google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday May 22, 2016 Gail Grabowski

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May 22, 2016

Sunday May 22, 2016 Gail Grabowski

Theme: "Holding Out" - OUT is removed from the starting of one word in each theme entry.
 
27A. Exertion while getting up? : STANDING EFFORT. Outstanding effort.

41A. Angry reaction to insolent trick-or-treaters? : HALLOWEEN FIT. Halloween outfit.
 
60A. Pickup shtick that needs refinement? : ROUGH LINE. Rough outline.

70A. Place for perjurers? : LYING AREA. Outlying area.

86A. Ship's secure containers? : BOUND FREIGHT. Outbound freight.

102A. Wing for rugby's Wallabies? : AUSTRALIAN BACK. Australian outback. Wiki said Wallabies is the nickname for Australia's rugby team. Learning moment for me.
 

37D. Gregarious play group? : SOCIAL CAST. Social outcast.

45D. Blog entry about garden edging? : BORDER POST. Border outpost. Boomer bought this plant from Walmart two weeks ago, but he did not keep the flower tag. Do you know the name?


Though the OUTs in the original OUT* phrase are mostly prefixes, Gail kept the OUTless phrases far away in meaning as possible. The theme looks simple (Gail makes everything look simple), but it's hard to nail it.

Themers are placed Across and Down for the smoothest fill, though often Down themers rob the grid of sparkling long fill.
 
Across:

1. Hyde Park carriage : PRAM

5. One with ropelike tresses : RASTA

10. Enjoys King and Queen : READS. Stephen King. Ellery Queen. We also have 114. King creation : NOVEL

15. Water carrier : DUCT. Not PAIL.

19. Seat of Allen County, Kansas : IOLA. No idea. What's it famous for?

20. __ Bell: Emily Brontë pen name : ELLIS. Learning moment for me also.

21. Run the show : EMCEE

22. Morales of "Jericho" : ESAI

23. Mongolian for "waterless place" : GOBI

24. Half a Yale cheer : BOOLA. Also 53. Member of college music's Whiffenpoofs : ELI

25. Order to attack : SIC 'EM

26. Reason to ban a book : PORN. Once I had PORN and ORGY in one grid. Rich asked me to remove one. Lots of stuff to consider when filling a puzzle: number of abbrs, partials, names, etc. Do not put G-SPOT in LAT, do not put CEE/PEE/ELOAN in WSJ, do not put LGE in NYT.

 30. Crystallized mist : ICE FOG

32. Shows some spunk : DARES

33. Leather piercers : AWLS

34. Aspirant : WANNABE

35. Take under one's wing : ASSIST. Not MENTOR.

38. Tel __ : AVIV

39. Had a row? : OARED. Did not fool me.

40. Many August births : LEOS

45. Short deli order? : BLT

48. Russian retreat : DACHA

50. Pressure source : PEER. Peer pressure.

51. Completed with one stroke : ACED. This refers to hole-in-one, right?

52. Really come down : POUR

54. Long Island airport town : ISLIP. All crosses.

56. Shock source : TASER

58. __ pants : CARGO. Not CAPRI.

59. Bug-loving org. : NSA

62. Attacked without warning : RAIDED

63. Somewhat soft, as a sound : LOWISH. Not a word I use.

65. Ref's call : TKO

66. Capital east of the Black Hills : PIERRE. Pretty city. Boomer took me there in 2001.

68. Spa treatment : FACIAL

72. MD associates : RNs And 85. Ambulance VIP : EMT

75. Three-time Olympics host country : ITALY. China only hosted one.

76. They may be emotional : SCARS, which we all have.

78. Express disdain (at) : SNIFF. Not SNEER.

79. Cioppino cooker : POT.  Never had Cioppino. Looks delicious, Irish Miss/D-Otto.


80. Curious to a fault : NOSY

81. Steinbeck surname : JOAD

82. Some light beers : BUDS. Tiny clue/answer dupe with 84. Not-too-potent potable : NEAR BEER.

83. Cyberjotting : E-NOTE

90. Salinger title teen : ESME

91. Collectors' items? : DEBTS. Lovely clue. Of course I was thinking those eBay items.

92. Go on : LAST

93. Too violent, perhaps : R-RATED

95. Split the tab : GO DUTCH

98. Fourth down play : PUNT

99. Bit of ugly politics : SMEAR

101. Extremely : EVER SO

107. Retina feature : CONE. Another learning moment to me.

108. "Invisible Man" author Ellison : RALPH

110. Chan portrayer : OLAND (Warner). Learned from doing crosswords.

111. Supply-and-demand sci. : ECON

112. Rock band famous for face paint : KISS

113. Often-bricked surface : PATIO

115. Northern terminus of I-79 : ERIE

116. Some Neruda poems : ODES

117. Old will? : SHALT. Thou shalt ...

118. Noisy fliers : GEESE. Not GNATS.

119. Peace Nobelist Cassin : RENE. Never heard of him.



Down:

1. Fairy tale trio : PIGS

2. Underlying cause : ROOT

3. Goya's "Duchess of __" : ALBA

4. It often includes sides : MAIN DISH. For years, my lunch was a hot bowl of rice noodle soup. Cantonese noodle soup is similiar to Vietnamese Pho. Tasty slow-cooked broth, a few pieces of meat & green veggie, but no bean sprouts or basil on top. Cilantro is the only herb Chinese use.

5. Second coming : REBIRTH

6. How writers usually work : ALONE. Same as 95% (or more) of the crossword constructors.

7. Plods (through) : SLOGS

8. Scrabble piece : TILE

9. Without obligation : AS A FAVOR

10. Work out : RESOLVE. Some of you were aware that I wanted this soybean paste, but Amazon sent me soy sauce, which I stupidly opened. Amazon asked me to keep the soy sauce, but I had to re-order the paste and they would not offer me free shipping. Sigh! I did not re-order. I bought another container of red miso at the Asian market yesterday, Yellowrocks!

11. Qatari bigwigs : EMIRS

12. Part of IRA: Abbr. : ACCT. Stock market was violent again last week.

13. Wood finish? : DEE. Just the last letter.

14. Like parts of the Great Plains : SEMI-ARID

15. Count (on) : DEPEND

16. D.C. location, familiarly : US OF A

17. Chocolate substitute : CAROB. The chocolate mint plant I bought last time lost its chocolate flavor when seeped in hot water, TTP/Anon-T. Still very minty though.

18. Hint : TINGE

28. Court figs. : DAs

29. Texter's "Just sayin'" : FWIW

31. Site for techies : CNET

34. Nilla product : WAFER

35. Pilgrim John : ALDEN

36. They can make good impressions : SEALS. I had ?EALS in place and thought of MEALS first. They do make good impressions.

38. Hebrew opener : ALEPH. First letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

39. First word of "The Raven" : ONCE

42. Distinctive mark : A PLUS

43. "Gone With the Wind" actress : LEIGH (Vivien). Victim of bipolar.

44. Assuage : EASE

46. Winter Games vehicle : LUGE

47. Walked (on) : TROD

49. United route : AIR WAY

52. Two of a kind : PAIR

55. It covers a lot of ground : SOIL. Nice clue also.

56. Maori carvings : TIKIs

57. Like many an Internet troll: Abbr. : ANON Also 88. Frantic monologue : RANT

58. Wine order : CARAFE

61. Interstellar dist. : LT-YR. Light-year.

62. Navigation hazard : REEF

64. Slick : OILY

66. Cincy-based consumer products giant : P AND G

67. Like Oscar Wilde : IRISH

68. "Whatever floats your boat" : FINE

69. Energy source : ATOM

70. "This Gun for Hire" actor : LADD (Alan)


71. Astronaut's garb : G-SUIT. Watch this clip from Gary if you missed it last time. You won't forget his voice.

73. Innocent words : NOT ME

74. Mount to mount : STEED

76. Word in two state names : SOUTH

77. Soup aisle array : CANS

81. Department of Labor training program : JOB CORPS. Also a learning moment to me.

82. "Hang in there" : BE STRONG
 
86. Gets in the pool, maybe : BETS

87. Seasonal pharmacy offering : FLU SHOT
 
89. Potter's pedal : TREADLE

91. Arm-twisting : DURESS

94. Took off : RAN

95. Tropical lizard : GECKO

96. Like jellybeans : OVOID

97. Like urban population : DENSE. We have over 75,000 people here in Brooklyn Park, MN. 15% are Asian.

98. One learning the ropes : PUPIL

99. Toil (away) : SLAVE

100. Bores for ore : MINES

102. Wasatch Mountains resort : ALTA. Got via crosses.

103. Burn remedy : ALOE

104. Spread measurement : ACRE

105. Mint product : COIN

106. Often-skinned spot : KNEE

109. Fan reaction? : AAH. I wanted BOO.



C.C.

43 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Gail and CC! Thanks for early post, CC! Now I can go to sleep with any luck. (It's 2 AM here.)

Enjoyed the puzzle. No cheats.

Several write-overs. Had scoff before SNIFF.

Cheers!

OwenKL said...

FIR! Took a while, and the last area filled was around LOWISH. LOWISH? The theme also took me a long time to get, though when I did it gave me ROUGH, which unblocked that final section.

I think we've got a shout-OUT to the whole group of us with SOCIAL CAST!
Did you notice a PAIR of homonyms across near the center of the puzzle?

My poems are really stories I write,
With just four lines to set up a plight.
The fifth exists
To give a twist,
Or an OUT-and-OUT pun, so you laugh OUTright!

Utch was a godling, but not god of much
In fact, he was god of nothing, as such.
He was known as a mooch.
When he had lunch with Zeus
He insisted the bill be marked GODUTCH!

He READS Ellery QUEEN, he READS Stephen KING,
In fact he READS nearly every darn thing!
NOVEL or story,
Yet we are sorry
He missed reading the warning "Railway Crossing"!

{A, B+, A-.}

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Fun puzzle overall. I got the theme early on at HALLOWEEN FIT, so that helped immensely. Of all the underlying theme phrases, only [Out]BOUND FREIGHT was unknown to me. I mean, it certainly makes sense, but I just don't recall ever hearing or seeing it and it certainly isn't a "common" phrase to me in any way.

I had a few spots where I shot myself in the foot. Up top I thought the "Order" in "Order to attack" was a verb and went with SIC ON instead of SIC'EM. That had me staring at DEO for "Wood Finish" and the completely nonsensical SENIARID (which I took to be a single word) at 14D. Fortunately, I at least knew something was wrong there and eventually took out SIC ON entirely, which let me see the light.

Down below, I had SNEER, SCOFF and SCORN before SNIFF finally forced its way via the perps. Last thing to go into the grid was PANDG, which made no sense to me (especially since I misread the clue as "computer product" instead of "consumer product"). I thought it was a mistake, but the *TADA* told me otherwise.

Learning moment of the day was that the Maori people carve TIKIS. I always thought they were just done by Pacific Islanders, such a Hawaiians.

Anonymous said...

Maori people ARE Pacific Islanders.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Remembered to read the puzzle title (I normally don't), so that made the theme obvious. Helped a lot. Hand up for SIC ON and DEO. Anybody else think Oscar Wilde was FRESH for awhile? Thanks, Gail, for a fun outing.

No, C.C., I've never had cioppino. Looks delicious, though. Around here seafood dishes are likely to be of Cajun origin, rather than Italian. I think you're right about ACED -- could be a golf hole-in-one, or refer to an unreturnable tennis serve. I think Gail mentioned IOLA's only claim to fame in her clue. Agree, PK?

Talk about your population density...our little town's population is only 1500. Still, a good portion is dense.

Anonymous said...

The flowers are Tiger Lilies. A perennial, Very pretty

Yellowrocks said...

Realizing the theme almost immediately helped immensely, yet this puzzle still took my average Sunday time. Fun puns.
Why did the cow get a medal? She was outstanding in her field.
SCOFF before SNIFF, JOHN before JOAD.
RALPH was new to me. Also, ELLIS. Prejudice against women writers led many of them to choose male names.
My favorite Alan Ladd movie was Shane. I read he was filmed standing on a box in order to appear taller.
The L in IOLA and ALBA was my last fill with a mental alphabet run. Suddenly I realized I had seen both before.
We are overrun everywhere with GEESE and their "calling cards" which SCAR the lawns and sidewalks. The geese face no natural predators and some people fight most measures to contain them. Others of us would like to see their numbers diminished. When I was young we enjoyed the geese because they were seasonal visitors and not so numerous.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

D Otto beat me to the punchline about population density. Darn! We have lots of density here too.

Smooth sailing today, just a few unknowns. Hand up for thinking Tiki applied to more northerly Pacific places, but perps said otherwise.

I did wonder about G-Suit as clued. I know fighter pilots wear them to prevent loss of consciousness in high-G maneuvering, but have no idea whether they are useful to astronauts. Husker?

Morning, C.C., sorry your Amazon purchase ended in disappointment. So far my Amazon deals have gone well.

Avg Joe said...

Fun outing. Didn't grok the theme gimmick until the second fill, but it was extremely helpful from then on. Struggled with the I know Ralph since I'm more familiar with Harlan. Liked the "in two state names" clue since it proved Joad either way....had to wait for crosses for the N or S. thanks for a nice Sunday diversion Gail, and for the recap C.C.

I've made Cioppino. It's not Italian, it's Portuguese. IIRC, it originated in the Bay Area and is basically a "stone soup" recipe, where those who share in it have to contribute to the kettle. At the end of a days fishing, the returning fishermen would "chip in" (hence the name) whatever they had caught that day. So the ingredients are very flexible, depending on what's in season, or simply what's on hand. Good stuff!

Avg Joe said...

And then autocorrect kicks in. I know should have been Unknown.

Anonymous said...

"Mount to mount" is a bit of a lame clue, is it not? How 'bout just "Mount"? A mount to MOUNT is a MARE.

Lucina said...

This took me much longer than it should have since I usually look for more complicated or tricky fill, e.g., MINES & SLAVE for bores for ore and toils away were straightforward. Overall it was a slow saunter and knowing the theme helped.

BESTRONG eluded me for a long time because I had SUDS before BUDS became painfully clear. Hand up for SNEER then SNIFF. SMEAR reminds me that I have the mute button at hand now that the nasty political ADS have begun. Ugh.

One summer I worked for a few weeks at JOBCORPS and found it very unsatisfying. I don't have the temperament to deal with that population. On any given day there would be several fire drills! Guess why?

Thank you, Gail and C.C. for the enjoyable Sunday ride.

Have a beautiful day, everyone! Birthday celebrations today.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I really enjoy Gail's puzzles so today's was a pleasant work-"out". It took a couple of theme fills before I caught the theme but, as someone mentioned, the title helped immensely. Hand up for scoff/sniff and a few other w/o's but, basically, a smooth voyage.

Thanks, Gail and CC, for a delightful Sunday stroll and summary. CC, I've never had cioppino, either, but I think I would like it. My knowledge of its origin is the same as what Avg Joe described. I've never had Bouillabaisse (sp?) either, but I think I would like that, as well.

It's hard to believe that Memorial Day is right around the corner. I think our odd weather patterns have us confused but warmer, more seasonal temps are predicted for this week.

Lucina, I agree on keeping the remote handy. I'm also thankful that I have caller ID. And, I probable won't answer the door once the pols start their canvassing.

Have a great day.

Avg Joe said...

IM, I did look it up after posting, and found it is in fact Italian. But the rest of my memory is pretty accurate. I guess I was remembering too well the stories my father told of the Bay Area where he lived during the depression and nearly everyone he knew was Portuguese. It is very similar to bouillabaisse.

Anonymous said...

I think Iola's claim to fame is that it fit the grid!

Husker Gary said...

Gail’s puzzle was very satisfying out here on the SEMIARID plains where it has POURED this spring!

Musings
-ROUGH LINE – “If I said you have a great body would you hold it against me?”
-Here’s the Mongolian word of the day
-Nine books that some consider(ed) PORN
-Every slow-pitch softball league is populated with WANNABES
-The list of us who have been ASSISTED under C.C.’s wing would be lengthy
-You can’t beat a sandwich with bacon but add homegrown tomatoes and ya really got somethin’
-Other athletic ACES by an Omaha native (1:19)
-Letting emotional SCARS go is easy to say but not to do
-SCOFF did not give way to SNIFF for too long
-We’re planning on seeing R-RATED Money Monsters soon (55% on Rotten Tomatoes)
-Pols would quit SMEARING each other if that tactic didn’t work
-There’s been a REBIRTH of the shoes of my 1960’s H.S. basketball career
-I’ve given that “Man In Space” presentation many times and love the thank you cards I get
-All BETS on Nyquist’s nose went SOUTH in the mud yesterday
-Astronauts in space need pressurized space suits but need G-SUITS when they maneuver in high performance jets in our atmosphere.

TTP said...

Good morning all. Late today. I sure made up for the sleep I lost Friday night.

Thank you Gail and CC. Great way to start the day. In keeping with the "Holding Out" theme, you were both "Not sitting" (8 letters). Oh wait, that was part of the 27A answer.

It is somewhat unusual to have an unblocked diagonal on the large Sunday grids. Quickly climbed the stairs from the SW to the NE. The only unfilled square in that first pass was at the intersection of 14D and 41A. OARED clue made me chuckle. Initially held off on WANNABE because it seems like slang and aspirant is not.

Then decided to do the SE followed by the NW. At that point, there were two wide diagonal swaths unfilled. Neat. Because I did the puzzle this way, I still hadn't completed a single theme entry.

That all changed quickly as I started up the stairs at 85A and then getting SOCIAL CAST. AHA !

In the end, a FIW because of my natick at the intersection of IOLA and ALBA. Never heard of IOLA either. Not sure why it should be known. Did fill I-79 terminus w/o pause. Worked in Erie one summer. I got off at US RT 20. Abejo knows that Erie area well.

My curious to a fault (NOSY) neighbor drives us batty. He's overly obsessed with everyone else's business. He can't seem to take a hint that neither one of us are interested in any of those types of conversations.

Madame Defarge said...

Whew!! Out of my wheelhouse today. Maybe it's because 4 grandchildren 10 to 3-1/2 spent the night with us! We sure had fun, I'll give the puzzle a better look later.

Thanks, Gail. And C.C., I'll be back later to check your walk about. Thanks.

Hope it's a sunny day where you are.

Bill G. said...

M. Defarge, yes, it's beautiful here. Sunny, temps almost 70, blue sky with a little sea breeze.

I made Cream of Wheat this morning. Delicious with a little brown sugar and half and half. I had forgotten how much I like it.

I finally finished watching the finale of The Good Wife. It was well done but unsatisfying for me. I like shows to wrap up everything in a neat package with mostly happy endings for everybody. I would have liked both of her kids to be happy at college, for Lucca and her to have a good start on their own law firm and for her to have a nice relationship going with Jason. Is that too much to ask?

tawnya said...

Hi all -

Had a few hiccups but made it through, overall a nice Sunday run with some learning moments and giggles too.

CC - those flowers are a common form of daylily that come in many varieties and colors. They will come back every year. I have several around my yard, some in sun and some in the shade and they all do just beautifully. The green foliage lasts all season and the flowers last awhile in water when you cut them. The hummingbirds and butterflies appreciate them too!

Happy Sunday!

t.

Kiwi said...

For those who are not familiar with the origin of TIKI.

Misty said...

Well, I got about three quarters of this puzzle done before I had to start cheating a bit, but still a lot of fun--thanks, Gail, and thanks, C.C. for the helpful expo.

For some reason JOAD seems to be popping up in a lot of puzzles lately--glad I know my Steinbeck.

Am so sad that both "Castle" and "Nashville", two of my favorite programs, are scheduled not to be renewed. Leaves a huge gap in my TV watching.

Have a great Sunday, everybody!

Spitzboov said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Enjoyed Gail's puzzle as usual. No look-ups or major issues.
At 50a, for pressure source, wanted 'head', since I had the 1st 'e'. But doubted that was what was wanted since it is a hydraulics term. Soon got PEER which made sense from the popular expression.
TIKI made sense in the Maori context since they are related by language and culture to other Polynesians like Marquesans and Hawaiians. They have a very similar word for TIKI.
I-79 - Wanted NDAK first but then remembered that I-79 was the next N-S interstate westward of I-81 which runs through Syracuse. Ergo ERIE made another regular appearance.

maripro said...

Thanks C.C. and Gail.
I sailed through the top half, but "sneer" slowed me down until "Pierre" opened things up. One of the charms of crossword puzzles is how one corrected word, or even one letter can unravel the mystery.
Have a lovely day, everyone.

desper-otto said...

Learning moment: Don't wait until the heat of the day to trim the ligustrums.

Steve said...

Nice puzzle. I was quite surprised to see "Wallabies" make an appearance in the rugby context, it was a gimme for me, but then I used to play rugby and I saw the Australians touring in England a number of times. There are seven backs on a Rugby Union team - two half backs, one full back and operating in the area between the two, four amusingly-named three-quarter backs. The two wings are the left and right sides of the three-quarters.

I didn't know the derivation of "cioppino", so thanks to AvgJoe for the learning moment. All over the Mediterranean there are variations, and strictly speaking bouillabaisse is specific to Marseille and is served with garlic rouille. The Basque region of Spain has a version that is jokingly called "bouillabasque". In Sicily there's a version with North African influnces, served with couscous. The Greeks have Kakavia

Now I'm hungry!

Jayce said...

I like Gail Grabowski's work, and today's puzzle is no exception. A pleasure to solve. After filling 87D I kept asking myself, "Flush what?" I didn't get it until coming here. I drank the V-8 juice instead of hitting myself on the forehead with it. More V-8 when the write-up cleared up what I was trying to interpret as WOODDEE.

I knew PIERRE immediately because we had lived in the Black Hills for quite a few memorable years. C.C., maybe you and Boomer could visit South Dakota again; the Black Hills are gorgeous and there is much to see. Email me if you would like some specific suggestions of places to go. Maybe rent a house, in Sturgis maybe since it's centrally located, because you could easily stay a week.

Fascinating info about the Tiki, from which I made forays into the articles about the Mo'ai and the colossal heads of the ancient Olmec civilization. Very interesting.

Population density here is high. The cost of housing is high. Taxes are high. Traffic is terrible. And yet, here we live.

Anonymous @ 10:33AM, good point!

Best wishes to you all.

Lucina said...

I learned from a "snow bird" visiting here that PIERRE in the Midwest is not pronounced in the French way but in a different, local manner. At the moment it's not in my memory queue to parse it but I'm sure some of you know what I mean.

Avg Joe said...

Lucina, it's pronounced just like the answer to 50a....Peer. It's a beautiful little city and very near one of the most impressive man made lakes in the country, Lake Oahe.

Anonymous T said...

ANON Lurk say:

Dern it Ave Joe - don't give C.C. another vowel-heavy word (Oahe) to mess me up on Tuesdays!

Also, your Cioppino comment earlier made me think, "no that's my dumb-arse-Italian people who couldn't say chip-In w/o an extra "O" at the end." I tried to find the joint on RT-1 north of Monterey where I had it for the the 1st time but could only find this in SFO.

Steve, you foodie you, you live OUT there... Do you know the name of some dive N. of Monterey near the beach famous for Cioppino? I know I saw it on Food TV once. Yes, I love food-PORN.

Y'all have a great eve.

Cheers, -T

Big Easy said...

I hate it when I blow it in the NNW on the cross of IOLA & ALBA. Run across them many times before but don't really remember. The missing OUT was clearly evident after HALLOWEEN FIT. But the rest was an easy fill. It wasn't a TKO today but a DNF.

LOWISH is not a word I use or have ever heard. RENE Cassin and RALPH Ellison- never heard of them either.
Cioppino sounded Italian so I knew it wasn't WOK, Places the 'P' and waited for the perps.
PORN & R-RATED in the same puzzle.

(OUT)standing effort today C.C.

D-O- as a write this I have some CAJUN sausage on the grill for tonight's appetizer. And the PRISON population in New Orleans is greater than your town.

Avg Joe said...

Tony, was it Phil's in Moss Landing? And was it Bobby Flay on Food Network?

See....there's this thing called Google......

PK said...

I thought I posted but it didn't show up. I'm put out about that. Oh well, didn't have much to say anyway.

Yellowrocks said...

I knew many or most would object to LOWISH. It does seems strange. Aha! Now we have the editors by the short hairs. Not! It is sanctioned by many dictionaries. And it appears in several periodicals. Cooking sites refer to LOWISH heat.
"If your main priority is keeping your monthly costs down in the short term but you would also like the prospect of a lowish rate in the longer term as well, then Woolwich has an extremely low lifetime tracker rate of 2. Competition hots up for remortgage deals" Finance Doctor
Arthur and I attended a fun regional square dance this afternoon with a great variety of musical genres. Our club pays no regional dues if we have at least 8 dancers attending a certain number of regional events. Today was the last chance to profit by this plan in this season. We made it! Good team spirit, good morale. Everyone there was considerate of my fudging due to my torn bicep. My long term IT band injury and fractured patella are beginning to show progress and allow me to dance with a pain level of only 1 or 2. Keep on truckin', er dancin'!
Today was a much needed respite, even though I attended a play yesterday. Dancing is my pressure release valve.

desper-otto said...

YR, so now "hots" is a verb? Jeez! I'm too old for all this "progress."

Yellowrocks said...

Yes, sir! Hots up for heats up. Maybe an under 30 wrote that.
From the Free Dictionary online "hot up vb (adverb)
to make or become more exciting, active, or intense: the chase was hotting up."
Not listed as colloquial or slang.

Anonymous T said...

Ave Joe - DW confirmed... It is Phil's.

I bow to your Google-Fu. -T

Argent said...

Hotting up is very common in British English, especially when it's used figuratively.
Here's a headline from The Telegraph newspaper today: "Technology deals hotting up as big-hitters spend cash"

TTP said...

CC, I showed the picture to my wife. She said that yes it is a lily, but the foliage and bloom tell her that specifically it is either an "Oriental" or "Asiatic" lily. Can't quite be sure. We have them in the garden near by bird bath. Very pretty.

PK said...

C.C.- Can you go back to Walmart or where ever Boomer got the lily and look at tags on other plants of the same kind. It isn't a tiger lily -- they are orange with black dots on the petals.

Lucina said...

AvgJoe:
Thank you for the PEER pronunciation. It was a long while ago and I just recalled that she had pronounced it differently.

Wilbur Charles said...

Northern terminus? Must be Nome I guesssed. I had SICon and SNeer and the SENIARID/DEO cross. Rarely do I get the NW in a flash but we read Duchess of ALBA probably junior year. I never can get the clueing, finished the whole thing and looked back and finally said AAH(not BOO).

Picard said...

FIW with "FLUSHOl" instead of FLU SHOT because I had SHALl instead of SHALT.

Hand up for ScoFF not giving way to SNIFF for way too long.

Wanted rAH for Fan reaction.

To me, CAROB is no substitute for the very unique and delightful flavor of chocolate!

I grew up back East and I remember ISLIP from highway signs on family trips.

Yes, a learning moment indeed about ELLIS as a male cover for Emily Bronte. In some ways we have made progress.

Fun theme!