google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, December 7, 2015 Debbie Ellerin

Advertisements

Dec 7, 2015

Monday, December 7, 2015 Debbie Ellerin

Theme: [RING!] - You can Ring my Bell(3:30).

17A. *One held above criticism : SACRED COW. cowbell

21A. *Magician's secret exit : TRAPDOOR. doorbell
 
 
 
 
55A. *Swanson frozen meal : TV DINNER. dinner bell

          from the TV show, The Nanny.

59A. *Traditional : OLD SCHOOL. school bell

36A. Day ender on Wall Street ... and, literally, what each answer to a starred clue has : CLOSING BELL

Argyle here with bells on. Our constructor has gone solo today. Interesting grid. Four eight-letter columns as well as two of the theme entries. The other two entries are nine-letter. The unifier is eleven-letter blocked in with black spaces. BELL can easily follow the last part of the theme entries but it is funnier to picture it as part of the whole entry.

Across:

1. Supplier of fake tunnels to Wile E. Coyote : ACME

5. Dictionary entry : WORD

9. Attempt to scam using email : PHISH

14. Small songbird : WREN

15. "Am __ early?" : I TOO

16. Saul Bellow's "The Adventures of __ March" : AUGIE. Unknown to me, published 1953. “the universal eligibility to be noble”

19. Gossip spreader : YENTA

20. What push may come to : SHOVE

23. 1953 Alan Ladd Western : SHANE. Classic.



24. Subject in which Freud is studied, briefly : PSYCH

25. Boring routine : RUT

26. Ballpoint, for one : PEN

27. Goose egg : NIL

29. Popular thesaurus : ROGET'S

31. Most populous continent : ASIA

33. Sign offering freebies : [TAKE ONE]

39. Hyundai sedan : ELANTRA

40. Increase dramatically : SOAR. 5th generation Elantra sales have soared.

43. Bearded spring blooms : IRISES

46. List shortener, for short : ETC. (et cetera)

48. Carry a balance : OWE

49. Lion's lair : DEN

50. Set one's sights on : AIM AT

53. Caught with a lasso : ROPED

57. Closet pests : MOTHS

58. Made public : AIRED

62. Blinding driving hazard : GLARE

63. Dam in a stream : WEIR

64. Giggly Muppet : ELMO

65. "Night Moves" singer Bob : SEGER



66. Ginger cookie : SNAP. I heard from Lois last week; she promised me more ginger snaps for Christmas (and molasses cookies).

67. Rod companion : REEL

Down:

1. Reactions to puppies and kittens : AWs

2. Falls asleep from exhaustion, in slang : CRASHES

3. Pit crew worker : MECHANIC. Different crashes.

4. Scandal-plagued energy company : ENRON

5. Like EEE shoes : WIDE

6. Needing no Rx : OTC. (Over-The-Counter medicine)

7. Carrots and turnips : ROOTS. I haven't had turnips in ages.

8. Bridal estate : DOWRY

9. Obsolescent streetcorner communication device : PAY PHONE

10. Tinted : HUED

11. Give the cold shoulder to : IGNORE

12. Take a break from : SIT OUT

13. Valentine symbols : HEARTS

18. Not odd : EVEN

22. One in a human pyramid : ACROBAT

23. Mud bath site : SPA

24. Ordinary : PLAIN

28. "That's just wrong" : "IT'S A SIN"

30. Takes shape : GELS

32. Tavern orders : ALES

34. Round Table VIP: Abbr. : KNT. (knight)

35. "Snowy" bird : EGRET

37. Poisonous ornamental : OLEANDER

38. Contract ambiguity to exploit : LOOPHOLE

41. More than cool : AWESOME

42. VIP carpet color : RED

43. Dog collar attachments : ID TAGS

44. Malign : REVILE

45. Wearing opposite-sex clothing : IN DRAG. (Usually refers to a man wearing women's clothing.)

47. Gator cousin : CROC

51. Cat calls : MEOWS

52. "Over the Rainbow" composer Harold : ARLEN. Harold Arlen (1905 – 1986)

54. Significant __ : OTHER

56. "Able was __ ...": palindrome start : I ERE..."I saw Elba". palindrome end.

57. Dealership sticker fig. : MSRP. (manufacturer's suggested retail price)

60. Day, in Spain : DIA

61. "u r 2 funny!" : LOL

Argyle



Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Windhover, who was once an active runner, Petraeus-style (sans Broadwell). Hope all is well in your quiet land, Windhover!

Windhover & Lucina, July 24, 2015

71 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks, Debbie and Santa! Nice work!

Cute theme.

No problems!

Lucina: Sorry that I forgot to wish you happy birthday yesterday! Hope that it was grand! What did you have for dinner?

Happy birthday, Windover!

Cheers!

OwenKL said...

There is a milch cow who lives in the dell,
And if she's contented I can't really tell.
When I asked her her mood,
She replied low and chewed;
Her mood swings in time with her swinging COW BELL!

When the DOOR BELL was invented, it caused some hands to wring,
Knock knock jokes, 'twas feared, would be replaced by ding!
But "knock knock" we still say,
Though in U.S.A.
There's one thing we don't knock, because we Let Freedom Ring!

In the chuck wagon, the chili's on simmer,
The smell gives the drovers' taste buds a glimmer!
The triangle BELL
Clangs out its yell,
Later beans will reprise the aroma of DINNER!

The summoning SCHOOL-BELL kids couldn't IGNORE
To the one-room schoolhouse in days of yore.
There was reading and writing;
There were bullies and fighting;
But the time-polished memories are the ones we adore!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all (and a Very Happy Birthday to Windhover)!

Well, I got through this one without too much difficulty, but there were a few surprises along the way. AUGIE was a complete unknown, which was unusual for a Monday. And OLEANDER, ARLEN and WEIR, while known to me, were definitely not what I would call Monday-level entries. Oh, and I still really hate KNT as an abbreviation of, well, anything.

But, as I said, those nits aside the puzzle went by pretty quickly (maybe a minute over my usual Monday time). So no harm, no foul. Just a little unexpected crunch for a Monday is all. Plus KNT, which I hate. Did I mention that?

Lemonade714 said...

WBS

Lemonade714 said...

HBDTY HBDTY HBDDL HBDTY and many more.

Hope life is great.

desper-otto said...

Good morning.

Nice to see ETC, for a change. I stumbled with DOWER, but that was my only misstep in the race to the bottom. Thank you, Debbie. You, too, Argyle.

Happy Birthday, Windhover, on this "day which shall live in infamy!" But not due to Windhover.

desper-otto said...

Or was it a "date?"

desper-otto said...

It was "date," but it wasn't "shall" -- "will." OK, the words are 66% correct, Splynter-wise.

thehondohurricane said...


A day late, but Happy Birthday Lucina, and reportedly on the mark today, Happy Birthday Windover.

Thank you Debbie for a nice start to the week.

Hand up for never having heard of AUGIE March.

Can't remember how long ago it has been since I last used a pay phone or even noticed one, especially in working order.

One in a human pyramid may be called an ACROBAT, but me thinks dumb would be a better description.

During the thirty years I worked in Aerospace, plenty of contractual LOOPHOLES crossed mu desk. Some were "lulus".

Winter slow in arriving this year. Have a hunch it will be a bear when it begins.

Chairman Moe said...

Hey guys and gals: still mostly lurking due to a heavier workload during the holidays, and also, no subscription yet to a newspaper.

I am working puzzles in a crossword book published by Myles Mellor just to keep sharp. The jury is still out on Mellor (for me anyway) as many of his puzzles have similar solving words (sis and sister, e.g.) in different clues/same puzzle. For my two cents, don't do that! His clueing is sometimes obscure, and I'm often looking up new words. Foehn was one that appeared in the last puzzle I tried solving. Means "dry wind" in case you wondered ...

Since we are already into Hannukah, and Christmas is but 17 shopping days away, I thought I'd interject a little "holiday" limerick for you all, in case you've missed them ...

Salt and pepper had a Christmas meeting,
And deduced that their message was fleeting;
As they soon realized,
That they weren't authorized,
To say anything but "seasons' greeting".

Bill V. said...

Fun puzzle .Nice flashback to the 60's with the Seger ditty. Good way to start the work week!

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning.

Happy Birthday, Windover!

This was easy-peasy. Very nicely done, Debbie. I was even more appreciative when I realized the theme, which never comes early to me. I'm usually working at word entry level and not globally. WBS on KNT.

Thanks, Argyle for the tour and the theme links. I enjoyed them.

Madame is off to knit, mais oui. I decided to make mini Christmas stockings (as money/gift card holders/tree ornaments) for my kids and grandkids. I'll finish the fifth today, but I need to do eight more. It seemed like a wonderful idea in September. Perhaps I should have started them at the moment of my brilliance!! Along with knitting, I need to make Christmas Eve dinner--except for the ravioli--14 qts of gravy with 5# of sausage and 4# of meatballs. For the freezer, of course!

Yep, Anon T, I get the garlic! Madame is really Signora: Sono italiana. ;-) Ciao!

Avg Joe said...

Enjoyed the puzzle. Took the reveal to see the theme, but that's why it was there. Agree that there was some crunch.

Have a wonderful birthday, Windhover. And many more. And, IIRC, PK as well.

desper-otto said...

@Chairman Moe: Your mention of foehn reminded me, who knows why, of Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther movies. I looked it up, and now i know why.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

WBS. I paused a bit at Pay Phone because, well, I sorta forgot they were called that, it's been so long.

Morning Argyle! HBTY Windhover if you're tuned in today.

Husker Gary said...

For regulars here: I had a near NATICK for which I had to SUSS a WAG that was supported by a PERP to get WEIR on a Monday level offering. Translation – WIER was unknown to me but I was able to conjure up a good guess that was well supported by a perpendicular fill on what is usually an easy puzzle day.

Musings
-OLD SCHOOL or NEW, violent, misogynistic rap doesn’t ring my BELL
-Hey, Wylie, how much meat can there be on that Roadrunner?
-If this email doesn’t scream out PHISHING to you…
-One man I taught with was the worst YENTA I have ever seen
-PENS are everywhere in schools but try to find a #2 pencil…
-A good thesaurus like ROGET’S would offer many alternatives to the adjective AWESOME for the linguistically lazy!
-I have seen FREE TAKE ONE signs like this in schools
-AIM AT don’t MISAIM ☺
-I value a good MECHANIC over many PhD’s I’ve known
-“Papa, what’s a PAY PHONE?”
-Kingston Trio lament about PLAIN Sarah (2:30)
-HBD Windy! I miss your bluegrass comments!

Bluehen said...

Greetings from the beautiful, balmy Outer Banks. WBS re: the puzzle. Great expo, Argyle.

Bill V., according to Wikipedia, Night Moves was released in 1976 instead of the Sixties.

Happy Birthday to Windhover and a belated birthday wish to Lucina (mea culpa).

Off to take advantage of this wonderful weather (we had butterflies flitting around yesterday) and do some sightseeing.

Cya!

Nice Cuppa said...

Only unknown was "Goose Egg" = NIL. I checked the Dict. and it is indeed "N. Amer."

Coming from the rest of the world, where soccer is the number one game, we have a lot of "goose egg" scores, so just stick to "nil", as in "The game finished nil-nil".

We do have a "Duck" = bowled/caught/etc. out without scoring a run, in Cricket.

And one etymology given for "Love" = zero in Tennis, is from the French "L'oeuf" = "The Egg".

Eggs-actly.

Chairman Moe said...

@desper-otto: thanks for the link to the Chinook Winds, aka as the Foehn winds.

Here is a link to Inspector Clouseau inspecting the phones . . .

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy Birthday to Windhover and belated Happy Birthday to Lucina. Hope the day was special for you both.

Enjoyed the puzzle; especially the 4 8-letter downs, and it was cool (AWESOME) that they all intersected the CLOSING BELL.
Was a little disappointed the a ship's BELL was left out of the mix. BZ to Debbie.
WEIR - was part of my professional "toolbox".

Remember Pearl Harbor. Might mention that the ship's bell of the USS SARATOGA (CV-3) which served throughout WWII is on display at the Saratoga National Cemetery.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Well, this was a nice, easy start to the week. No nits or complaints from this corner. Nicely done, Debbie, and a sparkling review from Argyle, as usual. (I think turnips ran a close second to onions as mother's food favorites; every Sunday's roast dinner was accompanied by mashed turnips. I couldn't stand the look of them, let alone the smell. Yuck!). CSO to CED with meows! 🐱🐱🐱

Bill G from last night: Yes, Cher and Nicolas Cage were the stars of Moonstruck, 🌕 along with Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello, Vincent
Gardenia, and John Mahoney. Great cast and soaring background excerpts from La Boheme. 🎼 Who can resist a love 💝 story with a happy ending? 👫

BTW, has anyone seen Big Eyes with Amy Adams and Christop Waltz (sp?)? It was based on the life of the painter, Margaret Keane, who, back in the 60's painted waif-like children, usually forlorn looking, with enormous eyes. It was very good, although a sad commentary on human frailty and cruelty.

Happy Birthday, Windhover. Hope it's a special day. 🎂 🎁

Have a great day.

Argyle said...

If you are having trouble with my trapdoor picture, let me know. It should be a trapdoor with a big X on it.

CrossEyedDave said...

The SW corner slowed me down, I only had Irises/IDTags
for a while until TV Dinner brought it all together.

WBS

Ass't bells:

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

HBD Windhover!

desper-otto said...

Is anybody else seeing this Rick Astley image on the main blog page? Argyle says that's not what's supposed to be there. If you right-click on that image in the blog and open in new window, you'll get a different, more meaningful, image for a trapdoor. Oops! That's five. Bye...

Tinbeni said...

Happy Birthday (a day late) Lucina
Happy Birthday Windhover

Argyle: Nice write-up & links.

Debbie: Thank You for a FUN Monday puzzle. Really enjoyed the CLOSING BELL theme.

For some reason, I have "no-idea-why" ... I actually knew AUGIE ... go figure ...
Needed ESP to get WEIR ... but a Learning-Moment is always a good thing.

Stuck with another (jeez, this is a RUT!) Sunny, Beautiful, 75 degree day.
A "toast-to-ALL" at Sunset ... the first one is to Lucina & Windhover.
Cheers!

CrossEyedDave said...

Right click & new window gave me Rick Astley again?

Learning moments today:Foehn/Chinook

Madame D @8:17
(Don't tell Tinbeni you finished the Fifth...)

Lucina said...

Hello, friends! First, very happy birthday wishes to Windhover! I suspect the weekend has been spectacular for you.

Debbie, I enjoyed your puzzle which included some of my favorites: SCHOOL BELL, OLD SCHOOL (which describes me a lot of the time), IRISES and of course a reference to that dreamboat, Alan Ladd.

It was a quick sashay though AUGIE took a while till the crosses finished it. And ROGET is one I consult often when in need of a synonym. Is ELANTRA one I should be considering for my next car?

NiceCuppa: Thank you for explaining why LOVE in tennis means zero. I've often wondered about that.

Irish Miss:
Moonstruck is one of my all time favorite movies! Lately since being almost inert these days I've been watching some other old favs including Enchanted April and Ghost, with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore as well as Whoopi Goldberg. Remember Oda Mae Brown?

fermatprime:
Our dinner was ribs with slaw, baked beans and green beans. Yum.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Kevin said...

WBS about KNT

Also, I cannot resist linking this classic Christopher Walken SNL COWBELL sketch.

Stoic Psych said...

Thank you Debbie Ellerin for a a very nice puzzle enjoyed it immensely. Thank you Argyle for the sparkling blog.

Happy birthday, Windhover, and hope things are going fine with you and the farming business and your dear Irish. We miss your pithy comments. Hope your lambing was fruitful this year, as well.

Happy birthday, Lucina - one classy lady. Always a post I look forward to reading. Diabetes can be managed, albeit with difficulty, and its better than some other.

Today is Pearl Harbor attack day - and yet, there has got to be time in peoples lives when they have to learn to forgive and forget - or we are no better than certain peoples, say some europeans, for example, who carry grudges for several generations. And for what.

As Hahtoolah put it,' Bearing a grudge is like letting someone stay rent free in a major portion of your brain, for the rest of your life.'

TTP said...

Ha ha. Filled in MECHANIC at 3D, and then read the theme clue. CLOSING BELL is also the name of the weekday program reviewing daily up and down market news that airs on CNBC. Getting the theme early did not detract from a pleasurable puzzle. The only unknown was AUGIE March and the author. Oh wait. ARLEN too, but they both perped in.

AIM AT - After building the Lego version, the young teen set a goal to own a real Ferrari F40 one day. Dream no small dreams.

Hey ! 61D clue looks familiarly like something Gen Xer Anonymous-T would write. I understood it. Thanks Anon - T !!!

Thank you Debbie. Nice puzzle. Happy Birthday Windhover.

Argyle, I get the Rick Astley joke without seeing a big X trapdoor.

Also loved the Bob Seger Night Moves embed. Never saw that video before. It reminds me of Meat Loaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Light

Lucina said...

Argyle:
No trap door just some directions from Rick Astley.

Misty said...

What a pleasure to get this doable Monday puzzle, after the tough moments I had at the end of last week. It wasn't a total speed run, though, mainly because I kept thinking "That's just wrong" had to be "It's evil"--knowing full well that very few words,including flowers, end in "v". But eventually I figured it out, along with the theme, and felt great. So, many thanks, Debbie, and you too, Santa (I'll call you that in December), for your always fun expo.

Hope you have a wonderful birthday, Windhover!

And have a great week, everybody!

Stoic Psychic said...

I right click on Rich Astley and then I get a smaller version of him. Maybe the trap is in the bubble comment of the last panel.

So I put my left foot out, and then I put the left foot back in, and I waved it all about, and further, then I turned myself around - and thats what its all about. Seems like a trap allright. Said in fun.

One little boo boo on a Monday, is no big deal. Maybe it's a cryptic trapdoor for someone with a higher I.Q. than mine. Have fun. A puzzle within a puzzle blog. Allright, you've made my day, Argyle !

Avg Joe said...

Looks to me you got Rick Rolled, Argyle. :-)

Irish Miss said...

Update on my financial windfalls. In the last two days, I have been chosen to receive a total of $17 million dollars. Add that to the previous $16 million and you're talking real money! Today's $8.5 is courtesy of one Ibrahim Salami from the Republic of Benin. I think Baloney is more apt, Ibrahim!

Lucina, I well remember Oda Mae Brown, one of the funniest characters ever.

Jayce said...

Fun puzzle but harder than I expected in some places. I'm with Barry G regarding KNT.

I hope you are having a terrific day, Windhover.

Computer is nagging me to reboot. I'll be back.

Yellowrocks said...

Happy birthday,Windy. I hope you have a great day.
CSO to Blue Iris. How are you today? I love irises, too.

I found a list of 6 abbreviations for knight. KNT heads the list.
KNT Knight
Kni Knight Organizations
kt. Knight Genealogical, Genealogy
knt. Knight Genealogical, Genealogy
N Knight CHESS
Kt Knight

Nice Cuppa, thanks for the origin of LOVE in tennis scoring.

CanadianEh! said...

I was not saved by the BELL today (and on a Monday too!). I misspelled WEIR as Wier and did not notice it because the perps of ARLEN and DIA (misspelled as Arlin and Dea) were somewhat unfamiliar to me. I guess WEIR is an exception to the I before E rule.
Oh well, it was fun. Thanks Debbie and Argyle.

KNT was a meh for me too, and I wondered about 1D AWS and 41D AWESOME in the same puzzle.

We recently saw a performance of Peking Dreams by the National Acrobats & Circus of China. They were AWESOME!
PekingDreams
(man on pole at 2:05 is especially thrilling and human pyramid on a bike at 7:35)

HBD to Windhover and belated HBD to Lucina.

JD said...

Good morning all,
Had the same problems as everyone else which made for a slower than usual Monday. Didn't like knt or weir, plus I had a memory lapse for the able palindrome.in my mind all I could see for Swanson frozen meal was a distasteful Salisbury steak! Do people really eat those?

Happy birthday to both Windy and Lucina. Ribs was a good choice.Were you being good not to have cake?

oleanders line many of our California freeways as they are drought resistant and make a nice wall.

a cold has slowed me down today, although it could be a sinus infection. I keep crashing.

Madame Defarge said...

CED @ 10:36: I won't. ;-)

CanadianEh! said...

I finally had a chance to read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It was recommended by Marti back in July. I highly recommend it also.

Madame Defarge said...

Irish Miss @ 12:06:

You must be one lucky lady!!

However, even as we chuckle about these scams, the local police bulletin, under "deceptive practices" this week, stated that someone filed a police report that he/she wired $35,000 in hopes of receiving $500,000.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Great fast puzzle, Debbie. Great expo, Argyle! I wondered about the Rick sign.

I tried PHONE booth which didn't work (like many of them). Oh, ya' gotta PAY!

WEIR was easy because we have a controversial WEIR in the river here that has proved dangerous to canoers. Some people want to have the WEIR removed or redesigned at the cost of millions of dollars. Why not just keep the !@#$% canoes out of the river? Whole lot cheaper & safer.

One in a human pyramid is most likely a cheerleader, but that didn't fit.

Happy birthday, fellow farmer Windhover! I miss you.

Lucina said...

JD:
Yes, eschewed the cake yesterday. No dessert at all.

Blue Iris:
I forgot your CSO!

Anonymous T said...

Hi all!

First - HBD Windhover! Are you still posting from the shed w/ your MECANICal phone? :-)

Thank you Debbie for this wonderful puzzle. As it was seeming too easy, I hit 16a and had to SIT OUT for a second or four before I could SOAR. Thanks Argyle for kicking off the after party and showing the c/a's I missed 'cuz perps filled them, ETC.

However, Rick-Rolling us was not nice. :-)

W/os - I CRASHEd b/f I landed in ASIA. dErILE(?) b/f (you know ZZ Top is coming) TV DINNERs. Here's a a Pavlovian DINNER BELL you may not have expected :-)

Close Fav - PSYCH. Eldest is president of the HS Phych club and their T-Shirts are adorable (a break-out brain w/ funny stuff on it). SHANE was a runner-runner up as that's a buddy's name and he has original movie posters in his house.

Fav - PAY PHONE xing PHISHing. OLD SCHOOL hacking was phreaking PHONEs. 2600, an early hacker rag, had PAY PHONEs on the back cover.

Kevin & TTP beat me to the best links (More Cowbell & Meatloaf)... Thanks guys!

NC - thanks for the Egg-celent 'spainin' of NIL. I didn't know that particular circle of language.

Good to hear from you again C. Moe. Get your work done & WORD play w/ us.

FLN - Blue IRIS (CSO!), I didn't know you're bearded :-) Sorry to hear about your insomnia. I hope you got a good rest.

Cheers, -T

VirginiaSycamore said...

Thanks Debbie, for a good Monday level puzzle and Argyle, for the write up.

I also get the Rick Astley sign no matter what I do. Who is Rick Astley? There is a saying in 12 step groups that your bottom (what gets you to AA, etc.) has a trapdoor-- meaning that if you go back out it will get worse.

Happy Birthday to Lucina and Windhover.
Thanks for everyone's comments and links.

My big slow down was that I read the clue for PAY PHONE as and old streetCAR communication device. I finally read it right and got PAYPHONE and AUGIE. Somehow KNT doesn't bother me as an abbrev. for knight.

VS

VirginiaSycamore said...

Is Rick-rolling the same as a RIGMAROLE?

VS

Anonymous T said...

Rick Rolling is an Internet meme that cought on in the early oughts. The song sucks, but sticks in your head 'cuz it's catchy. So folks would link "new AWESOME" something and it would be Astley's video. Youz just gotz fooled/rollzd. C, -T

Bill G. said...

Hi everybody! This easy and pleasant puzzle has been dissected (pronounced diss-sected by me) sufficiently by now so WEES.

BTW, for some reason, KNT seems OK to me. (I agree with Virginia as usual.) At this website, it's the first choice. Abbreviations (Oh, I see YR beat me to it. I'm a step or two slow as usual.)

Happy birthday Windy! How about a farming update?

I came across an actor, new to me. Her name is Brie Larson. She's got a great smile. I'm in love again. Brie Larson

I already miss pay phones, corner mailboxes, dial phones, etc.

The Bob Seger song I loved was "Old Time Rock and Roll," featured in Risky Business. Old Time Rock and Roll

Always remember that you are absolutely unique; just like everyone else.
~ Margaret Mead

Avg Joe said...

I see AnonT beat me to an explanation. Here's the Wiki Rick Rolling

Rick Astley is a mediocre pop artist that got more air play than he deserved. Not unlike a certain young Canadian these days.

TTP said...

Avg Joe,

More like Argyle's trapdoor link failed to rickroll any of us, because it appears that Blogger wouldn't allow it. Unfortunate. It would have been fun.

Unless I am misinterpreting your comment Joe, and you are saying he got rickrolled attempting to rickroll us... (at least through the imgur gif, if not the song/video).


To anyone that never had it happen to them... Remember the old "Ha ha, faked you out!" teasing ? It's an intentional linking to something other than what was expected. Called rickrolling or being rickrolled because it originally started out with links that always led to the "Never Going To Give You Up" video...

The puzzle answer TRAPDOOR, with the picture of things "Rick Astley is never going to do" gave it away to me, and in response, my 10:36 link is an example of the "joke."

Kinda like what CED does to us when he gives a link that misleads us...

Anonymous T said...

KNT could be worse - Ka-Nig-iTs get taunted b/f a COW-taapult. C, -T

TTP said...

I should have "previewed" before posting what I was writing up.... Looks like a couple of were aware...

Anon-T, you must not have listened to my 10:36 Meatloaf link :>)

It was, and is to a degree, still funny. Harmless fun. If you want to have fun with one of your Google Chrome using friends, you can add an Extension (app) to their Chrome that will automatically link to that Rick Astley once out of every X links...

Anon-T, did you write that to get your girls ?

OK, back to my other pursuits.

Anonymous T said...

TTP - PSYCH! :-)

bugger, I'm on 4 now and have nothing for ACME... C, -T

Avg Joe said...

TTP, I'm only casually aware of the trick, and have never had it played on me. So all my comment was meant to imply was that Argyle got misled when he was trying to find the appropriate link for the trapdoor, and it just happened to be a Rick Astley sign. I certainly didn't mean to suggest that he was attempting to give us all the runaround.

Irish Miss said...

M Defarge @ 1:50 - Yes, all kidding aside, I know there are people who fall for these scams and lose money they can ill-afford to lose. The number of telephone scams I get averages anywhere from 2-7 every day. So far today, I've had 3. Thank goodness for Caller ID.

Another belated CSO to Blue Iris. Hope you get some sleep.

Yellowrocks said...

VS said, "There is a saying in 12 step groups that your bottom (what gets you to AA, etc.) has a trapdoor--" It made me laugh. My first image for trap door was of drop seat long johns. They allow you to expose only your BOTTOM at the outhouse on a cold winter's night.

Argyle said...

I'm back. I've tried another source for the trap door bell. I hope it works.

Stoic Stork said...

Just for the record, Argyle, - it works, er, it worked. I see a double barrreled vertical trapdoor, with the red X.

The Rick thing was fun while it lasted.

Many latecomers, to this blog, are going to read all the comments about Rick Astley, and wondering .... Whoo? Whaat ?

Anonymous said...


Nice Cuppa, I follow cricket, or did at one time, and I thought a 'duck' was being bowled/stumped / LBW /caught, or run out on the very first ball, the batsman faced in the innnings. I looked up Wikipedia and found out thats the 'golden duck'. If the batsman was the runner, and had never even batted, in that inning, and was run out, thats a 'diamond duck'. Live and learn.

TTP said...

Argyle, it doesn't work. It just opens the same link location
http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/10/102481/4168073-7455610537-RUGS-.jpg

You might only be able to do it with Blogger by adding your own link under the jpg... That would work, but perhaps not be as dramatic.

Stork said...

Just to set the record straight. Though Nice Cuppa's explanation about 'love' in tennis match scores ( from the french ) may sound etymologically appropriate, and with common sense, there are some serious problems with accepting that version as undisputed fact.

According to Wiki's, Names for the number 0 in English , the french word may not have even stood the least chance of being the predecessor for 'love'. Neither is the scottish 'luff', for nothing.

Thus, this could be just folk lore, good for an interesting conversation, but definitely not factual or documented reasoning.

Argyle said...

OK. Snip and paste.

windhover said...

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. Some of you may know that this is #70. I hope to have a couple more (or 3) of those 'end in zero' b'days. I'm spending my 71st December 7 in a place called the Lexington Beer Works and currently enjoying a Chimay Blue, one of the world's best beers. I plan to spend my 71st December 8 on a 50 mile bike ride.
BillG, I'll do a farm update when there's more time, and PK, back at ya.
I still read you guys every day, but after I get and solve the puzzle after 6 PM. Not much to say at that hour. Thanks again.

Argyle said...

Well, that was a learning experience. I was Rickrolled. Never heard of it before.

Avg Joe said...

I'm pretty sure you'll get through it, Argyle. Whatever wounds were inflicted are a long way from the heart. And FWIW, the trapdoor is showing up on both my iPad and PC. Acme! Nice touch.

Since this is 5 and out, I'll take one last opportunity to wish Windy a happy B-Day!

TTP said...

What ?

You mean that you were ONLY trying to link the trapdoor jpg with the big red X on it, in the first place ?

If so, then yes, your current jpg is working just fine and yes you got rickrolled when your first trapdoor image image linked instead to the image "Rick Astley is never gonna" jpg.

That's funny. I thought when reading the write up, with TRAPDOOR and that Risk Astley image, that you were trying to use a gif that went from trapdoor to the Rick Astley image, but it wasn't working for you, and all you were getting was the Astley image...

If you get incorrout again, and it's related to that Rick Astley video / song, then yes, you've been rickrolled.

Guess it's not as commonly known as I thought it was...

We had a course developer that would link to that video with various coursework titles and text to use as link placeholders until he received the materials or references that had been approved for announcement. It was annoying when working with pre-announcement material. But always easy to find where the material needed to be updated...


Windhover, enjoy that Grande Reserve !

Anonymous said...

This was a good start to my week. Thanks, Debbie and Argyle. After spending over an hour at the bank making adjustments to accounts it was nice to have an easy start to the week.

Least favorite answer: LOL If I never see this again it will be too soon! I would love to see a 24 hour ban on it!

I have a great/easy recipe or Ginger snaps!

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Windhover! Please check in more often!

Pat

Anonymous said...

I have a great/easy recipe For Gingersnaps!

Anonymous T said...

Argyle - I TOO am a bit disappointed Rick-rolling us w/ TRAP DOOR wasn't on purpose. I LOL'd at the joke and TTP's continuation w/ Meatloaf's link.

TTP - ? Did I write what to get my girls? Woosh...

TTP - Maybe Rick Rolling is just part of the nerd subculture we work in. Someone put a sign in the office kitchenette; "Top 10 things Rick Astley won't do to you." After getting to #7 the stupid song is in one's head and youz done-got Rick Rolled just getting coffee!

I still can't find anything good for ACME. There was a project-planning software company out of the UK that used the Looney Tunes product catalog in their demo, but I can't find it... Settle for this conspiracy link (no, it's not Rick again).

Cheers, -T

TTP said...

Anonymous T,

In jest, I was saying I thought maybe you wrote that Chrome extension so that an unsuspecting user would have a percentage of youtube links to "Never Gonna Give You Up" at random times... And then pranked your girls with it...