google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, September 11, 2014 Steve Marron

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Sep 11, 2014

Thursday, September 11, 2014 Steve Marron

Theme: "To the Point"

18-Across. Zero degrees Celsius, for water : FREEZING. We'll be freezing soon enough (see 50- and 51-Down!)

22-Across. Capacity limit : SATURATION. OK, I get it, but shouldn't there be something else?

52-Across. Moment of change : TRANSITION. This works alone, too, but...

58-Across. Sensitive spot : PRESSURE. OK, this one really needs to get to the point!!

38-Across. Not getting it, and, in a different way, what 18-, 22-, 52- and 58-Across are : MISSING THE POINT. Oh, I GET IT!!  Wonderful reveal, and elegant theme, when it's all put together.

So we have FREEZING [point], SATURATION [point], TRANSITION [point] and PRESSURE [point]. Ahhh, much better!

HaHa, I get to blog our Wednesday Sherpa Steve's debut solo puzzle. His first was a collaboration with C.C. just last month. Well done, Steve!  And a credit to C.C.'s caring guidance and enthusiasm for crossword puzzles and puzzlers, how many people on this blog are constructors! Let's see what other fun Steve has for us today.


Across

1. Wildlife photographs may be a memento of one : SAFARI...sa-goodie.

7. Visit Overstock.com, say : SHOP.

11. It's near Miss. : ALA. Cute clue. Yours, Steve?

14. Reebok rival : ADIDAS.

15. Piece of glass : PANE. (In the A**?)

16. "Collages" novelist : NIN. Anais. Absolutely nailed it - it's about the statues in Vienna, Austria.

17. Triangular chip : DORITO.

20. Go out with : SEE.

21. Synthetic rubber, for one : POLYMER.

27. Turn down : DENY.

28. Bathroom fixtures : TUBS.

29. Airline seat pocket item, briefly : MAG.azine (not "wheel.")

30. Word with ball or cup : EYE.

32. Molar mender's org. : ADA. American Dental Association. But also, American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association, adenosine deaminase, Americans for Democratic Action...

33. University of Nevada city : RENO.

34. Pinnacles : ACMES.

42. Pound and Poe : POETS. I like how POETS contains "Poe."

43. Bounders : CADS.

44. Santa __, California : ANA. Barbara, Clara, Cruz, Clarita, Fe Springs, Maria, Monica, Paula and Rosa were all too long!

45. Attorney's thing : RES. Lemony, what's your "thing"?

47. I-5, for one : HWY. It runs north from Mexico to Canada.

48. Salt Lake City Winter Olympics year : MMII. 2002.

49. Abbey recess : APSE. Not to be confused with Benedictine monks taking a refreshing break.

55. Viruses, worms, etc. : MALWARE.

57. Bk. after Ezra : NEH.emiah.

60. Be unable to stand : DETEST. Because "drunk" was too short...

63. Squeeze (out) : EKE.

64. Govt. agent : T-MAN. Treasury-man.

65. Like most wedding cakes : ORNATE.

66. Who __ Nation: New Orleans Saints fans : DAT. The phrase "Who Dat" originated in minstrel shows!

67. Exists no more : ISN'T.

68. Said : STATED.


Down

1. In a funk : SAD.

2. Stir : ADO.

3. Diamond corner : FIRST BASE.

4. Parting words : ADIEUS.

5. Olympic judge, e.g. : RATER.

6. Equi- kin : ISO. Is an equi-lateral triangle the same as an iso-sceles one? (I didn't think so)  ;-)

7. Beach lotion letters : SPF. Sun Protection Factor. As I have said in the past, I don't think the "sun" needs protecting, but the "skin" does!!

8. Horn honker of classic comedy : HARPO. Marx.

9. Score that often requires overtime : ONE-ONE.

10. Spa treatment : PEEL.

11. Cartoon genre : ANIME.

12. Hotel housekeeping supply : LINEN.

13. Fuming : ANGRY.

19. Louisiana music style : ZYDECO. Love the music! Can any of you dance like this? 3:17

22. Forever __ : STAMP. Hands up for wanting "yours"?

23. TV feed component : AUDIO. or "video"??? (Wait for perp help!)

24. Hymn ender : AMEN.

25. Cranberry quality : TANG. One of my cats has urinary tract issues. I feed her a cranberry tablet every morning, and she just gobbles it up. Maybe she likes the "tang"???

26. Practical joker's cry : I GOTCHA.

31. Kennel sounds : YAPS. I wanted "yips," but 34-A had to be ACMES. ("There is no ' I ' in ACME!")

33. Opposite of set : RISE.

35. American Airlines Arena team : MIAMI HEAT.

36. Film composer Morricone : ENNIO. We've had him before, but I still needed all perps to remember his name!

37. Carpet blemish : STAIN. With three cats, I don't even want to go there with you...

39. Scatters, as petals : STREWS. I envisioned a cute little flower girl, but NOT like this!! 1:14

40. "Private Benjamin" star : HAWN. Goldie.

41. NestlĂ© ice cream brand : EDYS.

46. Plays chords, in a way : STRUMS.

48. Medit. hot spot : MT. ETNA.

49. Unlike rock bands on MTV's "Unplugged" : AMPED. I like this "REM" unplugged version. 4:45

50. Insulated jacket : PARKA. Ooohhh, it's too soon to be thinking of those!

51. Winter fall : SLEET. NOOOOOOOOooooooooohhhhh!!! WAY too soon.

53. Aired again : RERAN.

54. Not reactive : INERT.

56. Wine from Italy : ASTI.

59. Otitis-treating MD : ENT. Ear-Nose-and-Throat specialist. Otitis is inflammation of the ear.

60. Uno y uno : DOS. 1 + 1 = 2 in Spanish. (Funny...it adds up to the same thing in English!)

61. Law firm office, perhaps: Abbr. : STE. Suite. Sweet!

62. Journalist Koppel : TED. I used to love him on "Nightline." Which reminds me, time to say night-night!

Marti, over and out.



Notes from C.C.:

1) I'll echo What Marti said earlier Steve: "Well done!". I'm so incredibly proud of what you accomplished in such a short period of time.


2) Happy Birthday to Husker Gary! Shortly before we met, Gary and I exchanged over 40 emails in one morning, just to get the blog format correct. His attention to detail and "never quit" spirit is inspiring.


Left to Right: Boomer, Gary, CC & Joann
August 22, 2014


70 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all (and Happy Birthday, Garry)!

Congrats to Steve on his solo debut!

Another mostly smooth puzzle for me today. In fact, I found this smoother than the last couple of days. I got a little irked up front that 18A was FREEZING and not FREEZING POINT, bu then I got the theme and it was all good. After getting the theme I was able to go back and make short work of all the theme answers.

No problems with proper nouns today, as I knew both MT ETNA and ENNIO Morricone. I think my only hiccup was putting in ZYDEKO instead of ZYDECO at first.

Lemonade714 said...

Congratulations Steve, well done. I liked all of the alliteration and the theme was clearly direct. The reveal was sparkly. I did not recall ENNIO but it all filled.

Marti I hope your cranberry pills are helping, they say animals and small babies will seek what their bodies need.

The rise of the Corner!!!

From the Who Dat Nation said...

Lots of Louisiana references in today's puzzle. Does the constructor frequent this State? Here is a famous Cajun Zydeco musician, who celebrated his birthday just this week.

HeartRx said...

Good morning!

I wanted to jump in and say Happy Birthday to Husker Gary! I hope your day is way "below par." (In other words, excellent!!!)

¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫¸¸¸.•*¨*♫♥♫

As I mentioned to Steve, I make it a point not to look at the constructor's name when I am solving and then writing up my comments on the puzzle. It's only after I fill in the title of the blog that I realize who the constructor was. In this case, it was a lovely surprise to see Steve's name at the top. Fun puzzle, and really nice execution. More, please!

MaryLou said...

Congrats Steve! Very nicely done. Great reveal!

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fastest Thursday in a while, but a great challenge with more unusual words, Steve, thanks.

Great one, Marti! I got to watching one ZYDECO clip after another and almost forgot to come back to the corner. Man, I used to love jitterbug! I would flourish and grow slim if I could ZYDECO. Don't think I'd have nerve enough to do the leg-humping steps though in public.

Didn't know ENNIO. Sounds more like an illness than a name.

Happy birthday, Gary! If you're getting as much rain as it looks like on radar weather, you should have soft greens when you putt. Or overflowing water hazards in the cups.

Rev said...

Fun puzzle today. I wanted to put surfs instead of shops, taps instead of tubs, and I got you instead of I gotcha. Once I let go of what I thought to be correct, everything else just fell into place.

Anonymous said...

Very fast, but enjoyable Thursday puzzle.

Congrats to the rookie, solo constructor.

inanehiker said...

Great puzzle, Steve!
Happy Birthday, Gary!

Yellowrocks said...

Congrats. Steve, Great solo appearance.
I miss Ted Koppel on Nightline. He was tops in my book. I liked when he attacked subjects in depth rather than presenting a shallow smattering of this and that as we see now.
I didn't know ENNIO or Olympic year ENN_O. ONLY I V or X were possible. I seemed the best.
Here is my favortie flower girl video.
Link Adorable

I received a suspect email from "Jason" at my blog address. I deep sixed it. I hope it was fake, Lemony.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Steve Marron, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for a fine review.

Welcome back, Steve! Great job!

HBD, Gary. And, many more.

Puzzle was really very good. I got through it more like a Wednesday puzzle. But, that is OK with me.

Enjoyed the theme.

MALWARE. They ought to shoot those people that create that junk.

Had SAFARI the other day. A repeat is good.

ETNA, with MT. This time. That was different.

Almost to MIdway airport. Have to run.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(574)

Husker Chuck (a.k.a. Ergo) said...



Happy birthday fellow Husker Gary. I'll be in Fremont on Saturday and will drop off a kolache. (grin)

Remarkably easy puzzle today. "Who DAT gonna beat those Saints" made me smile. Brief pauses for ENNIO and ZYDECO but they perped out nicely.

Got a big job interview in one hour. Wish me luck!

Husker Gary said...

Blimey, Steve! What a fun, challenging puzzle with obscure, for me, ZYDECO, a baseball reference for C.C. and a very elegant theme!

Musings
-I didn’t know if SLC Olympics were MMII or MMVI and had no clue on ENN_O but I seemed more logical
-This cool, wet summer has farmers worrying about the crop FREEZING
-Anybody else have these TRANSITIONS?
-Can you find the ADIDAS symbol on these Huskers?
-Triangle shape starting with D? Gotta be DELTA right? …or not.
-POLYMERS convinced me that organic chemistry wasn’t for me
-Daytime TV is full of ads for these TUBS. Hmmm… I wonder why
-Plural high point rules out APEXES
-Joann STAINED our carpet with finger nail polish. A frantic web search revealed that Windex works on that stain as well as PANES
-I don’t have otitis but would someone answer that dang phone!
-Twins separated at birth?
-Who’s the most famous resident of Greenbow, ALA?

Yellowrocks said...

Good Luck, Husker Chuck. Knock 'em dead.

Yesterday Bill wrote. “What's your area of expertise? What is your sphere of influence? They're certainly not synonyms but can be used similarly.”

I meant to say that the synonyms are area and sphere, not influence and expertise. Your sphere of influence or your area of influence. Your sphere of expertise or your area of expertise.
Here is an example of using expertise with sphere:
From a Pan Link ad. "We’ve built our competitive offer on three fundamental spheres of expertise.”

desper-otto said...

Good morning.

Late to the party, because I overslept. First time in a long while. Opened my eyes, squinted at my watch, and realized it was already 6:28 -- oops!

Well done, Steve! I enjoyed your debut puzzle, in several spots I ducked left when it shoulda been right. The spa treatment was a PEEL not a Pedi, the honker was not Clarabell the Clown, the cake was ORNATE, not Tiered, and I jumped for Video before AUDIO. Later, looking over the grid, I wondered what I POTCHA meant. D'oh, it was a MAG not a MAP in that seat pocket!

Marti, equilateral and iscoceles are equally hard to remember. Right triangles are easier. It all comes down to the hippopotamus or the squaws on the other two hides.

Happy birthday, Gary. Do something fun today, young man.

Montana said...

Thank you Marti for explaining this fine puzzle from Steve and congrats to him on his solo debut.

Happy Birthday, Husker! Have a great day and weekend too!

I am glad to see others thought this was an easier than usual Thursday puzzle. I thought perhaps it was mixed up with a Monday puzzle by my newspaper as I rolled along filling in answers. I needed perp help here and there.

I don't really consider this a "done it all by myself" solve, though, because I had the red-letter help turned on, so as I kept solving and no red showed up, I KNEW I had correct answers. That is different from paper/pencil solving. And I personally consider that as getting help.

Snow north and south of me, but not on me. Lots of bus kids had snow yesterday and today. Hope it is only rain before it reaches any of you. However, maybe Qli will get snow.

Off on a 70 mile trip east to drive a lady to an eye appointment where she will get drops in her eyes. She will treat me to lunch before we return home. Temperature is 36 now so shouldn't be any ice on the road.

Have a great day,
Montana

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-Thanks for the sentiments celebrating my 68th orbit of the Sun! Heck, on Mars, I’m only 36 years old.
-Off to play golf on a 52° F day that has a pretty good northern breeze. It’s still above freezing, which is 32° F on our side of the pond ;-). I hope I’m under par too, Marti!
-Leave it to C.C. to turn my many emails into a compliment! If you’re ever near Minneapolis, she’s worth the trip!

Husker Gary said...

Chuck, I’ll meet you at Military and Main for the Kolace ;-). Apricot is my favorite but you’d have to go a long way to top the ones my MIL makes! FORE!

Montana said...

Husker, I have Transitions glasses. In fact I'm wearing my third pair.

desper-otto, since Squaw is a very derogatory term to Native Americans, the term was removed from every geographical place in Montana a number of years ago.
I had a 'joke' comic for geometry that had 'squaws' in it. I had to put it away, but it was really funny and kids remembered Pythagorean's Theorem after laughing at it.

Montana

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Good job, Steve.

Crunchy for me, today, but finally sussed the theme and finished w/o searches or write-overs.

Here is some Morricone. Performed by the Norwegian King's Guards at the 2004 Oslo Tattoo. The whole clip is good, but Morricon starts at time 4:00 into the piece.

Have a good day.

Anonymous said...

Puzzle answers do not need to be the preferred usage. Most frequently they are not the preferred usage. That's what makes them interesting.

Yellowrocks said...

Lime Rcikey,
Interesting point about the Roman numerals naming the Olympics. This year 's were XXII, the 22nd time the Winter Olympics were held. Here is an article about it.
Link Olympiads

But, I have seen the year itself written both ways: 2014 and MMXIV.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

What a pleasant surprise to see Steve's name again so soon and solo, to boot! Congrats on an enjoyable puzzle with a clever theme and "on point" reveal. And thanks, Marti, for your witty write-up. Only write-over was rte before hwy. Needed a few perps but, overall, clear sailing. (Liked strews and strums!)

Happy Birthday, Gary. Hope Joann has something special planned. (Any potato sticks on the scene?)

Gloomy, rainy day but we did have a nice stretch of beautiful, late summer weather so no complaints.

Started watching Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks late last night but I fell asleep. I need to begin earlier, before the sandman appears out of nowhere!

Remember those we lost on this most sorrowful day.



Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Big congrats to Steve for a fine puzzle. MMII / ENNIO was a near natick, but got it with a SWAG.

I was surprised at first to see one word theme answers, but eventually got the POINT.

Stumbled for a while at I GOT CHA.

Overall, though, a bit easier than the typical Thursday.

Tigers could do nothing against Shields last night. Still a game back.

Cool regards!
JzB

CanadianEh! said...

Congratulations Steve on a great solo debut puzzle.
HBD Husker Gary.

I was not MISSING THE POINT today although I was glad for perps to give me ZYDECO and ENNIO.

Hand up for RTE before HWY. My wedding cake was TIERED before ORNATE and my bathroom had TAPS before TUBS. Since no language was indicated, I tried ADIOS before ADIEU, and I always have to wait for perps to decide between APSE and NAVE, and ACME and APEX!

Lots of SAFARIs this week. Great memories from last year's trip.

Vidwan827 said...

WHO DAT? ....Falcons last week, Browns this week ...

CanadianEh! said...

YR & Marti, I loved the flower girl videos. We have a wedding coming up with 3 flower girls, ages 9,6, and 3. We shall see how many flower petals the 3 year old can STREW!

kazie said...

Congrats to Steve! Great puzzle, which I found much easier than the last two Thursdays.

Not much time to comment lately as the kids are here with Lea until the 21st, and she is a bundle of energy requiring lots of attention and watchfulness. Being a long distance grandparent might have some advantages after all! I feel my blood pressure is up just from worrying about her banging into something or annoying the "vowvow" (dog) too much!

kazie said...

Sorry, I forgot: HBTY, Husker!

Anonymous said...

Question re: 45a.

If an attorney is disbarred is she/he still considered an attorney?

Similarly if a doctor is ordered by the State Board to stop practicing is she/he no longer a doctor?

I mean, can they just move to another state and become a attorney/doctor again?

Lucina said...

Hello, Puzzlers!

Happy birthday, Husker Gary!! I'm sure you'll do something fun today.

Congratulations to Steve Marron on his puzzle debut though I must have been away when he paired with C.C. Well done!

WEES. This was easy but with some great cluing and unusual words such as ZYDECO, MT ETNA, and complete terms, MIAMI HEAT, FIRST BASE, etc.

I got the POINT and as others have STATED, some fill has to wait for the alternative to be ruled out.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Tinbeni said...

Husker Gary, Happy 68th Birthday! Tonight;s "First Toast!" is to you, my friend!

Steve: Thank you for a FUN Thursday appropriate-level puzzle.

Only ESP got me NIN and ENNIO.
Hand-up for "pedi" before PEEL at the spa.

Water must freeze at 51° F here in Tampa Bay.
Trust me, at that temp. people walk around saying: "It's F**king FREEZING out there!"

I always refer to the events of this date as "September 11, 2001"
Never ... just 9-11 (nine, eleven)
911 is an emergency number or a Porsche.

In memory of the 108 people I knew personally who perished that day.
tears...

Misty said...


I loved this puzzle and didn't realize it was OUR Steve's until I came to the blog! Warmest congratulations on this terrific debut! Great mentoring, C.C., and delightful write-up, Marti. What a great way to begin a Thursday morning!

Loved the FOREVER STAMP (am so thankful I don't have to check the price on the stamp every time I stick one on a letter anymore). And I fondly remember Goldie HAWN in "Private Benjamin." But I was sure ZYDECO was wrong until I came to the blog--never heard of it.

Have a wonderful birthday, Husker.

And have a great day, everybody!



PK said...

Spitzboov, thanks for the tatoo link. Never saw such straight lines anywhere else. I got carried away and watched another side link of the Swiss Guards too. Love those drill teams. So good.

Tinbeni said...

oops ... Forgot to answer Husker's question.

"Who’s the most famous resident of Greenbow, ALA?"

That would be Forrest Gump

Ol' Man Keith said...

HAPPY B’DAY to Husker Gary!

Good pzl from Steve. It felt tougher than usual for Thursday, but this is probably because the first three this week were unusually easy. In any case this was 100% win for yrs truly--just a bit slower in places than expected. And it didn't help that I mistakenly entered AMEN at 25D instead of 24D.
I found it funny that the first answer I was SURE of on my first quick scan was 20A. I suspect only those who are used to Xwd lingo would immediately equate SEE with "Go out with."

Avg Joe said...

It was a very pleasant surprise to see Steve's by line again so soon. And solo to boot! Congratulations.

Lot's to like. A clever theme with plenty of trickery and a nice bow to tie it up with the reveal.

But. You beat me. I didn't know Ennio and guessed Ennvo. I knew the year of the SLC Olympics had to be 2002 or 2006 and the latter seemed more likely. The rest was all filled correctly with heavy reliance on perps.

Happy Birthday Gary!!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your debut solo puzzle, Steve! Marti, thanks for the expo. I needed it in a couple spots.

Numerous errors: PEdi/PEEL, irate/ANGRY, MAp/MAG, Yelp/YaPS/YIPS, tiered/ORNATE. Ended up with a DNF. The MMII/Ennio cross was a natick.

Happy Birthday, Gary! May you enjoy many more!

Pat

Lemonade714 said...

Egads I forgot my BD greetings ti HG! And many more!

Jayce said...

Happy birthday, Husker Gary. I admire and respect you a lot.

Lucina said...

Oooh! It's THAT Steve! I didn't realize it; again that information must have been revealed while I was gone. Well done, Steve, and I see your quirky sense of humor and wit in the puzzle, for example abbey recess/APSE. I love that.

CrossEyedDave said...

The Star Ledger did it again! It says this puzzle was constructed by Amy Johnson

Excuse me while i write a snarky letter to these dingbats...

Oh, I almost forgot! Happy Birthday Husker Gary!

I always have trouble finding a HUsker Gary cake, here is my search so far:

Hmm, I don't think so....

Ooops! No, I think I will save this one for me...

Whaaa? Oh gimme a break!

Hmm, this cake might be stolen also,,, (it looks hot...)

Wait a sec! here is something interesting... But I don't see how anyone could eat the dang thingie...

Oh Well, I guess I will just go with The tried & true...

CrossEyedDave said...

Freezing point?

Saturation point?

Transition point?

Pressure point!

MISSING the POINT!

Lime Rickey said...

YR@9:57: "I have seen the year itself written both ways: 2014 and MMXIV.

I don't doubt that but I think it matters just where you've seen the year of the Olympics written in Roman numerals. I've seen lots of wrong answers. It never made them right.

Unknown said...

Congratulations, Steve. This was a little easier than a typical Thursday but very enjoyable. ENNIO was all perps.

Thanks for the write-up, Marti (especially the REM song/video).

Happy Birthday, HG.

Steve said...

Thanks for the thumbs-up everyone and the great write-up Marti. I can't claim credit for the 11A cluing, that was Rich. It's been interesting to see how much editing goes into getting a puzzle ready for the page.

@WhoDatNation - no, I'm not a frequent visitor, but I love the food and I wish I had more chances to visit!

Lemon - I got the same email as YR, but it looked weird so it stayed unopened.

Thanks to C.C. for her mentoring and support - the time she's happy to spend with a rookie is quite amazing to me.

HeartRx said...

OK, curiosity got the best of me, and I just had to look up "kolace." Seems it's a middle European type of pastry. Why so popular in Nebraska, though?

YR, I had seen that flower girl video before, and was looking for it for my STREWS link, but couldn't find it. Thanks for posting it!!

Lime Rickey, well, I don't think crossword puzzles allow numbers to be entered into any square, so it would be assumed that Roman numerals were needed when referring to a year...just sayin'.

CED @2:24 - 2:45, hilarious links!! I opened them all (on my Mac) and none had a malware warning.

Steve, I was sure it was your clue - you always have such witty comments when you blog on Wednesdays. But I can't blame Rich for changing it to a "near Miss." The temptation must have been overpowering!

HeartRx said...

HG, was this bear cub doing a pole dance for your birthday???

Lime Rickey said...

HeartRX@4:15: "it would be assumed that Roman numerals were needed when referring to a year"

I don't doubt that that's the assumption. I just wonder whether it's a reasonable assumption. Maybe "yes" for a Thursday puzzle?

And why the reference to the Olympics? Are those years more frequently referenced in Roman numerals? Despite Yellowrocks' experience, I don't think so.

If the clue said, "Day of Infamy year" would it be obvious that the answer was, well, whatever it is in Roman numerals?

Avg Joe said...

Marti,

We have quite a number of Czech communities in NE...well, some would prefer the term Bohemian.... Some notables are Verdigre, Wilber and Prague. And while these are mostly small towns, the scion of these folks are widely distributed across the state. That's the connection between NE and kolaches.

Vitame Vas!

EdieB said...

Isobars are lines that show equal barometric pressures.

HeartRx said...

Lime Rickey, not sure why the Olympics reference. But it gets difficult to clue Roman numerals for relatively current years. We might see MCCC clued as "Year in old Rome," for example. But MMII is too current to use such a clue. Since the Olympics use Roman numerals for the games, it would make sense to use that as a reference in the clue. Plus, it is a Thursday...

Avg Joe, OK, I'll bite: what does "Vitame Vas" mean? My Google translate just gave me "Vitame Vas" in English for the "Estonian detected" phrase.

EdieB, thanks! Yes - ISO = EQUI in that instance. (Phew!)

Avg Joe said...

Marti,

It means "We Welcome You" Not the perfect phrase to tie into the comment I was making, but I grew up 16 miles from Verdigre and currently live a similar distance from Wilber. Upon entering either of these towns during their annual celebrations (I've been to both, and have drank excessively) which heavily feature kolaches, you'll see banners everywhere with that phrase.

PK said...

AvgJoe & Marti, Nothing more delicious than a kolace fresh from the oven.

There are several Czech towns like that in KS & TX where half a village population in Europe were transplanted to America in the late 1800's to early 1900's. One of my sister-in-laws is a descendant. If I remember correctly, the railroads promoted bringing in these farmers so the RR would have crops to transport back east and make money.

Many families kept ties with their European relatives and were bringing over members prior to and during WWII. I have a friend whose father came over that way to escape the military draft of Czechs when Germany and Russia were gobbling up those countries. My friend has been over to visit uncles and aunts still in the old country. She tried to buy a vacation home there in about 1980 and it was not allowed by the government.

Manac said...

Just had to pop in and say
Happy Birthday Gary!

( I'm surprised Dave didn't link that one )

Avg Joe said...

PK, that's not an entirely new dynamic. I found out a few years ago while attending a funeral for an aunt that one of my maternal great grandfathers immigrated to the US in approx 1870 from Alsace because the Kaiser had reclaimed the region and was instituting conscription. And he felt no compulsion to wage that battle. IOW, I'm the great grandson of a draft dodger.

I never burned my draft card....but I did boil it. :-)

(The more things change, the more they stay the same)

Yellowrocks said...

I think of Colace with a C, which is a laxative. Kolace with a K, new to me, is much more interesting and tasty.

TART before TANG. Cranberry juice is magic, better than any medicine. My doctor recommends it.

TANG reminds me that I made fried red tomatoes again today. This dish has been in my family for generations. It has the TANG of just picked sun ripened tomatoes in crisp breading with NO sauce or gravy. It is so much tastier and more piquant than fried green tomatoes and you don't have to wait until the end of summer. You can enjoy them for many weeks. Don't knock it until you try it.

Boo LuQuette AKA Boudreaux in Eunice, La. said...

Just got home from the field. Going to start Thursdays puzzle. For the first time in my life I'm gonna time myself. Hope I don't get any interruptions.

aka thelma said...

Late as alway.... :( but I do want to say Happy Birthday to Husker G.... I hope your day was spectacular....

And thanx to Steve for a great puzzle... I too felt it was a bit easier than some of the ones we've had lately on a Thursday.... :) and of course thank you Marti for your always excellent write up...

I do hope all the people that hang out on this corner have a wonderful evening.....

thelma :)

Anonymous said...

Remember when lemony claimed to be an attorney? Just another example of his moral turpitude!! He has been disbarred, TWICE, long before this blog was started. First for 18 months for taking money that was not his and then for life after embezzling 34,000,000 dollars! These are irrefutable facts.

According to FloridaBar.org he is "Not Eligible to Practice Law in Florida". However, I cannot find want you call a person who has graduated from law school with a J.D. yet has had his license revoked.

Bill G. said...

Fun puzzle. Enjoyable writeup. Thanks Steve and Marti.

Gary, here's wishing you the best. Let's go out to lunch. I'll buy.

I'm enjoying the Kids' Jeopardy. I can answer a few more of the questions.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

I didn't have time to muse about C.C.'s fun puzzle yesterday because I HOPed a plane to Tulsa for meetings. I had many VERY FUNNY comments (at least to me) at the ready. C.C. thanks; I had fun filling in the C in FACE VALUE while bouncing in on approach (time permitting I'll find Airplane woman putting on make-up scene).

Steve - Cheers on you're Solo! Nice Thurs level because of the misdirection (hand up - PEdi, tiered, WEES) and the words w/ funky spelling (ZYDECO - when I moved to LA @15 I always heard it as Xydego). But a dope like me could do it!

And the only reason I'm not in bed after my exhausting trip...

HBD HG! For those of you who've exchanged emails with him, you know how swell he is (or what a CAD he ISNT). I hope you had a great day on the greens.

Cheers, -T
now to go see what MALWARE CED linked too.

PK said...

AvgJoe: One of my husband's ancestors was a young man when his family left Ireland for America in the mid-1800's. The British halted and boarded the ship to conscript young men for naval service. The mother was wearing huge long skirts worn in those days and her son hid under all the petticoats and was not taken. When he and his younger brothers were to be drafted for the civil war a few years later, they hopped a ship for Panama hiked across the Isthmus of Panama and shipped up to California to work in the gold fields. (Double draft dodger.) One brother was killed. The other two eventually worked their way back to Baltimore several years later after the war. Then the whole clan pioneered in Iowa and later Kansas.

Anonymous T said...

Oh, I forgot to mention Kolaches. Around here if you bring 'em in for breakfast you're the shiznit (that's a good thing). There's a few of these joints along the HWY to work. The bread is sweet like Hawaiian bread. No one will DENY the egg & jalapeño with an extra shot of Tabasco are the best. D-O back me up here.

How are we discussing food again? Oh, yeah a Steve puzzle :-)

Marti - I forgot to thank you for the informative and entertaining write up. I would have missed the POINT of all the snow and ice talk, but Tulsa dropped 20F overnight (it was kinda refreshing). SEE, when I got home this afternoon it was 94F. The PRESSURE won't drop.

Cheers, -T

PK said...

AnonT: I don't think jalapeno & tobasco sauce on Kolaches is an original Czech recipe. Sounds like a Tex-Mex influence to me. LOL! When I lived on the Texas gulf coast 50 years ago, we got Kolaches from a little old lady with a Czech accent. Prune or apricot or cheese filling is what I remember of hers. She baked once a week and you'd better get there early.

River Doc said...

Happy Thursday everybody!

Nothing to add but Congrats Steve and Happy Birthday Gary!

Anonymous T said...

PK - You got me. Those jalapeño-infused Kolaches are called Rancheros. C, -T

Boo LuQuette AKA Boudreaux in Eunice, La. said...

Hi all,

42 minutes for me today. A few distractions but did finish with one filled in wrong. MMDI for MMII. Oh well. Pedi for peel, surf for shop. Had to think about about Harpo.since I had surf for shop.

4d 19d 66a were gimmies since I'm a Louisiana boy.

@ from the who dat nation Zachary Richard is from the Lafayette / Scott La. area and he is known as the Cajun Rocker. He does Cajun music in his style. His style is not known as Zydeco
. No offense.

My wife and I jitterbug just like the video that was posted on here but without the leg ups.

We go to Freds in Mamou and Cazan's often on Saturday mornings.

Y'all look up Freds Lounge in Mamou on google and tall might see me on there. Its only open on Saturdays from 7am till 2pm and has hundreds of people from all over the world that go there.

Jusqu'a demain from Cajun Country !!!

PK said...

Boo, I looked up Fred's Lounge on Google and waved at all the people. Tante Sue was the only one who waved back. You must not have been there. LOL!

Lucina said...

I found Steve and C.C.'s puzzle from Monday, August 25 and finished it, quickly and easily. And I was surprised to find TAMALES there. Too bad I wasn't here for that debut. Now I'll read the comments for that day.

We celebrated my granddaughter's 18th birthday in fine style.