google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday June 15, 2014 Elizabeth C. Gorski

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Jun 15, 2014

Sunday June 15, 2014 Elizabeth C. Gorski

Theme: "Pa de Deux" -  All theme entries are two-word answers in the pattern of PA* PA*.

22A. Van Eyck's "Ghent Altarpiece," for one : PANEL PAINTING


32A. Baking pan liner : PARCHMENT PAPER

49A. Eaten or drunk : PAST PARTICIPLE. Chinese is so simple. No "a", "an", "the", no conjugation for verbs either.
 
66A. Restaurante cookware : PAELLA PANS. Never had paella before.


73A. Comedian the Smothers Brothers convinced to run for President : PAT PAULSEN

90A. Swirly fabric design : PAISLEY PATTERN



104A. Breakdancing garb : PARACHUTE PANTS

120A. Sleepovers with pillow fights : PAJAMA PARTIES

Timely theme from Liz to celebrate Father's Day!  I mentioned in the interview how I love Liz's clues. Look at these few:

55A. Messages from Mozart? : NOTES 

75A. Private organization? : ARMY

1D. Fat head?: LIPO. "Head" because LIPO is a prefix for "fat", correct?

52D. Fowl language? : PEEP

103D. Acts inappropriately? : EMOTES

Across:

1. Judges' concerns : LAWS

5. 2002 Winter Games host, initially : SLC. Mitt Romney was really in his element then.

8. Pyramid, to Tut : TOMB

12. Has because of : OWES TO

18. Ape : IMITATOR

20. Auction site : EBAY. Has any of you tried uBid?

21. More eminent : GREATER

24. Learning experiences : LESSONS

25. "SNL" alum Cheri : OTERI

26. 2001, in letters : MMI. The year I came to the US.

27. Adorable to the max : CUTEST

29. Sugary finish : OSE

30. Mongolian wild ass habitat : GOBI. Onager (Asian wild ass) guess! See, Liz found new angle to clue an old stand-by.


36. Not averse : WILLING

39. "... boy __ girl?" : OR A

40. Classical music hall : ODEON

41. Maestro __-Pekka Salonen : ESA. No idea. Wiki said "He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic". Finnish.



42. Cork, for one : COUNTY

45. Utterly ridiculous : ASININE

56. Captain's command : TO SEA

57. Buddy : PAL

58. Can refuse to : NEED NOT

61. Airline to Oslo : SAS

62. Showed happiness, with "up" : LIT

64. Easy to like : GENIAL

65. Tightly bound bundle : BALE

76. All-in-one component : COPIER

78. Storm dir. : NNE

79. Lobster eater's protection : BIB. Too bad these four people stole others' hard-earned bib numbers in Boston Marathon.



80. City on Lake Ontario : TORONTO

81. Casual greetings : YOS

84. "Heart Shaped World" singer Chris : ISAAK

88. Infection cause : STAPH

93. Tried to bean : THREW AT

96. Mr. and Mrs. : TITLES

97. 1970s court alias : ROE

98. Cheese-topped chip : NACHO. Never had nachos.

100. No-seats-available shorthand : SRO (Standing Room Only)

101. Cough medicine additive : CODEINE. Addictive drug.

110. Hurricane response org. : FEMA

111. Ipanema locale : RIO

112. 1999 Top 10 hit for Sixpence None the Richer : KISS ME. I know the song, not the singers.

113. Net exchange : IMs

115. Pocahontas' husband John : ROLFE

118. Teach bit by bit : INSTILL

124. In a no-nonsense manner : STERNLY

125. Enterprise counselor : TROI (Deanna)

 


126. Approve of : SAY YES TO

127. Guide the team : MANAGE

128. Belgian river : YSER

129. Otto I's realm: Abbr. : HRE. D-Otto, did your ancestors come from Germany?

130. D.C. Metro stops : STAs

Down:
  
2. Bit of beginning Latin : AMAT. "Amo, amas, amat"

3. Red or white container : WINE GLASS. Oh, red or white wine container.

4. Waxy compound : STEROL

5. Indy additive : STP

6. Fertile soil : LOAM

7. Pinch and press, as pie crust edges : CRIMP. Chinese dumplings also take lots of pinching and pressing along the edges.



8. Lunar Asian holiday : TET. And 9D. Asian sash : OBI

10. La __: Spanish region : MANCHA

11. Old-fashioned oath : BY GUM!

12. Electra's brother : ORESTES

13. Academy since 1802 : WEST POINT. So glad the VA scandal was exposed. The VA here in MN drove me nuts.

14. __ in echo : E AS

15. Urban hangout : STOOP. I was thinking of  mall style "hangout".

16. In a knot : TENSE

17. "Carmen on Ice" Emmy sharer Brian : ORSER. Here is a clip. New to me. 

19. Tall story, often : ALIBI

21. Jackson of "Mary, Queen of Scots" : GLENDA

23. Actress Vardalos : NIA

28. Racecar driver Fabi : TEO

31. Empire that stretched as far south as Chile : INCA

33. School mil. program : ROTC

34. In tears : CRYING. And 36. Was in tears : WEPT

35. A.D. part : ANNO

37. Senior golfer Aoki : ISAO. Champions Tour (Senior PGA) has a stop in MN. They play at a course fairly close to our home. Never saw him.

38. Nutty trail snack : GORP

43. Acting teacher Hagen : UTA

44. None : NIL

46. "__ I said ..." : IT'S AS.  Sunday puzzles will always have a few undesirable entries, even if the constructor is Liz.

47. Hall of Fame football coach Earle "Greasy" __ : NEALE.  Escaped me. We had him before.


48. Ruhr city : ESSEN

50. William and Kate's set : TELLY

51. Water carrier : PAIL

53. Contemporary of Ella : LENA (Horne)

54. Add or delete, say : EDIT

59. Little break : NAP

60. "The Good Earth" wife : O-LAN. Loved the book. Very compassionate portrayal of the China my grandma grew up.

63. Snack in a shell : TACO

65. Favored : BLEST

66. Owner of Lone Star Beer : PABST

67. Grade sch. subject : ARITH

68. Put in prison : EMBAR

69. __ favor : POR

70. Per : APOP

71. Jazz singer Simone : NINA

72. "The X-Files" gp. : SETI

74. Storage __ : UNIT

77. Talking points? : ROSTRA. Nice clue also.

80. What a piƱata gets at a kids' party : THWACKING. Cool word.

81. So far : YET

82. Popeye's "goil" Olive : OYL

83. What some build on : SPEC

85. Circus performer : AERIALIST

86. "Moses und __": Schoenberg opera : ARON. Click here. So, is Aaron spelled as Aron in German?

87. Guitar support : KNEE

89. Transportation secretary under Clinton : PENA (Federico)

91. Feline king : LION

92. Since : AS OF

94. __ Lauro: ship in 1985 news : ACHILLE. No memory of the incident at all.

95. Like so : THUSLY

99. Extra NFL periods : OTS

100. Plant shoots : SPEARS

102. Fictional town in Stephen King works : DERRY

104. Spectroscope part : PRISM

105. AC/DC's "Hell __ Bad Place to Be" : AIN'T A

106. Cleveland Indians legend Al : ROSEN. Hondo can recognize the year of this card immediately.


107. Ready for a refill : EMPTY

108. "Make it work" fashion mogul Gunn : TIM. "Make it work" is his signature catchphrase. He has a great column at "StyleWatch". 

109. Big hit : SMASH

114. Practice for a prizefight : SPAR

116. Salad cheese : FETA

117. Those, to Jorge : ESOS

119. Singing syllable : TRA

121. Morning cup : JOE

122. Lung filler : AIR

123. Word a captain likes to hear : AYE



Happy 49th wedding anniversary to Bill G and his wife Barbara! Bill, where are you doing today?

Barbara & Bill

40 comments:

OwenKL said...

Our office staff is not very hardy.
They're dropping left and right like an ARMY!
It's BECAUSE OF a virus
That's not very desirous,
The PAndemic PArasites are having a STAPH PARTY!

Banksie's a mysterious elf
Who PAINTS PANELS all by himself.
He won't use PARCHMENT PAPER,
Because graffiti's his caper,
Making PArody PAINTINGS with stealth!

A PArsimonious PAPA from DERRY
Had a daughter fixin' to marry,
So he gave her, as a dowry
A map out of the COUNTY,
And two tickets (one-way) for the ferry!

OwenKL said...

A difficult puzzle, and the theme was so simple it was next to no help. Got the grid filled with no ta-da. Turned on red letters and got four blips, all wags. AMAT (AMAs) ✜ OTERI, NEALE ✜ PAULSEN (PAULSoN), PAELLA ✜ EMBAR (iMBAR), and I?AO ✜ E?A. The first three were easy to figure out, but the last one I tried several letters on before giving up and pressing reveal. Embarrassing, since I knew Aoki ISAO's name has shown up several times before in LAT puzzles.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all (and Happy Anniversary to Bill and Barbara)!

I got the theme early one so that helped immensely. Lots of little stumbling blocks throughout, however, such as NEALE, TO SEA (really?), EMBAR, KISS ME (I tried MISS ME a first), ROSEN, etc. Nothing serious, however, and I managed to make it through in one piece.

I really wish somebody would give Rich a clue with regard to SETI, however...

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

A lot of today's answers were slow in coming to mind, but they all perped out eventually. It came in right on time.

ASININE was one of my mother's favorite words; she often used it in reference to something I'd done. I don't know where ORESTES came from, but I dredged it up from somewhere. BY GUM reminds me of Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean, though I think what he says was "By Gobs."

C.C., you're correct that most of my great grandparents came from Germany back in the 1800's. But I've got one 3g grandfather who lived in the Palatine communities of the Mohawk Valley in the mid 1700's. I don't know where he came from. Still lookin'.

Happy Anniversary, Bill G.

MaryLou said...

Fun puzzle! I enjoyed reading the interview with Liz too and hearing how she approaches puzzle constructing, her admiration for Maura Jacobson, favorite puzzle, etc.. Great title that Rich came up with! Thanks Liz, c.c. And Rich!

HeartRx said...

Good morning all!

Happy anniversary, Bill G! I can't wait to hear what yummy meal you indulge in today. You always make my mouth water!
¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫

I didn't catch the cleverness of the theme, as I thought it was just P-P phrases. But PA-PA, on Father's Day, with a title of "Pa de Deux"?? Brilliant!!

Not fond of EMBAR, OR A, IT'S AS and AIN'T A. I wanted THWACKed at for the piƱata clue, but one letter too many. Lots of names that I did not remember (of course), so had to slog through sone areas. But in the end, got it done in Sunday time. So all's good.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Big Easy said...

What a grinder for a Sunday morning. It took me almost an hour due to so many unknowns and unheard of terms for clues. 'Khulan habitat' ,'Pekka Salonen', 'Winter Games Host' (ESPN), etc. I have never come across BYGUM, ORESTES, ORSER, ARON and Moses, TIM Gunn, DERRY, or OLAN. But the theme was easily figured out. The SE was the last to fall because I couldn't remember if it was CODEINE OR CODIENE, don't know Spanish, didn't want to guess STNS or STAS, wanted FRET instead of KNEE for guitar support, and ISAAK and ARON were unknowns. Other problem area were 66A,67D, & 68D. I didn't notice the abbr. in the clue Grade sch. subject and EMBAR sounds like a made up word. When I was growing up, Lone Star Beer came out with a new beer called LONE STAR DRAUGHT and they advertised it as LSD. They quickly quit using that term.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C., and friends. I saw that the theme was Pa de Deux, so immediately started looking for the two PAs. Fun theme in honor of Father's Day.

My favorite clues were all the ones C.C. opined out.

Happy Anniversary to Barbara and Bill G!

QOD: Give it a kick at the right place and it’ll work. ~ Ezer Weizman (June 15, 1924 ~ Apr. 24, 2005)

Al Cyone said...

This had everything one wants in a Sunday puzzle. It was "meaty" with clever clues and a theme that actually helped (though I only noticed the double Ps, not the double PAs).

Great interview too. Thanks. It's not surprising to learn that the constructor had so many NY Times puzzles on her resumƩ.

In the end, it took a five-minute typo hunt to hear the "TaDa!". I had to change ENE to NNE (which, of course, made more sense out of "The Good Earth" wife).

[25:01]

Yellowrocks said...

Thanks for all the support yesterday. Things seem okay today. I am still "wag"ging the stepped up meds. I am hoping my instincts will be ratified by the doctor at tomorrow's appointment and am eager to get help with the next steps.
This puzzle seemed easy enough, but alas, a DNF. I planned to go back to fill in three cells after I had more perps and forgot to return to them, so I missed three blanks for an easy answer. Also quite a few downs filled in themselves without my noticing. They turned out to be correct.
I listen to classical music on NPR. Often ESA Pekka Salonen is the conductor. I love to say that name. I knew Moses und ARON.
Fret before KNEE.
NEALE was all perps.
Pat Paulsen's presidential run was satiric and funny.
Clever Father's Day theme.
Happy anniversary to Barbara and Bill.

Husker Gary said...

A fun puzzle with just enough grist for my mill, a helpful, clever theme and a nice “inside baseball” interview with a very talented constructor on this PA’s Day! Life is good.

Musings-
-Dang! I_AO/E_O wasn’t a K! Close but no cheroot.
-A Foul (FOWL) ball at a game we attended Friday elicits clucks on the PA system
-Nix on EBAY, I just go to Amazon and get it without the gimmicks
-The Super Bowl will eschew Roman Numerals in Feb. MMXV and just be Super Bowl 50
-Hmmm… 2001 – A CC Odyssey
-Nephew knew boy OR A girl. Niece didn’t want to know
-LIT UP at the sight of grandchildren is a common state to a lot of us here
-If you THREW AT my player, wait’ll you come up to bat
-IM’S take the pressure off an immediate response in a phone call
-Why a baseball MANAGER dresses like the players
-Tomatoes in our prepared LOAM ground look much better than those in neighbor’s clay
-My last name to someone on the phone – “S C H L A P (AS IN Paul) F (AS IN Frank) E R
-Downton Abbey is on a Brit TELLY months before here
-We paid $4 A POP for water at aforementioned ball game
-Skar had a poor ALIBI, he was a LION
-Happy Anniversary Bill and Barbara!

Yellowrocks said...

I think EMBAR's usage is mainly poetic.

From Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, Vol.1

(My paraphrase)
Till that cruel cursed enemy,
A huge great Dragon (Satan) horrible to see,
Bred in the loathsome lakes of Tartary (hell).
With murderous rapine, and devouring might
Their kingdoms spoiled, and country wasted quite:
Themselves, for fear into his jaws to fall,
He (the Dragon) forced them to a strong castle to take their flight,
Where firmly EMBARRED (imprisoned or shut in)in a mighty brazen wall,
He (the Dragon) has besieged them for four years now to make them thrall (captive).

(The original)
Till that their cruell cursed enemy,
An huge great Dragon horrible in sight,
Bred in the loathly lakes of _Tartary_,
With murdrous rauine, and deuouring might
Their kingdome spoild, and countrey wasted quight:
Themselues, for feare into his iawes to fall,
He forst to castle strong to take their flight,
Where fast embard in mightie brasen wall,
He has them now foure yeres besiegd to make them thrall.

Husker Gary said...

Best wishes to all Fathers today! I hope you got a present as nice as the one I got!
The idea was my daughter’s, the printing was done by my 9 year-old granddaughter and the attaching was done by my 10-year-old grandson. The two grandchildren and my daughter are The Three Musketeers because my SIL’s job requires extensive travel and they spend a lot of time together.

Qli said...

I did this puzzle online, with the help of red letters, and enjoyed it so much!

I have PARCHMENT PAPER in my kitchen, but don't use it very often.

C.C., you should try some PAELLA; it is fabulous!

I remember PAT PAULSEN! Wonder how many write-in votes he got?

Try as I might, I don't like FETA cheese.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I thought this was a tad chewy even though the theme came quickly. Didn't catch the pa pa until I read CC's informative expo. Agree that the title is quite fitting for Father's Day.

Kudos, Ms. Gorsky, for a challenging but highly doable Sunday offering. Thanks, CC.

Happy Anniversary to Bill and Barbara.

Happy Father's Day to all Dads.

HG @ 9:32 - Your "Three Musketeers" are not only thoughtful, but creative as all get out! Just don't eat all those goodies at once or we'll have to call you Husky Gary! :-)

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Elizabeth Gorski, for an excellent puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

I spent about 5 hours working through this. Fortunately I have the time today.

Got the theme early on and that really helped. The only way I got the theme was by answering a couple theme words. I could not tell by the title.

Quite a few standard crossword answers. That helped, too. OTERI, YSER, AMAT, STP, ESSEN, SETI, SPAR, and FETA. Probably others, as well.

Nice seeing Al (Flip) ROSEN.

Never heard of PARACHUTE PANTS. Got the answer with perps, but what are they?

Liked 8A, TOMB, pyramid, to Tut.

Happy Anniversary to Mr and Mrs Bill G. Many more.

On my way to NYC for our Mission Trip. Last year was New Orleans and the year before Minot, ND. Hard work, but rewarding.

See you tomorrow from Jamaica, NY.

Abejo

(247)

Lucina said...

Happy Fathers' Day to all you Dads, granddads, and stepdads!

And happy anniversary, BillG & Barbara! I, too, can't wait to see what you had to eat.

Lovely puzzle from Liz Gorski. I skated through in record time and the PA-PA theme helped to start the long answers. My main pause was at DEWRY because I'm not a King fan and once it perped, it seemed strange.

Otherwise, it was a fun sashay, thank you Ms. Gorski.

Have a fantastic Fathers' Day, everyone!

Lime Rickey said...

"Our office staff is not very hardy.
They're dropping left and right like an ARMY!
"

Really?

Bill G. said...

I enjoyed the puzzle (as almost always). 'Red or white container' seemed especially clever to me once the crossing letters gave me some hints.

Thank you all for the thoughtful anniversary wishes; number 49 for us. Fighting crowds on Father's Day seemed pointless so our local kids are getting food from our favorite local Cuban restaurant and we'll celebrate Father's Day around the kitchen table. Later this week, I'm taking Barbara to a relatively-new special Italian restaurant in the area in honor of our anniversary. I'll report back.

Anonymous said...

I think the Stephen king town is Derry crossing ROLFE, not DEWRY crossing WOLFE.

CrossEyedDave said...

Bill G. & Barbara, Happy Square Root of 2,401!

CC! You have never tasted Paella? Or Nachos? 1st of all you must try many of them because they come in so many styles & varieties. Before I can make a recommendation, I must ask, do you like spicy food? & what does fresh cilantro taste like to you?

Jayce said...

A terrific and fun puzzle today, and a captivating interview. A Sunday morning well spent. Satisfying in every way.

Lemonade, yesterday my wife intended to buy me a bottle of Ommegang Abbey Ale to try, but she bought Hennepin instead. Man oh man, talk about "hoppy" vs "yeasty"! All good, though.

Now I'm hungry for dumplings.

Best wishes to you all, and special good wishes to Bill and Barbara G.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! I read the title to this and was expecting a more daddy's day sentiment, but caught on to the PA-PA theme quickly which helped. Turned out to be really fun despite many unknowns. No red-letter runs were necessary for once, but some first guesses turned red. Thanks, Liz. Great one, C.C.!

EMBAR, my ass! Meh! Not "By god" but BY GUM.

PARACHUTE PANTS are those hip hangers floating slowly toward the ground. I had a neighbor who wore them commando while he was barbequeing one time. I got a full view of his buns and was afraid he'd grill his wienie before he hitched them up. I was AGAPE.

Woohoo! I spelled ISAO right the first time. Also knew ORSER & ISAAK. Someone posted a link in the last couple of days with a sideline that had the name ESA Pekka Salonen on it. Never had seen it before. Thanks, whoever.

Katarina Witt skating to "Carmen" in the Olympics was unforgettable. She was the only skater who ever was sultry enough to do it right. My husband was turned on to skating with that.

I thought that altar piece would be "triptych".

Cork was a gimmee with my great grandma born there.

C.C.: The VA scandal is bad, but the private sector isn't much better. In our city many doctors won't take new Medicare patients and the waiting period for some who do is three months. I said, "But I'm sick now!" They said, "Sorry."

PK said...

Happy anniversary, BillG & Barbara! A great achievement.

YR: glad things are settled down with Alan. Good luck.

Bill G. said...

No anniversary food yet. Father's Day lunch consisted of Cubano specialties: Roast pork, lemon/garlic chicken, grilled onions, black beans, rice and plantains.

OwenKL said...

Barry: I've been with you against conflating SETI with MUFON, but while SETI had nothing to do with X-Files, the converse was not the case. "This episode [X-files: Little Green Men, s.2,e.1] facilitated a long-held wish of [screenwriter] Glen Morgan's, as he was very interested in writing a story which had a SETI background. Regarding this episode, Morgan stated, "I was irked that the government had shut down the SETI project and I wanted to address that." Morgan also hoped this outing would inspire school children to learn more about SETI, as the episode "was factual as to what exists."
"...scenes set at the SETI Arecibo Observatory station in Puerto Rico..."
"...containing much interesting information about the various real-life SETI projects."

H.Gary: Wow! Niice! I don't know if I'd be more impressed by the creativity or the B&N gift card. No, definitely the creativity! I envy your relationship with those kids!

Lime Rickey: Yeah, pretty lame. Not my best today at all. Some days, I'm inspired by the Muse, some days by the moose. :(

PK: LOL at your neighbors BBQ!

PK said...

Owen, I was envious of your moose. I took a bus tour across Canada and wanted to see a moose so bad. It was a big joke. I'm walking around the wilderness stops calling, "Here Moosie" to no avail. I finally bought and wore a little moose lapel pin. Fun trip! No Moose.

Unknown said...

What a fun puzzle. Unfortunately, since I do the puzzle in ink and paper with no red letter help, I had two wrong cells: PAULSON instead of PAULSEN and ORESTIS instead of ORESTES.

Happy anniversary Bill and Barbara.

HG, your gift is amazing. So clever.

SwampCat said...

Owen, thanks for the explanation of the SETI debate. As a LOOOONG time X-Phile, I cringe every time this clue appears.

Now.... I have been trying NOT to post on the Hurricane Response org/FEMA CLUE. No nit. The clue is accurate. FEMA is supposed to respond.

But Hurricane Katrina and others have taught us all that FEMA is the last organization to rely on in need. They responded to New Orleans as though we had a few little problems. We had a major disaster. 80 % of the city was under water for weeks. We only recovered because of the outpouring of VOLUNTEER help from around the whole country.

FEMA is not a polite word around here!.......and I suspect Floridians feel the same way....

Argyle said...

Oh! My PaPa

Manac said...

Bill, Happy Anniversary to you and Barbara.

H.G. I liked your Father's Day gift.
Mine was the having the privilege of
mowing the lawn :-)

A Father's Day QUOTE

With that I would like to share with all of you a picture of My
Pride and Joy !

OwenKL said...

Maybe I'm more inspired today by visual art instead of the poetic.

Captcha seems to have given up on me. I get nothing but photos of house numbers any more.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Very nice puzzle, Elizabeth! Cool expo and interview, CC!

I, too, noticed the Ps but not the PAs. Was working rather quickly!

Happy Anniversary, Bill and Barbara!

Cheers!

fermatprime said...

Hello again!

Just worked Saturday puzzle. No cheats!!! Thanks, Mark, Splynter!

Happy belated anniversary, JD and Bob!

Was confused by "spy comedy." Filled in easily, though.

Here I am posting late again. Evidently only one person read my Friday late post. Three days in a row with no cheats. (On Thursday I looked up PUEBLA.) Few posts today, many yesterday. Confusing!

Cheers!

Argyle said...

Did you check for responses the next morning?

Bill G. said...

Fermatprime, I'm not sure where your information is coming from. Re. your late Friday post, I don't know how any people read it but four people responded; AnonT, Owen, Lemon and me.

Lucina said...

Fermat:
I usually read the late night posts, often the next day, but I don't always respond.

HG:
What an impressive gift!

OWENKL:
Lately the captchas have been photos of house numbers but I'm not complaining. They are easier to read than the squiggles.

Bill G. said...

It's always nice to enjoy a nice Monday puzzle after Friday, Sunday and especially Saturday.

Again, thank you all for the very kind 49th anniversary wishes. We hope to take off for a nice lunch later this week.

So far as I can tell, we don't all get similar Captchas. With the exception of a few ones with digits a month or so back, mine are all squiggly letters with the insignificant photo on the side. Entering the photo one doesn't grant me access; I have to type in the squiggles. Why do some of you seem to have different experiences? Maybe Captcha thinks I'm a serious security risk and gives me the hard stuff???

Anonymous T said...

Bill G. You are a risk to the system... Terminate. Terminate. Terminate.

Just kidding - the way I understand the CAPTCHAs is 1. prove your human and 2. help street-maps decipher pictures the OCR software can't. We all get some of the same pics just so the system knows there's no tomfoolery. We are all part of the Matrix.

Happy Anniversary! 49! Wow!

HG - That Father's Day card was the awesomest! You've propagated some brilliant offspring.

Cheers, -T

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

Dave,
I don't eat cheese. So Nachos and lots of other food are out. My taste is mild. Fresh cilantro is OK. Do you have any secret recipe for authentic Cantonese food? :-)

PK & Yellowrocks,
Pre-1987, it cost me & everybody else in our factory about 10 cents Chinese currency (less than 2 cents US$) to visit a doctor in Xi'An. I sure miss the old China where everyone was equal.