google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, January 7, 2014 Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski

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Jan 7, 2014

Tuesday, January 7, 2014 Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski

Theme: The end of a relationship - The last word of the long entries could be used with up to describe a failed commitment...although the last one might be the start of a commitment.

17A. Colorado Gold Rush motto : "PIKE'S PEAK OR BUST!"

34A. "How stupid do you think I am?!" : "GIMME A BREAK!"

42A. Diet-busting ice cream treat : BANANA SPLIT

61A. One who's not easily convinced : TOUGH NUT TO CRACK

Argyle here. Two grid-spanners in this quality puzzle. Nothing forced but still Tuesday hard. No reveal or unifier.

Across:

1. Like many eBay items : USED

5. Swing, as trees in the wind : SWAY

9. Butler's belle : O'HARA. GWTW

14. __ contendere: court plea : NOLO

15. Keyboard error : TYPO

16. Be an omen of : AUGUR

20. Jewelry fastener : CLASP

21. "__ chic!" : TRĂˆS

22. Spelling contests : BEEs

23. Too small, clothing-wise : TIGHT

25. Kwik-E-Mart owner on "The Simpsons" : APU

27. Looks forward to : AWAITS

30. No strangers to the slopes : SKIBUMs

37. Crooner Cole : NAT. 35D. Crooner Crosby : BING

38. "Dies __": Latin hymn : IRAE

39. Cooler in coolers : ICE. Ok but not in the Pinch. Has anybody tried Ardbeg 10yr old single malt?

40. Zenith : ACME

41. Tuna catcher : NET

46. Complaining : GRIPING

48. Delhi money : RUPEEs

49. Make a choice : OPT

50. __ minister : PRIME

52. Give a high-five to : SLAP

55. City near Santa Barbara : OJAI

57. Sounded delighted : AAHed

64. Results from, with "to" : IS DUE

65. Egyptian pyramid city : GIZA

66. School on the Thames : ETON

67. Jockey's straps : REINs

68. Tofu beans : SOYs

69. Claim to be untrue : DENY

Down:

1. Offensive to some, for short : UN-PC. "Not Politically Correct"

2. Gardener's purchase : SOIL

3. Elderly caretaker in TV's "Hot in Cleveland" : ELKA. Betty White.


                          LINK

4. Pays for one's crime : DOES TIME

5. Octane Booster brand : STP

6. "Christina's World" painter Andrew : WYETH. Do you remember Christina's last name?

7. Separated : APART

8. Oxen neckwear : YOKE

9. Dinghy driver : OAR. A very small boat propelled by oar.

10. Clamor : HUBBUB

11. Fever and chills : AGUE

12. Sneaky tactic : RUSE

13. Creative pursuits : ARTS

18. Malice : SPITE

19. Honshu metropolis : OSAKA. On the Yodo River. (Japan)

24. Fed. agency that supports other agencies : GSA. (General Services Administration)

26. Dental brand suffix : PIK. Waterpik

27. Vintner's concern : AGING

28. Electrician, now and then : WIRER

29. Italian violin maker : AMATI

30. Observed : SEEN

31. Cry of concession : "UNCLE!"

32. Dwight's spouse : MAMIE Eisenhower

33. Undoes a dele : STETs

36. Color TV pioneer : RCA

40. Became visible : APPEARED

42. Marcel Marceau character : BIP

Embedding disabled by request

43. Playwright Chekhov : ANTON. 1860 - 1904 Bibliography

44. D-backs, on scoreboards : ARI. (Arizona Diamondbacks)

45. "Poison" shrub : SUMAC

47. Toy weapon : POPGUN. Pastry weapon : POPTART. Story

50. Backyard party setting : PATIO

51. Swanky : RITZY

52. Hustle and bustle : STIR

53. Get licked : LOSE

54. High-end German car : AUDI

56. Hooch containers : JUGS. Careful, getting close to hooters.

58. Detest : HATE

59. Subj. for a business major : ECONomy

60. Fashion initials : DKNY. (Donna Karan New York)

62. "__ making a list ..." : HE'S. Who? Kriss Kringle.

63. Post-WWII alliance : OAS. (Organization of American States)


Argyle


69 comments:

OwenKL said...

I may be old, and covered in dust,
But let me assure you, some parts don't rust.
With no other persuasion,
It will "rise to the occasion"
When confronted with a feminine BUST!

Bumper stickers often say something saucy
Like the beer-drinker's "I Brake for a Frothy!"
But then there's the Milquetoast
Whose car bumper's boast
Is his audacious "I BREAK for Coffee!"

OwenKL said...

The circus was about to call quits.
Audiences were sated with glitz.
But then it was saved
By an act that amazed:
An elephant doing the SPLITs!

Our plumbing had gone totally whack,
So a jack-of-all-trades, namely Jack,
Came to patch up the aperture
Where the pipe had a fracture.
As he crouched, twas a CRACK front and back!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

ELKA was a complete outlier for me in this one, requiring all the perps (which, fortunately, were rock solid). Everything else was smooth sailing, although I did stumble a tad down south. Took a few seconds to remember OJAI, tried SOYA instead of SOYS and reflexively put in GAZA instead of GIZA at first. Didn't take long to figure things out down there, however.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Nice work, Gail, Bruce and Argyle!

No problems. ELKA was perped.

Thought Downton Abbey was pretty dull.

Could not get a ride to Harvey's installation as Grand Commander. Was sad to miss it.

Loved the Windy City weather contribution! Hilarious!

Supposed to be 76 degrees here tomorrow and then get colder.

Cheers!

Al Cyone said...

Smooth sailing here as well. My only quibble is with TOUGH NUT TO CRACK referring to a person. Some online dictionaries note that usage but I've only ever heard it used to refer to a problem.

We're at an overnight low of 3.3°F here in the beautiful mid-Hudson Valley (and it may not have bottomed out yet). Yesterday at this time it was 50°F! Looks like about one more day of The Big Chill before temps start to get back to normal.

Southern Belle said...

A very cold morning to all,

The sunny south is a cold 5 degrees this morning.....much better yesterday with just snow flurries.

"Poison" shrub: 'Poison Sumac' is overtaking the back of our property line. Can't lop it down, because I'm very allergic to poison ivy, so I'm sure this would really be poison to me.

Suggestions, please!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Knew NAT and BING, but not ELKA or BIP. Tried ELLA and then wondered where PILE SPEAK was heading…eventually I saw the BUST.

Southern Belle, are you sure you've got the Poison variety? Check here.t

Only 24 degrees this morning. I know you're thinking, "Shucks, that's nuttin!", but for us it's cold. This is the first hard freeze we've had in three years. Phil, the huge plant (DW says it's a philodendron) outside the bedroom windows has come crashing down to about half it's normal eight-foot height. It had just finally recovered from the last hard freeze.

Power here went off at 3:45 this morning, and is still off. My generator is a-genning, but I know there are some folks shivering in their cold houses this morning.

[sthsiy] -- looks like a cold-induced expletive!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Pretty much WBS. Tried Soya first, being unfamiliar with the OAS. I imagine we've seen that before, but it's foggy.

Morning, Argyle, it took a few minutes to recall Olson or Olsson. Memory like a sieve, you know.

TTP said...

Good morning all !

Thank you Gail and Bruce, and thank you Argyle.

I sailed right through this puzzle to a fail. No TADA. Changed the game to Regular to find my errors. My tofu beans were SOYa.

It's warned up to -10 or - 12 here. Coincidentally, commercials are on tv for the All Canada Show

Dudley said...

Southern Belle - the link D-Otto provided should give you comfort. If you have the familiar red stag horn sumac, you can rip it out with impunity. It's easy to cut with loppers or saws, and the roots are feeble enough that they can be yanked out of the ground with a tractor or truck.

Dudley said...

I forgot to add that the red berries of stag horn sumac can be made into a tart drink that looks and tastes a lot like pink lemonade. We did just that when I was a kid at summer camp.

Al Cyone said...

This just in: Garrison Keillor reads a poem called "Crossword" on today's edition of The Writer's Almanac.

Dennis said...

Good morning, gang - fun puzzle this morning. I kinda got my hopes up after getting UNPC and seeing BUST in the first theme answer that perhaps this would be my kind of puzzle, but alas, no. Still a nice Tuesday solve, outside of my initially writing in GIVE ME A BREAK, which the perps quickly corrected.

On a different note, couple months ago I found myself feeling both a bit bored and guilty regarding my retirement. What I thought would be my new hobby, golf, hasn't done it for me -- it's just soooo slow (HG, my hat's off to you; I just don't have the patience). So after hearing about an opening near here, I applied.

It's now been about seven weeks, and I've been through a 46-page questionnaire, extensive background check (it kicked back once because I had the incorrect street number address for a high school I went to fifty years ago), fingerprinting, drug testing, several face-to-face rounds of questioning encompassing situational tests, how I've handled stressful situations in the past, and of course more forms to fill out than I can remember. I've also learned from the very thorough physical that I have a heart murmur, which the doc classified as a very minor aortic valve leak (no worries for now, according to him).

So now I wait to hear from the agency. If selected, it'd be five days a week, five hours a day, which would work well. I don't want to say what the job is for fear that I'll jinx myself, but if I get it, some people will get a kick out of the somewhat tenuous connection between it and my current 'business'.

Hope it's a great day for everyone; refreshingly cold here in semi-sunny FLA. (Apologies for the long post)

Yellowrocks said...

Quick sashay straight through from top to bottom. Sussed the theme after BUST, BREAK, SPLIT.
For me TOUGH NUT TO CRACK can be a person or a problem.
I agree that poison SUMAC is not common and grows only in very wet places.Staghorn sumac is very common in the northeast. I researched this last year after our daycare director insisted we had to get rid of the poison sumac on our property. NOT! She was basing her request on the type of blisters a child had. Again, NOT! I found that you cannot infer the type of plant, i.e. ivy, oak, sumac, from the blisters. We had already removed a poison ivy plant.
Owen, another great offering.
I like Keillor's The Writer's Almanac. Thanks for the link, Al C.
Dennis, good luck with the position you applied for.
Three below zero this AM. I agree that the Midwest and the Plains have a serious problem, but here it is over-hyped.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! This was a more complex puzzle than it APPEARED at first. I thought the unifier was probably APART. So many of the words had to do with the reasons for break up, mistakes, tending to the legalities of a split, and the consequences, etc. I thought it was brilliant. Bravo, Bruce & Gail! Thanks, Argyle.

Just look at the words: RUSE, SEEN, SLAP, HUBBUB, STIR, DENY, GRIPING, AUGUR, SOIL (as in "dirty linen to be aired", TYPO, AWAITS, OPTS, cries UNCLE, pleads NOLO CONTENDRE, TIGHT, REINS in, DOES TIME, IS DUE, LOSE, HATE, SPITE.

Sounds like a divorce to me. And someone isn't going to be able to afford to wear Donna Karan of NY anymore.

Ah, Dennis, man of incredible mystery!

buckeye bob said...

I'm wondering: what is the difference between a reveal and a unifier?

thehondohurricane said...

Howdy folks,

Due to carelessness on my part, I ended up with a DNF due to two spelling errors. Had Auger for AUGUR & Rese for RUES. That's what I get for not checking my fills. Only other issue was 50D. Began with Porch before PATIO APPEARED.

Enjoyable puzzle with no issues except those self inflicted errors already mentioned.

Never liked BANANA SPLITS, I always favored a Hot Fudge Sundae.

It was a long time ago, but I recall there were whispers that MAMIE Ike had problem with JUGS, not hers, but the distilled kind. With todays info technology, it wouldn't be whispers.

Dennis, it's got to be a Fed job. Hell, I needed less info on my background for a Top Secret clearance "back in the day". Of course, that was before 9/11.

Stay warm.



desper-otto said...

Dennis, you gonna run the see-'em-naked machine at the airport?

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Gail and Bruce continue to challenge and entertain with their clever themes and fun solves. Thanks to them and to Argyle for a nice start to another cold day. It's 6 degrees which is better than what the Midwest is enduring. Relief is in sight, thank goodness.

The rain yesterday got rid of a lot of snow but then last night, when the temps dropped, everything turned to that dreaded 3 letter word that the crossword constructors' conspiracy cabal continues to torture our Tin-man with. (See 39A.)

YR, how is your shoulder? Ferm, how is Mollie doing? Sorry you couldn't get to Harvey's ceremony.

Have a terrific Tuesday.

JD said...

Good morning all,
I had a few more WAGS and perping for a usual Tues, but a fun run. Words like Apu, Irae, Bip (who knew that???), nolo, and augur crossing ague, were slow to fill. Most were familiar when filled. Loved UNCLE!

Had to change hahas to aahed and acct to econ. Still am challenged with abbreviations because it seems like there can be many variations. AR? =ARI.Knowing answer does not help. Still have to WAG that 3rd letter.

Haven't subbed in awhile so clock was off an hour. Didn't really want to wake up at 5:15-yawn.I know it will be a lovely day WHEN the sun comes up.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Two memories of our trip to the Zenith of PIKES PEAK on the Cog Railroad: 1) It was 85°F at the bottom and 55°F at the top and 2) when I ran 20 yards at the top, my breathing got very labored.
-BANANA SPLIT or great onion rings? Wife’d take the former and I the latter
-Chad and Jeremy (not Peter and Gordon as I found out) sang this lovely song with with SWAYING in the first line
-Lemon, does NOLO Contendere = “I’m guilty but don’t want to go through a trial”?
-Past Spelling BEE winners and their winning words
-TIGHT clothes begs the question – “Didn’t they have that in your size?”
-This broken Omaha water main IS DUE to the incredibly cold weather
-Daughter gave Hudson the middle name of WYETH because of her love of art
-FSU’s fake punt RUSE last night was very big in the national championship game
-I love my golf but good luck on working as a “Hooter recruiter?”, Dennis ;-)

Anonymous said...

Don't touch the red flowers or fruit as some call it and you be fine .

C6D6 Peg said...

This was a fun puzzle, got the fills when I didn't know the answer. Nice work by Gail and Bruce. And a nice writeup by Argyle.

My favorite fill was "hubbub". Don't hear that too much anymore.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Bruce and Gail. for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for the fine review.

No problem with UN PC or ELKA. After 1A, 14A, 17A, and 20A I had them both.

AUGUR took a few perps. Made sense after I had it.

Theme was fine. I do not care for BANANA SPLITS either. I can count on one hand the number of bananas I have eaten in my 67 years of existence on this planet.

Dudley: OAS is Organization of American States. It has a large building in D.C.

Did not know BIP, perped.

Dies IRAE is becoming a crossword regular. No problem, I like a few regulars to help me.

I was a SKI BUM for a few years in the Middle East 35 years ago, but not breaking or twisting anything, I considered myself lucky and quit. The skis are in the basement gathering dust. Not much skiing in Illinois anyhow. Too flat.

Dennis: I had to go through a background check for my Master Gardener Class. Took about three months. I got through it. What's this world coming to.

-9 degrees this morning when I got up. Up to -3 now.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(3 43358898)

Abejo said...

Southern Belle: I cut down almost an acre of sumac in PA a few years ago, thinly spaced. Never had a problem. Hardest part was digging up the roots. When I was done I had a pile that went about 12 feet high, which I burned.

Abejo

(83234298 1293)

Anonymous said...

HG,did you notice past six year's
spelling bee contest winners are all
Indian Americans !

May be Vidwan can throw some
light on this !

CrossEyedDave said...

Bust

Break

Split

Crack

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Didn't need the theme or a unifier to CRACK the puzzle today. Slightly crunchy for a Tuesday, but it moved right along. Did not know DKNY but perps sufficed. Don't really care for fill like AAHED. (No standard orthography).

DENNIS - Good luck with your application. Seems like a lot of hoops to negotiate for a 25hr/wk gig.

Qli said...

My favorite clue today was "jockeys straps"; how UNPC! I fear I'll be a lot lot ELKA if I ever get to be her age...

Which may not happen unless the weather warms up.

Lucina said...

Good day, puzzlers!

According to my toolbar it's 51 here at the moment. And yes, I'm shivering! I loved the Chicago temp interpretations yesterday! It's so true.

Thanks, Bruce and Gail, this was a fun romp today, very quick and free from GRIPING. So fast, in fact, I didn't notice SOYA until the write up. I do know OAS but never read the clue.

Dennis, good luck with the job. I have my suspicions, but I'll wait.

Abejo:
No BANANAs! I love them. In fact, I'll have some with cereal in just a bit.

PK:
I agree with you about the brilliant clues. Bruce and Gail are an awesome team.

Have a delightful Tuesday, everyone!

Misty said...

Woke up before 6 am this morning, so I did the puzzle pretty much at the CRACK of dawn. Very rewarding and a lot of fun, as it turned out--many thanks, Bruce and Gail! And you too, Argyle, as always.

I love ELKA on "Hot in Cleveland." Can you believe she's just turned 91. Now there's a role model for all of us!

Dennis, best of luck with the new job application.

My blue profile has disappeared again. Will have to look up C.C's advice on how to get it back.

Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

Dudley said...

And now for something completely different: there used to be a saying about breaks of blue in a cloudy sky, "If there's enough blue to mend a Dutchman's pants, it won't rain anymore today". No doubt there are many variations.

Is this old weather proverb familiar to Cornerites?

PK said...

Dudley, never heard that one before.

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-Yeah, I thought about mentioning the ethnicity of the recent BEE winners but thought it was somehow UN-PC.
-Weren’t you struck by the fact that some of the 20’s and 30’s winning words were GLADIOLUS, LUXURIANCE, ALBUMEN, FRACAS etc and some of the most recent winning words in the new millennium were CYMOTRICHOUS, GUETAPENS, LAODICEAN, SUCCEDANEUM, etc.
-BTW, my spell checker did not flinch at any of the words above
-BTW2, maybe those kids in the 20’s weren’t all that much smarter. I say this as a man whose granddaughter is taking calculus and college chemistry as a junior in high school

Tinbeni said...

Bruce & Gail: Thank you for a FUN Tuesday solve (a certain word, nonwithstanding).

DNF ... My (probably low) scruples forced me to leave 39-a blank ... which means I had:
@35-d, B-NG
@36-d, R-A
@30-d, SE-N.

All the rest was letter perfect.
ELKA a GIMME.
BIP was all perps.

Fave today, of course, was JUGS. Esp. if it contains my hooch, Pinch.

Cheers!

Dennis well wisher said...

Dennis, good luck on your new possible, opening. Hope you get it, - -- If you need it, so much.

The front end "due diligence", just shows that the job to be a responsible one, and probably involves some national security, If the pay and benefits are good enough, I wouldn't mind working, less than 40 or 25 hours a week. And we haven't even talked about all the lovely fringe benefits yet.

I don't want to harp on it, for fear I couldn't unconsciously jinx it, or give you the evil eye. But my best and warmest wishes, for success, go out to you.

I'll assume that if you get the job, this is the last time, we'll hear from you. It's been nice knowing you. Chaio.

john28man said...

Thanks, Gail, Bruce & Argyle.

A while ago we had the Air force Academy and we have a second attraction, Pikes Peak. Some constructor will need to use the Garden of the Gods to complete our big three.

Here is a picture of the PEAK.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Pikes_Peak_from_Garden_of_the_Gods.JPG

This one is taken looking at it with a part of Garden of the Gods in the foreground.

FYI, the peak of the Peak is at 14114 Ft above sea level. It is wise to stay in the city for a day without too much exertion before going on up the mountain. To become totally acclimated to the elevation takes about six weeks.

Email me if you visit.

Lucina said...

Dudley@12:04:
If my memory is right (many doubts on that) the movie title "A Patch of Blue" was based on a similar saying.

Anonymous said...




Lucina,


wasn't the "Patch of blue", ----- the movie where Sidney Poitier falls in love with , or rather a blind blonde girl falls in love with him.... Without realizing his black race and all the effects.


That was a really nice movie. Also Sidney acted in another movie, where he built a church for some nuns.

Dennis said...

Gary, one of my favorite lines has always been, "what did that beat out in your closet?".

Hondo, desper-otto, interesting guesses.

Spitz, yeah, I agree - way more extensive than I thought it would be, but it may be the same testing for full-time.

Dennis well wisher, thanks. No, it's not a question of needing a job, and the pay isn't going to change my lifestyle ($17hr), but it's a job I know I'd be good at. Also, if I were a person who'd be availing themselves of my 'services', I'd want someone like me performing them (if that makes any sense).

Although I'm a very optimistic person, I don't have a clue if I'll get picked; even though it was hinted that I aced all the tests, the next oldest applicant I saw was about thirty years my junior.

Thanks for the good thoughts -- I really believe that stuff helps.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, Pretty much a Tuesday solve. Augur was new to me, but perps solved that. The theme answers were all known entities, so that helped, too.

Thanks, Argyle for a great writeup, as usual.

Dennis, with all of that background checking and application paperwork, you will be eligible for a government job, for sure. Loved Desper-Otto's take on your new job!

Roto-Rooter just left and now I can do the wash without the overflow coming up out of the downstairs toilet! The Rooter-man said a few roots, and the buildup over a period of years was the culprit. Enough noise from their machine to shake the whole house!!!

Have a great day, everyone.

Ford Modelling Agency said...

Well, since the cats outta the bag, you all might as well know, Denis's job is like a supervisor of the fashion police,at the beach, all, the way to Boca. Especially during Spring break....

We need an ex marine because, the guys won't listen otherwise, and the gals are gladly willing to pay for it. Denis will be activated on a PRN, as needed, basis, - at least 30 babes must be on the beach, for this to activate.....

He will be provided with multiple changes of Speedo underwear, and all SPF protection, and of course, all other type of protection, as well. He will have to provide the bay watch background music, himself, if that's what turns him on.

He will be continuously monitored on live action CAM, whenever he's on the beach, and the "live" feedback will be channeled to his adoring fans, worldwide, in real time .

He can also be privately contacted for Sweet Sixteen parties , Cinco de Mayo and Private bat mitzvah ceremonies, by the minute. He will be represented by IMG in North America, and we, at Ford, will be in charge of the residuals and the home entertainment business.

Please note .. Dennis#%€&$$$$*))*.

Is a registered trademark of his company. Copyright violators will be relentlessly pursued.

Lemonade714 said...

No sweet sixteens here, our hot bloooded Latino population celebrate QUINCE .

Dennis, good luck whatever it may be.

BV and GG are an awesome team

Bill G. said...

HG, somewhere in the 90s the winning spelling bee words evolved into words that I have never used, heard or read. I guess that's because the contestants got better and better. Speaking of Bees, have you seen the movie about a young girl who gets involved with spelling bees? It's called "Akeelah and the Bee." I recommend it.

Aah, numbers again!

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Buckeye Bob,
Reveal = Unifier.

Dennis said...

I swear to God, if I didn't believe in jinxes before, I sure as hell do now. Got an email ten minutes ago that the urine test came back with "a trace of blood" in the urine, so now I have to see a urologist tomorrow to see what that's about.

I suppose the good news is that if it's something concerning, hopefully it's early.

Since I already jinxed myself, yes, it's for a TSA Officer position at Palm Beach International.

aka thelma said...

Dudley - still chuckling since the other day about your memory like a sieve... :) only because you are the only person besides myself that I have ever heard say that... :) and I have been saying it for quite a few years now... :)

Hope you all had wonderful holidays other than the weather. And I do hope that all in the frozen states are well and warm.

Too many projects around here lately to spend too much time on puzzles.... but I did manage to do and finish yesterday and today... needless to say I enjoy the ones I can finish.... :) thank you all that help make the corner the enjoyable place it is...

thelma :)

Dudley said...

Thelma - Funny thing, I don't remember you saying that. :-)

Not a doctor, I only play one on this blog ... said...

Dennis, two things.

1. If you were sexually active, upto 3 days prior to the urine exam, that can have an effect.

2. Your creatinine levels need to be checked, and compared to your basal levels, at least 2 or 3 years ago. This is a much better predictor.

3. For what it's worth, historically, blood in urine, is a very poor predictor for ca. Rates. Less than 4%.

Good luck.

Dennis said...

not a doc, thanks very much; I needed that. My quick check of a couple sites like WebMD didn't leave me feeling all that happy...

Husker Gary said...

Musings 3
-Dennis, I hope everything is okay! My money is on you. Damned plumbing.
-Beatings from my closet still indicate you’d make a helluva Hooter Inspector, my friend.
-Buckeye, I always think of a unifier as existing as a primary construct of a puzzle except for themeless Saturday’s. It guides the usually clever entries that are folded into the puzzle batter. A reveal is what a constructor might add as another clue to give you the theme or unifier on Monday – Friday and Sunday. If the reveal is not included, as today, in the puzzle, “some assembly is required” (but not necessary).
-Bill, we did show Akeelah and the Bee to our 7th graders every year for all the wonderful messages in it.
-…and this is the answer to yesterday’s question about the movie where Eli Wallach was a GRAVE DIGGER and that had what some call the best movie theme ever.

Lucina said...

Dennis:
I'm praying for a positive outcome, well negative prognosis, but good results. Perhaps this will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

TSA was my guess because my brother went through that and has been working for them a few years now.

Tinbeni said...

Husker @4:04
That doesn't sound like the James Bond 007 theme (1:45)

The "Best Movie Theme" ever ...

aka thelma said...

Well Dudley.... :) :) I'm not sure you were anywhere around when I said it.... :) :)

thelma :)

Husker Gary said...

All right Tin, I’ll see your Goldfinger and raise you Also Spach Zarathustra ;-)

JD said...

Dennis, hoping all is well. Thinking positive.

Bill G. said...

Great movie music for sure. Another movie with memorable music was "The Sting." It turned me into a big fan of all of Scott Joplin's music.

Dennis, best wishes from California; both with the job and all of the really important stuff.

Anonymous T said...

Hi all.

I gotta admit a DNF. ELKA crossing NOLO? What is NOLO, a RELO gone bad?

AUGUR and AGUE crossing caused another cry of GIMME A BREAK!

Still a fun offering from Bruce & Gail (their puzzles are always fun) and writeup from Argyle.

It must have been an NYT puzzle that had BIP 8 or 9 months ago. I remembered that, but AIOLA yesterday took all the perps. My mind's not yet a sieve, more like a steel-trap slowly rusting shut :-)

HG - I've not had good onion rings in years. New lunch-time quest!

Dennis - I hope you get the TSA job. And WES re: your jinx email. God Speed.

Did anyone else think about the stuck ships in Antarctica with the juxtaposition of ICE and BREAK?

Cheers, -T

CanadianEh! said...

Late to the party today after working all day.
WEES for this fun puzzle. Hand up for GAZA, SOYA, AUGER.

Canada has a PRIME minister so that one was a given.

-16C here currently and wind chill of -28. That's cold even for Canadians! Laughed at TTP's All Canada Show link.

Argyle said...

Nolo contendere is a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend."

OwenKL said...

I've been up to the top of Pikes Peak once about 5 years ago. No problem with the altitude. 'Course I live in Santa Fe, where we refer to ColoSpgs as part of "the lowlands." *snicker* We couldn't get the train going up, as it was already filled, so decided to risk driving it. We had to stop twice on the way up. Once for a wild fox that was performing in the middle of the road to the delight of the dozen or so cars pulled over to watch and/or feed him, and the second time the same situation for a gopher or something.

We also have a Garden of the Gods just south of Santa Fe.

Anonymous T said...

Is PIKES PEAK just outside of Colorado Springs? I think I recall my cousin telling me that was the mountain outside her kitchen window. I didn't get to go up, it was only a 1/2 day visit after a stint in Ft. Collins. After a week in CO, I was ready to get back to sea-level!

BTW, does anyone have Yahoo! as their homepage or use Yahoo! mail? If you have Windows with un-patched java, it's likely you got infected from their ad servers this last weekend. If your computer is "weird," get your tech guy in to fumigate.

Cheers, -T

Bill G. said...

A very unusual happening for me; I got Final Jeopardy correct! "Even a blind squirrel can find a nut sometimes."

aka thelma said...

Dennis... I too want to send you my very best wishes for your good health...... hopefully tomorrow will be a much brighter day...

thelma :)

Anonymous said...

I need to post.

Anonymous T said...

Argyle - Thanks for the Latin lesson. Latin isn't a programming language so I never learned it :-) Actually, I was just making a (bad?) joke. NOLO is a NOGO RELO. It fell flat I guess.*

Bill G. If it's a male squirrel... Oh, never mind..

CanadianEh! - Let us know when the wind-chill is -40 so we non-metric Americans don't have to do the maths :-) Stay warm.

Cheers, -T
*seriously - I didn't know the literal translation, thanks.

[all uthfund - Madoff clients?]

Anonymous said...

Good Luck

Bill G. said...

AnonT, ooh, you reminded me that I was going to comment on -40 degrees yesterday when somebody brought it up but I forget whether it was Fahrenheit or Celsius. :>)

Bill G. said...

Goodnight everybody, or good morning...