google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, April 16, 2015 Jeffrey Wechsler

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Apr 16, 2015

Thursday, April 16, 2015 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: "What the L?"

36. Furniture designed for portability ... or, what are found in this puzzle's circles : FOLDING CHAIRS.

We have a LAWN, SEDAN, DECK, BARBER, WINDSOR and ROCKING chair in the grid. All of them appear in an "L" shape, simulating a folded chair. Although LAWN, DECK and BARBER chairs can literally "fold,"  the reveal is only a figurative description of the folded chairs in our grid.

Jeff Wechsler's grids always seem to grab my eye, so it seems he has accomplished his goal with at least one solver.  Here is what he said when I asked him about the inspiration for this one:
"As happens with many puzzle themes, I don't really know where that "creative spark" comes from.  Often, the concept is simply derived from a word or phrase that suddenly strikes me as potential theme material. I have recently been interested in themes with a visual element (such as the smiling face in my January 1 puzzle).  When the term "folding chairs" appeared, the thematic light bulb went off, and I started to compile types of chairs.  I then determined which were generally amenable to a puzzle grid, where it would be most practical to "fold" them, and where to position them in the grid. " 

Way to go, Jeff!

Across

1. Determination : WILL. I WILL finish Jeff's puzzle, I WILL finish Jeff's puzzle, I WILL finish...

5. One often schmeared : BAGEL.

10. Get entangled (with) : MESS.

14. "It depends" : I MAY...hate myself in the morning.

15. Have __ for news : A NOSE.

16. Ended a flight : ALIT. I read this as "Ended a fight" at first.  (Note to self: Make appt w. eye doctor...)

17. Blue : DOWN.

18. Suppress : SIT ON.

19. George Lucas group : JEDI.

20. Semiprecious stone : ONYX.

21. Sends out : EMITS.

22. Roast's roost : OVEN.

23. 2014 U.S. Women's Open champ : WIE. Michelle. Not only can she play golf, she's gorgeous.

...(I hate her.)

24. Hamlet, for one : DANE.

25. Succumb to pressure : CRACK.

26. Choose not to pick? : STRUM. Guitar.  Fun clue.

29. Bit of cheering : RAH.

31. __ kwon do : TAE.

32. Tiff : ROW.

34. Computer outlet supply : MICE. And a clecho at 28-Down. Computer outlet supplies : MODEMS. I wonder why MICE wasn't clued in the plural as well?

35. Bruin legend : ORR.

40. Swung thing : BAT.

41. Winged god : EROS.

42. Alf and Mork, briefly : ETs.

43. Aegean Airlines hub, on itineraries : ATH.ens.

44. Dauphins' play area : MER. The answer is the French word for "sea." I was thinking of the French "heir-apparent" when I saw "dauphin."   But the clue actually refers to the French word for "dolphin," and, as it turns out, showed that I was on the right track.

45. Really beat : STOMP. Hands up for "tromp" at first?

49. Relatives of emus : RHEAS. Emus are native to Australia, while RHEAS are from South America.

51. Exchange : SWAP.

55. Frito go-with? : LAY. My first thought. But..nah, that can't be right? But, yeah - it was!

56. Muppet with a unibrow : BERT.

57. Hosiery shade : BEIGE. [sigh] For Splynter.

58. Unusual : RARE.

59. "__ la Douce" : IRMA.

60. Playground denial : AM NOT! ("You are too a booger-face!!")

61. "Metamorphoses" poet : OVID.

62. Operation Solomon carrier : EL AL. It was a covert Israeli military operation to airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel during the destabilizing issues surrounding Ethiopia in 1991.

63. Symbol of authority : BADGE.

64. "See you around!" : CIAO.

65. Word sung on New Year's Day : SYNE.

66. Belgian expressionist James : ENSOR. I needed the ENS** to remember this one.

67. 46-Down, for one : KING. And 46-Down. Eleventh-century Scandinavian leader : OLAV II.


Down

1. Isolated lines, in typesetting : WIDOWS. And orphans. Paragraph-ending or -beginning lines that appear at the top or bottom of a page.


2. Go-getter's phrase : I'M ON IT.

3. Many a character on "The Good Wife" : LAWYER.

4. Web browser since 1992 : LYNX. Developed at the University of Kansas, and still in use.

5. Derived from, with "on" : BASED.

6. Jungian concept : ANIMA. The personification of feminine psychological tendencies within a man. (The animus is the personification of masculine psychological tendencies within a woman.)

7. Was accepted as a member : GOT IN.

8. Abstruse : ESOTERIC.

9. Eye part : LENS.

10. Significant : MAJOR.

11. Vertical shuttle : ELEVATOR. Not invented by Otis - he simply invented the braking system that made them safe. They have been used for thousands of years.

12. Auxiliary seating units : SIDE CARS.  SIDE CARS are also drinks made with Cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice.

13. Really tough puzzle, say : STINKER. Surely not this one!

25. Has an ace up one's sleeve : CHEATS. I think of it as simply having an advantage!

27. Healthcare.gov, for one : URL.

30. Workout woe : ACHE. Yep, been there, done that!

33. Telegram : WIRE.

34. British sports cars : MGs.

36. Like some advice : FATHERLY.

37. 2008 love triangle film, with "The" : OTHER MAN.

38. Viking : NORSEMAN.

39. Follower's suffix : IST.

40. The first ones were introduced in blonde and brunette in 1959 : BARBIES. Mine was blonde. Yours?

47. Contralto Anderson : MARIAN. She was the Rosa Parks of the concert world.

48. Half-wild Asian canine : PYE-DOG. I dredged this answer up from who knows where!


50. "And thereby hangs __": Shak. : A TALE. Fool's words in "As You Like It."

52. They may be measured in knots : WINDS. I thought it was very interesting that WINDS formed the vertical back of the WINDSOR chair, which can also be a knot!

53. Disco era term : A-GO-GO.

54. Pan on Broadway : PETER. Nice misdirection! Were you thinking of a bad review?

57. Immortal Yankee, with "The" : BABE. Ruth.

58. Sway : ROCK. on!!

Marti, out.


55 comments:

Argyle said...

Don't look, Splynter, it's a TRAP!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Well, I certainly wouldn't call this puzzle a STINKER by any means, but it certainly was challenging. No circles meant the theme was completely lost on me, but I doubt having the circles would have actually made the solve any easier.

Unknowns today included THEOTHERMAN, PYEDOGS and MARIAN, but I really just had a lot of trouble getting many of the answers from the clues provided. I started off with GRIT at 1A instead of WILL and it sort of went downhill from there.

Although it was a bit of a slog, I did eventually get through it unassisted. So I've got that going for me, which is nice...

Lemonade714 said...

I really enjoy puzzles which incorporate a visual element and JW always delivers a challenge as well as a picture. Deciding what chairs, where to put them and to find other words they mesh to create the chair was an impressive feat.

PYEDOGS is a complete unknown, One often suggested, choose not to pick, and vertical shuttle are all nicely presented clues.

Not sure about the clue for JEDI but it was simple to fill, like wise Sway:ROCK.

Thanks Jeffrey and marti

HowardW said...

Like Barry G., I had no circles to guide me, and I found this on the difficult side for a Thursday. ENSOR and PYE DOG were new to me. Like Marti, I also went down the wrong path for dauphins, and only figured it out when I saw ME-. I also doubted LAY, thinking DIP made more sense in general, but why so specific about the brand name?

For 1D, I remembered "orphans" which didn't fit, but eventually WIDOWS was recalled. Amazing how many terms which used to be narrowly known only to typesetters, are now more common knowledge as we all work with word processing programs, and have become our own typesetters. Widows/orphans, fonts, kerning...Em and en dashes were well-known to Scrabble players even before word processing.

Rainman said...

WBS, as far as the theme goes. Even after Marti explained it, I had a hard time finding all the types of folding chairs. (What, adirondack wouldn't work?, or wouldn't fold?)

Anyway, this was a good Thursday workout, very clever as Thursdays' often are. I got through this with a few guesses and backspacings. Thanks to Jeffrey for a nice workout. Good misdirection in STRUM (Chooose not to pick? Very good.)

Yes, Marti, Wie is very attractive and she might win the Lotte tourney on Oahu this week with her WILL and determination. And I know what you mean when you say you hate her. She's pretty likable and speaks well of you... Thanks for the very nice write-up.
:O)

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Marti and friends. This was certainly a workout for me this morning, but it did not make my brain ACHE.

Like HowardW, my first thought for the Frito clue was DIP.

My favorite clues were:
Verticle Shuttle = ELEVATOR, and
Pan on Broadway = PETER.

PYEDOG was a complete unknown.

Ruth Handler (1916 ~ 2002) created the BARBIE doll. It was named after her daughter.

QOD: Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot. ~ Charlie Chaplin (Apr. 16, 1889 ~ Dec. 25, 1977)

Rainman said...

One significant difference between the careers of Michelle WIE and Tiger Woods... Michelle didn't drop out of Stanford, she stayed and graduated. I haven't researched this but I understand she could not play college golf because she had turned pro at an earlier age and was thus ineligible.

I always thought Woods should have stayed and finished. The money was more important at the time. Wonder if it is now?

Circles? There were circles?

HeartRx said...

(Argyle, I just hope I don't burn someone's eyes out with that link.)

Rainman, I really don't know Ms WIE, but I'd like to think there is something about her that could possibly be annoying...she seems too perfect!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I had problems with this one, especially in the NW -- nothing was coming to me. I had LA_ in the SE, and again nothing leaped to mind. I promised to come back and figure that out...but forgot and left it blank. DNF!

ANIMA sounds like one of those cases where "we've named it, therefore we've explained it."

Marti, that was cruel what you did to Splynter! And me!

Big Easy said...

After the NW was blank with the exception of WIE, I was thinking STINKER for this one. WIDOWS and LYNX were unknowns. I was only able to complete it because FOLDING CHAIRS came easily, although I don't have A NOSE for the unifiers. With the circled squares I was able to finish this one. But I never heard of a SEDAN chair.

I had some trouble in the NE with SPIT before OVEN and CRASH before CRACK. PYE DOG, ENSOR, and OTHER MAN were new to me.

I've been to DAUPHIN Island, Alabama many times but always it was just a misspelling of dolphin. I was thinking MET before MER filled with NORSEMAN.

Favorite clue- "choose not to pick?

AND MY GMAIL ACCOUNT NAME IS STILL SHOWING.

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning,

Thanks Jeff for a challenging but doable Thursday.

I found the theme and the reveal early--not the usual pro forma for me. It was easy because I had LAWN, DECK, and SEDAN (thinking of the folding front seat in a 2-door). The Chicago Tribune did show the circles. Yes, I also had dip before LAY. Liked ELEVATOR, too. I think the original OTIS was introduced at the Colombian Exhibition--along with the Ferris Wheel--the Chi Town guys were trying to outdo Monsieur Eiffel.

Thanks, Marti. I especially like your Splynter link. As my mother always said: There is no accounting for taste. Have a good day.

Argyle said...

Sedan chairs have been around a long, long time. Image

Splash said...

I loved the puzzle today as I struggled a bit. Top left I wouldn't give up opal and tried for other terms for lawyers. It came once I got the theme. No go for pyedog either. I've had enough lawyers for now as I followed the very lengthy Aaron Hernandez trial closely. As a Patriots' fan, it is just sad all around.

I appreciate the extra info you add in your explanations Marti, like widows, et al. Saves me from looking them up myself. Have a good day everyone!

Splash said...

Thanks, I didn't know. So much to learn here!

Tinbeni said...

Marti: Thank you for a very informative write-up explaining my D N F Ink Blot.

BEIGE ... Isn't that what a wife says when making love.
"BEIGE ... BEIGE ...I think we'll paint the bedroom BEIGE ..."

Cheers!

Husker Gary said...

What an elegant theme despite, like Marti, I’ve never folded some of those chairs. ;-) Only ENSOR and PYEDOG were new.

Musings
-Don’t MESS with this guy (2:51) warns the Marvellettes
-JEDI because Industrial Light And Magic wouldn’t fit
-Michelle Wei’s unusual putting stance
-Jordan Spieth did not CRACK at the Masters! What a great champion!
-I installed a new MODEM and our speed has doubled. I can make bad posts much more quickly
-BERT collects paper clips and I collect space toys. What do you collect?
-How ‘bout this proposed Japanese ELEVATOR?
-My recent bowel surgery has left me with a temporary “SIDE CAR”
-The most dreaded WIRE a family could get
-Upon learning that the DAR was refusing to let MARIAN Anderson sing at Constitution Hall, Eleanor Roosevelt promptly resigned from that group and had Marian sing at the Lincoln Memorial dedication. Now that’s a First Lady!!
-In what baseball movie was the title character’s bat called “Wonderboy”?

Madame Defarge said...

Husker Gary@9:51

Glad you are back with your column of musings. I really enjoy them.

Fountain Pens--but I now have it under control. ;-)

The Natural

Continue your fine recovery!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

What a clever and well-executed theme. Had taupe before beige and grit before will. Ensor and pye dog were unknowns.

Well done, JW, and thanks, Marti, for the humorous expo.

Fingers crossed! Still signed in. Thanks for all the suggestions and commiserations!

Have a great day.

C6D6 Peg said...

Being "boxed in" in the NW, SW, and SE, it was a workout. Took some WAGS and they all fell.

Thanks, Jeffrey, for a fun puzzle.

Nice write-up, as usual, Marti!

Argyle - thanks for the pic of the sedan chair. Never heard of it, but have seen it in movies.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

I don't know what the hell I did, but the window with my comment in it went caput, and I'm too lazy to reconstruct it.

Nice, tough puzzle. Got through it with some difficulty.

Good write up Marti.

I will give you this bit of FATHERLY advice.

Cool regards!
JzB


HeartRx said...

d-o @ 7:55. Sorry, but Argyle did warn that it's a trap...

Lucina said...

Hello, all!

How many times has Jeffrey Wechsler beat me? Not this time. His puzzle was no STINKER and an easy sashay for the most part. Only the NW gave me fits.

I found the folded CHAIRS but since I didn't know WIDOWS as clued that took longer to finish. Finally, with LAWYER in place, ONYX appeared as did all the rest.

Marti, you gave us a delightful commentary as usual. I loved the BEIGE link!! So funny.

Argyle, thank you for the SEDAN CHAIR image. I had no idea that's what was referred to.

I learned ENSOR and PYEDOG today. LAY was my first fill but had doubts about it.

Irish Miss:
Glad you're still logged in.

Have a happy day, everyone!

desper-otto said...

Marti@11:01 -- Yeah, but that was after the fact. I clicked on your link in the main blog and only saw Argyle's warning after switching to the comments page. There are some things which just shouldn't be seen.

Bill G. said...

Hi everybody! Hot, clear and dry here today. Watch out for brush fires!

I liked the puzzle. Thanks Jeffrey and Marti. I found the circles on Cruciverb though I did the puzzle on the Mensa site. I didn't know Sedan Chair, Windsor Chair or Pye dog. I found the puzzle to be appropriately hard and enjoyable. I finally decided I didn't want to spend any more time and turned on red letters which uncovered a couple of mistakes. As always for me, I'd rather finish with a couple of hints than just give up unfinished.

Misty said...

Boy, did I struggle with that NW corner--so much so I thought I wouldn't finish (tried OPAL, didn't know WIE or LYNX, etc, etc.). What saved me was the theme and the circles. I had all the other CHAIRS in place and finally thought, okay, what's a four-letter chair, and LAWN came to me. Yay! That gave me LAWYER (we don't watch "The Good Wife") and then it all fell into place. So thank you, Jeff, for what turned out to be a fun and challenging puzzle, and I learned lots of new things from your write-up, Marti--like WIDOWS.

Never heard of PYE DOG, either, now that I think about it, and yet I somehow guessed ENSOR. As I said, challenging but fun.

Have a good one, everybody!

Anonymous said...

If the BEIGE lay sat on the WINDSOR CHAIR it might fold, as one of my dining room chairs did.

coneyro said...

Had the same problems as everyone else. SW corner wouldn't come together. Did not know WIDOWS or LYNX.

Getting the theme early really helped in filling in all of the circles. Also thought of car seat in regard to SEDAN entry. Thanks for the correction.

ENSOR,MARIAN,OLAVII...perps. RYEDOG,unknown, and I don't think he's for petting.

In regard to the MICE/SUPPLY inquiry. The way the clue was written "computer outlet supply" suggests to me that the word "supply" could mean more than one object. Therefore, as MICE is a plural word, it fits as proper cluing. IMO.

And another Thursday puzzle is done. Challenging, but fair. Learned new bits of info (but will I retain it?)
Getting ready for the next few days of killer clues and obscure references. I'm armed and ready.

I take my leave..Adieu..

coneyro said...

Oops PYE DOG, Not rye dog...my bad

Anonymous T said...

Hi all!

I left the puzzle at home so I can't spell out my misstes yet.

I knew LYNX (pronounced links) - it was my 1st entry in the NW. I still use it sometimes if I have a slow connection.

Did no one want a Frito pie? I did and it held me up a long time.

Marti - I can't unsee that!

Cheers, -T

Bluehen said...

Pretty much WEES. A fast solve for a Thursday, about 2/3 my usual time. Learning moments: LYNX PYEDOGS ENSOR. ESP or nearly so solved all. Managed to dredge up WIDOWS from the dark recesses of my sick mind. Bumped into it in MS Word when I was doing consulting work writing manuals and procedures. Something to the effect did I want to eliminate widows and orphans. Heck no, they never did anything to me.

Family got a good laugh at yesterdays FATAL BERT.

Thanks, Jeffrey, for a fun puzzle and thank you, Heart Rx, for an always entertaining expo. Extra thanks for the reference to sidecar cocktails. Haven't had one for years. Had to make up a batch. DW and I will also toast all at sunset (or maybe earlier).

Cya!

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle a lot. Enough of a challenge to keep me thinking, but eminently solvable. Great theme.
Filling in STUMPER at 13D messed me up in that corner for a while. At least I knew MARIAN Anderson right away.

Bluehen said...

Anon T, I think I know the dish u r referring to, and if I am correct it is DW's favorite treatment for leftover chili. However, we've always heard it called "Frito chili pie" so that answer didn't occur to me. My first thought was LAY, but then like many others I got distracted by "dip" and I hesitated. Like another poster mentioned earlier, if the clue were "chip" I would think that the generic fill "dip" would be correct, but since the clue was brand specific I thought LAY was a more appropriate answer. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Cya!

CrossEyedDave said...

DNF Wees!

The NW & SE were incomprehensible, & the grid design made them inaccessible.

Agogo? Disco? (what was I looking at in the 60's?)

Barbie = 1959
(Lilli = 1955)

Public Service Link...

GrannyAnny said...

No circles at the Puzzle Society either and I seldom miss them when solving. Afraid I don't always appreciate the effort it must take to construct this type of crossword.
BUT...
Today my reaction when seeing the "complete" grid in Marti's excellent explanation was WOW! That's amazing!!!
Thank you Jeffrey Wechsler for giving me a better appreciation of the constructor's skills.
Biggest holdup today was finally giving up OPAL for ONYX in the northwest corner.

kazie said...

Really great Thursday level that I actually managed all by myself! My slowest area was the NW, although I almost came a cropper in the mid-east by misspelling TAI until STINKER led me back to the right path. I've never heard of a WINDSOR chair though.

Many of the clues were interesting because they seemed to point in a different direction from the one needed, but just a mere iota of out-of-the-box thinking set me on the right track.

Slowpoke Rodriguez said...

Frito LAY reminded me, once again, of how racist advertisers were back in the day.

Or are we just too sensitive nowadays?

**warning** possible ear worm in above link!

Spitzboov said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Nice magnum opus by Jeffrey today. First was going to skip it, then saw Jeff's name and wanted to try it. Don't normally like circles, but when the folding chairs loomed, I was blown away. Got all but the NW at breakfast. Returned to it at lunch and right away the WIDOWS clicked and it was done.
Fav. clue was for 26a, STRUM.
In perfect hindsight, not a STINKER but a nice juicy solve.

Have a great day.

Bugs Bunny said...

Ain't I a STINKER?!

Ergo said...


Thank you Jeff and Heart.

Had to cheat today but I don't feel a bit of guilt. Haven't given as much attention to puzzles and posting recently as much of my day is now occupied.

Enjoyed STRUM for 'Choose not to pick.' Not sure if a ROCKING chair qualifies as a folding chair.

Peace.

The Chairman said...

Ergo@1:54: The names of the chairs are "folded" in the puzzle. The actual chairs may or may not be foldable. You can't, for example, fold a BARBER chair.

CrossEyedDave said...

My puzzle experience:

(I should probably take a Thumper, but...)

I can't call this puzzle a speed run...

I was half way thru the puzzle, and...

Speaking of Thumper... (I think CED was the guy in the middle...)

& then Marti blinds me with that link!

Bill said...

As often seems to happen, I was pretty much with BG. Hand up for GRIT in 1A and I also had OPAL for ONYX and that slowed me down on the NW corner. The rest of it was challenging, but it was fairly clued.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fastest Thursday puzzle in a while. Thanks, Jeffrey! No circles on Mensa so I tried going to the LA Times link on the blog SIDE CAR. All I got was a very lengthy Flo insurance commercial. I decided I didn't want the circles bad enough to listen to her and went to bed. It was after midnight and I had filled the puzzle anyway.

Marti, I don't know how you got my picture, but I certainly won't ever wear those beige pants again! LOL! Great expo! I mean the puzzle facts.

I went to work at the newspaper too late to learn typesetting information. Gathering and writing the news was my main focus anyway. Let someone else worry about font and what to call spaces, etc.

Graduating in 1959, I was too late for Barbies too. I would have loved them as a little girl. My daughters did a few years later. My youngest really loved them -- she ate the feet off of hers.

Where is our good friend Yellowrocks?

Gary, my DIL's mom had that surgery then had the reconstruction successfully. Ten years later she's going strong. Hope you'll do the same soon.

Northwest Runner said...

Having an ace in the hole is an advantage. Having an ace up your sleeve is cheating. :)

HeartRx said...

NW Runner @ 3:48, ah, OK I'll stipulate that ace up the sleeve might be considered cheating...unless you are a magician. :-)

Anonymous T said...

Bluehen:

Like this Frito Pie? Or do you do it like Emeril and have to clean a bowl? :-)

Time for ballet. Cheers, -T

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks, Jeffrey and Marti!

Not too hard. ENSOR and PYEDOG were perped. Hand up for opal before ONYX.

Something wrong with pool appliances or electric line. Had cold (for fibromyalgia) swim. Brrrr.

Cheers!

Bill G. said...

I know some of you like to do woodwork. Others may just appreciate the fine craftsmanship involved here.

Intricate desk

CrossEyedDave said...

Somewhat unrelated to the puzzle, but...

I was scrolling thru the Blog & noticed a post that I did not see before. Maybe I just missed it, but I could swear it was not there when I posted at 2:33 because I always backtrack to make sure I did not miss anything while typing.

Thank you Bugs Bunny @ 1:43pm for the original cartoon used by Jimmy Kimmel.

For those of you who may be unaware, 2 days ago an internet video went viral of Dennis Quaid flipping out on the set. I am a big fan of Mr Quaid, & to see this video was shocking. It was taken by someone with a smartphone on the set. I won't link it here as it is included in Jimmy Kimmels clip.

So,, now a day later, I find out we were pranked!

Scroll down to the video to see what really happened from a different camera viewpoint...

Argyle said...

I found Bugs in the spam folder and posted it so you were right, it wasn't there before.

Anonymous T said...

Thanks Jeffery and Marti!

Boy did I make a MESS by putting Caved @25a. The DOWNward ELEVATOR saved that corner. Other w/os NORSEMeN giving us one OTHER MAN. And of course the aforementioned Frito LAY pie.

46, 47, & 48d - ESP.

WEES re: STRUM and PETER (took until Marti 'splained it thou). Other fav - BABE at BAT ORR was it of MICE and MODEMS.

Have you seen the return of the JEDI (trailer for The Force Awakens... It won't open 'till Christmas)

Obligatory We don't need no stinkin' BADGEs link.

CED - I missed the Quaid meme. I love Funny or Die. Thanks for sharing. I MAY watch it again. I WILL share it at the office tomorrow.

Bill G. - I wonder what the CHAIR does...

CIAO, -T

Anonymous said...

Hi! I have enjoyed this blog, but because I'm "Anonymous" I feel a bit out of the loop. I love the puzzles, usually get them on my own before all the critiquing. Love the comments and the cameraderie of this group. Irish Miss clearly stated she doesn't respond to "Anons". Don't get that at all. I'm unsure of the donation situation. If I donate (to what ? I really don't understand where donations go, someone please explain this to me), does this get me in the group? Way too many donations going on in my life that my family subscribe to. I just thought this was a fun place to play and enjoy crossword puzzles! Especially when I needed a pleasant, enjoyable place to go while my son was in Baghdad. Does it require a donation to be a part of this group? If so, sorry, I'm out.

Bill G. said...

No it doesn't require a donation. Posting and reading here is free and voluntary. You can continue to post as an Anon but a few snarky ones have given Anons a bad reputation. Or you can adopt a name you like and use it every time you contribute some thoughts. I think the best thing to do, however, is to get a Google account and adopt a blue name. Then nobody else can pretend to be you. Once again, it's free. Contributions are appreciated but entirely voluntary.

See you around maybe...

Anonymous said...

Thank you!

Rainman said...

Bill G, at 2:51 AM, 4/17,

I agree with your advice to ???? (Another Anon.).

As a rule, I'm like many others and choose not to comment on nor address the Anony-mice's postings.

Today's (4/17) Anon. may just be baiting you, or maybe he's sincere, how can we tell for sure, it's an anon. When he says he's considering donating to the site but doesn't understand the costs of maintaining the server, ongoing site maintenance and daily upkeep, then there's no hope.

I have never learned why so many choose this path, to be associated with other non-persons. I mean, I surely wouldn't want to be mistaken for one of the Anons that have stepped over the line on so many occasions.

It's probably not possible, but I'd like to see any and all comments by an Anony-mouse to be rejected automatically.