Words: 70 (missing Q,W,X,Z )
Blocks: 36
I usually cringe when I see Mark's name on the title of a Saturday
LAT puzzle, but my first pass garnered some results, so I was encouraged
and kept going. The SW corner, however, did me in, and I had to use
red-letters to find my mistake. Oh well. Awkward set of blocks today,
left us with a stair pattern in the middle, and the SW and NE corners
dangling from just two crossings. Triple 10's and 9's, and two
10-letter climbers on the inside;
10. High-flying group : JET-SETTERS
27d. Classic spy comedy : MEN IN BLACK
- Um, spy comedy? I guess the comic book might have been more of a spy comedy, but
I really love the movies with Tommy Lee Jones & Will Smith. My
personal favoritest scene below; Vincent D'Onofrio should have gotten an Oscar
for playing a "bug" wearing an "Edgar suit". Brilliant.
31d. Early invasion participant : THE STONES - Argh~! Now I get
it - British Invasion; I was thinking it was THISTINES, and was going to Google if there
was even a tribe or civilization of that name; PHILIstines, yes,
but.... I think I would have tied it to the next clue/answer, too
32d. Dive : HONKY-TONK - Musical interlude - and I am NOT a Stones fan, but I just learned how to play this riff on the guitar while looking for the link; it's a pain because it's open G tuning, not standard
32d. Dive : HONKY-TONK - Musical interlude - and I am NOT a Stones fan, but I just learned how to play this riff on the guitar while looking for the link; it's a pain because it's open G tuning, not standard
ONWARD~!
ACROSS:
1. Screwdriver parts : VODKA AND O.J. - as a carpenter, I was curious to know if this was going to be the drink or the tool
11. __ Dea: Roman fertility goddess : BONA
15. Like John Cage's music : AVANT GARDE - Don't know John Cage, but I do know what Avant Garde means - Frawnche
16. Numerical column : ONES - tried TENS to start
17. Order with hot milk : CAFE AU LAIT - Straight up Frawnche, "coffee with milk"
18. Off-rd. rides : ATVs
19. Sour fruit : SLOE - LIME, UGLI(?)
20. Eponymous furniture designer : EAMES - Some design and creativity here
21. Cassowary cousin : RHEA
22. Frequent service station attendant? : SELF - there are a few places around here where they pump gas for me, and I actually don't care for it; I like to try for the 'perfect pump'
24. Some council members : ELDERS - WAG
26. South Pacific island nation : SAMOA - another WAG
30. Sweet and sour : TASTES - and yet a third WAG
31. Article in some modern music : THA' - I went with "TRA", and that got me started; can't say I know anything with "Tha" in the song or the group's name
34. 15-Across Irish playwright : BECKETT - the only Beckett I know is Det. Kate Beckett, from "Castle" - love that show
36. Prefix with fauna : AVI
37. Vert. opposite : HORizontal
38. Artless : NAIVE
39. Boy toy? : KEN - HAR-HAR~!!!
40. Student of Elves, in Tolkien : ENT - Three letters? Tolkien? Go with ORC or ENT
41. Twins, at times : SISTERS
43. Vocal stumbles : ERs....
44. View from a lodge : SKI RUN - I knew we were looking for some sort of snow reference
46. __ Adams Wilderness: Sierra Nevada region : ANSEL - educated WAG
11. __ Dea: Roman fertility goddess : BONA
15. Like John Cage's music : AVANT GARDE - Don't know John Cage, but I do know what Avant Garde means - Frawnche
16. Numerical column : ONES - tried TENS to start
17. Order with hot milk : CAFE AU LAIT - Straight up Frawnche, "coffee with milk"
18. Off-rd. rides : ATVs
19. Sour fruit : SLOE - LIME, UGLI(?)
20. Eponymous furniture designer : EAMES - Some design and creativity here
21. Cassowary cousin : RHEA
22. Frequent service station attendant? : SELF - there are a few places around here where they pump gas for me, and I actually don't care for it; I like to try for the 'perfect pump'
24. Some council members : ELDERS - WAG
26. South Pacific island nation : SAMOA - another WAG
30. Sweet and sour : TASTES - and yet a third WAG
31. Article in some modern music : THA' - I went with "TRA", and that got me started; can't say I know anything with "Tha" in the song or the group's name
34. 15-Across Irish playwright : BECKETT - the only Beckett I know is Det. Kate Beckett, from "Castle" - love that show
36. Prefix with fauna : AVI
37. Vert. opposite : HORizontal
38. Artless : NAIVE
39. Boy toy? : KEN - HAR-HAR~!!!
40. Student of Elves, in Tolkien : ENT - Three letters? Tolkien? Go with ORC or ENT
41. Twins, at times : SISTERS
43. Vocal stumbles : ERs....
44. View from a lodge : SKI RUN - I knew we were looking for some sort of snow reference
46. __ Adams Wilderness: Sierra Nevada region : ANSEL - educated WAG
48. Georgia-born Hall of Famer : TY COBB - the last "B" filled, and that gave it away for me
49. Shooter's ammo : PEAS
52. Emperor before Vitellius : OTHO - Short-lived reign; the Wiki
53. Pliés may precede them : LEAPS - Ballet/dance moves
58. Mountain transport : T-BAR - I tried TRAM, was 50% correct
60. Breakfast __ : NOOK
61. Write tongue twisters, perhaps : ALLITERATE - Owen, if you would, please~!
63. 1980s speed skating gold medalist Karin : ENKE - Link
64. San José resident : COSTA RICAN - took a second to parse this; the capital city of the Meso-American nation, not the city in Cali
65. Tube lineup : SKED - Tube short for television, SKED short for Schedule
66. Rustic building material : KNOTTY PINE - I dig castles and the look of stone; some wood is nice, but overdone it reminds me too much of a coffin
DOWN:
1. Short suckers? : VACs - Vacuums; I tried LOLS for lollipop first
2. Places to run : OVALS
3. "Platoon" Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor : DAFOE
4. Prepares for an engagement? : KNEELS
5. One-time bridge : AT A - One AT A time kind of bridge. V-8 can, duck~!!!
6. Feverish chills : AGUE
7. "The Lion King" character : NALA
8. Nip at a bar : DRAM - A SHOT is a bit more than a 'nip', I guess
9. Dog of comics : ODIE - Garfield's drooling buddy
11. College __ : BOARDS
12. Crooked : ON THE TAKE
13. Not once : NEVER EVER
14. Ninjas, perhaps : ASSASSINS
23. Swell : FAB - I tried FAT first
25. Short muscle? : LATissimus dorsi
28. Tuberous Andean plants : OCAs - Learned from doing crosswords
29. Guard dog breed : AKITA
33. Edible thistle : ARTICHOKE - Did not know it was a "thistle"
35. Not odd : EVEN - gimme
41. Nautilus, e.g. : SUBmarine
42. Michaelmas mo. : SEP
45. Cheated : ROOKED - new to me
47. Deliver a rant : LET RIP
50. Eastern adders? : ABACI - we've seen this before; abacus pluralized, and ADD-ers
51. Black Mass idol : SATAN - I had a package yesterday for one of my UPS trucks, and its shelf No. was 6666 - I told the driver he had to go to hell to deliver it; he said he was already there....
54. North Carolina school : ELON
55. And : ALSO
56. Pennsylvania school : PITT
57. "Now!" : STAT - Dah, not ASAP
59. Peace Nobelist Cassin : RENE - filled in with Perps
62. Brew finish : ERY - BREWery - I went to the Brickhouse Brewery last night with my buddies, and then dinner at Bobbiques
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Happy 45th wedding anniversary to dear JD and her husband Bob! I bet a big party is planned for today.
Note from C.C.:
Happy 45th wedding anniversary to dear JD and her husband Bob! I bet a big party is planned for today.
Limericks are for the literate
ReplyDeleteWho like their words to ALLITERATE.
My poems of late
Ooze from ohs to oblate,
Obeying an obsession to obscure and obliterate!
NINJA costumes are AVANT GARDE fashions,
You can't beat basic black to show passions.
Now pirates are tough
But their wardrobes are rough,
So it's NINJAS who make dapper ASSASSINS!
The room was paneled in KNOTTY PINE,
A RUSTIC bedroom in which to recline.
But alas, a teen crisis:
The daughter don't like this,
Says it's mocking of her naughty time!
DNF big-time. After I gave in and turned on the red letters and erased all the scarlet, the NE, central, and SE were filled, but the only word in the NW was AGUE and in the SW was HOR & SKI RUN. Pushed solve for the first letter of 1, and once I had that the rest of that quad went like dominoes. Ditto for the first letter of 31 in the SW quad. Never heard of BONA, EAMES, THA, OTHO, ELON; I thought several of the clues were out of line (MiB, SELF, THA?, others).
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary JD and Bob, and happy Flag Day to the US Cornerites.
ReplyDeleteIt is such fun to see the different approaches to Saturday themselves grids, Mark is always a challenge with people or things I do not know but today it all fell in place.
Karin ENKE and RENE Cassin were total unknowns and OTHO came only from reading my oldest son's Roman history books but they got filled.
I enjoyed seeing a brewery, the Stones and Men in Black.
I like Kate Beckett but Samuel wrote h ref=http://www.shmoop.com/waiting-for-godot/summary.html> Waiting for Visit which has filled many puzzles
Waiting for Godot
ReplyDeleteGuess too early for my linking skills enjoy all. I have afternoon sampling new beers with my son
ReplyDeleteGood morning, weekend warriors!
ReplyDeleteMy first pass through the snowy northwest turned up only LIME, and that turned out to be wrong. Hand up also for SHOT and TRAM. But even so, this turned into one of my fastest Saturdays ever.
Splynter your "Cali" comment had me thinking Columbia rather than California. Cute story on the 6666.
Happy anniversary, JD! What exotic trip have you got planned?
Morning, all (and Happy Anniversary, JD & Bob)!
ReplyDeleteTough all over today, although some spots were much tougher than others...
I actually managed to get the NE corner relatively quickly once I abandoned the top and started working my way up from the bottom. With ERS, KEN, AVI and TASTES in place, the rest of that section came pretty quickly.
Next came the SE section. It would have been a disaster, but I finally (and grudgingly) accepted that MEN IN BLACK (one of my favorite movies) could somehow be considered a "spy movie." Maybe there's another movie of the same name? RENE was a complete unknown, but the perps took care of her.
Next up was the NW section, which nearly did me in. I figured the "screwdriver" in 1A likely referred to the drink because (a) that would make it trickier and (b) I'm pretty sure I know all the parts of the tool and none are long enough to fit. But, since the clue didn't indicate an abbreviation, the OJ part just didn't occur to me for a long time. AVANT GARDE is not the first word that comes to mind when I think of John Cage's music ("cacophony" or "garbage", perhaps), but I eventually got it. The big holdup in that section, however, was having LIME instead of SLOE. Once I finally got rid of that, I was finally able to make some progress.
And then there was the SW corner... Ye gods! I actually had TYCOBB, ROOKED, HOR and NOOK, but that was all I could come up with for the longest time. THA? OTHO (I had NERO)? ENKE? SKED? THE STONES? HONKYTONK? No, no, no, no, and and no. After tentatively trying ORC at 40A, I finally thought that maybe, just maybe, those big walking tree creatures were somehow students of elves. I still don't understand it, but that gave me the foothold I needed and everything else fell into place after that.
Good morning Saturday Solvers!
ReplyDeleteHappy 45th Anniversary JD !! You are almost up there with CC and Don G. (^0^)
¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫
Thanks for the great write-up and links, Splynter. I happen to like THE STONES, and enjoyed your HONKY TONK Woman link! I love that they were next to each other in the grid – how cool is that???
We have run into John Cage before – his “4’33”” is a “composition” with no sound. The musicians just sit on the stage, and let the ambient noise become the music.
I wanted “pops” at 1-D, but knew better than to fill it in right away on a Saturday. But VODKA AND OJ let me see VAC, and I was off and running in the NW. The SE was next, with a good anchor at COSTA RICAN. The NE was next to fall, with ATVS and ELDERS, AVI and ERS.
But that SW corner was a toughie. Like Splynter, the ****BB gave me TY COBB (are you proud of me, C.C.???) I had tOOKin instead of ROOKED and NerO instead of OTHO. Finally got SKI RUN (d’uh!) which corrected my “took in” mistake, and made me re-think Nero. In the end I got ‘er done, under my typical Saturday time.
Hedge trimmers are calling…
The SW was tough for me too. HONKYTONK was an early WAG but I had little confidence in it. I had OTTO instead of the eventual OTHO (who?) and had no clue about THA or ENT or ENKE (though I should have remembered ENT). I wracked my brain over the "early invasion participant" but figured (wrongly) it referred to an individual. Somehow THESTONES and the British Invasion fired neurons at the same time. I still thought I'd have to resort to the red letters when I entered ARTICHOKE and was very surprised to hear the TaDa! I thought for sure I'd have to clean up a few of the Across fills.
ReplyDeleteOther unknowns: NALA, BONA Dea, RENE Cassin.
A nit? I'm not sure "tube" is short for "television" in the way that "SKED" is short for "schedule".
So another spooky instance where it seemed like someone else was solving the puzzle and all I was doing was typing.
[26:28]
Hi Y'all! I thought this was a fun challenge but I'm not sure why. Like everyone else, I found a lot of "Who dats?" I knew EAMES, but wasn't sure of the spelling. Perps, WAGs & a few red-letter runs and I was shocked to see I'd filled a Saturday in only 20 minutes, much less than usual.
ReplyDeleteI started out trying orange for the drink then tried several possible tool parts which all turned red. When the "K" appeared, aha!
I had the Normandy invasion on my mind which got me nowhere. Even when I had most of THE STONES, I was trying to parse it into something war related.
Little suckers wasn't a "tick". The MEN IN BLACK weren't in "tights". Boy toy wasn't GI Joe.
SKED? THA? Boo hiss!
Happy anniversary, JD!
Great expo as usual, Splynter!
SW did me in. Only had TYCOBB and HOR, and couldn't get the rest. Thanks to Mark for a challenge this morning.
ReplyDeleteAlways love the write-up, Splynter!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a great big DNF for me due to NE corner. Finally gave up and Googled cassowary and that helped but still was adrift because I had tram instead of t-bar, so no TADA.
Good Saturday stumper, MB, and great expo, as usual, Splynter.
Lemony from yesterday: glad you enjoyed the "cats and dogs" joke.
Have a great day.
Sorry, I forgot to wish JD and Bob a very Happy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteI needed 3 red letters to finish. Not one of my favorite puzzles however. What I did thnk was clever was putting THE STONES next to HONKY TONK. I did like that
ReplyDeleteGood morning all.
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary JD and Bob. Thank you Mark Bickham and thank you Splynter.
Like Marti, I held off on POPS in the NW until I had proof. Was real confident about AT A and AGUE, and 4 letter toon dog would be ODIE or OTTO. The AU gave me enough to wag CAFE AU LAIT. Like Splynter, I went from Lime to Ugli to eventual SLOE. My mother seldom drank, but on the rare occasion, it was a SLOE Gin Fizz.
The center was fairly easy too, but I stalled northeast and east, and in the south and souheast. HOR was easy in the west, and entering the "Georgia Peach"s name at 48A was a no-brainer. His contemporary, competitor, and career long adversary was the "Grey Eagle." Both were inducted in their first year of eligibility. My grandmother worked for the Grey Eagle and my mother was born on his ranch.
I turned on red letters and UTES lit up, as did wags TRA and NERO. Finally finished, but had more errors along the way. Complete natick for me at EAMES/NALA.
Much to do this AM and am already late for doing it. But it's Saturday, so the only one that is grading my productivity is me. Oh, and my wife, so I better get crackin' !
Easy Saturday
ReplyDeleteThe Stones did me in, too. I was thinking mid evil invaders and had "SHA" not "TRA" for the music clue. Didn't know the emperor either! Messy, unfinished corner. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that whole "San Jose" thing...one has to be careful when making air travel reservations. San Jose, CA? San Jose Del Cabo, Baja CA? San Jose, Costa Rica?
Happy Anniversary to one of my CA Coven and coffee buddies, JD. Hope you and Bob are celebrating appropriately!
Enjoy the weekend, One and All.
Greetings, Super Solvers! Hi-yo, Splynter, thanks for an excellent review.
ReplyDeleteVery often Mark Bickham beats me to the ground but today I was almost sashaying when starting in the center I got SAMOA, then BECKETT and all the rest down to ANSEL.
After that it slowed to a crawl but MEN IN BLACK (which I've never seen) helped jump start the SE corner. And so it went until three fourths was done. I laughed and thought of Tinbeni at VODKA AND OJ. NALA is well known from The Lion King, AGUE, DRAM, ODIE (wondered about OTTO)are good cross word staples so no problem.
The SW almost did me in but with -BB I knew it had to be COBB just couldn't recall his first name so researched it and ENKE which there is no way I would have known.
The light flickered, then lit at SKED because like Tube both are Brit terms.
Fun time from Mark and didn't take the entire morning!
Happy anniversary, JD and Bob! I hope you have a special celebration today.
Everyone, have a spectacular weekend, especially the Dads!
Happy Saturday everybody!
ReplyDeleteWow, this was the fastest Sat puzzle in a coon's age for moi (Frawnche just for Splynter...!)
Altho, I NEVER got ARTICHOKE, because my THA was THO, my OTHO was OTTO, and SK_D was just unfathomable....
I'm still happy with getting 11 of 12 long answers....
Personal preference is the FAB Four instead of THE STONES....
WEES about MIB; to me a classic spy comedy would be Get Smart....
Favorite clue = Boy Toy?
Just read the late nite comments,
ReplyDeleteFermatprime@1:48AM (read it...)
OwenKL, your Sandkings post reminded me of the Outer Limits Zanti Misfits!
Off to tackle the Saturday Stumper!
Well, I was actually surprised to get more than 2/3 of this puzzle without cheating, and after that everything fell into place except the ARTICHOKE, darn it, one of my favorite appetizers. Never heard of OTHO so had OTTO and didn't know ENKE so didn't know what to fill in there. And decided to just go for THE instead of THA for the article even though I figured that would (maybe deliberately) make it a dumb answer. A little frustrating to get so close, but still, much better than I thought it would go. Anyway, it was a relief to find Splynter and others had a bit of a struggle too--made me feel less silly.
ReplyDeleteDid enjoy a few cute items: KEN and PEAS, for example.
And so a sunny weekend has arrived. Have a wonderful anniversary, JD--45 years! Terrific and lovely. And have a great one, everybody!
Got it! - with only one lookup, to find TY COBB after I had reached the double Bs. (I know, I know! The double Bs should have been enough, but I'm just not a BB fan.)
ReplyDeleteStill and all, pretty damn GOOD for a Saturday, eh?
First fill: CAFE AU LAIT
Easiest for me: BECKETT
Hardest (and last): THE STONES (because I couldn't at first see where the words split.)
Quick-to-come-but-set-aside-cuz-it-just-couldn't-be-right-then-turned-out-to-be-the-answer: KEN
Ack!
ReplyDeleteI must still have ants on the brain, because I pretty much gave up when 31D early invasion participant was too long for "Ants", or "Them."
Happy Wedding Anniversary JD & Bob!
Honky Tonk is in open G?
Rats! I am pretty much relegated to drop D as an alternate tuning, ever since I stripped a tuning peg gear trying to tune to open E...
Oh Well, at least Country Tonk is in regular tuning.
Want to hear weird tuning?
Try CSN' Suite Judy Blue Eyes. The tuning is (get this...)
E
E
E
E
B
E
It's a pain to tune, but it does make it very easy to play!
This was a fun puzzle, and I completed it in faster than usual Saturday time.
ReplyDeleteThere were a few unknowns that were solved by perps: BONA, RENE, THA, OTHO, and ENKE.
I also liked that THE STONES was next to HONKY TONK.
Happy anniversary JD.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Hi again~!
ReplyDeleteCED - take a look at some of Jimmy Page's tunings during the Led Zeppelin years; That's the Way is in Open G; The Rain Song is DGCGCD. It does make for very easy chord forms and playing, but since I don't have a dozen guitars laying around that I can leave in odd tunings, it becomes a hassle.
Happy Anniversary JD~!
Splynter
Musings
ReplyDelete-Wow! Until a big boy puzzle comes along this one will do. I had to use a few red letters to finish up.
-SW was tough even with getting TY COBB and HONKY TONK. Other parts were a challenge even with getting some of the long fill.
-Oh that Screwdriver. No clue on Mr. Cage. No Lime or Ugli. EAMES not ETHAN. AVIfauna? There’s another four-letter emperor than NERO? An ARTICHOKE is a thistle? Michaelmas or Cassin? Ad nauseum.
-Oh well, I’ll take a 95% and gird my loins for another big storm heading our way tonight.
-JD, Happy anniversary to you and Bob. I hate that I won’t get to see you in SF in August but wish you and your DH bon voyage on your travels!
Son of a &&*^$^& B*tch!
ReplyDeleteI learned The Rain Song by ear 40 years ago, in standard tuning!
(No wonder people were fascinated when I played it!)
NOW I find out there is an easier way!
(Ack! I am too old to relearn the same song!)
(But it sounds so good!) (starting @3:30)
Curses Splynter!
I am going to have to put off my retirement to relearn this stuff!
Rats!
Good afternoon everyone.
ReplyDeleteDaunting solve today. Started with only a couple entries, SAMOA, OCAS, ANSEL, and a sea of white, but slowly, slowly, it came together. Had to revisit it several times over several hours. But when I got ARTICHOKE, COSTA RICAN, and KNOTTY PINE, I became more optimistic. NE was the last to fall.
Only white-out was I had Penn before Pitt.
Here is a pic of BH and me at USS Nautilus/SUB a couple years ago at Groton, CT
Warm Anniversary wishes to JD and Bob
Yippee: No genius am I! Began puzzling about 5 years ago at age 70, though it took me an hour, I finished without cheats! Good feeling!
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of trouble with this one, but nearly got it. However, the SW was my undoing. Knew artichoke and honky Tonk were solid, but still had blanks at 31, 52 and 63. Didn't really like rooked or nook, but accepted them. The worst problem was being sure that 31a was either sha or cha ( weak, but tolerable) . That gave me "chest-n-s" as the invader, so I was hung up on some type of virus or some-such. Could not suss Stones!
ReplyDeleteSo googled for Enke and Otho, and it came together with 2 major cheats. Oof dah!, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
You guys are bringing up foreign territory for me with these alternate tunings for guitar. Never knew such a thing existed, but it makes good sense. That said, I always suspected that "Color My World" was accomplished by creative tuning of a piano, but never heard confirmation. Does anyone know if this is a fact?
Gary mentioned the weather in our part of the world. I watch weather reports intently, and I've never ever heard weather people talk in the terms they are this weekend. All the local stations are more or less saying "Winds of 80 to 90 mph and hail of 2 or more inches in diameter are to be EXPECTED!"
ReplyDeleteI'm rarely subject to being an alarmist, but that kind of forecast makes me more than a little apprehensive. And it doesn't help that the wind is blowing 40 mph in the lead up hours. It could be a long night on the plains!
Hey JD. Happy wishes to you and Bob. Great photo!
ReplyDeleteSpitz, you too!
Speaking of photos, here is one of an artichoke in bloom I took a couple of years back while bicycling in Palos Verdes. It wouldn't have been any good to eat but it sure is a pretty color. Looks more like a thistle, doesn't it?
Well done Barbie38!
Joe and Gary, good luck with the weather. How do you survive 2-inch hail? The car insurance companies must take a beating. Are your houses constructed with this kind of danger in mind?
A terrifying stampede?
ReplyDeleteJD and Bob, happy anniversary and many more to come.
ReplyDeleteAVG and HG, stay safe, both you and your property, in the coming storm.The pictures of last week's storm out there were frightening.
This puzzle took longer for me than the usual Sat. but I solved it with no looked ups or red letters. I was put off by AVANT-GARDE and BECKETT, but in retrospect I acknowledge that it was a great pairing. I solved clockwise from the NE, each sector more difficult than the last.
Splynter, you are brave to take on these challenging Saturdays. Argyle is just as brave to take on the early week puzzles that are easier to solve but are challenging to make interesting.
I am always worried that I might be ROOKED by service vendors who are new to me. My bathroom remodel is a case in point. No rooking, but very bad communication. Finally resolved,I hope.
Breakfast ___ was difficult, but with some perps, only NOOK made sense. I don't have a breakfast nook. We eat in the kitchen.
My MIL had a lovely knotty pine bedroom which was very sunny, so 1950's but I loved it. The walls glowed and were lovely.
Bill, while these events happen with some frequency in our area, you simply can't build a house to come out unscathed. I've only been in one such storm, and it took out our roof, but left the windows intact. That was irregular shaped hail that looked like a goose egg...4" long and 2" wide. It sounded like canned hams hitting the roof. Winds were not a major factor. But when you throw in 80+mph winds, that will take out every window on at least one side of the house, necessitating immediate relocation while doing a lot of interior damage. To put it charitably, it's not a pleasant prospect. Hence, my unease this evening.
ReplyDeleteIt's not likely to hit a huge area, but rather spotty locations. But the weather liars..er prognosticators, are saying it will be widespread. It puts you on edge.
I thought about you a few minutes ago. I picked my first mess of beet greens for our dinner tonight. No beets bigger than a quarter, but I still needed to thin the row, so greens it is. Now I need to go dig some new potatoes.
Bill G. Thanks, that was my AWWW moment of the week...
ReplyDeleteAvg Joe @3:08
Color my world alternate tuning...
ON PIANO!
Dang! If they do alternate tuning piano songs, I'm just gonna quit music altogether!
(Did you ever try to tune a piano???)
(I hope you are just messing with me....)
I'm not Dave. Sit down at a tuned piano and try to play along by ear. It can't be done. I've never gotten confirmation, but it's the only answer that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteWe interrupt this post for jubilation....UC Irvine just tied Texas in the top of the 8th, 1 to 1, one out, one man on, in the opener of the CWS. Go Anteaters!!
I am sorry I seemed testy and short in my posts this week. Everything seems to go wrong here at the same time. Friday of last week, June 6, my son showed the evidence of a new breakdown. We were able to finesse it temporarily and I thought it was solved. It reappeared this Thursday night. The Medicare/Medicaid system has tightened up and it has become harder to phone the doctor to determine intermediate actions over the phone or to get an emergency appointment. My choice is ignore it or go to the ER and face needless hospitalization with a new doctor who does not consult our present doctor or understand our case. It take 10 days or more for the hospital to overcome the HIPPA restrictions on consulting with me. My son is incapable of interceding.
ReplyDeleteOur medical team trusts my judgement and has given me higher dosages of my son's principal meds, PRN. I am piecing it out until a Monday appointment. It seems to be working.
What do people without this kind of medical partnership do?
In the meantime, every new minor snag,like my remodeling, rattles me.
YR: "What do people without this kind of medical partnership do?" The answer is, "Suffer." So sorry for the huge load of stress you must be carrying right now. My thoughts and prayers are with you and Alan.
ReplyDeleteHang in there, girlfriend!
Bill G. @ 4:11, leave it to you to post a terrifying stampede like that one. Too cute!!
ReplyDeleteYR @ 4:40, I don't know what it is like to have to deal with "the system" as you do, but I admire your feistiness in wanting the best for your son. There is no medical alternative to a loving mother, which you seem to be, in spades!
Bill G @ 4:11 - Thanks for the cute "kiddies."
ReplyDeleteYR @ 4:40 - I'm sorry you're going through such a difficult and stressful time which is exacerbated by the medical bureaucracy. I hope all stays calm and that Monday's appointment gives you some answers. Keep your chin up.
Well said, PK & HeartRX, for YR. You are Mother of the Year in my estimation.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, Yellowrocks. My thoughts and prayers will be with you and your son. Having medical emergencies at the same time as house renovations creates layered stress that's very had to handle. You're totally heroic, to my mind.
ReplyDeleteI'll keep my mouth shut...
ReplyDelete(except to say, hang in there Yellowrocks!)
YR, best wishes for you and your son's medical care.
ReplyDeleteI used to take guitar lessons and tried to play lots of pieces beautifully arranged by my teacher. It was classical style played with fingers on a nylon-string acoustic guitar. (I didn't have any talent but could make halfway pretty music with enough memorizing.) The only alternate tuning we ever used was low D tuning from time-to-time. It made for a very rich sound with the low notes and chords.
Yeah beet greens!
Gary and Joe, your weather with the threat of golf ball hail and tornadoes seems at least as bad as our risk of earthquakes.
That's a valid comparison Bill. There's a lot of differences, such as narrow scope of damage, but the concern each evokes is prolly equal. I'd say it's a classic case of accepting the devil you know.
ReplyDeleteAvg Joe 4:35, just saw your shout-out to the UCI Anteaters! And then, just a few minutes ago, saw the news coverage of President Obama's address to our students at the UC Irvine commencement. Could have attended, but just didn't think I could handle the traffic and confusion. But it sounds like my university had a great day!
ReplyDeleteThey did indeed have a good day, Misty. And it was a good game to boot. You can rest assured that those Anteaters will have a lot of moral support from the locals. They have a serious bias toward underdogs, and they'll be favorites.
ReplyDeleteGood evening, folks. Thank you, Mark Bickham, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteWell, am in Pittsburgh now. Took me about three hours to get this puzzle done. parts were easy and parts were tough.
ANSEL was easy. I really enjoy his B&W photos of nature.
EAMES was in the back of my head so it appear with a
couple helper letters.
CAFE AU LAIT was not easy. Total perps.
AGUE and ABACI, crosswordese.
THE STONES was not easy. I was thinking of some old war. I have to learn to keep an open mind.
VODKA AND OJ was a good one. I do not drink those, but have seen enough of them.
I will have to remember SKED. We have had that before.
Happy Anniversary, JD and Bob. Many more to you.
Good luck with everything, Yellowrocks. My favorite adage is "There is a silver lining in every cloud.". Hopefully that will be true for you, as well.
Off to New York City tomorrow (Jamaica) for a week with my church group as we help rebuild after hurricane Sandy.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(6745)
(454)
After dodging skimpily-clad skaters, dogs, strollers, etc. on this pretty afternoon on the bike path, I was getting back in my car when I heard a buzzing sound. It was someone in an ultralight aircraft flying around over the beach area. I'm pretty sure it must be illegal. I went for a ride in a tandem ultralight years ago. It was fun but very noisy. My enjoyment was further marred as I continued to become airsick. We landed just in time. Otherwise, somebody on the ground might have gotten an unpleasant surprise.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMisty,
I didn't attend either, for the same reason. Our house was buzzed several times by the pre-Commencement chopper traffic.
It was fun watching our president on TV and the impact he made on our new grads. I shall never forgot the end, when he held his hands out in the Anteater love sign and shouted, "Zot, Zot, Zot!"
I don't think I have heard anyone else say that in my 33 years at UCI.
Ol' Man Keith, Zot Zot Zot--great!
ReplyDeleteHi all:
ReplyDeleteHat's off to everyone... I only got two answers that I could ink in with confidence. I still don't know why I even try Sat LATs.
Barbie38 - I've been doing puzzles since I was a kid (with my grandpa) and you've only been doing this 5 years?!? I should hang up the hat I tip.
YR - YeoWOman's work. IM is right, Mother of the Year. And then you add so much value to this space.
Ave Joe - Re: The devil I know - hurricanes. I get a 5 day warning. Bill G. - not so much w/ an earthquake. "Dominoes Omens" or whatever it is the priest says to bless us both. Good luck.
Bill G. I misread the caption and though "holy s***" until the cute goats ran after the kids. Fun.
HA JD & Bob! I'll catch up in 19 years if DW doesn't kill me first.
Owen - Thanks re: last night. It was Outer Limits! I knew I saw that (and how it related to THEM, I donno). If anyone knew the show (I was wrong about Amazing Stories) I knew it would be a Level 19 sci-fi geek* like you :-)
Back to the slide-deck I'm presenting Monday. I can't believe they slotted two hours for me to talk!
Cheers, -T
*I'm only rolling a 11 on a d20.