google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday, Dec 27, 2015 Amy Johnson

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Dec 27, 2015

Sunday, Dec 27, 2015 Amy Johnson

Theme:  "Extra! Extra!" - The first word spells out "What's black and white and red (read) all over?"

23. *Bugs line : WHAT'S UP, DOC?

28. *Classic novel with the chapter "My Breaking In" : BLACK BEAUTY

37. *"End of discussion!" : AND THAT'S FINAL

51. *John Adams' home after the Market Street mansion : WHITE HOUSE
 
68. *"That's how the cookie crumbles" : AND SO IT GOES

88. *Whodunit staple : RED HERRING

96. *Soap set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania : ALL MY CHILDREN
 
105. *No spring chicken : OVER THE HILL

118. Answer to the spoken riddle hidden in the answers to starred clues : A NEWSPAPER

We also have GAZETTES (27A. Martha's Vineyard papers). Part of the clue dupes the answer a bit.

Simple theme. When I saw "hidden" in the reveal clue, I thought the key words might be hidden in the middle and span across each theme answer.  
 
Across: 

1. Duchamp genre : DADA. Nailed it. Easy upper left corner.

5. Toot one's own horn : GLOAT. Had BOAST.

10. In the thick of : AMONG

15. Prepare for a birth, in a way : NEST. Got me. I did not think of birds.

19. Not supportin' : AGIN

20. Moose meeting place : LODGE

21. Check : DETER. Simple one-word clue is often a bit tricky.

22. Munch Museum city : OSLO
 
25. Seat of New York's Oneida County : UTICA

26. Common parade street : MAIN

30. Babs Bunny, e.g. : DOE

31. Website for techies : CNET

33. Single or double : BED. You had HIT also, right?

34. Title teacher in a 1967 film : SIR.  "To Sir, with Love". I thought of Mr. Tibbs, who's not a teacher.

43. Guinea pig, e.g. : PET

46. Part of a Latin trio : AMAS. Amo, amas, amat.

48. It may be close : SHAVE

49. Meter reading : USAGE

50. Eggs in a clinic : OVA
 
54. Air quality concern : SMOG

55. Sounds heard with a stethoscope : RALES. And 114D. Arid : SERE. Both are words we used to see a lot in the old Wayne R. Williams puzzles.

57. Hyundai sedan : SONATA

58. Glue base : GELATIN

60. Agcy. with facilities in Denver and West Point : US MINT. Did not know the West Point locale. Thought the answer might be military-related.

61. Ben Jonson epitaph words : ORARE. "Pray for Ben Jonson”.


63. Like pre-Easter diets : LENTEN

65. Comédie part : ACTE

66. To be, in Paris : ETRE

72. Hardy heroine : TESS

73. Capone nemesis : NESS

74. Everett of "Citizen Kane" : SLOANE. Drew a blank. Just could not get into "Citizen Kane".


75. Cryptic letters : RUNES

77. Drying-out sites : REHABS

79. Quake danger : TSUNAMI.  Scary image. 

83. Delivery van assignments : ROUTES

86. Baker with Grammys : ANITA. Nailed it.

87. BC and Cal, e.g. : SCHS. Thought of Canada.

90. Base VIP : GEN

91. Popular Girl Scout cookie : SAMOA

93. Indian wrap: Var. : SAREE. SARI is the correct wrap.

94. Grumpy mood : SNIT

95. Prior to, poetically : ERE

100. Mdse. : GDS (Goods)

101. Gentle treatment, briefly : TLC

102. Weighty refs. : OEDs. Oxford English Dictionary. Light when online.

103. Some dishwashers : GEs

111. Polytheistic creed : PAGANISM. I thought "Polytheistic" is some kind of plastic.

116. Rate of speed : PACE

117. Pope's muse : ERATO. Alexander Pope.

120. Like many a quote: Abbr. : ANON

121. Home to the Sforza Castle : MILAN. Well, Splynter might know this castle. Not me.

122. "Buckaroo Holiday" ballet : RODEO. Also unknown to me. See here.

123. Driver's warning : FORE. On the tee box. Not HORN.

124. Advance : LEND

125. Argues vehemently : YELLS

126. German steel hub : ESSEN

127. Secondhand : USED

Down:

1. University of Georgia athlete, familiarly : DAWG. Already had DAW? in place, so easy answer.

2. Ottoman general : AGHA

3. Actress Cameron : DIAZ

4. Paid for a hand : ANTED

5. Wheat protein : GLUTEN. If you like Shanghai cuisine, you probably know dried gluten. Very tasty when properly prepared.

6. Easy gait : LOPE

7. Bookie's numbers : ODDS

8. Back in the day : AGO

9. Sleuth, slangily : TEC. Detective.

10. Former minors : ADULTS

11. Prefix with ethics : META. New word to me: meta-ethics.

12. Of the ear : OTIC

13. Banjo part with frets : NECK

14. Bit of this, bit of that : GRAB BAG. Thought of our own grab bag cards. Kids like them.

15. Rootless one : NOMAD

16. Jacob's womb-mate : ESAU

17. Cut (open), as a letter : SLIT

18. Tiger with a red scarf : TONY. Tony the Tiger.


24. Ancient gathering place : STOA. Or AGORA.

28. __ noir : BETE

29. Sushi bar suppliers : EELERS. Love eel, never met an eeler.

31. Scene using stunt drivers : CHASE

32. Piercing site : NAVEL

34. Cutting tools : SAWS

35. Letters before two cents? : IMHO. Loved the clue. 

36. Whatever the weather : RAIN OR SHINE. And 43. Tricky force tactic : POLICE STING. Great fill.

38. Brit. medal : DSO. Distinguished Service Order

39. Tough guy : THUG. Those Isis guys are just thugs. I won't call them tough guys.

40. Going through the roof : FUMING. And 66. Infuriate : ENRAGE

41. Sees through : IS ONTO

42. Critic who won't quit : NAG
 
44. Some are blessed : EVENTS

45. Sweet and sour : TASTES.  Have you had Kabocha before, Jayce/Steve? Eager to see if D-Otto likes his.



47. Eyes persistently : STARES AT

52. Pilot's update, briefly : ETA

53. Heckle, say : HARASS

54. Editor's "Leave it" : STET

56. Many open mic night performers : AMATEURS

59. Sci-fi staple : ALIEN

60. On the fence : UNSURE

62. Blowup: Abbr. : ENL

64. "I do not see why I should __ turn back": Frost : EER
 
67. Many a concertgoer : TEENER. Most of us just say "teenager".

69. Many a startup : DOT COM

70. Move nonchalantly : SASHAY. Hi there, Lucina!

71. Burden : ONUS

76. "Neither snow __ rain ... " : NOR

78. Lava rock : BASALT

80. "It's __!": speakeasy warning : A RAID
 
81. Keyboardist Saunders and crossword immortal Reagle : MERLS. We'll never see a genius like Merl again.

82. Pegged : ID'ED

84. Oklahoma's "Wheat Capital" : ENID

85. LAPD ranks : SGTS

87. Tee sizes, initially : SML. Huh, "initially?"

89. Nautical pronoun : HER. Had SHE.

92. Speculative lead-to-gold practice : ALCHEMY

93. Author Silverstein : SHEL

97. Eyes in texts : COLONS :-0

98. Encourages : EGGS ON. Come back often LaLaLinda.

99. Minimum-range tide : NEAP

101. Graph revelation : TREND. Gary would have linked a terrific graph.

104. Major mix-up : SNAFU

105. Down Under gem : OPAL

106. Rooftop sight : VANE

107. Micro- or macro- subj. : ECON

108. Buffalo's lake : ERIE

109. Area where a pass may be needed : HALL. All crosses. Disadvantage of never attending any school here. No "hall passes" in our schools.

110. Angled print: Abbr. : ITAL

111. Xing people? : PEDS. Ah, I was thinking of stars. Xing (level tone) means "star" in Chinese.

112. __ bit: slightly : A WEE

113. Wall St. highlights : IPOs

115. '60s TV barn resident : MR ED

118. "__ You Experienced": Hendrix album : ARE

119. Negatives : NOS



Happy Birthday to our pilot Dudley, who's been with the blog for over five years. Any adventurous plans today, Dudley? This picture was taken during Montana's visit to Northeast in September, 2013.

Left to right: Marti, Dudley, Hondo & Montana

C.C. 

44 comments:

George Barany said...

I guess with people being preoccupied for the holidays, crossword editors are opting for relatively easy puzzles. I was able to solve @Amy Johnson's puzzle in less time than it took me to get through C.C.'s heartfelt writeup. Plus, C.C. was too modest to mention that she and @Don Gagliardo have today's offering at the other newspaper. Ingenious and lots of fun!

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks, Amy and CC!

Nice puzzle. Had not heard of a SAMOA. Did not go back and try to understand the theme. No problems.

Trying to fix friend Harvey's MacBook Pro this evening.

Happy Birthday to you, Dudley!!

All worn out and really need sleep!

Cheers!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Of course, I failed to get the theme. Of course, I failed to read the reveal. Of course, I failed to notice the starred clues. But I did like the puzzle.

NEWSPAPER reminds me that yesterday I had some free time, so I watched that 30-minute documentary that Husker linked about July 2, 1978 -- the last day of hot-metal printing at the NYT. Velly Intellesting!

C.C., "Initially" as in Small, Medium, Large. SML. And yes I would have tried HIT. As it turns out, BED was already filled, and I never read that clue. Not sure our local grocery carries Kabocha, but I'm gonna look for one. They sound delicious.

I thought PEDS was brilliant for pedestrians, though I can't recall the last time I saw a "Ped Xing" sign.

Learning moment this morning: AGHA = General. I thought it was a Turkish ruler or maybe a royal.

Happy birthday, Dudley. And many more.

Lemonade714 said...

Happy birthday Dudley, keep flying.

The puzzle seemed to be a Thumped for me, but I have been busy with granddaughters so I am distracted.

Happy Sunday, we are off for a train ride!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all (and Happy Birthday, Dudley)!

This one was mostly straightforward and a bit on the dull side, except that we had to live with junk (well, in my opinion, at least) like EELERS, TEENER, IDED and LENTEN. In the end, though, I wasn't able to get the job done due to some problems in the NE corner. I simply didn't know what the U of G athletes were called and had no idea what the Martha's Vineyard papers were (and are there multiple papers with the same name there?) I finally guessed DAWG/GANETTES, which would have been correct had I not had a typo at 3D (DIAN instead of DIAZ). Since I wasn't sure about the G, I didn't even bother to check for other wrong letters. Oops.

Big Easy said...

The puzzle filled easily and rapidly and as usual even though A NEWSPAPER was filled, I couldn't see the theme. At the beginning it appeared to be a color theme with BLACK BEAUTY & WHITE HOUSE but no others showed up. Had a few unknowns easily solved by perps, O RARE, SLOANE, SAMOA, MILAN, and META-ethics (whatever that is???)

'Letters before two cents' was a great clue for IMHO. TEENER- sounds like somebody made up that word, maybe a Val-Gal.

MERL Reagle, MERLE Haggard, MYRL Simpson ( my mother's name).

Congrats C.C. on the 'other paper' puzzle.

Lucina said...

Greetings, friends!
Happy birthday, Dudley! I hope you have a fabulous day.

I liked Amy's puzzle though it was no SASHAY. Hi, C.C. thank you for the CSO.

It was fairly easy and I finished in less than the usual time even with some unfamiliar fill, SLOANE, DAWG, and I didn't search for the theme. Again, thank you, C.C. for providing it.

I've seen Ben Johnson's tombstone before but had forgotten about it.

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!

Splash said...

Not very difficult today. I didn't pick up on the theme, though I guess I didn't try. It was 5am after all.

C.C. and Don--FANTASTIC other Sunday puzzle. A good challenge and wonderfully clever. Congrats!

maripro said...

I didn't get the theme, but now that I know what it is, I love it. Very clever. Thanks, C,C. and Amy.
As a NYT syndie, I'll have to wait until next Sunday to see C.C.'s and Don's puzzle. I'm looking forward to it.
Have a lovely day, everyone.

Anonymous said...

ID'ED is a misspelling. The correct spelling is ID'D. And the clue needed a suggestion of abbreviation.

The SNAFU clue needed a suggestion of abbreviation or acronym

And just what, pray, is a TEENER?

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I, for one, enjoyed this cleverly-themed puzzle; I was in the dark until the reveal and, even then, it took a few seconds to see it all spelled out. Thought of Lucina at sashay and Abejo at the ubiquitous Erie.

Kudos, Amy, for a fun solve and thanks, CC, for the detailed review. I look forward to doing your NYT puzzle later on. Congrats to you and Don.

Happy Birthday, Dudley, hope it's very special. 🎂🎉🎈

Splash @ 8:40 - Please visit more often as your avatar never fails to bring a smile to my face! 🐶 (Your comments are also appreciated. 🤗 )

Have a great day. 🍀

Husker Gary said...

I tried over and over to suss the theme and near the end, BANG!, I saw WHAT’S BLACK… and my agony/delight was over – An embarrassed zebra or a sun burned nun!

Musings
-BLACK BEAUTY as the narrator reminds me of the Christmas letter we got narrated by the family dog
-“AND SO IT GOES” was a tagline for this journalist
-They wore their LODGE symbol
-Granddaughter’s new PET Guinea Pig dangerously went into hibernation last week. He now has a heater.
-If a LENTEN hamburger dooms me, it must have been a close call!
-I’d prefer a route delivering bread rather than this commodity
-Lo How A Rose ERE Blooming is seasonal fav of mine
-YELLing FORE into a 20 mph wind is not a good warning
-Not much was left of those ESSEN steel hubs
-Huskers beat the ODDS last night
-My OTIC system is seriously staring at external assistance
-Why are these GRAB BAG gifts entertaining?
-Is being STARED AT a goal of some wardrobe decisions?
-10” of snow tomorrow will test that mailman motto
-Much of his time was devoted to/wasted on ALCHEMY
-Yup on graphs! One picture/thousand words?
-HBD Dudley! Keep ‘em flying!

Madame Defarge said...

Happy Birthday, Dudley!

WES, if you put it all together, I had the same experience when I found the theme. Fun! Thanks, Amy.

Thanks for the Sunday walkabout, C.C.

Have a great day. If you're in or near Chicago tomorrow, take a ride over to Lake Michigan. 14-18 foot waves are predicted. One of Mother Nature's spectacular shows!

Have a great day, even if it is STILL cloudy. (I'm having trouble practicing what I preach these days.)

Yellowrocks said...

I enjoyed this puzzle because I soon sussed one of my dad's favorite jokes when we were little. We learned to love words and word play at our parents' knees. Nice expo, CC.
*I enjoyed To Sir With Love. I saw it when it came out and several times since.
*Lenten diet seems very ordinary to many Christians. We often fast for Lent or give up a favorite food, like chocolate.
*TEENER is a legitimate word, although Merriam Webster lists its popularity at 30% of all words. Still it is fair game for x-words. It needs no warning.
*SNAFU has become common enough not to need a warning, either.It's heard all the time.
*Dictionary.com lists many variations of IDed. All are correct.
"verb (used with object), ID'd or IDed or ID'ed, ID'ing or IDing.
to identify."
Another warm, but gloomy day here. We are saving $$$$ on heat. I light my Christmas window candles in the daytime to brighten the gloom. We need to believe, "The sun will come out tomorrow."
Happy birthday, Dudley. I enjoy your posts.
EELER seems to be used more in puzzles than in actuality.

Steve said...

Happy Birthday, Dudley!

Walk in the park puzzle for me today. Didn't like TEENER at all.

I've never cooked with those squash, C.C. Also, I'm learning to cook everything without gluten as my friend is very intolerant to it. Breads are the really tricky thing, as gluten is pretty much key to the entire chemistry of baking.

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, Amy, for a cute and easily solved puzzle. However, had to look closely to find the riddle!

Thanks, C.C., for the usual grezt job you do for this blog! Look forward to doing Don and your puzzle next week!

CrossEyedDave said...

Happy Birthday Dudley!

I just happened to have caught the end of todays Blog
as I was trying to get to the older posts link to read
yesterdays late nite.

I am saving todays puzzle for my flight tonight.
Can't really call it a red eye, as it is only 3 hours.

Hmm, what kind of cake should I get a pilot?

In the meantime, I have been thinking about New Years resolutions.
What if I gave up Cat Videos?

P.S., Dudley,
I will not be the pilot for tonights flight...
(Rats!)

Oh Well...

Jo said...

Good puzzle, but even though I got IMHO for letters before 2 cents I don't get it. What am I missing?

Misty said...

A fun puzzle this morning, even though I missed just a few odd letters here and there, and couldn't figure out the theme for the life of me until C.C. explained it. But I still really enjoyed this, so many thanks, Amy. And many thanks for posting the photo of MERL Reagle, C.C. Your write-up is always a pleasure, and congrats on the "other" puzzle.

Enjoyed your comments this morning, Yellowrocks.

Have a great birthday, Dudley.

And have a great post-Christmas Sunday, everybody.

desper-otto said...

Jo, first you say IMHO and then you put your two cents in.

SwenglishMom said...

Hi CC and the gang! thanks for all the great puzzles and explanations throughout the year. Just wanted to comment on the "nest" clue -- this is something pregnant women supposedly do before giving birth, according to books like "What To Expect When You're Expecting." Being new in a foreign land and fairly isolated during my pregnancies I learned as much as I could via the books. Not sure they helped much. Naturally I can write my own now, not much help to me at this point though! As a friend once said, as long as you aren't locking them in the closet you're doing ok.

God fortsattning! (Happy continuance [of the holiday spirit]) as we say here in Sweden,

Ann

Yellowrocks said...

Bill G. good comments about the phases of the moon last night. I think the clue was good because not all ARCs are crescents. Any part of the circumference of a circle or other curve, even 359+ degrees is an ARC.
Thesaurus says, "synonyms: curve · arch · crescent · semicircle · half-moon"
So a quarter of the moon's cycle would produce a half-moon, a larger arc than a crescent.
The lyrics I know for the Volga Boatman say YO HEAVE HO.
Link lyrics
It makes more sense that the Beatles’ OB LA DI, OB LA DA or Cher’s SHOOP SHOOP.

Back to today's puzzle:
This is no nit. Although I don’t mind saying I am no spring chicken. I would hate to be considered over the hill. LOL

CrossEyedDave said...

Happy Birthday Dudley!

Hmm,

Posting without reading the Blog is like trying to fly on instruments...

(But, there are not a lot of links where I am going...)
(So I need to get this posted now...)

So, Dudley, are you a pilot like the above (neat & proper)
or a fly by the seat of your pants kinda guy like me?

CrossEyedDave said...

Dang! it's hard to wait till tomorrow
to read you guys, I feel like I am missing something...

But, can't spoil the puzzle!

Oooh! Bonus!
DW has a free drink coupon to go with the puzzle on the plane!

(WooHoo!)

Irish Miss said...

I just finished Don and CC's puzzle and what a delight it was. Truly original and fun, fun, fun! Those of you who have to wait until next week have a lot to look forward to. Bravo(a) to our Dynamic Duo! 👫

CED @ 12:04 - Don't even THINK about giving up cat videos! 😿 🙀 😾

Jayce said...

Fun puzzle. The process of discovering the theme was much the same for me as it was for Husker Gary. Hand up for BOAST before GLOAT and not liking TEENER. Also FILM before BETE and CONE fefore HORN. I did immediately enter BED, though. Total unknowns to me include ORARE, RALES, and SAMOA as clued. Loved PED XING; immediately thought of C.C. when I saw "Xing."

I've had kabocha but didn't know it at the time. Once was in a tempura dish at a Japanese restaurant; I thought it was sweet potato. Another time was when DW made a Philippine dish called pinakbet, where I thought it was butternut squash.

LW and I also love Shanghai cuisine and one of our favorite dishes at a local restaurant is fish gluten with seafood. The fish gluten look like small collapsed tennis balls. Delicious!

By the way, just because I don't like TEENER does not mean I don't acknowledge its legitimacy as a real word and that it is listed in Merriam Webster. Quoting the dictionary at me won't make me like it.

LW and I had the pleasure several years ago of seeing a performance of RODEO as choreographed by Agnes DeMille, performed at our San Jose Cleveland Ballet, as it was known then. It was pretty good.

Anonymous T said...

Hi all!

1st C.C. I can't wait until next Sunday's NYT in HOU's Chron... Thanks for the write-up.

2nd, SwenglishMom is right re: nesting == prep'n' for baby. In addition to reading "What to expect when your expecting," DW went crazy-nuts cleaning the house one day...
I even got involved and had the garage spic-n-span. @1-ish AM, I'd finished the last dustpan of cruft, took my last drag from the cigar & sip of beer, and was ready to retire when... DW's water broke. At least our little nest was ready for Eldest.

HBD Dudley! CED posited the Q - which pilot are you? :-)

Cheers, -T

Jerome said...

I'd like to experience a TSUNAMI... AM I NUTS?
Few words are AS FUN as SNAFU.
POLICE STING. It's also a band and their lead singer.
My "Hey, that's not fair!" and "Huh?" and "I protest!" moment of the day. Rich once had me change a grid that contained RALE. "Ugly word", the boss said.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! I had hoped to take a birthday run down to Nantucket for a bowl of chowdah, but today's weather is on that part of the scale between grim and depressing. As it happens, I had to work anyway.

CED - I'd like to think I walk a line right near the middle of those two, with a slight bias toward the wild & crazy so as to keep it fun. Plus I hate wearing ties. :-)

Cheers All!

Anonymous T said...

Jerome - LOL!

Seriously, you see s*** in language I could only hope to play w/. C.C. has the same gift. Others here are just as fun (OKL & C. Moe, I'm lookin' at you).

1. POLICE's STING live.

2. Same song w/ the Moon's ARCS phases :-).

Cheers, -T

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Having been in the NEWSPAPER business for many years, I got the theme easily. I'd like to have a dollar for every time I heard this trite joke. But working all those theme clues into the puzzle can't have been easy. Good one, Amy.

I had many of the misdirections C.C. mentioned. Thanks, C.C.

Didn't know Ben Jonson, DuChamps, SAMOA (didn't know about that cookie. Haven't seen a Girl Scout seller in many years.)

Chase is my grandson's name. The word wasn't a name in my mind when he was little. I called him "Cash" or "Chance" invariably. My SIL thought this was hilarious. I do better now, but usually hesitate to make sure I'll get it right before I call him anything.

Happy Birthday, Dudley! May you have fair skies. May all your ups not be downers. CED: haven't you heard the old phrase they tell student pilots: "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old bold pilots."

I had a mother cat whose NESTing urge led her to leap through a glass pane on an enclosed porch to get away from the tom cat. She cut her foot and I couldn't figure out why she was tracking bloody paw prints everywhere until after the birth when I found her by the YOWLing.

Spitzboov said...

Good evening everyone.

Happy Birthday to Dudley. No VFR here today.

WEES. Nothing new to add. Easy enough for a Sunday. Looking out on UTICA'S lights as I write this. Plenty of good perps to help with the stuff I was unsure about.

Our Sunday paper runs the NYT puzzle a week later so I'll look for the CC-DG puzzle next week.

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Amy Johnson, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

Happy Birthday, Dudley, and many more.

Irish Miss, caught your ERIE note. You know, they never use a clue "Erie's Lake." It is always Buffalo's or Cleveland's Lake. Oh well.

Got through today's puzzle a little quicker than most. That is OK with me.

Theme was fine. I had heard that phrase or riddle the first time as a youth. And many times since. It is a good one. Glad Amy made a puzzle out of it.

Thought LODGE for 20A was great! The cluers usually use Elks Lodge. About time the Loyal Order of Moose got in the game. I am a Moose, belonging to Ridgway #1183. I am an Elk as well, Erie #67. Where I live in Illinois is right up the road from Mooseheart, IL. The Child City. Have toured it many times. The radio station in Chicago, WJJD, got it's call letters from Mooseheart, where it was initially a radio station at the orphanage for the kids who lived there and who broadcast on that station. The letters stand for James J Davis, and early supporter of Mooseheart, and later a U S Senator and Secretary of Labor. during the Depression, Mooseheart could no longer afford to maintain the radio station and sold it. My TWO CENTS on that.

That Ben Jonson answer O RARE was unknown to me. Perps all the way. I notice on the write up and picture that Jonson is spelled Johnson. They even had typos in the 1600's.

I had VIEW for 106D. After a little work in that corner it was obvious that VANE was the answer. Very clever clue. Sure mislead me.

Easily got RUNES for 75A. Read a book about the Kensington Stone in Minnesota once. The RUNES are how they proved the age and origin of the stone. Most interesting.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

CrossEyedDave said...

Well,

I had to read the comments, even though I have not yet read the write up.

Still, I now know the puzzle was easier than usual.
This is good, I get to feel like I am smart as I sit in the back of the plane...

PK, (@4:03)
I live my life based on the old adage:


Any landing you can walk away from is a good one...

CrossEyedDave said...

OK Irish Miss,

I will take your advice.

But you must know My experience is limited...

Hmmm,


Avg Joe said...

Enjoyed the puzzle today, but haven't had time to comment since I've been in hand to hand combat with my pickup this afternoon. As Gary noted, were bracing for 10" of snow tomorrow, and I believe the forecasters. Gotta have that pickup ready as our 2nd 4 wheeler. Also got the tractor started and charged up. Might have to plow snow for the first time in 4 winters.

As Gary also noted, the theme was hard to coax into the open. I must have looked at the completed grid for over a minute before I got it. The solve wasn't hard. the theme was. Thank you for the expo, C.C.

And a very happy birthday to you, Dudley. May you always have a tailwind.

I'm watching the Packers getting eviscerated by the Cardinals. Man! Whatever can go wrong has.

tawnya said...

Hi all -

As I was going through the puzzle I got hung up on SAMOAs (YUM!) - when I was selling Girl Scout Cookies many eons ago, they were called Samoas. But as an adult, they have been called Caramel Delites. And they aren't as good as I remember. As it turns out, it depends where you live as to which bakery you get your cookies from. So growing up in Long Beach, CA we had Samoas. But then I moved to San Luis Obispo, CA and now in Springfield, MO where I have Caramel Delites and the not as good version of Thin Mints.

Now you know how much time I've spent thinking about Girl Scout Cookies...

Wishing you all a belated Happy Holidays (whichever you celebrate)!!

t.

Bill G. said...

Dudley, I hope you had a good day and a great year to come!

Picture a cartoon in the New Yorker. There's a psychiatrist's office. A dog is lying on its back on a couch. The dog says, "And then it hit me -- all this time I've been salivating over a goddamned bell."

Irish Miss said...

CED @ 4:56 - I think your New Year's resolution should be to be more inclusive toward the canine community. How about some woof-woofs every now and then? 🐶 🐕 🐩. (I must admit the cat links are usually hilarious, 😻 😺 😸). Bow wow vs Meow?

Lucina said...

Unless I missed it along the way I can't recall anyone translating ORARE Ben Jonson. It's Latin and means "pray for Ben Jonson."

Argyle said...

Yup, you missed it. It was in the write-up.

Unknown said...

I thought "nest" referred to what HUMAN women do prior to giving birth (though usually referenced as "nesting.")

Anonymous T said...

Synapsic Mom - Yep see point #2 @ 2:58p.

Argyle - I love your new Avitar (yes it's a few day now, but I forgot to mention it). Cheers, -T

Blue Iris said...

SASHAY will always make me think of Lucina.

GLUTEN free makes it very difficult to make treats for a friend. Unfortunately, we know another little guy who is allergic to GLUTEN, nuts and dairy. His mother tries her best but he has ended up in the ER three times before second birthday.

Jo, IMHO stands for " in my humble opinion" if you are still wondering.

I liked GAZETTES, WHATS UP DOC, AND SO IT GOES included in newspaper theme puzzle.

If ever I allow myself to GLOAT, the next hammer is ready to drop and bring me back to my senses.

Hope you see my late night post.

Winter has finally come to Kansas. Icy roads now.