google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Oct 10th, 2015, Bruce Venzke

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Oct 10, 2015

Saturday, Oct 10th, 2015, Bruce Venzke

Theme: None

Words: 68 (missing Q,V,X,Z)

Blocks: 30

 My experience with Mr. Venzke's puzzles has been tough, but do-able.  Today, however, I smoked through his construction in half my personal allotted time. Lots of "definitions" which helps avoid the names of people and places.  Triple 9-letter corners, two 10-letter climbers, and one spanner;

38a. House adjustment : REAPPORTIONMENT - The US House of Representatives; more here

16a. Calculated : TOTALED UP - straight up

36d. Pleasant : ENJOYABLE

55a. Nebraska tribe : WINNEBAGO
  
3d. Eroded : ATE AWAY AT


ACROSS:

1. Ray in the water : SKATE - oops, not MANTA

6. Lasting consideration : SHELF LIFE - I find it peculiar that my bottled water has a shelf life....

15. Times in ads : NITES - this had to be right, so it made me take out MANTA

17. On one's toes : ALERT

18. Periodic synchronizations : LEAP YEARS

19. Key ingredient in a Bloody Caesar : CLAMATO - I vaguely remembered this, but where it comes from is new to me - the Wiki
 

21. High-fashion shoemaker Jimmy : CHOO - HeartRx is all too familiar with this brand


22. Royal Botanic Gardens locale : KEW

23. Chef's introduction? : SOUS - working in the restaurants, this was easy for me

25. Do a farm vet's job : DEHORN

27. Frank's cousin : BRAT - oh, that frank(furter)

29. Cried from a shelter : YIPPED

31. 1989 James Cameron film, with "The" : ABYSS - I did see it, but didn't recall it right off the bat

33. Discontinues : SURCEASES - my Latin helped me here

40. Initiates detailed plans : SETS A DATE - think wedding

41. 1932 Lake Placid gold medalist : SONJA - one of the few proper nouns in today's puzzle, this one was mostly perps

42. Least exciting : TAMEST - did not get my ta-DA~! because I had Lamest first

44. Rapper __ Moe Dee : KOOL - I went with Cool first, and knew it was wrong

45. Malting material : BARLEY - think beer

49. Itinerary elements: Abbr. : RTEs

51. Sometime substitute for 45-Across : RYE

52. Spread on the table : OLEO

53. Native whose land has an Atlantic and Caribbean coastline : HAITIAN


60. Don't disturb : LET BE

61. Sign, as an agreement : ENTER INTO

62. Challenge for a future doctor : ORALS - I threw in MSATS

63. Hit from behind : REAR-ENDED - happened to me in 1989; took 4 years to recover the money from the other insurance company

64. Items in a slush pile: Abbr. : SASEs - the envelopes included with the manuscripts

DOWN:

1. Bite sites : SNACK BARS

2. First recurring "SNL" character : KILLER BEE

4. Insurance policy datum : TERM

5. Spanish pronoun : ESTAS

6. Edward Jones Dome athlete : St. LOUIS RAM - mostly perps; glad to see we had a hockey-themed puzzle for the opening of the season this week.  Not so much the football season

7. Masonry tool : HOE

8. Seventh of 24 : ETA - Greek letters

9. Once around : LAP

10. 1986 Jeff Goldblum film, with "The" : FLY - the more graphic version - IMDb

11. It's hard to get rid of one : LEECH

12. Wyoming neighbor : IDAHO

13. Hubbub : FUROR

14. Big name in printers : EPSON - since I had the "O", XEROX seemed likely

20. Bichon Frise, e.g. : TOY - dogs, learned from doing crosswords

24. Sound flustered : SPUTTER - oooh, so close, I had sTutter

25. Chrysler Building style : DECO - Art Deco, and my favorite building of the NYC skyline - and here combined with one of my other favorites













26. Heavens : EDENS

28. Rx amts. : TSPS

30. Group of fathers : PRIESTHOOD

32. Sudden rush : SPATE - yeah, um spaLe was, uh, wrong....

34. Frenzily : AMOK

35. Misses at many bullfights : SENORITAS - the ladies, not the "close calls"; need to call in the Farm Vet from 25a.

37. Lack of originality : STALENESS

39. Jazz singer Anita : O'DAY - dredged from the nether regions of the mind

43. Word with caddy or ball : TEA - tea caddy I get, but a tea ball is new to me


45. Shaded recess : BOWER - reminds me of this Led Zeppelin song

Gallows Pole - lyric @ 2:18

46. Flared dress shape : A LINE

47. __-Wreck : RENT-A

48. Hardly an extrovert : LONER

50. Storage areas : SILOS - semi-clecho at 57d.

54. Prefix with hertz : TERA - went with MEGA - that's 50%, 100% correct

56. Poetic preposition : ERE

57. Storage place : BIN

58. Word between two ages : AND - ummm....

59. Onetime Bell Atlantic rival : GTE

Splynter

55 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Pretty much what Splynter said. Got off to a slow start in the NW due to MANTA before SKATE, but after finishing the rest of the puzzle I was able to go back and take care of that section easily enough. Struggled with both REAPPORTIONMENT SURCEASES and needed every perp. Thought the clue for AND was extraordinarily weak. Why "two ages"? Wouldn't it just be a word between any other two words? Another minor speed bump in the center due to YELPED before YIPPED.

Overall, though, a pleasantly diverting Saturday puzzle. And it was nice to see two of my favorite science fiction movies in the grid!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

This was another of those solves in which a lot of incorrect answers seemed to have fit so well. Got there in the end.

Hello from Budapest, a city I never knew was so splendid. What a proud and remarkable place! JzB, you would perhaps have an advantage in knowing something of the history. I find that two days of learning isn't enough to rectify a lifetime of un-awareness.

Splynter, that Chrysler building pose was quite possibly your best yet. I'd love to ask that model whether the height bothered her any.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

This one was quick, though I almost crash-landed somewhere in Nebraska. I had DOG and STUTTER, and thought of EDENS, but refused to accept it. So I was looking at GITPE_ for quite a few moments. Hey, that could be "GIT PET and the Heavens could be ETHER. The light came on when I realized that SPUTTER would work. Still don't like EDENS, though.

I got REAR-ENDED in my pickup a couple of months ago. Really made a mess of the front end of that lady's new car. Put a small scratch on my bumper. Nothing worth fixing.

REAPPORTIONMENT is seldom undertaken to make things fairer.

Thought the "Periodic synchronizations" could be what my atomic wristwatch does nightly. But PHONE HOME just wasn't working,

Anonymous said...

"Thought the clue for AND was extraordinarily weak."

Hand up.

Avg Joe said...

Manta was proven by Term, so I had to be right. Right? What seemed like such a good start turned into a slog. Needed most of the perps for surceases, today's $50 word. Otherwise, things just kind of slowly came together. Oh, Winnebago started out with an A for the E. Looked right, but the clue for Ere was too insistent that it not be Are.....the bleh clue for And notwithstanding. Made that change and took my chances. Thank you Splynter!

One comic today made me think: "Another day at the crossword blog." Non Sequitur

Wizard of Id ain't half bad either.

Lemonade714 said...

Great cartoons; thanks. SURCEASES? DEHORN? The AND clue might be Rich's.

Like KEW CHOO

You think it was a real photo or just a girl photoshopped?

Thanks Splynter and Bruce

HowardW said...

KEW SOUS AND CHOO. I am the walrus.

Fell into similar traps, such as MANTA for SKATE, DOG for TOY, ESTOS for ESTAS. That gave me CLAMODO rather than CLAMATO which didn't sound too bad. All those 9's are very intimidating, but it eventually came together.

Loved the Non Sequitur cartoon, Avg Joe -- thanks!

Thanks Bruce for a nice challenge. And Splynter for a nice summary. I really hope that the model in the NYC skyline photo was photoshopped in. It's scary to me just seeing someone in such a precarious position. I can't imagine volunteering to climb out on that eagle.

Madame Defarge said...

Whew! I finally made it. Thanks Bruce for a fine test of my wits today. I liked ORALS in lieu of MCATS as a fresh clue for an MD's challenge. I had Belushi in my eyes for BEES but I could not dig up KILLER until that manta became a SKATE. I liked SENORITAS; thought I was missing some jargon in bullfighting.

Thanks for another fine Saturday Splynter. I don't know if the model is really there or CGI, but either way I had to move on as my knees went weak. [Not in the way yours might . . . serious acrophobia here ;--)]

AveJoe: Always love Non Sequitur. Thanks.

Have a lovely Fall day.

TTP said...

Thank you Bruce and thank you Spynter.

In the end, it was DNF because I had to go red letters.
TAPAS BARS was such a good answer for "Bite sites." Too bad it was wrong. That was after fist having STING for "Ray."
Didn't know ODAY. Took awhile to figure out why SETS A DATE was correct. The home construction show on TV at the time had me thinking of architectural plans.
Silly me. I thought a Bichon Frise was a dog. Bruce was just TOYing with us.
With only the YS, James Cameron's file would most likely be trYSt or ABYSS.
There's that SPATE some of you were looking for a few days ago.
Ha. For "House adjustment" it wasn't REleveling something, and then it wasn't REAPPraisl something. Third time a charm.
SURCEASES is a word you don't see every day.
Had no idea on BARLEY even with -AR-E- until I got RYE. Then it was easy. I was thinking of the malted I would have with my chipped chopped ham sandwich at Isaly's. Then maybe a Klondike bar for dessert.
In that same area as barley, I had ruled out REAR END because it wasn't long enough, but after ED appeared, I considered the tense of the action word.
Maybe I should see a neurologist. At least three times I read "1986 Jeff Goldblum album" instead of film.

desper-otto said...

TTP, maybe an optometrist. The neurologist would just stick a needle in the bottom of your foot and ask if you could feel that.

Husker Gary said...

A very nice Sat. offering with one bad cell por moi!

Musings
-Some are working hard to get the RAMS back in LA
-REAPPORTIONMENT/Gerrymandering
-WINNEBAGO was Nebraska’s feel good story last winter.
-Teaching refraction made me think that Ray was a beam of light
-SHELF LIFE not WHOLE LIFE
-Wow, JIMMY CHOO is having a sale!
-Jacquelyn Bisset’s T-shirt was the star of The ABYSS
-I got REAR-ENDED and the lady jumped out yelling “It’s all my fault!”
-TAPAS BARS, SUSHI BARS, nope!
-Everyone told me TERM insurance beats WHOLE LIFE
-Masonry tool was HOE not this old masonry tool
-Loved the “Groups of fathers” clue
-I’ve seen a lot of STALENESS in lesson plans my entire career
-TEE/TEA was just in there to bedevil us golfers ☺
-SILOS will be bursting with a record crop this year
-What 1986 “coming of age movie” (with a great theme song) had a LEECH scene?

CrossEyedDave said...

Lucinda Granges Daredevil Photography.

desper-otto said...

Husker, I think you've confused The Deep with The Abyss. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio did have quite the revival scene in The Abyss, though.

I agree, that masonry clue was a hod one.

Bill G. said...

Gary, I can't remember for sure but I'm thinking it was 'Stand By Me.'

~ Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a real toughie for me but I finally finished w/o help, though it took almost an hour. I went astray with manta and mandibles for bite places, both of which looked okay. After a time, though, bit by bit, that area collapsed so I started over. I've heard of skate but thought it was just an ordinary fish. Small nit: Bichon Frises are not toys; they are small dogs but not toys like Chihuahuas, Yorkies, toy Poodles, etc. Our Bichon weighed about 26 pounds, although she was a little larger than normal. Toys or not, they are lovable, friendly, furry little cream puffs.

Thanks, Bruce, for a real mental workout, and thanks, Splynter, for the walk through.

Madame Defarge, I share your weak-knees and extreme (is there a stronger word than extreme?) acrophobia. I can't even go up a steep driveway! 🎠 Yes but 🎡 🎢 Never!

Avg Joe, cute cartoons. Also, I'm still chuckling at your caption for that mean Lab stealing the treat from the bewildered Bichon. Uslurped, indeed!

Have a great day.

Dudley said...

Bill G, that's funny!!

Wish I'd thought that up.

TTP said...

Desper-otto, ha ha. That too. Maybe I could get a two-fer ? In June the optometrist said my eyes are fine, except for the occasional blurry vision. She recommended that I clean my glasses more often, and try some drops. I'd see the neurologist for this suspected brain disorder. I think I might have some wires crossed up there !

Aitch-Gee, The Breakfast Club ?

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-Dang, it was The Deep. Oh well, the picture was worth it!
-Yup, that’s the LEECH movie! Here’s the trailer with Ben E. King’s fabulous song
-The star of that movie now works here
-Love the joke, Bill.
-Walk a mile in her Jimmy Choo shoes!

VirginiaSycamore said...

Thanks for the write-up Splynter.
Darn you Bruce and Rich for killing my buzz this morning.
Like TTP I had to turn on red letters after 37 min of almost nothing filled and half of it wrong or partly wrong. My misses were similar to TTP also.

Whenever I see KEW, I think of the Alexander Pope quote,
“I am his Highness' dog at KEW;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?”

I knew the Lake Placid skater was Norwegian and had also been in movies. This article shows she got firsts in 3 Olympics not just Lake Placid. SONJA_HENIE

I had mcats then with red letters put ORALS and I realized the clue meant PhDs, not just MDs.

Happy Saturday to all,
VS

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Difficult enough. Some googling needed.
TERAhertz - A still developing part of the spectrum between microwave and optical.
DEHORN - Normally, a vet would not be needed IMO unless the animal was injured or so large or dangerous that it would need to be sedated. It is painful to the animal. We used to use dehorning paste on calves; rubbing it on the little nubs where the horn would normally grow later.
SONJA - We walked along Sonja Henies Plass in Oslo. Nothing special.
The current queen of Norway is named SONJA.

Lucina said...

Greetings, friends!

Thanks Splynter and Bruce. Today proved itself a good Saturday challenge. As someone said, having sensible, though obscure, definitions helped with the long fill. Starting with CHOO and SENORITAS on the first pass gave me the toehold and though at first I had SONIA, it was ENJOYABLE to change it. I knew nothing about KOOL Moe Dee, and had AGOG but realized those rappers don't have normal spelling, AMOK worked better.

Sadly, I had to research O'DAY and ABYSS to finish the NW since both were strangers to me. Hand up for MANTA before SKATE became apparent.

Dudley:
I can't believe you're posting from Budapest!

Have a tremendously special Saturday, everyone!

Lucina said...

I agree with IrishMiss about Bichon Frise not being a TOY. It's a mid sized dog and yes, just adorable.

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thought":

Got the puzzle after many write overs but didn't have to cheat. I came up with this limerick today:

The young SOUS chef became all a flutter
At his ORALS. He started to sputter,
"When you DEHORN, I know,
That you get OLEO
From a cow who's no longer a butter!

Happy weekend!

Ol' Man Keith said...

As already noted, tough but do-able--and pretty satisfying.
I didn't get BRAT's relation to Frank until Splynter closed the gap for me.
Among other nits to pick I'm not sure how SONJA can be a stand-alone name without some first-name hint in the clue. (I always liked Miss Henie; we kids thought we were young rakes for calling her "Heiny.") And what exactly do SASES have to do with a "slush pile"?

Jayce said...

Whoo! Wot a pozzle! Barry G already wrote what I was going to write, so WBS.
Good joke, Bill G.
Happy Double Ten Day!

desper-otto said...

"Frank's cousin" would also work with his Rat Pack, and the kids' Brat Pack. But I agree w/Splynter. It's the BRATwurst -- the best I ever had came from Sheboygan, soaked in beer, grilled over hot coals, served on a warm potato roll. Mmmmmmm.

Ol' Man Keith (what happened with the i before e rule?), a "Slush pile" is slang for the stack of manuscripts on the editor's desk. Thus the SASE.

Miss Beckley said...

What does a hoe have to do with brick work?

Dudley said...

Lucina 12:10 - Neither can I ! This is a voyage of a lifetime. We just pulled away from beautiful Budapest, heading upriver to Bratislava in Slovakia.

The local time is almost nine PM and the night skyline is beautiful. I so enjoy this part of the world.

Argyle said...

The mortar for the bricks must be made in small batches. It is mixed up in a wheelbarrow using a hoe to stir it thoroughly.

61Rampy said...

Does anyone else have the credit for this puzzle going to Barry Silk?? The Maui Times has the same puzzle as discussed here, but says Barry Silk ©2008. I made it thru the puzzle unscathed, but hand up for MANTA before SKATE.

Husker Gary said...

Musings 3
-A mortar HOE. We tenders were called Mortar HOERS. If we used a fork, we’d be called…
-RAY water refraction
-Off to watch the Huskers.

Jayce said...

That Revere 3 phone looks pretty nice, Lucina.
I'm glad you are enjoying your travels, Dudley.

coneyro said...

I can't believe this was a Saturday puzzle. Actually ended with only 4 blank squares. Amazing.

WEES about SURCEASES, REAPPORTIONMENT, and DEHORN.

For 24D....Went from STAMMER to STUTTER to SPUTTER.

For 20D...From DOG to TOY.

For 37D...From TRITENESS to STALENESS

For 54D...From MEGA to TERA

KEW Gardens is also a famous neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY.

CLAMATO..yuck!

I can't be the only one who would never spend hundreds of dollars on Jimmy CHOO shoes.(Even if I could afford it) Can't see spending a lot of money to make rich people richer. That goes for just about EVERYTHING I've ever bought. Love flea markets and Goodwill/Second Chance type stores.

Jeff Goldblum was so good in the FLY. He is an understated actor. Very quiet personality, but he is so talented. Jurassic Park was another gem of his.

SNL....Don't watch it anymore..A shadow of its former self.

Don't know when I'll have as good a run on a weekend offering. I'm proud of my effort today.

Enjoy your weekend folks.

Jayce said...

Husker Gary, that ray water refraction diagram prompts a question: How much of the ray's original energy is transmitted through the air-water junction into the water, and how much of the energy is reflected?

Freond said...

Finished, but this took me twice my allotted time. I fell into all the should-know-better mistakes:
1. Sticking with a word you are pretty sure is wrong. MANTA looked so right, even tho I really thought that Spanish word had to begin with E. DOG just wasn't working, but PUP didn't either, so I kept DOG since the O seemed right. Took too long to get TOY. I did manage to avoid putting in ARBOR for BOWER, tho.
2. Not hearing echos of puzzles from earlier in the week. We had POE from a "midnight dreary" clue, so "from my books SURCEASE of sorry" should have come to mind. I memorized the first 8 or 10 stanzas of The Raven in 8th grade for a weekly poem-memorization assignment (can't count how many times I heard "I think that I shall never see...."). Not sure it was even the same constructor, but there is mental telepathy between them, right? Seems so when similar odd words pop up twice in a week.
3. Jumping to conclusions/reading too fast. Caddy and ball? Gotta be TEE. Nope, golfers may have a such a thing as a "tee caddy" but TEA caddy is obvious--IF you think about it, which I didn't. That was one thing really holding up the SE corner. Clever misdirection of a sort, I think. Once 2/3 of a an answer works, the rest has to be it. Not.
4. Narrow-mindedness. Yeah, MSATS or some -AT exams for MD's, right? Wrong.
5. Giving constructor too much credit. AND? Yeah, that fits, but no self-respecting constructor would gives such a convoluted clue for such a banal word! Wrong again.
6. Only going through 3 of the 4 possible obvious answers. Tried KILO, MEGA, PETA, before finally getting to TERA. That was the 3rd SE corner problem.

Only other complaints: "Slush pile" seem like really obscure slang few would know. SASE seemed to be the only abbreviation that fit, so had to go with it. Would anyone other than a mason know that they used a HOE? On the whole, it was a good, really tough puzzle IMHO.

DECO was a gimme, and somehow the D allowed DEHORN to pop into my mind right away. Had zero confidence it would be right, but went with it anyway, since I was having so much trouble all over the place, I figured anything is better than nothing. Mostly my perps told me I had them wrong. Once in a while you get lucky.

Have a great week-end, y'all, and may all your baseball teams win. There's one team I'd really like to see go all the way. It would be ENJOYABLE to have SURCEASE from the FUROR and whining about no championships. Unfortunately, that team tends to TOY with our hopes before they SPUTTER at the end of the season and fall into the ABYSS of also-rans or the dust BIN of losers (but they haven't ERE now!). Maybe this year the cursing goat will finally be DEHORNed. Gee, I wasn't ALERT to the fact that
today's puzzle was all about them!

DJ said...

27 across: I came up with "brat," but thought it referred to Frank Sinatra and the "Brat Pack." And I live in Wisconsin, home of brats!

Lucina said...

Jayce@2:46
It is very nice and sturdy! The best thing, though, is that it was free! I've been due for a new one for such a long time and the rate will be about the same as previously.

BillG@10:41
So funny!

Dudley:
I'm soooo jealous!

Jerome said...

Bichon Frises are classified as toys. In fact, the French translation is "curly lap dog". Their average height is only 9 to 11 inches.

SPOILER ALERT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Today's Saturday Stumper crossword has this clue- Toy with a 2000-year history.
The answer is PEKE. This is one of the reasons why it took me 4 or 5 hours total time to solve the puzzle. The Stumper can be a humbling experience.

By the way, I think Bruce's puzzle is outstanding.

HowardW said...

Jayce (2:49) -
Concerning reflection/refraction -- perhaps figure 2 here will help.

Jayce said...

HowardW, thanks. So many explanations only discuss the angles, and until now I have been unsuccessful in finding a formula or graph that relates percentage (fraction) of energy transmitted into the material. Thanks to you, I now have a graph; now I hope to find the formula, the function, from which the graph is drawn. I don't know why I have not been successful in finding it. My particular application of interest is the fraction of the sunlight energy that actually penetrates the glass to energize solar cells as a function of the angle of incidence. It appears to be non-linear, which jibes with my observations. Thanks again.

Irish Miss said...

Jerome @ 3:40 - Being a "curly lap dog" doesn't mean the Bichon is a toy. Neither does its small stature, which can vary tremendously, in both height and weight. The AKC classification for Bichons is the Non-sporting Group, not the Toy Group. (My husband used to joke that Bichons belong in the Bred To Do Nothing Group!). As far as I'm concerned, any dog who can fit on my lap, can sit on my lap! 🐩 🐶 🐕

My Frank's cousin was Bean, as in franks and beans!

Anonymous T said...

Hi all:

Apologies to Bruce, not the time w/ my brother here to savor the puzzle and TOTAL DNF. The NE filled nicely (pause w/ LEAP secon (doh!).

Bill G. Enjoyed the joke. Dudley do tell stories from Budapest - post 21 lines for all I care :-)

Time to watch ST. LOUIS Cards play the Cubs. My brother is a life-long Cards fan, but wants the Cubs to win (as do I; tho go 'Stros!) just so Back to the Future II is correct. It is 2015 after all!

Cheers, -T

Bill G. said...

I'm glad you guys liked the little joke. I'm guessing the reason it found favor among you is because it is witty in a clever and intelligent fashion.

I feel guilty but I'm going to skip the bike ride and just have iced coffee in an air conditioned coffee shop. Then I will come home and suffer through another session of inept Dodgers hitting.

Bill G. said...

It is so hot here today, 94F at 4:30, that I'm almost sick.

My bike-riding buddy has a sister that is often sending him Internet links that he dislikes so much that he doesn't even open them. As a result, he has very negative feeling about You Tube videos and much of the Internet in general. I have stopped sending him links I enjoy because he often ignores them. Me? I find that the Internet has enriched my life with jokes (like the one I posted earlier) and videos, both informative and entertaining (like the great one posted here a couple of days back) showing sorority girls taking selfies at a baseball game. Ellen had them on her show yesterday. They are using their new-found fame to collect money for a worthy charity. I also appreciate the Internet for being able to find information about anything in a few seconds with nothing but a few keystrokes. I wish my father were around to experience the Internet 'cause I know he would really appreciate and marvel at it too.

Mr. Wiki said...

Sorry Jerome. Bzzzzt. If this was a British puzzle then maybe toy would be correct, but here in 'merica, the Bichon Frise is not in the Toy Group. In fact, your other facts are all hogwash and another example of not believing everything one reads on the inter-webs.

"The word bichon comes from Middle French bichon ("small long-haired dog"), a diminutive of Old French biche ("bitch, female dog"), from Old English bicce ("bitch, female dog"), related to Old Norse bikkja ("female dog") and German Betze ("female dog").[3][4] Some speculate the origin of bichon to be the result of the apheresis, or shortening, of the word barbichon ("small poodle"), a derivative of barbiche ("shaggy dog"); however, this is unlikely, if not impossible, since the word bichon (attested 1588) is older than barbichon (attested 1694)."

HowardW said...

Jayce -
I found some formulas here. The refraction fraction varies with polarization of the incoming light -- for your problem, one would probably assume that sunlight is unpolarized.

Avg Joe said...

Steenking Badgers!

At least the Cubs won.

Hook 'em horns said...

So did Texas!

Madame Defarge said...

Irish,

Agreed! Last Fall DH and I drove up Mt. Agamenticus in York ME. I know it's not a "real" mountain, but on the way up, I ended up lying on the front seat. I COULD NOT look out the window. Once we were up there, I loved the view and we had a wonderful picnic lunch--a real life Google view of a place we love. We will return in a couple of weeks, but on this trip I'll lie on the seat before the panic sets in!

No Ferris wheels or roller coasters for me either. ��

Anonymous T said...

Dodgers fans, I hope you're not taking pride in that win. Utely played dirty and a guy is down... -T

Anonymous said...

Agreed T. Terrible call. Dirty play. Obviously trying to take a man out. This play will change baseball forever. Rules will change.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of hockey...

Ol' Man Keith said...

Thanks, Desper-Otto,

I never came across that meaning of "slush pile" before. And as for the spelling of my name, the rule--as I learned it--is:

"I before E except after C,
Or when sounded as 'ay' as in 'neighbor' and 'weigh,'
Or in the name 'Keith'."

Anonymous T said...

O'MK - Oh, bugger - there's one more exception to 'i' 'e' rule that I never noticed. From henceforth you shall be known as Kath :-)

I'm still thinking about the Utley play. Anon@1:28a, I hope baseball doesn't add a rule (there's plenty already (don't get me started on instant-replay, we (bro, his DW, DW, & I) spent an hour on it last night - out come: DW doesn't care about baseball, the rest of us hate IR)). The last time I heard "this changes everything" we lost a civil right or two... um, I'll stop there.

The play was dirty - no new rule needed just playground justice - you sit over there until recess (playoff) is over.

Cheers, -T

Anonymous said...

Sorry AnonT, I have to disagree. Changing a couple of rules is hardly comparable to the Patriot Act.

Societal rules are changing. We don't encourage people to beat their kids with switches anymore.(Thank you Adrian Peterson) We don't accept men beating their wives or girlfriends anymore(Thank you Ray Rice) Basketball suspends players for fighting and even suspends bench players who leave the bench to gather around a teammates fights. (thank you Ron Artest) Even hockey is coming around, at least during the playoffs.

Several high-profile incidents have affected the rulebooks. Tom Brady and Carson Palmer injuries brought about the "no diving at a qb's legs" rule. Dislocated knees have outlawed the "chop block". We no longer allow players who have had their "bell rung" to rub some dirt on it and return to action, you pansy. (thank you Junior Seau, Dave Dureson, Terry long and too many others) Buster Posey's gruesome injury has stopped the Pete Rose/Ty Cobb "spikes in the air" mentality and no more needless collisions at the plate. And now it is time we should stop the blatant "take the man out" play at 2nd. You should be able to disrupt the double play attempt but you should only be allowed to do so by sliding DIRECTLY at the bag, not over it or around it.

Google that play from last night and read about how many "experts" are clamoring for it now.