google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, February 13, 2014 Susan Gelfand

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Feb 13, 2014

Thursday, February 13, 2014 Susan Gelfand

Theme: "Green Anagrams"

17-Across. "Sommersby" actress : JODIE FOSTER. Forest green.

28-Across. Shortcut, perhaps : DIAGONAL LINE. Nile green.

39-Across. Freaked out : GONE APE. Pea green.

49-Across. Measure used by navigators : NAUTICAL MILE. Lime green.

65-Across. Packaged produce buy, and a literal description of the ends of 17-, 28-, 39- and 49-Across :
MIXED GREENS.

Whenever I see something like "mix" in the reveal, I immediately look for anagrams. I start with the shortest - "pea" - and then work on the longer words.  But L-I-N-E had me stumped for the longest time - I just couldn't think of a green color with those letters. Light finally dawned, but there were other challenges for me in this one (as a Thursday puzzle should…)

Across:

1. Asian noodles : RAMEN.

6. Quick looks : PEEKS.

11. "The __" : WIZ.

14. Poke __ in : A HOLE. Odd partial.

15. Game console button : RESET.

16. __ polloi : HOI.

19. 1992 figure skating silver medalist : ITO. Midori.  A clue with at least part of her name would have helped!!

20. What "will be" will be? : ARE. Tricky: what "ARE" now, will be later...

21. Actress Dolores __ Rio : DEL. Big starlet in the '20s-'30s.

22. Post-blizzard creation : SNOWMAN. Which I will not be making on Friday...

24. "The Federalist Papers" co-writer : HAMILTON. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison. They promoted the ratification of the US Constitution.

27. Part of UNLV: LAS. University of Nevada LAS Vegas.

33. Kobe's home : JAPAN. Not KOBE Bryant - he was born in Philadelphia. But the city in the Hyogo prefecture. (Home to Kobe beef. - Argyle))

36. Energy : VIM.

37. Environmental sci. : ECOL.ogy

38. Hosp. areas : ORs.

43. Org. for analysts : APA. American Psychological Association.

44. Dickens clerk : HEEP. Uriah, to friends, from "David Copperfield."

46. __ Aviv : TEL.

47. Plant circulatory tissue : XYLEM.

53. Some govt. lawyers : DAsDistrict Attorneys. English is so capricious. Why isn't the plural spelled "attornies"???

54. Kind of memory : AUDITORY.

58. Golfer and his buddy, say : TWOSOME.

62. Barbecue item : RIB.

63. Never, in Nuremberg : NIE.

64. Trash holder : BIN. Anyone else want "can" at first???

68. Word before or after blue : SKY.

69. Paris pupil :  ÉLÈVE.

70. Picture : IMAGE.

71. "Mr. __ Passes By": Milne play : PIM.

72. A.J. Foyt, e.g. : RACER.

73. Flies alone : SOLOS. Dudley!

Down:

1. Hindi for "king" : RAJAH.

2. Now, in Nicaragua : AHORA.

3. Surfing equipment : MODEM. Anyone else want "board"???

4. Ransom __ Olds : ELI.

5. Locker room exchange : NEEDLING.

6. Opening words : PROLOG. I thought it was "prologue"?

7. Some RPI grads : EES. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  Electrical Engineers. Spitzboov & Splynter - any others out there?

8. Body shop figs. : ESTSEstimates.

9. Sharp : KEEN.

10. Easy pace : STROLL.

11. Playfully kooky : WHIMSICAL.

12. Minute amount : IOTA.

13. Utah national park : ZION.

18. Crumbly cheese : FETA.

23. Corduroy ridge : WALE.

25. Biographer Tarbell : IDA. Most notable for "The History of the Standard Oil Company." (Hmmm…note to self, do NOT put that on your reading list!)

26. Extended short story : NOVELLA.

29. Singer/actress Peeples : NIA. Best known for her role as Nicole Chapman in "Fame."

30. Energize, with "up" : AMP.

31. "Not a chance" : NOPE.

32. Character actor Jack : ELAM.

33. Doe in many films : JOHN.

34. Specialty : AREA.

35. Lewis Carroll, for one : PSEUDONYM.

40. Non-Rx : OTCOver the Counter.

41. Museum funding org. : NEA. National Endowment for the Arts.

42. Bookplate words : EX LIBRIS. Latin for "From the library of…"

45. Educ. collaborators : PTAs.

48. As of now : YET.

50. Glucose, to fructose : ISOMER.

51. Geese : gaggle :: crows : __ : MURDER.

52. Beatnik's "Gotcha" : I DIG.

55. "Barry Lyndon" actor : O'NEAL. Ryan. Did not know this film. All perps.

56. Musical nickname related to jewelry : RINGO.

57. Survey answers : YESes.

58. Cook's meas. : TBSP. Tablespoon. None of my cookbooks have this as the abbr.

59. Collaborative Web project : WIKI.

60. Kunis of "Black Swan" : MILA. Great film. Have you seen it? It gives me a whole new appreciation for the gruelling training that ballerinas have to go through.

61. Corporate VIP : EXEC.

66. Holiday starter : EVE.

67. Rock genre : EMO. Characterized by expressive lyrics. Short for "emotive."

I'm all in for now. If I didn't cover all your questions, let me know!

Hugs,
Marti

70 comments:

  1. Very quick solve, but missed the theme. Saw GREEN MILE and forgot about "mixed." Had to go to the write up to get the theme. Thanks Marti.

    Only difficult was the intersecting X at XYLEM and EX LIBRIS. I had Z but no tada, so tried X and voila !

    No hesitation on MODEM. However, I did try to fit in Synchronous dynamic random access for 54A Kind of memory. (inside joke for geeks)

    Nope, not an RPI grad.

    Have a good day all.

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  2. Ms. Christie wrote mysterious scenes
    While cruising the NILE like past queens.
    The best-selling writer
    Said her output was tighter
    When for dinner she ordered MIXED GREENS!

    The princess can't sleep, so it seems.
    Her discomfort interferes with her dreams.
    There's a PEA 'neath her mattress
    Which causes her REM distress.
    She would shout, but decorum nixed screams!

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  3. I wrote limericks for LIME & FOREST this past Oct.10th, when we had the same theme. But PEA & NILE are new. The 10/10 group contained one of my most popular lims, revised slightly:

    Where Ms. Oyl lived conditions were squalid;
    She was skinny, but withal quite stolid.
    To fill sailors with awe
    She padded her bra --
    In each cup she placed one single OLIVE.

    LIME & FOREST are both well-defined colors, though surprisingly there are different computer codes for LIME and LIME GREEN. NILE & PEA GREENS, however, each fit a wide range of shades. When I tried to look them up, I found one sit that listed aged pea soup green/ bright green pea/ bright pea green/ canned pea green/ dark pea green/ deep pea green/ light pea green/ medium peagreen/ mushed pea green/ pastel pea green/ pea green/ pea olive green/ pea soup green/ pure pea green/ split pea green/ vibrant pea green.

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  4. Pretty straightforward so I decided to take a few minutes to figure out the theme. Funny how it can be hard to see a new word when you're already looking at one (and I didn't know NILE green was a color).

    Still waiting for the snow to arrive here in the beautiful mid-Hudson valley. With temps starting out in the teens I'm hoping we'll at least avoid the dreaded "wintry mix".

    I was wait-listed at RPI; went to Syracuse instead (which made it easier when I decided to switched from Civil Engineering to Philosophy. Hey, it was the 60s).

    [7:42]

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  5. Morning, all!

    Anagrams are not my strong suit. After getting the theme reveal I was able to pick out PEA and LIME, but the other two completely eluded me. Part of the problem was that I was thinking "things that are green" rather than "shades of green."

    Struggled to get started in the NW. Thought 1A would be plural and tried SOBAS, never saw (or heard of) "Sommersby" and just couldn't parse the clue for ARE. I kept thinking it had something to do with Doris Day and her "Que Sera Sera" song.

    I did finally get all that sorted out, but ended up with a typo/mistake at the crossing of ITO/IOTA. Put in IDO at first and just didn't notice that IODA made no sense whatsoever. Oops.

    No school for the little guy today. I wish I had time to play with him all day, but I've got massive work deadlines... :(

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  6. *site, not sit.

    TTP: ;-)) -- are modems still used? I connect with a "router", is it the same thing, or a different device that just serves the same purpose?

    BG: Wasn't IODA the green Jedi master? He would qualify as "minute"! And Que Sera, Sera had me, too.

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  7. OwenKL @ 6:13, I assume you were talking tongue-in-cheek about IODA…funny!!

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  8. Speaking of the 'Cuse, NCAA basketball sports fans (except Panthers) would have to make it a point to see the last few seconds of last night's game against Pittsburgh. Spoiler alert: #1 is still #1.

    Good morning Owen. Yes, you still have a modem. If you have one box, it's a combined modem and router. The modem is connecting you to the internet (whether via phone line or cable), and the router allows you to have one or more locally attached (wired or wireless) computers.

    I've been on cable for years. I had a Motorola Surfboard cable modem for years, and then changed to an Arris modem that met DOCSIS 2.0 standards for some years. In each of those setups, I had a separate Linksys wireless-capable router to attach my many pcs in a LAN environment.

    Comcast recently sent me a new Technicolor TC8305C combined modem / router. It also handles my two VOIP telephone lines. It's DOCSIS 3.0 standard.

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  9. Good morning all.
    Owen, your list of Pea Green shades is excellent! Somehow, that is a great start to the morning!

    And thank you, Marti, for the explanation and the hint about looking for anagrams. I was totally lost, though the puzzle went pretty smoothly for me. Was pleasantly surprised to find I have a "kind of memory" (54A) that pulled XYLEM out of the depths based only on a "Y". When I read the 47A clue, I knew I had once known the answer, but had to wait for the Y.

    And yes, PROLOG earned a frown, even though I'm thinking I usually see an epilog at the end? I'll have to go look at some books, now.

    Good luck to the winter-bound.

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  10. Good morning!

    Stumbled here and there, but was triumphant in the end. Totally missed the theme -- normal. My MODEM was a MOUSE, not a board.

    My one-time BIL is an RPI grad. Does that count? Started his own company, and sold it for millions while still in his 30's.

    When I was in Japan in my ute, I visited Kobe. My father wanted me to look up a shirt-tail relative who was posted there by Price Waterhouse. He took us for a "little lunch." Lasted 4 hours! Really good, though.

    And another English weirdism -- it's not Attorney Generals but Attorneys General. Hmmmmm

    Later...

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  11. this puzzle had me stumped I eventually solved it but it took a few minutes longer than my normal allotted Thursday time. I have never heard of Nile Green. Well its snowing here 6 inches on the ground so far the sleet and ice has now started more snow later hopefully I will not lose power like I did last week.
    enjoy V-Day and presidents weekend all.

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  12. After hopping around a bit, I was able to settle down and fill this in without too much trouble in normal Thursday time.
    I flubbed in sussing the theme. DUH! I was looking for anagrams of salad greens , such as escarole, etc. instead of colors. As my mom would say,"Nobody home upstairs."

    Many of the books I have read lately have opened with a PROLOG.

    We read several NOVELLAs in German Lit. class. In English, Dicken's Christmas Carol is listed as a novella.

    Although I didn't know of Sommersby, I got Jodi Foster with just a few perps. I admire her talent.

    For a while I went surfing in the ocean, too, before I thought of MODEM.

    I have been hearing the snow plow for the past 2 hours and dollar signs flash before my eyes. We have already exceeded the condo snow budget and will be surcharged big bucks for the overage. But, I will be content with this storm and feel blessed, if the electricity stays on.

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  13. Good morning everybody.

    Wow, this was a tough one. I got the MIXED GREENS but I couldn't figure out the anagrams.

    There were quite a few names here that I did not know, but that just makes it more challenging.

    In all, I did finish...without catching the theme.

    Have a great day!

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  14. Hi Everyone ~~

    This was not an easy STROLL but it wasn't too much of a struggle either. I had to bounce around (to use Abejo's words) because I just wasn't able to complete whole sections. My biggest problem was putting in 'Mouse' for MODEM which messed up that whole NW area. I thought I had figured out 20A - 'What will be...' but I had it backwards - 'Was" before ARE .

    ~ Like YR, I was looking for vegetables in the theme answers but then I saw the colors.

    ~ Favorite: 33D - Doe in the woods... / JOHN - tricky but clever!

    ~ Thanks for a great write-up, Marti - lots of good info. I always wondered why the genre was called EMO!

    Watching the snow fall - again - not a lot of new stuff yet but this weather "event" has just started. Time to hunker down once again!

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  15. Hello Puzzlers -

    Straightforward solve today, though Prolog didn't look right. Hand up for failing to make the theme connection. WBS about that.

    Morning Marti, thanks for 'splaining. Think it's gonna snow today? :-)

    Actually it's snowing something fierce at my house, and I dread the clean-up tomorrow. Here's hoping we don't get the hated wintry mix.

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  16. OHIO everyone

    You're right Heart Rx; I should have looked for mixed-up anagrams. So I didn't suss the theme. But I did wonder about the GREEN MILE and the GREEN LINE. Nevertheless, the puzzle was solved without strikethroughs or lookups. ChE's (chem eng) wouldn't fit so went with EE'S. All the Uriah fills in the past helped me remember HEEP. Susan, I really enjoyed the scope and style of your puzzle.

    A NAUTICAL MILE is exactly 1' of latitude. When picking off distances on a nautical chart with dividers, the measurement is very convenient.

    Noting the cold weather be careful towatch where you're chiseling.

    Off to play some bridge.

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  17. words ending in y vowel + y add s
    consonant plus y, change y to i and + es.
    answering the question in the puzzle solution

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  18. Good morning:

    A little chewy but finished w/o help. Did get the theme and the anagrams were all easy, except forest took a little longer. Like the fill of pseudonym, whimsical, and ex libris. (CED and Manac wouldl like my bookplates: they feature a forlorn-looking dog lying under a pile of opened books serving as a perch for a happy-looking cat.)

    Snow falling steadily. Predictions (as of last night) of 8-12". Still very cold, as well.

    Stay safe and warm, everyone.

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  19. So sorry, I forgot to thank Susan for a fun challenge and Marti for an enlightening expo. Thank you!

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  20. Haiku by Hashin (1864-?)

    No sky and no ground-
    only the snowflakes that
    fall without ceasing.

    The Snow-Storm By Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
    Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
    Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
    Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
    And veils the farm-house at the garden's end.
    The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet
    Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
    Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
    In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

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  21. This was a real slog for me today--names and unknown references everywhere. But I finally had it all filled with only one error--XYLEN/ELAN on the mid east wall. As with most of my fill this was a WAG, but unlike the others, this was wrong.

    Marti,
    I guess I always forget to look for anagrams, and so I forgot to think about the theme too today. Thanks for the reminder about what to look for.

    Thursdays are like this. LIBRIS is the dative plural for "books". I guess one's books are a library.

    Snow here again this morning. I'm sick of it finally.

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  22. I just watched the Scent of A Woman link posted late last evening.. That scene was shot at Emma Willard School here in Troy, as were all of the campus scenes. EW is a private, K-12 school for girls, featuring beautifully land-scaped grounds and impressive architecture.

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  23. Good morning:

    Like Owen I was surprised to see a green anagram theme so soon after Jennifer Nutt's effort in October, though there are probably more shades of green than any other color (not counting Gray of course, ladies).

    I really like the will be will be clue, and all figure skater clues remind me of dear Clear Ayes who views us from a different plane. Anyway marti here is the LIST of medal winners so you will not forget Ms. Ito who lost to a\American Kristi Yamaguci in '92 with Nancy Kerrigan coming in third.

    NIA and NEA and a made up word PROLOG; thanks Susan and miss m.

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  24. TTP@6:52: "Speaking of the 'Cuse.

    I don't much follow Syracuse sports anymore . . . but my 95-year-old mother still does!

    d-otto@7:18: Nothing weird about "attorneys general". They're not Generals, they're attorneys. "General" is an adjective. Which is why I cringe when the Postmaster General or the Surgeon General is addressed as "General".

    Still snowing here in the beautiful mid-Hudson valley and there's an ugly rumor that this snowfall isn't the Nor'easter that's yet to come.

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  25. Okay, so putting the adjective after the noun might be a bit weird. Or just poetic? Like the Brothers Karamazov?

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  26. Greetings, puzzlers. Good to see you, Marti. Are you enjoying all the skiing at the Olympic Games? I think of you when I see them.

    Thanks to Susan Gelfand for a nice STROLL today though it did get bumpy in some AREAs. I loved seeing WHIMSICAL, EX LIBRIS, and PSEUDONYM today.

    Somersby is a very old movie but I still remember its intensity with Richard Gere and JODI falling in love with him when he pretended to be her long lost husband.

    It took a long while for NAUTICAL MILE to surface and I thought Spitzboov will know this instantly. Finally it worked itself out.

    Since it's so late here in the West I didn't take time to look for the theme anagrams. So clever!
    And I love salad!

    Be safe and warm all you snowbound friends. We're having a heat wave out here with temps in the 80s and possibly reaching 90 by week's end.

    Have a special Thursday, everyone!

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  27. I don’t understand the objection to PROLOG. It is just a variant spelling of PROLOGUE.

    "prologue or (often US) prolog" from Collins English Dictionary and many other dictionaries.
    And some novels spell it PROLOG

    ”A prologue (Greek πρόλογος prologos, from the word pro (before) and lógos, word) is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information.” From Wiki.

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  28. A DNF for me today, but I almost solved the puzzle. The cross of MI_A and E_EVE did me in. The rest of the answers that I didn’t know, filled in with perps. I did NOT correctly WAG the L.
    So, I feel good about this Thursday puzzle solving experience.

    I forgot to even look for the theme. I did the puzzle when I awoke in the middle of the night.
    I don’t think I would have found the theme, even if I had looked for it!
    Thanks, Marti, for your fine expo.

    It is staying about zero, but a whole lot of snow coming down here, as I write this entry.
    Stay warm and safe, everyone,

    Montana

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  29. A perfect Thursday puzzle--tough but doable. Many thanks, Susan. But like others, I didn't get the anagrams until Marti's write-up. Kept wondering what FOSTER had to do with GREENS.

    My biggest problem was in the NW. When you live in a beach town on the Pacific, SURFING naturally means boards and black rubber suits and teenagers. Computer surfing never even occurred to me. I will never be a techie, I'm afraid. Sigh.

    Yellowrocks, I loved your Emerson poem. Simply lovely. I always think of him more as an essayist than a poet, but this is really beautiful.

    Liked your Olive Oyl limerick, too, Owen, if a little unPC.

    Have a great Thursday, everybody!

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  30. Thanks Susan and Marti.

    Hi Marti. I started out in engineering at Cornell and graduated as an EE. I got my first job at Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City. I was a mediocre engineer, I thought, and as contracts were drying up in the late 60s and with layoffs looming, I switched to teaching and never looked back.

    PROLOG looked a little off to me but TBSP seemed OK.

    More beautiful weather here today, around 70. I would gladly trede it for a week of rain.

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  31. The mention of MILA deserves a link. Oh, but which one?

    She is very cute and funny as Rachel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Wait, what does she say at 0:26?

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  32. Hi gang -

    Anagrams are not my forte. Does that make them my piano?

    Where's Jerome when you need him?

    NILE green is new to me.

    WHIMSICAL is just a great word.

    Next time I want to insult somebody, I'll call him a 14 A from the 2/13 LAT Crossword.

    ELEVE? I call foul!

    Clear blue sky and only 17 degrees went I went out this morning. But the air feels different today, for the first time this year.

    I think there might actually be hope for Spring.

    Cool regards!
    JzB [trombonist with a PSEUDONYM]

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  33. Hey, wait just a second!

    MILA is a MIXED GREEN also!

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  34. And another one per WIKI!

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  35. Good afternoon everyone.

    LaLaLinda, belated happy birthday wishes to you. Hope it was a fun one.

    Plus my Naples News xword clue for 33D is "Doe in many films".

    I, of course, did not even come close to finishing this one. Why I even try on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday in a puzzle in itself.

    What is the OR in a hospital?

    Cheers

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  36. Al Cyone:
    Good job on explaining the plural of attorneys general. That is only one of my pet peeves; the others being mother-in-laws instead of mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, etc.

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  37. Hi Y'all! I didn't get the theme on this one until Marti explained it. Thanks! Anagrams weren't even considered. The puzzle went fast with a lot of advance and retreat ups & downs. I could get parts of words but needed more perps. Thanks, Susan.

    "Sommersby" was a favorite of mine, I knew the face of the actress but needed the "J" and "D" to come up with the entire name.

    Being Thursday, I thought Asian noodle would turn out to be the Chinese word for "head" or something. RAMEN? Duh!

    XYLEM held me up. I knew the word but tried to spell it with a "Z", "P", "F", "S", before "X" dawned.

    YR, enjoyed the poems.

    After being housebound for two weeks, I had to get out yesterday. First I had to go out and take a shovel to hack down a curtain of icicles across the door to my garage. I was afraid they would scratch my car since they hung to about 3' off the ground. The street was dry. My driveway was dry. I got momentarily stuck in the snowplow berm. 42* today and melting. The foot of snow has shrunk to about 4 inches.

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  38. Another fun solve even if I didn't get the anagrams from MIXED GREENS, and like others scratched my head at FOSTER GREEN and APE GREEN.

    Hand up for surfing with a BOARD not a MODEM. I had ZIP before VIM but NOVELLA fixed that.

    I caught the CSO (coincidental shout out) to Spitzboov with NAUTICAL MILE.

    I wanted Bob Cratchit for DICKENS' CLERK but neither name would fit.

    I was trying to remember Bambi's aunt's name that starts with E for DOE IN MANY FILMS. JOHN was much simpler and ENA is one letter short.

    Thanks for the poetry YR. No snow here today. May those of you in the path of the Nor'easter
    stay

    Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
    In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

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  39. Dudley, I just looked out the window. Yep, I think it’s going to snow today.

    Spitz @ 8:47, loved the Mother Goose and Grimm cartoon. Very appropriate for today’s weather!

    Anon @ 8:54, that’s a very helpful explanation – thank you! Now if I could only have a helpful way to remember it for the next time?

    Lemony – thanks for the listing by year of medal winners – I’ll have it memorized tomorrow…

    I am enjoying all the Olympic skiing events, what I have the time to watch. Usually it’s early morning while drinking my coffee and checking emails. The last few days I got to watch curling…never did understand that sport, and probably never will!

    JazzB, I’m glad you noticed 14A. I did a double take when I saw it!

    Sallie – Yes, OR = Operating Room.

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  40. Some Time-Warner genius here in town cut an optic fiber cable rendering our MODEM useless and so we were off the web for quite a while. I am declaring this Christy Minstrel Song as our anthem for Susan’s clever puzzle.

    Musings
    -We seem to get APE as a verb and adjective more than as a noun
    -A poke and a cleavage PEEK on Seinfeld (1:32)
    -Judge Judy can poke A HOLE in a lotta nonsensical stories
    -KOBE Bryant’s new home is REHAB
    -My TWOSOME will be playing golf sooner than making SNOWMEN with 60’s in the offing
    -CED has given us IMAGES that are funny and disturbing; sometimes simultaneously ;-)
    -NEEDILING - “You want me to sing SOLO?” “Yes, so low I can’t hear you”
    -The Birds was a Daphne du Maurier NOVELLA made into a classic Hitchcock movie
    -BTW, Buckeye, yesterday’s movie was Stalag 17 where Peter Graves played a washboard in the movie where he portrayed a spy who eventually gets his just desserts
    -I just got an automated call for a sub job 22 miles away starting an hour ago. Not AHORA. ¡Ay, caramba!
    -What answer today is in the title of the movie with this scene featuring Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan and Barbara Stanwyck?

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  41. "MURDER" of crows is fun. I always enjoy being reminded of the strange names we use for gangs of birds. Among my favorites are a "Stare" of Owls, a "Wedge" of Swans, and an "Ostentation" of Peacocks.

    Too easy for a Thursday.
    Indeed TOO easy - because it proved to be DNF pour moi. Turns out I spelled RAMEN incorrectly, with two "A"s. (I knew I'd pay a penalty for never eating that stuff.) This made me settle for ALI instead of ELI for Ransom Olds' middle name. (Without a perp to set me straight, how was I to know he might not be Muslim?)
    I didn't realize we were hunting anagrams until I finished. I have a hunch it would have been harder if I was thinking of anagrams all along. As it is, I think it's a very clever job from Ms. Gelfand.

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  42. Sallie ~~

    Thanks for the good wishes. My newspaper, also, had 'Doe in many films' at 33D. My brain and typing weren't in sync. I had been THINKING 'woods' when I saw DOE which is why the clue fooled me.

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  43. KentuckyKate @ 7:00:
    I always get a kick (well, a minor one) whenever a word I really don't know pops into my head anyway--either because I once heard it in a jr high class or in the background of a TV science show.
    Today's words were XYLEM and ISOMER.

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  44. @Barry G -

    "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams

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  45. Canadian Eh, I like CSO a new word in the Corner lexicon. HG, golf all week end for me as well

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  46. I got the reveal, but it is hard to find mixed greens when most of your letters are "red."

    Actually I am still trying to fit Bob Cratchit in that Dickens clerk. Oh well, it least instead of saying Bah Humbug, this puzzle gave me a break from the snow. I let my neighbers kid use the snow blower & it took about a half an hour to get the newspaper unstuck from the *&%^ blades...

    Thank you Susan Gelfand for this green diversion from all this ice & snow...

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  47. HG, I love when you link a song, and before I click your link, I am already humming it!!

    The movie you asked about is in the 22nd down clue. (For everyone else, this is not a spoiler – just don’t peek back at the answers if you want to try to remember which one it was!)

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  48. Greetings!

    Late last night, I completely missed the significance of MIXED. However, everything else was fine. Thanks, Susan and Marti!

    Had Jane before JOHN. (Used to watch a mystery series about a woman with a PSEUDONYM.)

    Thanks for poetry, YR!

    About 80 degrees here now. Keep forgetting to order vegetable seeds and plants.

    Cheers!

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  49. I found another green theme tie-in.

    Although Midori itself is not in the puzzle, it is sort of a MIXED GREEN. Well, more like a green mixer.

    Research show that Midori is Japanese for green.

    Then there's this.

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  50. Lance MIDORI is in the puzzle , it is the name of the Japanese skater who won silver in 1992. So now when I use Midori melon ball liqueur, it will make more sense; thanks

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  51. From Wiki
    Ao is a Japanese color word that includes what English-speakers would call blue and green. For example, in Japan, green traffic lights are described as ao shingō and blue skies are described as aozora .
    Ao vs. Midori
    Modern Japanese has a separate word for green (緑 midori), although its boundaries are not the same as in English. Ancient Japanese did not have this distinction: the word midori only came into use in the Heian period, and at that time (and for a long time thereafter) midori was still considered a shade of ao. Educational materials distinguishing green and blue only came into use after World War II, during the Occupation: thus, even though most Japanese consider them to be green, the word ao is still used to describe certain vegetables, apples and vegetation. Ao is also the name for the color of a traffic light, "green" in English. However, most other objects—a green car, a green sweater, and so forth—will generally be called midori. Japanese people also sometimes use the English word "green" for colors. The language also has several other words meaning specific shades of green and blue.

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  52. Sallie, I'm with you. Big trouble after Wednesday. I thought of. Hatchett first, didn't get Heep til I checked here. Jack Elam and O'Neal came easily, showing my age. Missed the theme entirely. Love reading the blogs of those much more puzzle adept than I.

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  53. I just read a post about an Internet acquaintance who has terminal cancer and is going to hospice instead of continuing treatment in a hospital. Needless to say, it's a sad story. It's the wife of a couple I met a couple of times in Fort Bragg on trips north. Her posts were always gentle and interesting. Her husband though, not so much. He is one of those people who is unable to discuss political things without getting disagreeable and angry. So, we aren't close but I'm sad for what he's going through.

    My problem is my concern about my difficulty in saying thoughtful and comforting things. Nice words seem to flow out of other people where I have difficulty saying anything that is kind without sounding trite. Part of my problem is that I am not religious so comments about prayers, etc. don't seem appropriate. I'm not sure if I have difficulty saying thoughtful things or I just over-worry about what they sound like to me. Anyway, it's obviously a very bad time for him and a difficult time for me trying to express my sympathy.

    Thanks for letting me share...

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  54. YR:
    I also want to thank you for that poem. It's lovely.

    BillG:
    Just a suggestion: you could say something like "I know this is a difficult time for you, but you are a strong person (assuming he is) who will go through this process with grace and the confidence of a life well lived."

    OwenKL:
    As usual your poem is impressive.

    It is amazing to me that words like XYLEM and ISOMER popped into my head immediately and it must be over 50 years since I studied about that.

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  55. Bill G @ 4:30,
    I have the same problem finding words of comfort. Particularly when someone is facing a terminal condition. You can't very well wish them a speedy recovery. We can of course wish them strength for what lies ahead, even admire their courage *if& that seems appropriate.
    One of the regular hardships for non-theists is that believers have co-opted most of the signs and sounds of communal feeling. I don't begrudge them, but we need to find our own humanist hymns (Ode to Joy?) and psalms and expressions of empathy.
    I learned not long ago that you can "bless" someone without being religious, as one of its meanings is to wish good things to someone or console them. It is a handy word. Of course, we can always express "good wishes" and "best thoughts." Sometimes a good response is to offer "a friendly ear if you want to talk." If someone is close to you, perhaps the best thing is to offer to help in some practical way.

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  56. Thank you for your thoughtful and helpful comments

    To change the mood from my last post, here's a video of an adorable little girl with a full-on Yorkshire accent. I can't always make out what is being said but it sure sounds cute. Cute little Yorkshire girl's accent.

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  57. -Yes, Marti, of course you are right on that Frank Capra produced movie with Cooper, Stanwyck and Brennan. There were a lot of “Green” songs that came to my mind, but, “Green Green” seemed most apropos. I hope you are about done with that house!
    -Words of comfort – Every situation is different but I feel your presence and a comforting hug are usually sufficient and then let the suffering person direct the discussion and the level of disclosure, which I find they usually do. Words can seem so shallow and sometimes less is more. Of course, there is no “one size fits all” in these matters.

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  58. Hola Everyone, Finished with help today. Somersby was unknown, so Jodie Foster came very slowly. I also put in Duffers for Twosome (Sorry, Gary). But that was the only word that came to mind.
    Hands up for much the same problems that Barry encountered.

    Living here near Santa Cruz, CA and Half Moon Bay the only real surfers are in the Ocean. LOL.

    I didn't get the theme, but thanks to Marti that was sorted out.

    EES was a ? so even though I had the answers to most of the clues, I wasn't sure they were correct.

    We haven't seen Eleve recently. it used to be a frequent entry. All those E's make it a great Crossword word.

    Have a great day, everyone.

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  59. Yellowricks, Loved your "pomes" today. However, snow is scarce here in our CA landscape. We could use some rain and some more snow in the mountains.

    Bill G. "I'm thinking about you" is always a nice way to let people know that you are there. It isn't religious, but still has a heartfelt sentiment. You can always send a Thinking about you card, also. It is very hard when someone is terminal to really be able to give them some consoling words.

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  60. I was going to recommend a book about Ravens in my last post, but forgot.

    Ravens, being the largest birds of the Crow family are fascinating to me and for those of you who enjoy something along the Scientific line, I think you would enjoy this.

    "Mind of the Raven" by Bernd Heinrich is a great read. Since reading it I have enjoyed watching the crows in our area and have a better understanding of the "Murder" in our neighborhood.

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  61. More greetings from Cairo!

    A long day, but we finished our project and went out with the team who are all now our new friends...

    The puzzle had too many proper names for me to suss it out - I nearly ended with canEDGREENS and a potential DNF. A break for lunch freashed the eyes and I saw the anagrams - FOSTER GREENS just didn't seem right. Aha!

    So copious ink change things to MIXED GREENS and I solved much more - but still not enough. DNF...

    NILE GREEN? that must be somewhere else. I had dinner on the NILE's shore this eve and it is more NILE brown. Dinner was at a place called Fish Market - very good, but no wine since Revolution #1*

    After dinner we went to a shesha (sp?) place that also had booze. The team is closer now....

    Time to call the kids so I can turn in. Tomorrow is a day off before the flight home. We hope to catch the Egypt museum before prayers.

    Cheers, -T
    * maybe too esoteric - name the reference :-)

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  62. I was looking for some funny mixed greens pics to post, but was having an off night. For example:

    Not really funny, just weird.

    Even weirder...

    This one was listed under bewitching green eyes...

    When I came upon what I thought was a beautiful painting, but it turns out it is 1 of 20 green photos from this site.

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  63. There has been no end of discussion about the distinction between ravens and crows. It's actually quite simple. At the tip of the wing, each has feathers that are distinct from the others, separate and visible in flight. They're known as pinion feathers. A raven has four on each wing, a crow has three.

    Simply put: the difference between a crow and a raven is a matter of a pinion.

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  64. CED - You never cease to amaze, not just your links, but the time on your hands... :-) Cool links.

    To all those in the snow's path - what a crazy winter this soon was... I recall those from my ute and they provide stories for a generation or two (I even have one)- until it happens again and they say "mamma said that in '14 it was so cold...."

    Cairo's weather is just, erm, Wow!, in comparison. In Houston I see it is near 34F (1C?) but will be warm when I get home.

    Bill G. - I know what you mean - I have a hard time too with intractable problems. As an engineer (and a guy) we just want to fix things or call it for what it is. EMO is hard for us. Keith gave you a formula (that I second and try to follow) -- just listen and don't say much. An "I can't imagine..." (even though you can, but don't want to) or an "I'm so sorry to hear that..." goes a long way. "We are all thinking about you..." can substitute for "we are praying for you" "You're in our thoughts," I think, is the same as "You're in our prayers" if the latter doesn't roll off the tongue. Good luck with your friend and be there for them if the need something.

    Less heavy...

    Steve - Douglas Adams was (RIP) brilliant! I read every book he wrote (I hope I'm wrong) and laughed my posterior off. The Holistic series was also genius.

    Cheers, and adieux from Cairo. -T

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  65. TAPENADE as a puzzle answer this week inspired me to try to make some today.

    1/2 pound pitted Kalamata olives
    2 small anchovy fillets, rinsed
    1 small clove garlic, minced
    2 tablespoons capers, drained
    2 to 3 fresh basil leaves (optional)
    1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
    2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

    Thoroughly rinse the olives in cool water. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Process to combine until the mixture becomes a coarse paste, approximately 1 to 2 minutes total.

    For a coarser tapenade finely mince olives, capers and anchovies and stir in the other ingredients. (This is what I did)

    Let it rest in the fridge for 3 hours so the flavors meld. Then serve it with crackers or crusty bread. Delish!

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  66. Bill G.@4:30: Your comments about not knowing what to say made me think of this piece in today's NY Times. It's not directly relevant to your situation but perhaps it will help.

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  67. Wow. Y'all remember this puzzle from just a few months ago?

    It even was a Thursday puzzle. Also had FOSTER/forest.

    Same reveal.

    Both had Uriah Heep.

    Very similar grids.

    Bush league, Rich Norris.

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  68. Gary, Chickie, AnonT, Marti, Al and others earlier -- I really appreciate your good advice and thoughtfulness. You have given me some tools to help in these (for me) difficult situation. It's also comforting to know I'm not the only one who struggles to find the right things to say to be comforting. Thanks again.

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