google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, October 21, 2014 C.C. Burnikel & Steve Marron

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Oct 21, 2014

Tuesday, October 21, 2014 C.C. Burnikel & Steve Marron

Theme: Short Order Sandwich - Sound out the first words of the entries and you have one of America's favorite diner sandwich, the BLT.

17A. Scout's motto : BE PREPARED. B is for Bacon.

36A. Actress who is Dakota's sister : ELLE FANNING. L is for Lettuce.

43A. Japanese ritual including an iron pot : TEA CEREMONY. T is for Tomato.

66A. Holders of the sandwich homophonically described by the first words of 17-, 36- and 43-Across : TOOTHPICKS

Argyle here. Hmm, Steve + food...go figure. Actually, surprisingly little food beside the theme and even more amazing, the lack of baseball references. Good thing they published the names of our constructors, I might not have guessed today's Dynamic Duo.

Across:

1. Puzzles on kid-friendly place mats : MAZES

6. 1965 Beatles concert stadium : SHEA

10. FedEx rival : DHL. Interesting origin. Wiki The letters stand for the combined initials of the last names of the founders, Dewey, Huey, and Louie. (I kid)

13. Sheeplike : OVINE

14. Fuse with a torch : WELD

15. "Amen to that!" : "YEAH!"

19. Nevada city on the Humboldt River : ELKO

20. Ho-hum : SO-SO

21. Showed penitence : ATONED

23. Gave permission : LET

24. Indian bread : NAN

26. Like a watch with hands : ANALOG

28. Giant slugger Mel : OTT

31. Tool-hanging spots : PEGs

34. Explorer Sir Francis : DRAKE

35. Soap unit : BAR

39. "Just teasing" : "I KID"

41. Organ with a canal : EAR

42. "Hooked on Classics" record co. : K-TEL

48. Dam-building org. : TVA. (Tennessee Valley Authority)(since 1933)

49. By oneself : ALONE

50. Bela's "Son of Frankenstein" role : YGOR

51. Thanksgiving veggie : YAM

52. Former Seattle team now in Oklahoma City, familiarly : SONICS

54. Where Mandela was pres. : RSA. (Republic of South Africa)

56. DOJ division : ATF. (Department of Justice/Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)

57. Not-too-bright sort : DIMWIT

60. Coarse file : RASP

64. Not out : SAFE

68. Was aware of : KNEW

69. __ code : AREA

70. Rocker Joplin : JANIS

71. Dr. of rap : DRE

72. Not as much : LESS

73. Took a nap : SLEPT

Down:

1. Rowdy crowds : MOBS

2. Chevy hatchback : AVEO. Also available as a sedan, it started out as South Korean Daewoo.

3. Closes a jacket, with "up" : ZIPS

4. Scandal-plagued energy giant : ENRON

5. "Get my point?" : "SEE?"

6. Whack : SWAT

7. Wartime honoree : HERO

8. Justice Kagan : ELENA

9. Tacked-on sections : ADDENDA

10. Turn red, maybe : DYE

11. Cartoon character with a red bow and whiskers : HELLO KITTY

12. Body of water on the Swiss/French border : LAKE GENEVA. Site of "Smoke on the Water".



16. Fresh from the oven : HOT

18. Group of judges : PANEL

22. "Phooey!" : "DARN!"

25. Big primate : APE

27. Tall and thin : LANK

28. "In memoriam" essay, briefly : OBIT

29. Make one's position known : TAKE A STAND

30. New-customer incentive : TRIAL OFFER

32. TV show about a high school choir : GLEE

33. Like the sordid side of life : SEAMY

37. Pond croaker : FROG

38. Glittery rock music genre : GLAM

40. Anti-mice brand : D-CON. Have you seen their new ads?



44. Oklahoma city : ENID

45. Pianist's concert, e.g. : RECITAL

46. Tulsa-to-Topeka direction : NORTH

47. Many mos. : YRs.

53. Campfire treat : S'MORE

55. Kin of Helvetica : ARIAL. Fonts.

56. Request : ASK

58. Maladies : WOES

59. "Take __ a compliment!" : IT AS

61. Skin breakout : ACNE

62. Leave out : SKIP

63. Hissed "Yo!" : "PSST!"

65. Meadow mom : EWE

67. Slumber party attire, for short : PJs


Argyle

Note from C.C.:

1) I originally had MAYONNAISE as a reveal entry, but it's too weak a unifier to Rich. Naturally I sought help from our foodie Steve, who quickly came up with BOWL OF SOUP/TOOTHPICKS. Rich liked the latter. Thanks for making it happen, Steve!

2) I just noticed why Rich changed our YEAR/ROT for 15A/16D spots to YEAH/HOT. Do you know why? Thanks, Rich!!


67 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Got BE PREPARED on my own, but then didn't get either of the other theme answers until I got to the theme reveal. At that point, I had a nice *AHA* moment and was able to go back and throw down the other two very quickly. It left a very satisfying (if metaphorical) taste in my mouth.

Only write-over was when I put in SEEDY instead of SEAMY. I replaced the second E with an A after realizing that 41A had to be EAR, but then I stared at SEADY in confusion for a bit until the light bulb went off.

Lemonade714 said...

How nice to see a tight Tuesday with a fun theme. Having LAKE GENEVA and HELLO KITTY and TRIAL OFFER and TAKE A STAND adjoining on a Tuesday was great. Thanks C.C. and Steve and Argyle

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. I rather enjoyed today's offering. More than just a TRIAL OFFER.

I found this a tad easier than yesterday's puzzle, but had some trouble in the New England section. DHL didn't come quickly to me.

Hand up for thinking of Seedy before SEAMY.

QOD: Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. ~ Carrie Fisher (b. Oct. 21, 1956)

HeartRx said...

Good morning!

What a treat to have a food theme from our resident Wednesday foodie blogger and C.C. I had no clue about the theme until I saw the reveal - very clever!

I was amazed to see SHEA clued with the Beatles' reference instead of "former Mets home." But at least we did get a couple bb references with OTT and SAFE.

Hand up for SEedY before SEAMY, Barry G. I also goofed by putting in UPS instead of DHL at first. 12-D LAKE GENEVA put the boot to that entry, though. After that, it was smooth sailing.

Thanks, C.C., Steve and Argyle for a fun start to an otherwise dreary day here in the northeast.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

My foot suffered a double-shotgun blast on this one. I confidently inked in UPS (and made a mental note to mention the CSO to Splynter). Oops! SAKE GENEVA isn't going to make it. Aha, it's HDL. (I was dyslexically thinking cholesterol.) DELLO KITTY didn't look right. Oh YEAH, it's DHL. Phew! Other than that fiasco, Mrs. Lincoln liked the play just fine. Well done, Steve and C.C. Argyle, I enjoyed your (I kid) aside.

ANALOG was a gimme. I prefer my digital watch that phones home every night to get up-to-the-second time. (And I just noticed that it failed to phone home last night. It may be new battery time.)

I didn't care for the Hooked On Classics series. I did think Hooked On Swing with the Larry Elgart orchestra was OK.

4/4....

Anonymous said...

Continuing on with HeartRx @ 6:51AM, we also have "

6. Whack : SWAT "Swat"

Swat as in the "Sultan of Swat."

Deep Thinker said...



For a moment, did anyone else think that the Hello Kitty had the rest of her torso missing - or was it just me ?

Anonymous said...

Hello Kitty is has been around for 40 years and is such a common, innocent icon, I never thought of that.

Tinbeni said...

Argyle: Wonderful write-up & links!!!

C.C. & Steve: Thank you for a FUN (really FUN) Tuesday puzzle.
[Ed.Note ... geez, with two of our own constructing ... you would think that Splynter would get a UPS CSO ... and somehow Pinch could get in the grid ... tears ...]

Only write-over was RenO before ELKO, and I needed ESP to get the Chevy hatchback, AVEO.

Guess I'll never be invited to a Slumber party since I don't own any PJ's.

Husker: Good Luck to your Kansas City Royals.
Hondo: Good Luck to your SF Giants.
Should be a very nice World Series.
Cheers!!!

Montana said...

CC, Steve and Argyle, thanks for a neat puzzle.
Never heard of DHL but perps got it.
BLT is not on a menu at any of the 8 restaurants in my town, but if you ask for one, they'll make it.

Weather is incredibly nice. I must get outside today to enjoy it.

Montana

Anonymous said...

Yeah/hot because years is abbreviated?

kazie said...

Never heard of HELLO KITTY or ELKO, and couldn't remember what the middle letter was in DHL, so had blanks there and in E-KO.

Has anyone else received scam emails about package delivery from DHL and Fed Ex? I have numerous times. I often wonder how many fall for those. The sender emails always give it away for me--never a direct company ending.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Fun, fun puzzle. Had no clue about the theme until the reveal. Very clever CC and Steve, thank you. CC, I think Rich changed you year/rot because yrs. appears elsewhere in the grid. Nice expo, Argyle.

It is pouring rain here and the forecast is rain every day until Saturday. I suppose we need it but I wish we could trade places with California and the other drought-stricken areas.

DO, I love your sense of humor. Mrs. Lincoln, indeed!

Has anyone ever participated in the Neilsen ratings program? I received a call yesterday and was asked a few questions: what type of shows do I watch, how many tv's in the house, cable carrier, age bracket, etc. I wll receive a diary to record my viewing times and shows and then mail it back. I'm not sure whether it's just for a week, or longer.

Have a great day.

Nice Cuppa said...

Argyle

That for the Lake Geneva link. 7 years after Deep Purple recorded Smoke on the Water there, Montreux became the site where FREDDIE MERCURY set up his recording labs, stating:

"If you want peace of soul, come to Montreux".

There is now a "QUEEN - THE STUDIO EXPERIENCE" interactive museum there,

Check out: FREDDIE MERCURY

Which features some of the last recordings he made there before he died.

I've been there. It is almost impossible to drive around the Lake without seeing the large statue of Freddie, with one arm raised to to sky, on the Lake shore. It is easy to imagine him reciting his famous quote:

"LET'S FACE IT DARLINGS, WE'RE THE MOST PREPROSTEROUS BAND THAT EVER LIVED"

RIP, Freddie.

NC

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

CrossEyedDave,
Would you please link a hot cookie for Anonymous @9:22am who got the correct answer?

Husker Gary said...

All right you two, you had UPS and RENO as red herrings didn’t you? What fun doing and ferreting out the theme!

Musings
-We’ve harvested our last tomatoes and so BLT’s from now on will be with lousy T’s but always-great B.
-Dang, Fuse as a verb!
-How ‘bout DIGITAL and ANALOG
-What do they do with those hotel BARS that are only used once?
-I KID is just code for saying something hateful
-Our kitty came with a marble sized blockage in her EAR CANAL. The Lincoln Humane Society just sent us a check to cover the vet bills
-Johnsonville, TN, Springville, TN and Birmingham, KY were covered by water when the TVA built the huge Kentucky Dam near Paducah, KY
-What do you notice about this KSC phone number area code?
-ENRON hdqtrs moved from Omaha to Houston before it went belly up
-The most famous SWAT in literature?
-I’m considering this TRIAL OFFER
-They’re upset from ENID to Ardmore after OU lost to KSY by one because the Sooners missed three kicks
-OMG, take it AS A compliment

xtulmkr said...

UPS failed to deliver (10A).

Anonymous said...

I never cease to be amazed at the mental acuity required to produce one of these puzzles. Even a Tuesday! actually, I understand from one of CC's prior posts, that Tuesdays are even more difficult then maybe a Thursday or Friday. a chocolate chip cookie would be nice, if you have it.

Argyle said...

COOKIES

Misty said...


Oooh, I always love a C.C. puzzle and this combo with Steve was a great Tuesday treat! Thank you both!

It helped to have lived in Oklahoma for a few years, since there were three Oklahoma clues. Only I had to let the downs help me get the SONICS, since I'm not a sporty.

Tinbeni, I too had RENO before ELKO.

Sorry to hear about all that rain, Irish Miss. I hate rain, so am happy to have very little in SO CAL, but yes, we sure do need it in northern California.

Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

Lucina said...

Hello, friends.

What a lovely treat today from C.C., Steve and Argyle.

A food theme from Steve, imagine that! Fortunately it was not a MAZE and easily most of the AREA filled quickly. I couldn't see the error at UPS but finally erased it and LAKE GENEVA emerged as well as the ubiquitous HELLO KITTY.

KTEL was unknown but I trusted the perps.

IrishMiss:
I have been a Nielsen rater twice, for TV and radio. Each one was one week long with clear directions as to how to keep the diary. There's a nice prize at the end.

Have yourselves a glorious Tuesday, everyone!

CanadianEh! said...

Done in by the north east and on a Tuesday! Did not know DHL and was so pleased to see a CSO to Splynter with UPS. Reno instead of Elko didn't help matters either, and blush wouldn't fit for turn red, maybe.

But it was fun and I saw the baseball reference at 64A and knew C.C. had been involved. Congrats to Steve also. I knew the answer re YEARS/ROT but Anon @9:22 beat me.

LAKE GENEVA made me think of the Jet d'Eau. Beautiful area to walk around.
Jet d'eau Geneva

HG @10:04 - I agree with you about the BLTs just not tasting the same without the fresh tomatoes from the garden.
Also KSC 321 Blastoff!! LOL!

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

Irish Miss,
Sorry I missed you earlier. Take one cookie.

CanadianEh,
You too. Still 2 more left in Argyle's special gift set.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fast & amusing puzzle! Thanks, C.C. & Steve & Argyle.

I couldn't think of PICKS even though I had TOOTH. Was thinking something like TOOTHsome for some dumb reason. Then the right answer jabbed me.

KTEL/GLAM: "L" was a natick. Had to do a red-letter run--on Tuesday yet.

I was doing downs and had the D, so didn't get side-tracked to UPS.

Oh, DIMWIT, not DuMbuT.

I got a request to do the Nielsen thing, but declined. I don't watch enough mainstream shows to make it worthwhile for them.

Lemonade: is that your evil twin in your avatar?

PK said...

C.C., How old were you when your avatar picture was taken? Fun to see a childhood picture of you.

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-I’m subbing for advanced math today where the kids are so good, I have been reading the Internet all day
-I’ve heard of forgetting about the toothpick and biting into a BLT and getting stuck. Of course it wasn’t me…
-I’m subbing four days this week when the golfing weather is in the 70’s with a cloudless sky. Dang!
-Yes, the KSC Area Code is 321 as in 3…2…1…Blast Off (Actually, Ignition)
-We were a Nielsen family once and it was a pain with no prize I can remember. Our viewing only included TBBT on commercial TV.
-NC, the delicious irony of Freddie Mercury singing numbers 4 and 21 of this list of the most famous songs in sports is great on so many levels. The Village People in the list completes the trifecta.

Jayce said...

A four-letter Nevada town? Nope, not Reno. A three-letter Fedex rival? Nope, not UPS. A three-letter baseball player named Mel? Yep, OTT! Interesting to see WELD on Tuesday.

Anonymous said...

HuskerGary, please explain why Freddie singing those songs is deliciously ironic. The Village People too. I hope its not what I assuming you meant.

Irish Miss said...

CC, thank you for the cookie but as I don't eat sweets, I'll give mind to Canadian Eh, too.

Lucina, the person from Nielsen didn't mention a prize, so if there is one, it'll be a nice surprise.

I, too, was sorry to see the fresh tomatoes season end; the crop this year was particularly good. The "imposters" from the supermarket have about as much taste as a paper bag. And don't get me started on the quality (or lack thereof) of the meat that's offered.

Kazie, I get a tremendous amount of scam/spam, including the ones you mentioned. I would be as rich as Warren Buffett if all those Nigerian windfalls were legit! :-)

desper-otto said...

Jayce, WELD, Tuesday, cute.

Anonymous said...

Lemony IS the evil twin, PK. The other guy goes around town giving money back to innocent bystanders.

CrossEyedDave said...

Straight forward, no nits Tuesday puzzle. (altho fuse with a torch had me going for a while...)

I was looking for a funny BLT pic, but other than the overdone bacon bit, the pics were just strange? I did find some cute lunch ideas, scroll down for the ladybug BLT with olives...

Fun with toothpicks!

Little late today as I was reading up on the TVA. It would make for some pretty dry posts, except for the part where GE fired then actor Ronald Reagan for making political comments about them...

I see Argyle beat me to the cookies! Just as well, my Google search for "hot cookies" did not meet the breakfast test... here is a tamer version.

Husker Gary said...

Fair enough, I mulled over that posting for a while but I found it ironic that Queen’s wonderful music is part of a sport’s world where I know many people who take part would not be tolerant of his life style. I celebrate his music and don’t care a whit about his or anyone else’s personal life. I just mused that it seemed to be a quirk in the human experience and you are free to be interested or offended by inferring my intent.

Tinbeni said...

... BAMM !!!
Jayce: Great catch on Tuesday WELD ... now that is a revelation !

Husker: Interesting "Top 20 Sport Songs" list ... I just question the order of the songs noted.
Geez, Trust Me, Queen's "We Are the Champions" should be listed as # 1.

Irish Miss: Neilsen is located just down the road from Villa Incognito.
Enjoy your week ... like many of US here, we don't fall into that "18 to 49" age group that advertiser's crave.
If it was me ... I fill it out that I was watching Downton Abbey and a slew of other shows that aren't rated highly but are actually quality shows ... whether I watched them or not. lol ...

kazie said...

Irish Miss,
Thanks for responding to my question. I too get a lot of them, and there seems to have been an uptick in the last year or so. I can't imagine too many people falling for them, so it makes me wonder why they think it's still worth the effort.

River Doc said...

Happy Ms. Weld everybody!

Fell head first into the UPS trap, as did others I SEE....

Kim & Kanye West need to ATONE for naming their child NORTH.... imho, that is....

Really enjoyed the TOOTHPICK trick Dave...! I'm sucking on a Stim-U-Dent even as I type....

Was SF Drake an explorer or just another pirate...?

Speaking of SF, SHEA only because CANDLESTICK didn't fit....

Go Royals...!

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

PK,
My aunt said the picture was taken in 1978. I was 7 then. She pasted it in her family album. She's illiterate, so no note on date/place. I have no memory of where or when the picture was taken either. I was pretty dumb.

I do know, however, all my clothes in that picture were handmade from scratch. We were very poor. I remember the summer nights when my grandma sat besides a lamp and weaved and weaved. I also remember being embarrassed to wear coarse home-made cotton shirts.

So yeah, I was pretty dumb. I had no idea what true love was.

Irish Miss said...

Tin @ 1:44 - Thanks for the correction on Neilsen. I spelled it correctly the first time but the second time I just went along with the auto speller. That's what I get for being lazy. The shows I watch would not appeal to the 18-49 demographic anymore than what they watch would appeal to me. BTW, the Neilsen rep happened to mention that she was enjoying the beautiful Florida weather; little did I know she was your neighbor!

Kazie, I agree that the volume of spam/scam emails has increased and I think the perps are using an online version of the robo call system. Sadly, I have read of people (mostly seniors) who have fallen victim to these con artists.

Steve said...

Note from Steve: :)

This was pretty much all C.C. theme-wise - I just came up with two possible reveal entries, one of which didn't fly with Rich, and the other we couldn't quite get to work the way he suggested.

We did have fun with the idea though, and I think the fill was pretty neat (I completely missed seeing the YEAR/YRS near-dupe).

Fun stuff!

Jerome said...

Nice puzzle, C.C. and Steve. I enjoyed its simple cleverness and elegance.
Don't beat yourself up over YEAR and YRS. I just had a puzzle accepted by the Orange County Register that's edited by David Steinberg. My first grid had RICE and RICER. As if this isn't bad enough, I also had UNLOYAL. It's not even a word!!!!!

Ergo said...



Late to the puzzle today. We had to take our aging Golden Retriever, "Drake," to the vet to be put down.

When I got to 34A in the puzzle I caught my breath. My hands shook and the tears flowed as I wrote in D R A K E. The tears are flowing now.

Thank you C.C. Some things can't be explained but are just meant to be.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks, CC, Steve and Argyle!

Fun puzzle!

Always wait for a perp before filling in USP or HDL.

Cheers!

fermatprime said...

Ergo: so very sorry.

CrossEyedDave said...

Ergo, Sorry to hear your news, pretty much all of us here have had friends like Drake.

Bill G. said...

I enjoyed the puzzle. BLTs are one of my favorites.

Ergo sorry to hear about your Drake. I remember our last trip to the vet with our sheepdog, Sammy. Sometimes when I unlock the front door, I still expect to be greeted with her enthusiastic welcome.

What to do for a quick lunch? Maybe a short trip to BYOP, Build Your Own Pizza.

Jayce said...

Man oh man, I was pretty dumb, too, when I was young. Didn't stop being dumb until maybe age 25. Still pretty dumb about many things.

Ergo said...

Thanks everyone. Oh my gosh CrossEyedDave! The dog in the video is a remarkable resemblance. And named 'Drake' to boot! The wife is gonna weep when I show it to her tonight.

Avg Joe said...

Ergo, I'm very sorry for your loss. I know that pain.

A little less than 3 years ago when faced with the loss of my full time companion, someone here posted this site: The Rainbow Bridge. It brought me comfort in that hour. I hope it will do the same for you.

Irish Miss said...

Ergo - So sorry for your loss.

Lemonade714 said...

Ergo, we feel for you.

When you are an identical twin, do you forget which one you are?

C.C., I love the picture of you as a little girl in China, and irony of your comments. Dumb is something I very much doubt ever fit you; unlearned perhaps...

Bill G. said...

So I went to BYOP for a quick lunch. They press the fresh crust, put whatever toppings you want on it and cook it in their special oven in about 90 seconds. Very tasty. At the end of the ordering process, I asked for a little extra cheese added on top. The fellow sheepishly said OK but they would have to charge me extra. I said no thanks and enjoyed my pizza. I spoke to the manager later and told her that I didn't think it was worth annoying their customers over a nickle's worth of cheese. She understood but tried to explain their reasoning behind the policy. I continued to explain that, for a small business, there was nothing more important than their customers' good will. Dunno if my comments will have any effect. We'll see.

PK said...

C.C. What a great story! I can see your grandma working to clothe her lovely granddaughter. I didn't weave the cloth, but I sewed all my daughter's clothes when they were young until they went away to college. My elder daughter was very hard to fit and didn't fit into the ready-made clothing very well anyway. But once she came home and complained about always having to wear home-made. I said, "Well, some woman sews the clothes they sell in stores. Why should I pay some other woman to make your clothes when I can do it?" She shut up and I never heard another word about it. I didn't tell her we were too poor to buy them. I developed a lot of talents to compensate for low income and was very proud of that. I taught the girls to sew too. More recently I said something about being so poor when they were young. My younger daughter said she didn't know we were poor. She thought we grew our own food and made our own clothes because it was fun. I'm glad she was dumb about that.

Lemonade, I apologize. I didn't mean to stir up that nasty anon.

Ergo, so sorry for your loss. We had a beloved pet that we had to bury. We just stood around the grave and bawled and no one could stand to put dirt on him for quite a while.

417edanomeL said...

The good news is the State of Florida uses his restitution to help me pay for my razors. Although I've always wanted to grow a goatee.

Tinbeni said...

Ergo
My first toast at Sunset is to your best friend DRAKE.

My second toast is to ALL the other Pets who enliven (enrich) our lives.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Hand up for UPS instead of DHL. That botched up the northeast and I never recovered. Thanks C.C., Steve and Argyle.

I got the theme today, for a change. I used to like BLTs until a tomato allergy put a halt to them.

Ergo, I'm very sorry for you loss. I'm sure you gave him the best life you could.

Pat

thehondohurricane said...

Bill G From yeterday

Don't know if anyone came up with the name of the horse ridden by Tom Mix, but as memory serves me, I recall it being Tony.

Anonymous said...

Bill G., you are a piece of work. If you ask for 'extra', you PAY for extra. And then to quibble over something so petty? Remarkable.

Anonymous said...

Bill G has Attention Deficit Disorder. He doesn't get much attention. He strives for it. Practically begs for it. You can sense it. But we at the Corner love him for who he is, so leave him alone !!!

Just kidding.

Appreciation said...

Bill G. I love you man. You're smart and brilliant in math problems and have all these great ideas that I never would have thought of. Like yesterday, I never figured out what in the darn your self referential question about the answer was all about. Anon T figured it out so maybe in a couple of days, so will I. But I thought about all night. Maybe you should give out the answers, sometimes.

As for your various trips to the eating places and restaurants, I figure :

a. You must have enough money and an appetite to eat out so much.
b. You must provide a huge, big fillip to your local restaurant economy.
c. (I wonder how you keep your weight down.)
d. In any case, you are really valuable to the shop keepers.
Me, I don't eat out at all. I am SURE the eating places would love to have a big complaining, big spender rather than one who merely eats in his own kitchen. Finally, I don't think you have ADS and I love your posts. And, I'm not kidding.

Anonymous said...

Hey, great post, Bill G.! Especially the "you're smart and brilliant" part.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

YEAH, I liked this one. Thanks Steve & C.C. With you two around the Corner so much, I caught the wavelength early, so fun, fun, fun. Owen, DHL - funny.

Hand up - UPS/DHL & Reno. Also had mELD at 14a for so long I thought SmAT could be a word. I'm the DIMWIT too for writing in iGOR at 50a (we all know how that's pronounced), and though "is that really how SEAMY is spelled?"

Fave - ANALOG. I'm a digital man myself (power was not my focus in EE). RSA was a close second - in security that's Rivest, Shamir, & Adleman (public key crypto).

Kazie - we get at least 10-20 of those a day at the company I work for. They are all phishes that infect your computer. The reason they do it - cheap gain. 5% response on 1M emails is still MOBS of infected boxen.

IM - I was in another company's media consumption survey. We had beeper-like monitors we wore and where paid by the hours we wore 'em. The kids loved it; $300 for that YEA(R) for watching TV!

Ergo - Sorry to hear about DRAKE. My Sinbad passed over 25 years ago and I still cry thinking about that black lab. Maybe Owen or C. Moe can write an OBIT poem for him.

Wow Bill G., you peed in someone's Wheaties today. :-)

Cheers, -T

Anonymous T said...

PSST... Even after an edit and 2x re-read I wrote Owen / DHL instead of Argyle. Sorry Argyle, you do too much here for me to get it wrong. OK, SKIP a bit Brother, SKIP a bit. C, -T

Bill G. said...

Yesterday's self-referential question was: “How many letters has the answer to this question?” The answer is FOUR since FOUR has four letters. Another answer might be "Eleven maybe?" since it has eleven letters. I didn't post the answer since AnonT had already answered it correctly.

Anons at 6:04, 7:00 and 8:29, I'm personally inviting all of you out to lunch tomorrow, my treat, extra cheese and all. Oh, but how will I recognize you? You could wear your 'Anon' name tags I guess... Appreciation at 8:07, you can come too.

AnonT, I might need your help with that lunch crowd in the previous paragraph. Can you come too?

aka thelma said...

Good late evening... I am always late it seems... and then I feel as JD did last nite that you all have gone to bed,,, :) :)

Enjoyed the puzzle .... thanx C.C., Steve and of course Argyle...

Ergo I am so sorry for your loss....

Chickie from yesterday, my very best wishes for your husband and of course for you...

thelma

Anonymous T said...

Bill G. I'll bring my Amex. I'm sure all the Anons are SAFE. If not, can the ATF join us?

Wow - was four really right? I got that from zero.

If you don't eat out regularly (and Houstonians certainly do), SOSO eats and service are LESS than acceptable. A SEAMY hole-in-the-wall place with good NAN and great service is better than the GLAMy HOT restaurant where you're ignored for 20 min or DW can't get some sour cream.

BTW, did anyone else read the article about the woman who was to meet a friend at a BAR, but ended up walking into a police station hammered? If it's not fake, (I've seen two different versions), I hope she packed her PJS and SLEPT it off ALONE.

FROG, this post is EWE-y. :-)

Thanks again C.C., Steve & Argyle (esp for Deep Purple)! Fun words to play with!

Cheers, -T

Abejo said...

Good Wednesday morning, folks. Thank you, C.C. and Steve, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.

Got most of this last night, but got tired and hit the sack. Finished this morning.

Lots of ink in the NE corner. Had UPS first. Also had RENO first. Once I fixed those to DHL and ELKO I nwas OK.

Theme was fine. A BLT is my favorite sandwich. I order those constantly while eating out. No mayo, of course.

GLAM and KTEL crossing was tough.

Never herd of ELLE FANNING. A few perps helped.

Spelled YGOR wrong the first time.

BE PREPARED was easy. So is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

Never heard of Helvetica. So, ARIAL took a while.

Since I am late no one will probably read this anyway. See you later today.

Abejo

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Anonymous said...

I read it.
Though I wish I hadn't. It didn't really add anything worth reading.