Theme: I wouldn't bet on it. Or - in the constructor's words - OUTSIDE CHANCE. Today we have the unlikely occurrence of the word CHANCE, split in two and occurring at the outside edges of the theme entries, like bookends.
20A. "Oh, baby, that's what I like!" oldie : CHANTILLY LACE.
The Big Bopper, of course. February 3rd, 1959 was the day the music
died, when the Big Guy, along with Richie Valens and Buddy Holly went
down in a plane crash near Mason City, Iowa. In this video clip he is
very much alive.
27A. Barrier with built-in footholds : CHAIN LINK FENCE. Still can be hazardous to climb over. Watch your step.
45A. Site of the first Winter Olympics : CHAMONIX FRANCE. 1924. A bit before my time.
And the unifier, 52 A. What a long shot has, and, literally, what 20-, 27- and 45-Across each has : OUTSIDE CHANCE.
An estimate of the likelihood of an occurrence that is neither probable
nor impossible, like the Lions winning their division after losing
Monday night due to a 61 yard field goal in the waning seconds of the
game.
It's a bit ambiguous because of the placement of the letters "A" in 45A, but you can read the theme entries as a progression of letters in CHAIN moving from the left to right bookend. This gives the theme another level of elegance.
Hi gang, JazzBumpa here. I think there's better than an OUTSIDE CHANCE we'll enjoy today's outing.
Across:
1. Poet whose work was read in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" : AUDEN. The poem is W. H. Auden's Funeral Blues.
I never saw the movie, and when the camera pans the congregation I see
two of my least favorite annoying British actors, so it's not likely
I'll catch up. But the poetry scene is quite gripping.
6. Animal skin : HIDE. I got PELTed, but then PELT got perpetrated.
10. Zantac target : ACID. Acid reflux med.
14. Mowing the lawn, e.g. : CHORE. Not for me. We outsourced this job.
15. Venerated one : IDOL. Some are American.
16. Ritual heap : PYRE. I'm pretty sure I've linked this before. Best PYRE seen ever.
17. Andrea __: ill-fated ocean liner : DORIA.
On Wednesday, July 25, 1956, The Andrea DORIA collided with the
Stockholm in heavy fog in the ocean south of Nantucket, Mass. In a
great big ocean, isn't that an OUTSIDE CHANCE?
18. Harp constellation : LYRA. And that's the truth!
19. Assist in a bad way : ABET. Not bad assistance, but assistance in a bad deed.
23. Dramatist Coward : NOEL. Just in time for Christmas.
24. Beat rapidly : THROB.
32. "Cut me some __!" : SLACK.
33. Corp. bigwig : C.E.O. Chief Executive Officer.
34. Seventh Greek letter : ETA. Started as a consonant, ended up as a vowel. Really - what are the chances?. Looks like this: Η or η.
35. Puts the past in the past : MOVES ON. Not to be confused with putting the moves on someone.
38. Lhasa native : TIBETAN.
41. Ingested : ATE.
42. Romance : WOO. Used here as a verb.
44. They're pulled by coachmen : REINS. It's how they hold their horses.
50. 1950s conflict zone : KOREA.
51. Showy perennial : IRIS.
59. Something extra : PLUS.
61. Acting award : OBIE. Awarded annually by The Village Voice for off-Broadway productions.
62. Net receipts? : E-MAIL. Clever.
63. "Great" dog : DANE.
64. Make fun of : RAZZ.
65. Tells the cops everything : SINGS. Squeals, spills the beans, rats . . .
66. Tacked on: Abbr. : ADDL. Additional. This abrv. looks a bit addled.
67. Arboretum growth : TREE. Druid's company, TREE's a crowd.
68. Make fun of : TEASE. Don't TEASE me, bro. PLUS, it's a clecho!
Down:
1. Outlet letters : ACDC. Electricity.
2. "Here comes trouble!" : UH-OH. What Lion's fans think late in the 4th quarter.
3. The first Mrs. Copperfield : DORA. Not DORIA.
4. The Auld Sod : ERIN. The Emerald Isle.
5. Fastidious folk : NEATNIKS. The nice thing is, you never have to clean up after them.
6. Early Talmudic sage : HILLEL.
He gave us the golden rule: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to
your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go
and learn."
7. Charmingly rustic : IDYLLIC.
8. Small fishing boat : DORY. A small Hungarian boat is a Hunky DORY. Mine is named DORA DORIA DORY.
9. Tel Aviv airline : EL AL.
10. Geronimo's tribe : APACHE. His is a sad story. You can read about it here.
11. Like the Borg race in "Star Trek" spin-offs : CYBERNETIC. "Borg" is short for "Cyborg", which is short for "cybernetic organism", a being with both organic and artificial parts.
12. Explosive state : IRE. Often encountered at the end of a Lions game.
13. City of Lions and Tigers: Abbr. : DET. DETroit. Lions and Tigers - oh my.
21. Lithium __ battery : ION.
22. Explosives regulating org. : ATF. The oddly grouped Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and and Explosives.
25. Fuel number : OCTANE. Don't knock it.
26. Vegan protein source : BEANS. To get complete protein, combine with either corn or rice.
27. Thread-spinning Fate : CLOTHO.
In ancient Greek mythology, the younger sister of Lachesis and
Atropos. Clotho spun the thread of human life. Best not to needle her.
28. Keep available : HAVE AROUND. Sadly, HAVE ON HAND also fits.
29. Pitcher you can count on : ACE. We have some in DET.
30. Angler's scoop : NET.
31. Ornamental fish : KOI. Something fishy is going on here.
32. Suggest the presence (of) : SMACK.
36. Take responsibility for : OWN.
37. "__ don't": terse denial : NO I. Remember, there's NO I in team.
39. Most impertinent : BRASHEST. Yeah. I own that.
40. Yet, to the Bard : E'EN. "EVEN" with an elided "V." I think.
43. Get rusty : OXIDIZE. Iron oxide is rust. How do you get wrinkles out of an ox? Iron ox HIDE.
46. Outfielder Bob of the 1920s Yankees' "Murderers' Row" : MEUSEL. Also before my time. Excellent run producing 3rd baseman and outfielder. You can see his stats here.
47. Muffin grain : OAT.
48. Citrus grower's concern : FREEZE.
49. Guitarist Ocasek : RIC. He is the one.
53. Variety : SORT. Here, sort is a noun.
54. Construction beam : I-BAR.
55. Gallic girlfriend : AMIE. Like this, perhaps.
56. The Darlings' dog : NANA. Not ASTA, the other movie dog. From Peter Pan.
57. Short smokes? : CIGS. Cigarettes, with ax X-word code for an abbreviation.
58. "When all __ fails ..." : ELSE.
59. High-tech organizer, briefly : P.D.A. Personal Data Assistant
60. Shaver : LAD.
Little shaver. Haven't heard that expression since I was one.
Evidently the expression stems from considering the wee ones as little
chips or shavings off their parents. Quaint.
Quite a bit of retro today, but a fun romp. Hope you had a CHANCE to enjoy it.
Cool regards!
JzB
81 comments:
There once was a girl from CHANTILLY
Who thought English speakers were silly.
They'd come to CHAMONIX
Not just for to ski,
But in FRANCE they'd buy LACE things so frilly!
Should you ever take leave of your sense,
Let your search for E.T.s get intense,
There's a slim OUTSIDE CHANCE
In Nevada's expanse
You'll find A-51's CHAIN-LINK FENCE!
DNF today. Had to depend on perps to get CHAMON9, but my ignorance of things baseballish prevented me from knowing the perp MEUSEL, further complicated by an inability to guess how -- or why -- anyone would bother to abbreviate ADDed to 4 letters. Maybe to get ADD'D? On the chance that it was ADDENDUM or ADDITIONAL, I tried E,N,D,U,M,I,T,O,A,& L each in turn, but that's so trial&errorish that I don't think I can count that as a victory.
Here's a bonus limerick, in honor of 17A, 3D, & 8D.
If DORA the intrepid explora'
Ever CHANCE on the Andrea DORIA
She could paddle her DORY
To go get her story.
(I hope this poem don't bore ya!)
Morning, all!
I was humming right along for awhile, very proud of myself for getting AUDEN right off the bat, but then hit a wall down south. CHAMONIXFRANCE was a complete and utter unknown, and I had confidently put in HAVE ON HAND at 28D, which messed me up terribly.
What finally saved the day was the actual theme. Once I finally figured that out, I was able to guess the first few of letters of CHAMONIX, which let me get HAVE AROUND instead of HAVE ON HAND. I still had to guess at the crossing of CHAMONIX and MEUSEL, but the latter at least rang a bell.
I have to say that "Suggest the presence (of)" for SMACK was awfully tricky. Almost too tricky. But I did manage to eventually suss it out, so no complaints.
[tookoh]
Good Morning, Jazzbumpa and friends. CHANTILLY LACE fell in place easily, but I needed the OUTSIDE CHANCE unifier to fill in CHAMONIX, FRANCE. Not up on my current Olympic games, much less the early modern games.
Hand up for thinking of PELT before HILLEL led me to the HIDE.
My favorite clue was Assist in a Bad Way = ABET.
QOD: Let me be clear about this. I don’t have a drug problem. I have a police problem. Keith Richards (Dec. 18, 1943)
[auanir]
[nderrui]
My path to a solution pretty much followed Barry G.'s. (I really should try to pay more attention to the themes.)
[12:53}
Not an easy Wednesday MEUSEL was not one of the well known Yankees of that era and fill like Cybernetic and NEATNIK took work. Also you either know Auden or you don't, he made a stir st UConn in the late 60s giving some lectures for his friend Steven Spender who was visiting professor. Like Owen I was taken by DORA DORY and DORIA. I do remember the ship sinking
I am not able to give this puzzle the time I need to solve it but I got about 75% done on my own.
Grandparents know DORA, old timers know DORIA but I don't know who especially should know DORY. I even thought of you, Dudley, as I was filling in the answers.
Gotta get going. It's 6am here.
I'll read your posts tonight,
Montana
I can imagine how the 60 and over crowd from 1958 reacted when "CHANTILLY LACE" was released. "They call this music?!? I tell ya, kids these days. Their music has no soul. It's not beautiful. It's pure bubble gum pop. I'm worried for the future..."
And the reaction from today's press? "It's an obvious rip off of Chuck Berry's 'Sweet Little Sixteen'. His performance on The Dick Clark Show was an embarrassing display of bad lip synching."
And how about Jane Mansfield'sreaction ?
My reaction? "I don't know much about music but I KNOW WHAT I LIKE!"
Thanks for the clip JxB.
Good morning!
Lots of fresh fill in this one. I liked it. Jzb, you were at your punniest. Here's another hand up for PELT. Hillel was unknown, but after getting it I remembered seeing "Hillel Foundation" somewhere in SW Houston.
DW has died. (That's DishWasher.) Looks like we'll be off to a big-box store to find a replacement. CR likes the Bosch, rating it a "best buy." Anybody have one? Whirlpool, the brand we currently have, ranked 95th out of 98. It probably died of embarassment.
"Four Weddings" pathetic movie that I paid for and walked out of after 30 minutes. So did my wife. But she was in Tulane Stadium and witnessed the Detroit Lions lose to the Saints in 1970 on a 63 yard field goal as time expired.
Easy puzzle except MEUSEL. Getting it right was an outside chance
Test
Desper-otto
I just had a Kitchenaid installed. It is so quiet that I have to place my head against it to make sure it is on. Bosch is overpriced. The whirlpool Corp also makes Amana, Maytag, Jenn-Air, and Kitchenaid.
Good morning everybody. It's a week until Christmas (to those who celebrate), do you have your shopping finished?
I liked this puzzle, but it was a DNF. I got hung up on AUDER/DORA/DORIA in the NW corner. Other than that I did pretty well.
I liked 44A: They're pulled by coachmen: REINS, and 62A: Net receipts? EMAIL.
There were quite a few new words for me. Too many to list!
Have a gread day!
Very punny, JzB, one of your best.
Owen i especially liked your DORY, DORIA, DORA rhyme.
Like Owen, I had trouble with the L in MUESEL and ADDL.which is legit, but seems odd to me.
In ninth grade I had a disagreement with a teacher who thought possible and probable were interchangeable.
Shout out to BLUE IRIS. I am thinking healthy thoughts for you.
JxB, I always thought PDA stood for "Personal Digital Assistant". Huh! Learn something new today. I enjoyed todays puzzle, buy hand up for 28d "Have on hand". Also was so sure the first winter Olympics had to be (somewhere)Greece I put the Greece bit in then between Have on Hand and (somewhere) Greece, really struggled for a while. 50a Korea showed me the error of my guess, and eventually led me in the right direction. (well, after cheating by Googling "Camonix", that is). Anyway, did finish, but with one cheat.
@ JzB and unclefred --
It appears you are both right.
Abbreviations.com gives both.
PDA = Personal Data Assistant (Governmental >> Military usage)
PDA = Personal Digital Assistant (Computing >> General, Academic & Science >> Electronics, et al usage).
George, the #3-ranked Bosch at $700 is rated higher than any of the Kitchenaid models which range in price from $850 to $1600. I've never owned anything made by Bosch, so I'm wondering if any of our commenters has experience with one.
Good morning everyone. Good intro JzB. Hunky Dory ha ha.
Enjoyed the puzzle today. Did not know AUDEN and UH OH could have been oh oh. Sigh. Everything ELSE was slicker than snot on a doorknob. Enjoyed the theme and the reveal. Favorite fill was the CHAMONIX FRANCE/ OXIDIZE crossing with RAZZ thrown in. Good job, Jeffrey.
DORIA - I remember reading about the collision and sinking in the NY Daily News.
As I recall, Andrea Doria was a famed Genoese general and admiral. He fought the Barbary Pirates in 1550 when he was 84.
Have a great day.
"Tacked on: Abbr. : ADDL"
Poor.
I didn't get AUDEN, ACDC or ACID. I didn't know what Zontac was so I assumed it was an ACNE cream. I got all the theme fills but I didn't understand the theme until I came here.
desper-otto, we've had a Bosch for a little over a year; came with the house down here. Quiet as hell, and does a great job. Certainly has my recommendation.
If you have any specific questions, just shoot me an email.
Hello Puzzlers -
Hand up for trouble with Meusel, but he got perped in with no real delay. Chamonix wasn't hard to recall, but that's because it was burned into my brain by an irritating co-worker who pronounced it "sharmonee". Like nails on a chalkboard to me.
Morning JzB, you're in good form today!
Montana 7:03 - Hi there! I'm guessing a dory is familiar to most New Englanders, because this is where the craft was born. My dad grew up in Swampscott, which is on the North Shore (the "Nawth Shaw", which means the coast north of Boston). Like every coastal kid, he had a leaky old dory for transportation, at a time when a bicycle would have been extravagant.
Mari 8:06 - Yup, shopping's all done! In truth, this is because we long ago stopped the madness of mandatory gift exchange.
Wow! Some very challenging fill and a personal Natick with AUDEN and DORA (the explorer works for me) made for a wonderful puzzle with one bad cell
Musings
-Knowing MEUSEL and not AUDEN tells you something about me
-Half the police shows have the perp being pulled off the CHAIN LINK FENCE
-Long shots – ‘69 Jets, ‘60 Pirates, ‘55 Dodgers, ‘80 Miracle on Ice and…
-The brightest stars of LYRA, Aquila and Cygnus make the summer triangle
-I thought THROB indicated intensity not rapidity
-The holidays are when you find out who hasn’t MOVED ON from past events
-“They’re pulled by coachmen” typifies the odd/fun syntax we get in cwds
-Walt Disney coined the phrase “PLUS IT” which meant make a good idea even better
-I am on genealogy quest and was shocked to learn my cousin doesn’t have EMAIL.
-BTW, any help on genealogy searches would be appreciated. My search has been stymied by the Hall family in the hills of Kentucky.
-TEASING can quickly become bullying or abuse
-DET is trying to dig out from bad decisions of the past (the city and the sports teams)
-Another Darling’s DOG
- Over 50° today! What to do? What to do? Hey, I know…
Lemon, the temps in Denver will drop into the 30s this weekend but it shouldn't be stormy, just cool.
MT
Good day everyone,
Darn near got my butt kicked today, but a couple of wags saved me.
But first, Spitz, I thought I'd heard it all, but "slicker than snot on a doorknob" proved otherwise. Funny!
Jazz, thanks for the concise & witty write up. Are you a Lion fan too?
The 2nd L in both CHANTILLY & IDYLLIC were wags. Everything else I tried looked strange.
Began with Lives on for 35A which prevented CLOTHO & CHAMONIX from appearing. Finally entered MOVES and whatta you know...it worked.
MEUSEL was a gimme. Those Yankee teams in the 20's must have been fun to watch.
Hand up for pelt before HIDE. AUDEN was an unknown as was CYBERNETIC. Perps get the credit.
Warming trend on it's way to Ct, just in time for family get-together Friday evening.
The SW corner was my downfall today. Hand up for PELT and HAVE ON HAND. I got KOREA and PLUS, so I knew I was on the wrong track in the SW, but tried to make FUND work. not so much. MUESEL was a complete unknown.
Enjoyed all the puns from JzB, though! and my favorite clue was "net receipts?"
HG,
Long shots.... '80 Miracle On ice # 1, '51 Giants #2.
Joe Willy guaranteed a Jets win, so don't think of it as a long shot win. Iffen I did though, it would be #3.
Jazz: Excellent write-up & informative links.
Jeffrey: Thank you for a FUN Wednesday puzzle. Enjoyed the theme.
NEAT-niks are Scotch drinkers at Villa Incognito.
Cheers!!!
Good day, friends! Yes, JazzB, you are in excellent form today. Your puns made me laugh. And I still feel teary when hearing the Big Bopper.
Nice sashay today though I started with WILDE but ACDC changed that and I recalled AUDEN. Hand up also for PELT/HIDE, PULSE before THROB and HAVE ON HAND. All were easy to correct. My Natick occurred at CHAMONIX/MEUSEL but a good guess gave me the final M/L.
Loved seeing RAZZ. Agree with Hahtoolah and Mari on favorite clues.
Montana:
I learned DORY on a visit to New Foundland several years ago. Since then I've read it many times in some books.
Yes, shopping and wrapping are finished but I remembered a friend to whom I want to give something so it's one more trip to Target.
desper-otto:
You might want to check Consumer Reports for Bosch. I've heard it's a great product.
Have a peaceful Wednesday, everyone!
Good Morning:
A clever, well-executed theme with interesting fill. Liked the clues for reins and email. I don't understand "Suggest the presence (of) = smack.
I finished w/o help but needed some perps. Never heard of Bob Nice shout out to (Blue) Iris.. Good job, Jeffrey, and witty expo, JazzB.
Have a great day.
Working yesterday and late to the puzzle with the Canadian shoutout of Gordon Lightfoot!
No time to finish the puzzle today either. Son, DIL and granddaughter flying in today for Christmas!!!
I did catch the CHAMONIX clue. We had lunch there when our Switzerland/Austria tour swung through corner of France. Pretty town.
Sorry, that should read "Never heard of Bob Meusel."
Four references I consulted pronounce the place name, CHAMONIX, just as Dudley's colleague does. Does anyone who has been to France know for sure?
I missed on Auden (who!?), Meusel, amie & Nana (I would have gotten this one if the clue was "Emile Zola work". All in all, not bad today.
The mayor's nephew getting the job of dog catcher smacks of nepotism.
Adjunct to Burnett clip.
Vicki Lawrence on an infamous blooper.
Regarding murderes row I only knew Ruth and Gehrig. Who doesn't? Too young to know the rest.
Hi gang -
Good times today.
Irish Miss - the expression usually goes: "That smacks of . . . "
More of a similarity to than suggesting the presence of, I suppose.
Tin man - RE: Neatnick - HA! I'm with you there, buddy, though I do like the occasional Manhattan.
Mari - did my shopping this morning. In and out of Kohl's in less than 1/2 hour, with everything I wanted for the LW.
Spitz - I first heard, "slicker than . . ." in high school, lo, these 5 decades past.
unclefred - I dredged DATA assistant up from the depths of my sieve-like memory. Looks like B Bob is Pretty Darn Accurate.
Hondo - sadly, yes, a life-long Lions fan. Earlier this season they were pulling out games they would have lost in the past. Now they're back to being the same old Lions.
Owen - your verses never bore me.
Cool Regards!
JzB
I've always heard it pronounced "sham-o-nee", but the only part of France I've visited is the Paris airport.
Lucina, it was Consumer Reports who rated this particular model #3 out of 98 in their 2014 Buying Guide.
Well, it could have been a clean sweep. (I almost got all the names wrong...) I guess I have to thank the perps for Clotho & Hillel.
They say it's 50/50, but I don't have an outside chance with this gadget...
Did you know there was a song called Outside Chance? (I guess it wasn't a big hit...)
HG! Thanks for the Darlings Salty Dog link! By coincidence, I had just seen that episode yesterday, & had no idea there was a missing clip. It fits the plot perfectly (although may not be everyones cup of tea,) it's a shame they cut it.
JazzB - Thanks for the example; now it makes sense.
Re Chamonix, my experience is sham-o-knee. Dudley's example has an "r" in it, supposedly sounding like shar-mo-knee, which would grate on the ears.
CED - Your gadget link is blank.
I had never heard of Murders' Row as a reference to baseball, but then I'm not a sports' fan.
CED:
No problem with the links today.
d-o:
I'm surprised.
Captcha: teampost (shocking that it's an actual word!)
YellowRocks, how to pronounce chamon......
The foreigners call it ..... Sham-oh-knee
That's, as in, ooh la la French ...
The locals call it. .... Sham-oh-nicks.
Pronouncing the final X has probably to do with the style of the Franco-Provençal speakers.
A long time ago, I lived in France long enough, to stop caring how they pronounce their names, .... Or what names they use to call the non French speaking foreigners .... Anyhow.
Hope that helps. Lol. ;->)
Jazz,
Your Xmas present is coming to Detroit this weekend....the Giants. Should right the Lions ship for the final weekend push. If the Giants somehow prevail, Coach Swartz should face the firing squad.
Clever, clever, clever puzzle--many thanks, Jeffrey! And, JazzB, your write-up really explained many things and was so helpful. Especially loved the photo of ANOUK AIMEE to illustrate AMIE.
Sad reminder of that awful plane crash that killed those wonderful singers. Reminds me of other tragic losses by small plane crashes: Ricky Nelson, John Denver, poor Jim Croce, who never lived to see the fame and credit he deserved. I've been wary and afraid of small planes ever since.
Owen, many thanks for the DORA, DORIA, DORY "PLUS" limerick.
Yep, started out with PELT too, and got MEUSEL and ADDL practically by accident.
Have a great Wednesday, everybody!
CED. You don't stand a chance on your gadget ... It has 1 x 1 pixels, and mostly blank. Have you tried calling the Inspector Gadget ? :-)
I liked this puzzle which I was able to keep at and finish. It helped that I knew MUESEL and was able to see with a just two perps.
I have to own up to thinking CHA was an OUTSIDE CHANCE and not noticing the NCE.
This puzzle had two different halves for me. I cruised along through the top half but ground to a halt in the bottom. Some tricky clues.
I agree with George about "Four Weddings and a Funeral." I never liked it though I was expecting to.
Just (cautiously) curious ....
What's the weather like in Cleveland today?
Dear Puzzlers,
I did enjoy OXIDIZE as the literal reply for "Get rusty." But overall I thought this pzl was a bit tough for Wednesday.
Wasn't it? I mean I don't usually need to Google to finish the hump day entry, but today there were two true unknowns. I finally gave in and looked up MEUSEL and, after he was in place, the perps delivered RIC to me.
~ Kf
Irish Miss@11:38 Aw nuts!
Lucinda@11:51 Tx 4 the heads up!(hmm, another wacky problem link site, some see it, some don't.)
Anon@12:37 1x1 pixel? (wtf?)
wait a sec, I have seen that before somewhere...
"Manac!" - I was going to add an aside that we should add another site to the "Metapicture do not bother to link" list, but when I went back to look for another link, guess what site I picked! TheMetaPicture.com! (if the link doesn't work, just type themetapicture.com into your browser.)
After out conversation yesterday, what is the outside chance I would screw that up today!
Here is my original link again:
They say it's 50/50, but I don't have an outside chance this gadget.
Here is another famous DOG. Well, he is famous to a least 149,000,000 viewers.
You wouldn't TEASE a dog like this, would ya CED?
A Mouse @ 2:40
Funny, I was just about to ask
Admirer of (?) or (?) Admirer
and
Fan of (?)
the same question.
*(?) insert name here
Hi Y'all! Number of unknowns for Wed. but the rest was fun, Jeffrey! Oh, you salty dog, JazzB!
AUDEN: Saw the movie. Cried through the poem. Didn't catch the poet's name. Thought the characters muddled about overly much.
First fill: CHANTILLY LACE. I swished my cancan petticoats around dancing to that song many times. I had a ponytail hanging down, too.
Didn't know CLOTHO. All those old myths are Greek to me.
Didn't know RIC. Hope they put enough money in his hat for new jeans before winter set in.
We had two part border collies on the farm for which we put up a four-feet tall chain link fence pen. The holes were perfect for their paws. They were up, over and out in nothing flat.
My kids put in all BOSCH appliances when they built their new house 13 years ago -- still working.
I went through the bank drive-thru yesterday. Each of the 15 persons on my Xmas list gets a crisp new bill in a free money folder. Shopping done. No returns.
CED, I am enjoying TheMetaPicture.com. I wonder why the links don't work sometimes.
Anon (3:09), I've probably watched that dog video 10 times before and I still love it!
What Bill G said! That dog tease video always makes me laugh.
desper-otto, three years ago when our son remodeled his kitchen they got all Bosch appliances, and are glad they did. I've used their dishwasher and found it to be very quiet and to get the dishes very clean and dry. You can cram a lot of dishes into it, too. I'd say go for it.
As for the puzzle, I couldn't think of anything other than ACHE or ACNE for the Zantac target, so neither 12D or 13D made any sense. Also, the M crossing CHAMONIX and MEUSE_ was my Natick, and I put ADDN (for addition) in which would have made that guy's name MEUSEN if I had gotten the M. So, 3 incorrect squares and 1 empty one.
Best wishes to you all.
BTW a nice shout out to old timer RAZZ
Hey CanadianEh, have you ever heard of a television crime show called Da Vinci's Inquest? Wifey and I recently discovered it and really like it. It's set in Vancouver and stars Nicholas Campbell as Dominic Da Vinci, once an undercover officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but now a crusading coroner who seeks justice in the cases he investigates. It aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2005.
Speaking of non-American television shows, LW and I have been enjoying re-airings of an Italian show called Commissario Montalbano, which starred a German actress named Katharina Böhm who played Livia, Montalbano's love interest. (She cannot speak Italian, so her voice is dubbed in the show.) Anyway, I notice she is golfer Sergio Garcia's girlfriend now, and recently caddied for him at the Thailand Golf Championship. Man oh man what a come-down for her! Maybe she really does love him, though ...
CED, I've been enjoying Meta Picture. The missus and I got a good chuckle out of this:
Americans are hopeless with European geography
It was hard to whether it was sad but funny, or funny but sad.
Nor do Most Europeans have the geography of the US absorbed. #Two Europeans students saved and came over for a long weekend, rented a car and were going to "tour the US." (Most of their countries are smaller than most of our states...)
A very enjoyable puzzle Jeffrey Weschler. Thank you.
And thank you as well JzB ! Funny stuff today !
Dudley, some of them are humorous, and some are far better than I would have expected. Some did reasonably well in western Europe, but most failed miserably in the Balkans, Nordic countries and eastern Europe. That doesn't surprise me. Reminds me of the Middle East quiz. They're all fun.
Here's another. A recent Pew Research Center quiz. Today is Dec 18th. The quiz was taken in early August, so one of the 3 questions I missed would be a correct answer today. That hint may help. Here's the quiz: The News IQ Quiz
TTP I got 11 out of 13.
Trying to guess the job of a sexy lady is a joke.
Trying to guess a US senator by the shape of his beard, is another joke.
On the Europe map -
I mixed up Corsica and Sardinia.
Didn't know about Moldova or could not specifically identify Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
I DID know that --- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ... Are in alphabetical order, from. North to south. Did know about the Russian oblast. Yay !
I think I am very good in geography, and have over 12 atlases on my desks. I am humbled ... It's not that easy.
Alas, A Wednesday DNF for me. Much the same reasons as the rest.
I've heard of "Smack dab in the middle of" and
"Smack up side the head!"
But only ".....reek of Nepotism" and the like.
May just be regional.
Dave @ 3:08, I gave you a chance of 50/50. Your post did give me a chuckle after we just discussed it yesterday.
Sh!t Happens
Oh, and for 28D I parsed it as Have A Round and thought of Tin. Damn! I thought he was going to buy tonight!
TTP, I enjoyed your quiz. I was embarrassed to only get 65 percent. Oh well. I'm glad there weren't any questions about Honey Boo Boo.
==========
An elderly man in Oklahoma calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day son, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are getting a divorce; 45 years of marriage... and that much misery is enough!" "Dad, what are you talking about?" the son yells. "We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old dad explained. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Hong Kong and tell her!". Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls her elderly father immediately, and screams at him, "You are not getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, you hear me?" she yelled as she hung up the phone. The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay", he says, "it's all set. They're both coming for Christmas and paying their own air-fare."
Happy Wednesday everybody!
Been way too busy at work, and just started catching up to the week's puzzles when I opened the Monday offering and saw DOHA as the answer to 1A! Wow! HG, the answer to your question is maybe that they will go back to pearl diving when the oil dries up. That pic you linked was the Corniche, a very busy street on the gulf side of town....
Anon T, the best advice I can give you for your visit to Cairo is simply to respect the local traditions and do not offend anyone. They usually don't like their picture taken unless you ask first. And don't look the women in the eye....
Hahtoolah, excellent Keith Richards QOD today...!
Bill G, nothing to be embarrassed about. Who is Honey Boo Boo ? BTW, good story.
BillG:
I love that story and laugh every time!
Yes Jayce, I do remember enjoying Da Vinci's Inquest on the CBC. Better than some of the more recent shows.
Hey all!
YALD (Yet Another Long Day), but full of fun. And then this puzzle. Jeffery - Argggg! The south was easy and I worked my way up, but the NW; not a snowball's CHANCE in a PYRE.
JzB - thanks for the write-up. It made up for my DNF.
Dad met #3 (the keeper) at a bar called CHANTILLYLACE. He sings it every anaversary to his DW.
As a CYBERNETIC, 11d was my fav. CIGS - not so much because I wanted one when I read it (SMACK me). BTW, did anyone every have the Palm Treo 650 PDA - oh, how I miss it....
D-O: pop also has a Bosch. It gets the job done after a big (20+ folks) spaghetti dinner. Pop also has a "show kitchen" - it looks nice and is quiet.
OwenKL as a lover of ufology (not a believer, mind you) #2 was the best for me.
Hahtoolah - I like the new Blue Dog avatar.
PK - RIC Ocasek was the front-man for the Cars.
Bill G. - I still love that joke.
River Doc. As an introvert, I try very hard to look everyone in the eye to seem more human. Thanks for the heads-down!
Cheers, -T
Doh! Dangling modifier. The Bosch looks nice and is quiet, not the "show kitchen."
Oh, Marti - No, I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet. Amazon will drop-ship over-night so still a couple of days left before I get me EMAIL receipts...
Cheers, -T
Hahtoolah - Reading the rest of the paper now, I just got the significance of George Rodrigue's Blue Dog as your avaitar. RIP :-(
-T
Curse you, CED! Because of you I just spent 3 precious hours on MetaPicture. Sure, I enjoyed it, but keep that up too long and I'M going to be cross-eyed! I was up to around p.35, and decided to see if I was getting near the end, so punched
"last", and was taken to page SIX THOUSAND and something!
Suppose I want to edit my Profile but I haven't posted. Is there a way to do so without going back to a previous day, clicking on my blue name and going to EDIT? Can I just go straight to Edit Profile somehow?
Our yard just got 'skunked' about an hour ago. There's a very unpleasant aroma permeating the air and it's not me.
Just saw the two words captcha for the first time. Noticed that one was a photo, so decided to experiment. Just typed in the usual distorted word, but not the photo. Still worked just fine! This time I'm going to try the distorted plus some random letters. If you're reading this then it worked!
OwenKL - CAPTCHAs were to tell humans from machines, but moved to helping the CYBORG understand / tag the pictures it took. Google (who owns this) uses pictures of address signs and other things in the CAPTCHA to get humans (on a massive crowd-sourced level) to freely do their dirty work for street-view. C, -T
See, I typed beer for near ('cuz it ain't the weekend so near-beer for me). And to expound on CAPTCHA recognition, there are hackers that pay $0.001 to Indian workers (or get people to play nuddy-games) to type in CAPTCHAs to setup fake email accounts on Yahoo & Google. That's where some of the SPAM comes from.
If you read this, I made waters (the image), muddy. -T
AnonT: I knew RIC was with the Cars. It was a joke because in the video, he had those ragged cuts on his jeans that fray and offer leg air conditioning.
Bill G,
Bookmark your Profile page, then edit anytime you want. Otherwise, no other shortcut.
Aw, -T, now you've made me feel guilty about gaming the captchas.
have around, have on hand and have enough!
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