Word: 70 (missing Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 34
Wow,
this one was a brain-drain, and just about the longest WAG-fest I have
ever had the pleasure (or pain~?) of solving. My first time with a Mary
Lou construction, though I see she was prolific last year with her
LATimes puzzles. Jeff, on the other hand, has beaten me up on several
occasions, so I have a feeling this was "all his fault"....had a vaguely
Dan Naddor feel to it, IMHO, consisting of several two-word answers.
Pretty atypical Saturday grid, no chunky corners, but three spanners and
a 13-letter climber;
16. Strength in numbers? : PREDICTIVE POWER
- I thought we might be looking at a "numb-ers" kind of misdirection,
then a numerology kind of thing, but it has a scientific application -
the best example was the prediction that the planet
Neptune (which threw me at 62a.) existed by scientists observing its
gravitational effects of the other planets before its discovery
34. Beats the rap : GETS OFF SCOT-FREE - I have English parents, so this phrase was heard around my house a lot; here's the etymology
58. Best Actress the year before Kate Winslet : MARION COTILLARD - I thought this was a 1997/98 reference to Kate's Titanic role, but no; she won for the The Reader in 2008; Marion won for La môme - never heard of it, but I do recall her as "Mal" from Inception, which was a great movie
15. Really enlightened : WISE AS SOLOMON - at one point, I had "WISE-ASS-----"
ACROSS:
1. Directive to a dealer : HIT ME - I am reading Slash's biography, and so the 'dealer' I had in mind was like the one he scored heroin from
6. Adds liberally : HEAPS ON
13. Sustain : UPHOLD
15. Apple bug? : WORMHOLE - no "i-Computer" misdirection here. I am attempting to write a book of my own, and part of the plot involves the other, 'travel-through-space-and-time' kind of wormhole
18. Blubber : SOB - dah~! Not FAT
19. What "this love is," in a Taylor Swift title : OURS
20. Shades go-with : SUN HAT - not sure if this was sunglasses or curtains shades
21. Shepherd's dishes? : MEAT PIES - of the first 10 answers, 6 have two-word elements
24. Fruit trees : PEARS
25. __ cut: fabric design technique : BIAS
26. Birch of Indiana : BAYH - one of many proper noun clues that I just had no clue on, and it's Birch Bayh, Senator from '63-'81
28. Unkempt abode : STY
29. Umbrian tourist town : ASSISI - mostly perps
32. Salisbury smooch : SNOG - British kiss; think Harry Potter
40. __ Accords: Israel/PLO agreements : OSLO
41. Acorn bearer : PIN OAK - OK, I cheated on the "N", since RED was not working, and I forgot about this kind of oak tree
42. Ad follower : HOC - ad hoc, Latin "for this"
45. Some 55-Across works : OILS - dah~! since I did not know who "Joan" was, I tried ODES; a 100% 50% correct WAG
47. Smidge : MITE - not IOTA
48. Mocks : JAPES
50. Blockers' targets : POP-UP ADS - now we are talking about computers, and I was thinking football
53. Dodges : AVERTS - AVOIDS, EVADES - tried 'em both
55. Joan of art : MIRÓ - oh, it's a dude
56. __ Dome: Lucas Oil Stadium predecessor : RCA
61. Dizzy with delight : IN A SWOON
62. Neptune, e.g. : SEA GOD - DAH~! not PLANET
63. Gently passes : EASES BY
64. Simmers : STEWS
DOWN:
1. Drill cadence syllables : HUPS
2. Swear words : I PROMISE
3. "If I Can't Love Her" singer, in a 1994 musical : THE BEAST - I was trying to think of a band called "The -----S", and then I realized it was a singular character from "Beauty and..."
4. Hip : MOD
5. Literature Nobelist who won two posthumous Tony Awards : ELIOT - perps and WAG
6. __ lane : HOV - I complain about this every time it's in a crossword; we have one here, part of the Long Island Expressway, and I think it's a colossal waste of black top
7. Spanish 101 word : ERES
8. Vitalize : AMP UP
9. Calls or cells : PHONES - got it, but thought "that can't be right"
10. "Like I care" : "SO WHAT~?"
11. Kevin of "Shark Tank" : O'LEARY - I had him confused with Mark Cuban in my mind; my buddy Mike, with the backyard games company, met Mark, I think
12. "Drat!" : NERTS
14. Support spec of a sort : D-CUP - ah, Dennis could appreciate this one
17. Salt Lake daily : TRIB - does leaving out "City" make for an abbr.~?
22. Sale warning : AS IS
23. Harmonize : SYNC - oops, not SING; that's another 50% correct in all places
25. Snare : BAG - not NAB
27. Shooter's target : HOOP - basketball~? I wasn't going to get it
30. Jack of "Barney Miller" : SOO
31. Logician's words : IF SO
33. Sporty VW : GTI
35. Cheeky : FLIP
36. From 2009 through Sep. 2015, it paid $143 billion in dividends to the U.S. Treasury : FNMA - stumped. Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae - the Wiki
37. Concern for some bodybuilders : 'ROID RAGE - my first thought, but I did not factor in an abbreviation
38. Issues a mea culpa : EATS CROW
39. Squeak (out) : EKE
42. Museo de la Revolución city : HAVANA
43. "Ring Cycle" quartet : OPERAS
44. Color similar to crimson : CERISE - sounds blue, but that's cerulean; the word comes from "cherry", and I was going to link a pie pic, but I found this much more fascinating
46. Narrow shore point : SPIT
48. Portrayer of Django and Ray : JAMIE - took me forever to remember Mr. Foxx's name
49. Throws below : STOWS - oops, not SINKS
51. "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" screenwriter : URIS
52. Spherical extremities : POLES
54. Snoot : SNOB
57. Tosses in : ADDS - just wanted to ADD that yesterday marked 11yrs for me
59. Playing hard to get : COY
60. Pull-up beneficiary, briefly : LAT - the muscle of the back; I have been over at my friend Adam's house, where his 2yr old has moved on to "pull-ups", so I was in that frame of mind....who benefits from those~?
6. Adds liberally : HEAPS ON
13. Sustain : UPHOLD
15. Apple bug? : WORMHOLE - no "i-Computer" misdirection here. I am attempting to write a book of my own, and part of the plot involves the other, 'travel-through-space-and-time' kind of wormhole
18. Blubber : SOB - dah~! Not FAT
19. What "this love is," in a Taylor Swift title : OURS
20. Shades go-with : SUN HAT - not sure if this was sunglasses or curtains shades
21. Shepherd's dishes? : MEAT PIES - of the first 10 answers, 6 have two-word elements
24. Fruit trees : PEARS
25. __ cut: fabric design technique : BIAS
26. Birch of Indiana : BAYH - one of many proper noun clues that I just had no clue on, and it's Birch Bayh, Senator from '63-'81
28. Unkempt abode : STY
29. Umbrian tourist town : ASSISI - mostly perps
32. Salisbury smooch : SNOG - British kiss; think Harry Potter
40. __ Accords: Israel/PLO agreements : OSLO
41. Acorn bearer : PIN OAK - OK, I cheated on the "N", since RED was not working, and I forgot about this kind of oak tree
42. Ad follower : HOC - ad hoc, Latin "for this"
45. Some 55-Across works : OILS - dah~! since I did not know who "Joan" was, I tried ODES; a 100% 50% correct WAG
47. Smidge : MITE - not IOTA
48. Mocks : JAPES
50. Blockers' targets : POP-UP ADS - now we are talking about computers, and I was thinking football
53. Dodges : AVERTS - AVOIDS, EVADES - tried 'em both
55. Joan of art : MIRÓ - oh, it's a dude
56. __ Dome: Lucas Oil Stadium predecessor : RCA
61. Dizzy with delight : IN A SWOON
62. Neptune, e.g. : SEA GOD - DAH~! not PLANET
63. Gently passes : EASES BY
64. Simmers : STEWS
DOWN:
1. Drill cadence syllables : HUPS
2. Swear words : I PROMISE
3. "If I Can't Love Her" singer, in a 1994 musical : THE BEAST - I was trying to think of a band called "The -----S", and then I realized it was a singular character from "Beauty and..."
4. Hip : MOD
5. Literature Nobelist who won two posthumous Tony Awards : ELIOT - perps and WAG
6. __ lane : HOV - I complain about this every time it's in a crossword; we have one here, part of the Long Island Expressway, and I think it's a colossal waste of black top
7. Spanish 101 word : ERES
8. Vitalize : AMP UP
9. Calls or cells : PHONES - got it, but thought "that can't be right"
10. "Like I care" : "SO WHAT~?"
11. Kevin of "Shark Tank" : O'LEARY - I had him confused with Mark Cuban in my mind; my buddy Mike, with the backyard games company, met Mark, I think
12. "Drat!" : NERTS
14. Support spec of a sort : D-CUP - ah, Dennis could appreciate this one
22. Sale warning : AS IS
23. Harmonize : SYNC - oops, not SING; that's another 50% correct in all places
25. Snare : BAG - not NAB
27. Shooter's target : HOOP - basketball~? I wasn't going to get it
30. Jack of "Barney Miller" : SOO
31. Logician's words : IF SO
33. Sporty VW : GTI
35. Cheeky : FLIP
36. From 2009 through Sep. 2015, it paid $143 billion in dividends to the U.S. Treasury : FNMA - stumped. Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae - the Wiki
37. Concern for some bodybuilders : 'ROID RAGE - my first thought, but I did not factor in an abbreviation
38. Issues a mea culpa : EATS CROW
39. Squeak (out) : EKE
42. Museo de la Revolución city : HAVANA
43. "Ring Cycle" quartet : OPERAS
44. Color similar to crimson : CERISE - sounds blue, but that's cerulean; the word comes from "cherry", and I was going to link a pie pic, but I found this much more fascinating
48. Portrayer of Django and Ray : JAMIE - took me forever to remember Mr. Foxx's name
49. Throws below : STOWS - oops, not SINKS
51. "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" screenwriter : URIS
52. Spherical extremities : POLES
54. Snoot : SNOB
57. Tosses in : ADDS - just wanted to ADD that yesterday marked 11yrs for me
59. Playing hard to get : COY
60. Pull-up beneficiary, briefly : LAT - the muscle of the back; I have been over at my friend Adam's house, where his 2yr old has moved on to "pull-ups", so I was in that frame of mind....who benefits from those~?
Splynter
50 comments:
60-D- LAT- Los Angeles Times
Woke up early after wrestling with plumbing last night. I struggled early, finishing only the SE, and looked at TILLARD who that could be. I'm glad the perps were strong because MARION COTILLARD was all perps. My PREDICTIVE POWER wasn't too good this morning but I did manage to finish with no mistakes (lucky).
A few changes were RED to PIN OAK, IOTA to MITE, PEP to AMP UP, HUT to HUP, SLAPS to HEAPS ON, and PREDICTION to -IVE POWER. As far as the musical clues went, OPERAS and OURS were WAGS and THE BEAST (Beauty or Phantom?) was from crosses.
Who says we don't have royalty in this country? Evan BAYH 'inherited his Senate seat from his father Birch BAYH. FNMA- can't comment- no politics allowed.
POLES- how can a sphere have extremities?
Splynter- you think the HOV lane in your area is useless? Very few people use it in New Orleans because the brilliant planners designed it, wasting two lanes on the bridge over the Mississippi to end in downtown instead of letting it bypass the area, where most of the drivers are going.
Morning, all!
Add me to the DNF column for this one. The entire NE corner was a sea of wrong answers and white space. PEPPERS instead of HEAPS ON, PEP UP instead of AMP UP and ESTA instead of ERES were just too much for me to recover from. OLEARY was unknown to me, so that didn't help any. It wouldn't have mattered, though, since I went with RED OAK further down south and never would have replaced it with the completely unknown PIN OAK in a million years.
I almost got similarly trapped in the SW after putting in REM instead of HOC and MAROON instead of CERISE, but I did finally take those out and start over again with better success, thanks to OPERAS being clear.
One of the constructors of today's Los Angeles Times puzzle had a birthday earlier in the week, as per You Rule!, and a member of my Friends group has a birthday today, as per Mixed Company.
Kudos to C.C., who has this week's Chronicle of Higher Education puzzle, called "End Notes"; click here to find it at the top of the menu.
Good morning!
Got 'er done in normal Saturday time, but not without some WAGs and Wite-Out. Two hands up for IOTA and NAB. Splynter, my "blockers" were dealing with ____PAIN. And my body-builder was concerned with ___IMAGE. MIRO was a gimme. There's a Miro sculpture out front of the skyscraper where I worked in a much earlier life. It used to be the tallest building downtown; maybe, it still is.
Reversible HOV lanes are popular here. They're combined with a toll road -- free for two or more vehicle occupants, $1 toll for driver-only vehicles. Add EZ-Pass for collecting the tolls and the lanes are a success. Practically every mile of new road in this state is a toll road. One major section of the Grand Parkway is due to open in a couple weeks. It's the third and outermost loop ring around Houston -- about 30-35 miles out from the city. When the new segment opens, half of this ring will be complete. Unfortunately, for us, our idyllic country existence will be invaded by "progress." The next segment will pass within two miles of us, and great shall be the tumult thereof.
SW corner fail for first 2016 DNF. Even with HOC JAMIE HAVANA in place, couldn't get off AVOIDS (AVERTS) and couldn't conger up JAPES, CERISE. Wanted something sports related for STOWS. Just can't correlate delight with swooning. I guess you can swoon happy and swoon sad, but my connotation - swooning is a negative event.
HoHum, off to play some freezing cold winter golf here in Arizona.
Lots and lots of ways to run aground on this one. Hit me came easy, then things slowed down. Figured 14d had to be what it turned out to be, so filled in cup and waited. But the Trib made me think Taylor's love was pure. Pep up caused another clog, as did jeers for japes and lib for hoc. Didn't fall for the red oak trap since GTI indicated otherwise. BTW, a pin oak is a red oak. Got it done, but the eraser had a lot of work to do today.
Congratulations on 11 years, Splynter!
Better than last Saturday, but still dismal. Had to depend a lot on red letters in the NE and SW, but the other areas were filled before then at least. Words I was unfamiliar with, gotten only by WAGs or ESP: HOV, PIN OAK, MARION COTILLARD, JAMIE, ERES, GTI, FNMA (tho I know Fanny Mae), OLEARY. Felt good about knowing a few unusual words: NERTS, BAYH, SNOG, CERISE.
To foretell the weather takes PREDICTIVE POWER,
Radar and computers and readings each hour.
Is it season for a SUNHAT
Or resignation and a SOWHAT?
Only those WISE AS SOLOMON know when it will shower!
Difficult,but fun. I liked WISE AS SOLOMON. Same write overs as most. I had a Natick with the second L in COTILLARD. I never heard of her and never thought of exercise pull ups, so missed the L in LAT. One look up here.
I had 2 alphabet runs, as well. I couldn't get the VE in PREDICTIVE or HOV, the HE in HEAP and ERES. The HOV lanes I used to use have been dropped on the highway and dropped off my radar. I don't remember ERES, even seeing it now. Still very satisfying. I'll accept this as a close finish.
Busy day. I have to pack away the Christmas decorations before visiting Alan in the hospital.
Good Morning:
This was a DNF for me due to pin oak/FNMA crossing; the brain was out of order there, but I enjoyed the challenge, anyway, so all is well
From yesterday, thanks, VS, for the "spunk" clip; MTM was such a good show with great writing and a terrific cast. It would put most of today's "comedies" to shame.
YR, I hope Alan's health issues can be resolved and that he feels better soon. That trip to the ER sounds exhausting!
Splynter, congratulations on your latest milestone.
Bill G, I will gladly share the many millions I have "been bequeathed" from my generous benefactors in Nigeria. We just have to "pay" a modest "fee" for the money to be transferred to our bank. Easy enough, right? 💰💰 😉
Have a great day.
"Apple bug" = WORM HOLE is a foul. The hole is not a critter, it's something left by a critter.
A bug can be an unexpected deflect or flaw. Clue is not a foul.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bug
I'll let 10-Down say it, "10. "Like I care" : "SO WHAT~?"" and might I add dilligaf.
Wow, almost a finish, but FNMA and BAYR threw me off. I consider it an accomplishment considering Jeff Chen was co-constructor. Thanks for the "wake-up" this am.
Nice job, as always, Splynter.
This puzzle was a real WORMHOLE for me. Way too many off the wall clues and answers. It was a DNF today because I had to use Red Letter help, and even that didn't make it easy.
After my first run through without Red Letters, I only had SOB, BIAS, BAYH, STY, OSLO, RCA, HUPS, BAG, IFSO, EKE, SPIT, COY & ADDS. Pretty sorry start.
I think PREDICTIVE POWER could have had a better clue, and I have never heard of MARION COTILLARD. The NE was the last to fall. Perps helped, but without many answers, they weren't enough today. Oh well.
The football playoffs start today, so I guess we will have a few more weeks of "excitement" before the Superbowl. Enjoy.
Ack ! Where did my morning go ? Too many unknowns.
JAPES is a new word for me and one that I will probably only see in the crossword puzzle world.
Yesterday we had Osage Orange. Today we had Pin Oak. I looked at houses on Bois D'Arc and Pin Oak while in central Texas. Also on Pecan and Hemlock.
D-O, my buddy moved to New Caney a few years ago and thinks we should move there. We could be neighbors !
There's some good reference info about the Texas tollways, and more than a few articles have been published about these projects, but I found this one on SH-130 well written and informative. 85mph on an Empty Highway for $19.59. There was hardly any traffic on it as we drove down to Austin-Bergstrom airport.
Here's my tip of the day. Don't drive Texas toll roads in rental cars. Most don't have toll booths. They take your license plate picture and send a bill to the registered owner. They add "pay by mail fee" to the toll, and the rental car company adds their own admin fee on top of that.
Parents ready to move on from changing diapers benefit from pull-ups, but that doesn't fit in 3 squares.
Wow, if this wasn’t a “big boy” puzzle, it’ll do until one comes along. RED not PIN OAK was my only stumble and so I’ll take my three bad cells count myself semi-competent.
Musings
-If you’ve really got PREDICTIVE POWERS, text me about these
-Interesting info on SCOT FREE, but c’mon OJ is the gold standard
-This moviegoer had no idea on MARION. One of those films for cinematic SNOBS whose tastes far surpass the hoi polloi.
-Immediately getting HIT ME gave me false hope
-PIN OAKS thrive in Lincoln, NE but suffer iron chlorosis here 50 miles north
-One of the few songs with HUP in the lyrics (2:48)
-I associate the MOD look with Carnaby St. in ‘60’s London
-HOV – It’s remarkable how many cars have only one passenger
-I have to SYNC my Bluetooth speaker (w/auto shutoff) everyday as I labor here
-Our high school HOOPS team got a real boost with the transfer of the two Omaha Central boys in the front row of this picture
-I won a bet with a grocery manager friend of mine. I didn’t make him EAT CROW but did get a half-gallon of Butter Brickle ice cream.
I would love a puzzle I could actually finish!
Gary gave me a HUP earworm (no, not a WORMHOLE) Johnny Horton's Battle of New Orleans. It's during the fade out at the end.
Got it all done but had to guess on 47A, and went with BITE instead of MITE. Didn't know FNMA was the abbr. for Fannie Mae.
Just to clarify, Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for La Vie en Rose, a biopic of Edith Piaf (originally titled La Môme).
Another Saturday puzzle. For me it was difficult and not much fun. Others seem to enjoy the challenge. I like difficult themed puzzles like yesterday much better. Thanks Splynter. And--Splynter, congratulations on the big eleven!
Irish Miss, since you are so generously willing to share future Nigerian windfalls, let me know when and I'll send you my checking account number. Thanks.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
I PROMISE, this one HIT ME in the LATs and them SPIT me out the WORM HOLE!
SO WHAT? You ask ... well, c'mon and JAPE me for being a real PIN (OAK) head!
Oddly, the only ones I got straight away were GETS OFF SCOT-FREE, and IN A SWOON. Had to cheat early and often. Too many unknowns I'm afraid. Not sure which 'ROID RAGE the 37d is referring to; not sure I want to know, either. Wondering if the makers of Preperation H and Ben-Gay have come up with an ointment to ease its pain and or discomfort ... and in 44d I too had MAROON in mind. When the C in HOC was confirmed, plus the R and S, I was thinking CERISE, but I couldn't see that word and the color crimson together. I'm sure there are lots of Alabama fans who are happier that their team's nickname isn't the "Cerise Tide"
Not sure I can add much more other than to thank Splynter for the informative write up, as well as a couple of visuals (D CUP and CERISE) that he included.
Go Stillerz!
My earworm from Hup turned out to be incorrect. But I still can't get that tune purged. (Not real sure what the background word is. Hep? Hip? Yep?
5 O'clock World
Good day, friends!
Triumph! I finished this unassisted though in a much longer time than usual but that's ok. It was a worthy battle which started oddly enough with Birch BAYH and I circled around that slowly filling here and there one peck at a time. Ironically, even with the H in place, HOOP was the last to fall.
Thank you, alexscott68, for posting that info which I was about to do; the movie was excellent and poignant, enjoyable for all not just the hoi polloi, whoever they may be. It's the reason I sit through Entertainment Tonight to learn about those elite actors and what they are up to and so I can finish crossword puzzles. LOL
In fact, just last night I learned that JAMIE Foxx's daughter will be the Miss Golden Globe on Sunday; it's usually the teenage daughter of a celebrity and most of them are quite beautiful.
The basement filled nicely and so I slithered upwards and surprisingly THE BEAST and SOB got me started. Thought of Dennis at DCUP. But my almost Natick was at GTI/PINOAK since RED obviously was not right then shooters occurred to me as basketball and HOOP shot in.
Have a wonderful day, everyone! It's sunny and bright here though cold and it's Book Club day.
Oh, thank you Splynter, Mary Lou and Jeff. Today was fun.
Avg Joe, I think they're at a 5-o'clock happy hour. You're hearing "Hic, Hic!"
Easy for a Saturday crossie...after I got "wise ass", I thought, "What's an oloman?" (kidding)
Well, I got the bottom half of this puzzle, before I got stuck--not bad for me, on a Saturday. And it only took a little cheating to finish the rest. So, thank you, Mary Lou and Jeff, and you too, Splynter, as always.
It really helped that I remembered MARION COTILLARD. But it looks like I might be the only one who doesn't know what an HOV lane is? Hey, I haven't gotten out much these last seven years.
Hope Alan will be better when you see him today, Yellowrocks.
And have a great weekend, everybody!
This was a toughie for sure, took forever to finish. No theme so no help there. Much misdirection as well. Could not believe it when I finished.
Saturday are tough, indeed.
Hi All!
I didn't stand a chance... Big-fat-DNF. I can claim a win in the NE and not much else.
36d != GMAC giving me ABIT for 47d. toT(s) benefit from pull-ups too and that fit w/ STEWS. I PROMISE'd not to SOB on my sat. fails.
Thanks for the fun Mary Lou & Jeff. Splynter - thanks for finishing it and your great write-up. Congrats on another year.
Anon @10:54 - See: Monday.
D-O: I'm at the southern end of Grand Parkway where it stops at 59. If progress continues (our HOA has been fighting it for years), it will glide BY (my 63a WAG) the edge of our neighborhood. I've read when it's done our outer-outer-loop will be 273mi around.
Re: HOV - If running late I take the 59 HOV to the loop - I hate when I paid my $4 and then see the freeway moving faster than me!
TTP - I think you can ask some RENT-A-CAR Co.s for an EZ-Tag box. Then no worries. Thanks for the TX Hwy link.
Loved it OKL!
Time to gather the minions & get Christmas goodies put up.
Cheers, -T
Misty:
HOV means High Occupancy Vehicle and is meant for cars with two or more passengers Monday through Friday. On weekends anyone can use them.
Another red letter day...
Parsing was a problem, Wiseass Oloman?
However I found the comments very interesting,
learning moment: Iron Chlorosis
The exact words used by the background singers in Five O'clock World
has been a controversy for years.
& yet for others it is the only part they remember...
A little internet research, & wormholes are explained!
Predictive power?
A solution to those carpool lanes...
& from Yest.
Yellowrocks @ 9pm, Re: kids 1-10 scale
I have 3 girls, & all of them know nothing of the midranges,
it's either (1) happy, or (10) full psychotic end of the world panic attack!
Bill G, thought you might enjoy this...
Very interesting reading about 5 O'clock World, Dave. And the second link gives me consolation that I wasn't the only one that was hearing "Hup" in my minds ear. Thanks for both.
Now. For your next assignment, what do the same kinds of sources have to say about this one hit wonder? Little Green Bag
It's cool here today. Woke up to 18f, dropped to 9f, then made a strong comeback to 13f. Balmy weather!
Many hands make light work. We got both the outside & inside down in 1h24m.
This is one of our New Year's resolutions. Each Sat. From 1-3p == Tidy Time. We decide the week before what we will do. That gives a week for materials gathering and then Bam! Done. Next week is the TV armoire. CDs, DVDs, WII, wires, and other cruft (there's candles in there too(?)) - organize!
CED - Thanks for the research you did on WORMHOLEs. I think I understand.
ALEE Mr. Spock.
Hope all is having a great Sat.
Cheers, -T
D-N-F ... Or why I usually don't even try to solve Saturday Puzzles.
Jeez, I put this one down ... and later picked it up 5 times ...
And still about 40% of my grid was either an Ink-Blot or White-Space.
But today was a Personal-Day-Of-Celebration ...
Today I Hit the "2,000,000,000 seconds old" mile-stone.
ALL the "toasts-at-sunset" were to me.
Cheers!
Congrats, Tin! You don't look a day over 1,800,000,000!
Thank you for all the support. Alan feels quite well this evening but still has the oxygen thingy in his nose and is using a catheter. We haven't found out how to do without them as yet.
C E Dave @ 2:43 PM, when I taught the fifth grade many of the girls were exactly like that in the spring. Oh, the drama and the tears!
Hard puzzle. Yesterday's was hard, too. Had to look some stuff up. LW and I watch Shark Tank so knew Kevin O'Leary, who we both feel has an inflated view of himself. So, is Robert Herjavik going to get divorced and marry Kym Johnson?
WEES. Damn hard puzzle, which is not surprising since Jeff Chen was a co-constructor.
Best wishes to you all. Don't eat too many pickles, C.C.
There are 60 seconds in a minute so..
2,000,000,000/60 = 33,333,333.33
60 minutes in an hour
33,333,333.33/60 = 555,555.5555
24 hours in a day
555,555.5555/24 = 23,148.14814
7 days in a week
23,148.14814/7 = 3,306.878305
Let's say 4 weeks in a month
3,306.878305/4 = 826.7195762
12 months each year
826.7195762/12 = 68.89329801
Basically, 2,000,000,000 is 69 years.
Dang it tin!
I need some ice for my head!
Oh wait!
You allmost snuck that by me!
Happy Birthday Tin!
P.S.
Today is 33 years since my life changed when I met DW!
I think Tin would flip if he suspected anyone thought he was as old as I am!
My calculations
2,000,000,000/60 = 33,333,333.333 minutes
33,333,333.333/60 = 555,555.555 hours
555,555.555/24 = 23,148.148 days
23,148.148/365.25 = 63.37 years
Which is a lot closer to what I think is accurate.
But, Dave, after a certain age, who the hell cares? :-) Besides, I'm watching the wild card games and I've got the time.
Gary
-Speaking of Five O’Clock World and growing older
Thanks HG for letting us know retired guys can still sing...
Avg Joe, not sure I can help with the "little green bag" (sic)
Little green bag always meant tea for me (although I prefer the darker variety)
Unless you mean Texas Tea...
I loved reading about MONDEGREEN
Thanks CD
HBDTY @ Tinman
And many more
HBD Tin. A Toast to you!. SKOAL! Cheers, -T
Did you get the final question on Jeopardy? I did. It was a bible in freshman English at Cornell. BTW, I liked freshman English. It exposed me to essays, short stories and other literature I hadn't read before and it certainly taught me to write better.
I'm going to try to stop complaining about themeless puzzles on Saturday. Most everybody else seems to like them just fine and I'm sure my whinging is getting tiresome. I'll see if I can emulate a little bunny from Bambi...
YR, remind me of Alan's relationship to you. Friend? Relative? I'm sure you've explained before but I don't remember.
CED, how did you find that video about the tech support scam? Perfect. Thanks.
Tinbeni:
I hope you had a wonderful birthday and I'm sorry I missed it earlier though I believe I can guess how you celebrated!
TIN, I checked the math (including leap-years) & HG had it right. It's your 2bn-th second on the planet, not your B-day. I'll still TOAST you!
Good thing I don't play the "stupid-tax". My PREDICTIVE-POWERS did not HIT a single number I wrote down on a whim. For the record, I had 9-17-81-14-12-42. I don't even know if those are in selective range. At least I didn't lose $2 :-)
Ave Joe: Five O'Clock World has bothered me all day. How do I know that song? It's years b/f my time. Then I had a minds-eye of choppers... I heard it in Good Morning Vietnam. I didn't find the montage containing the song but there's some great moments in the link.
Cheers, -T
PS - HG & Ave Joe. Congrats. I just heard on the radio that your K.C. Chefs beat our HOU Texans.
What made me think of that commercial is the radio announcer said "J.J. Watt exited in the 3rd quarter with a grow-in injury." LOL (not for J.J. Don't worry, he's makin' $$ by staring in ever commercial in Houston).
C, -T
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