google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, August 7, 2015, Bruce Haight

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Aug 7, 2015

Friday, August 7, 2015, Bruce Haight

Theme: The Key is on the Board

Three theme answers are common phrases with the first word replaced with the abbreviation for a word whose abbreviation appears on a standard computer keyboard. Does Apple had the same keys? Nope Option key.... Apple in 3 days. If only Bruce had worked in CAPS LOCK he would have managed all the abbreviations on the standard keyboard (ignoring stuff like NUM LOCK, PG DN on the little part). I did Bruce's first LAT, which had no E's as well as a Latin Pun, so this one seemed easy in comparison. My only stumbling block was the mental meltdown that left me grasping for AFTA, which was my last fill, coming from 'FRAID SO. Speaking of which, it was the seven letter fill, much of which was fun, that opened up the grid for me. ALABAMA,  ESTRADA, LA LAKER,  OIL HEAT,  OTHELLO,  PIG IRON, PRY OPEN,  SLED DOG,  TEAPOTS,  WHAT THE,  WIN BACK gave me footholds in each region.

17A. DVD extras, perhaps : ALTernate ENDINGS (10). Don't you wonder about a movie that has different endings filmed; make up your mind!

29A. Ones getting away often : ESCape ARTISTS (10). Is there artistry in escaping?

45A. Hardly team players : ConTRoL FREAKS (10). A term that emerged in the 60's.

58A. Place to see part of 17-, 29- and 45-Across : Personal Computer KEYBOARD (10). So all you had do was look down and you had the theme at your fingertips- literally!


Across:

1. Lamentations : WOES. Sounds religious. 50D. Sound of lament : SOB.  Safer than using the initialism.

5. Handle indelicately : PAW AT. I am sure the cats and dogs of the world would disagree; CED link away (manac where are you?).

10. Mennen skin product : AFTA. I do not use shaving products anymore.

14. That ol' boy's : HIS'N. With my wife's family from Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee, this was a gimme.

15. PABA part : AMINO. para-aminobenzoic acid, a natural ingredient in sunscreen no longer in favor.

16. Ready : PREP.

19. Allen contemporary : PAAR. Jack Paar replace Steve Allen on the Tonight Show when I was quite young and we had no television.

20. Court long shots : THREES. Three point shots in basketball; the most famous in Miami history...

21. Order : BOSS. I expect "around" to be around.

23. SEC concern : IPOInitial Public Offering.

24. Wrenches : TEARS. I expect "from" to be around.

25. Wave catcher? : EAR. Sound waves; very tricky.

26. Aftermarket item : ADD ON.

28. "I've been __!" : HAD. A mini-theme? 33A. "Don't __" : ASK. And...48A. "What a kidder!" : OH YOU. 1D. "Huh?" : WHAT THE....or wtf in textspeak. 11D. "Hate to be the one to tell ya" : 'FRAID SO.

31. Letters from Greece : ETAS.

34. Jam ingredients? : AUTOS. Very tricky; traffic jam.

35. "Women and Love" author Shere : HITE.

37. Nurses at a bar : SIPS. Not your pick up target....

38. Hold forth : OPINE.

40. Shaver : LAD. Are you familiar with the 'little shaver?' 47A. Rap name adjective : LIL. Wayne?

41. Blathers : YAPS.

49. Some tees : XLS. Extra Large.

50. Old West transport : STAGE Coach. We took a ride in one at Old Sturbidge Village while up north in June? Any of our other New Englanders made that ride?

52. Modernist's prefix : NEO. Seems redundant.

53. Bracketology org. : NCAA. The process of rating the college basketball teams for March Madness.

55. More than gloomy : MORBID.

56. Yodeler's range? : ALPS. Not his/her vocal range but the mountain range. Do you yodel while skiing the Alps miss m.?

60. Parts of Polynésie française : ILES. The islands in Polynesia.

61. Alamogordo event : A-TEST. Not sure why I get so many references to bomb testing.

62. 19th-century novel with the chapter "How They Dress in Tahiti" : OMOO. Memo to self: Avoid Moby Dick comments!!

63. Novelist Jaffe : RONA. Many of her BOOKS became movies.

64. Fergie's given name : SARAH. This took a very long time because I thought of HER not HER.

65. Twinge : PANG. Jealousy?

Down:

2. Alternative to gas : OIL HEAT. We had an oil burning furnace in our home when I was growing up. We were shocked  to learn one winter in Fort Lauderdale that our office building had NO heating system at all.

3. "CHiPs" actor : ESTRADA. Poor Larry Wilcox gets no love.


4. Unpleasant look : SNEER. Nobody did that better than Snidely.

5. Inflates improperly : PADS. More deception; the expense account, not Tom Brady's footballs.

6. Cherbourg chum : AMI. Just French.

7. Recover : WIN BACK. Often the goal at a casino.

8. Wool variety : ANGORA. Do not get your rabbits and goats confused. READ.

9. Evict : TOSS.

10. Kindle download : APP. This was so easy I had trouble with it.

12. Brewing vessels : TEA POTS. Too much beer in my life, another easy one gone wrong.

13. They have strings attached : APRONS. Cute.

18. Super __: game console : NES. I loved playing Mario with my sons.

22. Suddenly became interested : SAT UP. And took notice.

25. Latin being : ESSE. From when we get essence.

27. Like a flibbertigibbet : DITSY. My favorite ONE. (4:00)

29. Peter, pumpkinwise : EATER. Talk about your weird poetry; luckily we have Owen and Moe.
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater
Had a wife, and couldn't keep her.
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.

30. Invades : RAIDS.

32. Imaginary playmate in a Neil Diamond title : SHILO.

36. For kicks : IN FUN.

37. Upscale retail chain : SAKS. Fifth Avenue.

38. "Then must you speak / Of one that loved not wisely but too well" speaker : OTHELLO. Love Shakespeare, feel bad for foolish Othello.

39. Jimmy : PRY OPEN.

40. Shaq, for eight seasons : LA LAKER. Now he and George Foreman are competing for the most commercials.

42. First state, in a way : ALABAMA. Alphabetically.

43. Smelting intermediary : PIG IRON. Did you know this HISTORY?

44. Iditarod sight : SLED DOG.

45. 1997 Nicolas Cage thriller : CON AIR.


46. Handicapper's option : EXACTA. Along with the Trifecta and the Pick 6, favorites of the gamblers. You pick the horse that finish 1/2, in order.

51. Company : TROOP. Still my favorite.


54. Frequent e-Filers : CPAS. Court papers are no almost all e-filed.

55. Bit of lore : MYTH.

57. Org. issuing nine-digit numbers :  SSASocial Security Administration.

59. That, in Spain : ESA. how perfect a place to finish. I enjoyed this immensely. Thanks Bruce and for the rest of you Lemonade out.



47 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Took awhile to figure out the theme on this one, mostly because EASTER EGG fit perfectly at 17A and that made me think there wasn't a gimmick. But I finally realized that 29A had to be ESC ARTIST, which clued me into the gimmick, and I removed EASTER EGG and started over.

The rest of the puzzle was pretty straightforward and enjoyable. I wasn't crazy about THREES (as opposed to, say, THREE-POINTERS) and had trouble understanding PADS because I misread the clue as "Inflates properly" instead of "Inflates improperly". But that was really it. Everything else was a delight. I even knew both [Shere] HITE and SHILO...

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks for delightful Friday, Bruce H. Swell expo, Lemonade.

Wasn't difficult to see theme even though I use Macs exclusively.

Very cute!

SHILO was all perps.

Took awhile but everything fell into place with no cheats!

Past bed time!

Cheers!

Hungry Mother said...

WAG on the "H" in the two that I didn't know. Figured out the theme immediately.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. Interesting and relatively easy Friday puzzle. My MacBook Air has an ALT key. Alt and Option are written on the same key on my keyboard.

My favorite clue was Yodeler's Range = ALPS.

I learned that Evict is not Oust, but TOSS and that a Wool Variety is not Merino but ANGORA.

Shere HITE b. 1942() is a sexologist and is probably best known for her book The Hite Report, which was published in the mid 1970s.

QOD: I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it. ~ Garrison Keillor (b. Aug. 7, 1942)

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I loved this Haight puzzle. I was getting nowhere in Oregon, so I moved east. Hand up for OUST. When ESC ARTIST showed up, I was able to head back west, and then made a speed run to the bottom. Turned out to be the easiest Friday in some time.

My kindle can only download books -- no APPS.
I'm pretty sure I'd be making high pitched sounds if I were to ski the ALPS, but they wouldn't be musical.
SNEER immediately evokes an image of Elvis in my mind.
When I was in Munich, my German in-laws referred to a traffic jam as a "marmalade."

Later....

Big Easy said...

If I used a PC KEYBOARD to work crosswords, this would have filled easier. Since the NW was the last to fall, I was thinking words missing 'APE' after I filled ESC ARTIST. CTRL FREAKS corrected that. I had a little trouble in the SE with YAKS before YAPS and KIGIRON just didn't look right. I only think of YAP as a noun as in 'shut your YAP'. 'YAPpity YAP, don't talk back'

SHIL0- I remember the song but couldn't think of the name.
Super NES- I've got three grandkids who have WII, WII-U, X-Box, Sony Play Station, Kinect but no NES-new one for me.
Other unknowns were Shere HITE, CON AIR, TEARS
DITSY- my only knowledge of that word is used to describe a blond(e)

















Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning,

Thanks, Bruce, for a Friday workout. I AM sitting at a PCKEYBOARD and still missed the theme. DUH! Yesterday D-O described himself as a "technosaurus." Well, I got ya beat on that one!!!

Yarn is always a gimme here. I am off to Stitches Midwest for a serious patrol of fibers and some knitting time and catching up with Midwest pals. There's a niche for all of our vices. I might even spot some ANGORA, although I don't use it. I'll catch up with your thoughts this evening.

Thanks, Lemonade, for a tour of what should have been to obvious to me!

Today is Write a Note Day. That is handwritten--pen and paper. (Fountain pens are my only[?]other vice.) Surprise someone! Now, where are your stamps?

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Writer J.F. Lawton’s original story was called 3,000 and had a very dark ending with a bitter parting. The eventual ALT ENDING made it a Cinderella story called Pretty Woman.
-PAW AT is my gentle 6 am wake-up call every morning (see avatar for Lily)
-I use AFTA but apply it BEFO
-Of Bear Bryant (of ALABAMA), Bum Phillips said, “He can take HIS’NS and beat your’ns or take your’ns and beat HIS’NS”
-Don’t we all know one medical procedure where the PREP is worse than the actual procedure?
-Some speculate Jerry West would have scored thousands more points if he played in the THREE-point era
-Grandma Opal had this then rare ADD ON in her car
-My EARS catch fewer and fewer of those waves
-Traffic JAMS are torture to those of us who are rarely in one
-The NCAA “abhors” betting (wink, wink, nod, nod) but loves what it does for its March Madness Tourney games
-A-TEST, yesterday marked the 70th anniversary
-Buzz Aldrin’s definitely UNPADDED expense sheet for a July, 1969 trip
-If you spend this much for SAKS ties…
-We Broadway musical lovers remember Maria as a flibbertijibbet

TTP said...

Good morning all. Thank you Bruce Haight and Lemonade.

Was cruising right along and hit fibbertgibbet. If I ever saw that before, I glossed right over it as gobbledygook gibberish. Had enough perps to wag DITSY.

Got PC KEYBOARD first with help from it's perps, and that quickly led to CTRL FREAKS, then ESC ARTISTS, and ALT ENDINGS. Filling in those 3 long answers paved the way for a much quicker solve. Except for the north central area. Had to walk away.
I'll bet Hondo's Riley knows how to PAW AT stuff. AMINO ? Thank you perps. Ditto HITE.

The STAGEcoach Inn in Salado, TX was built in 1852 as a stagecoach stop on the Chisolm Trail. Wow, look at the weather forecast at the welcome page.

Had eATUP for "Suddenly became interested", but the tense didn't match. Lemonade, speaking of which, "Does Apple had the same keys?" appears to me to have mixed tense.

Held on to MERINO way too long. ANGORA came with the G and last A.
Misread of the day was "Some tRees." "Wave catcher" = EAR was my favorite.

Or maybe "Inflates improperly" = PADS. We play a combo of match and stroke play in our golf league. It's handicapped. One guy is notorious for PADding his scores when he is going to lose a hole or the match.

CON AIR was on Movieplex or Movies the other day. I've seen it multiple times. Good cast.
ALI was hit so hard by Ernie SHAVERs that he was encouraged to retire after the fight.

C6D6 Peg said...

Very cute theme, and a very quick solve. Grasped the theme quickly, and speed run to the finish! Thanks, Bruce!

Thanks, Lemonade, for a fine write-up!

Stay cool today! Only 103 for a high today.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

I knew something was up at Esc Artist, but was on the wrong track - the missing letters spell either Ape or Pea, depending on how you assign the remaining A, so I figured we were headed for a zoo or a garden. Bzzzzt!

Morning, Lemon, Gracie is a bit before my time. I'd like to nominate Alice Tinker, the verger from Vicar of Dibley, as the favorite ditsy character of more recent time. She was played by the adorable Emma Chambers, who also appeared in Notting Hill (in a similar role). Her "I can't believe it's not butter" gag from Dibley is priceless!

Anonymous said...

Another Friday write-up filled with typos and run on sentences. FYI, brevity is the soul of wit.

Anonymous said...

Gave me a headache!

OASAS said...

When a Friday puzzle is good, it's really good, and today's is a great example. Thank you Bruce Haight!

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

No speed run for me.

Had TUNES for Jam ingredients, of course. Two correct letters made it hard to part with. Brewing vessels = KETTLES. or maybe not. PADS clue was devious. EAR clue doubly so. APRONS was slow to develop. I'm very unfond of HIS'N. "Nurses at a bar" is a great clue. But is there a great match between clue and fill for FRAID SO? I'm a frayed knot.

HITE or HEIT? It's been to long.

Clever theme. Got CTRL FRAEKS first, then the others. I do Thus and Fri puzzles in pencil, so my KEYBOARD wasn't handy.

Wanted long shots on a tennis court. Always finding ways to go wrong.

Playing at Dearborn homecoming at noon on Sunday. Stop by Ford Field [not the one in Detroit] for some sweet big band music and say "Hi." Maybe I'll buy you a funnel cake.

Cool regards!
JzB

Jazzbumpa said...

PIG IRON

Cheers!
JzB

Jazzbumpa said...

MUD HENS

Cheers!
JzB

Miggy said...

Moved on from the Tigers, eh Jazz? I don't blame ya!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Good chewy puzzle today. Finally got a small anchorage in the S and built it out from there. Needed many WAGS to finish but somehow, they were mainly good choices. Had to return several times to clear my head. Having owned a PC in the past, the theme was quite doable. My IMac does have ESC (apeARTISTS).

Fine write-up, Lemon.

Irish Miss said...

Hi Everyone:

This was much harder than it should have been due to numerous missteps: yaks/yaps, tad/lad, Merino/angora, oust/toss, get back/win back, eat up/sat up, and on and on. Mixing us Eric Estrada and Esai Morales didn't help, either. My first theme fill in was cntrl freaks but It took forever to suss out esc artists and alt endings due to previously mentioned errors. As usual, in retrospect, it looks so obvious, which it was if my brain was working properly!

Thanks, Bruce, for the challenging but, eventually, doable Friday fare and thanks, Lemony, for the detailed analysis.

Hondo, I'll bet that the antics of my niece's new Labradoodle puppy would make Casey look like an angel! 😈😇

Went to a new downtown restaurant last night that had the most sophisticated and eclectic menu I've ever seen in this area. If any of you foodies are interested, go to pecksarcade.com, hit the menu button in the upper left hand corner, then hit menu. You might also enjoy reading the history and other options.

Have a great day.



Lucina said...

Hello, friends!

Thank you to Bruce Haight for this splendid challenge! It started slow, very slow and I thought I would hate it, but as more and more fill emerged, the momentum picked up. INTERVIEWS fit perfectly in 17A crossed by ESTRADA, but alas, when the theme appeared at PCKEYBOARD that was erased.

Since I solve in pencil ALT, ESC and CTRL came from memory. I loved the cluing for AUTOS and ALPS.

Thought of Tinbeni at SIPS. Or does he gulp it down?

Wonderful analysis, Lemonade, thank you.

Have a beautiful Friday and a great week, everyone!

Anonymous said...

DITSY is a misspelling. It's DITZY (i.e., like a DITZ). (Yes, Yellowrocks, I realize that there are lexicographers who misspell it DITSY, but they are in a minority.)

Argyle said...

And you are the authority because ... ?

CrossEyedDave said...

Lemonade714, I have no idea what that Anon was talking about. Seemed like an excellent write up to me.

Took a while, but I filled it all in with a final WAG of an H at Shilo. (Woohoo!)

This is one of those puzzles where if you get the reveal right away, it is easy.
I had -ck-yboard (ickey?) & was sure some missing letter theme was afoot...
(not so easy...)
In looking for missing letters, the only theme answer I had enough to go on was 45A. & because of that (*&&^$^%) Shilo I did not have the L yet. To me it looked like "hardly team players" were cOUntryfreaks? I was sure the theme was a missing O & U backed up by 48A "what a kidder"= OhYou...

(but why was OhYou not included in the reveal???)
(hmm,,,)
Onward!

After overthinking it for too long i penciled in PckEyboard, & the reveal smacked me in the head like a V8 can!

12D Brewing vessel. This was easy because whenever Vat doesn't fit, I toss a teapot!
Steve, can you back me up on this? American slang dictionaries do not list this, but to me to toss a teapot was Brit for "have a fit." (like when vat doesn't fit...)

P.S. 5A paw at. You will never see cats paws the same way again...

SwampCat said...


I use an iPad so I struggled with the theme, and it eventually defeated me. However, the write-up was so clever it made up for my struggle! Thanks, Lemonade!

Argyle said...

Hey, what's Johnny haulin'? Clip(2:10)

Nice Cuppa said...

Enjoyable Friday, and delighted to see my AVATAR at 12D, of course.

My MAC has ESC, ALT (in small letters above OPTION), and CONTROL written in full, but I got the theme at CTRL FREAKS.

Some obscure authors, but I would have to say that no-one in the U.K. would call their daughter S.HITE - check out your Brit Dict. - this is a slight variant of a well-known swear-word, but is apparently not used in the U.S., according to my MAC-DICT.

2D. Could someone please explain the "HEAT" part in 2D ("alternative to gas")? I can equate GAS with OIL and GAS-HEATING with OIL-HEATING, but "GAS" with "OIL HEAT"?.

46D. Could someone explain the "HANDICAPPER" part of this clue? I thought a handicapper assessed the quality of individual horses (and typically added weights to each horse to make the race more equal/less predictable). A BOOKMAKER might choose to offer, and a GAMBLER might choose to bet on, an EXACTA or some other combination. Or are HANDICAPPER and BOOKMAKER becoming synonymous in the U.S.?

1D is, as noted, a shortened form of "what the [insert blasphemous/swear word of your choice]", generally the "f" word; so a pointer to a truncated statement would have been [].

I still have trouble calling a CAR and AUTO (auto-what?), but the clueing was straightforward, as JAM is not ambiguous in the U.S. - in the U.K., JAM could mean "JELLY" as well as "traffic Jam".

I thought 49A (TEES=XLS) should have some pointer to abbr.

Still enjoyable, much to admire.

That's all folks.

NC

Anonymous said...

NC: "I still have trouble calling a CAR an AUTO (auto-what?)"

Automobile.

Jayce said...

I thought this puzzle had some fun, clever cluing, such as Jam ingredients and That ol' boy's. Had a problem with OIL HEAT being an alternative to gas. An alternative to GAS HEAT, maybe, just as gas (heat) is an alternative to oil (heat). Anyway...
Best wishes to you all.

CrossEyedDave said...

Only one complaint about the write up, (which is not yr fault Lemon), is the Afta aftershave link. It REALLY bugs the crap outta me to have to watch a commercial just to see another commercial! (There outta be a law!)

On the upside, 27D Burns & Allen link was the most refreshing thing I have seen in years!
Who Knew that the best comedy was years ago!

44D Iditarod sight = sled dog, I have a minor nit with this...
For an outside observer, the clue/answer is true. But it is false for everyone else but the lead dog....

51D, you had to mention F troop...
(Hours of internet surfing later...)
I was always hot for Wrangler Jane, but I only just found that she was 16 when I was 16!
But while surfing, looking for how the "Heckarewe" got their name, I came across this classic!

AltEnding?

Obligatory Cat pic: EscArtist...

Air Traffic Control Freaks...

But the most mind bending thing about this puzzle is about how well it knows my Blog habits!...

Yellowrocks said...

AUTO can be a combining form, but it also can be a short stand alone synonym for automobile. It is used that way all the time here. I have never heard of an automobile parts store, it's auto parts store.

Anonymous @1:05, it is interesting to find a higher authority than the lexicographers who make a career of studying ten of thousands of references.
My younger sister and I immensely enjoyed reading The Story of English recommended here on the blog. It points out the complexity of the English language with its wide ranging roots geographically, culturally, and linguistically. This complexity accounts for the variant spellings and pronunciations which lexicographers do not deem incorrect. IMO they only add to the rich texture of the language.

Anonymous T said...

Hello from ALABAMA, er Georgia, puzzle pals.

Sitting in the ATL terminal on layover...

Good thing I had nothing better to do today than wait for an airplane 'cuz this took me forever. The last area to break was the upper-midwest - __N_ACK finally gave me the WIN when I got from A to W.

Fun puzzle Bruce and suitable for a Friday. I caught your gimmick early on but couldn't get 58a until SLED DOG; that's when I slid back on BOARD, finally filled MYTH, and then it dawned on me. With TEARS of joy, I went back more determined to the upper-midwest.

Lem, thanks too for getting the party started.

For the record, after yesterday's SOUND pzl @25a was not a WHAT THE? for me.

I'll read all y'all in FL. Cheers, -T

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

Very late to the Corner today; I did the puzzle early this morning but had a full day of work so no free moment to comment on the construction or write-up

Took me awhile to figure the theme - I needed only two cheats today: 45d CONAIR and 62a OMOO. Once those were penned in, I was able to solve the puzzle. I had a few write-overs along the way, though:

OUST before TOSS; SOLOS before AUTOS (I was thinking of a "jam session"); but other than those, my paper edition was clean

Lemon, in your description for 29d and the Peter, Peter Pumpkin EATER; you refer to the poets here at the Corner; I was flattered to be mentioned. I always hope my "punny" limericks bring a smile (or groan) to the readers.

Jayce said...

A pedant walks into a bar. The bartender asks, "What'll ya have? A beer?" The pedant says, "Well. technically, what I want is an ale, but I suppose in the vernacular it can be considered acceptable to call it beer," and proceeds to copy and paste from Wikipedia and an online dictionary...

Lucina said...

Yellowrocks:
As usual you are spot on about the complexity of the English language. In what seems like eons ago, I took a class, History of the English Language, and maneuvered through the maze that finalized itself in what we call English today. At that time it was reported that 70% was contributed from Latin and the remaining 30% included just about every other language in the world. However, since its origins date from before, during and after the 1066 conquest of Britain by the French, the basis of English lies in that petrie dish mixture of French, norse, celtic, pict, and Anglo-Saxon, it's amazing that it even melds together in the current form.

Yet, it is constantly changing and evolving. Debating in favor of rigid rules is a futile argument. And for the very reasons of its complexity, English is the richest language because of its almost infinite selection of vocabulary and forms of expression.

TTP said...

Miggy @ 11:16, don't count the Tigers out just yet. They aren't that far back. I've been a fan for a long long time. That 1968 World Series was classic. The 1968 Tiger team was, IMHO, one of the best ball clubs I've ever seen. Excluding of course, the 60, 71, and 79 Pirates. I'm a Pirates fan. Read more than I recall about the '60 Pirates.

Bill G, you are probably watching, but just in case you aren't, in the battle of aces Kershaw and Cole, Gregory Polanco just hit a first pitch home run in the bottom of the first to end Clayton's scoreless streak.

SwampCat said...

Yellowrocks and Lucina...re:English language....AMEN!! It is indeed the richest language precisely because it evolves!

And it makes crossword puzzles that much more fun!

Avg Joe said...

I'm no linguist, cunning or otherwise. But the thing I enjoy most about the language practiced in the US is that there are SO many phrases that have their source in other cultures. But that are, in esse, the epitome of economy. Deja vu, for example. Try and explain that phrase in english in 20 words or less. Can't be done. But it's been adopted into our vernacular, and with six simple letters, everyone gets it immediately.

There are others, perhaps not as vivid. But they can convey the array of senses intended with such parsimony that they can't be argued with. Mañana, por ejemplo. "Tomorrow"' in English, means one thing only. Mañana is rich with other possibilities. Tomorrow. Some day. Any day. Never.

We would be all the more wanting if we didn't have a language that incorporates the multiple aspects of our melting pot heritage. Oy!

Bill G. said...

Irish Miss, that new restaurant looks great! I wish it had an annex closer to me.

TTP: Aargh! I can't watch most of the games live here since the Dodgers ownership sold exclusive rights to Time Warner. (A pox on both of them!) I can watch the games archived on MLB delayed a couple of hours.

Have you heard of a car called an Equus? It's a luxury car from Hyundai. I saw one parked while on my bike ride. I looked inside. Classy!

SwampCat said...


Ave Joe, you get it! What a wonderful way to express our uniqueness! We are indeed blessed!
I'm

Lemonade714 said...

It is the diversity that Mae's creating puzzles possible. Thank you all

Madame Defarge said...

English as an evolving language: agreed, sometimes frustrating to English teachers, but dynamically, true!

Irish Miss said...

Bill G @ 7:51 - Glad you checked out Peck's. It was an interesting and unique dining experience for me and my sister and neighbor. Troy is experiencing a revival on the food scene and a resurgence of interest in the city. All good news.

Bill G. said...

I always watch Jeopardy but that doesn't mean that it doesn't piss me off from time to time. As when Alex corrects contestant's pronunciation as he did tonight with "Chutzpah" or when he acts as if somebody's wrong answer was so obviously wrong (Oh no, that is in China or that was the 16th century or ...). Of course he has the correct answer right in front of him. Tonight, I think their staff got a question/answer wrong. They asked about making a simple inclinometer using a protractor, string and a weight. The question asked what branch of math was needed to read it. The given answer was geometry but Alex said no, it was trigonometry. Wow, I totally disagree. All you need is a basic understanding of angles to read the measurement from the protractor, something we all learned in elementary school or in beginning geometry. Trigonometry isn't necessary at all.

CrossEyedDave said...

(for the late night crowd...)

Thank you Lemonade714, because of you I have been time traveling the internet.
& thank you Yellowrocks for making me appreciate the English language.

& to explain ( or confuse ) if you have the time, Gracie Allen takes Spanish Lessons. (22:21)

Dudley said...

Bill G - just saw your Trig comment. I'm with you: there's no need for ratios to get a reading from a pendulum-type inclinometer. Geometry is the better answer. A homemade inclinometer is likely to have the protractor mounted upside down, so some knowledge of complementary and opposite angles is needed, and not much else.

Steve Mercer said...

Hated YAPS for blathers. Dogs YAP, or you may YAP when your kid leaves a toy in the living room and you stub your toe. YAKS fits blathers much better. So I completed the puzzle with KIGIRON, presuming it was an every so often phrase that I had never heard of. Oh well. Otherwise breezed through this, a very easy Friday.