17A. "Alice in Wonderland" critter known for disappearing : CHESHIRE CAT. Great start - here's John Tenniel's original illustration:
27A. Painting partly shown on the original cover of "The Da Vinci Code" : MONA LISA. I was fortunate to see Leonardo's original in the Louvre many years ago - here's the selfie version:
36A Ubiquitous Mad Magazine guy : ALFRED E. NEUMAN. Way too many picture hits on Google to choose from. Today is "Make your own Mad Magazine Link Wednesday".
47A. "Batman" villain : THE JOKER. I'm not sure what Jack is so happy about - he has court-side season tickets for the Lakers.
59A. Some emoticons, and defining features of 17-, 27-, 36- and 47-Across : SMILEY FACES and what a nice motto for this Wednesday!
Hi everyone - Steve here having fun with Mr. Blais's puzzle today. I loved the clever theme and the long downs around it. ANALOGOUS TO had me watching each letter fill in with the crosses, and I was convinced that I'd got something wrong until finally I saw it with only the "N" to go.
I'm time-shifting again today - I'm back in Rio de Janeiro until Saturday. If only I could time-shift a week or two backwards and I could have watched some World Cup games! I didn't plan this trip very well at all. My bad. Let's head onwards:
Across:
1. Auto whose griffin logo was recently discontinued : SAAB. I think it's more than the logo that was discontinued - didn't the entire brand get 16A'd?
5. Log on to : ACCESS. After at least three failed userid/password combo attempts in my case. I locked myself out of my own laptop yesterday.
11. "Family Guy" daughter : MEG. Thank you, perps!
14. Beige cousin : ECRU
15. Hail from a distance : CALL TO. Hey, Bubba! The Swiss yodel, it seems a little more poetic.
16. Lumberjack's tool : AXE. The "E" can be chopped off with no hard feelings, but then it loses it's crossword-qualification letter count.
19. Cousins, say : KIN. Because KISSING doesn't fit.
20. Lost it : HAD A FIT
21. It may be bulletproof : VEST. If I was in the line of fire, I'd be worried about the "may" qualifer.
22. Free-for-all : BRAWL. Donnybrook in the land of my fathers.
25. Hates : DETESTS
31. Half an etiquette list : DON'TS. I prefer the Do's.
32. Free TV ad : P.S.A. Public Service Announcement. Check out the UK''s Road Safety mascot "Tufty the Squirrel" from the 1960's and 70's. I think Policeman Badger needs a course in immobilizing an accident victim before dragging him to the sidewalk.
33. Pepsi, e.g. : COLA. And 29D, and a cross too! These always have me worried that I'm seeing double.
35. In favor of : FOR
41. Cry to a toreador : OLE. Or a cry to a soccer team.
42. Clumsy boats : ARKS. Why clumsy? You're a craft filled with all the world's species, you're bound to be a little sluggish making a sharp turn into Port Mt. Ararat.
43. Part of an ear : COB
45. Getting on in years : AGING. What, me?
50. Tummy-showing shirt : CROP-TOP. There was an article in the NYT this week about how much tummy was acceptable to show wearing one of these. The jury was out, but the photo-examples were fun.
52. "__ obvious!": "Duh!" : IT'S SO
53. Aussie sprinters : EMUS
54. Blue Staters, collectively : THE LEFT. No comment. One of the rules of this blog. Read 'em - they're up there on the right.
58. __ Cruces : LAS
63. Sinusitis-treating MD : ENT
64. Requiring less effort : EASIER. Not so much this crossword today. Thanks, Steve for a fun challenge!
65. Bend : WARP
66. Sci. course : BIO
67. Stick : ADHERE
68. Haywire : AWRY
Down:
1. Short time : SEC. Small word, and a great and clever clue. I love these gems.
2. Günther's gripe : ACH. Some German today. "Oh"!
3. "Blessed __ the pure in heart ..." : ARE
4. Poppycock : BUSHWA. AESL (American English as a Second Language) for me today. I resolve to use this in a sentence as soon as possible.
5. Biting, as wit : ACID
6. Siena sweetie : CARA. Italian - it's language-fest in the down clues today!
7. Staff notation : CLEF. Do-re-me ..... Marti? Singalong?
8. Spanish folk hero : EL CID. Canadian-eh's folk hero - The Sid:
 |
| How aboot some hockey, eh? |
10. Lush : SOT
11. Gets a move on : MAKES TRACKS. Nice!
12. Is more than a dream : EXISTS. Whenever I see or hear "a dream" I can hear The Cure's Robert Smith's vocals on "Just Like Heaven" and his apparent flat note. It's a great song, but the "dream" at 2:14 always sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me. What say you musicians? It's still on my Top 10 song list on my iPod but that "draaam" always wakes me up.
13. Classy guys : GENTS. Classy john too.
18. Site of many school lockers : HALL
21. Rattler's poison : VENOM. I have to watch out for these little buggers when I'm out hiking. The babies are the most dangerous, they give you the full plunger of poison, they haven't yet learned to give you just enough to get you to go the heck away.
22. Image file letters : BMP. Bitmap. Basically this was a full pixel-accurate copy of the image that took up a boatload of file space. The JPEG format and derivatives made life a lot easier.
23. Flor del amor : ROSA. A rose, by any other name.
24. Corresponding with : ANALOGOUS TO. My star of the week, month or possibly all-time. As a down, you can't really recognize the letter sequence as it fills and you're trying to break the string into all kinds of unworkable segments. Brilliant!
26. Protein source for vegans : TOFU
28. __ hockey : ICE. Canadian-eh must be happy today. Eh? Tin-man - don't look.
29. Pepsi, e.g. : SODA. I hear a clecho. And a blogcho - Tin-man - don't look.
30. Watchful : ALERT
34. Egyptian cross : ANKH
37. Decides with a coin : FLIPS. We toss in England.
38. Monthly expense : RENT
39. Flagstaff-to-Roswell dir. : E.S.E. 8.7 light-years via Alpha Centuri. Remember that the next time you run out of fuel for your warp drive in Area 51 when you were just out for a quick galatic-joyride.
40. Rejections : NOES
44. Pal : BRO
45. Big name in high fashion : ARMANI
46. Lost one's temper : GOT MAD
48. Short time : JIFF. Clecho-echo-oooo. Yodelling clues today. Where's the Alpenhorn?
 |
| I hate it when I lose my iPhone |
50. Walk of Fame honoree : CELEBrity. Is CELEB common enough now for no abbreviation or shortened indications in the clue? I guess so.
51. Engage in online fraud : PHISH. Help. I am stranded Rio with brasil police arrest and no wallet my hotel have my bag and will not release unless I give deposit money and they then give me phone and my possesses so I can wire me bail out of prison from bank. Wire now and I pay on sunday. Today is march and it rainy. I won Nigeria lottery on twesndsday.
55. Nobelist Wiesel : ELIE
56. Creepy look : LEER
57. Literary governess Jane : EYRE
59. Poseidon's realm : SEA
60. Cornfield call : CAW
61. Take a wrong turn, say : ERR. I've never heard that from the passenger seat before - "Oh, I think you erred - we're going the wrong way". It's more like "WOOOOAHH - San FRANCISCO?" What kind of BUSHWA driving is this?"
62. Binoculars user : SPY
Well, that was fun. More fun than spending an unexpected 24 hours in Houston airport on Thursday/Friday because my connection from LA was 2 hours late and I missed my Rio flight. Oh well!
Bom dia! My hovercraft is full of eels.
Steve.
60 comments:
C.Moe seems to be taking over limericking, but for today's theme, I'm reminded of a piece I wrote a while back, The Happy-Face Hymn. Hap E. Phace is a nom de plume I used for my, uh, less PC offerings. ;->
The Grizzwells 7/15/14
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A cryptic clue for a word from today's puzzle. Since this is intended as an educational challenge, let me mention that clues may be ANALOGOUS TO their solutions, but sometimes not identical. Also, do mention if you got it or not. If everyone who tries gets it, I'm making these too simple, but if no one does, I'll know I'm making them too complex.
Ezra, before a spell had quite ended, talked about being less trouble (6)
Morning, all!
Very smooth solve today until I got down to the bottom and hit a few bumps in the road. I had no idea what a "tummy-showing shirt" was, but with a "t" provided by the perps I figured it ended with TEE. That eventually gave me CROP TEE, which obviously didn't help matters.
It also took awhile to figure out that "corresponding with" was not referring to writing letters to, and ARMANI didn't spring immediately to mind.
Once I got over those bumps, however, the road smoothed back out and everything else was fine.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Steve Blais, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.
Could not sleep so I got up and worked the puzzle, with some Earl Grey tea. Thank goodness cruciverb worked. The paper was not here yet.
The theme answers came easily. Enjoyed the reference to the Da Vinci Code, one of my favorite books ever.
CROP TOP was unknown to me. Got it after ANALOGOUS TO. Spelling ANALOGOUS took me a couple tries.
Good clue/answer to 54A. THE LEFT. Even though I am more Right than Left.
ARMANI was attainable after about 4 of the letters.
Our good friend EMUS again.
BUSHWA is not a word you hear a lot.
MEG was unknown. Never have seen the show. Got her with three perps.
Nice start to the day. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
(fficeyo some)
(178)
Good morning!
This puzzle felt Monday-ish, though I shot myself in the foot with EDWARD before ALFRED. Enjoyed your writeup, Steve. Poor guy, being stuck in Rio and all. Personally, I've always been better at the DON'TS than the DO's. Teachers often turned to me when they needed a bad example.
My all-time worst boatride was supposed to be a hovercraft out of Macae -- just up the cost from Rio. The guy who arranged transport knew that the hovercraft had been broken for months, but figured I'd refuse to go out into the Atlantic in a dinky crewboat. He'd have been right. Longest 10 hours of my life!
Abejo, I prefer pen and paper for solving, but I guess Earl Grey could work in a pinch.
So far, it's three of us who didn't know CROP TOP. I am assuming that is the style Daisy Duke wore on that show long ago. BUSHWA? Sounds like a bull**** word to me as I have never heard it or seen it written.
This puzzle was smooth with the few unknowns easily filled by the perps. I had the usual decisions on YELL TO or CALL TO, MELEE or BRAWL, SODA or COLA- which way? The only unknowns were CARA and MEG.
Treble Clef LINES - EGBDF
Every
Good
Boy
Does
Fine
Spaces were easy - FACE
Bass Clef lines GBDFA
Great
Big
Dogs
Fight
Animals
Spaces- ACEG
All
Cars
Eat
Gas
ACH, it's time for this AGING JOKER to depart. Me DETESTS seeing the overweight girls in CROPTOPs. It doesn't leave many SMILING FACES, but as she says as she sees her svelte body in the mirror:
" WHAT! ME WORRY?"
Good morning all,
SMILEY FACES, smiley attitudes. Way to go Steve ! Both of you. A little tough for me today, with too many initial entries proved wrong. But, I got 'er done.
The west and SW took the longest time. I had melee and mri instead of BRAWL and BMP. But I worked MONA LISA in from right to left, and free TV ad had to be PSA.
I drove to Paris in either 77 or 78 and checked off the Louvre, the MONA LISA, the Eiffel Tower, and other touristy stuff off of the list.
Yes, that SW corner had me double checking my fill. I had roos where EMUS belonged, and it was seeing the word ANALOGOUS that solved the puzzle by forcing me to change to EMUS. Then the corner made sense and fell.
Well, I'd better MAKE TRACKS to my office. Time to get to work.
See all y'all later !
Good day folks,
This could be a record setter today for longest time to make a short post..............have a 11/2 lb kitten walking on the keyboard having a fun time. Where's the dog when I need him?
This was a hassle today, but ended up getting it done.SE corner was where I had most of my issues. Began with Roos before EMUS and Armati before ARMANI. Otherwise, no serious hold ups.
That's it. Cat loves the keyboard and is completely ignoring her other objects of interest.
Geography off today too...meant SW corner.
Good morning everybody! I hope this puzzle put you in a smiley mood.
I thought 12D was a little awkward: Is more than a dream: EXISTS, but I guess it makes sense.
I also liked seeing ANALOGOUS TO. I perped it and couldn't figure out what it meant.
Steve, great write-up (as always).
Have a great day everybody!
Quick and easy puzzle, faster than yesterday's, with only a pause in the SW corner. Delightful expo, Steve.
I knew BUSHWA. In Herbert Mitgang's book review of "Once More Around the Park" by Roger Angell, he says Angell "....much prefers Bernard Malamud's book "The Natural" to the "Arthurian bushwa" of the Robert Redford movie.
Owen, please continue your great limericks. I look forward to them every day.I need my daily "fix' from you.
It seems that only men don't know CROP TOPS, although I am sure they enjoy ogling them.
Alan went back to work today with much anxiety. We spoke to his work counselor together. Since Alan has an anxiety problem anyway I hope he stays and that this day becomes a victory for him.
On the selfish side, although I enjoy being with him, I am feeling freer for a change.
Good morning Steve, C.C. et al.
What a fun puzzle today! I had ANAL* at 24-Down, and had to pause for a little chuckle before I filled in the rest. I agree with you, Steve - that was my favorite fill today, right after ALFRED E. NEUMAN.
I had to laugh at your VEST comment, too. I had a B.I.L. who was on the state police, and he did have to rely on his being bulletproof!
D-O @ 6:36, re: Earl Grey. (^0^)
Happy Hump Day, everyone!
Musings
-The most (only?) famous famous SMILEY FACE scene (:32)
-The ACIDic content in ALFRED’s magazine were a staple of my ute
-Rumors persist that JOKER Jack Nicholson’s memory is gone
-AXE and ask are not synonyms or homonyms
-I suppose greeting the Pope with a fist bump and a “wassup” would be a DON’T, although Francis looks like a guy who’d not be all that upset.
-Part of Bill Cosby’s hilarious Noah’s ARK bit (2:53)
-IT’S SO obvious that for some people wearing CROP-TOPS are a DON’T
-Where THE LEFT are by county
-WTH, I’m linking CARA Mia (2:29) by Jay (Black) and the Americans again
-EL CID was a “hired sword” that took turns fighting for/against the Moors and the Christians
-A lot of learning takes place in and around HALL school lockers
-Compare quality and file size (below images) of BMP vs GIF
-I always ERR and take a wrong turn in KC where I-35, I-70 and US 169 intersect in a blizzard of signs after crossing the Muddy MO. I've got that UIE down pat
-What did Kenny Rogers musically ask Ruby to “DON’T do”?
OwenKL, ditto what YR said.
Fairly easy solve for me today, and like Steve, I loved ANALOGOUS TO! Never heard BUSHWA before so hesitated a little before finishing the WA.
But try to put one over on an Aussie, and they'll likely come back with "Waddaya think this is, bush week?" To which my only explanation is that the week of the Royal Easter Show (aka NSW state fair) all the unaware "bushwhackers" come to town and, in the days before TV and the internet at least, they might be easily fooled by city dwellers out to get the better of them.
Good morning everyone.
WBS. Easy enough theme. Liked the 11 letter downs. Got crop top from the perps. I'll bet the NYT article was riveting. Last to fall was PSA. No strikethroughs or searches were needed.
39d, By great circle:
Initial bearing: 104°52′33″
Final bearing: 108°54′11″
so it falls well within ESE sector of 101.25 - 123.75
Steve: Excellent write-up & links.
ACH !!!! Those damn perps filled in ICE Hockey for me today. (I never saw the clue before Steve's write-up!)
Though, I must admit, since I like ICE Hockey, it's not the worse thing to happen.
Probably the only acceptable clue for "THAT" word.
OTOH, the rest of my grid was pretty NEAT ... just like my Scotch. lol
Cheers!!!
Good Morning:
I found this a bit crunchy for a Wednesday, but finished w/o help, although not too quickly. Liked the theme and some of the surprising fill, analogous to, in particular. Only write-over was The Dems before The Left.
Great job, Steve Blais, and informative and witty write-up, Steve from Rio!
Tin, when I saw that dreaded _ _ _ again, I thought uh-oh, Tin is going to hit the roof but you seem to be unusually mellow about it. Good for you! :-).
YR, I hope Alan fares well and continues to improve. And I hope you can enjoy some much needed, guilt-free down time.
We're in for an extremely hot and humid day with heavy t-storms later on. After the storms, cooler temps and less humidity. Hooray!
Hondo, is Riley getting along with Oly, or is he just ignoring her?
Have a great day.
Good morning puzzle pals.
I was reading along and saw The Cure link and was thinking "JzB is a Cure fan?!?". BUSHWA - Superman Steve is back! Thanks for the great writeup.
Pzl took a bit to solve - I have BIO issues (Cipro slowly taking kicking bug), but stuck with it - so so much fun fill. WEES re: 24d. I like a Wed Blais; so much EASIER than a Friday Blais. Thanks constructor Steve - awesome theme :-)
51d was my fav. I PHISH so I can determine the "click rate." It is useful only in knowing risk. Being a bit WARPed myself, I also enjoyed 65a.
HG - your map might as well just show population densely. Nothing political about this LEFT.
GIF - pronounced JIFF is a bit lossy in the details. We used TIFFs or BMPs for machine vision back in the day.*
One of the DON'TS: If you have a muffin top: Don't wear CROP TOPs.
I gotta MAKE(s) TRACKS...
Cheers, -T
*really cool project in grad sch. to measure eye vein width in retinal images to correlate cataract likelihood.
HG, your Noah's ARK clip brought back a funny memory for me. I went to a private Catholic all-girls school, and we would put on plays and entertainment for various events at the school. One year, I decided to do this "Noah" bit because I thought it was hilarious.
...Evidently, the nuns did not agree. Halfway through my act, the principal reached out from behind the curtain and unplugged the microphone because she thought it was sacrilegious! I was mortified, but the other girls later persuaded me finish the act in the restroom, far from the prying ears of Sister.
Hi Y'all! Cute theme, Steve Blais! I didn't really cop on to it being a theme until the unifier, although all those grins were registering in the back of my mind.
Great expo, Steve! Never know where you'll pop up next. Always enjoy your travel comments.
I was also thinking pen pal or email about the "corresponding with". ANALOGOUS isn't really in my vocabulary; I can't even pronounce it without getting my tongue twisted. Looks good on paper though. I perped in ANALOG and thought we were done. Wait! there's more. I got a SMILEY FACE out of Marti getting stalled on ANAL. Good one!
Didn't know BMP or MEG. Tried pEG after perping the EG. Never seen a SAAB. Tried it when AUDI turned red.
Alas, no ARMANI in my closet.
CROP TOP is what you make your teenaged daughter remove if you see her going out the door in time to lodge some NOES.
Husker: "Don't take your love to town."
Irish Miss:
I had to be "mellow about it" ...
I didn't see that I had filled in "_ _ _" until reading Steve's write-up.
Owen:
I don't care to search-out your cryptic clue answers since I find your "solutions" to be a bit obtuse, appealing only to you.
JMHO
I enjoyed the theme today, but didn't get it until the Smiley faces answer came out.
I enjoy playing the trivia/word games on Sporcle.com and this one made me think of the state abbreviations crossword puzzle we had some weeks back. The constructor couldn't come up with at TX word either, @HeartRX! http://www.sporcle.com/games/MrChewypoo/bootleg-states
Owen @ 5:45 - I never meant to "take over" limericking. You're usually the first person to reply to the LATCC each day, and your limericks - I'm sure - bring a smile/groan/et al, to all who visit. Personally, I find your limericks more thought-provoking and entertaining than your cryptic clues, but I'm not into "cryptics" as much as I am limericks. Don't know why we both can't do them.
To the puzzle, I enjoyed the "hump day" challenge that Steve Blais created today. Great clues and answers; perfect for the middle of the week. I didn't focus on any one "region"; I had to write over 9D as I had STATES not STATED; TOFU came to me after filling in ALFRED E NEUMAN - I am not a vegan and was unaware TOFU is a protein source . . . 50D was originally ACTOR, but quickly changed as I did the other perps. I, too, was unaware that CELEB is not only an abbreviation, but also a stand alone word.
WEES, BUSHWA and CROPTOP were unknown words to me. My better half said she wore CROPTOPS when she was a teenager . . . wish I had known her then!! };^)
Moe
Today's Limerick:
The CHESHIRE CAT seemed to be in a scurry,
As his body disappeared in a flurry;
All that was left was his grin,
Like that of ALFRED E NEUMAN;
But the grin just replied, "What? Me Worry?!"
Another DONT re: CROP TOPs. English accent so it must be real etiquette.
Marti - I too went to a (formally) all girls catholic high-school. I recall on day 7 or 8 the english teacher commenting how much better the girls put themselves together w/ boys in the HALL.
With apologies to Tin, but I really liked ICE (cold) COLA SODA in the middle. Yet another SMILE.
Cheers, -T
I really fun Wednesday puzzle and write up on our all Steve all the time Wednesday; thanks guys.
BUSHWA last appeared in the LAT in a C.C./Don G. collaboration in May 2012. JD, do you still keep a book of words learned from puzzles?
I hope Susan (Hahtoolah) is all right, maybe on vacation.
Sid the kid Crosby was only one of many Canadian references today; eh Steve?
FTL .
For the ladies.
HeartRx @ 10:27 - Sounds exactly like the nuns who taught me for 12 years. But I was much bolder than you, Marti. My best friend and I came within a whisker of being expelled for getting caught smoking in the boiler room! Where did we ever get that much hubris and stupidity?
WARMEST greetings, friends! Steve, whatever you're drinking, keep it up. Your blog is hilarious.
WEES. This was a speedy sashay for midweek and even the unfamiliar fill fell quickly, MEG, SAAB, (I know the brand but not the griffin reference), and learned OTTAWA is also a river.
CSO to OwenKL with allusions to New Mexico at Roswell and LAS Cruces.
BUSHWA was a total surprise though ALFRED E NEUMAN appeared immediately.
Thank you, Steve and Steve. It was a lark today. Loved ANALOGOUS TO.
Have a stupendous Wednesday, everyone!
Woohoo, a double Steve puzzle on a Wednesday! And with one of the most delightful themes we've had all year. Totally made me SMILE! Just wish Steve had posted a pic of silly Alfred too--loved the MONA LISA selfie! Also the Alpenhorn caption and your PHISH.
Still, lots of unknowns, including BUSHWA, MEG, and CROP TOP, but perps filled them in. My only blank was BMP and PSA. I have to say I hate it when initials cross.
YR, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Alan has a good day. Marti, funny Noah story. Moe, I think it's great to have two limerickers on the blog.
Have a great day, everybody!
Why hasn't CROP TOP been linked?
Hola Everyone, Thanks to the two Steves today, we had a Wednesday romp with a few challenges and some "smiles" along the way.
I learned that Analogous to has nothing to do with letter writing, and that BMP has to do with Image file letters. Because I didn't know the latter, that whole little section in the top west area was a slog for me.
Bushwa started out as Bushaw. (And neither word is accepted by spell check)wouldn't you know.
The puzzle did bring a smile to my face when I figured out the theme. I enjoyed our Wednesday offering.
Freezer defrosting day for me. I expect that we'll have an interesting dinner tonight with things that thawed out or needed using up before this. LOL.
Have a great day, everyone.
Never heard of Bushwa before, curious what came up when I researched it...
I thought crop tops were to make you feel comfortable, ouch!
Have a nice day!
Good afternoon to most of you - it's still morning here.
According to my Big MacDictionary:
BUSHWA derives from BOURGEOIS - and they do indeed sound very similar, if your Aussie-French is good enough. It goes on to note however that BUSHWA is now considered a euphemism for BULLSHIT, which may have placed in the DON'T category among polite society (such as those assembled here).
To quote Michael Caine: "Not a lot of people know that".
To quote Kenneth Wolstenholme from the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final: "They do now".
Owen: I have not figured out your daily cryptic yet.
Tinbeni: I think that was a rather bushwa comment to make to Owen. He states that he is trying to find an appropriate level. I did not find your either comment polite or productive.
NC
Wow! Notice how deftly Steve put the glasses back on to be NC. I'm in AWE! (BUSHWA - that was so yesterday :-( )
Owen do what you do - I only play your cryptics when time permits, but I do enjoy when I do - same with rhymes.
Annin - C.C. is cute but look above the neck - there's where you see beauty in another hominid BRO.
Since CED didn't - Nat's MONA LISA. I'm needing a bowl of pasta right now. Gimme a SEC.
CED - where is that tattoo'd girl's um, ROSA?
Here's a fun Kids in the HALL. ITS SO wrong but funny.
Cheers, -T
This was a fun and easy puzzle. I had no write-overs. Answers solved by perps were BUSHWA, BMP, and MEG.
Owen and C.Moe, I enjoy the limericks from both of you. Please keep it up.
Ezra, | before a spell had quite ended, | talked about | being | less trouble (6)
[EZRa] [spelled out without last letter] [is a homophone of] [=] [EASIER]
Lucina: Thanks for noticing the multiple shout-outs to my locus!
Yellowrocks, Bluehen, C.Moe, Nancy et al.: Thanks muchly for the words of encouragement. I don't know what I'd do without the creative outlet this blog gives me, though I do feel I'm hogging more than my share of bandwidth with both limericks and cryptics. Today though, I just wanted to share an old poem (26 years old?!).
Tinbeni: no offense taken. Different strokes for different mokes.
Greetings!
Thanks for pleasant offerings, Steve & Steve!
Cute theme!
MEG and BMP were all perps.
Many years ago, loved
Alfred E. Neuman!
Happy to hear about Alan, YR!
Cheers!
Relax all, Owen is a big boy and he can do his own thing. As far as Tinman, his opinion is his opinion and therefore cannot be wrong. We have too much fun here to let any of this change anything. Many comments would like to exclude me, so who cares.I solicit all comments as long as they follow the simple rules which Steve so deftly pointed out are on the right in the clue about on the left.
NC where are you?
Manac where are you? River doc where are you?
I just enjoy doing the "LA Times Crossword" puzzles ... then coming here to this Blog and discussing the solve with a wide variety of people.
If I wanted Cryptic Clues, I would do the "Daily Telegraph Cryptic Crossword" puzzles ... and go to THAT blog and discuss the cluing/answers.
Does that make it clearer about my feelings regarding the Cryptic Clues.
Either way, it looks like another fantastic Florida Sunset shaping-up here at Villa Incognito.
Cheers!!!
Fermatprime, Misty, and Irish Miss thanks for your support. Wahoo! Alan did stay all day and came home happy and willing to return tomorrow. All the clients and staff welcomed him back enthusiastically. I am encouraged that he is about back to normal. This is a wonderful facility, but the grand poobahs at the NJ Dept. of Developmental Disabilities want to shut it down.We are fighting them. NJ DDD has a one size fits all model that may or may not work for the highest functioning. All others they relegate to babysitting type scenarios. This type of facility is great for the "in betweens", like us.
Hey gang - definitely a fun puzzle today; took the third theme answer before I was sure of the theme itself. Steve's puzzles are always enjoyable.
Back from a little 'man vs. nature' trip to the Everglades, where I spent several days finding out I'm too old to be doing this stuff. No major injuries, but I managed to bang myself up pretty good. Saw some mosquitoes and other insects that I swear had airline markings. However, alone time out there is good for the soul (and so was the Wendy's double on the way back home.)
Nancy Murphy, love the Akita picture; we've had two, and if it wasn't so hot here in Boca, I'd certainly have a third. Best, smartest dogs I've ever owned.
Nice Cuppa, nice to see you back.
Hope it's a great evening for everyone.
AnonT: Unfortunately, that kid doctor reminds me of some doctors to whom I've paid big bucks for NO help at all or misdiagnosis. One doctor sent me to a neurologist who questioned me about the first doctor's age etc. The neuro Dr. finally said the referring doctor (whom he'd never met or even heard of) kept sending over patients with no neurological symptoms like myself. And here I was scared something had turned up in my tests of which I wasn't aware. Months later I got a letter from the multiple doctor clinic where the first doctor was a new hire. They asked me to evaluate her performance. I chickened out, but she soon left town.
51D PHISHing is not essentially fraudulent; it is merely invasive.
No-Vice worder, I'm hoping your avatar lives in Delray Beach.
Dennis & Nancy Murphy:
My akita passed a couple years at age 12. THE best that I've ever had. Miss him all the time. Check out either profile pic or blog.
Dennis,
Yes she does. I do a little portrait photography and thought she might get a hoot out of it but it seems to distract some of our members so I have replaced her with a photo of my beloved parrot (Jonathan) of 34 years.
No-Vice worder, my compliments -- two beautiful creatures.
Lemonade @ 3:28
Manac where are you? River doc where are you?
They're probably sick and tired of Owen and Moe hijacking the blog.
Why don't they start their own Limerick and Cryptic blogs?
Tin @ 4:01
If I wanted Cryptic Clues, I would do the "Daily Telegraph Cryptic Crossword" puzzles ... and go to THAT blog and discuss the cluing/answers.
Amen, and "Cheers"
Dennis,
Thanks for your kind comment. You should see them in person. The low quality thumbnails does neither of these beautiful creatures justice.
CED, you've done it again. Piqued or peeked my interest. I don't know if that tatted woman has been photoshopped or what, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what is where or where is what. It can't be my eyesight because I enlarged it 400% and used a 10x loupe and still am not any the wiser. For what its worth, I consider her fully dressed - or at the least, nothing worth covering up. ;-)
Dennis, nice to hear from you. Do you miss your hobby shop? Glad you survived 'au naturel'. How did you cook the gator meat ? BTW, there are other places you could get real 'soul food'. ;-)
BTW, do you still remember the BlogMaster master codes to 'hack' into this blog, from the good old days ??
I don't know about you folks - but - I am seeing an overlay "395 x 395" on the center answer ALFRED E NEUMAN on this website front page crossword puzzle . Right on the letters 'D E N', in the center of the 36 A answer.
It's freaking me out.
Is it some freaking phishing expedition to get me photographed in my birthday suit while I type on my computer ?
Maybe the NSA is trying to recruit us, or at least keep tabs on us.
May the God Obama bless us.
May the God Obama bless us.
May the God Obama bless us.
Casually curious - thanks. And there's no way I'd be "au naturel" in that environment (ala 'Naked & Afraid)-- too many biting things. Matter of fact, on advice, I had long sleeves and long pants. Also, no gators. We kept a respectable distance from each other. They have big teeth, and I had a big .45.
I miss the hobby shops a lot, mostly the customer interaction. There's not even any hobby shops around this area where I could 'volunteer'.
As to the master codes, I'm sure they were changed when I left. Not sure what you mean by hacking into the blog anyway.
No-Vice worder, no doubt you're right. And how nice to have a pet that long -- if only dogs and cats had such a great lifespan.
I have not posted all week due to busy schedule but I had to comment today.
Thanks for the shout-out Steve. I had noticed all the Canadian clues. Sid the kid and Ice hockey (glad you like this Ice, Tinbeni!). Ottawa River clue was an easy solve. There is even white-water rafting on the river (north of our capital city Ottawa).
Yesterday, by the Beatles.
Did ya'all here about the unfortunate death of George Harrison's memorial tree that was planted in California? It died from a beetle infestation. No kidding. You can't make this stuff up.
Dennis, what is the story behind your new avatar? Looks like you are in an airplane looking for your parachute among the clutter. Was your Everglades trip a guided group thing or you striking out on your own? I hear big snakes are beginning to be a problem in the Everglades.
C,mon Anon@9:18p! Please, in the future, stay on topic.
like this,
or this.
I think the anon WAS on topic. I mean, really, where have all the good times gone? I liked the old blog better.
PK, it's inside a B-24 that was part of a group of WWII aircraft that visited the Boca airport. They were selling rides, and I couldn't resist. No parachutes, though.
The Everglades adventure was solo; just something I wanted to experience. And yes, there were warnings to be on the lookout for some healthy-sized snakes, as well as various other fun creatures. It was actually nice to feel that alert and alive again, which tends to happen when there's things around that can make you dead. Strange but true.
anon@9:18, ironic indeed.
Five and out - enjoy the rest of the night.
Anon @4:30 - SPAM is mostly annoyance. By definition PHISH are always fraudulent - the attacker is fishing for rubes to get password-stealing or some other software installed on your computer. Phishing is the easiest way to infiltrate a company's network.
Dennis - you seem like a fun guy to have a beer with - cool stories of the Everglades.
Cheers, -T
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