google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, July 4th, 2015, Alan Olschwang

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Jul 4, 2015

Saturday, July 4th, 2015, Alan Olschwang

Theme: Star-spangled Saturday

Words: 68 (missing J,V,W,Z)

Blocks: 27

  The fireworks have started already - I bombed on this one.  Alan's last Saturday slog was over a year ago, and I got just as beaten up then as I did today - but for some reason, this one seemed to be a complete fun-sponge instead of a chance to enjoy myself by learning some new things.  Oh well.  Way over my personal time, and yes, I caved in to red-letters.  Triple 9-letter corners with two 11-letter spanners and another pair of 9-letter climbers on the inside;

30a. Miner matters : ORE DEPOSITS - my cousin Carole, who lives in England, was just here for 10 days - her brother Trevor was a miner

40a. Traveler's alternative : HILTON HOTEL - alternative~? pretty specific if you ask me; I'm taking a vacation in two weeks and staying in a hotel in Dover - with a JACUZZI~!  :7))

 (OK, I'm exaggerating)

7d. Fungus usually considered poisonous : TOADSTOOL


 33a. Words before taking off : I GOTTA RUN - BBQ and bonfire - right after I'm done here~!

NO ReWArD....

ACROSS:

1. Washington music festival named for a legend : SASQUATCH - Alan had this fill in that last Saturday puzzle, too - I wonder if he knows something....

10. Prima __ case : FACIE - hear this all the time on Law & Order, but I went with an "A" at the end; later it dawned on me that I might not have it right

15. Apprehended : IN CUSTODY

16. Old Bristol-Myers dental product : IPANA - put it in, took it out....do the hokey-pokey...

17. Hot spot : FIREPLACE - the house I like in Dover has a real fireplace - love them

18. __ panel : SOLAR - dah~!  This took W-a-a-a-a-y too long to come to me

19. Autocrats of old : TSARS

20. Sports radio host Patrick : DAN - can never remember his name

21. Meteorological conditions : CLIME - I always think of Monty Python & The Holy Grail when I hear this word


@0:54, regarding swallows....

22. Finalist-to-be's hurdle : SEMI

23. Indian silk-producing region : ASSAM

25. Biting : ACID - meh.  I prefer acidIC

26. Remove chemically : ELUTE - a Natick for me; I did the alphabet run for the "L", as it crossed the unknown "LETHE"

28. __ rod : AARON'S - ah.  Biblical. The Wiki.  It suggests that the rod may be in the Ark of the Covenant

34. Slamming door, perhaps : CUE - do you think they're angry~?

35. Bouvier __ Flandres: herding dog : DES - Frawnche - just can't get away from it

36. Way of the East : TAO - or ZEN~?  which one, which one....

37. 1998 title role for Angelina : GIA - Don't recall this one; sounds racy.  IMDb

38. __ loss : AT A

39. Code word : DIT - or DAH~? which one, which one....

43. Unsettling sort : STARER















(I pondered this one, as well)

45. Ordered room service, e.g. : ATE IN

46. Dispense, with "out" : METE  - Dah~!  Not DOLE; 25% right

47. "A Town Like Alice" novelist : SHUTE - Perps

49. Title VII enforcer: Abbr. : EEOC - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - I looked up "VII" because it was enacted before my time

53. Where the action is : ARENA

55. Altar on high : ARA - the constellation
 
(in keeping with my comment last week, I also like the name Andromeda)

56. Chevy Corvair option, briefly : TURBO - I pondered T-TOPS first; I did not know this was a rear-engine car; more here

57. __ Stone, winningest woman coach in college hockey : KATEY - never heard of her, but if she coaches hockey, that's cool with me~!

58. Unsportsmanlike conduct : DIRTY POOL

60. Eiffel Tower level : ÉTAGE - more Frawnche, but this was in last week's puzzle, too

61. Like some pliers : SNUB-NOSED - or dogs and revolvers

62. Curly-coated cats : REXES - got it via perps, but had to Google after to see


63. Masseur's concern : TENSENESS - God, I need a massage~!

DOWN:   

1. Scrutinizes : SIFTS

2. Absinthe flavoring : ANISE

3. "Git!" : "SCRAM~!"

4. Asked : QUERIED

5. Carrier's org. : USPS - oh, those carriers - Pbbbbt~!!!

6. A&P part: Abbr. : ATLantic & Pacific

8. Holders for holders? : CD CASES - mostly perps; the clue doesn't jibe for me

9. Shenzi, Banzai or Ed, in "The Lion King" : HYENA

10. Kind of yr. : FISCal

11. Like some nerve cells : APOLAR

12. Multicolored pet : CALICO CAT

13. Words betraying lack of readiness : IN A MINUTE

14. Sea lion, for one : EARED SEAL

23. Some domestic workers : AU PAIRS

24. Broadway offering : MATINEE

27. Infernal flower? : LETHE - well, I was not fooled by flow-ers - I knew we wanted a river in Hell (Hades); just didn't know there were FIVE

29. Kirin competitor : ASAHI - I knew Kirin was Japanese beer, but none of its competitors

30. One working on lines : ODDS MAKER

31. Continue to stress : REITERATE - ah. stress as in insist, not 'pace'

32. Heir's headache, maybe : ESTATE TAX

41. Bullish : TAURINE

42. Slightly ahead of : ONE UP ON

44. Back out : RENEGE

48. "... tell'st me where thou __ this ring": Shak. : HADST

50. Irregularly notched : EROSE - remembered from doing crosswords

51. Mellow winds : OBOES

52. They're easily caught : COLDS

54. All those in favor : AYES

56. Newcastle's river : TYNE - toyed with AVON at first

59. Current "American Dad!" airer : TBS - have to close on the Fourth of July with this

Good Morning U.S.A.~!!!

Splynter

50 comments:

  1. I had no idea about ELUTE, SHUTE or KATEY the women's hockey coach. LETHE was in my memory banks.

    I did know of SHUTE s works ON THE BEACH from the powerful Geregory Peck Ava Gardner movie of my childhood. It was part of the never ending fixation with the bomb and the APOCALYPSE .

    I have seen pictures of the coach but she was long after I left New England

    Thanks Alan and Splynter

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  2. Did better than yesterday, but still a DNF with a natick at GI_+AS_HI. As with yesterday, I breezed through the top half, but had problems with the bottom. At least this time when I switched on the red letters, only a few lit up, not everything like yesterday!

    We send up fireworks Independence Day
    In remembrance of the 1770s' fray,
    The sky this night
    Will burst with light,
    And then there'll be pyrotechnicians to pay!

    There once was a miss with a roman candle
    She lit it and then in her hand let it dandle.
    It set fire to her dress
    So she stripped in distress,
    Which didn't take long since she was going commando!

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  3. Greetings!

    Thanks, Alan and Splynter!

    Doing better on these Saturday devils now. Took forever, but no cheats. Amazing. Especially had trouble with AARONS rod. Forgot a few other things.

    Really tired.

    Happy fourth!

    Cheers!

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  4. Morning, all!

    Well, I managed to get through this one unassisted, but it was touch or go for awhile. Never heard of APOLAR and wasn't sure about CLIME, so that was a leap of faith. Didn't know GIA and tried MIA instead, thinking the "words before taking off" likely started with I'M (as in I'M OUTTA HERE). Didn't know KATEY and made a guess at ETAGE.

    I got through all of that relatively unscathed. My near Waterloo occurred, however, at the crossing of SHUTE and HADST. Didn't know SHUTE, especially as clued (although now I'm thinking I know the name as the author of "On the Beach") and nothing I could think of made grammatical sense for 44D. I wanted some form of "made" (MADEST?) or "hid" (HIDST?). I finally just went with HADST/SHUTE as a WAG and apparently got it right since I heard the *TADA*. Yay. Another hollow victory...

    Have a happy 4th! TIme to get barbecuing...

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  5. Good morning!

    This one made my foot bleed! I was doing so well, finished with almost 10 minutes to spare, but it turned out to be a DNF. I figured the heir's headache was ESTATE LAW (you've got to be really, really rich to worry about ESTATE TAX). That gave me KALEY (could'a been) for the coach and REWES for the curly cat. REWES is just as familiar to me as REXES, so that also got to stay. Bzzzzzzt!

    I had the same WAG on SHUTE as Lemon and Barry G. I remembered that SHUTE wrote On The Beach, so I presumed that he probably wrote something else, as well.

    The Corvair was Ralph Nader's ride to fame. He hated it. Back in the '60's he cited it as a prime example of everything wrong with American-made automobiles in his book Unsafe At Any Speed.

    Nice math work this morning, Splynter.

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  6. Really struggled with this offering. The SW filled easily, but the rest was a wagfest. And it ended with one cell wrong. I had stub nosed and taurite seemed plausible, so a FIW. Ah well.

    Looks like it will be a perfect day for the festivities today. I'd better go practice.

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  7. I pretty much had the opposite experience that Splynter did. I filled the top half at a Tuesday pace, but then ran into some speed bumps down south with those proper names - AARONS - GIA - SHUTE - KATEY. Still, a fun romp!

    Have a wonderful 4th, everyone!

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  8. Hello Puzzlers -

    Tough slog overall. The SW went easily, but from there it was running in mud. Put in Facie right away, which suggested Chameleon for the multicolored pet. Then I tried Pescivore for the sea lion, but that offed Facie. Hmmm. Time to work elsewhere for a while.

    We had lots of Corvairs when I was a kid, including a convertible Turbo Corsa, but I couldn't "see" Turbo for the longest time.

    Gia was familiar. I recall a time years ago in which I was stuck in some hotel room, bored, and deciding to try my first pay-per-view movie; Gia was offered, so I gave it a look. Oh my! It starred a young, shapely, and often nude Angelina Jolie. Racy is a good word for it.

    Got through ultimately, but only after looking up Title VII, as well as the current American Dad network. I'm no good at all those three letter networks, there are too many.

    Thanks, Splynter, and Happy Fourth everybody!

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  9. Good morning everyone.

    It's been awhile since we've heard from Mr. Olschwang. Always a good offering, though.
    I'm with Splynter on the difficulty.
    Funny, I got all the long acrosses and downs but got hung up on ELUTE and REXES. Looked up SHUTE in my puzzle dictionary.
    ELUTE - I had 3 yrs of chemistry in college and never heard of it. Must be crosswordese.
    But it did provide some sense of achievement to get words like EARED SEAL, ODDS MAKER and SNUB-NOSED.

    Have a great 4th.

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  10. "Puzzling Thoughts":

    Happy Birthday America! Same age, in number, as our area code, "239"

    I got the NE corner in "Monday" time, but the rest was a slog-fest; SE revealed next; I cheated and looked up a couple of clues, which eventually helped me fill in the other remaining blanks.

    Not sure if there was one clue I liked best; Splynter's recap was a lot more enjoyable than the puzzle solve, IMO. I thought the editors would offer more of a 4th of July puzzle today

    Here's my poem for today; enjoy whatever you may be doing today to celebrate our nation's anniversary!

    Limerick of the day:

    Today is our nation's birthday, and we
    Celebrate being the Land of the Free!
    So let's all harmonize,
    But do not criticize,
    If we sing The Star Spangled Banner "off-Key".

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  11. A Saturday DNF, nothing unusual at all. It was the SE that did me in, everything else was A OK. SE was a sea of white...brainpower was out of commission by then.

    FISCal reminded me of the days of yore when our CPA firm would make their annual visit, ask dumb questions, make the already long days even longer, but eventually it would get done and the stockholders were usually very happy (and wealthier) after the Annual meeting. Best hire I ever made was a Controller. Year end became her gig and I could golf with the accounting firms partners.

    Corvair's had TURBOs? Never knew they had a running engine. For 46A, first entry was PUTS, but after thinking it over for a few minutes I decided it couldn't be...... but if it was, could have led to some fun adult discussions.

    Had cataract surgery this week. Nice to be able to see and read again without the "cheaters". 2nd eye scheduled in three weeks.

    Be safe this weekend.

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  12. Happy 4th!"

    Thanks, Alan, for a great start to the day. I poked through my first across and down runs, but pieces began to fall into place after that. Favorite clue: "Infernal flower" I simply figured it was some heat-thriving desert plant I didn't know. Ha!! I liked TAURINE. Nice. I also liked Dudley's Pescavore idea. Great CW word!

    Splynter, thanks for the pre-celebration run through. As John Adams said: "[The 4th of July] ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..." And so we shall.

    Adams and Jefferson died on the same day--July 4, 1826--The 50th Anniversary of the Declaration. I'll bet they were both fighting to stay alive for one more anniversary. In historical lore, Adams last words were "Thomas Jefferson survives." However, Jefferson had died several hours earlier.

    Have a fine day!!

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  13. 51D There's nothing mellow about OBOES. They're SHRILL, PIERCING and ANNOYING. CLARINETS are mellow. ALTO SAXOPHONES are mellow.

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  14. Turbo is a Corvette option, doubt it was a Corvair option.

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  15. Actually, Adams initially thought that the 2nd of July (the day the Continental Congress voted for independence) was the day that should be forever celebrated.

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  16. Google "Corvair turbo" -- you'll find a slew of 'em.

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  17. Madam D : dudly's pescavore???

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  18. What a workout..... thought it might be a DNF, but managed to slog through, after AUPAIRS and AARONS rod. Lots of unknowns, like everyone else. Thanks, Alan, for a challenging Saturday.

    Splynter, nice write-up. No, it appears you can't get away from the Frawnch!

    Happy 4th to all!

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  19. Splynter- I was on your wavelength this morning. I multi-bombed on this puzzle. The top half filled fairly quickly but came to a halt after I filled ORE DEPOSITS.

    Never heard of AARON'S rod so I initially wrote MUSICAL for MATINEE. I have a chemistry degree but have never heard of ELUTE. 37A TIA, MIA, NIA, or GIA. I had the IA but had no idea. I couldn't comprehend the 'continue to stress' clue and somehow wrote DOT, REOPERATE and SPARER instead of DIT, REITERATE, and STARER. SHUTE, HADST, LETHE, TBS - didn't complete the words. REXES and KATEY I got. I thought REX was either the king of Mardi Gras or a dinosaur, not a cat.

    42d- I filled ON TOP OF instead of the correct answer. TURBO was filled but it a WAG. Way too much power for that POS. I have heard of SNUB NOSED revolvers but not 'pliers'.

    Well, today is the 4th of July so I bombed on this one.

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  20. Nope. Two hours of red letter help and MASSIVE Google cheats and I still less than half way done. Finally just gave up. It makes me feel a bit better to see so many other people struggled with this one, but, still, most finished. This CW just totally hammered me. Thanks for the terrific write-up, Splynter, but I still feel badly bruised and beaten. :-((

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  21. Anon @ 0939 re: OBOES. I kinda thought so, too; but, the perps were clear. I guess mellowness is in the ear of the beholder.

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  22. "Traveler's alternative" HILTON HOTEL didn't bother me. I assume "Traveler's" means "Traveler's Inn."

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  23. Good Morning:

    This was a typical in-your-face Saturday stumper but perseverance paid off, although it took a long time to finally finish. Two CSO's to Mr. Meow with Rexes and Calico Cat. I've heard of the latter but not the former but the picture was cute. Speaking of Mr. Meow, it is raining CED's and Manac's here.

    Thanks, Alan and Splynter, for a job well done.

    Happy Birthday and God Bless America. Hope everyone enjoys the holiday.

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  24. A slog indeed but with reinforcement for two cells, I’ll take an “atta boy” outta petty cash! LETHE/ELUTE being correct was a pleasant surprise

    Musings
    -Ditto Marti’s experience
    -The Animal Channel has a lame series Looking For Big Foot - SASQUATCH
    -Everyone in the NE is sleeping better with those two escapees dead or IN CUSTODY
    -Did you see the SOLAR plane land in Hawaii yesterday? (1:55)
    -Ah Sun-flower! weary of time, Who countest the steps of the Sun: Seeking after that sweet golden CLIME, Where the traveler’s journey is done.
    -The U.S. will play Japan for the World Cup Soccer title after beating Germany in the SEMI Finals
    -Room Service Menu at a NYC HILTON ($24 omelet)
    -A more familiar use of the term SNUB NOSED to me
    -My Broadway was showing a MUSICAL first

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  25. Just wanted to wish everyone a Happpy Independence Day.

    This puzzle was WAY above my pay grade. Only was able fully complete the NE. Otherwise a smattering of answers here and there.

    For 24D I had THEATER instead of MATINEE and that didn't help one bit. The cat answers REXES and CALICOCAT were no brainers for me. I love my felines!

    I haven't seen an A & P Supermarket in many years. Are they still around? In the '60's they were very big in N.Y. Loved the "Eight o'clock" brand coffee they grinded fresh at the checkout. Their Ann Page spices were good too. Ah, memories...

    Nothing else to note. Have a fun but safe day.

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  26. Happy Fourth everybody! This was even more of a slog for me than is usually the case on Saturday; too hard to be fun for me.

    I remember a 4th of July spent in the Emergency Room. I was lighting a cherry bomb in my little brother's giant sparkler. The dazzling sparkler made it tough to tell when the cherry bomb was lit. It went off in my hand. The flash temporarily blinded and deafened me. My hand was numb. I couldn't tell if I was missing it or not.

    My father took me to the Emergency Room. I was sitting next to an adult with his hand wrapped up. He had the same injury from lighting a cherry bomb in a fountain.

    I needed two stitches. I still have a small scar.

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  27. Perhaps not the best day to put my head above the parapet, but I was certainly tuned in if not turned on to this one.

    ELUTE, EROSE, METE, TAURINE - fab fill.

    I know of only 2 Newcastles in Britland - Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Newcastle-under-Lyme. As you might imagine, "Lyme" is not a river. Of course, its Frawnche translation - CHATEAUNEUF - evokes quite a different spirit.

    My only head scratches were DIRTY POOL, which was new to me, though guessable with perps. "ODDSMAKER" is not a Brit word. We gamble (legally) on just about anything, but the BOOKMAKER ("BOOKIE") does it all. You could have got(ten) odds of 5/4 on Kate's baby being named "Charlotte".

    And Title VII, even if I had known what it was, would not have led me to EEOC - this has the ring of desperate final fill.

    The phrase "FISCAL YEAR" always fills me with dread. There is inevitably some downside. Overspent or underspent, there's trouble.

    OK, time to keep a low profile, but we know the real reason that you wanted independence - no, not to keep slavery, not to enable unfettered Westward expansion - you just did not want to end up like Canadians.

    NC

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  28. coneyro @ 11:35, yes, A&P is still around, but pretty much limited to SW CT.

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  29. Yesterday I was vexed by Mew versus Meow, Today it is Rexes that vexes me. (never heard of it...) Along with just about everything else on this puzzle, except Calico Cat.

    55A Ara reminds me of something on the popular YouTube feed today. (Sorry for the weak segue.)But I found it interesting that someone has created a 360 degree video?! The amount of detail in this animation is remarkable. Just click on the upper left arrows to change your orientation, try and find the Sun, & then the planet opposite. It puts our recent conjunction of planets in a whole new perspective!

    Near Earth asteroid locations...

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  30. I just have to add my 2 cents worth today. I am to Corvairs what Tinbeni is to scotch. The 62 Corvair Spyder was the first car offered with a factory TURBO option. Olds was right behind with its Jetfire- a turbocharged aluminum V8. Corvair turbos lasted until 1966, the Olds died at the end of 63.
    As for the puzzle, I actually sailed through it, except for one look-up and the crossing of ELUTE and LETHE. So a one square DNF.

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  31. Some difficult places in this puzzle. I had an especially hard time solving REXES and ELUTE. I coulds-shoulda gotten ELUTE if I had remembered the name of the river correctly instead of as METHE. TAURINE got me; I wanted TAURIAN, analogous to saurian. I still can't understand what "lines" an ODDS MAKER works on. And I don't understand how CD CASES are holders for holders, unless what is meant is a case (rack, wallet, etc.) that holds a number of CD jewel cases. At least I remembered Neville SHUTE, except that I thought (wrongly) that his name was spelled Schute. So in order to squeeze his name into 5 spaces, I "took out" the C. In sum. lots of ways to go wrong, which I did, and lots of, for me, such completely unknown answers that even guessing didn't help and I had to resort to going through the alphabet until I hit the right (black) letter.
    In the mid 60's my brother owned a Corvair; I would ride with him to attend classes at Villanova. That silly car did surprisingly well on Pennsylvania winter roads. It wasn't a turbo, though.

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  32. Sports Book BobbyJuly 4, 2015 at 1:49 PM

    Jayce @ 1:35 - the "line" the ODDS MAKER works on is what he/she predicts the outcome of the sporting event will be, for betting purposes. For example, when New England played Seattle in last year's Super Bowl, the opening "line" was Seattle -2.5 points. Meaning, Seattle was favored to win by that margin (2.5 points). In this case, anyone who bet on Seattle would have had to have them win by 3 or more points to win their bet. Anyone betting on New England would have 2.5 points added to their final score. ODDS MAKERS also set "lines" for boxing matches, soccer games, baseball games, et al. Ultimately, the ODDS MAKER(s) are trying to predict the outcome so that an equal number of bets are placed on both teams, as the betting establishments take their commission, or "vig" from all wagers.

    Hope that explained it!

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  33. coneyro @ 11:35

    Regarding Eight O'Clock Coffee", open the link and it will tell you which stores still carry this brand. I have seen it at Target and Publix; guessing it is still a premium brand but I haven't drank it in years

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  34. Husker Gary @ 11:35

    Regarding the Women's World Cup Soccer Finals, and especially to those who lived during WWII, it's kind of an interesting coincidence that the US is facing Japan in the Finals, and England is facing Germany in the Consolation game . . .

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  35. Hello, friends! Happy Independence Day to one and all!

    Late today as it took me a long while to finish this. I solved it in quarters with a break in between each one. First to fall was the NE quadrant which seemed fairly easy. Showered. Then finished the SE quadrant. That took some thought but pulled SNUB NOSED out of somewhere and just guessed HADST. Since retiring I have very little TENSENESS. ATE some breakfast after that one.

    Finally, MATINEE dawned on me, and I was certain about ANISE followed by SCRAM and that prompted FIRE which eventually led to PLACE. ASSAM was a WAG.

    Finished that quadrant then changed the sheets on my bed while listening to WWDTM on NPR. Finally I had to look up SHUTE and KATEY, changed DOLE to METE, had ARENA so it all fell together. Whew!

    Even though this was difficult, I loved it! Thank you Alan O and Splynter for your expo. I see I had some of the same experiences as you did.

    I hope all are enjoying your July 4th!

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  36. A little late today, as I'm just back from watching the Natick July 4th parade at a friend's house. Yes, that Natick.

    Ended up finishing in good time today, despite unknowns such as DAN. ELUTE, DES, GIA, SHUTE (except as "On the Beach" author, like pretty much everyone else), KATEY, REXES, APOLAR. Don't know all the rivers of Hades, but I did remember LETHE. Had DOT rather than DIT, but it didn't get in the way. MUSICAL rather than MATINEE took a while to get rid of, on the other hand.

    Also was a little puzzled by CD CASES = "holders for holders?" I think that what is meant is that there's a little plastic doodad which holds the CD -- that is, into which one puts the CD -- and the jewel case holds the little plastic doodad.

    Thanks, Splynter, for the writeup. Happy Independence Day to all, and many fireworks. (My town did fireworks last night, so I've already filled my quota.)

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  37. Hi All!

    Thanks Splynter - I felt my normal Sat Stupidness until I read you had issues too. You got more than I, but I'm happy I was able to get the entire NW by myself.

    I QUERIED the great-Google for 6 more answers to try to break things up, but no dice. Though I did get MATINEE after G'ing 47a & 23a... Small win, I know.

    TBS (not FOX) finally got me SNUBNOSED (I wanted Slip jOint or insulated at 1st - I got all three hanging here in my garage + needle NOSE, vice-grips, etc. You get the idea - I's got tools).

    HADST not HAvST (WAG) never revealed v__TYPOOL. Doh!

    And sure, I guess HILTON HOTEL is an alternative to HItch Hiking (which gave way when I finally went w/ the CALICOCAT - which is cute because today is the 150th anniversary of the golden afternoon Dodgson created Cheshire CAT for Alice (@47a) in Wonderland).

    CED - I saw that vid the other day. Live life everyday 'cuz we're in a cosmic shooting gallery in this SOLAR system.

    Well, 2-days late, but I'm going to honor Adams' wishes. I got $200 of sh** to blow up (105-shot 1/4-inch and a 9-shot 1" mortars, bottle rockets, tanks, snakes, smoke bombs, roman candles, etc) after dinner (6 NY strips, roasted potatoes, salad, and... youngest (13) decided to try her hand at a cheesecake - I love my kids' no-fear attitude).

    Don't worry - the golf course across the bayou has plenty of open space and rain. Here, hold my beer. :-)

    Happy 4th!

    Cheers, -T
    //sorry Argyle it took me 3x to get it right, no I've not imbibed yet...

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  38. RE the CD CASE: The way I see it, the CD holds data, and the CD Case holds the CD, making it a holder holder.

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  39. "For 46A, first entry was PUTS, but after thinking it over for a few minutes I decided it couldn't be...... but if it was, could have led to some fun adult discussions."

    thehondohurricane, I don't think those kinds of "fun adult discussions" are welcomed or permitted here.

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  40. Itl - It's not like 8yr olds are reading this... As long as it's not crude and in they spirit of art 'tis fine by me.

    Lucina - I've heard the roadie turned vet's spider story 2x on WWDTM re-runs. It still cracks me up. I've got my Sat radio set to record it tomorrow.

    Going swimming w/ the kids. l8r. Cheers, -T

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  41. Thank you, Sports Book Bobby.
    Just got done watching the England vs Germany soccer game and am disappointed England won 1-0 only because the game was handed to them by a bad referee who made a number of bad calls.
    Happy 4th!

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  42. I'm Waaaay late to the party ! Splynter, you saved the day for me. Thanks for the fun expo. The puzzle was beyond my ability. But the few fills I did get, were fun.

    Spent the 4th at the World War II museum....seemed appropriate. Then to a pool party. No, we didn't actually go IN the pool. We sat AROUND the pool and sipped wine until sunset.

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  43. Put it down and just came back. Must have worked, ground my way through it and finished.

    Very tough, but fair clueing. Lots of words I've rarely seen.

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  44. 1,2,3, .... 10 - yep, still got all my fingers... My neighbor, his eldest, and I had a blast putting on a show for everyone. Heck, the whole neighborhood is putting on shows for each other. Rockets' red-glares and (small) bombs bursting everywhere. Happy 4th! Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  45. Anonymous T,

    Your post made me go looking...

    No need to watch all this stupidity, but I cannot help but be amused
    by #6 "Crotch Rocket."

    ReplyDelete
  46. CED - Some folks need to be Darwin Award winners... I was in the Army and used real stuff. I know to respect anything w/ a fuse or that goes boom, stay uprange, AND point the thing downrange (certainly not up my crotch no matter the fetish...).

    Quick fun Basic story - Private dip sh** (that's what the DS called him) pulled the pin while not holding the spoon. Fortunately, he was in the practice pen and the grenade rolled into the H2O pit. He was never allowed to throw one at old car or launch a LAW rocket. Oh, he Flunked Flanks too.

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  47. Anonymous T, what's "fine by you" has no bearing on what's permitted on the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Ellen often has videos of these kinds of FAILS too. Invariably, the participants in the really dumb stuff are males. Women seem to possess more common sense.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Itl - never said it did. Argyle wears the black robe around here and has final say. I can and do respect that and him. C, -T

    ReplyDelete

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