google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, January 26, 2016 C.C. Burnikel

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Jan 26, 2016

Tuesday, January 26, 2016 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Face the music - The word on the RIGHT side of a theme entry can precede FACE. The music was my idea.

17A. What buck passers "play" : BLAME GAME. Game Face. Psyched up for the big game?



21A. Holiday song first popularized by Eartha Kitt : SANTA BABY. Baby Face



38AS. You might stand pat in it : DRAW POKER. Poker Face



58A. Navy stunt pilot : BLUE ANGEL. Angel Face



64A . Drill sergeant's directive ... and, literally, what the ends of 17-, 21-, 38- and 58-Across can each have : RIGHT FACE

Argyle here. I tried ABOUT FACE first; BZZT, wrong. Everything else was C.C. smooth.

Across:

1. Zen garden growth : MOSS

5. Arthur of tennis : ASHE and 68A. Masterful tennis server : ACER and 69A. Monica of tennis : SELES

9. Toss back and forth, as words : BANDY

14. __ and for all : ONCE

15. Fishing line holder : REEL

16. Be wild about : ADORE

19. JCPenney competitor : MACY'S

20. Former baseball commissioner Bud : SELIG

23. Hits gently : TAPS ON

25. Arrest : NAB

26. Maiden name intro : NÉE

27. Holiday threshold : EVE

28. Weeping, perhaps : SAD

30. In disagreement : AT ODDS

33. __ meat : RED

34. "A bit of talcum / Is always walcum" poet : NASH. (Ogden Nash)

37. God of love : EROS

41. Auth. unknown : ANON.

43. Back of the neck : NAPE

44. Navig. tool : GPS. (Global Positioning System)

47. Some stoves : AMANAs

49. Tailor : SEW

51. Insistent knock : RAP

52. Drill insert : BIT

53. "Mazel __!" : TOV

56. Italian deli sandwich : PANINI

62. One with wanderlust : NOMAD

63. Countesses' spouses : EARLS

66. Rhubarb unit : STALK

67. Island near Corsica : ELBA

70. Ultra-fast jets : SSTs.

71. Brewed beverages : TEAs

Down:

1. Many a character in "The Godfather" : MOBSTER and main character - 38D. Crime family leader : DON

2. Temporarily not working : ON LEAVE

3. Sold for a quick profit, as tickets : SCALPED

4. Loading dock trucks : SEMIs

5. Chile neighbor: Abbr. : ARGentina

6. Salty waters : SEAS

7. Muscle beach dude : HEMAN

8. Court colleague of Ruth and Sonia : ELENA. Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan.

9. The Crimson Tide : 'BAMA. Alabama Crimson Tide, national college football champions.

10. Very little : A DAB

11. "Impossible" : "NO CAN DO"

12. Signs of prolonged drought : DRY BEDS. (river beds)

13. "I completely agree!" : "YES, YES!"

18. Showbiz clashers : EGOs

22. "Check back later," in a sked : TBA. (To be announced)

24. Grandma : NANA

29. Light before sunup : DAWN

31. Concert shirt : TEE

32. Bobby of hockey : ORR

35. Mother's Day indulgence : SPA

36. Short plane trips : HOPS

39. Genetic letters : RNA

40. "__ your chin up!" : KEEP

41. "Have we started yet?" : "AM I LATE?"

42. Without additives : NATURAL

44. Pained expression : GRIMACE
45. It'll cure all ills : PANACEA

46. Little web masters : SPIDERS. Cute.

47. Convent overseer : ABBESS

48. LIRR stop : STN. (station)

50. Desire : WANT

54. Fairy tale baddies : OGREs

55. Bridal shop buys : VEILS

57. Jack Sprat's restriction : NO FAT

59. InStyle competitor : ELLE

60. Poses a question : ASKS

61. Pride parade letters : LGBT. (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender)

65. Owns : HAS

Argyle


57 comments:

Hungry Mother said...

Very smooth Tuesday. Had "ABOUTFACE" for a while.

Lemonade714 said...

Create a Tuesday level puzzle with triple seven stacks in the NW and SE with double sevens in the other corners and include a shout out to our own Tuesday tale teller, Santa baby and there you have it. Wow.

GRIMACE and PANACEA were fun.

Thanks C.C. and Argyle

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Add me to the ABOUT FACE camp. That was about the only thing that slowed me down today, although I needed a lot of perp help to get AMANA since I was thinking more along the lines of COAL or WOOD BURNING instead of a particular brand. Other than that, though, smooooooth sailing.

unclefred said...

Smooooth fill today. Lots of fun with this CW, thanks C.C.!! Absolutely terrific write-up, thanks for the hard work and the great musical links, Argyle!

Argyle said...

Gotta send a "Santa Baby" out to Lois. Clip(3:27)

If you watch the "Baby Face" clip, be sure to pay attention to the lyrics, especially towards the end.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Wow, very tuneful good morning, Argyle! Thanks! I thought I knew all Roy Orbison's songs, but not this one. And thanks to C.C. for another great well-crafted puzzle. Fun & fast but needed some thought in places.

Didn't know SELIG, but knew SELES.

Didn't catch on to Supreme Court for Ruth & Sonia. I was thinking tennis even when ELENA showed up with all perps. Duh du jour! Sometimes I think my synapses have definitely snapped.



Anonymous said...

Did anyone GRIMACE when they spotted the SAD face? :(

Sigmund said...

I have a lifelong friend whose son came out as gay a year ago. We knew it before he realized it. So then he decides he was going to live as transgender. Again, no big deal after the initial confusion. Now the son sat he is agender and refuses to live in a "non binary world". As a result no one is to refer to him as he/she or him/her, but rather as them/they/their. Is this Jordan's coat? Why did they leave it here? Jordan is on his way. They should be here in 10 minutes. I can't do it and they(that's Jordan only) is very upset that I won't. Btw, they is an English major. Geesh kids these days. Shouldn't it follow the rules or should we rewrite the text books?

Sigmund said...

Wow. You deleted that? I told Jordan that I was going to pose the question to this blog and we were going to read the feedback together. I told them that we would get some feedback from an older, educated base. They will be disappointed you couldn't handle it. I am very surprised as well. I thought Y'all were better than that.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

1d was giving me fits: MAFIOSO, MOB BOSS. Oh, MOBSTER. Once that mess was straightened out, everything was pretty smooth. Not familiar with the expression "Angel Face" -- I know what it means, I've just never heard it. AMILATE sounds as if it could be the next drug PANACEA.

MACYS will be closing another 35-40 stores this year. They've become disenchanted with being the shopping center "anchor" store.

Argyle said...

Sigmund, I'm checking on your post deletion. It may have been accidental.

Lucina said...

Hello, friends!
Smooth is right! I agree with you all. Except for pausing at MOBSTER/MAFIOSO this filled quickly as a shopping spree at MACYS, a store I love. I'm sorry but it's no comparison to JC Penney.

Is there a mini military theme here with BLUE ANGEL, RIGHT FACE and ON LEAVE? And thanks for the NANA CSO.

Thank you, C.C. and Argyle.

Have a beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

Argyle said...

Ok, Sigmund, it's back up. It was in the spam filter. These things happen.

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning!

Thanks, C.C. for another fun run. I like the theme and Tuesday workout with lighter lifting. I was looking for baseball, but even the pitchers haven't gone to Spring training! My favorite today was the Little web masters: SPIDERS! Great clue; it really brought me a smile.

Also a nice shout out to our Monday and Tuesday tour guide: SANTA BABY! Thanks, Argyle, for another fine explication and great links!

Have a good day, everyone.

Sigmund said...

Thank you

Tinbeni said...

Argyle: Excellent write-up. Enjoyed the tunes ... OK, I'll admit I didn't listen to the Kanye West one ...

C.C. Thank You for a FUN Tuesday puzzle with a nice theme.

d-otto, when I parsed AMILATE ... I thought that was when you were trying to be something else.
"I AMILATE being a Beach-Bum everyday." lol
(OK, I know it is actually emulate).

Cheers!

Big Easy said...

GAME FACE- since there we four tennis related fills- ASHE, SELES, ACER, ELENA Dementiava- I'll say that Serena had hers on last night as she destroyed Maria Sharapova.

I never saw the theme as this speed run was NW to SE and after I filled LBGT I looked at the newspaper that I take- The New Orleans ADVOCATE- and wondered if I had mistakenly received 'THE ADVOCATE' from Greenwich Village. This was one of the only puzzles that I ever completed that had no unknowns solved by perps.

BLAME GAME- what politicians do when they screw up and they take credit for what others did.
BLUE ANGELs- years ago we would sail our boat and leave it in Pensacola, FL. We got to watch the Blue Angels practice all the time.

DRY BEDS- what you wish for when the children are being potty trained.

Nice easy puzzle C.C. and good write up Diamond Socks.

CrossEyedDave said...

Exactly what Argyle said, not only did I immediately
create the "about face" inkblot, before I had even finished the puzzle
I was looking for pics of "after the fight" faces. (A Bout Face?)
Unfortunately none of the pics could pass the breakfast test (Eww...)

Before I can honor CC's puzzle properly, I must go to Home Depot
& get parts to fix the broken snowblower. So I will see you later.

But before I even got to the Blog, I got tied down with some seriously silly stuff:

What I was doing while the young kids were snowboarding in NYC... (Warning, this guy has serious linguistic problems...)

SMart Dog!

Anon-T, did you have something to do with this?

And now for something completely different...

Later!

Barry T. said...

Sigmund: I am a gay male, aged 60. I have been "out" since age 20, but "knew" that I was "different" from a very young age, one of my earliest memories being a "crush" on an older boy (teenager!) when I was 4 or 5. I identify as male, am happy being male; I am neither particularly feminine nor particularly masculine - well-rounded?

Grammatically speaking, nothing annoys me more than the current trend of using "they" when one means "his" or "hers". On the other hand, I'm a firm believer in each individual's right to be referred to how he or she wishes, AS LONG AS "they" understand that not everyone will be comfortable, or even just "able", to jump on that bandwagon immediately. It is difficult even for me to consider referring to an individual as "they" or "them", not because of the gender undertone or lack thereof, but because the (what I had been taught was incorrect) use of the plural for the singular. So, your acquaintance's child should be able to expect others to refer to "them" as "they" wish(es?), but should also be patient and understanding with those to whom the requested usage is as foreign and as grating to the ears as chalk on a blackboard and, for that reason, difficult to utter without a grimace.

I might point out that, were it my choice, I'd prefer to refer to Jordan as "it", since "it" is at least singular, while "they/them/theirs" is resolutely plural - ESPECIALLY since Jordan is "agender"... isn't that what "it" is for? Singular, non-gendered? Has Jordan confused the singular with the plural as have most yout's these days, as discussed above?

In any event, pass my regards to Jordan, and let them know... it gets better :)

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Thanks C.C. for a fun Tues. pzl. In addition to the SO to Argyle & Lois... I'll take ANON as a CSO (as opposed to MOBSTER, DON, or Italian PANINI :-)) and the other CSO to NANA (MIL). Thanks Argyle for the musical write-up.

One wo: I had LBGT. RIb-HT FACE looked too Kermit-the-Frogish. Quickly fixed.

Sigmund - I'll take your Q as sincere. Eldest came out to DW but not me yet; It's not like we haven't had suspicions for a while. She's not into gender-bending pronouns though. Let Jordan know that most Asian languages don't have gender pronouns (right C.C. & YR?) and most Romance languages assign gender to every verb (Lucina - I flunked Spanish - help). So, it could be better or worse, language wise. But one's sexuality ain't gonna change the gender of an English pronoun. My $0.02.

I'll play later, gotta get back to work. Cheers, -T

Sigmund said...

Yes my question is absolutely sincere. I apologize for the tone of my second post but I thought my original one had been thrown out due to homophobia or some other reason.

I have been wanting to pose thus question to you all, grammar police, pendants and teachers(the same? :)) for some time. Today's LGBT helped me to take the plunge.

I proposed "it" to them and it was dismissed. They asked "would you refer to an unborn baby or even a baby of unknown sex in a store as "it".

Sigmund said...

Barry T, thank you for your opinion. I agree 100 percent with everything you said. I hope Jordan will appreciate your perspective. I am anxious for him to achieve peace with this new chapter in his life as his fb posts "reminding" (scolding) his friends and family to refer to him as they/them/their tugs at my hearstrings. See there? How do you write that previous sentence without using "he"?

OK I'm up to 5 so I will read anymore opinions with Jordan later.

Anonymous said...

Sigmund,
"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean
for the May queen"
. . .
"Sometimes words have . . .
two meanings"
-- (the immortal) Led Zeppelin

The language is always in flux, as your English major knows. That's the strength of English over French and Spanish, which have official bodies to decide correct usage. Enjoy the cacophony.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

A little late today because night owls=sleepy heads. What's that saying about candles and both ends? In any case, another clean and fresh offering from OFL. Had no idea where this was going until the reveal. CC is a master at this technique. Nice CSO to Argyle and all the Nanas.

Thanks, CC and Argyle, for an enjoyable Tuesday solve.

Misty, from yesterday: My hand is about 85-90 % back to normal. Still some pain and lack of strength but, overall, leaps and bounds from even a month ago. This past Saturday was the four month mark of the surgery. Thank you for asking.

Have a nice day.

SwampCat said...

Easy and entertaining! Thanks, CC! Argyle, I loved all the music. It took me longer to "do" the write-up than to do the puzzle!

I had no problem with RIGHTFACE because I had OGRES and VEILS in place first. RIGHT just fell in line. Sometimes ya just get lucky...

Barry T. said...


Sigmund: While I agree that the use of "it" in the sense being discussed smacks of non-personage, indeed YES I would refer to an unborn child or child of unknown gender as "it": "What gender is it?" "I hope it's healthy", etc. While the use of "it" to refer to a person can sometimes be as grating as the use of "them" for "him" or "her", if we're making change, expanding the use of "it" to refer to animate beings is just as "legal" as expanding the use of the plural "them" to refer to the singular. IMHO. :)

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

What Lemonade said. Good, fun puzzle by C.C.; always interesting intro by Argyle.

No potholes through this one. Had STa before STN for LIRR stop. But BLUE ANGEL was firm. Chuckled (chortled) at the NO FAT / RIGHT FACE crossing. Sure have had enough right face! in an earlier time.

Was at the Natick Mall (Barry G land, I think) on Saturday. Quite the place. Stopped at a Tesla boutique to see what the hubbub is all about.

Anonymous T said...

CED - I wish! The robots are awesome! Multi-limbed drummers ice the cake. Dumbo in the skies was cool too. Dumbo w/ the frozen pants could have just got a mannequin's bottom 1/2. Talk about shrinkage Jerry!

Sigmund - Right we don't say "it" to unknown-gendered. "When are you due?" is common ("oh, sorry, erm", & walk away RED FACE'd if she's not pregnant) as to not ascribe "it" to the unknown unborn. Also, one may say "Cute baby" and wait for a s/he clue (the pink bow might do) before saying either. That's the language we live with. Perhaps one day English will morph into LGBT pronouns, but that makes commenting on a BABY even more difficult [what assumptions are you making about the future?]

I won't say more until real pedagogy-minded people show up (Where are you YR & HG?)

So Spitz, did you pick up an $80k car? I've seen Tesla's about town. They are sleek but I don't see how one fixes them 30 years hence (hell, my Alfa is a PITA to get BITs for - windshield wipers took me 5 tries!).

Cheers, -T

CrossEyedDave said...

Impressive Game Face.

Uh Oh, it wasn't just a fart...

Working on that poker face...

Angel Face?

Right Face?

JD said...

Good morning all,

Thanks for a smoothie today, CC. I put Sears in for a n-sec before seeing it could not be...was surprised at Macy's.Loved the Santa shout out.
Latest from Lois who is enjoying retirement and her grand daughter. She says she is "raising purgatory-too old to raise hell anymore." LOL!

Anonymous said...

Totally agree with Barry G.'s comments. I would have a hard time using plural pronoun with a singular verb. Anonymous G

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Smooth indeed. A very nice Tuesday
-BLAME GAME after Bay Of Pigs
-A morning with ROY O is a better morning
-BANDYing words in the NBA is called “Trash Talk”
-I subbed for my nephew yesterday and he seems SAD and AT ODDS with the administration for being passed over
-Garrison Keillor likens RHUBARB pie to life in Minnesota – So sweet with an unmistakable hint of bitterness
-When these guys go ON LEAVE in San Diego, it livens up the town
-SCALPING College World Series tickets in Omaha must be done over a ½ mile from the stadium
-Gotta run to an eye appointment.

He Stoic said...

Sigmund and Barry T., if I may just jump in. Royalty, in Europe, have always referred to themselves in the plural, even though there was only one person, involved.

Queen Victoria, apparently asked Charles L. Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll, for a copy of the (next) book he wrote, after 'Alice's adventures in wonderland'. When she received the gift, in person, it was a book on complex math. (He was also a mathematician.) In this apparently, mythical story, Queen Victoria is said to have remarked,"We are not amused".

Probably, the Pope refers to himself as such.

In the East, many great, ( generally holy) saints or teachers, are reffered to as 'they' - when referring to him or her in the singular. This is generally by the consensus of their devotees. This is universally considered a great honor.

Hope this helps.

CanadianEh! said...

Thanks C.C. and Argyle for the fun run today. I was thinking that C.C. had included a tennis theme and had no baseball clues and then I saw SELIG!

I quickly filled in ALES for 71A (and thought Tin would be happy) but it changed to TEAS.
Enjoyed the new clue for SPA. DRAW POKER not stud poker today.

Re the LGBT discussion: Using they/them with a singular verb just seems ungrammatical. Perhaps we need some new words similar to the way we coined Ms. from Mrs. and Miss. I found a discussion of possible suggestions. (I think I prefer "ze".)
GenderNeutralPronoun

We Cornerites know that the English language is always adapting.

Misty said...

I always love a C.C. puzzle, and this one, like some of her others, had a little crunch but was enjoyably doable all the way through. My tough moment came in the NW corner, given my lack of both Zen and baseball knowledge. But it all shook down in the end, along with the fun theme. So, many thanks, C.C., and you too, Argyle, as always.

So glad your hand is so much better, Irish Miss. A huge relief!

Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

LACW Addict said...


I did not understand the clue for 38A (you might stand pat in it) - I got the correct answer because of the face references, but still can't figure out what was meant, or how it relates to draw poker.

Thank you,
LACW Addict

Yellowrocks said...

CC, lovely puzzle. Argyle, great musical links.
In German YOU has a familiar form DU and a formal form SIE.
The verbs following the formal form of "you"—"Sie"—are conjugated identically as in the third-person plurals. For example, "Sie sprechen Deutsch." This means either "You speak German" or "They speak German", and it is completely up to the context to determine which one it is.
This seems similar to the royal WE. WE are not amused, uses the plural verb ARE.
If the friend in question wants to be called THEY, I would say, “They ARE coming tomorrow.”

But as was mentioned, I think people with these sensitivities need to be sensitive to the comfort and ingrained habits of the speaker, as well. I have a trans relative. SHE is incensed when people call her HE, after 60 years of her identifying as a male. When we are discussing her boyhood hi jinks she insists on being called SHE retroactively even at a time when she herself was saying I am a boy. I accept her being trans and try to use the pronouns she likes, but I feel it is unfair to be chastised, sometimes severely, for slips, especially because I have always championed her.
Irish Miss, I am so glad you are recovering well. Congratulations.

Jayce said...

Yay, another wonderful C.C. puzzle. Lemonade said it very well. Nice job by Argyle, too.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Swell work, CC and Santa!

Had Sears before MACYS also.

Otherwise, things went smoothly. However, Gail G.'s NetWord puzzle was much faster.

Cheers!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Let me jump right in here and praise YR for the rational succinctness of her view, as expressed in the second paragraph. Over a lifetime, I have been witness to too many incidents where a person's special circumstances have given rise to what looks like an irrational hypersensitivity to insult.

Jordan's situation sounds similar. My own opinion is that the speaker's willingness has to be taken into account, and it seems reasonable that said willingness will have much to do with the relationship between them.

Thanks, C.C., for a nice clean puzzle!

Spitzboov said...

re: He Stoic @ 1158 - Royal We.

I think the Brits and their Commonwealth off shoots consider some group terms as plural (are) where in the US they would be singular. ie. council is vs council are.

It was a real hoot to compose a joint document in a combined US - Canadian setting:
Government are sending out a letter ………
Board are unanimous ………
Committee are meeting at Burlington, Ont, ……………
Working Committee have received updates on………………

Spitzboov said...

Anon - T No, I just observed and asked questions which reaffirmed my decisions thus far. It is interesting to see, though, how they are leading the way, and by default, setting (specification) standards by the visibility they do have such as electrical hardware used in free recharge stations that they own.

Bill G. said...

I enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks CC and Argyle. Count me in with the folks who tried About Face first.

Spitz, I'm envious. I've thought about getting a Tesla for several years now just because they seem so cool. The closest I've come so far is buying some Tesla stock.

I read where Abe Vigoda has died at 94. It was always hard to tell with him. RIP Abe and Det. Sgt. Phil Fish.

Jayce said...

I, too, think it would be cool to own a Tesla. Pretty impractical, though. Our house doesn't have beefy enough wiring to charge it decently, and we can't afford it anyway.

Anonymous T said...

LACW - you might stand-pat in DRAW POKER, i.e. keep the hand that's dealt instead of exchanging up to 3 (IIRC) cards for new ones.

Bill G. I went straight to the Is Abe Vigoda Alive web site when I read your post (I won't link, too tasteless). RIP Fish.

HG Keillor's Rhubarb pie BIT live. Garrison will be in HOU next week, but I won't :-(. This is the last year for TPHC on NPR - another of the things that white people like. :-)

Cheers, -T

Avg Joe said...

This was an enjoyable puzzle with some crunch, but no impenetrable barriers. I didn't fall into the trap presented by About Face v Right Face in the reveal simply because it wouldn't prove (but it was my first guess). Waiting for the perps led the way. But the irony to me is that I think the theme would have been a lot more clever if the reveal actually had been About Face.....as in: each ending is about a type of face.

The controversial subject du jour is nothing short of gnarly ( in the traditional sense, not the more modern). I honestly have no clue how I'd deal with it if presented with that challenge within my own circle of friends, relatives and aquintences. I havent had to, to date. Sensitivity is obviously key, but it's hard to wrap ones brain around all the aspects. Especially when the person involved has a tendency toward a militant attitude. YR has the best response thus far IMO, if we're voting.

Unknown said...

We Americans really need to start to respect other languages. "Panino" is singular for a specific kind of sandwich which was supposedly invented by Italians, and warmed in a press. "Panini" is the plural. Sandwich/sandwiches. In English, we make a big deal out of these things, we really should start to respect the language of others. Sadly, because Americans have appropriated the plural of the word as the name of a single sandwich, I suspect the mistake will never be repaired; but it would be nice to see wordsmiths get it right. I would like to think that people who write crosswords for the LA Times are wordsmiths.

Tessio said...

For god sakes man, take down tomorrow's post before I reluctantly read it!

Argyle said...

Now how did that happen? I got it rescheduled but it looked alright to begin with!

The blogger must be having issues today.

TTP said...

Nice puzzle CC. Thanks Argyle. And BTW CC, I too was confused. There must've been some harbored ill-will.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Bears beating the Patriots 46 - 10 in the Superbowl. Ron Rivera won't be at the anniversary party tonight. He's prepping for the match up with the Broncos. He's looking to be the fifth player to also win the Super bowl as a head coach.

Dudley, did you happen to see the news of the plane that overran the runway when landing at Chicago Executive Airport (Wheeling) ? The EMAS system did its job. First I ever heard of it.

Husker Gary said...

Per our discussion today, my only goal is to make anyone around me who is “out of the mainstream” as a person and not a cause. I have never found it that hard to make conversation and certainly expect “them” or “they” to be aware that I am making an effort and not be unforgiving about an innocent slip of the tongue. Certainly they can exercise the same tolerance that I am trying to display and by contrast are well aware of people who are trying to be hurtful or rude. BTW, those people will not go away.
My granddaughter texted me a picture of her and a great gay boy I had a few years ago in class. He was tickled to find out Emma was my granddaughter said some very nice things about me to her. I’m proud to meet kids where they are and treat them according to The Golden Rule and that trumps any unintended pronoun other linguistic misuse.

Anonymous said...

sigmund said:
" Btw, they is an English major."

So how would you tackle this one, YR?
A. Btw, they are an English major.
B. Btw, they are English majors.
C. Btw, he is an English major who, btw, is agender so technically they are not an he.
or
D. Ask Jordan.

Stoically resigned said...

Mr. Lytle, if the americans (and the bread chain of restrs. ) decide to call it Panini, so be it. Plus that is exactly what Xword constructors will follow, for their answers and clues. The world is not perfect, and vocabulary does not develop in a vacuum. Many words eventually morph into something that was not what was originally meant, or change their meanings or impositions altogether. Thats life. We are like gnus following the migratory horde or herds and its no use, or rather ineffectual, to wring our hands, and decry the fact.

Yellowrocks said...

Stoically resigned, amen, brother or sister. I have dabbled in German, Spanish and Japanese (Probably Latin doesn't count.) Most languages borrow and then adapt and change the borrowed word. Our Japanese teacher was always amazed that we didn't recognized words the Japanese borrowed from English. But they were so changed! As you said, "That's life." I love it. That's what makes languages exciting. As I have often indicated, I am not a purist.

Anon @ 8:52, I'd rather be dancing, which is what I was doing when you posted. I don't know what I would say. Probably I would just muddle through and say what comes to mind first.
As some others and I said before, we can just sincerely do our best to be sensitive. When we do that I believe we have a right to expect sensitivity and tolerance in return.

PK said...

A large portion of persons are uncomfortable talking about sex of any persuasion. Of course, you find a few that talk about it all the time. I'd be uncomfortable with someone who kept insisting on talking about being heterosexual too. It's the in-your-face attitude that offends. Okay, so you are that way. Who really cares? But do it discreetly.

I had a transgender sister-in-law before we knew the word. Behind her back, my kids called her "Uncle" and her more feminine husband "Aunt" along with their names which matched their birth gender. It was funny. She gave birth and breast fed her children. She didn't insist we call her anything, she just dressed & acted masculine and we teased her affectionately. She laughed with us. She also could be the most jealous, spiteful hateful person. That was what I really hated -- not her masculinity.

That "Be all that you can be" saying and "You can be anything you want to be" encouragement for kids may have been carried a little too far in today's world. I just want to yell, "face reality and make the best of what you really are". Bruce Jenner hung around with all those glamorous women too long and wanted the kind of attention they got maybe. Just don't be ridiculous or expect other people not to see you that way.

Anonymous T said...

Ave Joe: +1 here too for YR's post re: topic du-jour expo. I was waiting for smarter folk to chime in and y'all did.

Sigmund - overall Barry T. nailed it - it will get better for Jordan. DW advised Eldest not to come out to her friends until college. Eldest has close girl friends that are, um, - let's say they weren't brought up to be open-minded (we are in TX). She'd lose fun sleepovers and pool parties if some of them (or rather their parents) knew.

James L: 1c. Anglo; 1/2c Latin; 1/4c Greek; and a pinch or three of anything else in the cupboard. That's English and we've bastardized the s*** out of most every language but it is ours. If you think it's just Americans, see the Scots & Aussies! Here's a clip that 'Splains some differences [Italians are @4:30, and yes, I do talk w/ my hands :-)]

If it falls in the symbolic construct (our ABCs) and conveys meaning, 'tis a word.

Cheers, -T

Abejo said...

Good Wednesday morning, folks. Thank you, C.C., for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.

Finished this puzzle last night about midnight. I was tired and hit the hay. So, here I am in the morning.

Got through the puzzle easily. Theme was good.

Tried STA before STN was changed by BLUE ANGEL.

Had no idea what LGBT was. Perped it. I read all the comments from yesterday's Blog this morning after coming here. Very interesting. I learned a lot.

Since I am a day late, I will not go one forever. See you later today.

Abejo

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