Theme: "Kidding Pool" - Y in each familiar phrase is changed into ING.
22A. Taking inventory at the Tropicana plant? : ORANGE COUNTING. Orange County.
39A. Miniature golf with clowns and windmills? : SILLY PUTTING. Fun clue image. Silly putty.
57A. Boxer catching flies? : SHAGGING DOG. Shaggy dog. Fly balls.
81A. Making bad wagers? : UGLY BETTING. "Ugly Betty" is produced by the beautiful Salma Hayek.
98A. Part of a supermarket uniform? : BAGGING PANTS. Baggy pants. Despite the extreme cold weather here, some kids still drop their baggy pants. Drives me crazy.
119A. Nocturnal animal in a hammock? : ROCKING RACCOON. "Rocky Raccoon". Beatles song.
30D. Putting Tonka Trucks in the attic? : TOY STORING. "Toy Story". Woody!
53D. Gently tossing rifles? : GUN LOBBING. Gun lobby.
Five changes occur in the second word, 3 in the first word. No odd man out.
There
are a few straying Y's in the theme entries. We would not have got the
fun phrases had Mike excluded them from his choices.
Very
smooth fill. Love those 6's (28) and 7's (14). Stacked 6's are not
easy to fill cleanly, esp if they're quad-stacked & crossed by more
stacked 6's and 7's, like Mike's upper right & lower left corners.
Across:
1. Two-time '90s US Open champ : EDBERG (Stefan). 1991 & 1992.
7. Red-hot sauce : TABASCO. Sure a hot entry.
14. Studio sign : ON AIR
19. __ Patri: hymn : GLORIA
20. Bunker portrayer : O'CONNOR (Carroll)
21. Frolic : PRANCE
24. Tattered : RAGGED
25. Name on a tablet : BAYER. Aspirin.
26. OR hookups : IVs
27. Most thick, as fog : DENSEST
28. Rogers contemporary : AUTRY (Gene)
32. Laser pointer battery : AAAA
34. Mark successors : EUROS. Oh, German mark.
36. Inter __ : ALIA
37. "This might not be good" : UH OH. So, Don in PA, what did you do when you lost the electricity and internet connection for so long? Read lots of books?
38. Electees : INs
42. Like thrift store bread : DAY OLD. Thrift stores have bread? I go there for sports memorabilia mainly.
44. '60s-'70s Mets coach Eddie : YOST. No relation to Ned.
46. Gp. that funds psychiatric drug testing : NIMH. Stumper. National Institute of Mental Health.
47. Black or white drink : RUSSIAN. Nice clue.
49. Seriously harms : MAIMS
52. __ Tamid: synagogue lamp : NER. Saw this before. Forgot.
53. Indian state : GOA. Wiki said it's India's smallest & richest state.
56. In-flight stat : ALT
60. Fly off the handle : ERUPT
62. Traveling with the band : ON TOUR
64. Manet's "__ at the Folies-Bergère" : A BAR. The picture looks familiar, not the name though.
65. Score : TWENTY
66. Iberian river : EBRO
68. Listing : ATILT
71. Equipment for 74-Across : SKATE. And 74. Lake Placid Olympics star Eric : HEIDEN
73. Role for Ingrid : ILSA. "Casablanca".
76. "I could __ horse!" : EAT A
78. Emphatic rebuke : NO NO NO
80. Bedding : LINEN
84. ASCAP alternative : BMI. Broadcast Music, Inc
87. H.S. subject : ENG
88. Bandleader Brown : LES
90. Vega of "Spy Kids" : ALEXA. Stranger to me also. She looks sweet.
91. Late riser : LIE-ABED
93. Jai __ : ALAI
95. Hamburger's one : EINS. Not the burger. People from Hamburg.
97. In a scary way : EERILY
104. Brief afterthoughts : PSS
106. Law school tyro : ONE L
107. Gallic phone greeting : ALLO. It's just "Wei" in Chinese.
108. Sunset dirección : OESTE. Is it pronounced the same as "West"?
109. Old draft deferment : TWO A
111. Rims : EDGES
112. Panama relatives : BOATERS. Hats.
114. __ polloi : HOI
116. Alphabetical list : INDEX
118. Tab function : INDENT
125. __ sale : ESTATE. I just love this lower left corner. So clean!
126. Tiny dividers : AMOEBAE. Or AMOEBAS.
127. Sailor's omen : RED SKY
128. Ruins : DOOMS
129. Lessees : TENANTS. Hope Marti's tenants treasure her hard work.
130. Braves' div. : NL EAST
Down:
1. __ trip : EGO
2. MSRP poster : DLR. OK, Dealer.
3. Flowing scarf : BOA
4. Coastal raptor : ERN
5. Cathy who played Pan : RIGBY. Drew a blank. Peter Pan.
6. Earth goddess : GAEA
7. No challenge at all : TOO EASY
8. Upscale Honda : ACURA
9. Rocker __ Jovi : BON
10. Debate side : ANTI
11. Whine : SNIVEL
12. Roman Republic official : CONSUL
13. Dot follower : ORG
14. Setting for "The Plague" : ORAN
15. Badgers : NAGS AT
16. Seraphim and cherubim, to Giovanni : ANGELI. Plural of Angelo, right?
17. Strands at Chamonix, perhaps : ICES IN
18. Sale indicator : RED TAG
21. Suppose : PRESUME
23. Photo lab color : CYAN
27. Armstrong's admission : DOPING. I was so disappointed in Lance, Jayce.
28. Actress Lindley : AUDRA. Was she a gimme to you?
29. Ryder competitor : U-HAUL
31. Frat letters : RHOS
33. Very, in scores : ASSAI
35. Rembrandt van __ : RYN
38. Pocatello native : IDAHOAN
40. Autobiography featuring Ike : I, TINA
41. Tossed : THREW
43. Lean : LIST
45. Texter's "Yikes!" : OMG. I bet Steve passed by this sign a few times. I had an "OMG, can they say that?" moment when I saw it. Those Chinese characters just mean "Happy Ending". So blatant.
48. Astro ending : NAUT
50. Old British roadsters : MGBs
51. Pierre's home: Abbr. : S DAK
54. Declines, with "out" : OPTS
55. "Back __!" : AT YA
58. "Peer Gynt Suite" composer : GRIEG (Edvard)
59. Praying figure : ORANT. Learned from doing Xwords.
61. Corral, with "in" : REIN
63. Connection point : NODE
65. Converses, e.g., slangily : TENNIES. What's your favorite sneaker brand?
66. Actress Jennifer : EHLE. Crazy spelling. I guess Zhouqin looks crazy to you too.
67. '60s counterculture event : BE IN
69. Like an unreal land? : LA LA. Hi there, LaLaLinda! Creature, too. So glad both of you are back.
70. "Until next time," in IMs : TTYL (Talk to You Later)
72. Slave : TOIL
75. Zhou __ : ENLAI. Loved him. No one compares to him.
77. Red as __ : A BEET
79. Fancy molding : OGEE
81. Grammarians' concerns : USAGES
82. Live : EXIST
83. Bronze shade : TAN
85. Brawl : MELEE
86. Poems describing rustic life : IDYLS
89. The United States, in Nuevo Laredo : EL NORTE. The north.
92. Controversial infielder : A-ROD. Drafted by the Mariners, Mike's team.
94. Tape speed unit: Abbr. : IPS. Inches per Second.
96. Eager learners, metaphorically : SPONGES
98. Coddled : BABIED
99. King in "The Tempest" : ALONSO
100. "My pleasure!" : GLAD TO
101. Cheerleaders' cheer : GO TEAM
102. Where batters are seen : AT HOME
103. Recent rightist : NEOCON. Oh,
I just told you last Sunday that I liked Washington Post. I did not
know that they have a paywall. I was informed earlier this week that I
used up my free Feb articles already. Stupid NBC. Now Bill G and I can't bond.
105. __ City, Iraq : SADR
110. Be victorious in : WIN AT
111. Office component : EXCEL
113. Rhinitis docs : ENTs
115. Company name that begins with its founder's initials : IKEA
117. Merit : EARN
119. Singer? : RAT. Very clever clue. Sing-er.
120. Arabic "son of" : IBN
121. Start of a beginner's piano scale : C D E
122. Spanish she-bear : OSA
123. Signs off on : OKs
124. Big Apple news initials : NYT
I
think Marti is going to attend this year's ACPT (American Crossword
Puzzle Tournament). Anyone else on our blog? Don't miss the Friday night
Cru Dinner organized by the super nice Mike Alpern. You'll meet lots of
constructors & fellow solvers. Click here for more photos & the buffet dinner menu. Jicama in the salad, Hahtoola!
C.C.
58 comments:
Greetings!
Finally slogged through this one with one cheat (looked up ALONSO). Lots of things were unfamiliar to me. Theme was cute. Thanks Mike, CC!
Talk to you later. Am hoping to get to sleep!
Cheers!
DNF, definitely not 7-down! Unknowns were nearly all along the main diagonal: EDBERG, ASSAI, YOST, I TINA, MGBS, A BAR, ORANTI, EHLE, BEIN, HEIDEN, ONE L, and a couple others filled by perps before I had to deal with them. I was caught by MSRP=manufacturer's suggested retail price. Before I had fully identified the gimmick, I had LILLI PUTTING before SILLY PUTTING.
The only Ikes I could think of were Eisenhower and Asimov. Isaac wrote 3 or 4 autobiographies when he ran out of everything else to write about (IIRC, he's the only writer with books in all 10 of the primary Dewey classifications), but none I could think of that fit. But I thought DDE might have titled his "I Like", which did fit, and had the same I's as IT IN A. Parsing was a problem. I didn't see ICES IN until after perps, and I still don't get BE IN?
Overall a cute theme, and tricky-good clues for theme entries and BAYER, S.DAK, TENNIES, EINS, BOATERS, AT HOME, AMOEBA, & even though it was foreign, EL NORTE.
Morning, all!
This one was definitely not TOO EASY for me today. I really enjoyed the theme and was able to get most of them pretty quickly except for ROCKET RACCOON (never heard of "Rocky Raccoon" before, sorry). But the rest of the puzzle had some tough spots.
Too many unknown names for me today, such as YOST, EDBERG, RIN, HEIDEN, ALEXA, AUDRA, EHLE, etc. One or two per puzzle I can handle, but this many really started to get on my nerves. As a result, the West coast was almost too much for me, although I did finally managed to get through after finally figuring out which "Rogers" was being referred to at 28A.
Had two fatal errors elsewhere in the puzzle, however. Had RIS/SIMH instead of RIN/NIHM and never caught my mistake. It wasn't even a typo. Just plain wrong. And I never could figure out the crossing of ABAR and MGBS. Could only think of "A DAY" and have never heard of an MGB. So, fail. And a frustrating one at that due to the aforementioned glut of obscure names.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I have some more shoveling to do...
This one was tough. EBRO and EHLE were unknown so that first "E" was a last ditch, desperate WAG. ORANT was also unknown and (like Barry G.) I couldn't get "A DAY" out of my head (even though I'd never heard of an MGD) so that one took brute force. (The MGB was okay but the TR6 had my heart.)
On top of everything, the Mensa site still had yesterday's puzzle so I found it at the Merriam-Webster site. But the page kept refreshing animated ads which (on my old computer) locked things up from time to time.
Nonetheless, I thought the theme was clever. And the longer the puzzle took, the longer I could avoid thinking about how I'm going to move all that snow to free my car.
[37:29]
I saw Eric HEIDEN once at a Pepsi bicycling event in Central Park (he had switched from speed-skating to cycling). I remember thinking he had the biggest thighs I'd ever seen. As far as I know, he's a classy guy (unlike a certain DOPING cyclist whose name I won't utter).
Good morning!
I also fell into the LILLIPUTTING trap until I figured out the gimmick, then things speeded up. I had a few question marks in mind: I've always seen it spelled GAIA rather than GAEA, and Tennyson spelled IDYLS with two Ls. At "Armstrong's admission" all I could think of was "One small step..."
All of those big bands in the 40's had famous lead singers. LES Brown's was Doris Day. I remember Eric HEIDEN well; he was from Madison.
I'm pretty sure my draft classification was ONE B until March of my senior year, when it was switched to ONE A. That was pre-lottery, and I was as good as gone. Had to go for my draft physical in May before classes ended.
I'm confused.
I thought this blog posted answers for the LATimes puzzle but it appears that, for today at least, the answers are for the Chicago Tribune's puzzle.
What gives?
Good morning all.
This puzzle was TOO EASY. Not.
JABS (just as Barry said). So many proper names. ALEXA, GAEA, EHLO, GRIEG, et alia. I did wag YOST, and I remembered cheesehead HEIDEN. He was incredible and dominated skating at the time. Just after Eric came Bonnie Blair, then Dan Janzen. All 3 from Wisconsin, but Bonnie relo'd there from Illinois.
It didn't help that I was thinking Ginger rather than Roy, and I had no idea about an actress named Lindley.
Stegfan EDBERG was no problem, and even though I knew Cathy RIGBY played Peter Pan, I needed the first three via perps to specifically recall.
ANGELI is the Italian plural of angels. Giovanni gave the hint, and the I in PUTTING confirmed it.
Not baggy pants, but while waiting at the dentist's office yesterday for the emergency bridge repair, a mom and her 14 to 16 year old boy came in. It's the middle of winter, maybe 10 degrees out, and he traipses in wearing gym shorts, a short sleeved tee shirt, and no coat.
Thank you Mike Peluso and thank you CC. I turned on red letter help as I got to 50 minutes, and fixed a couple of errors and completed in 58:36. Still scratching my head on LIE ABED.
Al, I couldn't get the puzzle at the Mensa site either. Here's the url for the Arkadium version of the puzzle:
http://games.chicagotribune.com/games/daily-crossword/
Desper-otto (from yesterday), I had an issue with Citi when I first got my card with them, and they waived the charges when I called. I guess they no longer care.
Comcast coming today in a couple of hours to check the signal.
@ Anon 7:54 AM
The Chicago Tribune website puzzle is the L.A. Times Crossword puzzle.
The L.A.T. puzzle appears on several websites, including LAT, Chicago Tribune, Mensa. That means you have choices, like today when Mensa site is not up to date. And the Mensa site is ad-free, so it is often a good choice.
Good morning, gang - lots going on in the past couple weeks, but I thought I'd drop in real quick and say hi.
Mike Peluso's puzzles are always favorites of mine, and this one was no exception. A bit tougher than normal for a Sunday due to, as Barry said, a good amount of obscure stuff. Thanks to a giveaway theme, I was able to fill in some pretty big chunks, and that helped with my unknowns, which were plentiful.
Belated Happy Birthday to Skip and Marti; you both have been blog mainstays and valued contributors for many years.
I don't know if this has been posted before, but even if it has, it's worth a second look. The difference is perspective is pretty cool: http://pixtale.net/2013/12/how-our-world-would-look-if-you-were-a-bird/ (For whatever reason, I couldn't get the hyperlink to work.)
Have a fun Sunday.
"The Chicago Tribune website puzzle is the L.A. Times Crossword puzzle."
Check the LATimes puzzle for today. It is not the same as the Tribune's.
Got it all except ITINA & ABAR. ORAN & ORANT being in the same puzzle is strange. I know what MSRP is but what is DLR? Dollar or dealer? Perps took care of almost all but the foreigns take some WAGs. Many Complete unknowns AUDRA RYN GOA ALEXA EHLE NIMH NER. The theme came TOOEASY and that got me through. I assume that AAAA is pronounced 'a AAA'. Favorite clues was for LALA land.
Thank you for a good challenge, Mike. Thank you for an excellent review, C.C.
WEES. I thought this was not TOO EASY also. But in retrospect, it was probably about right for Sunday. I got the theme early. That helped with the other theme answers, except BAGGING PANTS.
I thought there was a lot of fun misdirection too, such as BAYER, EUROS, BOATERS, IKE, and RAT.
I knew many names (O’CONNOR, AUTRY, YOST, LES, RIGBY, GAEA, BON, GRIEG, ENLAI, AROD), but didn’t know some others (EDBERG, HEIDEN, ALEXA, EHLE, ALONSO). I couldn’t remember AUDRA, and couldn’t remember how to spell RYN.
Yesterday we took a world tour, and today we had world languages, with French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin.
At 40 minutes, I had the puzzle filled in, except the SW corner. I kept reviewing it, and nothing came to mind, so I turned on red letter help. I had 7 letters wrong. RAHRaH before GO TEaM and ALg before ENg). I fixed them and looked at 98A again. With the R gone, BAGGING PANTS popped in. From there the SW was a speed run to completion in 45 minutes.
A good challenge for me!
@ Anon 8:48 AM --
"Check the LATimes puzzle for today. It is not the same as the Tribune's."
Hmmm. It is for me. Here is the link.
LATimes Crossword Puzzle
TTP@8:07: Thanks for the Chicago Trib site. I just took a look but I prefer the Universal Uclick format.
I had a II-S student deferment (while they lasted) and was a year younger than most of my college buddies for the first draft lottery. By the time the second lottery was held the war was winding down though my number (153) was "safe" (the highest number called that year was 125).
On a lighter note, my sneaker of choice is the classic (and boring) New Balance 574. In grey, of course.
Hi All ~~
This was a real stop-and-go puzzle for me. Just as I'd get going I'd hit a roadblock. This was the pattern throughout. As Fermat said: " Lots of things were unfamiliar to me." I struggled with the some of the names and the many foreign words.
Although I filled everything I was sure I had a few wrong cells and C.C.'s write-up showed me a number of places. In several spots my guesses were correct but overall, it wasn't pretty!
~ C.C. ~ I agree with your take on thrift store. For some reason when I read it, my mind said "convenience store" and because of that the answer made sense
~ Favorite: 126A - Tiny dividers / AMOEBAE
~ I didn't like the "usage" of USAGES. It seems that the singular could be correct here.
~ 65D - 'Converses, e.g., informally' really "got me." I spent a lot of time trying to think of something related to talking. The e.g. should have been a hint.
Thanks for the Sunday morning workout, Mike Peluso!
I thought of John Greenleaf Whittier's "Snowbound: A Winter Idyl," but I have had enough of snow and winter.
I am ready for robins and spring.
Idyl by Emma Lazarus
The swallows made twitter incessant,
The thrushes were wild with their mirth.
The ways and the woods were made pleasant,
And the flowering nooks of the earth.
And the sunshine sufficed to rejoice me,
And the air was as bracing as wine,
And the sky and the shadows and grasses
Were enough to make living divine.
Then I saw on the ground two gray robins,
One with glorious flame-colored vest,
'Neath the shade of some delicate bluebells,
By the breeze of the morning caressed.
They were singing of love in the shadow;
She was bashful, and modest, and coy,
And he sang to her tenderest love-songs,
And madrigals full of his joy.
And his song came forth clearer and clearer,
With each passionate, musical note;
Like the ripple of silvery waters,
It gushed from his beautiful throat.
His whole little bird-soul he offers,—
Ah! she listens to him as he sings:
Then he ceases, awaiting her answer,
With bright eyes and with quivering wings.
And I, too, stood awaiting it, breathless,
For his song was too sweet to disdain,
Till it came, little notes full of gladness,
With a plaintive and tender refrain.
And the songs died away in the distance,
And the forest alone heard the rest,
As the two little lovers flew upward,
To build them together a nest.
What happened to my first post about the puzzle?
@ Owen --
The Human Be-In was an event in SF in 1967.
Human Be-In link
@ Big Easy –
DLR is dealer. Think the MSRP sticker on a new car window.
@ C.C. --
OESTE is pronounced like oh-es-tay.
@ C.C. --
My favorite sneakers are Rockports. They have great support for people with foot problems, just like their shoes.
@ C.C. --
In this area, we have specialty thrift stores, aka bakery outlet stores, that sell baked goods only, such as Hostess or Entenmann's.
Warm AZ greetings, C.C. and all!
Wow! This was partly easy and partly difficult for the reasons you all have mentioned, obscure names. Jennifer EHLE though was familiar. She played Elizabeth Bennet opposite Colin Firth in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice which I love and could watch many times over.
And then the Spanish really helped, NORTE and OESTE, pronounced oh-ehs-teh.
Eric HEIDEN was fascinating in the Lake Placid winter games. His sister, too, though I don't remember her name.
However, EDBERG, ASSAI and YOST, (a Natick)did me in.
I enjoyed the cute theme.
Time to go. Have a special Sunday, everyone!
I almost forgot. Great shoutout to LALAlinda and my mom, LALA.
Anon@7:54 and 8:48 -- The LA Times doesn't print their own puzzle on Sunday's. Go figure. The puzzle blogged here is the "official" LA Times crossword which is syndicated nationwide. My local paper doesn't carry the Sunday version, either.
Good Morning:
This was a DNF for me due to MGB/Bar crossing. Also, had Lillyputting instead of Sillyputting. Bit of a brain freeze, I think, thanks to our weather.
Nice puzzle, Mike, and great expo, CC, as usual.
How bad was the storm Hondo, Barry, Linda?
Have a relaxing Sunday.
Hello Puzzlers -
Harumph. A DNF for me today. I couldn't work out A Bar, and I forgot about I Tina and was stuck thinking of Eisenhower anyway. Close, but no Ta Da.
I remember Cathy Rigby well enough. She was an adorable public favorite at the Olympics, and I had a mad (but understandable) crush on her. As soon as she starting touring as Peter Pan, I made certain to go see her show at the Civic Center. So cute!
Morning, C.C. - I look forward to your Sunday Style. What Buckeye said: we had a bakery thrift store nearby when I was a kid (Arnold's). That's all we ever had was old bread. I didn't think a thing of it. My mom didn't buy that fluffy rubbish like Wonder Bread or Dreikorn's; my schoolmates had such brands, and I thought they were disgusting (the breads, not the schoolmates). :-)
Come to think of it, a few of my schoolmates were disgusting too.
Favorite sneakers? Dunno. I bought my most recent pair in 1997. I'm due for an update.
Good morning everyone. Always enjoy C.C.'s write-ups
Agree with most of you. Parts were hard; some not so hard. Had trouble with the BAGGY PANTS. SW was last to fill. Agree with C.C. about Mike's craftmanship.
66d - EHLE sounds German.
95a - One (what?), river? Had Elbe before EINS. Guess I overthought it.
53a - GOA was the only 3 letter state I could think of. Think it was a Portuguese colony for several hundred years.
How would you like this bus ride?. Watch how an aide gets out later in the video to check the rock overhang clearance.
Avg Joe - I posted a late day FWIW reply to your propane concerns, yesterday, in case you missed it.
Have a great day.
Holy Cliff Plunges, Batman! Spitz's video is intense. I've been on some tight mounts roads, but nothing with that level of risk.
Bill G from yesterday - I'm with you, Ellen Page is a cutie. She was just a natural in Juno. A few milliHelens for sure.
That was supposed to be mountain roads.
Speaking of MGB's: a roommate had an MBG-GT years ago. It was basically a hard top coupe version of the basic MGB. Recently, a fellow showed up at work with a similar looking machine, but when I pronounced it an MGB-GT, I was soon corrected. Turns out it was a rare MGC. Never knew they made those.
Happy Sunday everybody!
Glad to see that I was not the only one less than enthused about today’s offering, due to WEES about the obscura (I’m making up my own words now)….
Same write-overs as others (RAH-RAH for GO TEAM, getting stuck on the IKE of the ETO), and also these: RENTERS for TENANTS, GARAGE for ESTATE, and EARL for EINS….
Agree with previous posts that this was definitely NOT 7D….
That being said, I did enjoy the replacement theme once it revealed (@ GUN LOBBING)….
Favorite tennies have been Nike Air ever since I tried on a pair – like walking on a cloud…!
Finally, a belated HBD to Hondo from yesterday…!
Capital of Nebraska? Nope, it’s not dollars; it’s the city where I am right now!
Musings
-SHAGGY DOG of my ute
-Sagging and BAGGING pants are not allowed in schools where I sub
-O’CONNOR’S Archie made a sea change in TV
-The Wiz troupe will be ON TOUR for 3 weeks in Omaha in May
-Many of us here have reached three SCORE years
-USA Olympic SKATERS are getting shut out big time
-I will never be so hungry I could EAT A liver!
-Clean LINEN in Sochi? Dream on!
-Our paper carries the LA puzzle and one that is way TOO EASY
-I couldn’t think what astroNAUT Neil ARMSTRONG would be admitting
-Every U-HAUL we’ve rented looked like it had been beaten like a rented mule
-EL NORTE not EL DIABLO
-Daughter is excited that IKEA will be only 3 hours away in KC instead of 6 hrs away in CC’s town
-Gotta run to a bad basketball game with Hudson playing. I'd still rather watch that than the NBA
-What silly poem says, “This is the man all TATTERED and torn, That kissed the maiden all forlorn”
Has anyone seen Yellowrocks' post about the puzzle? She seems to have misplaced it. I know it hasn't come through here.
I thought the theme was clever and it did help with the solve after I filled in silly putting. As a whole, the puzzle was pretty challenging and slow going. Turfed it in Eugene, though at the cross of Ehle and Heiden. Didn't know either and guessed it had to be an L or a B. Guessed L. Never thought of H. So, a DNF.
My favorite tennies are Nike. And I still call them that, even though I always buy cross trainers. I don't train, and I'm not cross, I guess:-)
I did see your post from last evening Spitz. Thanks to you and Anon for the responses. To answer my own question, the break even point is $1.5611 per gallon on propane compared to electric at the stated rate. To answer your question, our electric utility has a fixed admin charge of $25, then the per kwh rate is tiered with the first 200 hours at the highest, the next 800 at a lower rate and anything more (during winter) being at the lowest rate. We always get into the 1000+ range during the colder months. I'll have to wait and see what the prices do once this imbalance gets settled, but I have serious doubts that we'll ever have much supply in the break even or lower price range going forward.
Hi Y'all! This theme was amusing. I got it with the first two which helped on down. Thanks, Mike! ROCKING RACCOON was my favorite.
Great expo, C.C. We had a baked goods thrift outlet just around the corner from where I live until Rainbo Bread/Hostess closed the bakeries. Bread delivery men take day-old bread off grocery shelves and put fresh bread on every day. The old goes to thrift outlets.
I thought Converses was talking, not shoes for a while. I wear mostly NIKEs with my bad feet.
GOA came easily because my brother & his wife just returned from two weeks in India. One week was spent visiting their missionary daughter's family. The second week was spent in a resort in GOA. Never heard of it before. Quite a contrast between the poverty of the first week & opulence.
Obscure names and misdirections needed a few red-letter runs. I had trouble with DOG & BAGGING because of perps. That middle section was last to fill. Couldn't come up with ABAR or SDAK. I TINA was the longest hang-up. I knew of the book, but didn't read it.
JD:
I saw your post late last night but wasn't sure if I had reached my 5 limit so didn't repond. It's wonderful that children that young are being taught math facts and figures.
BillG:
Yes, I do realize that fads in teaching come and go and some should keep going.
Dudley:
1997! Yikes! How often do you wear them? Our gym teachers tell us to change them every six months.
I just ordered some New Balance for my upcoming trip which will involve much walking.
I'm certain Keith will have known ALONSO. Maybe he even played the role.
AvgJoe, I went with electric baseboard panel heating on the farm and loved it. I yanked out all the propane heaters after the gas pipes were found to be leaking badly. I had a floor furnace at the time on the first level. The stone walls in the house made any kind of duct work almost impossible to install. We had a generator for power outages. After near tragedy with the propane heat, I didn't want anything to do with it again.
Defeated by a couple of unknown actresses Natick'ed by some personal obscurities, but I liked the theme and most of the fill.
"A bar at the Folies Bergeres" is in the National Gallery in London. I spent quite some time the first time I saw it trying to figure out what angle the mirror behind the bartender must have been hung to make the reflection and came to the conclusion it was artistic license and not feasible in reality.
As for the Happy Ending ad - I'd probably have walked into the wall if I had noticed it. I go to Vegas under duress for conferences and conventions and I spent my free time catching up with the new restaurants.
No-one believes me when I tell them that, sadly. :)
Oh - @Anon "Not the LA Times" @7:54 - The LA Times print edition publishes the weekly Merl Reagle puzzle instead of their own "official" one. No clue why.
When the LAT used to print a weekly magazine on Sunday, the Reagle puzzle was in the magazine, and the "official" version was in the Culture section. When the Tribune group dropped the magazine from weekly to monthly, they promoted Reagle to the Arts/Books section and dropped their own puzzle, although it continues to be syndicated under the "LA Times" moniker.
Reagle used to be published on a rotation with Sylvia Burstyn and another constructor (help, C.C!) who's name escapes me. Sadly, both others passed away and left Reagle as the sole contributor.
Hope this helps
How bad was the storm Hondo, Barry, Linda?
North of Boston missed the brunt of this latest one, fortunately. Maybe 4-5 inches of the light fluffy stuff, but I still had to tackle a solid foot of hard packed ice at the bottom of the driveway thanks to the plows.
Next storm heading our way Tuesday...
Steve,
I forgot his name as well: Barry Tunick. They were great partners.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Mike Peluso, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.
As others have said, this was a tough one. Caught the theme after a while. It did help.
Lots of unknowns, but perps got most of them. A few wags as well.
I had to get help on I TINA. I also thought Ike was an Eisenhower reference. I also was not familiar with the painting and A BAR. Those two crossing gave me fits.
Lucked out with HEIDEN and EHLE crossing. guessed right.
GAEA was all perps.
Took me forever to get EXCEL. I was thinking of a physical office, not the software. Finally it hit me in the head.
On my way back to Illinois via Buffalo. Now that this puzzle is done, I can start on my book. A Tom Clancy novel.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(5832 2239356)
Spitzboov: Enjoyed your video of the mountain road. Wonder where that is?
Also, my sneaker choice is New Balance. They were made in America. Not sure if they still are.
Abejo
(28822258 20)
Good evening everyone!
I finally have five minutes to sit down and realax. My day started at 7:00 AM, with a snowblower that refused to budge because the last slushy storm left the blades totally frozen solid. After chipping away for ½ hour, I finally got it going and proceeded to snowblow not only our driveway and sidewalks, but also the house next door. (I am starting to hate that HND!!)
Before that, I had time to do the puzzle over coffee, but it was a real slog for some reason. I really didn’t like the theme entries SILLY PUTTING and UGLY BETTING, because of those extraneous “Y”s. Ugh!
No clue on EDBERG – needed every single perp for that one. Not a good start when I can’t get 1-Across. But my downfall was the H crossing HEIDEN and EHLE. Really, when I can’t finish a Sunday puzzle? Count me out for ACPT this year, C.C.!!
If I can stay awake long enough, I will read your comments now...
Hello everybody. Just finished the puzzle, which was quite difficult for me, and haven't read your comments yet. I liked all the puzzles this week, especially yesterday's, which I thought had excellent clues and answers. Today's puzzle left me feeling kind of cold and aloof, though. Don't know why; it's all subjective, of course.
Man oh man, for years I thought Lance Armstrong was clean and an amazing athlete, someone to be looked up to, admired, and emulated, an inspiration. So sad that he turned out to be as dirty as so many other athletes, a liar and a doper.
Best wishes to you all.
Aargh. I couldn't find today's LAT puzzle on Mensa late last night or anywhere else. I got frustrated and didn't put much effort into it today. I couldn't quite get a complete handle on the theme. So, frustration led to red letters and mot much fine. Entirely my fault (but maybe a little blame for Mensa). Grump, grump...
CC, I wonder why NBCNews.com made the change? I can't imagine anyone prefers the new format. More grumping...
I'm going to read the comments and see if I can find some positive stuff to cheer me up.
poI found this puzzle to be a lot of fun, even though it was a DNF. I do agree withy WEES about too many names.
All the baseball references made me double-check to see whether you were the constructor, C.C.
Husker, I have that darned poem so close to the tip of my tongue, but can't spit it out! Please tell us and put me out of my misery!
Dennis: thanks for that photo tour. Marvelous photos! Wish I could run into them on one of the jigsaw sites I frequent.
Big Easy: AAAA are very small batteries, but still tubes like their bigger brothers. I have a AAAA in my keyfob clicker. My laser pointer, though, uses button batteries.
Before I got BAGGING PANTS I had CHECKER PANTS.
I used to go to a day-old bakery (aka thrift bakery store) all the time. Bread and pastries don't usually get used up within a day anyhow, so they may as well be bought at 1/3rd of the price day-old anyway. Haven't found one here in Santa Fe yet though.
B-bob: thanks for the info on be-in. I was 17 then, too involved in doings at my own school to notice or care what went on in the world outside.
House That Jack Built.
I just wrote a fairly long post including, among other things, that I should be whinging when so many other have more serious problems. Then the whole post just up and disappeared. Rats!
Tough Go today. Made even more challenging by having to "learn" a new format instead of the familiar MENSA routine. (I kept hitting the space bar to change directions, but that didn't work here, and that has become a natural reflex.)
Enjoyed the construction.
To answer CC's question, we were too busy keeping gas in the generator, shoveling and snowblowing to do much reading of interest.
Did get out to see my MD in Gap, PA to treat a bad cold, and noticed that our Amish neighbors we're not fazed at all by the successive storms we had. Horses move very well. and their propane and deisel powered compressors chugged along as if there was no change. Even laundry hung out to dry on Monday (traditional day) froze but dried out anyway.
I was raised in western PA where snowy winters were normal and so were tire chains. This year, in the southeast part of the state it comes close to that; my postman had chains on his mail truck this week.
Have a great week everyone, 50F forecast by Wed. here. Flood time for some.
Don.
Abejo - Yes, NB is still made in US and that's all my daughter will buy due to that fact.
Bill G - agree about NBCnews. It's frustrating to find one or two stories to have to page down forever. I keep hoping they'll change back. I feel sorta like having withdrawals as I'm a news junky and that was my top online site.
Been a few days since posting. I'm also an Olympic junky, so I find myself waking at 3 or 4AM to get the 'live' action, then even watching reruns in Primetime. I went to Atlanta, Sydney & Athens, then things changed and I've missed the remainder in person so I'm glued to the TV right now.
I enjoyed the cutesy puzzle today. I like a puzzle with a little flair.
Spitz, I enjoyed the bus ride. I wouldn't drive on that road in a car, much less a bus.
CC, I sure miss the old NBCNews.com format.
We went out for lunch with Jordan. We had lobster bisque soup, lettuce wraps and a thin-crust margarita pizza with enough leftovers for dinner tonight.
I guess I'll turn on the basketball All Star game and watch a bunch of tall millionaires play a game.
Dudley, who do you think has a higher milliHelen rating; Ellen Page or Emma Watson (Hermione)? I guess that's like asking what do you prefer; a ribeye or a slab of prime rib? A Monet or a Renoir? Mickey Mantle or Willy Mays? I know, I know, Ellen Page and Emma Watson aren't at the same level as the others but they sure have very appealing faces.
I agree that I don't like the newer CW puzzle computer format called Arkadium as well as the older Universal Uclick format. In the first one, the cursor skips over squares that are already filled in rather than stopping on each square, so you have keep looking back while you are typing.
-Here’s the maddening poem with the man all TATTERED and torn
HG - Once again, I know why I love this blog. The poem has not been to the forefront on my mind in many many moons. Thanks for the refresher!
Bill G - Tough call! After reflection, my best answer goes along these lines: Emma's lovely face is pretty much flawless, but Ellen looks a little kinder. That adds a milliHelen or two in my book. That said, I'd love to be seen and photographed with either one!
Just watched Downton on the TiVo. Ooh la la! We have some great material for a season finale cliffhanger. Notice how we couldn't put one over on Granny? Learning French, indeed! That musician fellow showed excellent judgement, I think, and I wish Mary had shown more appreciation. Now, could Bates have traveled unseen to London, done "business", and gotten back all in one day? Hmmm.....
Where is Tinman?
Dudley:
You nailed it! Granny ferreted the truth and Bates was gone the very same day Green died. Coincidence?
Lucina: Do a find (command-F on the Mac) and you will see at the top of the page the number of times that your name appears in the blog. Hit the scroll keys and you will see each mention.
Also, Lucina, second what you said about EHLE.
Of course Bates did the deed!
Yellowrocks,
Every post that appears on the blog has a copy in both my and Argyle's email accounts. But we did not have yours yesterday. I suspect the post did not go through. Maybe you should keep a copy of your posts.
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