google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, December 9, 2013 Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

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Dec 9, 2013

Monday, December 9, 2013 Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Theme: Y - Four theme entries that ask 'Why' but not a 'Y' to be found in the answers.

17A. "Why bother?" : "IT'S HOPELESS!"

27A. "Why me?" : "WHAT HAVE I DONE?"

43A. "Why worry?" : "FORGET ABOUT IT!"

57A. "Why not?" : "GIVE IT A SHOT"

Argle here. Warti is back upright for today's puzzle. Now can OwenKL give us some haiku.

Across:

1. Gem weight unit : CARAT

6. Three-line Japanese poem : HAIKU

11. Container for Peter Pan : JAR

14. "You __ busted!" : ARE SO

15. Past prisoner, for short : EXCON

16. Prefix for a lifesaving "Pen" : EPI


19. Bit of Morse code : DIT

20. Trivial gripe : NIT

21. Stow cargo : LADE

22. "57 Varieties" brand : HEINZ. Started with prepared horseradish.

24. Purr former : CAT. Cat update, Marti?

25. Plane for a small airstrip, briefly : STOL. Short TakeOff and Landing

33. Entire : WHOLE

34. Neeson of "Schindler's List" : LIAM

35. Carps at : NAGS

37. Blubber : BAWL

38. 90-degree pipe piece : ELL

39. Clinton's vice president : GORE. Al

40. Johnson of "Laugh-In" : ARTE

41. Island dance : HULA

42. Beast with one hump or two : CAMEL

46. Pet food brand with a ProActive Health variety : IAMS

47. Chimpanzee, e.g. : APE

48. Equally strange : AS ODD

51. Northwestern pear : BOSC

53. Revolutionary Guevara : CHE

56. Logician's proof ending : QED

61. Spoon-bending Geller : URI

62. Musical Merman : ETHEL

63. Eucalyptus-eating marsupial : KOALA

64. Civil War prez : ABE

65. Students' hurdles : TESTS

66. Kick out : EXPEL

Down:

1. Abel's older brother : CAIN

2. Class for potential painters : ART I

3. Remainder : REST

4. Residue in a smoker's tray : ASH

5. "You missed the deadline" : "TOO LATE"

6. Pay attention to : HEED

7. Wheel-supporting shaft : AXLE

8. Cold bagful for a party : ICE. or for your head after the party.

9. Bout enders, briefly : KOs. Knock Outs.

10. Without footwear : UNSHOD

11. "Star Wars" warrior : JEDI

12. Neat as __ : A PIN

13. Big name in hotels and crackers : RITZ

18. Hiker's route : PATH

23. Stretch out : ELONGATE

24. Phone screening service : CALLER ID

25. Underwater experiment site : SEALAB

26. Tiny Dickens boy : TIM

27. Pier : WHARF

28. Do-it-yourselfer's book genre : HOW TO

29. Indigenous Alaskans : ALEUTs

30. Grand Roman home : VILLA

31. Judd of country music : NAOMI

32. "Snowy" heron : EGRET

33. Fighter's org. : WBA. (World Boxing Association)

36. Salt, on the Seine : SEL. in France.

41. Partner of haw : HEM

42. Baked treat often wrapped in fluted paper : CUPCAKE. CED?

44. Gizmo : GADGET

45. Brewer's kiln : OAST

48. Greenish-blue : AQUA

49. Balkan native : SERB

50. Drooling toon dog : ODIE

51. Red root vegetable : BEET

52. Lubricates : OILS

53. Bloke : CHAP

54. Ice fishing access : HOLE

55. List-shortening abbr. : ET AL.

58. Suffix with Wyoming : ITE. Really

59. Old videotape type : VHS

60. Fenway team, for short : SOX. No wine reference today.


Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear Hahtoolah, who never appears on the blog without an inspiring and thoughtful "Quote of the Day".  If you pay attention to the bracketed dates in Hahtoolah's quote source, you'll know that her quotes are never random. And she's been carefully selecting her quotes for us for a few years, talk about consistency! Her posts are also consistently caring & informative. (Dave, think cat!!)

70 comments:

HeartRx said...

Good morning all.

I just wanted to be among the first to wish Hahtoolah a wonderful, happy and joyful birthday. You give us so much with your thoughtful comments and quotes. Here's one for you:
"I think you should take your job seriously, but not yourself - that is the best combination." (Judy Dench 1934)
¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫

CrossEyedDave, I told you on Friday that I would make up for the difficulty level of that puzzle "soon." Is this soon enough?

Barry G. said...

Morning, all (and Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah)!

Very smooth Monday solve today. I think my only hesitation was at ITE. Make perfect sense, but I don't think I've ever heard of a WyomingITE before.

Wasn't sure what was going on with the theme while solving. I noticed all the clues started with "Why", but didn't think all the theme answers matched the clues particularly well (at least, not upon first reading). GIVE IT A SHOT for "why not" in particular stuck me as a bit off. Didn't affect the solving experience one whit, however, since I had so many perps that I guessed the answer straightaway.

Off to do the first shoveling of the season....

[airmeen]

windhover said...

Good morning, all, and a very happy birthday to my bayou babe :-), Hahtoolah. Also belated wishes to Lucina, Ron, and a great looking 80 year old, Rowland.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday greetings Saturday. For the last several months I've not read the daily blog until after solving that particular puzzle. Prior to that I would scan the blog and try not to glean much about the clues. But apparently all this clean living has sharpened my memory to the point that it was ruining the solving experience. So...., since the Irish spent a great deal of last week in meetings, including a 4 AM to 10 PM day trip to Chicago (counting drive time to and from the airport and check in), I didn't get any of last weeks puzzles till Friday night and the birthday plans kept me away from them till yesterday.
We lit the candle at both ends (at least for country mice) Saturday. Got a hotel room in Lexington (complete with a TV we never turned on), went out to dinner and hit a couple of our favorite bars. We capped that by taking in a drag show at Lexington's somewhat infamous 'Bar Complex' (Google it), a cultural experience everyone should sample, once. :)
During the evening I discovered the best bourbon I've ever sampled. I'll be buying a bottle this week. If you're ever offered a 'last drink' (comparable to the inmates last meal) tell 'em to pour you a double of Angel's Envy, neat. You'll go away with heaven on your tongue, even if it isn't your immediate destination.
Thanks again everyone. I love this little community of aged adolescents (yeah, I read that last night) and am happy to be a tiny part of it.
Larry

OwenKL said...

Why bother? IT'S HOPELESS
There's no chance and no solace.
At great cost
We have lost,
May as well eat the lotus.

Why me? Why the shun?
Oh, WHAT HAVE I DONE?
I was nice,
But no dice,
Now I've nowhere to run.

Why worry? Why fret?
Let's FORGET ABOUT IT.
Nothing lasts.
It is past.
Now it's time to reset.

Start again? Well, why not?
Let's GIVE IT A SHOT.
Life remains,
Take the reins,
Fortune's still to be sought!

(This is probably not the best theme for a bi-polar depressive to be left to lim on. I was inclined to a much darker take on it, especially after 2 successive days of coming up dry. The poems came easily enough. Making them funny seemed inappropriate, so I settled for hopeful.)

[A nice easy Monday, though I did have a hitch in the very center -- Underwater experiment site I put BIKINI, and Indigenous Alaskans I put ESKIMO, and nothing across worked!

Also a nice surprise. When I switched from paper to solving online, I started out using the LAT site, where the puzzle showed up at the stroke of midnight. I switched to the Mensa site to get away from that long ad delay, and found the puzzle waiting for me at 11 last night!]

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Fun Monday puzzle. I noticed that the first two questions were rather Pessimistic, but the last two were Optimistic. Why Wyoming? Well, maybe because the name of the state sounds a bit like today's theme.

I liked seeing both the WHOLE and the HOLE.

Yes, today I am apparently a year older than I was yesterday! Thank you for remembering. Lots of December birthdays in our little corner.

QOD: Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, “We’ve always done it this way,” I try to fight that. That’s why I have a clock on my wall that runs counter-clockwise. ~ Grace Hopper (Dec. 9, 1906 ~ Jan. 1, 1992)

[methopo]

LaLaLinda said...

Hi Everyone ~~

Another fun puzzle, Marti ~ quick, but very enjoyable!

My favorites, of course, were: 60D - Fenway team / SOX and 24A - Purr former / CAT. =^..^=

A very Happy Birthday to you, Hahtoolah. I think we share the enjoyment of both things named above. I hope you have a wonderful day!

desper-otto said...

Anybody got a link to today's puzzle? I'm on the road and can't find it.

HBD, Hahtoolah!

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Marti, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the fine review.

Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah! Many more to you. Always enjoy your Q.O.D.s.

The puzzle was straight forward. A few snags that slowed me down a bit, but persistence prevailed.

HAIKU and EPI were with perps.

Liked LIAM Neeson. He is a great actor.

Q.E.D. Enjoy that latin bit.

Theme answers were easy.

D-O: The Chicago Tribune site has an on-line puzzle.

I still have to finish Sunday's puzzle. Hope to have it today.

We have snow to shovel today. Only a few inches.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(ntheren)
(mdociou)

Magilla Go-Rilla said...

Easy puzzle today but a few blunders on my part.

VTOL instead of STOL in 25a but that gave me "vealab" in 25d. What is THAT!?

"Hee" instead of "hem" in 41d. Messed up the pet food.

Other than that it went well.

HeartRx said...

d-o, try this link:
Mensa LAT site

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah.

Read Argyle's intro and don't have much to add. ICE - "for your head after the party." Ha Ha. I thought this one was just a bit crunchy for a Monday but we like 'em that way. Otherwise, WEES. Good job, Marti.

Hmm - Wonder if I can find Angel's Envy here in Central NY. Normally drink Maker's Mark.

Have a great day.

kazie said...

HBTY, Hahtoolah, and a belated one to WH, -- since I don't do weekend puzzles and rarely have time to come here then, I missed it.

Today was an easy ride, so thanks for that on another busy day, Marti! I waited on perps for a few, but there were no snags.

Husker Gary said...

Loved it Marti. I'm blogging on a school bus sponsoring a field trip so will muse later. BTW where's the picture of the "What, me worry" kid? ;-)

OwenKL said...

Argyle, I just noticed you challenged me to do today's effort as haiku. I'm feeling more positive now, so maybe this will be a more optimistic take.

Why bother?, you ask.
Cry of dismay: IT'S HOPELESS!
This, too, shall pass by.

Why me?, you wonder.
Punishment? WHAT HAVE I DONE?
Blind wheel of life turns.

Why worry?, you hear.
Wise words: FORGET ABOUT IT.
Worry worries most.

Why not?, you begin.
GIVE IT A SHOT: hope anew.
Life is worth living.

buckeye bob said...

Happy birthday, Hahtoolah!

Thank you Marti for a fun puzzle, and Argyle for a good expo.

Quick and easy Monday puzzle today. Back to my normal Monday solving time. If anything it was over too soon, but still fun after a couple of long challenges.

Hand up for HEE before HEM, but IAMS fixed that.

Favorite clue was purr formers. I was trying to think about a form of purr. Meow? Nope. Mew? No. Re-read the clue and got it. I love a good play on words!

We see IAMS frequently. It started as a local company here in greater Dayton, OH in 1946, but has been part of P&G since 1999.

desper-otto said...

Thanx, Abejo and HeartRx. Unfortunately those sites aren't Android-friendly. Shortyz finally got the puzzle, so life is good. Nice puzzle, Marti. Just right for a Monday.

Windy, good to see ya. Come back often. I've never had Angel's Envy. Like Spitz I usually like Maker's Mark. I was introduced to that in Lexington back in the early 80's.

CanadianEh! said...

Beautiful Monday level puzzle. Everything just fell into place with only a few perps needed. We needed a break today with all the holiday anticipation. Thanks Marti and Argyle.

Several clues made me think of Corner bloggers. NIT for all or us, CUPCAKE for CED, HAIKU for OwenKL, and ICE for Tinbeni (NOT!)

Favourite clue PURR FORMER!!

Unfortunately HEINZ just announced the closure of the ketchup plant in Leamington Ontario. Huge economic blow for that region not just with jobs but also for the tomato growers.

Not as familiar with Peter Pan peanut butter here. Kraft is the big brand here.

HBD to Hahtoolah.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning;

What better way to start the week than seeing Marti or CC as the constructor?

Nice, smooth sailing with just a misstep or two: hee before hem and Inuits before Aleuts. No bags of you-know-what at Tin's parties! Also, we dog lovers demand equal time, Marti, although I loved the clue Purr former.

Very nice Monday offering, Marti, and fun expo, Argyle.

Happy Birthday, Hatoolah; hope you have a wonderful day. (Today is also my sister, Anne's, birthday.)

oc4beach said...

Nice puzzle Marti. I only had to use my eraser once, on HEM vs. HEE.

CanadianEh: It's too bad about the HEINZ plant closure. That's what happens when "Money Managers" try to run a company.

Vidwan827 said...

Happy birthday to you Hahtoolah. It's good you share some sort of common day with Admiral Grace Hopper.

There is a wonderful google doodle in her honor, today, and she writes a simple computer program, and at the end, finally a 'bug' flies out of the computer, at the end.... ( she invented the word 'bugging' - as audit correction of a computer program ... ).

Her life story is an inspiration to all, especially those of the female persuasion. I have had the privilege of having met her, though not individually.

Hahtoolah, I love your QODs , but especially,

A bargain is an item you do not need, at a price you cannot resist. ( I am a pack rat -).

Yesterday, I learnt the other side of the coin, I saw a. Chinese sewn / embroidered painting of a bunch of Koi fish, at a very reasonable price. I came home, and persuaded my wife, to drive 47 miles, to look and approve it for purchase ... And the art had already been sold. I should have bought it immediately, and to hell with marital bliss.

If you find a bargain, snap it up....

Have a good day, all.

Now, back to the puzzle ....

Lucina said...

Good day, friends! Ah, life is good, Marti and Argyle together again.

Happy birthday, Hahtoolah! I hope your celebration is very special.

Solving the puzzle was anything but HOPELESS and a very fast sashay with some of my favorite things in it, LIAM Neeson, peanut butter in a JAR, HULA dancers, HEINZ catsup, HAIKU(or any poetry) ETHEL Merman singing, the Seine and BEETS (I love them).

Well done, Marti! What a great way to start my day.

Have yourselves a wonderful Monday, everyone!

Zcarguy said...

Splynter ,

Sorry for the late response , been very busy .

When it comes to buying a new car and comparing prices , what to look for is not the initial asking price that matters , but the cost of owning that car for a period of say 5 years. Here's an example .

08 Ford Fusion SE base MSRP was $20295 , with average miles of 77000 the wholesale market value of this car in good condition is $7500 , that leaves you with a net cost of $12795 excluding repairs maintenance .

08 Toyota Corolla LE base MSRP $16275 , with a wholesale market value of $9600 with comparable miles and condition . Net cost $7275.

Taking in consideration the original price of both cars , the Corolla still cost $1500 less after 5 years.

Another thing to consider is buying a car with proven record , stay clear from 1st year 1st time on the market cars, there's not enough data yet.

Bill G. said...

A Monday Marti. Excellent!

I thought this was easy and fun. I enjoyed it late last night. Just one nit. :>)

Happy Birthday Hahtoolah! I always enjoy your QODs.

Lucina, I like beets too; the tops also. Do you ever eat them?

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Pleasant start to the week from Marti.

HBD, Hatoolah.

I'd forgotten about our birthday cluster.

And HBD, Larry , a little late. Missed the date on Sat.

Owen - I don't think I've ever mentioned how mush I appreciate your clever and creative versification each day. They - and you - are really quite remarkable.

Haiku [AKA "ku"] and Sudoku both come to us from Japan. I like sudoko more than this would suggest.

word and number games
why settle for psuedo-ku
when we have real ku

If you like haiku, check this sitethis site, and if you feel like joining in, then GIVE IT A SHOT.

Cool regards!
JzB

Lemonade714 said...

Hatoolah:

For you יום הולדת שמח.

Friday marti, monday marti, wow.

She asks WHY, I ask WHY NOT all marti and C.C. puzzles

loved purr formers as well

Tinbeni said...

Windhover: Angel's Envy, NEAT sounds like the perfect way to "toast" your Birthday.

Misty: I hope your DH had a wonderful 80th Birthday yesterday.

Happy Birthday Hahtoolah ... tonight's first "toast" at Sunset is to you!

Marti: Thank you for a FUN Monday puzzle ... I enjoyed everything but the unnecessary ICE.
As for the SOX cluing, FORGETABOUTIT!

My NEW YEAR Resolution (a bit early) I'm just going to leave those three-spaces blank and declare a DNF.
(From NOW-ON ... I'll enjoy my puzzles NEAT !!!)

Cheers!!!

Sallie said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Happy birthday Hahtoolah, and to all that I've missed lately.

Hand raised for hee rather than HAW.

What does QED translate as?
Had trouble with AS ODD. Couldn't suss out anything ending in DD. Finally (light-bulb on) oh yes. ODD!

I believe that effects of chemo are finally mostly gone. Find out if it all worked in early Jan.

I've lost my crab pic. How do I retrieve it?

Sallie

Misty said...

There's nothing more wonderful than opening the paper on a Monday morning and finding either a C.C. or a Marti puzzle! Yay! What a great way to start the week! Breezed through this one--a lot of fun! Many thanks, Marti, and you too, Argyle for the fun expo.

Happy birthday, Hahtoolah! Love your daily quotes! Many thanks for the wishes for my husband, Windhover. Loved your liquor story and was going to predict a "toast" to you from Tinbeni--and there it was! Tinbeni, Rowland had the best 80th birthday ever yesterday! I gave him a rundown of all the sweet wishes to him on yesterday's blog.

Wow, Owen, limericks and haikus in one day! It doesn't get any better than this.

My warm birthday wishes to your sister Anne, Irish Miss!

Since we can no longer travel to spend Christmas with family in Pennsylvania, we are going to spend the travel money on a little Christmas vacation at the RITZ! Doesn't totally make up for no family--but it helps!

Have a wonderful week, everybody!

Tinbeni said...

Sallie
QED, Latin quod erat demonstrandum (which was to be demonstrated).
It is a formal way of ending a mathematical, logical or physical proof.
Its purpose is to alert the reader that the immediately previous statement, which naturally was arrived at by an unbroken chain of logic, was the original statement that we were trying to prove.

QED ... in my minds eye I can still see your crab pic.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fun puzzle and speed run to start the week. Great one, Marti!

Thanks, Argyle, especially for explaining STOL, an unknown. My husband was a pilot and all I could think of when STOL came up was a "stall" is when the engine quits. "S" in STOL/SEALAB was the last fill. When I read the clue for SEALAB, I had the "L" in place and tried to plug in "atoll". Didn't fit but maybe an "e" or "s" on the end? Even when I had almost all the letters, the beginning "S" was a WAG! Oh, yeah, that works.

Hand up for HEe before HEM.

Happy birthday, Hahtoolah! Thank you for your profound thoughts of the day. Always a great addition to the blog.

Vidwan, so good to see you again. I've really missed you and hoped we hadn't hurt your feelings over the yardman issue. You educate us well and we were hoping to return the favor.

Purrformer was the purrfect clue.

PK said...

Owen, your poems fit my winter blahs mood well. I probably wouldn't have got out of bed this morning but a 96-year-old friend called me with her cheery old voice. If she can be cheery after struggling through 24 years more than I have, I'd better get up and carry on. Vent out the grumbles fast so the optimism has room to grow.

Anonymous said...

Happy Monday! We get to start the week with a Marti puzzle! Great write-up, Argyle.

Hand up for hee before HAW. Put AXLE in the wrong spot--messed that up for a bit.

Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah. Thank you for the quotes every day.

Have a nice week.
Pat

Bill G. said...

I haven't laughed so hard (while sitting at my computer) in a long time, maybe forever. Here's Aunt Chippy demonstrating how to wrap a Christmas present. Aunt Chippy (BTW, I'm guessing one of the problems she was having is trying to use right-handed scissors in her left hand.)

Anonymous said...

To: Barry G, Abejo, Hahtoolah,

What is the meaning of the letters in the brackets at the end of your posts ?

Montana said...

Thanks, Marti, and thanks, Argyle. What a great start to a week!

Happy birthday, Hahtoolah!

Montana

Barry G. said...

What is the meaning of the letters in the brackets at the end of your posts?

They are the relevant part of the particular CAPTCHA we had to enter in order to post that post. Why do we do it? Just for kicks, I suppose...

[Mediriv]

River Doc said...

Happy Monday everybody!

Nice speed run to stat the week, so thank you Marti...! Only stumble was HEE, as noted above....

Agree with all above posts suggesting the favorite clue of PURR former (so what's a purr latter...?)

Tinbeni, really like your resolve to not fill ICE and declare a DNF - now that's dedication...!

Finally HBD to Hahtoolah! Keep those QODs coming! Speaking of quotes, I'll have to forward the definition of a bargain to a hoarder fined of mine (gracias, Vidwan....)

River Doc said...

Damn autocorrect! Try start, not stat, and friend, not fined....

Open question - why doesn't the "word" autocorrect autocorrect...?

CrossEyedDave said...

Sorry I'm late,

Marti, make up for the difficulty level?!?! (Nerts, I was hoping you'd do my laundry so I could spend more time on the puzzle!)

All silliness aside (for a moment...) I was going to complain that it was too easy with that hee haw clue, but you also created an inblot with 66A Kick out, because I had "exile" until 54D put a hole in it...

I did like Purr former.

STOL is a competative sport!

Irish Miss, HBD to you Sister.

&, of course,, Hatoolah! Happy Birthday! CC said think cats, (but I think this is kind of creepy...

Hmm, maybe I should have just gone with a cupcake...

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Barry.
(stglyit)

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

How nice to to wake to a Marti puzzle on an icy Monday. Hand up for "purr former" as favorite clue!

Happy Birthday Hahtoolah, and many happy returns.

Lemonade714 said...

I heard from Annette who is a long time member, who has been a sounding board for John Lampkin and a fellow South Floridian; in response to my holiday wishes she advised she has had some health issues and is being treated. She sends her regards to all here.

I told her we all will be behind her for a speedy and lasting recovery.

Lemonade714 said...

Vidwan, good to see you back and sorry about the lost art but you did no lose the art of keeping your mate happy.

Avg Joe said...

Happy Birthday to Hahtoolah, and many more.

Also, a belated HBD to JazzB and Misty's husband.

Fine puzzle today. Pretty much a speed run, but speed isn't my forte. Only slow down was filling in HE and waiting for the cross to decide on hem or hee. Agree that Purr former was an excellent clue.

In addition to ice as an answer in the puzzle, as I read the comics today I thought of Tin. Pearls Before Swine

(for any late readers, it's the 12/9 strip)

Irish Miss said...


Misty, thanks for your best wishes. That mini-vacation at the Ritz sounds "purr fectly" delightful. Enjoy!

CED - Thank you for my sister's cake and for the other " cat's meows" links. You brightened my day which was momentarily a little gloomy after opening up a jury summons, for next Monday, no less! Fortunately, you are allowed one postponement, so I took advantage of that and am now scheduled for May 12th. I don't mind serving but considering my sore foot, lack of parking, and the possibility of bad weather, I think I made a wise decision.

Irish Miss said...

Forgot to say hi to Sallie; glad your treatments are over and I wish you future good health.

PK said...

CED, thanks for the STOL videos. Considering where and what those Alaskan bush pilots are called to do, they must be some of the nerviest on earth. My husband's trainer used to say, "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old bold pilots." The first (and only) time I ever flew with my AF son right after he got his license, he delighted in scaring me so bad with his aero-antics, I was sure he'd never grow old.
But the USAF must like him. I don't think he takes risks he can't handle.

Husker Gary said...

I’m back from the field trip to the SAC Museum in Omaha and I gotta say, supervising 16 yr olds is a lot easier than 12 year olds.

Musings
-HBD, Hahtoolah!
- Here’s the What Me Worry? kid
-HEINZ Catsup and Skippy Peanut Butter are the coin of realm around here
-The most famous Short Take Off (they were not ever going to land back there) area in history is documented at the SAC Museum
-If you believed URI really bent those spoons with his mind, I’ve got some ocean front property in Nebraska to sell you
-Did any of you administrators ever have to EXPEL a student?
-NASA’s and the Navy’s SEALAB
-How-to videos have saved me big bucks
-A CUPCAKE is also a name for an extremely easy opponent that is easily defeated by a bigger school so the little school gets a big payday and the big school pads its record. Think N.C. vs. our cwd friend Elon.
-Ice fishing HOLES should be popping up now that we have been consistently below zero around here
-Re: Hahtollah’s QOD - Gary, “Why do you hand out yearbooks before the last day of school when they could be used as an incentive for paying fines and getting in back work? Librarian, “That’s the way we’ve always done it!” They changed it the next year and had to hire extra help for all the fine money that rolled in.
-Tin, we only drink water here at Casa de Confuso and so adding ice ain’t that bigga deal.

OwenKL said...

Flo & Friends, Wed, 12/4

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, First, a very happy Birthday to Hatoolah. I hope you have something really fun planned for today.

I misspelled Arte as Arti, so Caller ID came up Callirid. I couldn't for the life of me make any sense whatsoever out of that. So a DNF for me today. That doesn't usually happen on a Monday, but it did today. Sigh.

Other than that the rest of the puzzle came together well. I thought the theme was fun. Thanks, Marti for two puzzles almost in a row. Argyle, you always give it your best shot and today was no exception.

These past two weeks have been very busy, and I have been fighting a Staph infection in my leg. After 4 weeks of antibiotics, I think I'm finally on the mend. Thank Goodness

You go to the Dr. to get better and I came away with an infection that wouldn't go away. I've been fighting this for almost 10 weeks.

Have a great day, everyone.

A side note. Jill who was on the blog for a short time and who joined our CA Coven for coffees, has had a very hard time caring for her ill mother. Her mother passed away this past week. Jill contacted JD and let her know. I thought some of you on the blog might be interested.

Bill G. said...

CED, I really enjoy your STOL video. I wouldn't have thought it was possible for a normal plane to take off in such a short space.

Chickie, I'm glad to hear you are getting better. Best wishes for Jill.

This is the best thing I've seen come out of late-night television in a long time. Here is Jimmy Kimmel's touching tribute to his late Uncle Frank.

OwenKL said...

River Doc: Pur'later
Per'lator

HeartRx said...

Chickie, I am so sorry to hear about your infection. Isn't it strange that we go to get healed, and end up worse off than before?

I am glad several of you liked my "Purr former" clue. As far as I know, it is an original one of mine. But to give equal time to dog lovers, do I have to clue DOG as a "Bark tender"??

Jayce said...

Woohoo, a pangram, I think. Very cool puzzle, lots of fun. Thank you.

Jayce said...

Hahtoolah, dear wonderful woman, happy birthday!

Hahtoolah said...

Thank you all for the lovely birthday wishes, from those left on this blog and those sent to me off line. They truly made my day.

Creature asked to be remembered to all the blog regulars.

Stay warm and safe throughout the storm.

TTP said...

Hello all ! I am so busted !

I've been AWOL and remiss, and know I've missed some recent birthdays. Belatedly Happy Birthday to Lucina, Windhover, Jazzbumpa, and Rowland ! Also to my sister and my niece, neither of whom do the puzzle, but who were also shorted on their birthdays. I hope you all forgive me. And a very current and on-time Happy Birthday to Hahtoolah ! Since you all have December birthdays, I'll just double up and give you a combined present this year ! Please don't feel shorted.

Perfect Monday puzzle and write up. Just got beckoned. Will have to try to read all of the comments later.

HeartRx said...

Jayce @ 7:12, you are close…it is missing the "Y" for a pangram. But I think Argyle is the only one who noticed "Y" it was missing!! Just one of my little subtle tweaks that I thought nobody would notice...

Yellowrocks said...

Fun puzzle, Marti. interesting blog, Argyle.
Happy birthday to Jazz and Hatoolah. I always enjoy your posts.

Irish Miss said...

Marti: Bark tender is great. How about Woofer? (-:

Anonymous T said...

I hope I'm not TOOLATE to play...

Hi all! Happy Birthday Hahtoola! I hope you did something fun!

Not a NIT to pick with Marti's puzzle. And Marti, you made up for me wanting DIT on Friday with E, not A, I,O,U. Thanks!

STOL is the only thing that threw me for a few. I had VTOL (Verticle TakeOff and Landing) - Like this Harrier.

I did like ARTI and ARTE on the west coast and ASH & HOLE almost mirrored.

I see that Marti was mean to Tin by putting ICE so close to his VILLA. IAMS sure that was on purrpose.

In my family, 43a is pronounced FAGADDA-BOUT-ID. Perps helped :-)

Thanks all for the great links and Argyle for the write-up. I'm going to go back and watch a few of the youTube ones now that I'm not at work.

Cheers, -T

Vidwan827 said...

Very late for posting, was busy, after my earlier post.

Happy belated birthdays! to Lucina, Jazzbumpa, and Larry windhover.

PK, thank you for the kind words. I am not that important.

lemonade, I still miss that art piece I lost in the auction. Wife would have eventually cooled down .... Eventually.

CED. Thanks for e cat circus and the STOL. Competition.

OWENKL your limericks and haiku are simply great. Also thanks for purrkolator.

bill. G. Thanks for the Aunt Chipie wrapping her present. really enjoyed it. I made a mistake of showing it to my wife .... She thinks it is a waste I of my time and hers ....

Women have a different sense of humor ...

Good night all.

Yellowrocks said...

I am into ancient classical haiku.I hope you enjoy these samples.
Link Basho haiku

Link Haiku

Yellowrocks said...

Sorry, the 1600's when Basho livreed are not ancient put very old by American standards.

Lemonade714 said...

Thank you Chuckle, I am always curious about those who have come and gone and while I am sorry about Jim's mother, I am glad Jill is ok.


Feel better

Anonymous T said...

Bill G. Now I _really_ know what STOL means thanks for that.

CED - that cat singing is just wrong. It's ASODD as the eTrade Baby, but not as funny.

Earlier I failed to mention that I liked how GORE intersected with ELONGATED - boring speaches came to mind.*

Cheers, -T
*not a political statement nor an indication of my past votes -- just my perception.

Hey the numbers are back in the CAPTCHA...

Anonymous T said...

Ave Joe: I save Pearls Before Swine 'till the end of the day... Yes, Tin's Scotch comes to mind :-)

Cheers, -T

PK said...

Chickie, I'm glad you are healing. I wish I could just email my doctor and describe symptoms and get prescription. So disheartening to come home sicker than you went.

Another good place to pick up germs is church. I"m sure I got pneumonia years ago from sitting next to a stranger in church. He coughed the entire service. I didn't go back to church for a loooong time, partly because I was too sick.

Vidwan: you are important enough to be missed.

Lucina said...

YR
I enjoyed the HAIKU. Thank you. That site merits a return. I'll have to bookmark it.

Widwan:
Thank you. Your posts are informative and interesting; you are one of the "wise men" of this blog, IMO.

Lemonade714 said...

Sallie always good to see you