Theme: How do I get paid here? Wait in the FEE LINE in the corner.
It appears I get another debut puzzle, and a very ambitious one at that. In each of the four corners we have intersecting names of famous fictional felines. They are all part of the family FELIDAE. We get the reveal in middle, which oddly has nothing to do with CATS. To add to the challenge, we have triple stacks of nine in the NW and SE and triple sixes in SW and NE. To get all that into a single grid, there are some compromises and 8 cheater squares, but I still found it one of the hardest of the year. I have not seen that many puzzles where the themers are all proper names. A CSO to the Corner, so let us get to it.
1A. "The Jungle Book" villain : SHERE KHAN (9) the bad guy is paired with 1D. Half of a cartoon duo : STIMPY (6) the silly one.
10A. Character in the comic "Mutts" : MOOCH (5) who I do not know is paired with 14D. Friend of Calvin : HOBBES (6) a wonderful stuffed animal.
63A. C.S. Lewis hero : ASLAN (5) from the other side of the wardrobe is paired with 41D. Scar's brother from Lion King : MUFASA (6).
64A. "Looney Tunes" lisper : SYLVESTER (9) also silly is paired with 47D. Pooh pal : TIGGER (6) another stuffed tiger.
The reveal: 35A. Diagonally ... or what each of four pairs of puzzle answers form? : KITTY CORNER (11).
Okey dokey, lets see how he befuddled me...
15. Stubborn : TENACIOUS. A musical name? LINK. (4:53).
16. Howe'er : ALTHO. Both silly abbreviations.
17. Mutton dish : IRISH STEW. This RECIPE?
18. Title from the Arabic for "master" : SAHIB.
19. Litter call : MEW.
20. Orchestra sect. : STRings.
21. Electric guitar effect : REVERB.
23. Mate's affirmative : AYE. Ship mate.
24. 2013 Spike Jonze film : HER. Really weird movie.
26. "Revolutionary Road" author Richard : YATES. Have you read the BOOK?
28. "... high hope for __ heaven": Shak. : A LOW. Love's Labour Lost, Act I, Scene 1
30. Mil. awards : DSCS. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS.
31. Part of many a date : MOVIE.
33. Cheapen : ABASE.
38. To date : AS YET.
39. Virtuous : MORAL. If you are too moral you may not...
41. Cry of discomfort : MOAN. which looks a lot like...
44. Romantic evening highlight, perhaps : MOON. After which you many moan.
46. Shore up, as an embankment : REVET. last and only time in the LAT June 2010. I did not recall.
48. Mil. branch : USN.
49. Present : NOW.
50. Munch on : EAT.
52. Former Abbey Road Studios owner : EMI. Electric and Musical Industries Ltd.
53. Gradual revelation : FADE IN. In movies?
55. Center : HUB.
56. Record : LOG. Captain's Log....
57. Ice cream thickeners : AGARS. Yes, seaweed is the SECRET.
58. Peggy Lee specialty : TORCH SONG.A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship. Wiki.
62. Chestnut : PLATITUDE.
Down:
2. "Yoo-hoo!" : HERE I AM.
3. 1944 Pacific battle site : ENIWETOK. The BATTLE came not long after the battle for Kwajalein, a Marshall Island where an old girlfriend lived on when she was young.
4. Univ. peer leaders : RAS. This bunch. LINK.
5. Command level: Abbr. : ECH. This is common fill in the NYT but meaningless to me.
6. __-face : KISSY.
7. Winter warmer : HOT TEA.
8. Violinist who taught Heifetz : AUER.
9. State north of Victoria: Abbr. : NSW. New South Wales. CSO to Kazie.
10. Electromagnetic wave generator : MASER. I remember when they won the Nobel Prize for this DEVICE.
11. Norse royal name : OLAV.
12. Leftovers : OTHERS. I get it but I do not like it.
13. President before Sarkozy : CHIRAC. He recently turned 83. LINK.
21. Nuke : REWARM.
23. "A chain ... strong __ weakest link" : AS ITS.
24. Rail rider : HOBO.
27. French spa : EVIAN. A watered down clue?
29. Kind of vegetarian : LACTO. They eat milk products like cheese.
30. Caterpillar rival : DEERE.
32. Linguistic root : ETYMON. The root of etymology but not a word I know.
34. Derisive sound : SNORT. My memory of this is tied to Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality, which is also the real Sandra. Wait until the end.
37. Disentangle : RAVEL OUT. Not unravel, but...
40. Paper with a Société section : LE MONDE. The 'world' in French and an"A" away.
42. Oklahoma natives : OSAGES.
43. Along with the rest : AND ALL.
45. __ network : NEURAL.
49. Seder month : NISAN. Hebrew Calendar.
51. "Modern Family" network : ABC TV. I have been doing lots of networking.
54. Aunt with a "Cope Book" : ERMA. The puzzle friendly Ms Bombeck.
55. Blessed : HOLY.
58. Pulls a Charmin shenanigan, briefly : TPS. Do people still toilet paper houses?
59. Skedaddle : HIE.
60. Some routes: Abbr. : STS.
I will say goodbye with an image of domestic cats and hope none of you are allergic to dander. Lemonade out.
1
S
|
2
H
|
3
E
|
4
R
|
5
E
|
6
K
|
7
H
|
8
A
|
9
N
|
10
M
|
11
O
|
12
O
|
13
C
|
14
H
| |
15
T
|
E
|
N
|
A
|
C
|
I
|
O
|
U
|
S
|
16
A
|
L
|
T
|
H
|
O
| |
17
I
|
R
|
I
|
S
|
H
|
S
|
T
|
E
|
W
|
18
S
|
A
|
H
|
I
|
B
| |
19
M
|
E
|
W
|
20
S
|
T
|
R
|
21
R
|
E
|
V
|
E
|
R
|
B
| |||
22
P
|
I
|
E
|
23
A
|
Y
|
E
|
24
H
|
E
|
R
|
25
R
|
A
|
E
| |||
26
Y
|
A
|
T
|
27
E
|
S
|
28
A
|
29
L
|
O
|
W
|
30
D
|
S
|
C
|
S
| ||
31
M
|
O
|
V
|
I
|
32
E
|
33
A
|
B
|
A
|
34
S
|
E
| |||||
35
K
|
I
|
T
|
T
|
36
Y
|
C
|
O
|
R
|
N
|
E
|
37
R
| ||||
38
A
|
S
|
Y
|
E
|
T
|
39
M
|
O
|
R
|
A
|
40
L
| |||||
41
M
|
42
O
|
43
A
|
N
|
44
M
|
O
|
O
|
45
N
|
46
R
|
E
|
V
|
E
|
47
T
| ||
48
U
|
S
|
N
|
49
N
|
O
|
W
|
50
E
|
51
A
|
T
|
52
E
|
M
|
I
| |||
53
F
|
A
|
D
|
54
E
|
I
|
N
|
55
H
|
U
|
B
|
56
L
|
O
|
G
| |||
57
A
|
G
|
A
|
R
|
S
|
58
T
|
O
|
R
|
C
|
59
H
|
60
S
|
O
|
N
|
G
| |
61
S
|
E
|
L
|
M
|
A
|
62
P
|
L
|
A
|
T
|
I
|
T
|
U
|
D
|
E
| |
63
A
|
S
|
L
|
A
|
N
|
64
S
|
Y
|
L
|
V
|
E
|
S
|
T
|
E
|
R
|
47 comments:
What a clever theme, by @Craig Stowe, and thanks @Lemonade for the entertaining writeup. I don't think that I've ever seen so many cartoons of cats, assembled at one site. Also, belated congratulations to @Don Gagliardi and @C.C. for yesterday's puzzle.
Today, my friend @Martin Ashwood-Smith has one of his trademark quad stacks running in the New York Times. Whenever possible, my web site tries to run a companion bonus puzzle on the same day as a MSM publication, so if you're in the mood, check out Opera Boxes that is a collaborative effort with MAS. Despite the name, it is a themeless and it includes a quad stack; when you are done, be sure to read the "midrash." Hope you enjoy it!
I had to go to red letters today. I didn't know SHEt_ KHAN, but the rest of my problems were in the SW. I had AS WELL instead of AND ALL, didn't know MUFASA, and those left without enough perps to suss the rest. The reveal helped a lot to get the edges filled. Two heroic lions together in one corner, two doll tigers along one edge, three cartoon cats scattered around as buffers between groups, and one villainous tiger by himself.
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said 'What a good boy am I!'
ECH = Echelon may refer to:
-- A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society.
-- Echelon formation, a military hierarchical formation, also used to describe the migratory patterns of birds
My limericks form one long poem about another enthusiasm of mine, HOBO Nickels. After seeing their website, I hope you find them interesting, too. I drew the comic strip that appears in their magazine.
I have no idea why images are duplicated as they do not appear in my original.
Happy Friday
Once many were the HOBO who rode the rails,
He works when he can, hops a freight if he fails.
He rides the trains from sea to sea
No trace of responsibility,
Nickels are dollars when he carves them with nails!
A carved nickel bought a bowl of IRISH STEW,
Some coffee and maybe a PIE slice or two.
Need needn't ABASE
When an Indian's face
Could be etched to appear as someone new!
With only a nail to use as a tool
The carvings were crude, yet good as a rule!
When the image was neat,
The HOBO could EAT,
And today there's collectors who think they are cool!
HOBO nickels are a connoisseur's hobby today,
Some sell for hundreds on line on eBay!
ALTHO men have tools
To turn nickels to jewels,
It's amazing what folks for old nickels will pay!
To survive the Depression took a good attitude.
Enough years increase worth is a golden PLATITUDE.
What's accomplished with grace
Will for long have a place,
Is an uplifting MORAL to give this verse altitude!
Morning, all!
I love cats. Wish I could say the same for this puzzle. Christmas PIE? REWARM? RAVELOUT? Too many clunkers for my taste, not to mention the completely unknown ETYMON.
FIW today. I thought the problem would be in the NE, at the intersection of the unknown -OOCH with LASER/MASER. But no, I had guessed that one correctly. Error was SHERa KHAN, as I didn't think of the abbreviation ECHelon.
Several unknown names requiring ESP: Leopold AUER, John RAE, Richard YATES. Never heard of IRISH STEW -- sorry, IM -- but could guess it after 7 letters. RAVEL OUT was unfamiliar but guessable from unravel. Same with REVET and revetment, ETYMON and etymology.
All of which made for a tough challenge today from Mr. Stowe. Clever to work in all those well-known felines. MEW AND ALL, felicitations! Nice links and write-up, Lemonade.
Hello all.
Thanks, Craig. Well, if I'd been paying attention to bigger ideas instead of letters, I may have seen all the cats. Alas, I did not. I just plugged away and finally figured it all out. Realizing the felines were all over the place led me in the right direction.
Thanks for the run through, Lemonade. Nice collection of cats.
Have a good day.
It was dead in the water from the 'git go'. Way too many unknowns, including three of the cats- SHERE KHAN, MOOCH, & MUFASA. I correctly filled the entire right side except I guessed POOCH for MOOCH but the left was a minefield or write-overs.
OKINAWA for ENIWETOK,ET ALII for AND ALL, EMMA for ERMA, MONTH for MOVIE, AS THE for AS ITS, but the real killer was that I tried CADDY-CORNER and CATTY-CORNER for KITTY CORNER. Never heard that term.
This one had too many unknowns to get a handle on- NISAN, ETYMON, ALOW to go along with the others. And then there's PLATITUDE, which was filled by perps; what does that have to do with the clue 'Chestnut'?
Chestnut- Old story
Platitude - Old story
Morning!
Wow, did I ever screw this one up. My very first sure-thing entry was "ABOUT face," and that turned out to be wrong. In the end, three incorrect letters, and they're all in the top row. Gave up on the _CH -- couldn't see echelon for the world. The electromagnetic wave generator was a LASER, and I thought CHIRAC began with an S, the way it sounds. MOOCH ended up as LOOSH -- one still looks as good as the other to me. So, chalk up two in a row for d-o. Dang!
Didn't notice the cats in the corners. If I had, I would never have tried DAFFY DUCK as the Looney Tunes lisper. That slowed things to a crawl in the SE.
Still, I really liked the puzzle. Debut puzzle, you say? Impressive. This one was just out of my wheelhouse. I don't read the comics, don't watch cartoons, and it's been ages since I've read any kiddy-lit. It was a trifecta.
Never got going, too many ????????????'s. Of the 10 fills I entered, 5 were wrong. Therefore, I said the Hell with it and took big fat DNF.
Hello Puzzlers -
Limped across the finish line today. Had to call upon years' worth of little nuggets of information learned only from crosswords - Nisan, Stimpy, and Ojibwas come to mind. New South Wales was a gimme - I spent lots of fun hours in the air over that territory in an antique Auster monoplane. Had to make reasonable guesses about Etymon and Revet, from the more familiar words etymology and revetments. Definitely a challenge! I love the Kitty Corner theme, even if I never heard of Shere Khan.
I watched the movie "Her" and remember the story, but forgot both the title and the producer. It's believable that a lonely person could become attached to a synthetic being, the way Raj fell for Siri in a TBBT episode.
Good Morning:
This was a DNF for me due to not knowing Shere Khan and Ech. There were a few clunky fill-ins, but the theme was clever. I'm sure CED found it purr-fectly pleasing.
We always say kitty corner but many people say catty corner. Oh well, tomayto, tomahto, who cares?
Thanks, Craig, for a Friday stumper and thanks, Lemony, for the walk through.
Cool and dreary right now but can't complain about temps in the high 40's and no snow yet, as we ease into December. The next several days look sunny, dry, and mild.
HowardW @ 6:00 - Lamb Stew is the term I'm more familiar with, not Irish Stew, although I think they're one and the same. However, I am not a stew (of any kind) lover, so we need a more informed opinion from our resident Galloping Gourmet, AKA, Steve!
Have a great day.
Is that all there is ? If that's all there is, then let's keep dancing, let's break out the booze and have a ball.*
YIKES ! Not a big cartoon fan. Stubborn would describe my refusal to give in to this puzzle, but in the end I caved. Four hours was enough, and the NW corner refused to yield. Oh well, I got 6 out of 8 of them, including ESP MUFASA.
AYE, AS ITS, AS YET, HOBO and a tentative ABASE, along with DSCS and DEERE were my only fills throught the first 10 or so rows, and I thought this puzzle was going to give me my comeuppance. The south gave me a much needed grip.
KISS was locked in by SOCIAL network until a series of axons fired and told me that EAT and HUB would make NEURAL the better answer. Unlocked the SE corner by ditching the (also) lisping DAFFY DUCK and replacing with SYLVESTER when ABC TV became apparent.
Worked in SNORT and MORAL, then REWARM followed by LACTO, and that was enough to see KITTY CORNER. Looked at TIGGER and SYLVESTER with fresh eyes, and then filled in both ASLAN and HOBBES.
I guess if there's an unravel, there must be a RAVEL. And thus you may be able to RAVEL something OUT. Like Christmas lights and cords and garlands. I think I'll stick with untangle.
MOON. Romantic evening highlight. What do you want Mary ? Do you want the moon ? Just say so and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down for you.
* Don't know why my mother liked that song so much. I thought it was depressing.
Time to go read the review and then all the earlier comments.
Way above my pay grade. Way too many helps needed. After seeing it completed, it now seems clever, but too daunting for me.
I used to make Irish stew with lamb which has a more pleasing, subtle flavor than mutton and is easier to find in stores..
I had many separate little errands this AM, all in different directions. Already I must leave to be there to pick up Alan at 11:30 EST. I am pushing him to work half a day now. I hold my breath each day that I am correct, but it seems to have been the right thing to do.
This afternoon I will buy a small cut tree for my patio and decorate outdoors. No ladders! The last fall was disastrous. I will put electric candles in every window. I hope that brings out my Christmas spirit.
Thank you Craig Stowe and Lemonade. I am now informed of the unknowns in the NW corner. As I said earlier, 4 hours and incomplete. No red letter help. Too tough, and I can see that everyone, including master solver D-O had problems with this one.
IRISH STEW. Drats. Had the S_STEW part, but since I don't care for mutton it's not a dish that would readily come to mind. Still... Not EVE or DAY, but PIE. Never had that either, and I would repeat the latter half of my IRISH STEW comments.
D'OH ! KISSY-face. I tried to work around Pasty-Face, ala the Pillsbury Doughboy. Kissy face is what I get from my wife last thing before she heads out the door to work...
I was stationed on a base in Germany that had two Combat Engineering Battalions. Among many other construction roles, Combat Engineers build protection REVETments.
US Army Corp of Engineers have probably built more REVETments for the civil engineering purposes of flood control and erosion prevention than for any other reason. Texas has many. Pick a state and you'll probably find USACE revetments and/or dams. Not always to the joy of the locals.
US Army Basic Trainees throw live grenades from thick concrete walled three-sided REVETments. At Ft. Knox there was a large diameter hole in the front corner of the bay in case a recruit dropped a live grenade.
Scott Weiland of STP has succumbed, most likely due to his addictions. STP's Interstate Love Song features both FADE IN and REVERB. I think I saw either Theda Bara or Lillian Gish in that video...
"Yoo-hoo!" - I couldn't build anything aroung HI THERE.... I think of an actress, like Kaye Ballard, entering a scene with that hello. Was there someone else that I should be recalling ?
Yes Lemonade, around here the teens still TP houses of other sports-playing teens, usually before the homecoming game. It gives them something to laugh about at Assembly. You can reasonably predict there's going to be a party when you see a few teens in line at the COSTCO checkout, and each buying one of those 36 roll packages...
Bluehen from yesterday, glad you liked the link to Smooth. Didn't know much about Rob Thomas or his wife until you mentioned her...
Thanks everyone! It's an honour and a thrill to have a puzzle published with the LA Times. I hope you enjoy my second puzzle coming out later this month.
Hi gang -
Fell into the LOOSH / LASER trap. Mutts is a crappy comic I don't bother reading. Who knew there would be a cat?
Nice theme - clever and original. I do admire that.
But i call foul on the entire NE corner. MOOCH / LASER is a natick. Mispelt SHiRAC, but that's on me. OLAV / OLAF - is this just arbitrary? ALTHO = Meh minus. SAHIB? RAE? Left overs = OTHERS? I don't get that at all. Any of these would have been OK in isolation, I suppose, but it's a bad cluster. I am a big Calvin and Hobbes fan, though.
Don't really like AND ALL.
Never heard of ENIWETOK
CATTY before KITTY
REVET? ETYMON? Seriously?
Is RAVEL OUT in the language?
Also mispelt TENATIOUS. IS ETH worse than ECH? Maybe.
SHERE / SHEER KHAN / KAHN slowed me down.
Between my gaffes, the foreign words, and a rather large litany of nits, this was more slog than fun.
Maybe I'll play some KISSY FACE when the LW gets back from shopping.
Cool regards!
JzB
Great crunchy Friday puzzle Craig.
Lemonade, thanks for the cat poster. And many cat images.
Last year GRUMPY_CAT was the rage. Tardar, her actual name, is not a given breed, but has feline dwarfism and an overbite. My personal cat, Suzy, is a long-haired Tuxedo Cat, which is mostly black with white marks on chest, face, some paws etc., so it looks like the formal attire.
I was able to get KITTY CORNER pretty early from slogging. I knew the name, but had to look up the spelling for SHERE KHAN. I also cheated to find out Scar's brother, MUFASA in The Lion King.
The NW wouldn't fall, due to the many unknown downs. The SE also wouldn't give because I didn't use the theme to see the bottom answer had to be a cat. Tried DAFFY DUCK, etc.
So I turned on the red letters to finish.
Hope all have a fine weekend,
VS
Wow. A real butt kicker. 35 years of xwords and the NW left me like I was new. 2/3/5 D all empty. Christmas PIE??? We do the whole deal every year, I guess I better tell everyone we've been doing it wrong as NO ONE has every asked about the pie.
I didn't have 1D either but I filled it in from the solution and I STILL couldn't solve 1/15/17 or 26A.
A very humbling experience today.
Truly a challenge today, and a DNF. Yes, a very humbling experience. And, I do like cats!
Thanks, Lemonade, for finding all the pics of those kitties!
Whoo, what a way to spend Friday morning! Hard puzzle but by golly I did manage to finally solve it without having to look anything up. The only "cheat" was to turn on red letters after filling it all and getting no fanfare; that's when I discovered I had, like many of you, spelled SHERaKHAN wrong. Like many of you I filled in DAFFYDUCK in the lower right corner before realizing the theme was cats, so then I wanted something CAT, and PIGLET at 47D, even though I knew LEMONDE was right. 'Twas ABCTV that cracked it open.
I have always dearly loved the Calvin and Hobbes strip.
Didn't know SAHIB was from Arabic; I always thought it was from Hindi, Punjabi, or Urdu. I learned several new things from this puzzle.
I think in my family we usually said "kitty corner" and "catty wumpus."
So, Jacques Chirac is French but the physicist Paul Dirac was British. Eenteresting.
Best wishes to you all.
Hello, friends!
Yowza! What a drag. That is not to say this wasn't a clever puzzle. It was. I managed about 85% and found the cats in three CORNERs, MUFASA, TIGGER, SYLVESTER, and MOOCH but STIMPY and SHEREKHAN eluded me as cats will do.
I started with CHAKAKHAN which sounded familiar and I now apologize to that singer, who is actually quite fabulous.
Since I've only heard of Ren and never watched the cartoon, STIMPY was totally unknown. as for the rest of the puzzle, it filled fast though I have the same questions you all do especially about the chestnut and PLATITUDE. Thank you, Jerome.
CHIRAC and LEMONDE are familiar to me and I had to REWARM my coffee while doing this as it took so long. Way past my normal time. Since I've had a cold for almost two weeks, HOT TEA has been my night cap.
There is no way I would have known ENIWETOK or YATES but TENACIOUS is how I am about crossword puzzles.
Thank you, Craig, for the challenge today and Lemonade for your insight.
Have a pleasant day, everyone!
Correction Grumpy Cat's name is Tardar Sauce.
VS
Yep i remember trying to pass the sensors when a family member wrote to me in the pacific. What battle are you in? Answer : well its over but... we landed.... we saw...en (i) we tok..it!
Hi Y'all! The KITTY CORNER theme was cute but definitely not "warm & fuzzy". Thanks anyway, Craig.
I got the theme midway which helped some, but too many totally unknown and naticks. That NW corner: First run through had only HOT TEA, MEW & PIE. I finally gave in to a red-letter alphabet run to get the starting "S". At some point I had the MP and WAGd STIMPY whom I knew only from CWs and didn't know he/she was a cat. SHERE KHAN was unknown and took 9 red-letter runs. Not fun.
NE corner: OLAV & HOBBES only fill in the first run. I read Calvin & HOBBES every day for years. We had two books of the cartoon. I could not picture HOBBES in my mind although I could "see" Calvin. I didn't think he was a cat. After I was done with the puzzle, the little tiger flashed onto my NEURAL screen. Oldtimers disease has done et holes in my brain.
Our paper has only recently been printing "Mutts" which is too dumb. Don't know any of the animals' names or species.
TIGGER & SYLVESTER, I knew. Yay! Only KITTYs I knew on the bottom half.
VICTORIA Island in British Columbia, Canada I have visited. I kept trying NWT (Northwest Territories) for the state, questioning it being called a state. 33 percent right, Splynter. Finally, Australia dawned on me and I filled in NSW.
Not Etalia, but ANDALL. Not I DO but AYE. Hand up for "about" face.
I hope I will enjoy Craig's next endeavor too. I appreciate the cleverness of this one, but didn't enjoy it. Thanks, Lemonade for bringing us an expo that was enjoyable.
Way too tough for me. I got through it, but only with red-letter help and some alphabet runs. As far as I'm concerned, the puzzle was a CATastrophe! I admire the construction, but that about all. Thanks anyway, Craig. Lemony, "go stand in the FEE LINE."? I love it. Thanks for an erudite expo. Gotta pack for vacation.
Cya!
Bluehen, nice CATch.
My son is manufacturing and promoting a new mixer for drinks called Bear Creek Tonix, a variation of Tonic water and after doing this puzzle I was thinking I was a little CAT a TONIC
No ....Miller Time!!!!
WoW! & WEES!
I don't think I have ever seen a puzzle more out of,
yet still in my wheelhouse...
About half way through I had to toss the pen & go red letter,
& that was before a single cat appeared!
Major groans & hair pulling at the kiss/social trap,
I knew with kissy in the puzzle, kiss was going to be a no no,
but social seemed so right....
Lemon, amazing amount of links in that writeup!
Kept me busy for quite a while. Especially loved the 15A tenacious link,
& that Her/Spike Jonze movie looks great!
58D "Do they still TP houses?" Yes, but now with power tools...
Owen! Fascinating link on Hobo Nickels! I have never seen anything like it!
I went to find out more about Masers, but the %$#@! guy told me to go read the paper!
One thing I have always wondered, why are cats eyes slits, but lions eyes are round?
Here is as good an explanation as any...
I can understand why some of you do not care for the Comics.
I love Pickles, & pearls before swine, but "Get Fuzzy" just isn't funny.
Some require deep thinking to unearth their wisdom...
Take todays "Over The Hedge."
1st Xmas?
Shriners?
Parades?
Elephants???
Why the name Dave, which is of Hebrew origin & means beloved.
(or could this be a jab at why I always post so late?...)
Yesterdays explained that Hammy (the squirrel) can go back in time
by drinking highly caffeinated energy drinks (it took 6 to get back to 1st Xmas...)
I am hoping tomorrows explains why I am in their comic...
TTP, to really appreciate "Is That All There Is?" you need to hear it sung in Polish: "Czy to jest wrzystko?"
CED 2:36 - that power TP prank looked like fun!
While we're at it, that looked like an accommodating workplace. They had doggies!
I didn't get the theme but
I knew there was something about the
puzzle that just irked me besides a DNF.
I posted this a long time ago but so what, it fits.
Calvin & Hobbes
Personally, I like "Get Fuzzy".
I liked the puzzle too - Shere Khan was the first entry - I read Kipling's "Jungle Book" at school.
I was overwhelmed by preparing to teach an actual lesson today while talking to Apple Care to get my new phone up and running. However I did creep through and got ‘er done with one story to tell. I ate lunch with the custodian who is a very nice man with a very pronounced lisp and told him the clues as I was solving. Suddenly the Lisping cat clue came up but I held back just in time. Of all the times for that cluing!
Some obligatory Kitty Corner pics:
At the psychiatrist...
At the billiard hall...
At the meeting...
At Manacs house???
(just kidding Manac:)
Wow! Waaaay over my head! And I even knew Shere Khan. The Jungle Book was one of my favorites as a kid, and the Disney movies was a favorite of my kids and grandkids. He was voiced by someone like Basil Rathbone with a snooty, upper crust British accent and was just wonderful! He even looked snooty, upper crust!
But for the rest.....forget it!
I am something of a devotee of WWII, but even so I had trouble remembering Eniwetok! C'mon....Iwo Jima? Okinawa?? Saipan?? Any of the other Marshall Islands are more familiar!!
I thought the theme was very clever, and some of the clues were great. Just too many unknowns for me. Thanks, Craig, for your effort. I'll look forward to your next one!
Lemonade, always a pleasure.
Owen, I am a big rail fan, so your poems today really hit home. In addition, my mother had a hobo who regularly came calling and reglaled us with tales of riding the rails while he ate the lunch my mother always prepared for him. (She also gave him a sack of food to take with him...even when we didn't have much!). A different time.....when housewives would let into their kitchens scruffy hobos with nothing to offer. The same man came at least once a month. We all felt very close to him.
We need a little canine interjection here.
Dogs are smarter than you think
Man's best friend
Oh, I almost forgot...Hey, Dave
Late addition.
Let me start with this: Best. Theme. Ever.
I nailed Shere Khan and Stimpy right off the bat and as soon as I saw the reveal I got it. That NEVER happens! I had a ton of fun waiting to get to the corners to see what other feline friends were clued in.
Crunchy? Yes, but it's Friday so I expect it to be. I like the three letter fills to help fill in the blanks. And thank you for linking Tenacious D - I actually own a CD or two of theirs. Super funny!
Thank you Craig for a great theme, I hope we get a canine version soon. Fantastic job! Of course, thank you Lemon for an enlightening write up.
Happy Friday - enjoy the weekend :)
tawnya
Yeah, this video pretty much sums up my solving experience with this one. Especially the action @ 1:10. And yes, I have been compared to an inpatient, sleeping St. Bernard.
Why dogs are preferred over cats
Don't piss off a German Shepherd
Well, it brings a smile to my face:-)
Chewed me up and spat me out.
Hi All!
I know I went to work this morning (and others were there) but my pzl performance says today is Sat. Right?!?
I got 1/2 the KITTYs and one was 5/6th right on MUsASA. Tom Cat (w/ Jerry Mouse) wasn't working, Snaggletooth didn't fit (without writing small :-)), and Garfield is hardly "comic." Ren & STIMPY never crossed my mind.
Warmup / Whammy -> REheat / REVERB -> REWARM - new pen, please...
Pious -> T? -> MORAL. CATTYWompus left the ca in Kitty Corner. NW is nearly blank and, saving MEW & TAS, all wrong.
Enough MOANin'. Thanks Craig for the challenge. Thanks Lem for stopping the madness. Rich, save it for Sat!
OK, more MOANing - misery, loves company. TTP, I had kiss / social too and never gave up on 'em. I also thought of pasty but settled on smily [sic] _face.
The only Moon highlight on a romantic eve (PIE?) would be Keith, but DW doesn't dig The WHO... Too, what about a date when the moon is new?
Thanks Owen - Everything I know about HOBO culture is from John Hodgman.
Runner up - T-I-double-Gu-ER.
Fav - HOBBES. I have every C&H. DW and the kids have read them too. Thx for the xword ref CED; exactly my feeling today :-)
Scene: English PhD candidates at a bar discussing guilty-pleasure reading... Romance novels, horror, gore, etc... When it got to DW, she sheepishly replied "Calvin & Hobbes." None of them knew it was a comic strip and where floored by her serious study.
Cheers, -T
Doh! W/ the link wars, I missed it was Manac, not CED, who linked C&H. Thank you Manac! Well, thanks to both for the fun. C, -T
So everyone gets the HOBO joke... The PBS footage is real; that was aired. However, Hodgman on Stewart. John was a "resident expert" on Jon's show and wrote a funny (if not tedious) book that was a joy to read. Cheers, -T
The main things I know about hobos I learned from the Merle Haggard album that was a tribute to Jimmy Rogers, The Singing Brakeman. It seemed, from listening to the songs, that hobos were OK drifters but sadly out of work.
Jordan and I LOVE Calvin and Hobbes.
Post a Comment