google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, September 23, 2015, Jerry Wildenberg

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Sep 23, 2015

Wednesday, September 23, 2015, Jerry Wildenberg

Theme: Vowel progression.  The theme words have A, E, I, O, U, and even Y as their respective second letters, in each case surrounded by the letters L and N.

18. Aggressive property seizure : LAND GRAB.  Usually on a large scale, by a government, rich developer or trans-national corporation.

23. Red Square shrine : LENIN'S TOMB.  His embalmed body has been on display there since shortly after his death in 1924.

32. Pet hair picker-upper : LINT ROLLER.  A spindle-mounted roll of one-side adhesive paper used to pick up fibrous materials.

42. Green Hornet's great-uncle, with "The" : LONE RANGER.  Britt Reid, aka the Green Hornet, is the son of the LONE RANGER's orphaned nephew Dan Reid.  He's a newspaper publisher by day, and an incognito crime fighter by night.  Both characters originated at Detroit radio station WXYZ during the 30's.

52. Stretch between new moons : LUNAR MONTH.   Equal to 29.53059 days.

61. Sharp-sighted : LYNX EYED.  Similar to eagle-eyed or hawk eyed.  I was not at all familiar with this phrase, but it is legit.

Hi gang, It's Jazzbumpa, your progressive host for today's linguistic excursion.  This simple theme is elegantly executed.  Let's see what else we can find.

Across

1. Radiated joy : BEAMED.  With a smile that brightens your whole day.

7. "Hi and Lois" pooch : DAWG.

11. Fair grade : CEE.   Assuming the teacher grades fairly.

14. Smithy fixtures : ANVILS.  An ANVIL is a flat topped iron or steel block upon which metal objects can be hammered and formed.


15. Literary pen name : ELIA.   Charles Lamb first used this pseudonym for an essay on the South Sea House, where he had once worked.  He borrowed the name from an Italian coworker.

16. Half of a steep price? : ARM.   The other half is a leg.

17. Refused : SAID NO.

20. Video game pioneer : ATARI.

21. Unit to plow : ACRE.  Down on the farm.

22. Church section near the altar : APSE.   Oh-oh: religion. 

25. Suffix with church : GOER.   I thought it was two words, but the clue is correct.

26. Disdainful chorus : BOOS.  Sometimes accompanied by hisses.

27. Golden Fleece ship : ARGO.   Mythical ship named for it's builder, Argus.  In it, Jason and his crew, known as the Argonauts, sailed from Iolcos in search of the golden fleece. 




29. Campaign funding org. : PAC.  Political Action Committee.  Of which we may not speak.

37. Cope with change : ADAPT.  Don't get left behind.

40. Long-jawed fish : GAR.   Several species inhabit the waters of eastern North America, Central America and the Caribbean Islands.


41. Farm machinery giant : DEERE.  Nothing runs like a Deere.

45. Hit hard : RAM.


46. First-year law student : ONE L.   Also a novel about one at the Harvard Law School.

47. Word on some doors : PUSH.

50. Ship leader: Abbr. : CAPT.   I wanted CAP'N!


58. Away from port : ASEA.   Sailing, like Jason and the Argonauts.

59. Lots : A TON.   After the LAND GRAB, the developer was able to sell A TON of lots.

60. "Gone With the Wind" family name : O'HARA.  Gerald and Ellen and their daughters Katie Scarlett, Susan Elinor [Suellen,] Caroline Irene [Carreen] and three younger brothers who died as infants.

63. '80s-'90s Mets pitcher nicknamed "Dr. K" : GOODEN.   Dwight Eugene Gooden also played for the Yankees, then Cleveland, Houston and Tampa. The nickname comes from analogy to basketball's Dr. J. - Julius Irving, and the letter K, the standard baseball symbol for a strike out.   He led the National League in K's in as a rookie in 1984 and again in 1985. His later career was marred by drug and legal problems. He retired before the 2001 season with a record of 194-112.

64. Stan of Marvel Comics : LEE.   Stanley Martin Lieber [b Dec. 28, 1922] is an American writer and publisher of comic books, actor and television host.  He co-created Spiderman, The Hulk, and many other characters. 

65. Only : MERE.

66. Ancient Chinese divination text : I CHING.   Read all about it.

67. Violinists' sect. : STR.   Strings.

68. Binding vows : I DO's.    Marriage.

69. Summer wear : SHORTS.  Short pants.
Down

1. __ reader: grade school text : BASAL.   Highly organized texts containing short stories, excerpts and original material, designed to improve reading skills.   The metabolism series only uses a minimal amount of energy.  [Full disclosure: I just made that up.]

2. Related maternally : ENATE.  A Latin-derived word.  Paternally related is AGNATE.

3. Birdlike : AVIAN.   Also from the Latin.  Any bird-brained relative is AVIATE.

4. Central vein of a leaf : MID RIB.  AKA primary venation.


5. Weather-affecting phenomenon : EL NINO.   This year's looks to be pretty large.  Expect warmer and drier winter conditions in the northern U.S. as far east as the Great Lakes basin; and cooler, wetter conditions for most of the South and up the East Coast almost to New England.

6. Brit. military decoration : DSO.   Distinguished Service Order, awarded for meritorious service, especially during combat.

7. Big name in auto parts : DELCO.  Originally Dayton Electrical Engineering Laboratories Co., founded by Charles Kettering and Edward Deeds in 1909.

8. Apprehension : ALARM.   The dreads.

9. Place to get a Cab : WINE BAR.   Cabernet Sauvignon. And after an evening there, take a taxi home.

10. Wander (about) : GAD.  Traveling in search of pleasure rather than a destination.

11. One sharing a ride : CAR POOLER.  Usually to and from school or work.

12. Rub off : ERASE.

13. Dying fire bit : EMBER.  Only you can prevent forest fires.

19. Honkers on the ground : GAGGLE.   A flock of five or more geese, not in flight.  In the air, they are a skein.

21. Punctuation in email addresses : AT SIGN.  This thing: @.  Technically, it is called "the commercial at."  It also has several nicknames, including snail and whirlpool.

24. Costa del __ : SOL.  The sun coast, comprising the towns and communities along the southern Spanish coast in the province of Malaga.

28. "The Twilight Zone" creator Serling : ROD.


29. Buddy : PAL.

30. Brouhaha : ADO.  It can be about nothing.

31. Kitchen gadget with a magnet : CAN OPENER.

33. Pester : NAG.

34. Rock-boring drill : TREPAN.  Used for sinking a shaft into the ground.  The term also refers to drilling holes in the cranium for medical purposes - a practice that goes back to neolithic times.

35. Historical period : ERA.  The ERA of TREPANATION continues.

36. Dream letters : REM.   Rapid Eye Movement.

38. Binoculars brand : PENTAX.

39. Otto minus cinque : TRE.   Italian numbers.  Also, 8, 5 and 3 are Fibonacci numbers.  Fibonacci was Italian.  Coincidence?  I think not!

43. Ameliorated : ALLAYED.  Improved something that is bad, as compared to relieved suspicion, fear or worry.  Near miss on the correspondence. 

44. Play about robots : RUR.   By the Czech writer Karel Čapek. R.U.R. stands for Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti (Rossum’s Universal Robots).  The play premiered in 1921, and introduced the word robot to the world.   Rossum's robots were artificial people made from synthetic organic material, capable of independent thought.  In the end, they revolt and destroy humanity.  I doubt that the phrase "I'll be back" was spoken.

48. Kiss : SMOOCH.

49. Sounds of seasonal joy : HO-HO-HO.   Santa calling.

50. Phones : CALLS.   Santa doesn't usually do it this way.

51. Up to this moment : AS YET.

53. Unborn, after "in" : UTERO.   Within the uterus.

54. Points of connection : NODES.

55. Apex antonym : NADIR.   High and low points, respectively.

56. Lott from Mississippi : TRENT.  Career politician from 1968 through 2007; since then a professional lobbyist, and a near-clecho with 59A.   This month, I am plagued by politics.

57. Puts on a hook : HANGS.

62. Brit. recording giant : EMI.

63. Enlistees, briefly : GI's.   Initialism for Government Issue, referring to army soldiers and air force airmen, and occasionally marines and sailors when the yare not ASEA.  Originally, the reference was to Galvanized Iron in the military inventory and supply records for such metal equipment as trash cans.

Well, that wraps it up.  We were able to progress all the way to the end. Hope you enjoyed the journey.

Cool Regards!

JzB

Addendum:

Gerry sent me a note to include with the write up, which I forgot to add. Here it is.


I began composing about three years ago.  I'm not especially creative and finding themes is still tough for me.  I like vowel shift themes -- they're kind of standard and unexciting but still I like them -- there's no accounting for tastes.  An earlier one I submitted used the themers: SAMSCHOICE, SEMINUDE, SIMOLEON, SOMERSET, SUMTOTAL, and SYMPATHIZE.  The rejection note -- richly deserved since there are several duds in that list -- mentioned that Rich doesn't much like one word themers.  I listened and learned.  The next time I tried a vowel shift I looked for two word or compound word entries.  As I wanted an AEIOUY vowel shift, this puzzle began when I found  LYNXEYED.  An early attempt used LUNCHMONEY instead of LUNARMONTH but somehow the fill was easier with the latter.

In my past I've played Chess, Backgammon, and Bridge competitively.  Composing crosswords is far more gratifying.  When a puzzle is published, I feel that I've brought some fun into the lives of millions.  Hope you enjoyed this one.
Gerry Wildenberg


Note from C.C.:
 
Let's send positive thoughts and prayers to dear Irish Miss (Agnes) for a smooth & successful hand surgery today. Still remember her beautiful rings? I think she wears more than 12 rings now.

Agnes (right)  and her sister Eileen

47 comments:

  1. LAN loved LYN, and LUN loved LEN,
    While LIN and LON were only friend.
    But LYN spurned LAN,
    And LEN spurned LUN,
    While friends have benefits now and then!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Figuring out what CAB meant was the key for me. Nice Wednesday offering.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Morning, all (and best wishes to Agnes for a successful surgery)!

    Got through this one without much effort, but BASAL and LYNX EYED really threw me for a loop. I'll accept that they are valid, but definitely out of my wheelhouse. I've heard of Dwight GOODEN (barely), but had know idea he was nicknamed "Dr. K.", so once again it was the perps to the rescue. Not much else to day, actually. I might have stumbled with WINE BAR, except that the Cab in the clue was capitalized and that let me know what was going on.

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  4. Good morning!

    With most of his name in place, I confidently inked in KOODEN. Hey, could'a been. That made the enlistees KPS. But that made the Chinese text "PCHING" (also the sound of tobacco juice hitting the spitoon in old westerns). I didn't think that could be right, so I finally got everything fixed. LYNX-EYED? Really?

    Learning moment: I'd never heard of the BASAL reader, so I looked it up. Wow, that's where Dick, Jane, Spot and Puff came from. News to me.

    If you are both ENATE and agnate, as a child would be, then you are an AGGRAVATE.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Easy,peasy today. The only unknown, all perps, was I CHING, but upon seeing it, it kind of rings a bell.
    JzB, your expos are always interesting. Thank you.
    I am sure all the elementary school teachers out there are familiar with BASAL readers.
    Dwight GOODEN AKA Dr. K. was constantly in the news here while he was experiencing his drug and legal problems. Could he be called "not so good Gooden"?
    I was surprised that The Green Hornet and The Lone Ranger were relatives.
    LYNX EYED, gotten from a few crosses, is a new phrase to me, but it makes sense.
    You might find CAB on your BAR TAB at the wine bar.
    Alan asked me to take him to the doctor this morning. No reason given. It took more than 25 minutes of Q and A to discover the real reason, a UTI. His dire sickness in May was partly caused by this, so we can't take any chances. Who will have the patience to ferret out what he really means when I am gone?

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  6. Needed ESP (Every Single Perp) to get BASAL reader and that Rock boring drill TREPAN.

    Fave was 9-d, Place to get a Cab, WINE BAR.

    Never caught on that it was a "vowel progression" theme until reading the write-up.

    RIP Yogi Berra ... tonight's "First Toast" is to the NY Yankee Great.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I saw the theme and thought there might be more to it but it was fine.

    Musings
    -Happy Equinox everybody! False claim for this day for eggs and brooms
    -Some want Andrew Jackson off the currency because of this LAND GRAB
    -The Green Hornet/LONE RANGER connection is new info for me
    -Now that’s expensive!
    -More rain today and tomorrow means wet ACRES
    -PAC’s contribute to and then own pols
    -Teachers have to ADAPT to the digital age to do their job now
    -This show has made STAN LEE (he’s getting a SMOOCH) even more famous
    -I CHING/I ASIMOV – probably no relation ☺
    -The AVIAN flu has caused millions of chickens to be euthanized and even banned from the state fair
    -Fake CARPOOLERS to use High Occupancy Vehicle lane
    -Want our kitty? Just run the CAN OPENER and she’s there!
    -Discussion in the lounge yesterday – “Pictures are HUNG but people are HANGED”
    -Good luck Irish!
    -Where can you “always know your neighbor, always know your PAL”?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Repost (Too much empty space in previous comment)

    thehondohurricane said...

    Not sure if today is a FIW or a DNF, but it surely is a dismal effort on my part. For 47A penciled in busy because 49D was yOHOHO and 34D TREbAN was a wag. Looked as good as TREPAN would have. 61A LYNgEYED was another WAG as would have LYNXED EYED. Admittedly, can't ever remember "busy" being on a door, but never thought yOHOHO was wrong

    The Green Hornets great uncle was the LONE RANGER? Talk about literary license.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello Puzzlers -

    WBS, right to the Cab.

    Morning, JzB, loved the Glenn Miller.

    ReplyDelete

  10. No BOOS towards this puzzle or excellent write up from JzB. At least from this part of the peanut gallery.

    Not hearing any BOOs from the crowds at Wrigley Field either. CUBS are in 3rd place. They would be in 1st place in any other division in MLB. Have fun at the game Abejo !

    Irish Miss, yes, best wishes for a speedy recovery.

    A few words that I did not know, but they perped in easily enough. eg TREPAN, I CHING, and BASAL.

    Fishermen in OK, LA, & TX know how big Alligator GAR can get.

    McGuffey Reader was my first thought. Never heard of BASAL but it fit. Oh I see. McGuffey was a basal reader.

    DEEERE. Changed the oil, rebuilt the carburetor, and replaced the air filter on my 23 year old JD STX38. Forgot the fuel filter, so back to the store anon.

    REM Man On The Moon - an homage to Andy Kaufman.

    Yogi Berra has died. One of his more famous malaprops was "It ain't over until it's over."

    Anon @ 12:48 this morning... No, I am not Mr Google. I thought Mr Google was Jazzbumpa.

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  11. Greetings, friends!

    I BEAMED when I finished this only to be disillusioned on discovering that my 39D was wrong as I had CAP'N not CAPT.

    Otherwise an enjoyable puzzle, thank you, Gerry Wildenberg.

    Never heard of LYNXEYED but I once had a teacher who was definitely eagle eyed. She saw everything! I CHING immediately came to mind though I have no idea why.

    Thank you for the sparkling review, Jazzbumpa.

    Have a special day, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi gang -

    Nope, I'm not Mr Google.

    Gerry sent me a note a while back to include with the write up. I forgot at first, then C.C. reminded me. It's appended at the end.

    Good luck, Irish Miss.

    R I P Yogi. You were special and unique.

    Cool regards!
    JzB

    ReplyDelete
  13. I thought this was a little better than yesterday, but still had to dig for some of the answers. Seems there are more names in the last few puzzles I've done, and even if I know them, I always have to mine the depths of my brain to make them surface.

    Good luck with the surgery, Irish Miss!

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  14. Good morning everyone.

    Had ANVILS early in the NW, but left that section 'til last. Fairly easy solve for most of it. Finally sussed SAID NO and EL NINO and it was done. Then took a look at what the theme might be and saw the vowel progression, and said "Oh".

    Hope IM's operation goes well.

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  15. I was not pleased with GOER being a suffix with CHURCH. I believe CHURCHGOER is a compound word, not a root with a suffix. I find that Rich frequently calls the second part of a compound word, a suffix.

    I cannot recommend exercise highly enough after a joint operation, Irish Miss. I had water exercise before my 3 knee surgeries. I continued with water exercise and, later on, gym exercise, even before my formal therapy stopped. I was not 100% when the therapy following the 3 surgeries used up my yearly Medicare allowance. I am continuing gym and pool exercise 4 or more times a week, as well as dancing, and hopefully will continue for years to come. Every week I become more mobile and stronger. This week, four months after my last knee replacement, I square danced full sessions 5 out of the last 8 days with no pain. And my permanent damage from the fall is not holding me back with pain or dysfunction.
    So, Irish Miss, good luck and keep moving. You, too, will overcome this. A friend told me that whirl pool, if available, is very helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good morning, everyone. Pretty much WBS (including best wishes to IM today), except of all things, I am familiar with LYNXEYED from a ribald limerick of my college days. It's a little to "R" rated to quote completely, but begins:

    To his bride said the lynxeyed detective,
    Could it be that my eyesight's defective?

    A word of warning to anyone currently insured by Medicare, but were once insured by Anthem Inc. Insurance or one of its subsidiaries like Empire BCBS, Highmark BCBS. Anthem's records have reportedly been hacked, and now Medicare believes they are secondary to Anthem. I recently had a claim rejected for that reason and had to spend a week fighting a bureaucratic maze to get it finally straightened out this AM. Check your coverage with Medicare.

    Cya

    ReplyDelete
  17. This puzzle was a breeze until I got to the SW corner, and there the LYN completely stumped me. I knew "sharp-eyed" had to begin with those letters, but how? Finally, I searched for the theme and when I got the L+vowel progression I knew I had to stay with the LYN and correct some other downs I had wrong, and so I finally got it! Yay! But what a challenge. Makes it a great Wednesday puzzle, many thanks, Gerry, and I enjoyed your comments too. And JazzB, your photos in the expo are always fun.

    Yellowrocks, good for you to be such a good exerciser, and giving good advice on the subject. Irish Miss, we're all thinking of you today!

    Have a great day, everybody!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi:

    Gerry Wildenberg here.

    I just wanted to mention that I clued BASAL as elementary, LONERANGER as Masked Texas exlawman, and that the ICHING was a fad in the late 60's, early 70's.

    ReplyDelete
  19. JzB, well if you aren't, that makes two of us.

    Thanks Gerry.
    I guess I should have said I didn't know BASAL in that sense. Of course I have heard of basal cell carcinoma.

    BLUEHEN,
    I thought I posted about the Anthem data breach back in February. And it doesn't matter how long ago your records were processed by Anthem...

    "This includes customers of Anthem, Inc. companies Amerigroup, Anthem and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield companies, Caremore, HealthLink, and Unicare, and some employees of self-insured employer groups where Anthem received information about non-Anthem members to provide analytics and administrative services. Additionally customers of Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies who used their Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance in one of fourteen states where Anthem, Inc. operates may be impacted and are also eligible: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin."

    You can get two years of identity theft repair and credit monitoring services to impacted individuals. I signed us up Feb 14th, 2015.

    Get started by going to Anthem Facts.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks, TTP. You very well may have posted that info before and I just glossed over it. Thanks for that link. There is a lot of useful info there. Strangely enough, our problems didn't begin until 2-3 weeks ago. That seems strange to me if the hack happened that long ago. I was only going on what customer service at Medicare told me, "That the confusion is a result of Anthem's database being hacked".

    What really burns my butt is that the G@#d#^&%$ hackers got no personal benefit from this hack, at least as far as we are concerned. All they accomplished was to deny medical insurance to deserving, anonymous people like us. There has to be a special place in hell for hackers. Except Tim McGee, of course. I like him.

    ReplyDelete
  21. ALARM is not "apprehension," but apprehension come to fruition. Jazzbumpa's comment hinted at the correct synonym: DREAD.

    Who says a GAGGLE is grounded? Not my dictionaries. The root of the word is the Dutch word "gaggelen," for the noise they make; and anyone who does not know that geese can make as much noise in flight as they do on the ground has not lived under a migration route.

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  22. Bluehen, if you are covered by an Employee health insurance plan for 20+ employees (whether you or your wife is the "employee"), that policy will normally be the primary payer, and Medicare will be secondary. But as soon as that other policy lapses, or becomes a "retiree" policy, Medicare becomes the primary payer and that other policy becomes secondary. I learned that the hard way. When I retired, my previous employer kept my health insurance in place for an additional 90 days. So I waited 90 days to sign up for Medicare Part B. Because I was retired, Medicare should have been my primary, but since I hadn't signed up for Part B, I was effectively uninsured. Medicare wouldn't approve any Part B expenses, and my "insurance" would only cover amounts that Medicare approved but did not pay. Catch-22. I honestly don't understand how a hack of Anthem's database could affect the primary/secondary rules.

    Agnes, good luck today. We're pullin' for ya.

    ReplyDelete
  23. A nice Wednesday puzzle. Doable with careful picking away with perps. Many 3 letter fills confirmed the longer answers.

    In this Big Bang Theory clip, Sheldon tries to meet Stan Lee at his house, after missing the comic book store event because he was in jail after insulting a judge.
    SHELDON_AND_STAN_LEE

    Only heard of TREPAN in regards to boring holes in the skull for medical reasons.
    Wanted NEXES before NODES showed itself. Also the plural is NEXUS or NEXUSES which wouldn't have worked.
    Never heard of LYNX EYED before.

    Liked clue for ARM "half of a steep price".

    I am keeping IM in my prayers. Hand surgeries are particularly limiting what you can do in the early recovery phase. And you realize how many things you use your hands for.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Fun puzzle today; just enough crunch to keep it interesting.
    I too wrinkled my nose at GOER being a "suffix."
    I also didn't know those two guys were related.
    I did not feel ALARM at the clue for ALARM.
    I've read the I CHING; it expresses a pretty nifty philosophy in a pretty nifty way.
    I've now started 5 sentences with the word "I." Stop doing it I will :)
    Irish Miss, may all go well, and please do take Yellowrocks' excellent advice.
    Best wishes to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Bluehen, you are welcome, and in consideration of D-O's points, it may have just been Medicare's excuse. But of course, IMO it would still be advisable to take advantage of the protection and monitoring. After all, Anthem failed to protect your personally identifiable information. 2 years coverage is minimal compared to the additional monitoring an individual is going to have to take for the rest of their life.

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  26. 34d was my problem. Did not know rock-boring tool. Had all but the P. The only thing that made sense for 47a was push.
    Jazz, expertly done. Never saw vowel progression til I read your post.
    Loved the Glen Miller link.
    Rod Serling was ahead of his time,great imagination. Even though I have seen every episode, I still watch favorite ones again on New Year's Eve/Day.
    Your shorts link reminds me of two oldies:
    1957's Short Shorts by The Royal Teens. (I would link,but don't know how), and early 70's Take it to the Limit by The Eagles. (but it's okay by me!)

    Thank you Gerry Wildenberg. Fun-fun-fun.

    RIP, #8, one of the nicest and best of all time.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I mis-spoke. I have not read the I CHING. I have perused it. It was the Tao Te Ching that I read, which expounds Lao Tzu's philosophy, known as Taoism. Cool stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Well JzB I can't say enough about your SHORTS collection. But enough of that and on to the puzzle. 1D, BASAL, stumped me for a while as I've used to sell Basal thermometers but had never heard of the reader. But it had solid crosses so I left it in. TREPAN and I CHANG were also all perps and new words for me, not that I will remember them. The a,e,i,o, u was easy to see although I didn't know that the LONE RANGER was related to O.J.'s friend's (Kato) sidekick, aka the Green Hornet, nor had I ever heard of LYNX EYED. ALLAYED and ameliorated are words that I don't use; don't want to be known as a sesquipedalian and it's just 'easier' to use 'eased'.

    Mr. Wildenberg- unless someone is a Wal-Mart shopper SAMS CHOICE would draw a blank unless you were referring to someone being drafted into the army by Uncle Sam.

    H-G- well in New Orleans we have an idiot mayor who is strictly politically pandering, and he wants to remove statues of Generals Robert E. Lee and P.T. Beauregard, along with Jefferson Davis along with changing street names. Well the most famous place in New Orleans is Jackson Square with a big statue of him in front of St. Louis Cathedral. Does the war of 1812 ring a bell? If people want to change Jackson's picture on the $20 bill, they might as well remove McKinley's picture from the $500 bill and replace them with British soldiers and Mt. Denali. This PC BS reminds me of Stalin rewriting books and doctoring photographs.

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  29. I love authentic historical novels, especially the ones where, in the Afterword, the author compares his work to the actual facts and lets us know where the two differ. I often become so interested I research the facts for more details and to discover which authors are most authentic. I hated history through grade school and high school. There I was given only dry facts to memorize. Except for the basic freshman introductory course, I found college history fascinating. History was even more interesting when I began devouring well researched historical novels.
    I like early Americana, the westward movement, especially wagon trains and the lives of women on them, the "wild west", Native American culture and the impact of European settlers on the Native Americans, the Royal Navy in the days of the sailing ships, pirates, and tales of early medicine.
    I am also into "culture shock" stories. When different cultures suddenly encounter one another each side considers the other barbarians.
    Are any of you into these themes?

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  30. Gaggle: "A gaggle is a term of venery for a flock of geese that is not in flight; in flight, the group can be called a skein. A gaggle is greater than or equal to five geese."

    JzB

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  31. I also am into Civil War stories. My younger sister is a great Civil War buff. I learned what I know about the Civil War through such novels and subsequent research.
    Because of my early antipathy to history I determined to emphasize the STORY part of history with my students. I was happy whenever they became engrossed in the story.
    These various types of historical novels have been a great help with crosswords. I sussed TREPAN from reading about early brain operations, which though ghastly and primitive, greatly advanced medical knowledge and practice. From this and two perps I inferred that such a tool could be used for rock boring.
    I find that thinking of what I have read is as valuable as thinking of what I have heard.
    History buffs, can you suggest your favorite novels?

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  32. Hi Everyone:

    The surgeon said that everything went well but the next couple of days will be rough. I hope the hydrocodone/Tylenol help in the early going. My arm is completely numb from just below my shouder to my fingers, a result of the nerve block. This can last for several more hours, keeping me pain free. Only discomfort, pre-op, was the tightness of the blood pressure cuff which required earlier than schedule sedation (it felt like my arm was being severed!) and the additional pain of having the IV in my foot. On the positive side, the numerous staff on my procedure were outstanding with their care and competence and compassion.

    YR, I shall follow your sage exercise advice but because of the splint, about the only thing I can do for 5 weeks is wiggle my fingers and try to move the arm as much as I can, using common sense, of course. You are the poster child for exercise and determination. And, yes, Virginia S., the limitations after such surgery are limitless! 😇

    Thank you all for thinking of me and for all of your prayers and best wishes; these sentiments are sincerely appreciated. Thank you, CC, for your special words, as always.

    I caught the vowel progression early but not the L-N feature until coming here and reading JazzB's witty and informative review. Thank you, Jazz, and thanks to Gerry W. for a fun, easy romp and for stopping by.

    RIP, Yogi, you were one of a kind,and, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it".

    Have a great day

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  33. Irish Miss,
    Glad the surgery went well, and best wishes for a speedy recovery!

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  34. Greetings!

    Thanks, Gerry and Jazz!

    Got the theme! No problems with fill. A few perps gave me GOODEN.

    Wishes for a speedy recovery, Agnes!

    Cheers!

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  35. I think many of us here enjoy and respect the wisdom of Yogi Berra. Here is his interview with Bob Simon on 60 Minutes. I really enjoyed it. YOGI

    Irish Miss, best wishes for a speedy and relatively pain-free recovery.

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  36. Very glad to hear the procedure went well Irish Miss. Don't be a martyr on the meds. Just take them at the proper intervals, and quit when you no longer need them. Opioids are safe if used properly. Happy healing.

    Enjoyed the puzzle, as well as the write up. Basal, trepan and I Ching were dredged out of the grey with some crossing assistance. Had no prior knowledge of Lynx-eyed, but the perps were solid and it sort of makes sense. Didn't get the theme until after completion, and even then didn't realize that they all had an N until the write up. But I did appreciate that Y was included. It's too often the red headed stepchild of the vowel series, so nice to see some R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

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  37. Irish Miss
    Glad to hear your surgery went well.
    I hope you have enough movement to enjoy your Dewar's-on-the-Rocks!!!

    Cheers !!!

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  38. Anon @ 12:48 AM:
    "Windy" (almost) never posts under a pseudonym.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Yellowrocks @10:50.
    Great advice to Irish Miss. Congrats to you on your hard work for an excellent recovery!!! Madame

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  40. Yellowrocks,

    Thanks for checking in. Good news!

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  41. Late to the party, I was out scouting camping sites for October.
    Total bummer, the stream I was hoping to camp on was bone dry.
    The lake that fed the stream was accessible by a one lane dirt
    road that was too narrow for my minivan. So I bicycled the mile to the
    4 wheel drive lot, & then biked another mile to a sign that said access to the lake
    was by foot only. Walked the last 3/4 mile only to find that I could not find
    a place to sit down let alone set up camp. (P.S. They lied, the lakes dam had
    a sign that said 20 ton max load...)

    Anywho, on the way back I found a Vivosmart Garmin bracelet that tracks everything
    from steps/heartrate/miles traveled/calories burned/time/accepts emails/& even has a bluetooth app that will help you find your missing cell phone! (does anyone see the irony in this?)

    Anyway, to make a long story shorter, I left a note that I found it at the trail entrance,
    & left a message at Garmin with the serial number in case the owner registered it...
    (Well what am I going to do with it? it is too small for my wrist & I don't have the charger...)

    Interesting gizmo though, if you sit too long it vibrates to remind you to get up off your arse!

    Land Grab?

    (There is nothing funny about Lenins Tomb...)

    Lint Roller However...

    Green Hornets Relative?

    Lunar Month? Sorry, I have Bi Cycle on the brain...

    LynxEyed???

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  42. ???? What was that about ????

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  43. Thank you all for the kind thoughts and best wishes. It is now 10:21 EDT and my arm is still totally numb after the nerve block of 8:30 a.m.
    This is a double-edged sword: no pain (yet) but no control of movement. I have given my self a couple of Mike Tyson-worthy jabs in my jaw. It is the strangest feeling and I think I'd trade it for the pain. Let see what tomorrow brings, unless I knock myself out in my sleep! Avg Joe, St. Agnes was a martyr; this Agnes is not. In fact, I was directed to start the pain meds as soon as I got home; so far, I've taken two and the next is due at 11:30 p.m. Tin, no problem with the Dewar's, my right hand is cast free and quite flexible opening bottles and the drawer full of _ _ _! Cheers!

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  44. For all of you who were surprised about the Lone Ranger Green Hornet relationship, be prepared. Dick Grayson (Batman's sidekick, Robin) is an ancestor of Spock's mother, Amanda Grayson. In Philip José Farmer's books "Tarzan Alive" and "Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life" the Shadow's girlfriend, Margot Lane, was rumored to be the sister of Superman's girlfriend, Lois Lane.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Good Thursday morning, folks. Thank you, Gerry Wildenberg, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Jazzbumpa, for a fine review.

    Irish Miss: Good luck with your recovery.

    This puzzle was not bad except for TREPAN and PUSH. I had CASH and TRECAN. OK, missed that one.

    Liked the theme.

    HO HO HO was clever.

    ALLAYED was tough for me.

    Went to a Cubs game last night. They went down in flames. Milwaukee is inn last place and whipped them.

    I have tickets for Monday night against Kansas City. We will see.

    See you later today or tomorrow.

    Abejo

    ( )

    ReplyDelete

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