google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, November 21, 2014, Mark Feldman

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Nov 21, 2014

Friday, November 21, 2014, Mark Feldman

Theme: I am on the woof, maa, don't get hissterical.

Sounds like time to have some fun with Mark F. In the language phrases are reimagined with the first word of the phrase replaced with a sound-a-like animal sound clued using the animal. Mark seems obsessed with animal sounds if you recall his AUGUST puzzle blogged by marti. I last blogged his work on Black Friday last November. Five themers, including a gridspanner and a tricky use of sound make this a Friday effort. I was all in with BARK and BRAY, but the NEIGH/DAY slowed me down. 1,2 and 5 are pretty easy to suss, with a single letter change (ignoring the different spellings of GREY) with 3,4 requiring more imagination. The bird is the only non-mammal non-4 legged creature. Once you get the theme idea, the transition is quick. With some 8 letter fill in the theme, it is hard to include much long fill but CHEESIEST, IN ESSENCE , EAGLETS, LOCATOR, PANACHE, SPANISH are all nice. I left out BEGRIME, as to me it is a BE word like the A words, used in desperation. I do like that he does not rely on just the animal speaking, but uses a different set up for each sound. Well time to get to work.

17A. Where dogs chat? : BARK PLACE (9). Park Place emerges with a simple P to B switch. Is this Monopoly or just people in the park?

24A. Where donkeys make noise? : BRAY AREA (8). Grey Area also a simple.

37A. Where horses are treated for laryngitis? : NEIGH CARE CENTER (15).Day Care Center

45A. Where lions practice intimidation? : ROAR ZONE (8). War Zone. War is intimidating.

58A. Where birds sing? : TWEET SPOT (9). Sweet Spot. Golf?


Across:

1. One may be under a jacket : VEST. A literal beginning.

5. Drift on the breeze : WAFT. A fun word; her perfume wafted in the room and brought back all those memories.

9. Military group : BRASS.

14. Basically : IN ESSENCE.

16. Storyteller of a sort : YENTA. Really an old gossip, so the clue was tricky.

18. Sobriety symbol : WAGON. The derivation of 'on the wagon' meaning not drinking alcohol is unresolved. LINK.

19. Hosp. test : ECG. ElectroCardioGram. No need to renew the nit.

20. Pilot's stat. : ALTitude.

21. Manifest : PATENT. The answer was obvious.

22. Harsh : STERN. Howard Harsh has such good alliteration.

26. Fight a cold, say : AIL.

28. Ages and ages : EONS.

29. King of Naples in "The Tempest" : ALONSO. You remember the PLAY.

32. Fed. property overseer : GSA. General Services Administration.

33. Traveling, in a way : ASEA. An accepted A word.

40. Scrabble piece : TILE.

41. Singer DiFranco : ANI. We have not seen her in a while.

 

42. Alias : HANDLE. The CBers made this famous.

43. Small matter? : ATOM. I really like this cluing, and of course it reminds me of Sheldon and Dark Matter.

44. Freudian topic : EGO.

49. Not upfront : LYING.

53. Show : APPEAR.

54. Historic opening? : PRE. Prehistoric. Simple, classic crossword cluing.

56. Guernsey sound : MOO. A bonus animal sound.

57. Savage : FERAL. More animal related

61. Drivel : TRIPE. Didn't we discuss ways to say this...applesauce, codswallop (my favorite), folderol, rubbish, trash, trumpery, wish-wash. Right next to its cousin...

62. Most tacky : CHEESIEST. I think of cheesy as someone like Herb Tarlek.











63. Pace product : SALSA.

64. Coltrane collaborator : MONK. Thelonious. LISTEN (7:01) if you want.

65. Entreaty : PLEA.


Down:

1. Feelings : VIBES. A word from my youth.

2. Make official : ENACT.

3. Suit material : SERGE. Hard to see the fabric, but...

 4. "Shame on you!" : TSK. Only one?

5. Excellently : WELL.

6. Vet sch. course : ANATomy.

7. TV monitor : FCC. Federal Communications Commission. Perhaps most famous for the reaction to Janet Jackson 'wardrobe malfunction' at the Super Bowl.

8. Rectangular links area, usually : TEE. (Tee box). Golf area where you begin each hole, which are generally rectangular.

9. Minor roads : BYWAYS. As opposed to the highways....

10. Lasso : REATA.

11. Steam : ANGER. The cartoons always show steam coming out of the ears.

12. Curling slider : STONE. The sport of curling; this what you slide to score in frozen shuffleboard. An Olympic sport.

13. Legendary guy traditionally wearing black boots : SANTA. Hey Argyle.

15. What mayo might be : SPANISH. I did not realize they do not capitalize the month.

21. Grand style : PANACHE. Fun word.

23. Gamut : RANGE.

24. Make dirty : BEGRIME. Of course this is accurate but when have you ever used this in a sentence.

25. Wine choice : ROSE. Where is my accent?

27. Kind of map : LOCATOR.

29. Social worker? : ANT. Another nice Friday clue.

30. Island garland : LEI. Me wan we are getting LEI'd so many ways these days.

31. Cook's supply : OIL.

33. Pester : ANNOY.

34. Norm: Abbr. : STD. A standard abbreviation.

35. It might be electric : EEL.

36. "__ you happy now?" : ARE. Usually said after doing something your spouse wanted done, which you did not want to do.

38. Any day now : ANON. A fun Shakespearian favorite word.

39. Young raptors : EAGLETS.

43. Spring bloomer : AZALEA.47D. Spring time : APRIL.

45. Loads : RAFTS.

46. Renée Fleming's field : OPERA. Perhaps most famous for this performance.

48. Brings in : REAPS.

50. Drive forward : IMPEL. This took longer than it seems in retrospect.

51. Western omen : NOOSE. Not a good omen at that.

52. "__ go!" : GOTTA. Not yet,  a few more to unravel.

54. Rounded tool part : PEEN. I hope I do not have hammer home this clue/fill.

55. Smell : REEK. My image:

58. Old films channel : TCM. Turner Classic Movies, not to be confused with anagram TMC.

59. "The __ Sell Out": 1967 rock album : WHO.

60. Nurse : SIP. Tin when you are enjoying your neat Pinch, do you sip?

Time to move on out, and remind everyone who reads this blog how grateful I am for C.C. and the amazing work she has done to create this little Corner where people come to talk puzzle, and family and life. As Thanksgiving approaches I once again ask all who read and enjoy to take a moment to write in; lurkers, regulars, now and thenners, MIAs each and everyone of you. Take time on Sunday or sometime this upcoming week to check in and say hello. We would not be here without C.C., and we would not still be here without you all.

Thanks Mark.

Lemonade out




Note from C.C.:

Our own Steve Marron is today's author (setter) of Guardian's Daily Quiz. Please click here to solve. Congratulations, Steve!

70 comments:

  1. Confused Confucius CohenNovember 21, 2014 at 5:47 AM

    Finally,

    now where the h-ck is Barry G. ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Morning, all!

    This one proved to be too much for my sleep-deprived brain this morning. I got everything except for the NE and SW corners, which were totally blank except for EARNS at 48D (which was, of course, wrong). I had to finally turn on the red letter help to get rid of that mistake, which eventually let me guess at REAPS and make my way from there.

    In the NE, my doom was caused by putting in GSO instead of GSA, which totally hid PANACHE from sight. I was thinking "Grand style" referred to a piano, and I was trying to think of something other than "upright" or "baby" that would fit. Eventually, I figured it was some French or Italian word that I just didn't know... Once I turned on the red-letter help, however, I was able to get PANACHE right away and that was enough to open up that entire section for me.

    Ah well...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why am I late this morning? Because the puzzle usually takes me 5 minutes or so and today it took around 15 minutes instead. And that's with red-letter help.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fun puzzle. Initially a little trouble in NW corner because I put in CUFF and FIE. ENACT put me back on track with VEST and TSK.

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  5. Good morning!

    I suffered a few foot injuries on this one. I put EON in the wrong spot. Hand up for EARNS. And I wanted the TV monitor to be LCD. Still, it came together pretty quickly. Favorite theme answer: TWEET SPOT.

    Learning moment: ANI Difranco is female. I was picturing some Tom Jones-looking guy.

    Lemon, are you British? Most people here spell it GRAY, with an A.

    We had some confused AZALEAs in our town that started blooming this week. The banana plants, on the other hand, were not confused. They died.

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  6. Forgot to mention. Apparently I don't know much about Tuesdays. Only managed 6 of Steve's 10. They really should print the answers so you can determine which WAGs were wrong.

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  7. Good morning all.

    This one felt like work.

    Still liked some of the clues. "What mayo might be" stands out.

    Desper-otto,

    I guessed at 9 out of the 10 Tuesday questions. Also got a 6 out of 10.

    There's a button (show answers) at the bottom of the chart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Goofy theme and ???? Clueing made this too much work to be enjoyable.

      Delete
  8. One thing that make this puzzle tighter in its execution is the last word of the theme phrases- PLACE, AREA, CENTER, ZONE, and SPOT. They are all locations. Easy to overlook as we concentrate on the wordplay at the front of the phrases. Very nicely done and I think critical to the puzzles success. Mr. Feldman nailed this one.

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  9. Morning,

    The dreaded DNF today thanks to my inability to suss the SW corner. OPERA, AZALEA, & SALSA were solved, the rest I drew blanks on. Everything else came together quickly. It was a fun puzzle in spite of my inability to finish.

    Day off, thankfully, from leaves. Body needs a rest. It's like spitting in the wind this year. Get a section cleared and a breeze comes along and blows them back in. Tough when you are surrounded by woods. Oh well, the weekend is supposed to be tame.

    If this posts somewhat scrambled, it's the fault of wife's new cat. Like walking on the keyboard as I try to type. Think the Damn cat knows more about our Mac then I do.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank Jerome for adding to the reveal; I missed that entirely.

    Steve your quiz was not impossible for us in the colonies, but for a Brit it had a lot of Americana. I can see why they are averaging 5 correct. I guessed right on a couple so I did ok.

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  11. Re: 24a

    Could the root phrase actually be "Bay Are" as in Tin lives in the Bay Area. Or Oakland is located in the Bay Area.

    Also could be Play Area. Both use area more in the spirit of Jerome's observation.

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  12. Hoo boy, did I ever mess up in the NE. I confidently entered "troop" instead of BRASS, and RiATA instead of REATA. That pretty much blocked the whole thing.

    For "Curling slider," I automatically thought of some kind of baseball pitch and knew I was doomed!

    Then I entered WAter instead of WAGON as the sobriety symbol and my fate was sealed.

    I walked away, had another cuppa Joe, and when I came back I took everything out and started that section again. BYWAYS popped up, the BRASS came to mind, ANGER instead of VAPOR for "Steam" and voila! The whole thing filled in. But, it took me nearly 24 minutes to do it.

    I stand before you, bowed and humbled...but not defeated.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Clever puzzle. I sussed the animal sounds which helped. Jerome, thanks for pointing out the place names. If I had realized that I might have had 100%. As it was, I solved on paper and had trouble in the NE. I turned on the red letters just to check TROOP. BZZT. Then I thought of BYWAYS and BRASS. Surprisingly WAGON and ANGER were the last to fall. So one look up. Lemon, I always enjoy your informative blogs.
    Maybe not BEGRIME, but BEGRIMED is quite common in the written language. I see that from past reading and from my research today. It is just uncommon in everyday speech.

    What quiz? I missed it.

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  14. What is interesting is those corners with little entryway in there in the SW and NE. I knew they would be the trouble spots with the NE taking the most time but not as problematic as I thought. GRAY AREA came and then it had to be SANTA and it wrapped up pretty quickly.

    The other unusual part of the puzzle was the lack of proper nouns. There were a couple of clues and one fill otherwise it was clean. The direction of puzzles has been the opposite and it was nice to see such a clean grid of just "words" for once.

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  15. YR, see C.C.'s comment at the bottom of the main blog. It contains a link to Steve's trivia quiz in The Guardian.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good Morning:

    This was a more difficult Friday than usual, I did finish w/o help but it took close to 30 minutes. Only write-over was alleys/byways. Love the word panache. Nice CSO to Argyle, our resident Santa.

    Thanks, Mark, for a clever theme and enjoyable solve and thanks, Lemony, for a detailed review. I, too, got 6 out of 10 on Steve's quiz. Had to guess on most questions, but it was fun.

    Have a great day

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  17. I finished…. but way too tricked up for me.
    BEGRIME… Really
    NEIGHCARECENTER… The pun doesn't even make sense.
    REATA..Never seen that spelled with an E

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  18. "Puzzling thoughts":

    On the Tuesday quiz I got 6-10

    On today's puzzle by Mark I had to Google a few answers so there weren't too many write-overs; hand up for ALLEYS before BYWAYS, and EARNS before REAPS

    I got the theme pretty early - had a bit of trouble getting AREA (after Bray) as my ALLEY answer fit and I wouldn't let go of it to complete the NE corner

    The main theme of the puzzle today,
    Were the words of how animals "say";
    What is certain, of course,
    Is the negative horse,
    As his comment, as always, is NEIGH!

    ReplyDelete

  19. I am doing cartwheels and backflips! Finished this one in its entirety sans help.

    The NE almost had my number with ALLEYS instead of BYWAYS, but REATA and STONES came early and SANTA was an aha moment.

    Thank you Mark and Lemon.

    I scored 6 on the quiz. The easy questions were almost too easy and the hard ones were total WAGS.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello Puzzlers -

    Mostly what Hondo said. I got stalled in that SW corner. For a long time I couldn't recall the Pace brand, plus I had Earns instead of Reaps. Once I thought of Scads, the whole thing came together.

    I now recall the Pace ads that ran on TV perhaps 20 years ago. Their main thrust was that the company's San Antonio location lent a certain authenticity to the "Mexican" products, compared with the fictitious New York City competitor. Haven't seen a Pace ad lately.

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  21. Good day, friends! Thank you, Lemonade, for the well explicated analysis, one of the best of the week.

    I had lots of fun with Mark's grid and realizing that animal sounds would precede in the theme, I wrote them right away. The locations came later sometimes with perp help.

    First I had BARKSPACE, then PLACE and the V-8 can came flying when I saw that mayo was the SPANISH for May. Yes, Lemon, months are capitalized only at the beginning of a sentence. In fact, not much is capitalized in SPANISH except proper nouns.

    Although ALONSO, MONK and SANTA are the only names in the puzzle, they are well known enough to be pried from memory.

    Thank you, Mark Feldman, for today's fun. Now I'll look at Steve's quiz.

    Have a super Friday, everyone!

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  22. Re 37 across , I think it's more like Eye care center instead of Day care center , IMHO

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  23. Good morning everyone.

    Excellent intro, Lemon. Thorough job describing the theme.

    Good workout today from Mark. Got all but the SW without too much hassle. @ SW had to balance several entries at once to get traction. But once ROAR ZONE looked good, I went with AZALEA. I don't consider them to be spring bloomers in these parts, Zone 4, but their cousins, rhododendrons, bloom similarly here. Azalea Gardens in Norfolk are worth seeing.
    Always liked CHEESY as a descriptor; and agree with Lemon's example of Herb Tarlek.

    Well, GOTTA go.

    ReplyDelete
  24. After doing Steve's quiz it is confirmed that I know pitifully little about modern music. I got 6 out of 10.

    zcarguy (good to see you again) I believe it depends on how you pronounce NEIGH. I would say "nay" which rhymes with day.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I’d love to say I posted late due to subbing but the NE and SW corners bedeviled me and so I came back and finished after a few errands. Fabulous!

    Musings
    -Our winter TWEET SPOT has two feeders and a birdbath heater
    -Many odors WAFT on the breeze on a farm
    -Youngest played YENTA(E) in this great musical
    -A 50 mile ALT is somewhat accepted as the threshold of space where you see black sky and the curve of the Earth
    -I first thought of a manifest like this 1912 one
    -The GAO questions what the GSA is doing
    -A caught line drive is called an ATOM because you hit it right “at ‘em”
    -Don’t women pick up VIBES faster than men?
    -My FCC memory is Newton Minnow in 1961 saying “Nothing is better than TV when it is good but most TV is a “vast wasteland”
    -Milky Way LOCATOR map
    -We’re off to see this show at the Orpheum in Omaha and then do Steve’s puzzle tonight.

    ReplyDelete

  26. Lemonade is so right: C.C. you deserve the first of many Thanksgiving thank-yous for your wonderful maintenance of this blog (not to mention your terrific puzzles!).

    Like others, I had trouble with the NE corner and had to cheat just a tiny bit on that one. But otherwise I got the whole thing--not bad for me, on a Friday puzzle. And the theme was fun, Mark, many thanks. NEIGH CARE CENTER was my favorite.

    Have a great day, everybody!

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  27. First time I got a Friday puzzle all the way through! Although, it wasn't until I read Lemonade's review that I realized mayo was spanish for May! Instead, I was picturing Hellmann's with peppers and onions!

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  28. A very puzzling puzzle,
    Wees, except I had (& had to fix):
    26A fight a cold = eat b/4 ail
    38D any day now = soon b/4 anon
    (+all the others mentioned...)

    Lemon, Thank you for the write up of this difficult puzzle. I would have had a nit with anger = steam without your astute explanation. However, can you pls explain 45D loads = rafts? (I don't get it...)

    Bark place = anyplace...

    Why the Donkey Brayed...

    Say neigh to bad humor...

    Where lions practice intimidation?

    I dunno,,, he doesn't look that sweet to me...

    Bonus pic: Too cute to pass up!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I was able to do the puzzle in pencil and paper and the services of an eraser, but I finally got it. I had to walk away a few times and when I came back to it things seemed to click.

    I thought it was going to be easy when I got the first two clues, then it was downhill from there. I didn't get any more on the first pass except for a few three letter clues. The NE and SW were problem areas even after I got the theme. But, all's well that ends well.

    Overall, a challenging Friday puzzle.

    For those who are dealing with the tons of Lake-effect snow I wish you well and hope for your deliverance from the mess.

    ReplyDelete
  30. CED @ 1132 - From Merriam:

    3 raft noun
    Definition of RAFT

    : a large collection or number

    HG re: LOCATER map. "Clear as mother's MILK.

    Lucina - I got a 6, too. Didn't know the etymology of Tuesday.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hi gang -

    Jerome - thanks for the enlightenment. I missed that.

    I though this would be a huge DNF. Had nothing west of AZALEA for a long time. Tried ROAR ZONE, though I didn't get it. Then APPEAR APPEARED, and it all fell in place.

    But in the center, did not get BEGRIME, a word I have never encountered in either written or spoken language.

    So NEIGH CARE CENTER escaped me as well. It is a reach too far.

    So if I said I finished, I'd be LYING.

    Cool regards!
    JzB

    ReplyDelete
  32. Enjoyed this puzzle with just enough challenge for a Friday.
    Thanks Jerome for the extra illumination. I thought of BAY AREA and was looking to remove the Rs for the theme.

    CSO to Argyle, only a ROSE for Marti and a SIP for Tinbeni.

    Some different words that I liked today - BEGRIME, PANACHE, REEK, TRIPE!

    I thought the mayo was GARNISH and it took a minute after I got SPANISH from the perps for the lightbulb to go off!

    I got 6 out of 10 on Steve's quiz.
    Thanks to C.C. for this fun place. I'm glad I found it.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

    BEGRIMED

    From NYT theater review of Cymbelene:
    The queen is not doing so well, the good doctor informs the king, but wait till you hear what she just told me! The Roman general’s page, a willowy young man, is revealed to be neither Italian nor a man. Those rustic, dirt-BEGRIMED warriors? Royal blood runs in their veins. The presumed dead are really living, the presumed living declared dead.

    From NYT 1/28/90 ''That's not me; I don't look like that at all,'' laughs Dame Judi Dench, as she recalls her BEGRIMED, ruddy Mistress Quickly in the Kenneth Branagh film of ''Henry V,'' which has won acclaim in Britain and the United States.

    And many, many more references, particularly those about miners or urchins.

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  34. "lemony has begrimed this blog."

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  35. I got 5 right in Steve's quiz.

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  36. I thought this puzzle today was excellently constructed and clued. I guess I like puzzles where I solve by chipping away at pieces of it here and there until it all eventually fills in.

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  37. I am generally a lurker so I wanted to chime in and say how much I enjoy stopping by every morning. This is the first time I have finished a Friday puzzle with no write-overs. Yea me!

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  38. Yes Julie, Yea you! It is a great feeling to finish a Friday and this was not an easy one.

    It interesting to see almost all who posted got 5 or 6 on Steve's quiz; I imagine the same ones.

    I never heard of TIW and thought Thor was the Norse war god, where we get Thu(o)rsday.Still confused after reading THIS what with TYR and THOR...

    ReplyDelete
  39. Well, I finished this puzzle, which I thought I would not do, and I got nine out of ten on Steve's quiz!!

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  40. miss Beckley; nice job; which one did you get wrong?

    NEIGH vs. NEIGH

    What sound does a HORSE make?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Very tough-- w. some parts easier than expected. But I had to get help to break the final NE corner down. I had misspelled REATA, so that didn't help, and the "Sobriety Symbol"--WAGON-- was just two steps removed from any normal (unprepositioned) use of a symbol for my poor brain to follow.
    PANACHE is a favorite of mine, but I didn't get enough perps until late in the game.
    Ah well, at least all the squares are filled in and I can now move on to grading student papers w/o distraction.

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  42. Lemonade74 I don't know why I didn't put god of War. I think I thought it was too easy. So I put dragons instead. Stupid. I have to admit i had a lot of WAGS.

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  43. What sound does a HORSE make?

    I suppose it depends on where the horse is from. Click here and here.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Wasn't feeling good about today's effort by Mark and Rich. The jump between original and wacky phrases are just too jarring. In essence, each answer’s first consonant changes to make it an animal sound, with spelling adjusted as necessary. Four of these are mammals and one is a bird – that’s like having four basketball teams and one baseball team. Agree with the confusion as to base phrases. Just left a bad taste in my mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I really don't understand the nit about NEIGH. The other ones, BARK, BRAY, ROAR but not TWEET, are not actually the sound made, but simply the word used to describe it. Does a dog sound "bark" or woof, arf, yip or similar? etc. ROAR might be the sound a lion creates, maybe maybe not. TWEET is more closely resembles the sound a bird makes. All IMHO.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Lemon: Good job! Nice write-up & links.

    DNF ... But lets be clear, at 18-a, Sobriety symbol, what other answer than EMPTY (as in, scotch bottle) was I going to enter?????

    Then, after 3-weeks of my "Felix Unger" cleaning of Villa Incognito ... I just wasn't going to get 24-d, Make dirty, BEGRIME.

    As to how any of the various Scotch's are consumed here ...
    Well the only proper way to enjoy any scotch is to SIP !!!
    [Except that first one yesterday, after the funeral of my former friend (who was murdered!) ... THAT one one was gulped ...

    A toast to ALL at Sunset.
    Cheers!!!

    ReplyDelete
  47. In an attempt to segue...

    I always love an animal video, but horses always seemed to big to handle for me, until I saw how this girl showed her horse Magic that water was not so scary...

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  48. Lemonade, BTW, golf is not my first thought about Sweet Spot!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Lucina
    When I think of Sweet Spot ...
    The expression used in Golf would probably come it at #11 or #12 on my Top Ten Sweet Spot list.

    [Ed.Note : And Scotch ... hitting the Sweet Spot came in at #7 ...] LOL !!!

    ReplyDelete
  50. I've enjoyed reading the blog & comments for a couple of years, but only posted a couple of times; but since you asked, Lemon…..I'm not a real puzzler, because I usually do Fri. through Sun. with red letters on the day before (I've gotten it as early as noon due to the time zone - Hiawaii), then again with pencil & eraser in the paper. Sometimes I remember a lot of it and sometimes not, and there are occasional clues I can't even get with red letters and have to look up in Crossword Giant. 18 lines in preview. To be cont.

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  51. (cont. from pref.) Not much to say about this one - I found it mostly difficult. Couldn't think of vibes, brass, wagon, yenta though of course they're all familiar words. Wouldn't normally associate patent with manifest, though it's also clearly a known part of the def., and I would never think of rafts as a sub. for loads. I really liked all the theme answers, but took a long time to come up w/neighcare center. All the clues start with WHERE…., which to me indicates PLACE. (more to come)

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  52. I had many of the issues already cited, but the worst hasn't been mentioned....for the sobriety clue I entered Judge. That was really tough to let go of. But I finally did, and finished in a very poor time for a Friday. A fun puzzle, but it was a slog.

    ReplyDelete
  53. (Part 3 - Finale)
    Enjoyed Steve's quiz at The Guardian. I've done a couple of others, mostly more pop culture than I want to know. But I got 6 right (the 2nd most common score according to their bar graph).

    Know next to nothing about "The Godfather".

    Had Shrove, changed it to Fat, cause I've heard of Shrove & Fat Tuesday, thought they might be the same. Never heard of Confess Tuesday.

    Never heard of Donald Fagen - guessed wrong.

    Didn't see "Tuesdays With Morrie - Guessed Hank Azaria, though it could just as easily have been Dan C. or even Trey Parker. I was pretty sure Yeardley Smith didn't voice Mitch Albom.

    Rap? Guessed wrong, and I'm not unhappy about it. I'm a musician.

    I really admire all of you who can do these without any help, and especially those who can actually make them up - I'm constantly amazed at your mental dexterity.
    Sorry if this one exceeded 20 lines.

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  54. Mike you were not close to the 20 lines, thanks for the input. Likewise David R, Synapstic mom, JCJ and JIM who we do not see often.

    Tin did they catch the murderer?

    Well sweet spot can be a delicate subject Lucy...

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  55. If you look at all the animal sounds as verbs, it makes sense. Lions roar. Birds tweet. Horses neigh. Dogs bark. Donkeys bray. All the clues except the one for horses used verbs for making sounds,ie chat, sing, make noise.
    Lime Rickey @3:14, thanks for the sounds in all the different languages. Interesting. I know the sounds in Japanese. Most of them sound strange to me.
    I scored a 7 on the quiz. I had no idea for New Frontier and Drake. I knew Tuesday originated with Tyr, the god of war. I never heard of TIW and thought it must be a different god. I at least heard of all the rest.
    I loved "Tuesdays with Morrie", the book and the movie.
    In old English novels, penitents were "shriven" or absolved of their sins after confessing.
    Somehow I always associate PATENT with LIAR. A PATENT liar is a MANIFEST liar is an OBVIOUS liar.

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  56. 10 out of 10. The second time !

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  57. It's all been said, maybe three or four times. So I'll just add this little bit of nonsense.

    Statistically, six out of seven dwarfs are not Happy.

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  58. Look at Lucina, toeing the company line (@ 10:40a)!
    Then she turns all Lois on us (@4:36p)...
    Nice!

    Lemony, as much as it pains me to say this, you are our Friday Explictor. Doesn't look like this is changing...
    However, this does NOT entail you to be the de facto host. No need to lurk all day and add running commentary for our guests. Let's keep the posts to a minimum of 5, m'kay?

    Oh, nice catch on the locations in your explication. Not.

    ReplyDelete
  59. YOU are begriming this blog with your continual snarkiness. YOU are becoming tedious. "Same song second verse, a little bit louder and a little bit worse." Get over it! Move on! You are annoying thousands with your personal vendetta.

    ReplyDelete
  60. I am about halfway through watching tonight's Jeopardy battle. I really like Julia. She has a great personality and smile in addition to her obvious smarts. I like Ben too. I think he would another pleasant person to talk to over coffee. I respect Alex Trebek though he always seems a bit awkward when he tries to be humorous. I wonder how he would do as a contestant?

    ReplyDelete
  61. Yet another antilemonmanNovember 21, 2014 at 10:06 PM

    I was just reading an article about Bill Cosby's sold out show in Florida. It seems despite a wave of sexual assault allegations this week that prompted the cancellation of several upcoming shows and two major studios to halt projects involving the comedian, he still has enough fans that ignore his transgressions and still applaud his performance.

    Sound familiar? Our fanboys will support our convicted felon no matter how much evidence is deleted as soon as it is posted. Lucina's fawning is most disturbing.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Anyone that gives the Coz a standing O should be ashamed of themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  63. I think the standing O comment was interesting. Jeannie you ready?

    ReplyDelete
  64. Since Jeannie isn't around much these days (I miss her), I'll take her number. I don't often agree with an Anon but I agree about a standing O for Cosby. Maybe he deserves it for his body of work but not for anything he's done lately. I saw him on some late-night show a month or two ago and it was embarrassing. He wasn't funny but he acted as if he thought he was still doing clever stuff like he used to. It was sad really.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Hi All!

    WBS & What Marti said. I finally had to TITT. I did notice the "Spaces" and that helped, but trying to fit aerie into 58a (AMC @58a) BEGRIMEd another corner with ink.

    23d clue is Gamut, not Gambit -> hedGE, which made eat fit. Ouch and Ouch. Oh, well a fun, very WELL constructed Friday. Thanks Mark. Thanks too to LEM for the answers.

    Steve 6/10. I guessed Fat Tuesday too. I'll be in NOLA for 2015's!*

    Cheers, -T
    *And won't confess. What happens at Mardi Gras stays at Mardi Gras.

    ReplyDelete

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