google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, July 21, 2014 Lila Cherry

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Jul 21, 2014

Monday, July 21, 2014 Lila Cherry

Theme: B?ND - The last part of the entries is a vowel progression.

17A. Illegally imported goods : CONTRABAND

26A. Squatting exercise : KNEE BEND

37A. Enchant : SPELLBIND

53A. Wanderer : VAGABOND

62A. Tuxedo accessory : CUMMERBUND

Argyle here. Three of the four entries are single words but knee bend isn't. Lila (Really Rich) should know better. Pshaw! What do I want from a Monday other than a doable puzzle. OK, I'll keep my nits to myself.

Across:

1. Put some pizazz in : PEP UP

6. Florida resort, familiarly : BOCA

10. __ America Competition : MISS

14. Speedy Amtrak train : ACELA

15. The Bard's river : AVON

16. "A time to cast away stones" Bible bk. : ECCL. (Ecclesiastes)

19. "Star Wars" princess : LEIA

20. Come up : ARISE

21. Dada artist Jean : ARP

23. Director Affleck : BEN

24. Mercedes sedan category : E CLASS

28. Illuminated : LIT

29. Author Victor : HUGO. French writer / "Les Misérables"

31. Hard to find : SCARCE

32. BLT spread : MAYO

34. Marshy wasteland : MOOR

36. Rage : ANGER

40. 2014 French Open winner Rafael : NADAL. Rafael Nadal.

43. Opposite of pass : FAIL

44. Fraternal gp. with an antlered animal in its logo : BPOE. (Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks)

48. Brought to mind : EVOKED

50. Cruise stop : ISLE

52. Delta rival: Abbr. : UAL. (United Airlines)

55. Irritable : SNARKY

57. Braz. neighbor : ARG. Brazil / Argentina

58. WWII mil. zone : ETO. (European Theater of Operations)

59. Cobbler's supply : HEELS

60. Christian of fashion : DIOR

66. What Clearasil treats : ACNE

67. Norway's capital : OSLO


68. Davis of "Thelma & Louise" : GEENA

69. Requirement : NEED

70. Situation to be cleaned up : MESS

71. Okays : YESes

Down:

1. Calif.'s ocean : PAC. Pacific.

2. Author Umberto : ECO

3. Football ref's call : PENALTY

4. Extreme : ULTRA

5. County counterpart in Louisiana : PARISH

 

6. Slugger Ruth : BABE

7. Eggs in a clinic : OVA

8. Sir Arthur __ Doyle : CONAN. Sherlock's creator.

9. Guitarist Segovia : ANDRES

10. Diner owner on "Alice" : MEL

11. Titanic sinker : ICEBERG

12. Chemistry or physics : SCIENCE

13. Libel's spoken equivalent : SLANDER. "I get slandered, libeled. I hear words I never heard in the Bible..."

18. Take for granted : ASSUME

22. Nut in a pie : PECAN

24. Shade tree : ELM or 46D. Shade tree : OAK

25. Covert govt. group : CIA. I better not spell it out; don't want no trouble.

26. Drink brand with a pitcher for a mascot : KOOL-AID



27. Quaint weekend getaway, briefly : B AND B. (Bed & Breakfast)

30. 18-hole outing : GOLF

33. Honshu port : OSAKA

35. Score-producing MLB stats : RBIs

38. Academy frosh : PLEBE

39. "Haven't made up my mind yet" : "I'LL SEE"

40. Reno resident : NEVADAN

41. Greed : AVARICE

42. Danged : DOGGONE. (it)

45. Chases after : PURSUES

47. Tarzan portrayer Ron : ELY

49. __ bubble: Internet stock phenomenon : DOT COM

51. Get-up-and-go : ENERGY

54. Hopeless : NO USE

56. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" playwright Edward : ALBEE

59. Managed care gps. : HMOs

61. Chianti color : RED

63. D.C. United's org. : MLS. (Major League Soccer)

64. Opposite of SSW : NNE

65. Opponents of defense lawyers: Abbr. : DAs. (District Attorney)


Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here is a picture from Dylan's 1-year-old birthday party yesterday. Click here, you'll see that hats are an important part of their birthday celebrations.



Front Row (Left to Right: Grady (turning 4 this coming Thursday) & his dad Derek; Truman (Grady's big brother) & mom Corie; Dylan and mom Shelby; Cameron (Dylan's big brother) and dad Joe, who is a Scot.

Back Row: Proud grandparents JD & Bob.

43 comments:

  1. Another vowel progression.
    Ennui is, alas, my expression.
    It's just a shame
    Our word-puzzle game
    Unleashes my over-expection!

    BAND together, my wordies!
    BEND not down to sudokuies!
    BIND together as one!
    BOND until the grid's done!
    BUNDle the words into rhapsodies!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    A Cryptic clue from today's puzzle:
    Reminded of agreement in day before day (6)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Morning, all!

    No nits from me today, although I shot myself in the foot by misspelling PURSUES as PERSUES. The resulting EAL I assumed meant Eastern Airlines and I remember thinking, "Gee, are they even still in business these days?" Ooops...

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  3. Greetings!

    Fun puzzle, Rich! Great expo, Santa!

    No problems, but I also had Barry's problem, at first.

    Spoiler Alert: Watching Endeavor was a downer.

    Time for sleeping!

    Cheers!

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  4. Good morning!

    Theme? Never saw it. With ELKS in place, I wondered why someone would vacation in BANDE -- it'd be a crime. BPOE finally showed the way.

    I just heard the happy "Arf" of Lucy, the little dog from down the street. She's on our patio enjoying cat breakfast. Meanwhile, the cats are inside sullking. It's good for 'em once in a while.

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  5. Good morning, folks. Thank you, Lila Cherry, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.

    Tried this early on cruciverb, but no cigar. waited for the newspaper to show up.

    Got up early to see our daughter off. She and her girlfriend are taking a week's vacation in California. LA and San Diego. Hope they have fun and get home safe. Her boy friend was here to see her off as well. I am just not used to a 22 year old crossing the continent. I guess they all grow up.

    Puzzle was swell. Liked the theme. Clever. Vowels all in order.

    Tried NSA before CIA. One inkblot.

    Tried ELKS before BPOE. Second inkblot. I am a 42 year member of that group.

    Did not know the guitarist ANDRES or the playwright ALBEE. Perped.

    Can never remember how to spell LEIA. With a few downs I got it.

    I finished saturday's yesterday. Have not posted yet. Working on Sunday's now. Hope to have it soon. I had a busy weekend in Bloomington, IL.

    See you later today.

    abejo

    (1002)

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  6. I had more problems with Cruciverb today. It's down more than it's up:(

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  7. Good morning everyone!

    Argyle, I couldn't open your link @ 5-D. I'm actually making red beans and rice today - a Louisiana staple!

    I saw Lila Cherry's name and thought this would be a speed run. And I was not disappointed - I missed half the clues until I came here.

    My only glitch was misspelling CUMMERBUND as "cumberbund." Did you know that the accessory is always worn with the pleats facing up? The reason is that elite theater-goers would tuck their tickets into the pleats!

    That's my little two cent's worth for today.

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  8. Hello Puzzlers -

    In the wee hours, I opened Cruciverb and selected the Monday puzzle, which was an easy thing from Jerome Gunderson. Trouble is, this puzzle was from last month. So Cruciverb is on the blink again. *sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good morning everybody.

    I also had ELKS before BPOE.

    I caught the theme, even the AEIOU order, as we've seen similar puzzles before.

    However, I thought RAFAEL NADAL and ANDERS SEGOVIA were a bit tough for a Monday puzzle.

    Have a great day!

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  10. Good morning everyone.

    Remembered Lila as being Rich. Got the theme with the 2nd vowel progression - KNEE BEND. Pretty much an easy solve.
    37a. - 'Enchant' was the voice call sign for my DD (see avatar). (The collective voice call for the squadron was "Pray tell".)

    JD - Nice picture of your family.

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nice puzzle today for a Monday usually do this on Mensa but lap top was in use. So I tried my iPhone via the lat site sort of successful.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good morning all,

    Fun puzzle. I liked it. I also failed. Forgot crosswordese author ECO was with a C. I had a K. Therefor my Speedy Amtrak Train was a Cub Scout Den Leader.

    Oh yea. CUMbERBUND. So my Managed care gps were really fronts for the premium cable television channels.

    Thank you Lila. Do you have a cousin Bing :>)

    As always, thank you as well Argyle.

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  13. Good Monday morning all. Tore through this one up til cummerbund. Who know? But HMOs demanded it. Learning moment for the day, I guess.

    On the photo sphere topic, I've seen a lot of those too. Especially on the iThingie. First time out, I tried to go with no entry. That didn't work, but just typing in photo sphere gets it done.

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  14. Good Morning:

    I'm ashamed to say this was a FIW due to "cumberbund/HBOs." Couldn't understand not getting the TADA so asked for errors and there it was. (I think I had Benjamin Cumberpatch on my mind.)

    Anyway, it was a fun romp so thanks Lila and Argyle. Enjoyed the CSO to all of the "snarky" anons. Tin won't be too happy with that _ _ _berg.

    JD, lovely pictures of a lovely family!

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Y'all! I got the theme on this one. Thanks, Rich.
    Thanks, Argyle!

    Hand up for 2 "b's" in CUMMERBUND and elks at first. My late husband belonged to BPOE. When I was first pregnant, he'd go to their stag nights and bring me home a big napkin full of breaded and deep fried "mountain oysters". It was the only reason I didn't mind him going. Loved those delicacies!

    JD, cute kids! Looks like you have a plethora of boys like I do, with six boys and a girl.

    D-O: had to laugh about your neighbor dog eating the cat breakfast. Sometimes my cat has so many guest diners, I wonder if he gets any. He is really looking thin. Two cats, a possum, and a little fluffy terrier from next door have been here this week. I was knocking on the window at the terrier and his mistress turned up barefoot looking very unhappy. I smiled but I think she was miffed at me making her dog bark unhappily when she was entertaining guests.

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  16. Good morning all,

    Thanks for a fun run Rich, although I'm not sure I'll remember BPOE and that a Mercedes is an E class, but easily perped. As always Argyle, you clear up any questions I ever have .
    Owen loved the band,bend,bind...poem.

    Marti, when we were in Costa Rica rice and beans were served at EVERY breakfast, and they were yummy. I have no recipe that comes close.

    Yes, the 4 boys have their b'days in the summer and the hats have been a silly tradition, AND the only time we can get the little guys to sit somewhat still for a family picture. They are a hoot.

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  17. Good morning!

    Oh, the ANGER if only I could vent by being SNARKY at Lila Cherry. But it's not her/his fault I didn't anagram it, nor that I left an I in GEENA.

    Thanks Rich for a fun, if not crunchy, Monday puzzle. The 7s were sparkly. Fav of course was SCIENCE.

    Thanks for the writeup Argyle!

    Nice photo JD. How'd you get them to all stay still at once again?

    Cheers, -T

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  18. Yes, this was a bit of a crunchy Monday, wasn't it? Like others I put in ELKS before BPOE and kept looking at BAND E and wondering how that was a weekend getaway. The fact that I had SNARLY before SNARKY made that corner even more complicated. But finally, finally the light bulb went off and I got the WHOLE thing. Many thanks, "Lila," and you too, Argyle. I got the vowel progression, which was cute, I thought.

    Gosh, we really like ENDEAVOR. It's so nice to have that young Morse back.

    Irish Miss, I keep thinking the Sherlock actor is Benedict Cumberbatch? Interesting name, either way.

    JD, what a sweet family photo!

    Have a great week, everybody!

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  19. Hi everybody. I enjoyed the puzzle but I had more difficulty than usual for a Monday. I figured Kool Aid was spelled Kool Ade. I also had Kumberbund. I got the letters in 27A, Quaint weekend getaway, as Band B and couldn't make any sense of it until the V-8 kicked in. Rats!

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  20. My limerick thought today kept revolving around the word "BOCA". While I live opposite from Boca Raton in FL, I do travel there occasionally (for business). Whenever I hear or see the word "BOCA" I am always reminded of the Seinfeld shows, and his parents who lived in the fictional town of Del Boca Vista.

    Anyway, my limerick - using the word BOCA - is as follows:

    An old Yiddish woman from BOCA,
    Suffered severely from Glaucoma;
    She said, "Oy vey iz mir!"
    'cause she couldn't see clear(ly),
    And served MAYO as tapioca!

    Owen - kudos on the greek cow limerick the other day. Very clever, and well done!

    Also, I enjoyed seeing my moniker used as a solve in yesterday's puzzle . . . one of these days I will reveal how I became known as "Chairman Moe" . . ! ;^)

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  21. Good day, fellow worders!

    I overslept today and this puzzle awoke me starting with PEP UP and I even caught the theme at KNEE BEND. Seeing some of my favorite people also helped, Victor HUGO, Humberto ECO and ANDRES Segovia.

    Why is it that CUMMERBUND sounds as though it NEEDs a B in the middle? No problems with BPOE since B AND B was in place.

    Marti:
    That's very interesting about the pleats.

    Endeavour was a shocker last night, very unexpected.

    Thank you, "Lila Cherry" and Argyle for easing me in Monday morning.

    Have a great day, everyone!

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  22. Hola Everyone, A fast easy puzzle. It is Monday, after all.
    I got the vowel progression with spellbind, so looked for o and u in the next two.

    Lucina, I agree, Cummerbund is mispronounced often. Where is that extra B?

    Acela is always a perp word for me. I can't remember it for the life of me. I had A--la and still couldn't get it until I put in the downs. I was looking for a particular penalty like off sides, or such. When Penalty revealed I was a bit disappointed.

    JD's family has grown since we've known her here on the Corner. It is amazing how this happens, isn't it? The Happy hat gang is alive and well! LOL!

    Have a great day, everyone.

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  23. Musings on a just right Monday puzzle
    -Two Nebraska references today - Miss America from Gering and this drink from Hastings
    -At every school where I’ve taught, I’ve seen a smart kid carrying around Hugo’s imposing tome
    -We just finished a BLT with MAYO, all right Miracle Whip but still…
    -Heathcliff and Catherine still roam the literary MOORS
    -NADAL, Djokovic, et al? American interest is minimal.
    -Tammy is a very low rent version of Thelma and Louise and Susan Sarandon was great with GEENA in the latter and showed she’ll do anything for a payday in the former MESS
    -Most referees will not call a PENALTY on the last play of the game
    -Could BABE Ruth have hit Clayton Kershaw?
    -I wonder if Mel ever kissed Flo’s, uh, grits
    -B AND B was not BANDB. Cool!
    -How safe is liquid ENERGY?
    -Will world cup stimulate MLS ratings? Not at my address.
    -What musical mayor says, “She's right. The man's a by-God SPELLBINDER”
    -Lovely pix of peripatetic Bob and JD
    -Read you all later. Gotta get a haircut for our trip.

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  24. Marty, I always thought that the pleats worn up were to catch the crumbs while dining! Ha!

    As for "Endeavor" last night, we have to wait for the next season to find out what happens. That is the worst of all!

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  25. JD:
    I love seeing your happy family and those adorable boys.

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  26. Agryle: Nice write-up. They really are appreciated here at Villa Incognito.

    Enjoyed this Really Rich Norris/Lila Cheery FUN Monday puzzle.

    DNF since, as Irish Miss pointed out, in my world the Titanic just hit a "_ _ _ BERG" ...

    Liked seeing SNARKY as an answer/CSO to our Anon's.

    Here in Tampa Bay, a "Quaint weekend getaway" is to the beach. (B-AND-B notwithstanding).

    Fave today was LIT over RED, what happens when you toast the Sunset with Scotch over Chianti.
    Cheers!!!

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  27. Got everything except one letter!

    I could not/would not accept Band B, & did not fill it in...

    Instead of evoking Thumper, I think I will just go with a tribute to 42D.

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  28. Misty @ 11:30 - You are absolutely correct; it is Cumberbatch. I guess I've never paid too much attention to how it was pronounced because it is such an odd name.

    CED @ 1:20 - Loved the "Dueling Doggies."

    ReplyDelete
  29. Abejo:
    I don't know why you think no one will read your post. Most of us return to read the late night comments and here in the Southwest as well as the far West; the time frame is in our favor since we are three hours behind the Eastern time zone.

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  30. Hello everybody. A fun puzzle, albeit easy. If I solve a puzzle without having read all the clues and answers, I enjoy going back to read them anyway. In this case I was wondering how ARG was clued. Nothing to do with the sound one emits when slapping one's forehead with a V8 can, unfortunately. I've said that many times when the lightbulb comes on about a particularly funny-punny-devious clue.

    LW and I watched Endeavour the other evening and both of us were looking at each other at the end and exclaiming, "Arg! What the heck?"

    FermatPrime, LW and I have been watching Extant (all 2 episodes of it so far) and I can't decide if I like it or not. I hope it doesn't devolve into an incomprehensible mess like Lost did, but I fear it will. It's already getting very weird.

    Thanks for sharing the photo of your family, JD. Best wishes to you all.

    P.S. I had no trouble at all viewing the picture of Carmen Electra yesterday. I guess virus scanners aren't all attuned to exactly the same criteria for identifying a threat.

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  31. Jayce:
    I was wondering "How do I get back that hour I just wasted" after watching, and giving up on, the first Episode of "Extant".

    Luckily I gave up after about 15 minutes of "Rush" ... but I did enjoy "Satisfaction" (though I question how this can be a continuing story).

    OTOH, since I'm past the "Age Group" that Advertisers crave I'll just enjoy watching re-runs Dirty Jobs, etc. lol

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  32. Another easy Monday. The only slow downs were NADAL solved by perps, and I questioned CUMMERBUND, but knew HMOS had to be right. I waited for perps to see if 44A would be BPOE or Elks.

    I have a suggestion for those of you who feed your cats outside: feed them inside.

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  33. Nancy, I can't feed my cat inside because I am allergic to him.

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  34. Reminded of | agreement | in | day before | day (6)
    [EVOKED] = [OK] [inside] [EVE] [D{ay}]

    ReplyDelete
  35. With regard to the BANDB discussion, perhaps had the clue been different, and this been the solve instead??

    And a question: where can I find blank crossword templates? Are there sites out there where you can download a plain 15x15 grid - with no blocks? TIA

    Moe

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  36. Chairman Moe@12:02:

    Rhyming [sic] Boca with glaucoma? Have you no shame?

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  37. PK, as an allergy sufferer (to just about everything) myself, I sympathize with you.

    With regard to the death of James Garner (who I liked immensely as Maverick and Rockford, as well as in his movie roles), when I heard his name on the news, it reminded me of the time when I was a young girl and spent the day with my family at the Crosby golf tournament in Pebble Beach. Jim was so mad about one of his shots that he threw his golf club over a cliff into the ocean. As a child, I found that to be very entertaining.

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  38. Took longer than I expected. I too went for ELKS before BPOE. I had CRANKY before SNARKY and I always thought it was spelled CUMBERBUND. (Anyway, I prefer a vest with black tie. Aren't cummerbunds for card sharks/sharps?)

    Thanks to Ms. Cherry for straightening out my spelling. Live and, as they say, [ahem] learn.

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  39. JD, I just sent you an email with my (friend's) authentic Red Beans & Rice recipe from N'Awlins. I just tasted today's batch - yummy!!

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  40. Lime Rickey@ 4:08

    Here was my second choice for the limerick:

    A sweet Yiddish woman from BOCA,
    Liked drinking her coffee with mocha.
    She loved to eat blintz,
    And handfuls of mints,
    For dessert she devoured tapioca!

    Still bad! }8^)

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  41. Straight forward Monday puzzle.
    Owen I especially liked your first verse, and Moe, I especially liked your second verse.
    Owen I can see OK (agreement) inside of EVE (day before) EVOKE, but the final D for Day seems to be stretching it. I am valiantly trying to be a fan.
    Alan had his brain scan today in an open MRI machine. Results by Thursday. What a pleasant experience. To all of you who complained about the claustrophobia of a closed MRI, I highly recommend looking for one of these machines.
    To all you DIY and hands-on home repair people, I have a problem. I had my air conditioning vents and dryer vent cleaned. For the dryer there is a hard sleeve which fits through the outside wall and is attached to the accordion ducting from the dryer. The technicians just laid this sleeve in the hole in the outside wall without attaching it. I know it was attached before and could not be pulled out. Today I had a liter of rainwater in the accordion ducting. I also fear the loose fit will allow insects and field mice into the house. Tomorrow the techs will return to fix it but I want to understand the situation. Could anyone please email me? Thanks. A big yellowrock for your help.

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  42. YR - That's odd. 1. outside the house there should be a little Venetian flap system that only opens when the hot-air comes out the dryer - this keeps rain and rodents out (birds however, have figured out how to work them and nested in my neighbor's second story vent).
    2. Inside, the accordion pipe goes over (not in) the vent and clamped on. I found a 13 minute video that may explain all (I got board after 2 minutes :-0).

    HeartRx - My 1st experience w/ Red Beans & Rice was a high-school cafeteria in Shreveport. It took a few years before I tried it again. Oh, wow, those were so DOG GONE good in Lincoln PARISH (Bull DOGs!), and of course further south.

    HG - How was GOLF this morning?

    Cheers, -T

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  43. YR: I have trouble with the louvres on my drier vent sticking open with lint in the pivot grooves. I have to make sure the louvres are closed by leaning out a window and manually tapping them after every drier use. I learned this the hard way. My gutters were clogged, foul and overflowing during one hard rainstorm with a wind blowing toward my drier vent. The inside hose filled with water which soaked existing lint. Didn't use the drier for a while. When I opened the door, the smell was moldy and horrid. I ended up throwing the vent hose away. I ran the drier and the heat cured that odor, but I had to have a new aluminun foil accordian hose.

    ReplyDelete

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