google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, March 23, 2015 Mary Lou Guizzo

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Mar 23, 2015

Monday, March 23, 2015 Mary Lou Guizzo

Theme: Motorcycle Club - Six members of this MC.

68A. Roast host, and a hint to the answers to starred clues : EMCEE

17A. *Dots-and-dashes system : MORSE CODE

36A. *Entrée : MAIN COURSE

43A. *Boxy British economy car : MINI COOPER

61A. *Venue for hypothetical legal cases : MOOT COURT

11D. *Wallet alternatives : MONEY CLIPS

29D. *Hannah Montana portrayer : MILEY CYRUS

Argyle here, bro. Easy theme and plentiful. The crossing theme entries and the fill lift this up from being a mediocre Monday.

Across:

1. Gear tooth : COG

4. Scotch whisky brand : J AND B

9. Apples, e.g. : POMES. A botanical name ultimately from Late Latin pomum.

14. Sushi bar tuna : AHI

15. "Inside the NBA" analyst Shaq : O'NEAL. Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal, nicknamed Shaq, is an American retired professional basketball player, former rapper, actor and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Wikipedia

16. Scary bacteria : E COLI

19. Charged toward : RAN AT

20. Long Island airport town : ISLIP. Long Island MacArthur Airport.

21. "Divergent" star Woodley : SHAILENE. "Divergent" is a novel, a film and a sequel already.

23. Robber, to cops : PERP. Short for perpetrator and not our perpendicular.

26. Join the game : PLAY

27. Electrical unit of resistance : OHM

30. Fish market offering : SEA BASS

33. Revolutionary Guevara : CHE

38. Linen fiber source : FLAX

39. Statesman Stevenson : ADLAI

40. Part of UNLV : LAS. (University of Nevada-Las Vegas)

41. Fly like a parasailer : GLIDE

42. Weed-control tools : HOEs

45. "Take your pick" : "ANY"

46. Ironed : PRESSED

47. Grounded fast jet, briefly : SST. (Supersonic transport)

48. Affordable __ Act : CARE

50. "This __ unfair!" : IS SO

52. Car thief on a pleasure spin : JOY RIDER

56. Car wheel shafts : AXLES

60. Offensively pungent : ACRID

64. Stop to think, say : PAUSE

65. Alma __ : MATER

66. Word in itineraries : VIA

67. Tricky road curves : ESSES

69. Wild blue yonder : SKY

Down:

1. Victoria's Secret garment, for short : CAMI. (camisole)

2. Cries of discovery : "O HO!"s

3. "You go, __!" : GIRL

4. "My Cousin Vinny" co-star : JOE PESCI. The favorite scene here on the Corner.



5. Post-apartheid ruling party: Abbr. : ANC, (African National Congress)

6. Prefix with conservative : NEO

7. Father figures : DADS

8. "Ick!" : "BLEH!"

9. Hazards : PERILS

10. Central Florida city : OCALA. "Snakes and gators and bears, oh my Ocala perils!"

12. Zing : ELAN

13. Web browsing destination : SITE

18. Dainty taste : SIP

22. Church recess : APSE

24. Vintage vehicle : REO. REO was founded by Ransom E. Olds.


25. One of Tony Soprano's henchmen : PAULIE

27. Mutual of __ : OMAHA. Make sure your policy is paid up if Paulie is coming to visit.

28. Was wearing : HAD ON

31. Fiber-rich cereals : BRANS

32. St. Francis of __ : ASSISI

34. Greek god of the underworld : HADES

35. Use, as influence : EXERT

37. __ in November : N AS

38. Showman Ziegfeld : FLO

41. Devout term for a churchyard : GOD'S ACRE. Gottesacker. (German)

43. TV "neigh" sayer : "MR. ED"

44. These, in Nice : CES

46. Lion family units : PRIDES

49. Roll out of the sack : ARISE

51. Kitchenware brand : OXO

52. Bit of mockery : JAPE

53. Andean stew tubers : OCAs

54. Buxom one-named supermodel : EMME


55. What the buffalo do, in song : ROAM Go to YouTube for the lyrics.



57. Disposable diapers brand : LUVS

58. "CHiPs" star Estrada : ERIK

59. Time at a motel : STAY

62. Non-Rx : OTC. (Over-the-counter)

63. Golfer's gadget ... or where it's used : TEE...or fashion accessory.





Argyle


75 comments:

Rainman said...

Technical fail for me today. Did not know JANDB... what do those initials stand for, Argyle? Did not know SHAILENE and BLEH didn't help as a perp, so..
Lots of learning today, though, and that's good. Learned EMME, PAULIE and the aforementioned.
I had a six-speed 2005 Mini S and it was phenomenal car because of the way it held the road, even at high speeds. I might still have it but I went green and got a Hybrid car to replace it.
And my FA daughter loved to stop over at ISLIP as a layover.
All in all, not a mediocre Monday... so far.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

I think somebody swapped today's LA Times puzzle with one from People Magazine. Sadly, I just don't follow enough pop culture to know stuff like SHAILENE and PAULIE. I did know EMME (from past puzzles), JOE PESCI, Shaquille ONEAL, ERIK Estrada and MILEY CYRUS, however, so that was OK. Got everything via the perps, so finished this one unassisted even if it took a little longer than my normal Monday solve.

I did question DADS for "Father figures." Maybe I'm just being too literal, but aren't DADS just "fathers" and not "Father figures?" I always thought a father figure was somebody who acted in the role of a father but wasn't actually one. Or maybe they really are synonyms. I dunno...

Burrito34 said...

Good morning.

I just had to pop in and say thanks for posting the "Home on the Range" video. Nice thought for a Monday morning. As to the puzzle my only snag was MOOT COURT when I first thought it was MOCK COURT, but then "tee" works a whole lot better than "kee".

Rainman said...

Did not know JAPE, either. So lots of learning today. Good puzzle. Thanks, Mary Lou Guizzo. I think I never saw some of the Down clues... the Acrosses took care of them, and that doesn't happen that often for me. (SHAILENE? Seriously? Need to get out more.)

Argyle said...

J&B comes from the love of an opera singer, LINK, so some good does come out of opera.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. I caught on to the MC theme long before I got to the unifier, but I found other aspects of this puzzle to be a tad more challenging than the usual Monday puzzle.

I am not up on my whisky brands, so J AND B did not come easily. And POMES is a Monday word?!

I misread 66-Across as Word in Obituaries instead of Word in Itineraries. What a difference that made!

E. COLI is really not such a scary bacterium. While some strains can cause illness, most strains are harmless. It is a common bacterium for study in the high school biology class.

QOD: Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. ~ Erich Fromm (Mar. 23, 1900 ~ Mar. 18, 1980)

Jerome said...

Considering the theme, how apt that Mary Lou can say it's MY CROSSWORD.

"Dude, what did RANSOM E OLDS do?"
"SOLD REOS, MAN"

ARISE- What you get from Viagra. And by the way... there's salad bars and wime bars, so why not a Viagra bar. You can walk in and order a stiff one.

And lastly, perhaps the most stupid anagram in history-
Get the best of an A-team actor in a wooing contest in MOOT COURT.
OUT COO MR.T

desper-otto said...

Morning!

I have to fess up to a Monday DNF. I was going for J AND J as the whiskey -- oops, those are bandaids. With the L in place, I sussed the B. With BLE_ I took a WAG and guessed a C. Bzzzzzt! BLEH? Really?

My apples were ROMES, and I put my cash in a MONEYBELT, and I was afraid of EBOLA. Those, at least, successfully perped themselves out.

When I'd filled in 41D I stared at GOD SACRE. Remembered that SACRE means something like "holy" in French, so it's something God made holy? Sacre bleu! I think it's time to go back to bed.

Lemonade714 said...

A really fun Monday with a hint of spice. Mary Lou is another of the creative female constructors along with many others including our own.

I particularly like the grid with the crossing down themers.

As a dad you end up being a father figure to more than your own children.

Insurgent the sequel just opened this weekend atop the box office so the movie and the actress have been all over the news.

Thanks for the J&B info and the rest Argyle and thank you MLG

Yellowrocks said...

I knew J&B as a Scotch whisky, but it took a while for me to substitute AND for the &. SHAILENE was all perps.
I think of Lucy and Snoopy on Peanuts for the BLEAH sound. I know there is an added A here, but the sound is the same.
I never knew why that auto was named REO. Thanks, Argyle.

inanehiker said...

fun, easy Monday, though WEES about pomes being a nonMonday word- easy to get with perps.

I thought Shailene Woodley did a great job as George Clooney's daughter in "The Descendants" - she may have even gotten a Golden Globe. Since then she's been in quite a few popular movies like "The Fault in Our Stars".

Anonymous said...

I can't remember ever having a DNF on a Monday, but today I did. Failed in NE and SW. Didn't help that I worked the LA Times site on an iPad. Not a good start to the week.

But, it is beautiful outside, birds are building nests in a tree outside my bedroom window, and greenery is slowly appearing. Sweater weather already in March-winter parka put away. Can't beat that.

Montana

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Nothing much to add beyond what Argyle said. Several unknowns mostly gettable by the perps. J AND B sounded like a Scotch I had heard of so I went with BLEH. Only white-out was I was hasty and had pony before PLAY.
Liked the M - C theme, but awareness wasn't needed for the solve.

JD said...

Ha!Ha! J AND B ...it filled in, but my brain did not comprehend the "word." There certainly were a lot of names in this one, but all have been in the news at some time. Adlai had cobwebs.
Enjoyable... Nice theme although I was never aware of it . Always a thank you to Argyle for extending my learning.
may you all enjoy your 1st week of spring. Cloudy here with no chance of meatballs.

Yellowrocks said...

Better chance of meatballs today than giving up the warm parka in North Jersey. It was 24 degrees at 7 AM. Although it will be warm and rainy on Thursday most of the next 7 days are still expected to be unusually cold. But the birds are singing, the sun is bright and the snow has melted on about one third of the lawn. My favorite temps are between 40 and 80.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

A fun start to the week. Theme was obvious early on. I've seen blech in print but never bleh. Other than that, no problems.

Nice and sunny but still very cold. April is just around the corner so, maybe, some warmer days are coming, too!

Have a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Sorry, I forgot to thank Mary Lou and Argyle for their efforts. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

C6D6 Peg said...

Very enjoyable puzzle today with the extra theme answers and fresh fill. Thanks for the fun, Mary Lou!

Argyle, loved the "Two Utes" clip, as it always is funny. Thanks for the great write-ups you do.

kazie said...

A lot of what Rainman and Barry G said today. I didn't know J AND B, or BLEH--How do you pronounce that? I've never seen or heard it used. SHAILENE, ISLIP, JAPE, EMME and PAULIE were also complete unknowns that perped themselves. It really didn't feel like Monday.

ENTREE + MAIN COURSE--only in the USA. In French it means "entrance" to the meal, like a soup or something between the hors d'Å“uvres (snack, something outside the work of art that the meal is) and the plat principal (main dish).

kazie said...

Make that + sign an = above.

I also want to add that we awoke to over 6 inches of white stuff this morning here, and it was still coming until about a minute ago, adding at least another inch to that. Is Bleh an appropriate reaction?

SwampCat said...

It's hard to admit to a DNF on a Monday, but there were just too many names I'd never heard of. And Jape and Pomes did not seem like Monday words. I did get the theme and all the theme answers but it wasn't enough.

Argyle, thanks for explaining it!

SwampCat said...

Katie, I think Bleh is much too mild a reaction!

SwampCat said...

...sigh...that was supposed to be Kazie. Dumb auto correct!

Anonymous said...

After cruising through a Saturday Silkie and then to be shot down on a Monday. BLEC! That's my spelling and I'm sticking to it.

Meh said...

BLEH: "A state of mind usually caused by boredom or an annoying situation that doesn't really cause any heavy emotional reactions."

BLEH: "A word used in conversation to reflect general indifference to a situation or object of conversation."

I think the exclamation point in the clue ("Ick!") suggests too much emotion for BLEH.

Joe A. said...

Argyle, you forgot to add Sheriff to Shaq O'NEAL's long list of professions. A job he would ultimately lose due to language he used during a performance as a MC. His quote, "I was freestyling. That's all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. That is what MCs do. They freestyle when called upon. I'm totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all." ties his inclusion in this puzzle up into a tidy little bow.

kazie said...

SwampCat,
Maybe I should go with: "Bloody hell, waddaya think this is? Bush Week?"--from an old Aussie expression used as reaction to an attempted scam.

I don't have auto correct--I just get red lines under things it thinks need correcting, so I can decide which way to go. I'm glad something I have works!

SwampCat said...

LOL...much better, Kazie!

CanadianEh! said...

WEES, WBS, and whar kazie said! Quite the workout for a Monday but I got the theme so that was fun.

We are still cold in Niagara but sunny. Snow piles are slowing receding. Come on spring!

CanadianEh! said...

Edit whar to what!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

No Cruciverb today, so it was good to have an easy puzzle for solving at the LAT site. Not many unknowns, but Shaileen was all perps for sure. Hand up for Mock Court, is Moot Court a thing?

Islip was easy, seeing as how that's where I spent the last week. The layout of roads on Long Island seems a bit odd.

A busy Sunday kept me away from the Corner, so belated thanks to C.C. for an enjoyable puzzle.

Are there any fans of Firefly and the follow-on movie Serenity here? Firefly got mentioned on Big Bang so much, we decided to watch whole range on Netflix. Good stuff!

Anonymous said...

I'm going to figure that J&B was Tin's favorite fill today.

On another note, whatever happened to PK & Mari?

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A Natick on a Monday? Ble_/S_ailene was close.
-BTW, look what town is an hour and seven minutes north of Buffalo Bill’s Scout’s Ranch in North Platte, NE.
-That MORSE CODE essentially killed the Pony Express
-Like DADS do, Billy Ray Cyrus supports his trashy daughter
-My kids calculated ratios by counting these gear COGS
-First responders RAN AT the 9/11 inferno from which most ran
-What Lindsay chose to wear for one of her PERP walks
-I spent many summers on the end of a HOE (the tool!)
-NE’s first Chick-Fil-A opened in Mutual of OMAHA’s cafeteria
-She reached for him in the APSE and caught him by the organ
-Benign E COLI was swimming in my agar too
-Amazing video (2:48) of a man in a Lion family unit

Puzo said...

Whenever I read or hear PAULIE, I usually say to myself, oh PAULIE you won't see him no more.

Then comes "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

Then this exchange:



Michael: My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.

Kay Adams: Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don't have men killed.

Michael: Oh. Who's being naive, Kay?

Oh, hell, time to fire up the DVD...

Anonymous said...

Its interesting to watch defenders of The Beatles' hair and Elvis' hips deride MILEY's twerking. Personally, I can't wait to see Ethel, RFK Jr. and the Shriver cozying up to Billy Ray near the cash bar at the upcoming nuptials

Anonymous said...

Related:

If Arnold Schwarznegger, Maria Shriver and Miley Cyrus have dinner together, who foots the bill? i.e. Who has the fattest wallet?

Anonymous said...

Hint: The 3 net worths are 100 mil, 150 mil and 300 mil. Who's who?

Misty said...


A real relief to get a doable Monday puzzle after the Friday and Saturday bears last week--thank you, Mary Lou! And great pics, Argyle!

I was surprised by all the popular culture references, but that's the main reason I subscribe to "People" magazine--to keep up. Came in handy today. Got the EMCEE theme but had no idea it referred to MOTORCYCLE CLUB. Does it, or did you just make that up, Argyle?

In any case, a great way to start the week.

Glad you're having a nice day, Montana.

Have a good one, everybody else, too.

Jayce said...

My natick today was the H crossing SHAILENE and BLEH.
Hand up for entering MOCK COURT at first.

Tinbeni said...

Argyle: Thanks for the JOE PESCI link.

Only needed Every Single PERP to get SHAILENE.

Would have enjoyed the puzzle more if the 5-letter Scotch Whisky had been PINCH and not "J and B" ...

Nice rainy day here ... can't wait to see the flowers.
Cheers!

Lucina said...

Hello, friends!

WBS about not knowing enough about pop culture. Learning moments today, MINI COOPER is British. EMME, PAULIE, and SHAILENE all perped.

CHE, ADLAI and ERIK are more in my wheelhouse.

However, OCANA was a Natick. If it isn't Miami, Tampa, Boca or Orlando in Florida, I'm lost. Had EBOLA and so OBANA sounded as likely as anything else and when I changed to SITE didn't check across to change. Hate a FIW on Monday!

Still it was a fun, quick romp. Thank you Mary Lou and Argyle.

You all have a superb Monday!

PK said...

HI Y'All! I'm back on the internet after having my computer down for five months. Tried to upgrade my IMac on Nov. 4 and then clicked on "restart" and the computer went blank. I was too dumb to know how to "restart". With some health problems, I didn't get a Geek out to help me. Finally my PC owning daughter & SIL came and insisted on trying to fix it yesterday for my birthday. Hooray, they did it! Daughter got my printer going for the first time in two years. Now if I can remember what I did know before everything quit......

As for the puzzle, I thought it was hard for Monday but I thought it might be because I've been unable to do LAT puzzles except for Sundays in the one paper I get a week. Duh! Had the same natick with Shailene etc. everyone else did.

Anonymous said...

Bummer ! A DNF on a Monday! I got the theme early when I was jumping around the grid. I'm familiar with "pomme" for apple, but the clue said it was plurable and there was no room for the "s". I had BLEk for 8D and filled in SkArLEtt. No idea who she is. That corner never recovered.

Thanks for the work-out, Mary Lou. Thanks for 'splainin' my mess, Argyle.

Welcome Back, PK! Sorry about those computer woes. Hopefully they are forever in the past!

Sunny with a high of 48*. Some flowers are up and things are looking springie. Happy week, everyone!

Pat

Yellowrocks said...

Welcome back, PK. We all have been missing you. Sorry to hear about your health and computer problems. I hope things go smoothly from now on.

Irish Miss said...

Welcome back, PK. Not only did we miss your humorous and interesting posts, we were worried about you. Hope your health and computer problems are over.

Anonymous at 10:39 - Mari's employer blocked this site (and others).

Argyle said...

For Misty; MOTORCYCLE CLUB is usually abbreviated as MC. It wasn't a good candidate for a theme entry because the confusion two C's would have been. MOTORCYCLE by itself wouldn't fit the two word entries.

It's ok for my flight of fancy though.

The MINI is produced by BMW since 2000 but still built for the most part in England. Performance versions of the earlier Morris Mini-Minor models used the name Cooper, due to a partnership with racing legend John Cooper. It is still used to indicate performance MINI's, up to the John Cooper Works (JCW). Pic

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, Since I wanted Pinch instead of J and B and put in Yuck for Bleh that area was a bit of a problem until I had more of the answers in that I knew were correct. I erased all and started over there.

Fruit and Pomes are both 5 letters, so I went with Fruit for Apples. Sometimes obvious answers are not so obvious after all.

Shailene, Paulie and Joe Pesci were unknowns and were totally filled in with the perps. I thought today was a little more difficult for a Monday. Lots of names that thankfully had appeared in other puzzles of late, like Miley Cyrus, ONeal and Erik (Estrada). Otherwise I would have had a real DNF today.

I did finish on my own, but it took longer that the usual Monday time.

TV "neigh" sayer/Mr. Ed. was a favorite today. Not much else to get too excited about.

My jury duty is over, but I'm still waking up at the 6:00 o'clock hour which was the wake up time in order to get to court by 8:30. Hopefully my "clock" will readjust to retirement time soon.

Have a great day, everyone.

coneyro said...

Wees as far as today's simplicity. Easy theme, no overly intellectual entries...a breeze.

The only problems I had were JANDB( I don't drink, so did not have a clue until perps)and never heard of MINICOOPER, which did get filled in the same way.

SHAILENE was easy for me. She also starred in a good tv show, Secrets of the American Teenager(or something to that effect)...very enjoyable. A real young feminist and talented actress.

Learned the term "MOOT COURT" from watching legal dramas. Who says TV is a "dumb box"?

My Florida neck of the woods was wet last night and into the morning. Turned into a lovely warm day. Let me jump into it. 'Til tomorrow...



No BLEH soblige said...

BLECH: "an expression such as disgusting, yucky, horrid, gross...usually in taste."

Maybe that's what the constructor was thinking of for "Ick!".

Anonymous said...

Yep today totaly sucked. Not ready for weds puzzle on monday. Good job mlg. NOT!

Barry G. said...

For all those wondering about MOOT COURT, it's a term that probably doesn't exist outside of law school. Basically, it's a training exercise for law students and involves taking a real, previously decided case and arguing why it should (or should not) be overturned. It's a competition and you argue your side of the case before a panel of upperclassmen judges. And then, just to make it more interesting, you have to turn around and argue the other side of the case.

That's how we did it at my school, at least...

Anonymous said...

Snoopy's Bleh Cheers, -T

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Mary Lou Guizzo, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.

Well, I tried cruciverb earlier in the day and no cigar, and no puzzle either. Then I tried it again later on and today's puzzle was there. So I worked it.

Got through easily, after all, it isn't Monday.

Had no idea what the theme was until I was almost done and got to the bottom of the puzzle. Had no idea there were asterisks. Then I looked and found them.

1A, COG, I got got right off the bat. It also reminded me of the town where I was working when I retired in 2001. Genoa, IL. Their high school team is the Genoa COGS. Illinois has a reputation for odd mascots (IMHO). Freeport, IL, is the Freeport PRETZELS. Cobden, IL are the Cobden APPLEKNOCKERS. Pekin, IL, used to be the Pekin CHINKS. It was changed about 35 years ago to DRAGONS. Anyhow, back to the puzzle.

I also was thinking of FRUIT for 9A, but held off for a perp. POMES became obvious.

SHAILENE was totally unknown to me. Eight perps and it was done.

OHM was a piece of cake. I worked with that word for 36 years. I love electricity.

ADLAI was easy. He was a household word in Illinois. I actually remember when he was on the ticket. I did not live in Illinois then. It was a tough job to try to beat IKE right after WW-II.

Never heard of MOOT COURT. But, I am not a lawyer.

JOE PESCI reminded me that I should watch that movie sometime. I heard it is pretty good.

JAPE is a new word for me.

I finally remembered OXO. We have had that many times.

Hopefully the puzzle will be there tomorrow. See you then, from Johnsonburg, PA. My wife told me we got at least 6 inches of snow in Illinois today. I will be getting home to Illinois on Wednesday. Hopefully, it will have melted by then.

Nice to see you back, PK.

Abejo

( )

Lemonade714 said...

A three parter:

Part 1


The following is an actual question given on a University of Arizona chemistry midterm, and an actual answer turned in by a student.


Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

Lemonade714 said...

Part II



One student, however, wrote the following:


First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving, which is unlikely. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

Lemonade714 said...

Part III



This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Felicia during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct..... ...leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Felicia kept shouting 'Oh my God.'


Rainman said...

Did I say the Mini Cooper S was a phenomenal car? I meant FUN-omenal. It was.

Barry G., was Moot Court a pass/fail test or an exercise? Sounds like an ordeal...
When I was living in TX many years ago, one could study and "challenge" the bar exam and become an attorney without a law degree or even passing a law course. Maybe other States were the same. I always found law fascinating, generally. But I would not want to be represented by some under-educated yokel. I bet there are some. I always wondered how an atty. who merely passed the bar acquired the precision and other skills necessary.

JANDB: Justerini and Brooks.

Rainman said...

Abejo, that was a fine comment. Exceptional, to give real credit to you.
Speaking of school mascots, and those were fine recalls, one of the most entertaining is the University of California - Santa Cruz Banana Slugs.
I didn't care for the Pekin name and I'm glad they changed it. Suggestion: Pekin Knees.
- I'm fairly sure Maria Shriver would not sit down with the former Gropenator... again. Is someone getting married?

Lucina said...

Rainman:
As Arnold is the father of her children, I suspect they maintain a minimum level of cordiality especially at social functions such as the marriage of their offspring.

Avg Joe said...

Enjoyed the puzzle, but did find it a bit tough for a Monday. Bleh seemed a bit odd, but nothing else seemed to do for the H. Shailene, was all perps, with the bleh guess in place.

Good to see you back, PK. We were worried.

AWOL yesterday due to the Sandhill Crane trip. It was a little early, but we saw many thousand. It's a pretty amazing sight.

I can't help but wonder if there is a Forney, Illinois.....and if so, if their team name is the Caterers.

Bill G. said...

Thanks Mary Lou and Argyle. A fun challenge for a Monday. I had more trouble than usual also.

I've seen Shailene on a talk show and she seems like an attractive, interesting person.

"I don't believe in astrology; I'm a Sagittarius and we're skeptical." Arthur C. Clarke

Lemonade714 said...

Moot Court is one of the few exercises in law school which mirror part of the skill set for attorneys. The vast majority of practicing attorneys do not go to court, do not argue appeals and do not take any trial practice classes in law school.

When I went to law school, I obtained the background for trial and appellate work by working as a law clerk for a number of attorneys and participating in the preparation and watching them in action. Then when I was practicing, I was able to use those observations.

However, the reality of courtroom work, be it trial, hearings or appeals is the process is very much controlled by the judiciary and often individual approaches which may vary from room to room, and you have to learn to adapt. I do not miss the courtroom.

Fact Checker said...

An actual exam question from the University of Arizona?

Snopes says probably not.

Anonymous said...

Lemony, please do not respond to the troll @ 3:55pm. You have reached your 5-post limit, and will just have to wait until tomorrow.

Thanks.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Cute puzzle, Mary Lou! Nice expo, Santa!

No problems.

PK: Welcome back!

No swimming for two days as friend's car was being repaired. Darn.

Nice and warm here.

Have a swell, professional photo of my long-gone uncle's REO.

Cheers!

Manac said...

I hate those Mini Coopers!

I'm always picking them out of the
grille of my truck.

Lemon, True or not... That was funny.

Anonymous said...

Well this one's true.

Back when my wife(then girlfriend) moved in with me, we used to play jokes on each other. Well, my nosy mother seem to increase her call frequency. So my wife decided to ,ahem, pleasure me when my cellphone showed my mother was calling to dis courage me from talking too long. Well it got to be such a thing that when I saw my mother on the caller ID, I became aroused.

We called it Pavlov's Log or Pavlov's Call.

Oh, the good old days. Now it seems as if Mom hasn't called in a long, long time...

Bill G. said...

No matter. Though I've heard that story several times before over the last 10 years, it always amuses me with its scientifically-accurate wit.

Puzzle: If a person weighs 150 pounds while standing on a bathroom scale, if you transported the person and the scale to the moon, they would weigh about six times less, about 25 pounds. Is there anything you can think of that, if measured in the same way, would weigh more on the Moon than it does on the Earth? Now, I have an answer in mind, but there may be more than one right answer.

Occasional Lurker said...


First things first.

Bill G. - what about a baloon filled with Hydrogen or Helium ? Since, on earth, such a balloon rises by displacement of air versus the pull of gravity ..... but there is no atmosphere on the moon, so the balloon would sink ( heavier - ) even with one-sixth the gravity.??

Secondly, I hope Bill G. you and the others mathematically minded did see the Google Doodle today. Its a pretty picture of one of the world's foremost ( now dead - ) mathematicians ... that you may have never heard of. Her name was Emmy Noether ( No' -Tae).

Thats Emmy ---- not Emme, which was todays clue ....

If you read her story on Wiki, you will realize what women, even in Germany, in the past century had to do, to study and do research in mathematics. She worked for over 4 years for free, after her doctorate.... and the Nazi's kicked her out anyway. She died in Bryn Mawr, Pa in 1935.

If its still Monday, might as well look her up. I spent 2 hours reading up on her.

Occasional Lurker said...

Part 2

Lemonade, I enjoyed your three part joke - although it has more to do with thermodynamics than chemistry... the ending was cute though.

I was watching a jewish joke channel and this is one joke.

Neil Armstong was asked ( when he stepped onto the moon - ) how he thought up the line,'One small step for man ....'.

He replied that he had originally thought of saying,'Mazel tov, Mr. Goldberg'.

.... Why ?

Because while growing up in a suburb of Columbus, OH, his family lived in a crowded apt complex, next to a family called Goldberg. The Goldberg family master bedroom was next to Neil's bedroom, and the walls were paper thin, and every night Mr. Goldberg, would ask his wife, for a certain favor.

And she would flatly turn him down, saying ' never, ... until theres a man walking on the moon'....

Blue Iris said...

Thanks Argyle for enlightening me on some fill I didn't quite understand.

Bill G., I don't know the answer but I'm moving to the moon!

PK, glad you are back and well!

Anonymous T said...

Hi all!

Well, with all the WAGs (this was a Monday?!?) I'm still batting .875, but 21a xing 10d gave me the Monday DNF. Thanks Mary Lou for a(n almost) Monday JOY RIDE. Argyle - as always thanks for being the M/T EMCEE dude.

Other than Snoopy's BLEH (posted earlier from work) I don't have much to add.

Fav: OHM! Last night I did something I've not done in 15 years - punch down CAT5 (for a buddy). The telco guy pulled out his MAIN three cables so, Anon -T to EXERT my nerd PRIDE(S). Fixed! My buddy and I have the same Alma MATER (Boomer! Sooner!).

Shaq ONEAL went to LA Tech; my undergrad MATER...

Bill G. - I heard that puzzle on Car Talk this weekend (RIP Tom) and had the same thought as OcL - H or He; it has'ta be.... I guess I'l get up Sat to see if I got it right. It'll be a cold day in HADES when I'm selected, at random, from all the correct answers, written on the back of a $20 bill.

Cheers, -T

Bill G. said...

Lurker (10:53), yep, that's what I thought of too.

Blue Iris, trading rapid weight loss for lack of air? Maybe too high a price to pay.

A rich couple was going out for the evening and the woman of the house gave Throckmorton, the butler, the evening off. She wasn't having a good time at the party so she came home early. She saw the butler sitting alone. She led him to the master bedroom and locked the door. She looked at him and smiled. "Throckmorton, take off my dress." He did so slowly and carefully. "Take off my bra and panties." The tension mounted as he complied. Finally, she stared into his eyes and said, "Throckmorton, if I ever catch you wearing my clothes again, you're fired!"

Lucina said...

BillG:
LOL at the butler story!

Occasional lurker:
Your story was funny, too.

What a nice chuckle on my way to bed.

Anonymous T said...

Bill - Throkmorton would PLAY the GIRL in the countess' COURT's CAMI? What a HOE!

Ok, if PRESSED, I'll take that back and GLIDE out the back door. Of course, it's just a JAPE - may I STAY?

Cheers, -T