counting the hiatus this took less time than a usual SILKIE.
    Thanks for the challenge, Barry and for the neat expo, Splynter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. First time commenter, long time enjoyer of this site. Thanks to all for helping me improve my mind, as my dad used to say. "Put down the comics!" So anyway, I figured out what a perp is. Clap, clap, clap! What is a wag? Also, under the solutions is the completed puzzle. Typically there is a whole word highlighted in one color (the theme!) and one letter in yellow highlight. Please tell me what that yellow means? Inquiring minds need to know! Blessings- Paul

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  3. DNF, because I did something stupid right in the center. I got my across and down clues mixed up, and so spent a lot of time trying to figure out "Shirt Front and Fork" artist J_S and Some coll. students A_P before giving up on them. It didn't help that I didn't know the words TABOR, HELOT, UVEAS, prismatic bone, ORONO, nor Drama Desk; but perps solved all of those for me. I knew EDEMA in people, didn't realize it was in plants, too. GES I might have gotten on its own if it had been clued as an abbreviation. Plymouth I thought was the first Thanksgiving, and didn't think potatos were known in that part of the world back then, except YAMS.

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  4. Ten Things About Life I Learned From Crossword Puzzles.

    We all start out with the same blank grid.

    The wrong word now can cause a lot of trouble later.

    Asking someone else for help is not cheating.

    Work with pencil as much as you can.

    Don't be afraid to erase -- if it's wrong, it's wrong.

    Don't give up if there's still something you might be able to do.

    If you can't see an answer now, go on to something else.

    A break or a night's sleep to let your subconscious work can help a lot.

    Don't assume you know everything.

    Don't expect to know everything.

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  5. Morning, all!

    For a change I was almost completely on Mr. Silk's mental wavelength and, with one exception, this turned out to be the easiest Saturday puzzle ever.

    The one exception was the NE corner, where I got stuck for awhile. I had MOST instead of MEAT at 21A, which didn't help matters. I know OBIE, but had no idea what "Drama Desk" was. And cannonADE did not exactly spring easily to mind.

    Fortunately, I remembered ULNA (as clued) from an earlier puzzle and was finally able to guess ZEPPELINS, which broke that corner wide open for me.

    Learning moment of the day was that there is a Pulitzer category for "Criticism", but it was easy enough to guess EBERT as the winner.

    [epurcuri]

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  6. This was my fastest Saturday Silkie solve ever. It all just fell in place, and some of the areas which were obscure filled with downs before I even had time to realize I did not get MEAT at first or know TABOR.

    Paul the highlighted word in the answer grid means nothing

    Have a fun weekend, thanks to the S twins.

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  7. Thanks Barry and thanks Splynter. Not a lot of fill as I started on my first pass of crosses, until I got to LA ANGELS and CY YOUNG. Quickly filled that west side with TALC then ORONO, and ADD ON made TONGUE effortless. TNOTES then gave PEN and PESETA.

    LIFTS before BUOYS. Removed by YURT. Just like our illustrious commentator.
    Had substantive part as MOST rather than MEAT. ULNA changed that.
    LAPPED UP before SOPPED UP. He really enjoyed it. He was absorbed by it. He lapped it up. Make sense to you ?
    Manhattan Part ? I first had RUM. Never had one.
    Court Expert ? I was thinking in terms of Expert Witness, probably due to Court service equating to JURY DURY earlier.

    TABOR has often been in another daily puzzle as of late. Ditto UVEA.

    Favorites ?
    Side Unit ONION RING
    Disbeliever's comeuppance

    Last to fall was the intersecting M in DEMERIT AND AMY TAN.

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  8. Good morning, Saturday soldiers!

    As others have mentioned, this was one quick solve -- unusual for a Saturday. I shot myself in the foot by confidently writing in THE BEATLES, because the BE was already in place. Finally RUBBER SOUL appeared. I also thought the Lolita actor was JASON (as in Robards), but JASH didn't pass the breakfast test. Even so, I finished with ten minutes remaining on the clock.

    Splynter, isn't that 50% rather than 67%?

    Off to read Friday's comments. My ISP was down from 9 AM yesterday until sometime last night -- one disadvantage of living in the sticks.

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  9. I have been wanting to post for a while. I read this blog every time I work a puzzle.

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  10. Good morning Saturday solvers!

    WEES (Paul - welcome! That means "what everyone else said," a variation of WBS - "what Barry said.") As Lemonade mentioned, the highlighted word is just where C.C. happened to have her curser when she downloaded the puzzle image. The word is highlighted in one color, and the letter that her cursor was on appears in yellow.

    And a WAG is just a "wild a**ed guess."

    This was ONE FINE DAY for crossword solving. I thought I could come here and smugly brag about how I solved it in half my usual time for a Saturday, but I see everyone else thought the same thing. Rats!

    OwenKL, I liked your reflections on the meaning of life as seen in crosswords. It elevates my idle time to a whole new level of significance.

    Alright, I have stalled long enough, and it's time to get on my work duds. Have a great day, everyone!

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  11. Welcome BarbieMom! We have a lot of fun here. I hope you'll chime in often!

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  12. It took me a while to retrieve all my account information and re-set everything. Easy puzzle today. I am actually finished before nine am. That is early for me. I love the OwenKL's ten things.

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  13. Welcome Paul and BarbieMom! What parts of the country do you call home? Your profiles are kinda sparse.

    Anybody else notice the positioning of BONE next to NIT -- take your pick.

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  14. The NE corner had more red herrings than a fishmonger and I was down to my last molecule of paper after all my erasures (JUICES, SOAKED, DIRIGIBLE, UNKNOWABLE, MOST, ALOE (later in), you’re on the bench). Another fun Silkie!

    Musings
    -Teacher’s meeting = ENNUI when you’d rather be doing something useful
    -EBERT redux this week
    -College football teams are in the MEAT of their schedules now
    -Monster doesn’t look like a movie that would get me to part with $8
    -I showed up for JURY DUTY on the 9th at 8 am. Turns out I was supposed to be there on the 8th at 9 am. Oops! There were no cases so “no harm, no foul”.
    -Grandma had this amazing ADD ON in her car
    -Sounds the same as DEMERIT but plays golf
    -Joann thinks ALOUD and I’m never sure if I’m supposed to respond
    -My LAB WORK “white lined” me and so my doctor and (good friend) said to get out of his office because he couldn’t make any money on me.
    -Splynter’s shoe looks nuttin’ like my Chuck Taylor’s
    -Baseball’s most famous NOT caught stealing (:32). Name the pitcher.
    -Welcome to our puzzling site Barbie and Paul.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi again~!

    Um, well, I had the "N", too, D-otto, so I'm, uh, sticking with 67%....yeah....

    Hello Paul and BarbieMom~!

    Splynter

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello Puzzlers -

    Zoomed through, something I don't usually do with a Saturday Silkie. Morning, Splynter!

    Hello Barbie and Paul, welcome to the Corner. Adding to HeartRx's info about WAG: in my engineering days we recognized two levels of guesswork, the WAG and the SWAG. The latter meant "scientific wild ass guess", which implied that the guesser had at least something to go on, thereby improving the precision of the guess. Slightly.

    YellowRocks - your trip sounds fascinating, and I am envious. Back in the 90's I was due to go to the Cave of Letters with my employer's special video equipment, to assist in an archaeological dig (at the last minute our competitor's equipment was chosen instead, so I didn't go). That project was filmed to become a PBS program.

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  17. Hi again, everyone. I've updated my profile for you...
    Nice to be so warmly welcomed.

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  18. Hi Y'all! My BEEFS is that I had to do a red-letter alphabet run to get started. Everything I tried in square #1 came up red anyway. Wasn't "lifts" or "rises" or three other things I tried. I wasn't doing very well anywhere else so succumbed to temptation. When I did get a "B" for #1, I was sure the down had to be "bitch". (Probably a shout-out to moi.) Knowing the words to the #2 & #3 downs songs finally saved me when they suddenly started singing in my head. And I knew Yurt.

    So when I got to the WC bloc, I had DD, AA, YY already in place, which added to the puzzlement. Just looked funny. As I progressed, I ended up with a number of other double-letters floating in space: NN, two PP, ZZ, BB, GG, NN, EE. I thought there might be a theme going.

    A red-letter alphabet run was necessary also to finish the puzzle and put the "L" in HELOT/SOUL cross. RUBBER SOUL? What the "L" were they smoking when they came up with that name?

    Available before AVOIDABLE seemed a little off somehow and was soon changed.

    Thanks, Splynter! Always good to "see" you on Sat.

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  19. Welcome, Paul and BarbieMom.

    Lucina, I sent you an initial email about my trip, very much based on following the footsteps of Jesus.

    Lemonade, there were other secular and historic aspects, as well as discussion of events in the Jewish Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament. Please let me know what kind of trip you are planning and what you are interested in.

    I could copy my remarks for other posters who email me, especially if you let me know what you want to hear.

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  20. To the academics who view doing a red-letter alphabet run as "cheating" on a test, I've finally come up with my real-world answer. Say I am doing a project such as sewing together a complicated dress or putting together a machine. If I have a piece that I don't know how to put in or don't know where it goes, I am going to read the instructions or ask someone how to do it to get the project completed correctly and learn something in the process. For me, a crossword puzzle is a project to complete, not a semester test.

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  21. Good Morning:

    A typical Saturday Silkie but just a tad easier than usual. I had some hold-ups in the Northeast corner, but eventually broke through and finished w/o help.

    Thanks, Barry, for a fun solve and thanks, Splynter, for your always entertaining expo.

    Welcome Paul and Barbie; hope you'll join in on the Corner's camaraderie!

    Another beautiful Spring-like day,

    Have a great Saturday.

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  22. @ Husker Gary 10:33

    Whitey Ford.

    A little better than a usual Saturday Silkie for me, but not a lot. Lots of misdirection IMO. Got stuck in the NE corner and dwelt on that a long time. Took a short time out and came back, and it finally clicked.

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  23. Greeting from a Sunny WA State morning! (Go Figure). PESETA,TABOR bogged me down a bit but finally got them. Fun Puzzle!

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  24. .
    51a. Source of a CC : That's easy, everyone knows it's Chin(a),,,

    Hmm, maybe it's Minn...

    I never thought I would say I was on B. Silks wavelength, but today just kind of flowed. Except for about 3 or 4 single letters that refused to identify themselves...

    & there was not a Natick in the bunch. Every answer was, "well that makes perfect sense."

    (Oh Nuts! Natick is not in the abbreviations list.)

    Doh! Of course, it's not an abbr...


    Will somebody field this one for me? I have to take my cat PK for her 4 year rabies shot. (Help!)

    Welcome Paul & Barbie, tell CC your birthdays & I will link you a cake!

    :)

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  25. This took a lot of thought to crack the east side. DE MINUS seemed so right that it kept me from seeing RUBBER SOUL for a very long time.

    I got off to a good start, as my first fill was ZEPPELIN (what other early German aircraft does anyone remember?) and my next was SWEETENED (thanks to the commonness of the cliche). Then the rest was slow but steady until that very hard (put-it-down-and-pick-it-up-again) east side.

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  26. Greetings, Super Solvers! Yea, Splynter! No ENNUI reading your blog, thanks.

    What a smooth Silkie today. UNBIRTHDAY started my sashay and the entire West Coast filled fairly fast.

    One major correction at BEEPS/BEEFS, PINTS/FIFTH helped me get SITH and ONE FINE DAY.

    Charlize THERON was fantastic in Monster, an intense, disturbing film based on a real person. Its lesson was that severe abuse can lead a person to do unspeakable acts.

    Once the western slope and southern belt were done, the NE took a long while. UVEA filled early on. Suddenly I WAGged ULNA and BALM but had SOAKED UP then JUST ABOUT appeared and filled the rest including TIPSTER. For the life of me I couldn't recall the first letter in ZEPPELIN until JAZZES flew in there.

    But, alas, I spelled SY instead of CY.

    OwenKL:
    Your ten lessons are exactly what I have learned in doing crosswords. My store of learning has vastly multiplied because of this wonderful hobby.

    Welcome Paul and BarbieMom!

    I'm wishing you all a superb Saturday!

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  27. @ Keith Fowler 11:12 a.m.

    "..."as my first fill was ZEPPELIN (what other early German aircraft does anyone remember?)..."

    I wanted to put FOKKER (remember Snoopy & The Red Baron?), but I couldn't make it fit.

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  28. Very nice write-up as always Splynter.

    One small nit re: the image of the shoe you linked for 27d.

    It seems that a favorite crossword trivia answer has been slighted by that running shoe labeler. We've always been told the plastic tip of a shoelace is an AGLET. Never heard of it being called a tag.

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  29. The fastest finish for a Saturday for me in recent memory. And I aced it to boot. Not saying it was easy, but the alternative is I'm a genius!

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  30. Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! I got my first Silkie EVER this morning, after years (well, a few, anyhow) of trying! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Barry--and, as I promised, your puzzle will no longer be a DREADED SILKIE in my book! Great expo, Splynter. I can't believe what a fabulous, sunny Saturday morning this is turning out to be!

    Welcome, Paul and Barbie Mom. Great to have you join the Cozy Corner!

    I can't believe that even all the sports references (LA ANGELS, CY YOUNG, TENNIS ACE) worked for me.

    Bet Tinbeni got FIFTH without any trouble at all!

    Have a great weekend, everybody! I sure will!

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  31. Good afternoon everyone.

    Wellcome aboard to Paul and Barbie.

    PK @ 1017 - Well said.

    I had 'most' before MEAT, too, but perps led me to another rational answer. Found the SE somewhat knotty, but after looking up MASON, it filled out ok. HELOT was a new word for me.
    1a, BUOYS was easy enough, but I usually think of Buoys as navigation channel markers. In the Eastern US, most buoyage is 'red' on the right side of the channel when proceeding inland. Easy way to remember is red, right, return. The other side is in green.
    ENNUI - "Being hove to in a long gale is the most boring way of being terrified I know."
    - Donald Hamilton

    Nice Indian Summer day here today.

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  32. Happy Silkie everybody!

    Well, DNF for Da Doc today, but it was close. Couldn't let go of ON OR instead of JUST (ABOUT) in the NE and YAMS for MASH and NYC for RYE was my Waterloo in the SE....

    WEES about not believing the two DAY endings on the first downward pass, so I switched to the baseball crosses to satisfy my curiousity. Clever, very clever Mr Silk...!

    JURY DUTY was one of many crappy Pauly Shore movies, imho....

    Doc out....

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  33. Buckeye Bob @ 11:32

    I too wanted Fokker, but which model? DR.1 didn't fit.

    Oh what the heck, everyone else is jumping the Thanksgiving/Xmas barrier, I might as well too.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Whoo-hoo!! I finished 2/3 of a Saturday Silkie!! I got a word here and there in the bottom third, but it wasn't enough to help me solve. Hey-it's better than I usually do on Saturdays.

    Thanks, Barry, for the challenge. Thanks, Splynter, for explaining the challenge.

    "One Fine Day" is the ear worm for today.

    OwenKL- I like and agree with your 10 Things list.

    Welcome Paul and BarbieMom.

    CONGRATS to Misty for completing a dreaded Silkie!

    Have a nice weekend, everyone.

    Pat




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  35. Splynter: Wonderful write-up & links.

    I'm celebrating my UNBIRTHDAY again. (geez, there are a lot of these celebrations!)

    Faves today (of course) were FIFTH and RYE ... though I prefer 1.75 liter and Pinch.

    It's raining, so my Sunset toast is looking iffy ...
    But "It's Five O'clock Somewhere!"
    And I'm NOT taking any chances ...
    Sooooo, Cheers!!!

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  36. I was really proud of myself when I got a third of a SILKY on paper before I went to my computer with red letters. I guess I shouldn't be since you folks did very well too.

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  37. Pat (pje), many thanks for the Congrats! I'm still elated--even if this turns out to be my last finished Silkie for another few years!

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  38. buckeye bob @11:12:

    You remind me of the old WWII joke about Queen Wilhelmina.
    Seems her royal majesty is decorating an RAF pilot, and she asks him to describe his heroic dogfight.
    "Well, your majesty, this one Fokker came right at me from twelve o'clock, but I blasted him out of the sky-- just in time to turn my guns on two other Fokkers..."
    At which point the queen inquires (in full comic Dutch accent), "Vat vass dese fokkers? Messerchmidts?"

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  39. I tried "mesersmit" in the puzzle but that didn't fly!

    Beautiful fall day here in the 60's. Gale-force winds caused my yardman to cancel coming to pick up leaves which covered my lawn with no grass visible. Joke's on him. Most of my front yard leaves are now plastered somewhere else up the hill in my neighbor's yards. Gotta love that. Hope the wind doesn't shift them back.

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  40. One trip to Israel does not a travel agent make. Nor does it qualify one as an expert.

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  41. Enough about the traveling. Hasn't everyone, after a trip, shared their experiences with friends. No one is implying expertise that I can infer.

    I'm off to see my S-I-L in a body building competition. He has already won the height one, being the tallest one there but he is also already a giant in so many other ways.

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  42. Darn - My iPad just lost my post. I assure all it was humorous and insightful...:-) It went something like this:

    Whoot! 60% of a Silk pzl. Barry, you must be slipping because I know I'm not smarter.

    ... Blather, blather, blather...

    JUSTABOUT was one of those brain fires that couldn't be right, but - it was! It's that suprise that makes even attempting a Sat worth it. That corner filled nicely. Unlike the SE / Arizona area (Hi Lucina!)

    Welcome Paul & BarbieMom... The corner is fun (except on Fridays if you stay up late). Lot's a lot of folks know things outside of you bailiwick(s).

    Trip Advisor - bugger off. Anyone with experience of something by default knows more than I. Over time I learn to trust or avoid their advice. For example, EBERT liking a movie wasn't for me...

    YR - feel free to inform us.

    Happy UNBIRTHDAY everyone!

    Cheers, -T

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  43. Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Barry Silk, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for the fine review.

    As usual, this was tough. My worst problem was writing in SUBPOENA for 34A. I thought I nailed that one. However, the east was pretty empty because of that. finally got I TOLD YOU SO and TYRE. Changed SRS to JRS which evolved into JURY DUTY. Needless to say, I spent hours on that.

    ONION RING was clever (and tough to get).

    CY YOUNG was easy once I had a few letters.

    YURT came out of the depths of my brain. We have had that before.

    ZEPPELINS was easy.

    TABOR was not easy. Perped it.

    Welcome Paul BarbieMom.

    Off to a Shakepeare play. The complete works of William Shakespeare Abridged.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    (elder up)

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  44. Evening All,
    Like the rest I thought this was a little easy but had trouble accepting 2&3 Down but it all fell eventually.

    Messerschmidt

    Part1

    Part 2

    Sorry but need to see both to get the joke:)

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  45. Keith, following the comments of buckeye Bob .... I found your joke funny, but ...

    It couldn't have been a WW II joke because .... Fokker, was a Dutchman, who started in Germany, in 1912, but moved to The Netherlands in 1919, after WW One had ended. He had moved to the US before WW II, (he died before WWII), and the Fokker Co. in occupied Holland, never made any warplanes, for WW Two.... Only some, very few, transport aircraft. The warplanes they made were for WW One.

    Read about it Fokker Aircraft.

    Maybe you could prepone your joke to WW One. Also attribute the comment to someone other than the Dutch Queen. She, of all people, would have been very familiar with the Fokker name, and the history of the company, since the founder himself was born a Dutch citizen.

    BTW, the Fokker ( the USA, company ), was bought out by GM , and Fokker, the Dutch company, went bankrupt in 1996. (GM also went bankrupt, but later ...)

    I like people who tell jokes, and so my criticism, if any, should be considered, as meant to be gentle, and in a strictly constructive sense. Next time, your joke will be perfect and great.

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  46. Vid @ 5:41
    Ever hear of a typo?

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  47. @Cross Eyed Dave 10:33

    I did not know which Fokker model. I only knew the Fokker name. And it didn't work anyway.

    But your post piqued my interest and sent me to learn about Fokkers. Apparently you knew Dr.I was the tri-plane model. I sure didn't!

    That's one of the things I like about this blog - people sharing their knowledge and experience, or motivating us to explore and learn more.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Middle East traveller wannabeNovember 16, 2013 at 6:33 PM

    YellowRocks, if you're still awake to read this.

    I intend to go to Israel, early next year, and I would be interested in all your comments. So let us know of all you experienced, over the next week or weeks.

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  49. AnonT said: " Lot's a lot of folks know things outside of you bailiwick(s)."

    Huh?

    It seems you've appointed yourself Chief blog cop and troll feeder.

    Congratulations.

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  50. Anon, above me,

    Have we really run out of subjects, that bad,

    That we have to bitch about each other ?

    Read, or do not read, but do not bitch ... Yoda troll.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Taking one's tortoise for a walk

    Hey AnonT, you've arrived! You've attracted the wisdom and insight of a snarky anon. I don't want to soak up all of the snark by myself. Welcome!

    ReplyDelete
  52. Anachronism @ 5:41.

    Good for you- I wondered if anyone would pick up on that!

    But the joke was as we heard it in the 4th grade, so I wouldn't vouch for its verisimilitude. It didn't come with footnotes.
    However, a little Wiki research shows that Fokker, originally a German company that moved to the Netherlands, was re-appropriated early in WWII. The Luftwaffe flew some captured Fokkers. But mainly, the Fokker works were put back into production for the Luftwaffe's Bücker Bü 181 and turned out parts for Junkers.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Hello everybody. Wow, WEES. Best wishes to you all.

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  54. Bill G., I rarely click on links since I've had bad experiences with some of them, but I couldn't resist your tortoise walk! Can you believe we have a tortoise that same size, named "Gophie," who is at least 55 years old! My husband and his first wife acquired her in 1958, and she is now under the care of wife #3--yours truly. Sadly, Gophie never gets to leave her enclosure, but we did have a handsome home with drainage and plants build for her some years ago. And since she is likely to live to 100, we had to make provisions for her care in our family trust.

    ReplyDelete
  55. What happened to Dennis? It's not like him to be gone this long. What about Buckeye? Is he OK? Is Lois still around?

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  56. Well, what do you think happened.? They all got a life - a real life, instead of a virtual one. They're probably living it up and having a ball, instead of studying a raster on a white screen on a sloow. Saturday night and waiting for the next response.

    People grow up and move away, and the old giveth way to the new. The only thing that is constant is change itself. Out with the old and in with the new. Time to get used to a new set of personalities, and then even newer ones. High school may be nice, but who wants to live in the high school forever.

    Maybe this is a hint to the wise and sagacious.

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  57. Fokker F-28's were flown by Empire Airlines out of Utica, NY during the early 80's.

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  58. Xenon the Anon, do you even know the people we are talking about ? They were the mainstays of our blog. And now that they've left this blog, it has gone down the drain and the standards of brilliance and the sheer intellectual virtuosity has steadily gone downhill. These guys were geniuses and their witty comments contributed to the greatness of this blog. And now these neofellows have just driven them away into the wilderness. I think we should all make an effort by email or otherwise to get these luminous personalities back into our fold, or we're done for. This blog is going to revert npback into the Stone Age. Mark my words.

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  59. Anachronism @ 5:41
    Buckeye Bob @ 6:09
    Keith Fowler @ 7:12

    I thought there were Fockers in WWII until I read your posts, turns out I was mistaken.

    I was thinking of the FW190, but it turned out to be Focke - wulf.

    To quote Anonymous T @ 4:59

    Happy Unbirthday Everyone....

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  60. Bill G:

    Yippie! One more thing to cross off the ol' bucket-list. ;-)

    Manac - Dangerfield was funny. RIP.

    CED - thanks for the cake!

    To those that posted re: Fokkers. Very intersting. I think Keith's joke stands because it's funny. IIRC Shakespeare used anachronisms oft. There were bells tolling in Ceasar if I remember right (Keith?) - I didn't think sundials had chimes...

    Cheers, -T

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  61. Misty, I'm glad you risked the tortoise link. I really enjoyed that. AnonT, it's good to feel you've one of the chosen few! :>)

    Another treat tomorrow by one of the LAT's most prolific constructors these days. Sundays always take me a while so I'm glad to get an early start. The puzzle even contains a location about five miles north of where I live.

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  62. Bill G - Where can I do the LAT on the iPad? H-Chron only runs old NYTs on Sunday. After having slept off the crud today, I'm wide awake now.

    WIth all the WWII talk, did anyone read "A Higher Calling" about this? If you don't have time for the book, the Wiki entry will tell you enough.

    Cheers, -T

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  63. Ooh, the final Jeopardy question was worded in a confusing way and misinterpreted by two of the contestants and by me too. Too bad. It didn't seem fair to me.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Bill G, could you PLEASE stop talking about the next day's puzzle before we see it? There are many of us who like the surprise of opening the paper and seeing the new puzzle/constructor. I know people have asked you before, but PLEASE stop!

    ReplyDelete

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