google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday August 3, 2014 Amy Johnson

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Aug 3, 2014

Sunday August 3, 2014 Amy Johnson

Theme:  "Kiddie Lit" - A word is added to each famous novel & turns it into a kid book.

23A. Tolstoy tale of child's play? : THUMB WAR AND PEACE. Never read War and Peace. So heavy. How things have deteriorated in Iraq & the whole Middle East!



36A. Carson tale of well-behaved classroom clock watchers? : SILENT SPRING FEVER. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Spring fever.

54A. Dickens tale of math woes? : HARD TIMES TABLES. Dickens' Hard Times. Times tables was certainly math woe to me.

75A. Palahniuk tale of a rowdy slumber party society? : PILLOW FIGHT CLUB. I only saw the movie Fight Club. Did not know the author.


89A. Orwell tale of Beanie Baby breeding? : STUFFED ANIMAL FARMI learned not long ago that George Orwell coined the term "Cold War".

108A. Updike tale of an idle cereal mascot? : TRIX RABBIT AT REST. Wiki said "the novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1991, the second "Rabbit" novel to garner the award."  Never read it. Trix is made by General Mills here in MN.

This puzzle has only 6 theme entries, but they're all pretty long. Total 96 theme squares. Personally I feel very comfortable with 90. 

I don't think I've made a Sunday puzzle without cheater squares. This grid is cheater-free. Only 70 black squares.

 Across:

1. Beijing Zoo attraction : PANDA. Every major zoo in China has a panda or two.

6. It's often seen in sheets : GLASS. Not STAMP.

11. Spreadsheet figures : DATA. "Sheet" clue echo.

15. Foolhardy : RASH

19. TWA competitor : US AIR

20. Cowboy's rope : RIATA. Or REATA.

21. Baylor, for one: Abbr. : UNIV

22. Analogy words : IS TO

26. Robert De __ : NIRO. I once had to remove NIRO from my puzle. Rich said his name is De Niro.

27. Giga- x 1,000 : TERA

28. St. Laurent of fashion : YVES. He had a great lover in Pierre Berge.

29. Upper-bod muscle : DELT

30. Hit song of 1950 : RAG MOP. Ames Brothers

32. Get cozy : SNUGGLE

34. Like Death Valley : SERE. Haven't seen this word for a long time.

35. Stud site : EARLOBE. You've got to think of earrings when "stud" is in the clue. Not this one.

Splynter the Saturday Stud


40. Certain school team activity : DEBATE

44. Kick : BOOT

45. __ double take : DOES A

46. Botanical coating : ARIL. Wish it were clued as pomegranate seed.

47. "Fernando" band : ABBA

48. Matches at the poker table : CALLS

50. Hoover and Mossyrock : DAMS. Know former only.

58. Drink that lost the second part of its name in 1961 : PEPSI. Cola? I still call it Pepsi Cola though.

59. Mended, in a way : DARNED

60. Israel's Iron Lady : MEIR (Golda). She's in Munich.

61. War movie staples : HEROES

62. Diplomatic rep. : AMB

64. Nods, say : OKs

65. Evade : SKIRT

67. 1921 sci-fi play : R.U.R.

68. Biol. or chem. : SCI

69. Artichoke servings : HEARTS. I don't like artichoke. How about you, Marti?

71. Earth has one : MOON

72. Overdo the buffet, say : PIG OUT. Only if they have pickled herrings.

74. These, in Juarez : ESTAS

80. Half a fish : MAHI

81. Welles of "War of the Worlds" : ORSON

82. "Return of the Jedi" dancer : OOLA.  Alley Oop's girlfriend is OOOLA.

83. Apollo landers, briefly : LEMs

84. Grannies : NANAs

86. Samoan capital : APIA

87. Gets : GRASPS
95. Oregon coastal city : ASTORIA

96. Late notice? : OBIT

97. Berlin School psychological theory : GESTALT. Lovely entry. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts".

102. Excitable cell : NEURON

103. Billionaire bank founder Andy : BEAL. Nope. No idea.



104. Latin trio member : AMAT

106. Wind in a pit : OBOE

107. Parisian's "to be" : ETRE

112. Employee IDs : SSNS

113. Actor Morales : ESAI. He was cool for a few episodes in NYPD Blue.

114. What a white flag may mean : TRUCE

115. Complete : UTTER

116. __ drive : TEST

117. "Father of the American Cartoon" : NAST. I guess he deserves the title.

118. "Symphony in Black" et al. : ERTES

119. "The Gondoliers" bride : TESSA. I can never remember this lady.

Down:

1. Forgoes the gimme : PUTTS. I'll take the gimme.

2. Like Dracula's visage : ASHEN

3. Tiny republic formerly called Pleasant Island : NAURU. Gimme.

4. Yankee legend, familiarly : DIMAG



5. Wall St. trader : ARB

6. Fish tank flooring : GRAVEL

7. Old Bologna bread : LIRE

8. Wiimote inserts : AAAs

9. Stop: Abbr. : STN

10. Most mournful : SADDEST

11. One with a second : DUELER. "Second" is the DUELER's assistant.

 12. Med sch. subject : ANAT
 
13. Poker game tell, maybe : TIC

14. Batting figures : AVERAGES 

15. Mastermind : RING LEADER. Great answer also.

16. "The Robots of Dawn" author : ASIMOV

17. Disco light : STROBE

18. "Sesame Street" store owner : HOOPER. Stumper for me.

24. Poet Elinor : WYLIE. Must be gimme for Yellowrocks and Owen.

25. Cop's quarry : PERP

31. Lab greetings : ARFs

33. Prime meridian std. : GST. Always want GMT.

34. Source of brown fur : STOAT

35. Carbon compounds : ENOLS. Every puzzle has a few undesirable entries.

37. Receded : EBBED

38. Noggins : NOBS

 39. Hardly a doer : IDLER

40. Code word : DAH. Morse Code.

41. Timeline chapter : ERA

42. Pool on a pedestal : BIRD BATH

43. "The Aviator" Oscar nominee : ALDA (Alan)

47. Skunk River city : AMES. Not a pleasant name: Skunk River.
 
48. Highway breaker? : CBER. Nice clue.

49. Came down : ALIT 

51. Last Supper attendees : APOSTLES. Last week at the flea market there was a woman who kept shouting "Jesus is $9. Jesus is $9". I discovered that she was selling Jesus figurines.

52. PC processing unit : MSEC

53. "Absolutely, amigo!" : SI SI

55. Races with sulkies : TROTS. Sulky is two-wheeled & one-horse carriage.

56. Tattoo parlor supplies : INKS. So do you have tattoos?

57. PABA part : AMINO

58. Texarkana-born '90s candidate : PEROT

61. Julia's "Notting Hill" co-star : HUGH (Grant). He had 2 kids with a Chinese girl.

62. "If I may butt in ..." : AHEM

63. Phoenix suburb : MESA

65. "Take it!" response, in a jazz club : SOLO. Easy for our Jazzbumpa.

66. City on the Rhein : KOLN

67. Latvia's most populous city : RIGA

70. Rapidly shrinking ecosystem : RAIN FOREST
 
71. Didn't __ beat : MISS A

72. Rice style : PILAF

73. Jim Morrison's alma mater : UCLA

75. The Devil's label? : PRADA. The Devil Wears Prada. The movie is better than the book.

76. Tom of "The Dukes of Hazzard" : WOPAT. Another stranger to me.

77. Straight man : FOIL. Wiki said "straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce". Not a familiar concept to me.

78. Base decision maker : UMP

79. Undergrad degs. : BSS

81. Not a great chance : ONE IN TEN

85. Hendrix hairdo : AFRO
 
86. Comment from one rushing in : AM I LATE

87. Actress Scacchi : GRETA. Never heard of her either. Very pretty.



88. Condo divs. : RMs

89. Having the most marbles : SANEST. 94. Shooting marbles : AGATES. Marble clue echo.

90. Sub-Saharan menace : TSETSE

91. Reversals : U-TURNS 

92. "You can't get out this way" : NO EXIT

93. Building beam : I-BAR
 
98. Dessert cart goodie : TORTE

99. Drives the getaway car for : ABETS

100. Blows, perhaps : LOSES. Great clue also.
 
101. Aquarium swimmer : TETRA

103. Predisposition : BIAS

104. Be up against : ABUT

105. Mickey and Minnie : MICE

109. Pres. Mandela's land : RSA. Republic of South Africa.

110. Winter outburst? : BRR

111. "Shame on you!" : TUT


Happy Birthday to dear Melissa, who's been through some really tough time. She's always strong and never complains.

C.C.


Melissa Bee


52 comments:

OwenKL said...

Some people praise books that are great
While kids about their picture books prate.
So something novel they cobble
The hybrid graphic novel,
Some applaud, other say the books grate!

DNF. Too many problems to be worth listing. But at least they were all fair today, unlike Friday's.

Skunk River: Chicago, was probably named with the Indian word for skunk cabbage or smelly leek.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all (and a Very Happy Birthday, Melissa)!

I liked chunks of this puzzle, but it had an overall fusty feel to me for some reason. Not sure I could explain why, exactly.

Some of the theme answers I got right away, while others took more effort. I've heard of FIGHT CLUB, but had no idea it was based on a novel or who the author was, so that came slowly.

Much harder, however, was SILENT SPRING BREAK for a number of reasons. First, while I've heard of SILENT SPRING, I wasn't familiar with the author. Second, I don't associate SPRING BREAK with "kiddies." Third (and the part that caused me the most grief), I refused to even consider that 33D could possibly be GST since the "S" stands for "Standard" and that's also in the clue (albeit abbreviated). That's just such a no-no that I was sure Rich wouldn't let it slip by. Except, of course, that it ended up being GST after all. Which, as it turns out, is perfectly acceptable after all since, as I just discovered after looking it up, GST actually stands for Greenwich Sidereal Time. Sorry for doubting you, Rich!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Overall not a difficult puzzle, but I hit a Natick where Apia crosses Wopat. Had to resort to trying the whole alphabet on that one.

Seems we've had this before, but what does an ARB have to do with stock trading?

Morning, C.C. - I like artichoke for its interesting texture.

If you're out there, M. Bee, happy birthday! We miss you.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I liked this one. I don't think I've ever heard of Palahniuk, but I had at least a passing familiarity with all of the other them authors. I got off on the wrong foot immediately at 1d inking PLAYS rather than PUTTS.

MESA was a gimme, and I'm sure it will be for Lucina, too. I've got a brother and niece living there. Used to have a sister there, as well.

The small town of Mud Lake isn't far from here. I think that rates right up there with Skunk River.

I remember Greta Scacchi from Presumed Innocent with Harrison Ford. You got to see a lot of her in that flick.

Dudley, look up "arbitrageur."

Happy Birthday, Melissa. I miss your all-lower-case blogging. You always managed to come up with the most amazing photos.

desper-otto said...

Oops! "Them authors" was supposed to be "theme authors." I'm blaming it on the chocolate syrup.

Al Cyone said...

Very enjoyable.

The first theme answers I got led me to believe that the book titles were all at the end. That made me think the book was SPRING FEVER. Worse, the only name I was associating with "Carson" was "Johnny" (even though I'd read the book). Once I got that straightened out I was home free.

(I'm not sure how Barry G. managed to make BREAK work when FEVER was called for.)

[19:54]

HeartRx said...

Good morning!

And a very Happy Birthday, melissa bee! You are missed, and I hope your birthday brings you much joy - you deserve it!!
¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫

I finished the puzzle without help, but it was kind of a slog at points. And I still don't get what SILENT SPRING FEVER has to do with well-behaved clock-watchers. Oh well, I'm sure someone will explain. But to me, theme clues should be spot-on, and if you have to explain it, then it just doesn't work.

C.C., I love artichokes. But, I have to have them with hollandaise sauce. Yum!! Some people think Hollandaise is difficult to make, but I use the microwave. Two minutes, and it's always perfect. Everything you wanted to know about the concept, here.

Have a relaxing day everyone!

Dudley said...

D Otto - thanks. That clarifies the matter.

TTP said...

Good morning all.

Rolling right along. Couple of errors that really slowed me down. At first had fIsh Bowl for "Pool on a pedestal" and it seemed to fit with the i and b.

And Sable in lieu of STOAT. Finally remembered it was ABBA for "Fernando" so that led to removing sable.

Bottom half seemed a bit tougher than the top.

Favorite fun clue ? Lab greetings = ARFS.

Happy birthday Melissa Bee.

Thank you CC

Al Cyone said...

HeartRx@8:43: When it's April or May or June, and you're in 4th Grade, and you're sitting in class, and you've got SPRING FEVER, and you're watching the clock, waiting for dismissal time, being SILENT is being well-behaved. I've been there. I'm sure you have too.

TTP said...

Yea Marti, I didn't get it either.

And CC, inre HARD TIMES TABLES for "Dickens tale of math woes", it's a well known fact that 4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

HeartRx said...

Al Cyone, of course! OK, that makes it all better, and now I can say that the theme was spot on - it was me who missed the mark!

TTP, I'm glad I wan't the only one. ;-)

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Sorry to say, but I didn't enjoy this puzzle at all. The theme seemed forced, for some reason I can't explain. Was a FIW due to fool instead of foil.

Anyway, thanks to Amy for her efforts and thanks to CC for her expo.

Happy Birthday, Melissa B. Hope you have a great day.

Nice CSO to Lucina with Mesa.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy Birthday, Melissa. Wishing you all the best.

Not much to add to the previous posts. At least no Naticks today.
66d - KÖLN - Wanted Bonn at first but then Rhein indicated the German spelling of a city was wanted. Köln is German for Cologne.

Have a great day.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Did Silent Spring take away take away the best defense against malaria?
-Huge costs made Omaha Zoo stop trying to get PANDA’s
-Wanna condemn a marriage? DEBATE every possible issue.
-Hawkeye to Frank about HEROES: “Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, he's somebody who's tired enough and cold enough and hungry enough not to give a damn.”
-Famous words from a LEM – “Houston, tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed”
-Todd Davis advertises his SSN for his business
-The 72 hour TRUCE in Gaza lasted 2 hours last week
-Golf gimmes can depend on the circumstances
-I’ll bet many a DUELER has “second” thoughts too as he is pacing
-Two young women doing a PERP walk (:36)
-After being gone for ten days, our BIRD BATH was…
-Pronouncing KOLN correctly still escapes me
-Meryl Streep called Anne Hathaway fat in the Devil Wears PRADA
-Happy Birthday Melissa. I miss reading you.

Husker Gary said...

Musings vis-à-vis our trip and today’s puzzle
--The Pacific Northwest also has a RAIN FOREST. 30 miles inland, that whole area is SERE!! It was great to see green again here.
-How the Spruce Goose flew in reality and in The Aviator (1:45). It is now stored in the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, which I mentioned yesterday is so far out of the way it is in serious financial trouble
-I did PIG OUT on bacon at our bkfst buffets which were all upscale properties and therefore had this wonderful food of the gods
-The Bonneville DAM on the Columbia is two hours east of ASTORIA (which we SKIRTED) where Highway 30, which passes through our town, ends and the Pacific Ocean begins
-The tide had EBBED tremendously when we got to the ocean on Monday and so we saw a lotta beach
-We had a Chicago guy on the bus that butted into every conversation without so much as an “AHEM”. He was traveling alone.
-No one had to say “AM I LATE?” as everyone was always early or on time for the bus.
-Our bus driver, John, could make a U-TURN in a phone booth. He got us this view going up this road.

HeartRx said...

HG, I couldn't open your "Aviator" clip. Is this the one you linked?

Lucina said...

Good day, Puzzlers!
Happy birthday, Melissa, wherever you are. I also miss your lower case writings.

Thanks for the CSO! MESA is my neighbor city to the southeast.

I haven't decided whether I liked the puzzle or not though I did enjoy the solve. It pleases me to quickly respond to a clue or to work it out via perps, across/down is my system.

Palahniuk is totally unknown to me though I had heard of FIGHT CLUB. I knew the other authors and that provided a foothold to start on the themes which I found very clever. Believe me, SPRING FEVER in the classroom is very real and very challenging so SILENT SPRING FEVER would be quite pleasant.

I liked the cluing for BIRDBATH.

Spitzboov:
Thank you for explaining KOLN. With Rein/Rhine as the clue I knew it would be a German spelled city but had to work it out letter by letter.

Like others PILLOW/WOPAT was my Natick so had to research Tom. But I forgot to finish the M in MSEC so a dreaded DNF. But it was fun.

Thank you Amy Johnson and you, C.C. who clarify it for us.

Have a special Sunday, everyone!

Lucina said...

Oops. C.C. who clarifies it for us. Sorry.

Husker Gary said...

-Thanks for cleaning up after me, Marti. I usually check links but…
-I’m reminded of a banner a friend of mine had across the front of her room, “An excuse only satisfies the giver”
-Off to the Lancaster County Fair to meet the family, see granddaughter’s projects and distribute goods from the Pacific Northwest (mostly made in the Pacific Northeast)

M and M said...

Surprised that no one has commented on DIMAG. I've Googled it with and without quotation marks and found no hits in reference to Joe.

Joe's wiki page and his official web page mention is given name, familiar name: Joe, and nicknames Jolting Joe and The Yankee Clipper. I have even heard some call him Mr. Coffee. But I have never heard DIMAG.

I know perfect fill is impossible but DIMAG?!?! And so early in the puzzle? Just gave me a bad taste right off the bat.

MM said...

Sorry, Of course it's Joltin' Joe!

Big Easy said...

Hello everybody. This was a fairly easy puzzle in spite of a sea of unknowns. I always thought WAR AND PEACE was used as a paperweight; too long to read. 1A & D started it off easily and this is one of the few puzzles that I worked from NW to NE, the middle, and finished up SW to SE. Never had to backtrack once.

The unknowns were easily filled but there were many. TESSA WOPAT WYLIE AAAS( is Wilmote an electronic or a shoe?) HOOPER BEAL GRETA OOLA GESTALT.

TWA and the AVIATOR in the same puzzle? Howard Hughes, C.C., did you know?

Notting Hill is one of the few movies that I walked out on (although my wife watched it all). To call it horrible would be a compliment. I'm sorry that I actually paid money to see it.

Did any of you come home from a trip with bed bugs in your luggage? Did your children come home from school with lice? Know anybody that got West Niles Virus? You can thank the author of 36A.

Chairman Moe said...

So after an easy solve with Silk yesterday, Ms. Johnson - et al - threw me several curve balls that I swung at and missed. Had to cheat on several clues (76D, 34D, 3D, 5D, 82A, 24D) and didn't really "get" the theme until I filled in STUFFEDANIMALFARM. Clues and solves I liked included: 65A (Evade-SKIRT), 48D (Highway breaker-CBER) and 66D (City on the Rhein-KÖLN - with the proper German spelling.

Another write-over was 103D when I first had BENT before going with BIAS. Not a favorite puzzle but it did have some fun clues and solves.

So now that Ol' Man Keith and HeartRx got me thinking about doing limericks that scan, I propose that I will try from now on to abide! Today's attempt:

I don't want to just rant, rave and shout,
But I figured this needs pointing out:
When you translate "Cologne"
To its German name KÖLN,
Don't forget to insert the umlaut!!

PK said...

Hi Y'all! I enjoyed doing this puzzle, Amy, despite at least 10 things in clues or answers I didn't know. Great one, C.C.!

Wiimote? Is that the Wii game remote control? Never even seen one. What is PABA?

I've never had artichokes to know what they were. I ate a frozen dinner once then noticed the box said artichokes were in it, but I didn't see anything that proved it.

THUMBS? I don't understand the THUMBS part of WAR & PEACE answer. NW was last to fill partly because I refused to enter THUMBS. I started to read the novel when I was a teenager. I got to the part where they all rode off to burn a bridge and found out no one had brought anything to light the fire. I decided it was too stupid to be worthwhile. Thus ended my venture into Russian authored books.

happy birthday, melissa bee? Do you still stop in at the Corner?

No tattoos here. I don't like skin graffitti.

WOPAT was a gimmee. My husband & sons were big fans of that TV show. My youngest son was talking when he was here a few weeks ago about how disappointed he was in Mom. I wouldn't ramp my car like the TV General Lee except once which was purely an accident on an unknown road.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks Amy, CC!

A bit more difficult than the usual Sunday, but I finally prevailed w/o cheats! (A contrast to yesterday's disaster.)

Love artichokes. Hollandaise is easy in blender, too, Marti!

Cheers!

fermatprime said...

THUMBS means one glanced through it, I think!

Bill G. said...

I enjoyed and completed the puzzle. I grumbled a bit over some of the clues but nothing worth getting exercised over.

No tattoos for me. I like artichokes with melted garlic butter or mayonnaise. It's interesting to think about the first person who decided that it might be edible and then decided how to get to and cook the edible parts.

Big Easy, hmmm? I enjoyed "Notting Hill." Not a classic and not in the class with "Love Actually" but I had a good time.

Lucina, we had a little rain last night from the same weather system that has affected you. Say, did you watch Sunday Morning? Their Moment of Nature was a short video of a lightning storm in the Arizona mountains.

HeartRx said...

A THUMB WAR is a kid's game. My sisters and I used to play it all the time. There is even a Thumb Wrestling Federation.

Fermat, I have made Hollandaise sauce in the blender, too. For me, the microwave method is easier, without the messy blender to clean up afterwards!

I have six tattoos: location marks for radiation therapy. They are only tiny dots, but they do qualify as tattoos! And unless I go to a nude beach, no one ever sees them...even then, someone would have to be staring reallllly hard to spot them.

Avg Joe said...

A fun puzzle today with some clever combinations. Plenty of unknowns, but no Naticks for me, so I got out of it unaided.

I grew up eating artichokes, so have always liked them. We usually just use melted butter for dipping. We also make a really tasty pizza with marinated artichoke hearts (actually just immature secondary bulbs, not hearts). The other toppings are shrimp, cream cheese, black olives, portobello shrooms, tomato paste, onions and mozzarella. Not exactly an economy meal, but it's a nice indulgence once in a while.

PK said...

Thanks for the info on THUMB WAR. I didn't study C.C.'s picture in depth. Never heard of the game.

AvgJoe: Do you grow artichokes?

Did anyone see the incident at the Bridgestone Golf Championship where Sergio Garcia's ball hit a lady's engagement ring and knocked the diamond out of it? They were showing the solitaire setting empty prongs and Garcia looking for the stone. Eventually some kid did find the stone in the grass. Sergio was leading prior to that, but his game has been off since.

HeartRx said...

PK, I'm watching it right now. That really was something to see - but the commentators' patter afterwards was priceless!!
"It's a diamond in the rough?"
"That could be the most expensive tee shot ever."
"Do you think she had an empty setting to begin with, and it's all just a scam?"

...etc.

Unknown said...

This was another time consuming puzzle, but I got it done. The last to fall was THUMB.

I eat my artichokes with melted butter and lemon. Steve likes his with mayonnaise. I'm going to try Marti's Hollandaise recipe. It sounds like it is delicious with artichokes. Whenever I have eggs benedict, I always ask for extra Hollandaise.

I also have tattoos for the same reason Marti does.

Avg Joe said...

PK, I have tried to grow artichokes 2 or 3 times, but it was an experiment that didn't end all that well. It's a perennial that doesn't produce well until at least the 2nd year, and it's nearly impossible to get it to survive our winters. I did get one effort to yield a single main stalk choke for each plant and had several secondary growth bulbs in the first year, but they weren't very tasty and I couldn't get any plant to overwinter even with some elaborate boxes I built to contain mulch. I gave up and relegated the growing to Californians. But it was interesting to try it.

Big Easy at 1:41, I can't resist the urge to reply. As for your 3 part quiz, I can answer yes to parts 2 and 3. But that doesn't make me want to nominate Dow Chemical for sainthood. I'll cite John Denver with "I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly." I was born in the 50's and saw my first Bald Eagle on December 5th 1992. I've even had 11 sightings from my own yard in the past 7 years. If Rachael Carson hadn't written that book, it's exponentially less likely that any living human could have that experience. I'm not at all sure I'd agree with your priorities.

Lucina said...

No TATOOS on me. I feel about them the way I feel about gambling, it's throwing away money.

My sister often used to make artichokes with mayonnaise and we often said it's a good excuse to eat lots of mayo. I hardly tasted the 'chokes, which, BTW, are the mascots of our local community college.

I just went to see Woody Allen's latest movie, Magic in the Moonlight. Unlike the critics, I loved it as did the theater full of people. It's on two screens at that location. Applause followed the movie which has lavish, gorgeous costuming and furniture
(circa, 1920's). And, of course, it has Colin Firth. Need I say more?

Also, with regard to KOLN, i.e., Cologne, it's worth visiting for its immense, lovely cathedral.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Amy, for the easiest Sunday puzzle I've attempted. DNF, but got 95% of it! Thanks, C.C., for explaining things to me.

Happy Birthday, Melissa Bee! Hope it's been a great day.

Have a nice evening.

Pat

Jayce said...

Somehow I associated well-behaved classroom clock watchers with SILENT SPRING. But I guess SILENT SPRING would refer more to a well behaved clock than the watcher thereof. Anyway ...

There once were two gents from Verona.
(No kin to those guys in Cremona.)
Both acted like hams,
As happy as clams.
Though one liked to play Desdemona.

Best wishes to you all.

Jayce said...

There once was a man from Ignacius
Whose lim'ricks were far too loquacious.
His mind was quite spacious,
Oh my goodness gracious!
He took pleasure in cramming so many syllables into the last line that it made his readers annoyed and pugnacious.

(I promise that's the last one.)

Bill G. said...

Jayce, no apologies necessary. They were very enjoyable.

aka thelma said...

Definitely not my favorite puzzle.... oh... I finished it, but a few things I still didn't "grasp"..

Almost quit at Dimag ! ?? and then again at Trots !!??
look up sulky Racing and see if you see where it is called trots anywhere...

Sorry... :) hope you all have a great evening... :)

thelma

Nice Cuppa said...

Evenin' All

A late 10 cents- (or 6 penny-) worth for Silent Spring. The pesticide story is very similar to the antibiotic story. Both have allowed great strides forward for human health. What was WRONG was their WIDESPREAD, INDISCRIMINATE OVERUSE:

• Malaria-carrying mosquitos became resistant to DDT within 6-7 years.

•Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are the new scourge for 21st century health (and hospitals).

End of (brief) polemic.

NC

Dennis said...

thelma, I agree. In my circles, anytime 'trots' is mentioned, it usually involves porcelain...

aka thelma said...

Well....... yes Dennis..... :) I thought of that too.... :)

thelma :)

Blue Iris said...

Happy Birthday Melissa Bee! I miss reading your post. Hope the next year holds an improvements in health and happiness.

Thanks CC for explaining fill. I gave up finishing. There were just too many names I didn't know two-thirds through it. BTW, CC I have really enjoyed your last efforts in grid making. I can tell you are really working hard to come up with fresh fills. I'm sorry I am so untimely in telling you so.

No tattoos for me. My husband got one in the Navy, at age 19, and has always regretted it. Laser removal didn't exist (and now we're to old to worry about it).

OwenKL, I never knew about the origins of Chicago's name. Interesting.

HG, your trip sound interesting. Who did you book through and was the bus comfortable for traveling.

OwenKL said...

Hand up for the tiny dot tattoo. Only one, mine's down in my navel. No other tats. When I was still young, I thought I might someday get into politics or acting, and a tat would be a hindrance in either. With current attitudes, it wouldn't have mattered.

C.Moe and Jayce: enjoying your limericks!

Cuppa & Jazz: I haven't seen you over at my new cryptic blog. With no competition of other topics, I've been putting up a mix of über-easy ones and medium-hard. The really tough ones I'll leave to Cuppa.

Argyle said...

If I clued "Ford truck in ancient Rome : FCL", who would get it?

Abejo said...

Good Monday morning, folks. Thank you, Amy Johnson, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

Just finished this morning. Worked on the puzzle off and on yesterday while traveling to Johnsonburg. Got stuck in the center. Finished this morning. Had to get help on OOLA.

PILLOW FIGHT CLUB was my last theme answer to get.

Most of the puzzle was doable, but there were a few in the center that made it tough. I had BONN for the city. Never heard of KOLN.

Anyhow, since I am a day late, I will not go on and on with my answers. Enjoyed the puzzle.

Happy Birthday, Melissa B. Have missed your input. Hope all is well.

See you later today if I can get Monday's puzzle. No cruciverb so far.

Abejo

(324)

Husker Chuck (Ergo) said...

I'm late to the party but that's okay. This puzzle had so much promise that it carried me over to day two.

Finally threw in the towel when I was down to 5 blank cells (all obscurities to me). NAST was one, and the WYLIE/YVES connection was the other.

Otherwise, thoroughly enjoyed the discoveries of the longer answers.

Anonymous said...

79D A BS is not an "undergraduate degree": Once you have a degree, you are no longer an undergraduate.

BV Ahlers said...

Mossyrock dam is in Southern Washington State on the Cowlitz river

Anonymous said...

somebody tell Amy Johnson that the wiimote uses AA batteries.

Argyle said...

I guess it's up to you.