Words: 72 (missing J,Q,Z)
Blocks: 30
Eerie - I sensed we were getting a Mark Bickham puzzle yesterday....and
he did not disappoint~! This one was another white-wash to start (and
hopefully not an omen to us NE dwellers come Monday), but in the 'hunt
and peck' style of crossword solving, I got through to the "Ta-DA~!" in
just over my allotted time. Two grid-climbers paired with two 11-letter
climbers, two triple-10 corners, and two inner triple 10's, to boot~!
Phew~! Some of our longer fill:
1a. Title puppet dragon of '60s-'70s kids' TV : H.R. PUFNSTUF
- a children's show just before my time, from Sid & Marty
Krofft; they also produced the Krofft Supershow, which IS what I watched
on Satuday mornings; it featured a segment called Wonderbug, which featured a character named C.C.~! (OK, it was a guy, but....)
3d. Chevrolet Camaro cousin : PONTIAC FIREBIRD
- the Flaming Chicken, and one of my all-time favorite cars - the '77
version - I think it had the coolest rims, ever. And I grew up with Knight Rider, not Smokey and the Bandit~!
12d. To summarize : IN A NUTSHELL
22d. It precedes the late news : PRIME-TIME TV
29d. Fictional threat to secret-keeping : X-RAY VISION - I did not give enough weight to the "fictional"
part of the clue; I stared at -RAY-ISION (and in the down, it's even
harder) for way too long; it's only when I tried TEX at 28a. that the
V-8 can nearly clubbed me
63a. Highly rated individuals? : LOAN SHARKS - HAR-HAR~!! - I've seen enough TV crime drama to know that the interest is usually usury
63a. Highly rated individuals? : LOAN SHARKS - HAR-HAR~!! - I've seen enough TV crime drama to know that the interest is usually usury
ONWARD rabbit ONWARD rabbit ONWARD rabbit ONWARD
bunny bunny foot foot ONWARD
bunny bunny foot foot ONWARD
ACROSS:
11. Trading place : PIT
14. Supercilious : ABOVE IT ALL
15. Angular : BONY - I was going to link a picture of a skinny model, but they're too disturbing, even for me
16. Ristorante offering : MINESTRONE
17. Words after take or gain : A LAP - my first guess, but "take a lap" didn't seem right to me
18. Experience slightly : TASTE
19. Senseless : ASININE
21. Bee: Pref. : API - as in APIarists, also known as a beekeepers
23. One-eighties : UIES - short for U-Turns, but oh, which spelling to go with? I tried UEYS to start - BZZZT~!
25. Back porch luxury : HOT-TUB - I have been in a back porch hot tub; the porch was part of a house on a ski resort; quite an experience to relax outside at night surrounded by snow AND in your swim suit
26. Lady's love : TRAMP - the Disney movie
28. Bandleader Beneke : TEX - I went down the alphabet list; teD, tiM, toM, but stopped....
30. Ravel's "Gaspard de la __" : NUIT
31. Tiny parasites : LICE - nice - the plural got me; I went with NITS, but that's a crossword parasite
32. Alarms : SCARES
34. Oshkosh hrs. : CST - Winnebago county, Wisconsin and Central Standard Time - for another week, that it's CDT
36. Alternative to satellite : AM/FM
37. Name of eight popes : URBAN - and one New Zealand-born country music star
38. Lionized actor? : LAHR - Bert Lahr, who portrayed The Cowardly Lion
39. 30% of venti : SEI - A WAG, but I did know it was foreign numbers
40. Characteristic of some jacks : ONE-EYE
41. Zeno's home : ELEA
42. Hunter's setting : TRAP
44. "Slumdog Millionaire" star __ Patel : DEV - the "V" was my last fill
45. Comeback : RALLY
46. Frank : WIENER
48. In __: unmoved : SITU
50. 2002 British Open champion : ELS
51. Words spoken while stretching, perhaps : I'M BORED - ah, that type of stretching; I do healthy stretches before work and playing hockey
53. Old Toyota model : SUPRA
55. Tara of "American Pie" : REID - I thought it was this girl, but she's Alyson Hannigan
56. Great Plains dweller : PRAIRIE DOG - all I needed was the "G" at the end to make an 'educated' WAG
60. Raison d'__ : ÊTRE
61. Historical transition point : END OF AN ERA
62. Movie format : DVD
DOWN:
1. Omelet ingredient : HAM - Mark BickHAM~?!?
2. Diamond stat : RBI - for some reason, I was looking for a pitcher's stat on this clue, but diamond refers to anything baseball; I know there are a few of you out there who are keyed up for the new season
4. Iris holder : UVEA - DAH~!!! The eye part, not a VASE for the flowers (and that's fl-OW-ers, not Fl-OH-ers)
5. Spill the beans : FESS UP
6. Tucci's "Road to Perdition" role : NITTI - all PERPS
7. Rep in the city : STREET CRED - REPutation, and CREDibility
8. Eastern path : TAO
9. Prismatic bone : ULNA
10. Bygone Crayola shade : FLESH
13. Laid-back : TYPE-B - I'm OK with NOT being "Type-A"
15. Xhosa's language group : BANTU - complete WAG; well, I did have the "T"
20. Accelerator particles : IONS
21. Country album? : ATLAS - cute; no music here
24. "Can Do!" group : SEABEES - from the US Navy's Construction Battalion, or "CB"s
32. Overhead light? : SUN - D-oh~!!! This took WAY too long for me to fill
33. From Okla. City to Tulsa : ENE
35. Airline conveniences : TRAYS
38. Pastoral place : LEA
40. Letters under TUV, perhaps : OPERator, on the old dial phones
43. Battery post : ANODE
45. Indonesian currency : RUPIAH - OK, I cheated - I have a MONEY table in my dictionary, and since I had R-P--H, I looked, and there it was - and yes, from Indonesia, no less~!
46. Condé Nast technology magazine : WIRED
47. Sicken : REPEL
49. Bailiwicks : TURFS - my one 'meh' answer for the day; I would have preferred some vague clue about artificial grass
52. Popular 1958 spy novel : DR. NO
54. "General Hospital" Emmy winner Sofer : RENA
57. Nabokov novel : ADA
58. Where "Shazbot!" is a curse : ORK - from the TV show Mork & Mindy
59. Natural __ : GAS
14. Supercilious : ABOVE IT ALL
15. Angular : BONY - I was going to link a picture of a skinny model, but they're too disturbing, even for me
16. Ristorante offering : MINESTRONE
17. Words after take or gain : A LAP - my first guess, but "take a lap" didn't seem right to me
18. Experience slightly : TASTE
19. Senseless : ASININE
21. Bee: Pref. : API - as in APIarists, also known as a beekeepers
25. Back porch luxury : HOT-TUB - I have been in a back porch hot tub; the porch was part of a house on a ski resort; quite an experience to relax outside at night surrounded by snow AND in your swim suit
26. Lady's love : TRAMP - the Disney movie
28. Bandleader Beneke : TEX - I went down the alphabet list; teD, tiM, toM, but stopped....
30. Ravel's "Gaspard de la __" : NUIT
31. Tiny parasites : LICE - nice - the plural got me; I went with NITS, but that's a crossword parasite
32. Alarms : SCARES
34. Oshkosh hrs. : CST - Winnebago county, Wisconsin and Central Standard Time - for another week, that it's CDT
36. Alternative to satellite : AM/FM
37. Name of eight popes : URBAN - and one New Zealand-born country music star
38. Lionized actor? : LAHR - Bert Lahr, who portrayed The Cowardly Lion
39. 30% of venti : SEI - A WAG, but I did know it was foreign numbers
40. Characteristic of some jacks : ONE-EYE
41. Zeno's home : ELEA
42. Hunter's setting : TRAP
44. "Slumdog Millionaire" star __ Patel : DEV - the "V" was my last fill
45. Comeback : RALLY
46. Frank : WIENER
48. In __: unmoved : SITU
50. 2002 British Open champion : ELS
51. Words spoken while stretching, perhaps : I'M BORED - ah, that type of stretching; I do healthy stretches before work and playing hockey
53. Old Toyota model : SUPRA
55. Tara of "American Pie" : REID - I thought it was this girl, but she's Alyson Hannigan
60. Raison d'__ : ÊTRE
61. Historical transition point : END OF AN ERA
62. Movie format : DVD
DOWN:
1. Omelet ingredient : HAM - Mark BickHAM~?!?
2. Diamond stat : RBI - for some reason, I was looking for a pitcher's stat on this clue, but diamond refers to anything baseball; I know there are a few of you out there who are keyed up for the new season
4. Iris holder : UVEA - DAH~!!! The eye part, not a VASE for the flowers (and that's fl-OW-ers, not Fl-OH-ers)
5. Spill the beans : FESS UP
6. Tucci's "Road to Perdition" role : NITTI - all PERPS
7. Rep in the city : STREET CRED - REPutation, and CREDibility
8. Eastern path : TAO
9. Prismatic bone : ULNA
10. Bygone Crayola shade : FLESH
13. Laid-back : TYPE-B - I'm OK with NOT being "Type-A"
15. Xhosa's language group : BANTU - complete WAG; well, I did have the "T"
20. Accelerator particles : IONS
21. Country album? : ATLAS - cute; no music here
24. "Can Do!" group : SEABEES - from the US Navy's Construction Battalion, or "CB"s
27. Part of an org. : MEM
32. Overhead light? : SUN - D-oh~!!! This took WAY too long for me to fill
33. From Okla. City to Tulsa : ENE
35. Airline conveniences : TRAYS
38. Pastoral place : LEA
40. Letters under TUV, perhaps : OPERator, on the old dial phones
43. Battery post : ANODE
45. Indonesian currency : RUPIAH - OK, I cheated - I have a MONEY table in my dictionary, and since I had R-P--H, I looked, and there it was - and yes, from Indonesia, no less~!
46. Condé Nast technology magazine : WIRED
49. Bailiwicks : TURFS - my one 'meh' answer for the day; I would have preferred some vague clue about artificial grass
52. Popular 1958 spy novel : DR. NO
54. "General Hospital" Emmy winner Sofer : RENA
57. Nabokov novel : ADA
58. Where "Shazbot!" is a curse : ORK - from the TV show Mork & Mindy
59. Natural __ : GAS
Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter
Note from C.C.:
There are still spots left for the Cru Dinner on Friday March 7, 2014. Please click here for more information. The dinner traditionally kicks off the ACPT and is a great opportunity to meet with constructors and fellow solvers.
There are still spots left for the Cru Dinner on Friday March 7, 2014. Please click here for more information. The dinner traditionally kicks off the ACPT and is a great opportunity to meet with constructors and fellow solvers.
I think you can still attend the dinner without being a ACPT competitor, right, Mike Alpert? Can our Splynter go there? (Mike is the organizer of the Cru Dinner.)
 |
| Brendan Emmett Quigley, Mike Alpert, Tyler Hinman |
ABOVE IT ALL was Paddy O'Dell,
ReplyDeleteThe answer to life he had IN A NUTSHELL:
Cross Crosswords and Manga!
'Twould be the END OF AN ERA!
Replacing movies, and PRIME TIME TV as well!
Hard to believe I finished this baby without any red letter help! So many multi-word answers! So many trick clues! I got the top half, but the bottom was as gap-toothed as a hillbilly!
Dating myself, I thought of Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, and Oliver J. Dragon of Kukla, Fran, & Ollie; before H.R.PUF'N'STUFF; I didn't even know what kind of animal H.R. was. Just looked them up to get the names right, and see one of the characters on Beanie & Cecil was Capt. H.Huffenpuff.
ReplyDeleteA lot of words (NITTI, NUIT, SEI, REID, RENA) had to depend on perps, but the only real WAG for me was RUPIAH/SUPRA. I'm even proud of myself for recognizing TRAMP, LAHR, ONE EYE, POLITICAL (but not LEADER, I thought it might be ANIMAL), UIES, SUN, X-RAY VISION right off, but still got fooled by BONY (I had BENT), SCARES (I had SIRENS), WIENER (had ERNEST), PRAIRIE DOG (briefly had SOUIX __), ATLAS (my last fill, so I judge it as being the best).
40d I tried without looking at my phone, so started with OPQR instead of OPER, and it was close enough to cause me problems before I finally corrected it.
Not sure about the clue for LOAN SHARKS -- there's a lot of interest in the guy, and he rates high, but that's not the same as being highly rated, is it?
Rabbit rabbit
ReplyDeleteLovely very challenging Saturday. HE PUFNSTUF was buried deep but like Splynter, it all filled. Bandleader Beneke meant nothing, and RUPIAH is new to me. I did not know Rena Dover was on GH but now I do. Thanks Mark and Splynter
ReplyDeleteRabbit Rabbit, beware the Ides of March
ReplyDeleteRabbit rabbit
ReplyDeleteSplynter: Venti is a number? I thought it was a cup size at Starbucks! As for BONY, I don't know who made the original meme (though I agree with it), Google added the ad, and I made the comments on the left margin.
ReplyDeleteHello again to this fine and welcoming group. For those of you who will be in NYC next weekend for the ACPT, I would love to meet you in person. Just look for someone who is 6 feet tall, not nearly as skinny as he was in high school, and seeming fairly non-stressed on account of being a judge rather than a competitor.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to share with you today an amazing quad stack by Martin Ashwood-Smith, entitled 4 Broadway, along with the story of why it came to my site instead of your favorite (or second favorite) newspaper.
On behalf of Martin, and all of my friends who test solved the puzzle and made suggestions about it, we hope you like it!
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteMan! I somehow managed to get through this one unassisted, but it was a real slog. Lots of total unknowns and/or really obscure answers today. Never heard of RUPIAH, for example, and made a WAG at BANTU. Was totally misdirected by the clue on PRAIRIE DOG and had a very hard time getting stuff like POLITICAL LEADER and XRAY VISION from the clues.
Still, hard clues and obscurities are par for the course on a Saturday, right?
What really made is a slog, though, were the answers that just didn't really seem to match their clues, thereby causing me to second guess everything else. I fondly remember HR PUFNSTUF from my youth, but had no idea he was a dragon and certainly don't recall him being a puppet (unless you can call a full-body costume a "puppet"). Worse than that, however, was the clue for SEI. SEI is Italian for six. Venti is Italian for 20. Unless my math is a whole lot worse than I thought it was, there is no way that 6 is 30% of 20. Unless you're rounding down, I suppose. But still, not a very exact clue.
I always despair when I see those long Saturday fills but the good news is that if you get one, you get a lot. So PONTIAC FIREBIRD, for example, was a big help. Still, I was beginning to think it was going to be a frustrating case of "close but no cigar". I first had RUPEES and RUPIAH just looked wrong (though, of course, it was hard to argue with those three long SE fills). And I first had UEYS which, in retrospect, I shouldn't have been so crazy about, especially when STREET CRED turned it into UEES. But NITTE still seemed okay. In the end, I had to change that "E" to an "I" to hear the "TaDa!". But I'm not crazy about UIES.
ReplyDeleteIf we're dragon-dating ourselves, put me down for Cecil.
And I must confess to violating my "No Research" rule: I looked at the phone for OPER.
It got down to -1.2° last night here in the beautiful mid-Hudson valley which makes me wonder if it will make it up to the forecast high in the mid 30s. But the sun is out (and its angle of attack is increasing every day) so who knows.
[20:15]
Good morning, Saturday soldiers!
ReplyDeleterabbit, rabbit!
This one turned into a Wite-Out workout. I finally got it, but what a mess I made. 1D put EGG on my face. And my COUNCILMAN had no STREET CRED for quite a while.
Hand up for RUPEES before RUPIAH showed up.
Barry, if 3 is 30% of 10, shouldn't 6 be 30% of 20? 20 X .3 = 6
March is marching in like a lamb -- at least for a few hours. Across the road I see an earlybird tree already in bloom. Tomorrow the winter that just keeps on giving is due to return.
Barry G - What D Otto said. I'm guessing that you were doing the mental math as if the clue were written with 33%, or 1/3. I did just that until a V-8 can can sailing in from another room...
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle took longer than usual.
ReplyDeleteI got POLITICAL LEADER from just CST, LAHR and RALLY, but it took a while to think of PONTIAC FIREBIRD.
Hand up for NITS. That was the last section and it fell when I gave up the S in favor of LICE.
RUPIAH and RENA were all perps.
BAILIWICKS and TURFS can be territories. Gangs accept no other gangs on their TURF.
"Take five," (laps) was a punishment in gym class. There was a volley ball net strung from one side of the gym to the other. You had to duck under the supporting ropes as you took laps. It caught me and I landed flat on my back. My parents were not up in arms, as parents would be today. It was my fault for needing punishment.
Challenging and fun.
If this wasn’t a big boy puzzle, it’ll do until one shows up. I agree with Splynter’s assessment and cry of phew after a lot of hunt ‘n peckin’ and starting with TEX! Dang these constructors are good.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Those POLITICAL LEADERS tend to party business and not America’s
-Clinton declared END OF AN ERA for big gov’t. Where’d that go?
-Those X-RAY glasses never worked, er, so I was told
-Most famous movie PIT scene starting at 1:10 (4:34)
-Those BONY kids I see in middle school eat a gazillion calories and don’t put on weight.
-Take A LAP was familiar punishment in basketball practices
-AS IN _ _ _ was ASININE not three words, Zeno doesn’t live on/in ETNA, I have to FESS UP that I had RAT OUT, TYPE-B not STOIC
-Too long in the HOT TUB makes me light headed
-Daughter’s FIL is a champion rifleman and shoots PRAIRIE DOGS for ranchers. 300 yds out? No prob!
-FLESH comes in many hues, doesn’t it?
-John Wayne as a SEEBEE using a tank for a shield
-Tattoos, face studs and poor grammar REPEL employers
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeletePretty much got most of it without a hassle. Getting the down-spanners helped. POLITICAL LEADER came easily. Thought PONTIAC something and guessed at FIREBIRD. Had not heard of STREET CRED, did not know DEV, and UIES has no standard spelling, so the NW was tough to finish. Favorite clues were those for WIENER and LAHR. OverALL I thought it was a well-crafted puzzle.
Louse inflection among Germanic Languages:
English: louse - lice
German: Laus - Läuse
Low German: Luus - Lüüs
Dutch: luis - luizen
(In German the polite word for lice is Einwohner 'inhabitants')
Other than above; no nits today.
Happy Saturday everybody!
ReplyDeleteTypical Saturday toughness resulted in a DNF (close, though). Didnt fall for the WIENER and SUN TRAPS....
Long fill was a big plus today. Remembered HR PUFNSTUF, but initially balked because I thought there were four Fs involved in the spelling....
Took my 2000 PONTIAC FIREBIRD, complete with requisite T-Top, out for a spin yesterday. Still think it was ASININE to stop production of the Firebird in 2002, and 8 years later the entire Pontiac brand disappeared, the END OF AN ERA for sure....
I'll FESS UP to preferring realistic bods over the BONY ones any day of the week....
Finally, went to see Gravity yesterday. WOW, what a great film! I highly recommend it, and will be rooting for it 10 times on Sunday night...!
Lepus Curpaeums, Lepus Curpaeums....
"Fictional threat to secret-keeping : X-RAY VISION"
ReplyDeletePoor.
A DNF as is usual on Saturday for me, but I love to learn new things when I read Splyter's blog. Thanks, Splynter.
ReplyDeleteAvatar now shows our Amtrak station. Picture is deceiving. City crews plow streets quickly after a storm and pile the snow in a vacant lot in front of the station. Later, they haul it out to the country to melt.
Not as bad as predicted today. Only -20 and supposed to warm to -5. 10 mph winds so that is just -41 with wind chill. I live where this is common, so everyone is prepared with clothes, head-bolt heaters, snowmobiles, shovels, etc. BUT I am as tired of it this year as you on the East Coast, are.
Hope west coast rains help. not hurt people there.
Montana
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a real workout for me and no happy ending due to pit/type B crossing. Just couldn't make sense of the ..eb ending for laid back. Still don't get trading place=pit?
Very cold and windy here but lots of bright sunshine. I think we're going to miss the brunt of the coming storm, thank goodness. According to the Farmer's Almanac, March is going to be extremely cold with lots of snowstorms. Oh joy!
Have a nice, relaxing Saturday. Hope all the California folks are safe and sound.
PS - Thank you, Splynter, for a neat expo.
ReplyDelete"My avatar is an abandoned vehicle on my farm."
ReplyDelete"Avatar now shows our Amtrak station"
Chalk this up to the effect of incessant cold weather on a curmudgeon but, as I understand it, an avatar is supposed to be an image that represents you. As such, it should be relatively consistent.
Irish Miss - At a mercantile exchange which exists as a market for stocks, commodities, etc, the part of the trading floor where exchanges are conducted is called a 'PIT'.
ReplyDeleteI will save the puzzle today to keep me busy while I am in the waiting room. DW is getting an MRI that hopefully will be the 1st step in fixing her back. (we have done this before with some success, so here we go again...)
ReplyDeleteI just got back from the Vet, my beloved cat of 14+ years, PK, is now in a box in the garage while I wait for the ground to thaw. End stage kidney failure. The vet said she had never seen such bad blood test results in her 20 years as a Vet. (I may have waited to long, but can you blame me?)
It makes you wonder why we get so attached to these animals in the first place...
Me & PK...
Every way that I could go wrong with this one, I did. Egg/Ham, tr_/Sei, camp/trap,I'm tired/I'm bored, nits/lice, sirens/scares, ueys/uies, rupees/rupiah and no doubt others. I even took out and put back situ 3 times. The eraser got more use today than the pointy end.
ReplyDeleteBut all's well that ends well. Completed in a little over an hour (with no red letters and no tada noticed emanating from the newsprint). A brute, but one that finally yielded.
I'm very sorry to hear about PK, Dave. My condolences. :-(
Hi All ~~
ReplyDeleteTough puzzle for me today ~ DNF. Having 'Tics' for Tiny parasites instead of LICE, was the culprit. Just couldn't get ATLAS for 'Country album' - clever. Lots to like, but many unknowns.
~ Also had Ted before TEX and Rupees before RUPIAH.
~ I liked the misdirection of 11D - Party person / POLITICAL LEADER.
~ I think of "Spilling the beans' as giving away a surprise rather than fessing up.
~ Thanks for the write-up, Splynter - You explained what I didn't quite get in a few spots.
~ CED ~ I read your post with tears in my eyes. I am so sorry. It is tough to be so emotionally attached to our pets. I dread what I know is in my near future. My thoughts are with you
CED, sorry to hear about PK. It's always tough to lose a friend.
ReplyDeleteMontana, isn't that head-bolt painful?
Pinch, Pinch ...
ReplyDeleteCED - I sympathize over the loss of your furry friend. We've wept over quite a few nice kitties, especially our dear Tabitha, who left us many years too soon.
ReplyDeleteCED, never good to lose a feline companion, I'm so sorry for your loss.... Does the K in PK stand for Kitty...?
ReplyDeleteAh well, I guess my match is a whole lot worse than I thought it was.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction, guys!
Still don't think HR Pufnstuf was a puppet, though...
Splynter: Nice write-up & informative links.
ReplyDeleteCED, sorry to hear about PK. My condolence for your loss.
Al Cyone @10:37 re: Avatar ... I guess I nailed it!
DNF ... Had the NW so quickly but in the end ran out of allotted, self-imposed, time limit.
No Faves today ... I see that "Puzzle Prohibition" is still in force.
A "toast" to ALL at Sunset. It is a Chamber-of-Commerce-Day here today.
Cheers!!!
This was a DNF due to some incorrect WAGS. Didn't know the Puppet, and didn't know NITTI, or DEV, and couldn't figure out STREETCRED.
ReplyDeleteCED - Sorry to hear about your loss. We lost another of ours last month!
Stay warm! Another cold front coming through tomorrow!
From Wikipedia:" H.R. Pufnstuf is a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program."
ReplyDeleteThey actually were life-size puppets, not just costumed actors.
Here are some thoughts on how the puppets were operated.
Link puppet
Well, I'm on the verge of giving up Saturday puzzles when I see a toughie like this one. I got only a bit of a start before I had to start cheating--sad. But I did think there were some clever and funny clues. I had HONEST before WIENER surprised me--clearly thinking of the wrong FRANK. LIONIZED ACTOR was a brilliant clue for LAHR. And there were a few fun trips down memory lane. I loved "Mork and Mindy" even if I didn't remember "Shazbot!" Can't believe what a great career Robin Williams enjoyed after that show.
ReplyDeleteRiver Doc, I agree with you about "Gravity." Didn't want to see it because I'm afraid of heights, but I thought Sandra Bullock's performance (having to act in that suit or with her whole body inside the space craft) was awesome.
CED, so sorry to hear about the loss of your kitty. Losing a pet is as devastating as losing a member of the family.
Thanks for reminding us about the beginning of a new month, Splynter. Feburary was tough for us, so we're hoping for a better March.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Spitz @ 10:40 - Thanks for the info on pit; that should have dawned on me but I think my brain is as frozen as our landscape. (-:
ReplyDeleteDave, I am so sorry for your loss of your dear PK.
Boom! Roasted BarryG, 0 fer 2. Don't worry, its still only spring training.
ReplyDeleteProperly difficult, but not absurdly so. I had to look up some shorties to get a toe-hold then battered my way to a compromised victory. Proud of myself for finally getting the spelling for PUFNSTUF. The critter came along too late in life for my viewing, so I'd only heard his name before.
ReplyDeleteMany of us seem to have followed the same road of errors: LICE was an over-write after TICS, BONY after BENT, and SCARES after SIRENS.
CED,
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry to read about your loss of PK. I know our words can't make a difference, but all of us who love our little guys know how these passings feel - and want to express our own small degree of pain.
I'm sure PK had a wonderful home with you. The reason we love them is instinctive both ways, and I'm sure the reason they usually go first is because it's intolerable to think of it the other way around.
I am so sorry, CED for the loss of PK. Our little furry friends wrap themselves around out hearts and are forever part of us. I feel your pain. In cleaning a closet not long ago I came across the ten year old cremains of Kahlua, my one time silky brown cat. The fond memories are still there, giving pleasure along with the pain. I hope your many fond memories will help you look back on all the joy PK brought to your life.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Hard one, but the long fills were relatively easy after I had enough perps to get an inkling. Thanks, Mark & Splynter.
ReplyDeleteI could probably sing you the theme song for H R Pufnstuf, but I didn't know he was a dragon or puppet. My little girls were addicted to the show in pre-school years. I didn't watch it, just heard it as I was busy in our tiny house. I hated the show because WitchyPoo, one of the main characters, had a very annoying high pitched cackle.
CED, sorry about the loss of your Pretty Kitty. I wish I could send you my sweet tuxedo cat "mirror-twin" of her. He would be happier with you than in my garage. Everyone wishing you condolences for PK's death by renal failure really
creeped me out, since this human PK has been fighting a stubborn UTI all winter. Shudder!
PK, take heart. In my younger days I experienced frequent and long lasting UTI infections, necessitating too many lost work days,sick in bed, uncompensated by my employer. I ran long courses of medication and had several operations. Today after many years I am finally free of that ill, although arthritis has taken its place. Eventually your problem could disappear. Did you know that drinking cranberry juice provides blessed relief? True. Even my GP said so. I drink cranberry juice at the sklightest twinge.
ReplyDeleteCED, I'm sorry about your cat. Best wishes for both of you.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember much about H. R. Pufnstuf except for the name. My favorite sea serpent was Cecil. I think that show gave Stan Freberg his start.
I just got back from a get together for my friend who just died from complications with prostate cancer. It was nice to remember him with his other friends and family but I wish it were for some other occasion. Geez...
Good evening. I haven't commented this week because I haven't had anything witty or new to add to the comments already made. However, I want to add my condolences to CED. I'm sorry for the passing of your cat. Their purpose in our lives is to give us love and companionship, which I'm sure PK did.
ReplyDeleteAfter my mother's kidneys failed, a sister and I researched death from renal failure. The article we read said that some medical personnel, if they could choose the manner of their death, would choose renal failure. It's a pain-free passing. The person sleeps more until they finally just don't wake up. Hopefully that happened to PK.
Have a good evening. Best wishes to all of us in the storm's path-I hope it isn't as bad as it's being hyped.
Pat
Good evening everyone - I should have posted this long ago, but today was just a lazy morning with sleep-over friends after Book Club (my "adopted" daughter and her husband, with 4 month old Nicolas. What a cutie!!)
ReplyDeleteThe “V” in Dev was also my last fill, Splynter. I had I’M tiRED, before I’M BORED appeared with PONTIAC FIREBIRD. One of my friends had a souped up Firebird, and would delight in putting a $5 bill on the dashboard and daring his passengers to try to grab it when he took off. Naturally they were always thrown back against the seat, and he never lost the $5.
The puzzle had a retro feel to it, or maybe I was just on Mark’s wavelength with H.R. PUFNSTUF, X-RAY VISION (remember the ads for those glasses in the back of comic books?), Lady and the TRAMP, Bert LAHR, Toyota SUPRA, FLESH colored Crayolas, OPER on old dial phones, DR NO and Mork from ORK.
Fun stuff, and an easy peasy Saturday solve!
Oh, and I think we should change the name of our book club to “Wine Club.” Man, those ladies can drink!!!
YR: Thanks for the information. I'll have to try that.
ReplyDeleteHello everybody. Enjoying a glass of 7 Deadly Zins wine while reading your comments, after a hard 4 hours of Turbo Tax data entry. I swear that program is getting more and more difficult to use each year, or is it that the tax codes are getting ever more complicated. Jeez, figuring out capital gains and losses is incomprehensible. The Turbo Tax program says Click Here to Get Help, and the help screen says things like take the value on line 11 of Schedule D as a positive number and "combine" with line 17 of the 1040, ... Jeez guys, can't you just make that calculation for me? *sigh* *sip*
ReplyDeleteAnyway, a good hard Saturday puzzle that kept me scratching my head for a pleasant couple of hours.
So today was fun, then exasperating, and now pleasant again. This wine is actually pretty doggone good. Gonna go put my feet up. Best wishes to you all.