google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday December 21, 2014 Mike Peluso

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Dec 21, 2014

Sunday December 21, 2014 Mike Peluso

Theme: "It's a Start" - A? is added to the start of the second word of each theme entry. The ? repeats the starting letter of the original phrase, so essentially "A" sound is inserted.

25A. Speech at a revival? : TENT ADDRESS. Tent dress.

27A. Variety of stars on a clear night? : COSMIC ARRAY. Cosmic ray. Four of the phrases have ARR structure.
 
56A. Only matchmaker in town? : LONE ARRANGER. Long Ranger. (Lone Ranger! Thanks, Owen!) My parents' marriage was arranged, so were the marriages of all my three aunts and uncle. Zi You Lian Ai (Free Choice of Romantic Love) came to us in early 1980s. Quite a western concept then.

83A. Approval from above? : HEAVEN ASSENT. Heaven-sent.
 
114A. St. Louis tourist? : ARCH ARRIVAL. Archrival.

119A. Rap sheet listing? : BACK ARRESTS. Backrests.

36D. Ambush during a "wrestling" match? : THUMB ATTACK. Thumbtack. Three of the original phrase are one-words. No odd man out.

41D. Extra clothes? : SPARE ATTIRE. Spare tire.

Just when you think the letter addition/deletion/alteration options are exhausted, Mike came up with this creative approach.

The grid is expertly laid out. Mike places 6 theme entries Across and 2 Down. He also makes sure his longest non-theme entries are shorter than his shortest theme entries.

Also, no cheater square (very difficult to achieve on Sundays) and only 67 black squares.

Across:

1. Anjou relative : BOSC. I loved the juicy pears Don G sent me via Harry & David.

5. Sleeveless garment : VEST

9. Chimú conquerors : INCAS

14. Give credit for : OWE TO
 
19. Russian city near the Ukraine border : OREL. Go eat a worm if you miss this city again. Our third encounter with it this week. See it?


20. Will-wisp connector : O'- THE

21. Fed. security : T-NOTE

22. Preferences : LIKES

23. Black Sea region : ASIA MINOR. Four of Mike's 9 non-theme entries intersect.

 29. Indulged : CATERED TO

30. 1969 Three Dog Night hit : ONE. I got via crosses. I just kept thinking that annoying "Who Let the Dogs Out" song. The Baha Men.

31. Alley prowler : TOM. Poor D-Otto!

32. Protected whale : SEI. It's not clued as "Italy six" because we also have SEIS (3D. Ocho menos dos) in the grid.

33. Scand. kingdom : NOR (Norway)

34. Neaten again, as a mustache : RE-TRIM. I just had my hair trimmed again yesterday. 2 inches off, as usual. Some day I'll get courageous and cut it really short like Marti's.



37. Putting up : ERECTING

40. "Sorry to hear that" : SO SAD

44. Essen exclamation : ACH

45. Primary : MAIN

47. Metz milk : LAIT

48. Grand venue : OLE OPRY. Feels like a partial to me.

50. Tag announcement : YOU'RE IT

52. Transp. to the Hamptons : LIRR (Long Island Rail Road)

53. Like Vivaldi's "Spring" : IN E. I filled in IN?, then waited.

54. First name in spydom : MATA

55. "My treat" : ON ME

60. Angling tool : ROD

61. Ora pro __ : NOBIS. Pray for us.

63. Gershwin's "Rialto Ripples," e.g. : RAG. Difficult clue for me.

64. Gobi abode : YURT. Look at this polling yurt.


65. Missouri NFL team : CHIEFS. Oh, Kansas City Chiefs.

67. "... some kind of __?" : A NUT

69. Rum __ Tugger: "Cats" character : TUM

71. More, on a score : PIU. Tricky little word.

72. Prefix with decimal : HEXA. Oh, another six.

73. Send with an email : ATTACH

75. Mosque leader : IMAM

77. Hush-hush maritime org. : ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). Navy's CIA. Not well-known, but important.

79. Bit of mischief : ANTIC

82. Word with bird or call : CAT

87. Aleutian island : ATKA. And 120D.  Nautical rope : TYE. Both gimmes for Spitzboov. ONI too, of course.

88. Financial pros : CPAs

90. Jeanne d'Arc, e.g.: Abbr. : STE

91. Buck ending : AROO

92. Like trees in the wind : SWAYING

94. Badminton item : RACQUET. Lovely 7-letter entry.

96. Query indicating betrayal : ET TU

97. Mil. addresses : APOs

98. Sturgeon delicacy : ROE

99. Invite to one's penthouse, say : ASK UP

100. Club for a short par-3, perhaps : NINE IRON. Nailed it, though I need at least a 7 iron for a short par-3.
 
103. Cunning : SHREWD

105. I problem? : EGO

107. Frau, across the Rhine: Abbr. : MME

108. That, in Tampico : ESA

109. Eastern path : TAO. Or DAO in Mandarin.
 
110. Bart Simpson catchphrase : AY, CARAMBA. Sparkling!

121. Heathrow lander : AEROPLANE. And 1D. Former Heathrow lander : BOAC. British Overseas Airways Corporation.Read more here. It ceased existence in 1974 but merged with another airline and became today's British Airways.

122. Raise : BREED

123. No-brainer course : EASY A

124. Milieu for Sharks and Penguins : RINK. For JD & Splynter.

125. Nevada city on I-80 : ELKO. We have an ELKO in MN also. They have a big flea market.
 
126. Literature Nobelist Gide : ANDRE

127. Expensive : STEEP

128. Barrie baddie : SMEE

129. School official : DEAN

Down:

2. About : OR SO

4. Din : CLAMOR

5. Message medium : VOICE MAIL

6. View from Catania : ETNA. I did not know Catania. Wiki said it's the "second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy".

7. Edit, in a way : SHORTEN. What Rich does to my clues. I'm not a wordy person, but sometimes I can't express what I want to say concisely.

8. Intense fear : TERROR
 
9. __-bitty : ITTY

10. Shreveport-to-Little Rock dir. : NNE

11. Vanity : CONCEIT

12. Reach : ATTAIN

13. It may be saved : SEAT. I thought of FILE first.

14. Grayish-pink color : OLD ROSE. Stumped me last time it appeared in our puzzle. I'd like to be a red rose in my next life. You? What kind of flower do you want to be?

15. Teletype machine area : WIRE ROOM. New term to me. We need our newswoman PK back.

16. Barely managed, with "out" : EKED
 
17. Try out : TEST

18. Bologna bone : OSSO

24. Villainous "Austin Powers" alter ego : MINI-ME. I don't like his picture. Please don't link.

26. Wide-screen TV spot : DEN

28. Florida's __ Island : AMELIA. Never heard of it. I thought it's named after Amelia Earhart. Nope.

32. Saddle attachment : STIRRUP

34. Synthetic silk : RAYON

35. Budget prefix : ECONO
 
38. Have in stock : CARRY
 
39. Old game show prop that contestants didn't want to hear : GONG. I'll try Gong Li next time. Rich probably will change the clue. He might not if he sees this picture. Gong Li is the most recognizable actress in Asia.


42. Fromm's "The __ Loving" : ART OF. Have any of you read the book?

43. Twosomes : DYADS

46. "Use __ lose ..." : IT OR
 
49. Freeloader : LEECH

51. Isabella, por ejemplo : REINA

52. Pea, e.g. : LEGUME
 
53. Pitched properly : IN TUNE

57. Indigenous : NATIVE. Xi'an has it own dialect. Much easier than Cantonese but outsiders can't understand it.

58. Melodious piece : ARIOSO. Rooted in Aria.

59. Ostrich's cousin : RHEA

62. Similar items : SUCH

66. Slangy veto : IXNAY. Zippy 5-letter entry.

68. More than just this : THESE

70. Dugong relative : MANATEE

73. Gulf of Guinea capital : ACCRA

74. __ bar : TAPAS

76. Cuban patriot José : MARTI. Hey, our Marti got a rare shout-out! Thanks, Mike.

78. Javert's rank: Abbr. : INSP.  Javert is that jerk inspector in ' "Les Misérables".

80. "You don't have to tell me" : I KNOW

81. Behind bars : CAGED

84. Business letter abbr. : ATTN

85. More like a lemon : SOURER

86. Like some golf penalties : TWO-STROKE. Hate when this happens. One stroke is enough.

89. Narrow victory : SQUEAKER

93. B-flat equivalent : A-SHARP

95. Go from coach to business, say : UPGRADE

96. As one : EN MASSE

97. Angels' home : ANAHEIM. Mike's team is Mariners.

101. "What a long day!" : I'M BEAT

102. Glitzy winter event, with "the" : OSCARS

104. Muddied : ROILED

106. Crew member : OAR

110. "The Winner Takes It All" singers : ABBA

111. It may be spun, in more ways than one : YARN. Indeed.

112. Kept in the loop, briefly : CC'ED. Oh me!

113. Mil. rations : MREs

114. Ominous letters after "See me" : ASAP. I had ??AP very early on.

115. Secretary of Education Duncan : ARNE

116. Low-lying area : VALE

117. "My Way" lyricist : ANKA

118. Spanish province or its capital : LEON. No idea. But its Google images are gorgeous.



Congratulations to Lemonade, who's getting married today. Lemonade has been blogging for us since March 2010. I can count the days he missed his write-ups. So happy to see him find his soul mate and settle down.


41 comments:

Bluehen said...

Pretty typical Sunday offering. . .not too difficult, but long. Interesting theme. Nice to see a cso to Marti. Darn insomnia. I'm going back to bed.

Lemonade714 said...

Perhaps it is general euphoria but I really loved the puzzle. The theme was tight, the fill varied and the cluing inventive without being unfair.

Much to do,


Have a great winter solstice all

Barry G. said...

Morning, all (and congrats to Lemonade)!

I couldn't read the title of the puzzle today (all that appeared was "It's a Sta"), but I guess it wouldn't have helped much. I eventually realized that the theme involved adding AD to common phrases. Except that sometimes it was adding AR. Or AS. What the??? It didn't occur to me that that it was adding the "A" sound. A bit confusing, but I did eventually muddle my way through.

A few rough spots today. The crossing of BOAC and OREL, for one. The crossing of LIRR and AMELIA, for another. AMELIA was pretty easy to guess with AMEL_A in place, but LIRR just looked wrong to me.

Elsewhere, I forgot about RACQUET and couldn't figure out why RACKET wouldn't fit. And I wonder when the phrase WIRE ROOM was last used (or the word telexes, for that matter)...

Montana said...

Congratulations, Lemonade!

If you have tens of thousands of dollars to spend per night, you can rent a yurt in a southern area of my county.

My middle son sat 64 hours in the last three weeks in coach class on planes. No upgrades.

This was a DNF puzzle but I solved enough of it for it to be enjoyable.

Montana

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Not too tough for this "alley prowler." Nice shoutouts to CC and Marti. Only a couple of write-overs today -- SUCH / SETS, CAT / TOM, and ENID (I must've been thinking OK) / ELKO. I "sensed" the theme, but never totally got it.

Back in the day we had no WIRE ROOM at the radio station. We kept our teletype machine in a closet lined with acoustic tiles.

With the A in place would it be ATTU, ADAK, ATKA?...let the perps decide. I also relied on the perps to decide if it'd be reYna or reIna.

HEXAdecimal is widely used in the computer world. It's a base sixteen numeric system. Any number from 0 to 255 can be expressed in just two characters. It uses the normal digits 0-9 and then the letters A-F for 10-15. FF = 255. I know, TMI.

LEON must be the area from whence Ponce sprang.

Congrats, Lemonade.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C. and friends. While I didn't care much for the theme, I found all sorts of other clues to just love in today's puzzle.

My favorite clue was I Problem = EGO.

It May Be Spun = YARN was also a fun clue and answer.

Erich Fromm (1900 ~ 1980) was a German social psychologist, so i don't expect his books would be light reading.

I wanted Newsroom instead of WIRE ROOM.

I also thought of Saving a SOUL instead of Saving a SEAT.

My hubby has a friend who is a real LEECH.

ANDRE Gide (1869 ~ 1951) was the recipient of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature.

OLD ROSE? An actually color? Really?

Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials, Lemonade!

QOD: Did St. Francis preach to the birds? Whatever for? If he really liked birds he would have done better to preach to the cats. ~ Rebecca West (Dec. 21, 1892 ~ 1983)

OwenKL said...

Didn't get to the puzzle until late (for me) second day in a row. Didn't like this one. Good theme (though not limerick-inspiring), but too many unknown and cobbled words. LIRR, ONI, ARIOSO, INE, SEI, ANUT. And especially PIU. What the heck is that? Couldn't find any meaning fitting the clue in any dictionary/site I looked at.

(BTW, it's Lone Ranger, not Long Ranger, or were you being facetious?)

Al Cyone said...

The Week in Review:

M 6:21 T 5:27 W 5:37 T 8:01 F 22:37 S 26:42 S 18:41

A relatively brisk run (on a brisk, snow-dusted morning) through today's puzzle but, not surprisingly, Friday's and Saturday's were stickier.

Friday required two WAGs and even after hearing the "TaDa!" it took a few seconds to understand the "NOI in 'team'" and the "OREgon Trail".

I just reviewed Saturday's puzzle and couldn't find (or at least couldn't remember!) anything specific that I struggled with (though struggled I obviously did) but there were a few unknowns (e.g. MAU, IOLANI). And I wasn't a fan of "Hitch" for TOUR but I guess that's par for the course on Saturday.

Happy Solstice! The reason for the season. See y'all next weekend.

OwenKL said...

USE IT OR LOSE IT, the saying goes,
Exercise, and touch your toes.
I don't agree,
If you ask me
I don't use fat, but it never goes!

luxor said...

Today is the 101st birthday of the crossword. It's surprising our host didn't know that.

JCJ said...

Slept in today. Solved puzzle just as I finished my third cup of coffee. Those tricky Spanish "that's" always get me with their choice of an "a" or "o" ending.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Mike Peloso, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

Congratulations, Lemonade. What a great day!

Puzzle was easier than a typical Sunday for me. Only took me two hours.

Caught the theme with ARCH ARRIVAL. All the rest appeared easily.

ARNE Duncan is from Chicago.

YURT was easy for me. I am getting used to it now.

I winged ASIA MINOR and lucked out.

Tried ATTU first, then ATKA appeared with perps.

Why do I feel I know Bart Simpson so well. I have never seen the show. AY CARAMBA

Lots to do today. see you tomorrow.

Abejo

(

maripro said...

I enjoyed this puzzle.
Can someone enlighten me - what does "mres" stand for?

Bluehen said...

maripro, mres is the plural (sorta)of mre: Meal Ready to Eat

Avg Joe said...

Congratulations Lemony!

An enjoyable puzzle today. Thanks to the Beatles, I'll never forget BOAC, so the start was quick. No major sticking points and only a few erasures, such as ATtu to ATKA. The theme didn't really occur to me until the second fill, but it was very helpful after that.

HeartRx said...

Good morning everyone!

Congratulations Lemony - leave it to you to get married on the day we have the longest night of the year. Are you trying to squeeze the most out of your honeymoon?? (^0^)

C.C., you and I both got shout-outs today! Cool. A year ago today, my 100th anniversary crossword puzzle was published on Saturday. Do you think I remembered? Nah...

Oh, and I am thinking of getting my hair cut even shorter, C.C. Maybe something like Jamie Lee Curtis or Dame Judy Dench. Too bad I don't have the looks to go with it, but at least it will be easy to maintain!

I really enjoyed the theme once I grokked it. Like Barry, I was thinking it was just an "add letters" puzzle. But no, Mike is far more clever than that. I also loved the clue for YARN, Hahtoolah.

Cookie baking and Patriots today. What a way to spend a snowy New England winter day!

Lime Rickey said...

MRES

Seems like that should have been explained in the write-up, no?

Also MME, LAIT, etc.

What may be obvious to some isn't obvious to all.

JD said...

Good morning C .C. And all,

did this in 2 sittings... Started last night after dropping sister off at train station at 10:30, just as the Shark game let out.Everything was blocked off so had to U turn and find another route!! Finished in the comfort of my bed earlier as the iPad does not wake up DH.

Enjoyed the challenge, but was stumped in many areas and had to work slowly to get er done. I did not catch the theme, but I rarely do.

oh happy day Lemonade. Congrats!! Guess you won't be making cookies.

More rain today so it may be a good time to add the ribbons to the presents...and then off to a Santa party.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Congrats again to Lemon and the BTB.

Interesting schtick involving the theme using well-known phrases. Seemed a little crunchy for a Sunday. Nice SO to CC at 112d.
32a - SEI. SEI is the imperative form of 'to be' in German.
SEI whale seems to have other names like Rudolphi's whale, Rudolphi's rorqual, Japan finner, pollack whale, coalfish whale, and sardine whale.
43d - Did not like DYADS.
77a - ONI. We had a few spooks in our unit. A different 'BREED o' cat'.
87a - ATKA - Most Aleutian island names seem to be quite obscure. The 2 farthest out larger islands, Attu and Kiska were captured by the IJF in WWII. Adak has a weather station. I think Amchatka was used for weapons testing.

The Winter Solstice occurs today at 2303 UT.

Rainman said...

Congratulations, Lemony.

Today's offering was interesting and entertaining. Thanks to some of your sharing, I now use the website to solve (occasionally). I had previously read about solvers' "ta-da" moments but assumed they were speaking of a light bulb above their heads. Now I know. That moment is a loud orchestral fanfare that, if you don't expect it, is startling, to say the least.

Well, today, the puzzle was filled in but the fanfare was missing. So I had an error. Or did I? I mean, every letter looked correct. But I kept reviewing and tweaking and, finally, TA DA!!!!! Congratulations, You Solved the Puzzle... or something like that.

You don't get that with the newspaper and pencil method. And that may be an advantage, on occasion.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I caught the theme with Lone Arranger and that was a help on some of the other theme answers. However, I had more write-overs than usual: Limo/LIRR, Attu/Atka, news room/wire room, cabinet/conceit, Reno/Elko, and une/ina.

Thanks, Mike, and thanks, CC. Enjoyed CSO to you and Marti.

Congratulations, Lemony, and best wishes for many happy and healthy years together.

Have a great day.

Argyle said...

MRE falls well into the realm of crosswordese. I might spell it out on Mon. and Tues. but that is for the novice.

Short hair? Servalan got 'em all beat. Blake's Seven

Big Easy said...

Well this was a nice Sunday puzzle that had a few bumps that were solved by the perps but one letter I couldn't get was the crossing of AY CARAMBA & CCED ( sorry C.C.) We had a Christmas party last night and the lat guest didn't leave till 1am, so I'm slow today.

I was slow in the top putting CAT for 31A and not realizing my mistake until I got to 82A- CAT, which was also used as part of the 69A clue. 10A was easy since I was born in Shreveport,

ELKO- Do they have bordellos in Minnesota?

The unknowns that came from the crosses today were OLD ROSE, SEI, PIU, ANDRE, Rum TUM Tugger,ANDRE Gide, TYE, ATKA.

The theme was easy to pick out as soon as I filled LONE ARRANGER.

Languages today. French-LAIT, MME, Spanish-REINA, SEIS, TAPAS, LEON, ESA, Italian-PIU, ARIOSO, Latin- ET TU, and my favorite Pig Latin-IXNAY.

I stumbled this morning and had a brain fart not getting CCED.

Qli said...

Solved this one online, and only due to red letters. Once I got the theme, it was easier, and more fun. Hand up for newsROOM at first.

Congratulations go out to Lemonade and his new wife. Wonder if she loves crosswords too?

ASAP as well as stat have been shortened to AS and st in our lab's computer system. To me, the two letter versions just don't convey the same sense of urgency.

Happy first day of winter, everyone!

Yellowrocks said...

Fun Sunday puzzle. I got it all after I stopped putting the answers in the wrong cells. I saw the added "A" right off but had to ponder the other added letter.

Believe it or not. OLD ROSE is an official color. It reminds me of the more common dusty rose.
Link text
When commuters are delayed LIRR is often in the news here .
I’m sure all our classical music fans appreciated ARIOSO.
I thought of this commercial.
Link text
Yesterday and today posters questioned TOUR=HITCH.
TOUR, a period of duty at one place or in one job (especially in the military).
HITCH, a period of military service
LUXOR, good info, but why the snarky comment?
Congrats to Lemony and your bride with a wish for many happy years together.

tawnya said...

hello all!

fun puzzle today - i got the theme almost immediately (exciting in my world!) but i had a few places where i was second guessing myself.

i don't normally question the clues, but i really don't understand 82A "Word with bird or call" CAT. i put in CAT right away but erased it because really, what is a bird cat? or cat bird?

overall, fun puzzle and i certainly enjoyed it! thank you mike! and thanks as always to CC for a great writeup.

Happy Solstice Day! More hours of sunshine are coming!!

Congrats to Lemony - wishing you all the joy in the world on your special day.

tawnya

Lucina said...

Wow! Did anyone else get the wrong puzzle? Mine was "Well, Golly" by Jim Peredo and all weekend I've felt like I awoke in the twilight zone. Yesterday's puzzle was impossibly difficult and am still not finished with it.

Add to that the almost non occurrence of my feeling sick! I was achy, hot then cold all day and was supposed to be helping with the tamales. But I spent most of the day on the sofa sleeping.

I hope you all fared better and are staying well.

I'm going to find a puzzle to print.

Congratulations, Lemonade!

Chairman Moe said...

congrat's Lemony!

Yellowrocks said...

The CATBIRD is native to most of temperate North America east of the Rocky Mountains. We have catbirds here in NJ. The cat bird's harsh cry is similar to a cat's meow. They also mimic other birds.
Link catbird pics
A catcall is a harsh or shrill call or whistle expressing derision or disapproval.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Countdown clock to the Winter Solstice
-I well remember this TENT ADDRESSER and Shirley Jones definitely not playing Marian the Librarian
-Going up as an ARCH ARRIVAL can be claustrophobic
-We carry stadium seats for bleacher BACK RESTS everywhere
-This implement works well on pears too!
-Who’s “A flibbertigibbet! A will-O’ THE wisp! A clown!”
-Hands up if you think Marti’s drink is a soda
-The The new OPRY venue 11 miles from the Ryman Auditorium ain’t so OLE
-In HEXADECIMALS I am 44 and my MIL is 5c
-Lily is pet of the month at our vet’s office but our write-up had so many pix I couldn’t attach to the email to them so they got a hard copy
-Lovely song of Trees SWAYING In The Summer Breeze (2:33)
-There’s a lot Fr. Dave could SHORTEN on Sunday
-These guys censored WIRE copy in Good Morning Vietnam
-A “great” CAGED movie?
-Hit the flag stick on a putt – TWO STROKE penalty

Anonymous said...

I live on Amelia Island, and still almost missed this clue. This place is paradise! Go on line and check it out if you've not heard of it. I hadn't until I was looking for a Florida home close to the Georgia border.

Anonymous T said...

Hi all!

I started the puzzle at the pub, but then someone started the "who, alive today, would you want to have a few pints with?" game. Before it got too far along, I left to get eldest from Ballet.

Maybe I'll finish the puzzle later. Right now the girls and I are pressing pizzelles. Ok, they are - no child labor laws here :-) The choc-chips are yum-yum in my TUM-TUM.

Lucina - get well soon!

Cheers, -T

CrossEyedDave said...

I figured out the Theme at SpareAttire, (or at least I thought I did...)

I did not understand CC's reference: Tom=poor D-otto (hmm, I was trying to link Robby the robots brain freeze. When I came upon this clip which I had never seen before.) If you are not a Forbidden Planet Fan, look away. But I was shocked to find a clip I had never seen before...

Congrats Lemon, may your future be blessed. ( or at least you have no reason to be sour anymore...)

CCED really threw me off, not in the puzzle, but in the writeup I kept thinking you were talking about me! (gimme a break,,, I'm crosseyed already...) (I thought I was seeing double...)

Yellow Rocks, yr post made me research, & this is what I found. (Do not miss the frog @ 3:43...)

& finally, thanks HG, for posting A Summer Song. I got into it so much that I printed out the guitar tabs & learned the whole song on my 12 string. Unfortunately it is a duet, & no one wants to hear it solo... So maybe I should learn The 3 Dog Night number....

Also, (WTF) is with all these rules about the flagstick? I think 2 strokes is way too severe...

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Great puzzle, Mike, though it took a while. No cheats! Swell write-up, CC!

Really puzzled at LIRR.

HG: Maria!

Cheers!

Yellowrocks said...

LIRR Long Island Railroad

CED I'm dying to listen to your link. I think my speaker became disconnected and I will have to get down on my hands and knees (almost impossible)to sort out the wires. But, thanks.

fermatprime said...

Had sudden visitor and forgot to say:

Congratulations Lemonade and spouse!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, CC, for your continuing work on this blog. Thanks to each of you who provides us with the daily explanation and fun/educational links. Congrats to Lemony! Happy Birthday to all I've missed. I read everyday and enjoy. Happy celebrations to all!

BV Ahlers said...

Definitely easier than yesterday's. Mike must be in the NW?

Yellowrocks said...

Lucina, so sorry to hear you are ill and missed the big tamale doings this year. I hope you recover quickly.

Bill G. said...

Lemon, congratulations and best wishes!

Here's what has become a favorite Christmas song. White Christmas

SwenglishMom said...

Congratulations to the lucky groom and best wishes to the beautiful bride!

After Friday's victory I was humbled by the short fill piu oni boac seis & Orel. But very distracted wrapping presents. Off to see Farmor in Gothenburg Tuesday! Happiest of holidays all and wonderful wedding celebration Lemonade!