John Lampkin, a true renaissance man and friend of the Corner brings us his first 2016 effort, a sound change makes merry puzzle. Three phrases with three words containing a central "OR" sound are changed to an "UR" sound leaving an amusing new fill clued with skill. While many Fridays are loaded with theme fill, the three chosen are consistent and fun and leave room for much sparkly fill.
CAPULET, POP SONG, SCEPTER, SEA LEGS, HONDURAS, INTERNET, NANNY CAM, TAX HAVEN, THAT’S A GO, WE’RE RICH are all in this gem. No insect learning moment, so do not get antsy, we will now solve.
20A. Cuisine to swear by? : THREE CURSE MEAL (14). Three course meal is a standard fare.
35A. Site of a mortician's monopoly? : ONE HEARSE TOWN (13). The one horse towns of old are going the way the kerosene lamp.
55A. Ode to a Nightingale? : OLD NURSE POETRY (14). The clue references a real POEM but I am sure Florence appreciates the reworking. Old Norse poetry is a CSO to our Norwegian contingent.
Across:
1. Short one at the bar? : ATTorney. I only really see 'atty' abbreviation but I have been in many bars.
4. Flabbergasts : AWES.
8. One taking up slack? : IDLER. Nice clue reversal.
13. Landlocked African country : CHAD. There are 15 such countries in Africa, all perps. I used o go to the office building in NYC with my brother which held his literary agent and the Chad consulate. I thought the name was fake. Who names a country after an actor.
16. Running bowline, e.g. : NOOSE. The beginning of an undercurrent of boating/fishing terms. LINK.
17. Prepare to take off : TAXI. Anybody know the etymology of this usage meaning to go from a terminal to the runway.
18. Mediterranean landmark : ETNA.
19. Dessert that just sounds wrong : TORTE. A Tort in law is a civil wrong.
23. __ orange : OSAGE. I know them as horse apples. Our botany LESSON.
24. Trail follower : HIKER.
25. Downed a link, say : ATE. Sausage, not a golf course. 49A. Link for Ludwig : UND. Beethoven.
66A. Linking device : YOKE. Not on the internet but on your oxen. John Loves clechos.
28. Caught porgy and bass : ANGLED. Cute Porgy and Bess fish pun.
30. Ice __ : AGE. Can you believe it is 13 years?
40. Swift output : POP SONG. Showing my age, my first thought was Jonathan Swift not the ubiquitous TAYLOR.
41. Café freebie : EAU. Water in French.
43. Charmingly retro : QUAINT. Last week it was Tisn't...
46. Rejects : SPURNS.
50. Believes : DEEMS. Another common word in the law.
54. Actress Graff : ILENE. She was a regular on Mr. Belvedere and more recently Hart of Dixie
58. Shock source : TASER. Don't tase me bro!
59. Bit of concert memorabilia : STUB.
60. Quinoa alternative : RICE. We do have rice at my house.
62. Latin stars : ASTRA. Whence Astronomy, astrology etc.
63. New Yorker cartoonist Peter : ARNO. He had a very recognizable style, but has been gone for almost 50 years.
The caption says, "He is not ours, try the River House."
64. Rent-__ : A-CAR.65. Drives off : SHOOS.
67. Med. care option : HMO. Health Maintenance Organization.
Down:
1. Fake it : ACT. Don't get nervous boys.
2. "We're on!" : THAT"S A GO. A nice phrase.
3. Green shelter? : TAX HAVEN. Not ecology but economy.
4. "Hard __!": captain's command : A LEE. Boats.
5. Baker's neighbor in "Into the Woods" : WITCH. The MOVIE with Meryl Streep as the witch.
6. Jaded state : ENNUI. Always a nice fill.
7. Barren : STARK. Will Catelyn be back?
8. Shopper's mecca : INTERNET.
9. Dire destiny : DOOM. Oddly this is in conflict with 14D. Gloomy air : DIRGE as they are from the same Latin source.
10. Cosmetics giant : L'OREAL.
11. What you will : ESTATE. More hidden law.
12. Landed, with "in" : REELED. A big fish?
21. Shocking swimmer : EEL. Fish?
22. Sailor's ability : SEA LEGS. See what I mean; when I got off from a long cruise, it often seemed like the land was moving.
23. __ roll : ON A. Give me some butter, because...
27. Sovereign symbol : SCEPTER.
29. Bygone muscle car : GTO. My brother had one and it was too fast.
33. Ace : PRO. My meh of the day.
34. Org. with subs : USN. Cool misdirection- United States Navy. Ships.
36. Prefix for a lifesaving "Pen" : EPI, I have two in my house-bees.
37. Mosquito Coast country : HONDURAS. It is not Star Wars
39. Concerned parent's installation : NANNY CAM.
42. Employment : USE.
43. Mandated amounts : QUOTAS.
44. Remove, as bindings : UNLASH.
45. Expands, as a deck : ADDS TO. A deck of cards? The deck Splynter built? The one marti and I sat together at her house on?
47. Sales meeting metaphor : PIE.
48. Conservative leader? : ULTRA.
51. Outlet for one's thoughts : ESSAY. Put them on paper.
52. Densely populated area, briefly : METRO.
53. Spirit : SPUNK. A trait of mixed benefit.
56. Emperor famous for playing an instrument that hadn't been invented yet : NERO. Did he FIDDLE around?
57. Wind in the reeds : OBOE. A simple musical clue from our very musical friend. To me it brought to mind this POETRY. Yes Yeats along with earlier Keats.
61. Ranch closing? : ERO. Huevos rancheros while I finish writing?
Always a pleasure to see a JL byline, though we are missing anything to bug us, unless you do not like puns. Thanks John. Lemonade out.
Ack! My first DNF for the year.
ReplyDeleteBummer:(
Dang!! Got the NE then completely stalled. Three or four more fills total then gave up. Terrific write-up, lemonade! CW though just to difficult for my aging brain.
ReplyDeleteMorning, all!
ReplyDeleteStruggled a bit with this one, mostly due to the ramped up cluing. "Running bowline" for NOOSE? "Thread bits" for LINT? "__ orange" for OSAGE? "Short one at the bar" for ATT? Oy!
I finally figured out the theme at OLD NURSE POETRY and that let me go back and pick up the other two theme answers, which in turn helped crack a lot of the rest of the grid. And, in the end, I managed to get through it all unassisted. But, man, those clues!
Thanks Lemon, for the kind words and thorough job. Especially appreciated the NERO link.
ReplyDeleteFor those who care, and even those who don't, the seed entry was ONE HEARSE TOWN.
Happy New Year to all!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteI got through this one pretty quickly, but made three major stumbles along the way: AGENT/OSAGE, KNOTS/NOOSE, SAYS NO/SPURNS.
I grew up in a ONE HEARSE TOWN. My dad owned the hearse. In my teens it became a two-hearse town. Now it's a no-hearse town. In fact, it's barely a town.
Lemon, hand up for thinking Jonathon for the Swift clue. When POP SONG showed up, I figured there was some group named "Swift." D'oh! Oh, and "horse apples" conjures up a totally different image in my mind.
JL, thanks for dropping by. I always enjoy your puzzles. This one was no exception, even if it was bug-free.
Didn't have much time to comment this morning, so let me just add the following...
ReplyDeleteI was thinking birds for the swift clue and really wanted BIRD SONG. Got SONG from the perps, but BIRD obviously wouldn't fit. Nice light bulb moment when I realized it was referring to Taylor Swift.
ILENE was a total unknown and I wasn't really comfortable with PIE as a "sales meeting metaphor." But PIE was certainly much better than PEE, which is what ELENE would have given me.
I had FISHED before ANGLED, which slowed me down a bit. I also misspelled SCEPTER as SCEPTOR for no apparent reason, and that also tripped me up some.
Favorite clue of the day was definitely "Dessert that just sounds wrong" for TORTE.
Good morning all.
ReplyDeleteI was thrown for more loops than the only rope at the rodeo. I mean I was flat out ill-prepared for today's test.
I liked the many creative and fresh clues such as "Mediterranean landmark" and "Jaded state" and "Dessert that just sounds wrong."
Loved "What you will." "One taking up slack" was clever too.
Some clues that appeared easier led me down the primrose path. "Caught porgy and bass" had to be FISHED. There's Ice TEA. Now he's getting tricky, with Ludwig's link, but that's also simple with VON. "Too easy for a Friday," I thought. Those easy ones were my downfall.
"Green shelter ?" That had to be ECOHAVEN with ---HAVEN in place. Another misdirect. Wrong kind of green. DOH !
By the time I got to "Swift output", I could only think of Jonathan and the nation's largest trucking company based in Phoenix.
Thank you John Lampkin and Lemonade.
Being Norwegian I really loved OLD NURSE POETRY. But also because I'm Norwegian, while traveling through South America I really hated MOSQUITO TACOS.
ReplyDeleteYou're somethin' else, Lampkin. One of the best!
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteReally had to noodle on this one, but finished unassisted. Favorite clue: Porgy and bass, definitely! I like the precise rhyme in the theme words, it's a nice touch.
Lemon- this was just a pay grade above my ability. The SE absolutely killed me with the Ford RanchERO as the only fill. The rest I managed to scrape together but I confidently misfilled ONE HEARSE STORE instead of TOWN and I was DOOMed from that point on. But ILENE, ARNO, Quinona, and OLD NORSE (or NURSE) POETRY were unknowns. Especially after filling HARD C for ULTRA as the 'Conservative leader'. I was hoping for something with TWO to go along with THREE CURSE MEAL but it wasn't to be.
ReplyDeleteIn the parts that I did complete, TAX BREAK changed to HAVEN and VON to UND.
SEA LEGS- after I get them walking on solid ground makes me dizzy for a couple of hours
OSAGE- Horse apple- when I was a kid our group would hit them with bats for fun, but since NAVELS was directly below OSAGE is there a 'NAVEL OSAGE' orange?
BOWLINE- don't know what 'running bowline' is but I can tie the knot.
John Lampkin- this was a Friday and a half puzzle in my humble opinion ( I refuse to use text abbreviations)
It was a struggle, but I nailed the North & Central. I ran out of steam (aka Brain power) in the South. So a second DNF in a row.
ReplyDeleteI kept trying to find a numeric beginning for 55A, but ADDS ON for 45d messed up that thought. Finally just gave up.
After the past four days, I'll bet there are more then a few folks who may no longer thinking WE"RE RICH.
Tin lives in a state where CHAD had a whole different meaning a few years ago.
Not sure how I feel about may NAVEL being thought of as a trap for lint.
Thanks for the challenge, maybe next time I'll be up for it. Lemon, nice write up as usual.
Working weekend, weather permitting, so we'll "talk" again own Monday.
Seeing the by-line helped me immensely today. Expecting puns made the theme pop early, but I was stalled by unknowns in the north, even though the south was completely filled. I wanted AGENT orange, and had no idea about a bowline. Also misspelled DERGE and was totally off track with TAX HAVEN, which messed up TAXI and a few other areas there.
ReplyDeleteBetter than most of my recent Fridays though.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a tough Friday but I did finish unassisted. Very clever and fun theme with lots of sparkling foil, as Lemony noted. Seeing "spunk" reminded me of a very early MTM episode, perhaps the pilot, when Lou Grant says to MTM, "You've got spunk, kid" and Mary says, demurely, "Thank you, Mr. Grant" and Lou bellows back, "I HATE spunk!" That was such a good show. (I also liked seeing spurn, a nice, old-fashioned word.)
Thank you, John Lampkin, for a truly enjoyable late-week challenge and, also, for dropping by and thank you, Lemony, for your excellent expo, as always.
Going to a birthday party this evening. All five of the sisters will be present, a rare occurrence.
Have a great day.
Auto correct "foiled" me again. S/B sparkling fill! 🙊
ReplyDeleteJohn Lampkin, I enjoyed your puns. Great write up, Lemony. This was easier for me than a normal Friday. I got TAXI quickly which set up the NW. Just having CU in the middle gave me THREE COURSE MEAL and the theme which was very helpful. I did this in horizontal thirds, top, middle and bottom.
ReplyDeleteI wanted a number for ___ NURSE POETRY, but NURSE had to be NORSE. When I accepted OLD I finished the SW, which was the last to fall.
ILENE and ARNO needed a few perps.
I liked PIE chart for sales meeting metaphor.
To me horse apple is slang for horse sh**. I had the first O from ON A so OSAGE was easy.
Alan's relief from the epidural lasted only 5 days. In addition he has a general malaise and other symptoms, vague and not that unusual for him except for the fact that he has trouble breathing. The overt symptoms before his collapse from renal failure and sepsis were also vague and not that unusual for him. I am greatly concerned and will take him to our GP today. As always, this is a scary puzzlement.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks to Lampkin and Lemon(ade) for the clever puzzle and write-up! I struggled with this at first, but I HIKED up my big boy pants and REELED in one answer after another.
Not sure when the footholds held; as I look at the ink blots, the north half of the puzzle has the majority. I, too had FISHED before ANGLED (which I thought was an extremely clever answer, considering it forms a right "angle" with the word REELED. Not sure if John meant for that "intersection", but if so very clever. If not, well, chalk one up for the Chairman!! ;^) My other hiccups were spelling DIRGE DERGE, and I think I put REVLON in where L'OREAL fit; also had THE Hearse Town and SEVEN curse meal before correcting. Last letter filled was the T in ATT and TAX HAVEN
It's fun to be back solving puzzles each day! Have a great weekend all ...
IM there is a puzzle there somewhere
ReplyDeleteA tricky clue that defeats a solver: SPARKLY FOIL
I had to go south to get rolling and got OLD NURSE POETRY when, DUH!, I saw Nightingale was the NURSE not the Ode and then the other themers fell. What a brilliant puzzle!
ReplyDeleteMusings
-PRO (not meh) write-up as always Lemon!
-3-course - We almost always eschew appetizers and dessert
-If you’re Catholic in our town of 27,000, ours is mostly a ONE HEARSE TOWN
-It’ll be a while even after that TAXI
-Today I learned a non-capitalized porgy is a fish
-AGENT Orange is a wrong and much less desirable
-Me too on Swift, Lemon, but she seems to be a decent role model
-You have to keep your movie STUBS today as these seats
are reserved
-At least try to ACT like you’re interested
-I hate sending money to D.C. but I have no TAX HAVEN
-INTERNET shopping – If Amazon doesn’t have it, you don’t need it.
-We teachers are trained in August about EPIPens but by April…
-Cute NANNY CAM option (1:11) Manac?
-Yup, Irish, I thought of Lou Grant instantly as well
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen John in a while but today made up for it. Very clever cluing and many puns. First quick pass yielded bubkes. Then Mosquito Coast helped by giving Honduras, and got the SW with the 2 Q's crossing. Center North fell next with ETNA and LINT. Eventually got it all except the SE where old Norse poetry didn't hit me. Nor did PIE and CAM. But it felt great just to be able to entangle most of John's clues.
Hard A LEE - Never heard that command on an engine driven vessel.
SEA LEGS - Usually took me a couple days to get mine back. Our wardroom had a penchant for serving greasy pork chops for the first dinner after leaving port. (I believe S of the M-D line they say "greezzy.") Not too helpful.
Mosquito Coast - ADM Lord Nelson almost died a couple times while serving there in his formative years.
You win, John, as you usually do, but I LOVED the battle! Such fun puns. Thanks, Lemonade , for the tour.
ReplyDeleteAnon T from last night...this year's Mardi Gras is almost the earliest it can be. I think Feb 7 is the cutoff. Makes for a riotous season, trying to fit all the revelry into a month! Enjoy Bacchus! It is one of the most fun activities/parades/days in the calendar . And it does last all day.
As for the LIE, LAY,etc, conundrum, I have a feeling those distinctions will disappear eventually as other confusions have. "Different from" is slowly becoming "different than" although it drives me crazy. And "ain't" is now in the dictionary . Horrors!
Communication is really the only key, I guess. If people understand what you mean, who cares how you say it....other than us purists! The nuances are valuable to make otherwise obscure points clearer.
But we are all here talking about words, so we must care!
John, thank you for stopping by and saying hello. What other theme fill did you consider and reject?
ReplyDeleteBTW, fearless leader C.C. is published today in the Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE) puzzle
Greetings, friends!
ReplyDeleteThank you, John Lampkin! It's well worth waiting for your puzzles which force me to think differently. I love your puns and got the theme at OLD NURSE POETRY. In fact, the entire bottom filled first once HONDURAS was in place.
Hand up for thinking initially of JONATHAN SWIFT but SATIRE didn't fit.
In the NE LAUDER preceded L'OREAL and I got that corner REELED in.
So much fun but ATT defeated me and had to look it up. Drat!
Thank you again, John and Lemonade, too, for your lofty review.
Have yourselves a beautiful day, everyone!
Fun puzzle as usual when JL is the constructor - after getting the first two theme answers I got the OR to UR sound switch, but expected the last one to begin with a number also. Finally had to put in the OLD because no number would do. Still very creative.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lemonade and John!
Heading to STL today to pick up Air Force son up - can't wait to see him since it's been since August. I hope the forecast is accurate and the snow doesn't come until Saturday when we will be safely home!!
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteTook a while to find John's wavelength. THREE and ONE had me looking for a numerical theme. Fell into the most common traps. OLD NURSE POETRY had me befuddled, even after i filled it in. Then i remembered Florence. Brilliant theme.
Lots of brilliant cluing, too - TORTE is my fav. Had to google ILENE, then the SE corner fell into place and I was done. That was my mom's name, but she spelt it EILENE.
We had breakfast at IKEA with Amanda this morning. Very good and very cheap. I did down a couple links, then worked on the puzzle in the cafeteria while the girls went browsing.
Kitty Callan passed yesterday. She was also 94.
Cool regards!
JzB
Resting up for Disney World Goofy Challenge tomorrow and Sunday, so I had plenty of time to work this one out. Entertaining.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I thought I got this Friday puzzles, but 'twas not to be. Ended up with errors in the SW corner, even though I had QUOTAS, NERO, and HONDURAS. My errors were dumb, not the fault of your great puzzle, John, and thank you for stopping by. Delightful expo, as always, Lemonade.
ReplyDeleteLoved your memory of the Mary Tyler Moore show, Irish Miss. One of my absolute favorite from the old days.
Have a great Friday, everybody.
Cute theme and fun puzzle. Thanks, John, for a good challenge today. Started out really slow, but worked from top to bottom, and got er done.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lemonade, again, for your nice write-up!
Well it was a lot of white space after the first couple of passes, so much so that I put it down.
ReplyDeleteTen minutes later I picked it up, got a couple and then went through it to completion. But not an easy one at all.
We were a one hearse town and it doubled as the ambulance. You could tell which it was by how fast it was going.
ReplyDeleteLovely. Took me some concentrated effort but unpicked everything eventually. I'm not always a fan of the "pun" themes because honestly some are just downright awful but these were fun!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first left school I worked as a cleaner at my local hospital which was founded by Florence Nightingale herself. If I remember correctly, the maternity ward in the original building was named for her.
Knew I was in for a treat when I saw the byline.
ReplyDeleteSailed a sea of white until I got my sealegs.
Learning moment: osage
Hard alee is not something you hear to often,
I tried to find a visual, but this was as close as I got...
Unlike the above ships, I managed to weather this puzzle, but it was one heck of a nor easter.
Moment of honesty:( I had to look up capulet...)
What Jzb said, I found the three, then the one, then with nothing in the SW corner
I fought with two nurses (& even six poems) until I gave up & let the
grudgingly few perps guide me...
Finally wound up where I started, 1A, I stared at short one at the bar, looked at ATT,
stared at my cell phone for 1/2 an hour thinking"what the hell is JL talking about?"
Thanks for splainin' it Lemon!
Argyle, dad's hearse was also the ambulance. The "funeral home" placard was removed from the side windows when it was being used an an ambulance. We also had a new-fangled (for that time) gurney with collapsble legs. One person could push it against the rear of the vehicle -- the legs would fold up -- and the gurney could be pushed inside and secured in place.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally the hearse had to be used to pick up a corpse from a hospital. Sometimes those trips were several hundred miles. State law required that the body not be left unattended. So when it was lunch time, we'd stop at an A&W or Dairy Queen. When the carhop came to take our order Dad would look back over his shoulder and ask into the rear of the hearse, "And what would you like for lunch?" I remember one teenaged carhop who stammered, "Is that a real live dead body you've got in there?" I got to see a lot of Wisconsin riding shotgun in that old hearse.
I am not a linguistic purist, far from it. I am a descriptive, not a prescriptive grammarian. What bugs me is too tight rules with only one correct way of speaking and writing. I acknowledge that there are the highest literary standards to be used for formal occasions. For every day usage I believe that less formal constructions are correct. Some of the formal constructions sound stuffy and hoity-toity in everyday usage. For informal usage, informal constructions are not incorrect. Less formal usage is the growing edge of our language, the point where it is most apt to change. Many of the usages we insist on today were once considered incorrect. Many usages which were insisted upon, even 100 years ago, are now considered incorrect or oddly quaint.
ReplyDeleteOff to Alan's doctor. I hope this visit does not involve the ER.
What "Short one at the bar" means is that ATT is short for ATTY (at the bar of justice, not at a pub). It's easily the worst clue of the year in the punniest puzzle of the year.
ReplyDelete"Wind in the reeds" is a pretty lame clue, too, for OBOE. ALL the reeds are wind instruments (unless you count accordions, which John Philip Sousa would not have).
Hi everybody. When I saw John Lampkin's byline, I knew I was in for a treat. Thanks John and Lemon for some CW fun.
ReplyDeleteAbout once a week I get a call from a place with lots of background noise and a caller with an Indian accent. They tell me that my PC has been sending them error messages showing that it has been infected with malware. Luckily, they can diagnose it and fix it for me. Usually I just tell them I have a Mac and hang up. Today I played along for a while listening to the fellow lie and dig himself into a hole. Finally, he began to figure out that I wasn't falling for his scam. He asked me what I had been eating to make me so stupid. I know he is probably just some poor sap trying to make a few dollars cold-calling people but I would love to know the people who he was working for so I could try to make their life unpleasant. The business of advertising has gone from exaggerating to lying and scamming.
Very late today. I didn't finish last night, and when I took it up again this morning, I still didn't finish until after noon! The entire bottom half gave me trouble, but when I finally finished, it was something at top that jammed up. A lot of missteps at bottom, some that lasted long were SAYS NO > SPURNS crossing JOB > USE, COLUMBIA > HONDURAS, ALOE > RICE (thinking quinine), GHOST > SPUNK crossing NAST > ARNO. When I got no ta-da, I changed ATT (which I couldn't parse until I came here) to ALT, the short key next to to the space bar. Still no ta-da, so kept checking, and decided WITCb made no sense, so changed BIKER > HIKER. Still no ta-da. ALT seemed a stronger entry than LHATSAGO, but I still tried changing the L back to T, and ta-da!
ReplyDeleteI got THREE CURSE MEAL early, but couldn't figure out the rule until I came here and read lemon's CURSE-HEARSE-NURSE poem!
The family was DEEMED to be under a CURSE.
The clan was leaving, one-by-one, in a HEARSE.
Then their NANNY CAM
Had its TASER jam,
They were being done in by a robot NURSE!
The LINKS were arranged as a rolling GREEN COURSE,
ReplyDeleteBut HONDURAS was losing to the Viking NORSE.
They at last got so low
They switched to polo,
Handicapping those SEA-LEGS, playing golf on a HORSE!
Thanks John, for a Friday workout. And Lemonade for the writeup. I had ATT for 1a but had no idea why.
ReplyDeleteI was able to slowly get toeholds and work through. At first, just got the 3 letter fills. I finally had all but the SW done. I didn’t see the UR to OR switch so I couldn’t get the OLD in 55a from OLD NORSE POETRY. I also couldn’t get SHOO. After I red-lettered that, I was able to finish.
Lemonade, I found this for TAXIing airplanes at ETYMONLINE.COM
1911, of airplanes, from slang use of taxi (n.) for "aircraft," or from or reinforced "in allusion to the way a taxi driver slowly cruises when looking for fares" [Barnhart]. Related: taxied, taxiing.
IM, the clip for SPUNK, ~ 41 secs into it.You’ve got SPUNK clip.
MARY_HAS_SPUNK
Live Well and Prosper
VS
PS,
ReplyDeleteI tried to find good links for Kitty Kallen, RIP.
WIKI_BIO
BESAME_MUCHO
The only TV I could find was a 1952 Colgate Comedy Hour, where she sings. The skits with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are corny. The old Colgate ads are a trip. Her medley of songs begins about 21 minutes into the show.
KITTY_KALLEN_SINGS
Bill G. @ 2:11, I think those unsolicited tech calls are more than mere annoyances. I think it is a scam to get into your computer. If you go along, they eventually want to install software on your PC so they can fix it for you. Similar to calls supposed from the IRS.
VS
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteArgg - Even with 2 Googles the N. Central was a hanging CHAD. DNF.
This puzzle took me a looong time (each o=1h) mostly b/c I wouldn't trust myself w/ things like ATT(y). Then there's my "I be so smart"s... Mega-mall for 8d, ADDSon @45f, and the worst(!), SaysNo which worked with "I'm so RICH" and NANNYCAM. Not until I consulted the Google for ILENE did that corner fall into order.
Other "wait-what?:" 30a Ice (tea? - is it HAVaN? (There will be a blog fight Ice v. Iced)) that fit w/ "fat-" but not "egg-"roll @ 23d and anViLS at 26a - what kind of threads @15? Screws?... Real brain-twister there.
31a was another Google - I knew it was Romeo & Juliet but didn't recall either surname. That helped cleared up the NE. But that CURSE'd ENNUI; I never remember that word. I was thinking Jade == green == ENvy == ???
Thanks so much for a fun pzl John! Yours are RICH. You TAX'd me good (where do I get a HAVEN?). The cross-c/a's, theme, and clues WERE what kept me tryin'. Thanks LEM for stopping my DOOM.
Fav - 3d. That was LOL when V-8 hit (I only had X from TAXI at fill-time)
Hand-up for going immediately to J. Swift. W/ EPI in place, I tried to stretch-out Parody or Prose.
Manac - 1st DNF of the year was last Friday for me :-)
IM, et.al. I too thought of MTM & Lou at SPUNK. VS just posted the link I found while drafting this.
Hondo - I'm not RICH. WTI (OPEC not CN) is killing us; 70% drop in my stock since it was granted. I ain't sellin' - gas/petro will be $6/gal when this rebounds (IMHO*)
Bill G - what VS said. Tech Support doesn't call you, you call them. Ditto IRS. These scams are big business in poor countries (East European, N. Africa, and India. China does it mostly for the know not the dough). I (well, my team) battle this cruft 24/7/365.2425.
Swamp - this will be my 1st NOLA Mardi Gras... I know what I've heard (N. LA is tame) so I've stayed away but I was REELED in by my buddy.
L8R*, -T
*just a YOKE @ BigE :-)
1st, Yellowrocks, our prayers are with you and Alan.
ReplyDelete2nd, Bill G, IT'S A SCAM!
I said it before, but if you are not sure about these Indian Microsoft Reps,
just ask them, "does your Mother know what you are doing," & see what kind of response you get...
3rd, this puzzle needs to be honored! ( I hope I am worthy...)
3 curse meal?
Hmm, not enough,,it needs more,,, time to go whole hog!...
One hearse town?
Old Nurses?
Nah! Not poetic enough! How about this?
Which reminds me, OwenKL, Awesome multicolor grid the other day!
How do you do it? Teach me! Teach Me! Pls...(I want to know...)
Yes I know it was a scam, and the 10 times before that one. I'm not naive, just irritated by their business model. I think next time (and I'm sure there will be a next time), I will tell them how excited I am that they can help me. Then ask them to hold on while I get to my computer. Then I'll just set the phone down and let them wait feeling hopeful that I will eventually come back on the line.
ReplyDeleteBill G.
ReplyDeleteTHREE main revenue sources:
1. Bot UR box - sell Botnet time to other haXors for $$
2. Keylogger installz - wait until you login to bank/Fidelity. Take $$
3. Encrypt UR data and extort $$ to decrypt (know how to use bitcoins?)
4. They know they won't get caught and thusly: Profit!
A pox on their house.
Defense:
1. Hang up
2. Hang up
3. Backup (sometimes you get CryptoLocker from drive-bys)
Next time they call, "get your computer" and then ask how to unstick the 10's beads on your abacus - wait for the awkward pause (just for giggles), then hang up.
Cheers, -T
Bill, we are only as experienced as the as the once burned, twice shy group.
ReplyDeleteI was still shocked when I got the email from the IRS about back taxes,
it took quite a bit of investigating to discover this is a brand new scam.
One to be especially wary of is the email from a name you know, however
if you look at the return address, it is not the address of the person you know.
My address booked has been hacked several times. If you get an email that says
Hi! check out this link!(from someone you know)always check where the dang thing came from!
Bill G.
ReplyDeleteConfession time. It was me.
P.S., it may not be your address book that was hacked!
ReplyDeleteAnyone that has your email address could be hacked
&then they send everyone in that persons address book an email with a link to malware
from that person.
Case in point today:
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
From: CrossEyedDave
To: Daughter #1
Subject: Suspicious email
Sent: Fri, Jan 8, 2016 3:35:07 PM
did you sendmean email titled "slim"
I am afraid to open it because the sender is patrick@mcculler.net
saying he is you?
Dad\\The reply was:
"No, I didn't. Don't touch it."
January 8, 2016 at 6:06 PM Delete
P.P.S.
ReplyDeleteon a PC, just right click the mouse
&choose view source, the senders address is the 1st line.
On Mac or Iphones, I don't know,so I don't use them for emails...
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteQuite a puzzler, John! Thanks to you and Lemon!
Finally sussed it all out. ILENE was all perps!
Long swim. Very, very tired. Back to bed. Read only a few posts. Later for the rest.
Cheers!
Anonymous T, are you still here?
ReplyDeleteMardi Gras in New Orleans is whatever you want it to be. Mamas with little kids go to the parades and have fun...then go home. Tourists looking for boobs in the French Quarter can find them. Drunks find enough booze to do them in, and families eat fried chicken and drink cokes.
Bacchus is a family friendly parade and ball that celebrates all day. If you want to start drinking at daybreak and be too soused to remember the parade, you can certainly do that. But if you just want to hang out and enjoy all the commotion you'll have a memorable day of off-beat fun to remember forever. The ball is relaxed and noisy. You can meet the celebrity "King" if you want. Let your buddy guide you....
Full disclosure here...my son was in Bacchus for many years and loved it. He worked hard to make it family-friendly. His family loved it.
Enjoy!
SwampCat - I'm always online unless it's nap time.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably start at Olde Coffee House w/ an Omelette & a Bloody Mary (they are so good w/ snacks ta' boot! (You folks ever had pickled string beans in one?)) and then just stick to American beer. I don't do shooters or liquor - Army days learned me that.
I'm told it's an all day event (I'll be at the ball too) w/ no chance of nap. I'll take it slowly and enjoy.
People watching
A beer in hand
Half buzzed;
The state to be
When in New Orlean'
Punch that up C. Moe / OKL :-)
Cheers, -T
You'll do well,Tony!
ReplyDeletePickled string beans in Bloodies are only second to pickled Okra!
Laissez les bon temps rouillez!
😎 🎶🎶 🍷
Gary, I'd rather get a cat.
ReplyDeleteNobody linked Deck yet?
Watched that link to Taylor Swift, I could start to warm up to her. Hell, I would even listen to her music.
Thanks, Dave. I think (hope) Alan's problem is not too serious. I took him to the GP at 2:30 EST and then on to the ER for tests. So far no problems found, but that also means no solution. They are keeping him over night for more tests. I arrived home at 9:30. Alan is always very atypical with his symptoms. He has many interwoven conditions. He only sees black and white. He either feels good or bad. On a severity scale of one to ten he can't tell a 3 from an 8.
ReplyDeleteI've been good, but a glass or two of Merlot is called for at this point.
Cheers.
Virginia, thank you for the research.
ReplyDeleteMANAC, Taylor Swift seems to be a really good person, not broomstick on herself and some of the songs are cute
I pray for you YR
<< About once a week I get a call from a place with lots of background noise and a caller with an Indian accent. They tell me that my PC has been sending them error messages showing that it has been infected with malware. >>
ReplyDeleteDear Bill G.:
Does he have brother who is a senator in Nigeria ... the one who was going to let me have the winning numbers for Powerball for cheap??
There recently was a hilarious cartoon -- showing a thin guy in shorts, sitting in a trash dump, pedaling a bicycle to generate enough electricity for his phone, with a sign on his back: "Microsoft Technical Department."
Michael, yes, I hope to hear from the senator soon. It always frustrates me when others get these great offers from Nigeria or elsewhere and I'm left out. Some people have all the luck...
ReplyDelete