Theme: "Communication Update" - Before & After type. First part is a common phrase. Last part is an online communication related term.
23A. Tiny pair of media hosts? : TWO PEAS IN A PODCAST. Two peas in a pod. "WTF with Marc Maron" is my favorite podcast these days.
31A. Security for sailors? : SAINT ELMO'S FIREWALL. Saint Elmo's Fire. You might have heard of the Great Firewall of China. Lots of websites are blocked there, including Facebook.
49A. Online photo exchange for redheads? : GINGER SNAPCHAT. Ginger snap. I just don't get the appeal of Snapchat.
65A. Having returned to the world of public performances? : BACK IN A FLASH MOB. Back in a flash. I don't feel flash mob is communication-related, thought it's organized and spread on line.
85A. Emeril's gateway? : FOOD WEB BROWSER. Food web. Firefox for me. What do you use?
100A. "Got a film to share?"? : ANYTHING FOR YOUTUBE? Anything for you.
113A. End of a "Great Reuben!" tweet? : #CORNED BEEF HASHTAG. Corned beef hash.
I
tend to jump around in my Sunday solving. After getting Snapchat and
YouTube, I thought the last words are all social media sites. Facebook
might be doable, but Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr are not viable
options.
Heavy themage due to the nature of "before and after" theme type. Total 113 squares. Rich's minimum is 84. I stay around 94/95.
Heavy themage due to the nature of "before and after" theme type. Total 113 squares. Rich's minimum is 84. I stay around 94/95.
Across:
1. Kind of crazy? : STIR. Gimme start for our regulars.
5. Supermarket lines : CARTS. We often see UPCS clued this way. Or BAR CODES.
10. Gossiper's word : HEARD. Not I HEAR.
15. Yahoo! rival : MSN
18. It divides banks in Bern : AARE. Riverbanks.
19. Goes around : ORBITS
21. Bartlett cousin : ANJOU. Have you tried Asian pears (Hosui) before? Super juicy.
22. Big foot letters : EEE
26. Short order from mom : NOW
27. Go along with : ESCORT
28. Extra : SPARE
29. Sneezer's need : TISSUE
36. Yacht staffs : MASTS. Not CREWS.
39. Van Gogh inspiration : ARLES
40. Clean the slate : ERASE
41. Latin lover's word : AMO
42. Naval NCO : CPO. And 43. Some NCOs : CPLS. And 57. G.I. Joe's outfit : US ARMY. Also 123. Air Force E-5's : SSGTS.
45. Scale starters : DO RE
55. Like some income : PRE-TAX
58. Former fillies : MARES
59. Crêpe cousin : BLINTZE. Looks amazing.
60. Garden adornment : SHRUB
61. Old Testament's Queen of __ : SHEBA
63. Tees for Aristotle : TAUS
64. Pound parts: Abbr. : OZs
70. Newfoundland comment? : ARF. Gimme for regulars.
73. Often saved comics heroine : LOIS (Lane),
74. Voicemail cues : TONES. Not BEEPS.
75. Cessation of hostilities : TRUCE
79. Opinion pieces : COLUMNS. Who's your favorite columnist? I like David Brooks.
81. Ontario natives : CREES
83. Intervene : STEP IN
84. Go by : ELAPSE
88. Dispatch : SEND
89. Brass __ : BAND
90. Place to go in Gloucester : LOO. Lots of gimme little words today.
91. "Xanadu" gp. : ELO
92. Home of the John Denver Sanctuary : ASPEN. Learning moment for me.
95. Illusionist Criss __ : ANGEL. He has a show in Vegas.
98. "Cutthroat Kitchen" host Brown : ALTON
106. Nothing new : REPEAT
107. Dutch wheels : EDAMs
108. High-quality : RATED A
112. Sharp-toothed swimmer : GAR
118. Cult following : URE. Just culture.
119. Get ready for an engagement? : KNEEL. Nailed it as well.
120. Waxy compound : STEROL. I see this as an ingredient in some makeup products.
121. Writer Rice : ANNE
122. Road curve : ESS
124. Revue routines : SKITS
125. Trails the pack : LAGS
Down:
1. Fill up : SATE
2. Shooting marbles : TAWS
3. __-Z: Camaro model : IROC
4. Share on Facebook, e.g. : RE-POST
5. Raccoon relative : COATI. He has a long tongue.
6. Start of MGM's motto : ARS
7. Bryce Harper stat : RBI. Right fielder for the Nationals. We also have And 96. Queens team, briefly : NY METS
8. Holiday sparklers : TINSEL
9. Office binder : STAPLE
10. Underworld : HADES
11. Multi-vol. reference : ENC. OK, encyclopedia.
12. 1977 Steely Dan album : AJA
13. Political platforms : ROSTRA. Plural of rostrum.
14. To-do list items : DUTIES
15. Smart bunch : MENSA. Thank you, Mensa, for carrying LA Times crossword online.
16. K-pop city : SEOUL. Korean Pop. J-pop is Japanese Pop. Chinese pop is Mandopop (Mandarin). Cantopop is in Cantonese, of course.
17. Staircase component : NEWEL
20. Bombards with junk email : SPAMS
24. Memorable times : ERAS
25. Cortez's gold : ORO
30. Author Stieg Larsson's homeland : SWEDEN. Author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
32. Short rests : NAPS
33. 1982 Disney sci-fi film : TRON
34. Pool surface : FELT. Clued such because we also have 103. Senses : FEELS
35. Org. whose roots date to the Civil War : IRS. Learning moment to me.
36. Sorcerer : MAGUS. Singular of Magi, I guess.
37. Simple-living sect : AMISH. There was an Amish family selling home-made jams and jellies at the flea market. But they were not there last year.
38. Whale tracker : SONAR
42. Shout : CRY
43. Revolutionary first name : CHE. Simple in retrospect.
44. Kettle et al. : PAs. Not MAs.
46. "The Simpsons" bus driver : OTTO
47. Jeer : RAZZ. We used to have a blog regular called Razzberry.
48. Divorce consequences : EXES
50. Vittles : GRUB
51. Preserves, in a way : EMBALMS
52. "You said it!" : AMEN
53. Early sunscreen ingredient : PABA
54. Made skillfully : CRAFTED
55. Horner's surprise : PLUM
56. Trattoria order : RISOTTO.
I tried this the other day. Pretty good. I'm thinking of splurging on a
bag of dried porcini and making my own mushroom risotto.
59. Scroogean cries : BAHs
61. Enjoys a run, maybe : SKIS
62. "To each __ own" : HIS
63. Half a fly : TSE. It's back.
66. "Get Smart" security device : CONE
67. MGM co-founder : LOEW (Marcus)
68. "As I Lay Dying" father : ANSE. I forgot. We had this sometime ago.
69. Coven concoction : BREW
70. Experts : ACES
71. Part of a film : ROLE
72. Custardlike dessert : FLAN
76. Election surprise : UPSET
77. Sky over Seville : CIELO. Hard for me. I only know a few limited Spanish words.
78. __ Field, a former name of Minute Maid Park : ENRON
80. Modernize : UPDATE
81. One side of the fence : CON. Or PRO.
82. Casting aid : ROD
83. Sign of success : SRO (Standing-Room Only)
85. Venom dispenser : FANG
87. Aptly named track star : BOLT (Usain)
89. "Big" London attraction : BEN
93. Crude homes : SHACKS
94. Mountaineering equipment : PITONS
95. Many Qatar natives : ARABS
97. Half a kids' game : GO SEEK. 6-letter Partial.
98. "Down with," in Paris : ABAS. "Abas le roi!" Also 86. Cheese couleur : BLEU. Color. Blue.
99. Deadly : LETHAL
100. Plead in court : ARGUE
101. Reduces one's distance from : NEARS
102. WWI battle site : YPRES. No
idea. Wiki says that "During the war, because the British troops had
trouble pronouncing its name, they nicknamed the city "Wipers"."
104. Not even : ODD
105. Border range : URALS. Europe/Asia border range. Vague clue.
109. Sicilian attraction : ETNA
110. "Shucks!" : DANG
111. Sits in a cellar, say : AGES
114. Short rule? : REG (Regulation). Short = Abbr.
115. Tuna catcher : NET
116. "Black" shopping time: Abbr. : FRI
117. __ water : HOT
C.C.
49 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks, Pamela and CC!
Nice puzzle. Cute theme.
Had to perp and wag some things: ALTON, STEROL, SEOUL, IRS, ANSE, ENRON, ABAS.
But, got through it with no cheats.
(Gail G's offering on NetWord took only half as long. Don't think I'll tackle NYT tonight.)
Have a great Mother's Day!
Smooth sailing, few write-overs.
Morning, all!
With the theme description fresh in my mind, I threw down TWO PEAS IN A PODCAST based solely on the clue and I was off and running after that. I struggled a bit with FOOD WEB BROWSER, simply because I'm not familiar with the term FOOD WEB to begin with, but the perps took care of it easily enough. A bigger problem came when I entered CANNED BEEF HASHTAG instead of CORNED BEEF. Don't ask me why. After that, though, I kept trying to think how NEG could possibly be a short rule? It wasn't until I realized that PITANS absolutely had to be PITONS that the light bulb went on. Silly me...
I was reading mu WSJ late yesterday and noticed their feature Saturday puzzle- HEAD WRITERS- by none other than our fearless leader, ZHOUQUIN BURNIKEL, aka C.C. to us. Congratulations on the puzzle.
Good morning (and happy Mothers' Day, those of you who qualify)!
I had no problems with this one, and managed to work my way to a DNF in better-than-normal Sunday time. My Waterloo was ST_R/_ROC -- WAGged an "A" -- no gimme for me, C.C. Theme was cute, but like Barry, I had no idea about "Food Web" -- expected an Emeril BAM in there somewhere. Got 46d immediately.
Learning moment: It never dawned on me that the plurable form of MAGUS would be Magi.
Seemingly daunting but I prevailed on this one though, unlike Barry, had to sink downwards to start and work my way up. Once CORNEDBEEFHASTAG emerged, so did the trick. Nicely done, Pam Amick Klawitter. I can't help but think that name sounds like an anagram.
Quite a few errors, which I had to ERASE, slowed me, AOL before MSN, brass TACK then BAND, OED/ENC and can never immediately recall AJA though it appears often. I liked the cluing for EEE, big foot letters. PLUM took way too long because I misread Horner as Homer. And BTW, OTTO was a pure guess.
Thank you, Pam and C.C., sparkling commentary as always.
Happy Mothers' Day! I hope it's really special for all mothers, step-mothers, adoptive mothers and grandmothers.
Hello Puzzlers -
What Barry and D Otto said. Food Web is unfamiliar. Otherwise, a smooth run with fun themage. Thanks, Pamick!
Morning, C.C., I haven't set out to be a Luddite but I've listened to perhaps one podcast ever.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!! to ALL the wonderful Mother's here.
At Sunset I will be "toasting" my Mother ... as I do every night.
Cheers!
Happy Mothers' Day!
Thanks, Pam, for a pretty smooth Sunday run. I liked the theme, which for once appeared on my second pass at CORNED BEEF HASHTAG. I liked seeing ANSE. Faulkner is such a difficult read. When I taught As I Lay Dying, the kids liked to call it As I Die Reading!
Thanks, C.C. for another smooth explication. I do appreciate all you do for us and the CW World in general. Thank you!
I hope all of you have a sunny day regardless of your weather.
FIW again. Had SGTS instead of CPLS, and WAGed a natick at eLTON+eBAS. Amazing how the theme was realized!
There once was a sot from ANJOU
Who couldn't decide what to do.
He wanted a pear
That was up in the air
But climbing meant spilling his BREW!
The royal son of Bathsheba
Was fond of his lunch margarita.
Though he was in MENSA
When drunk he was densa
Married 700 wives plus Queen SHEBA!
Superman was a super crime-thwarter
In secret from LOIS, a reporter.
Though COLUMNS she'd write
About her guy in tights,
That spandex was her attention absorber!
{C, C+, C+.}
Easy fill today with only Criss ANGEL, ANSE, and MAGUS as unknowns. The redheads's clue baffled me even after I had filled SNAPCHAT because I never viewed Gilligan's Island on a color TV; only B&W.
With CORNED BEEF, GINGER SNAPS, GRUB, PEAS, two guest chefs- EMERIL & ALTON- I need to sink my FANGs into some FOOD. wrong theme.
As far as browsers, if you are using Windows 10, Joanna Stern of the WSJ just published a comparison and I'll quote her findings. I use both EDGE and CHROME.
"In industry benchmarks and my own speed tests, Edge and Chrome were neck and neck for first place. Firefox and Opera—two clunky yet long-surviving third-party browsers—trailed. Internet Explorer barely placed."
Thank you Pam and thank you CC. Sometimes Sunday puzzles seem to drag on and on. Not this one. Great job.
Big foot letters was a clever clue. Had US ARMY in early, and then took it out. Then had DOhs before DO RE. D'OH ! Mafia stayed too long where HADES belonged.
Thought garden adornment might be gnome. My FIL liked then and had them in his garden.
First thought was Dudley Do-Right and Nell for often saved comics heroine. Superman was so one dimensional. The Rocky and Bullwinkle show had so much more variety, colorful characters, and recurring themes.
Journalists ? I like Clarence Page.
To many, Facebook is passe and static. Social media apps such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat seem to have gained more traction due being more interactive in their one to one, one to many, and many-to-one communiques. Snapchat seems to be aimed at preteens and teens.
Criss ANGEL is ok, but we can't stop watching Michael Carbonaro.
Had to think about short rule = REG, and then, to quote Steve, "The penny dropped."
Further to our Fort McMurray Fire discussion: I've been looking over some images that show its growth over time, along with the general sad condition of the empty city. Along the way I came across a clip of security camera footage from inside a private house evacuated just twenty minutes earlier; it was clear that the whole structure would soon be gone. Evidently the occupants had little time - the lights were still on, photos and mementos were still in place. The fish tank had to be abandoned. I can't imagine the strain of having to make split-second choices. Be strong, Alberta!
Good Morning:
As TTP said, Sunday puzzles can be slogs but this one was fast and fun. Well, maybe not fast-fast, but pleasantly paced. I caught the theme immediately at Two peas in a podcast and from there on, it was easy peasy, with some perps help here and there. The only outlier, IMO, is Food web browser. Is there such a thing as Food web? Food Network, yes, but I never heard of Food Web. That aside, it was an enjoyable solve.
Nice job, PAK, as usual and nice write-up, CC, as usual.
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers everywhere! 💐
Splynter from last night: Sorry your plans hit a snag. Keep trying! 💞
Have a great day.
-Clever and with just enough grist for my mills! I went to the grocery store to get some “morning-of” Mother’s Day items and saw 3 husbands walking out with flowers, etc. as I walked in. Just because your wife “says” don’t get me anything…
-Sacre’ BLEU! ABAS/ALTEN was right. Got ‘er done!
-Early shopping, walking the cat, early church and now off to Lincoln. Hope to blog/read later today
-Happy Mom’s Day one and all!
Happy Mother's Day to all. I bought the local grandmother a live orchid. It wasn't very expensive and they last a bit longer than cut flowers. This one has a pink hue.
Owen, I thought your first limerick scanned very well. I would opine that if you can't use the words and thoughts you want and make the limerick's rhythm come out perfectly, then why not use a different rhyme scheme, maybe ABAB or...?
I LOVE corned beef hash for breakfast with poached eggs on top.
I have no respect for Chris Angel. So far as I can tell, he can only perform his illusions with video editing and some friends he's talked into being his 'astounded audience.' When he can do those tricks close up at the Magic Castle or put on a live show like Penn and Teller, then I'll change my opinion.
Fun Kentucky Derby!
Best wishes to all our Canadian friends involved with the Fort McMurray blaze. We here in southern California understand some of what you are going through.
Again, I hope all of you mothers and grandmothers have a great day!
Great puzzle. Doable without a lot of gnashing of teeth, but with enough crunch to be satisfying. Thanks, PAK. Sparkling expo. Thanks, CC.
BTW I heartily recommend adding reconstituted porcinis to risotto. That's my favorite way of making the dish and my family fusses if I make it any other way. At one time I could get huge 1 lb. plastic jars of dried porcini at BJ's. Now I have to get them at Amazon. Oh well. If you like, I could send you a recipe for a cheater's porcini risotto. Easy as can be and no one can tell that you didn't spend 30 minutes stirring the rice pot.
Dudley, thanks for the smile yesterday. Not everyone (not many?) get my sense of humor.
TTP, thanks for the shout out to The Carbonaro Effect, one of my favorite programs. Not only is he a good magician and an affable person, but he has an incredible line of patter. The guy could sell sand to an Arab.
Fun party yesterday. Too bad you missed it.
Cya!
Enjoyed the before and after - once the theme emerged I often had the end and had to piece together the beginning of the theme answers.
Pretty much had to redirect everything that Lucina did.
After my husband gets done with work will drive to Kansas City to take my mom out- and then back in the same day which will be a long day - but at almost 85 she isn't getting any younger.... Going to try a new restaurant a friend of mine helped start called "Enjoy" which is focused on natural ingredients and local sources.
Happy Mother's day to all it applies to -- always makes me a little nostalgic as I used to buy 5 Mother's day cards and am now down to 1.
I, too, dipped to the bottom where CORNED BEEF HASHTAG set me on the right track.
It took me a while to remember ANJOU, though it was on the tip of my pen. That gave me AJA and HEARD so I could finish.
No prob with food web. In Wiki: Food Web, see the chart under the table of contents box. I can’t seem to link WIKI these days.
Ginger is a light reddish color often used in reference to hair color. Ginger on Gilligan's Island presumably had that nickname due to her red hair.
Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers. Alan bought me breakfast and a lovely bouquet. So thoughtful. My older son sent me a lovely bouquet, too. We will get together next weekend to celebrate the May birthdays and Mother's Day.
Nice and smooth with fun theme answers. Also didn't understand FOODWEB, but got through in quick time. Thanks, Pam!
Nice write-up, C.C. I'll have to try those pears. Look yummy! Also, make my own risotto from scratch, using rice, sherry, chicken stock, and then add tomatoes, jalapenos, chopped tomatoes and of course, fresh grated parmesan.
Happy Mother's Day to all mom's out there!
A pox on Wiki. This is better anyhoo.
Link food chain vs. food web
Happy Mother's Day!
I liked this puzzle very much. As Husker Gary so colorfully said, it had just enough grist for my mills. Pam has done it again. Lots of plurals, though.
I have never watched a podcast.
My favorite columnist is Leonard Pitts Jr.
Bill G, I love poached egg on corned beef hash, too.
Best wishes to you all.
I forgot to say I use Firefox and have used it for many years. I tried Edge a few times, but I just couldn't figure out its unfamiliar icons. Heck, it took me far too long to learn how to even bookmark a page. Clicking on the book icon isn't it. And, like so many other aspects of Windows 10, I feel it simply doesn't communicate well enough to me about what it's doing. Finally, I didn't find it to be faster than Firefox.
YR @ 12:39 - Thanks for enlightening me re Food Web. Huge learning moment.
My article confirms my previous learning. It does suffer because English seems not to be the author's native tongue, but I think his facts are strong. In a way, it reminds me of assembly instructions translated from another language.
This one was steady as you go the entire voyage. But ther weren't any major logjams, so it was just a methodical fill. I completely failed to even read the title until it was completed, but the trick was obvious from the start. In fact it might have made flash mob harder to fill if I had read the title. I agree it's an outlier.
It took forever to remember Anjou since I startd with OED for Enc. After Mets became obvious, I wanted to start it with Da, thinking it might be a local nickname much like Da Bears. Did end with a FIW, however, since I went with Ciele, then left if after Alten seemed OK. But it was still enjoyable. Thank you Pam and C.C.
Add my vote for Leonard Pitts Jr. as favorite columnist. Although a close second is Garrison Keillor when he does his rare column.
I found out late yesterday that our smoke shroud was blown in from Alberta and N Minnesota. It's still here today, but much better. Perhaps 7 mile visibility. Yesterday it even shut down the Blue Angels at our local air show. I hope that the good folks of Alberta can maintain their record of no loss of life. That's the only good news from that area these days.
John McCain was interviewed on CNN a few minutes ago and had one of the most memorable quotes I've heard in years....asked obliquely if he would consider the VP spot on the ticket he said: "Naw.....there's no education in the second kick of a mule."
Fun Sunday puzzle even though I'm still pretty much of a Luddite when it comes to web language. But I got through more than three-quarters of the puzzle before I had to start cheating, which is pretty good for me on a Sunday in the post-Merl Reagle era. So, many thanks, Pam, and you too, hard-working C.C., for your always great write-up.
I got AMISH since I spent much of my youth in Lancaster, PA.
Dudley, I too saw that heart-breaking video of a family's living room slowly engulfed by smoke and then fire in Canada. Devastating.
Owen, I would have given your first limerick and A or A- this morning.
Have a wonderful Mother's Day, everyone!
Sunday Lurk say:
3/4th's of my Moms called and presents delivered (Dad was married 3x and MIL became a "Mom" when I was 17 dating DW.) We're taking MIL out tonight. I'll just Thumper re: The One Not Called.
Bill G - Penn & Teller are the best. Penn will tell you how the trick is done as they perform. A perfect misdirection before you're awe'd at the end.
TTP, Ave Joe, & C.C. : "There be Politics & Dragons":
But I agree w/ your columnists selections; I enjoy Brooks, Page, Pitts, and Friedman. Krauthammer is fun as he's near-consistently wrong and tries to justify it. Then there's Kathleen Parker - she's Right-leaning, and thoughtfully so, but goes "Left" on some issues IMHO. I enjoy reading contrasting points of view to gain an understanding the crux of the argument (and making up my own mind!). I ignore talking heads on TV - Max Headroom thought me why :-)
AveJoe - I've noticed Keillor has ramp'd up the op-eds as he's winding down his show. They are really funny & thoughtful.
BlueHen - share the recipe here. C.C. Has a special place for them on the blog.
I'll lurk later. Cheers, -T
TTP & Anon-T,
Do you have mint in your garden? I just bought a pot of chocolate mint earlier. Fleet Farm also have apple mint.
Big Easy & Lemonade,
Thanks for solving my WSJ. It's actually my first solo there.
Avg Joe,
The smoke was quite heavy yesterday morning.
Jayce,
I found Firefox to be the most intuitive browser.
Peg,
I never added jalapenos to risotto before. Will try next time.
Yellowrocks and Jayce,
Where do you normally buy your miso soup? Also, red or white?
Bluehen,
As Anon-T just said, share recipe. We have lots of foodies here. You can copy and paste on the blog or email me crosswordc@gmail.com. I have a Blog Recipe folder on the blog front page.
You know how much I like CBS's Sunday Morning, right? Here's an amazing little animated short video featured on the show today.
ANIMATED VIDEO
Here's another video about a barista who provided a little extra service. ANOTHER GOOD VIDEO
Owen and others; Thursday the 12th is National Limerick Day. Here's a few I found while searching. (They made me smile!)
The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I've seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.
The limerick’s an art form complex
Whose contents run chiefly to sex;
It’s famous for virgins
And masculine urgin’s
And vulgar erotic effects.
(And this one which emphasizes my comments about the desired meter.)
There was a young man of Japan
Whose limericks never would scan.
When asked why this was,
He replied "It's because
I always try to fit as many syllables into the last line as ever I possibly can."
CC, I only buy miso soup at restaurants. From time to time I have cooked my own. I buy the miso and other ingredients at a Chinese-owned farmers market. I prefer white miso. The lighter the color the milder the flavor.
I vote for Rachel Maddow, Leonard Pitts, Eugene Robinson,Kathleen Parker. I do listen to the other side straight from the horse's mouth, instead of listening to what is said about them.
C.C., what we buy is miso ginger broth from Trader Joe's. It looks like this. Pour a box of that and a box of chicken broth in a pot, dump in as many frozen chicken gyoza as you want, plus a bunch of shelled edamame beans (also from Trader Joe's), heat it up and simmer for 5 minutes, and voila, ready to go! I love it.
Bill G,
There once was a fellow named Sport
whose verse was abnormally short.
He thought it just fine
to end the last line
quite suddenly
The answer UPDATE was odd, considering the title of the puzzle was "Communication Update" - but other than that, and the fact that I never realized Blintz was spelled with an "e," I enjoyed it!
"Puzzling thoughts":
FIW as I had GINGER SHAPSHOT instead of SNAPCHAT, and POT for Kettle rather than PAS. A few other misteaks [sic] too, but I didn't google ANYTHING so I got THAT going for me! 😜
Owen, I too thought your first limerick was better than your grade. In fact almost all three appeared more like limericks than your usual poems. I'm more of a stickler for meter and agree with others that if it isn't going to scan, then just offer a themed poem. I know you put a whole lot if effort into coming up with rhymes that fit the puzzle theme, so don't be overly critical or concerned that no one is grading them. Keep up the good work. And if the spirit ever moves me I might throw in a couple, too.
Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms here at the Corner; hope you're enjoying YOUR day!
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Pam! Great expo, C.C.!
STIR crazy didn't occur to me for a long time. Hit my situation too close for comfort, I guess. Worked through the puzzle up & down and finally filled it. PABA & ANSE were unknown. Hey, I knew AARE & URALS & ETNA.
"Queen's team" wasn't "knight" of chess but NYMets. Oh, well! My son's family went to a Royals game this week and had seats at dugout level which the grandsons thought was neat. A hard line drive came zipping toward my son who stuck up his hand to catch it and experienced intense pain from the force. Had to drop it. Didn't care.
Jayce, I don't know what any of your ingredients are. You might as well be speaking Mandarin.
UH, what's a podcast?
Mother's Day events for me: Lunch with my daughters & tour of a designer showhouse for charity yesterday. Perfect weather then. Very enjoyable. Today my son came and did six heavy lifting chores I needed done. Hauled out my old washer so I can clean 10-years accumulation of dirt before the new washer comes. Then DIL & grandsons came. Got to hear all their news and see iPhone pictures they have taken of recent activities. Very good day for me, despite rain.
CC,
Nothing yet this year, but last year it was parsley, oregano, thyme, and basil. No mint.
If you plant mint, keep it contained in a pot. It is so invasive.
Wild spearmint grew profusely along the banks of Honey Creek where I was raised. The fragrance could be overpowering.
AveJoe - McCain's quote bests Benson's "You, sir, are no Jack Kennedy." Say what anyone will about McCain... and... no politics.
C.C. No! What TTP said re: mint. I have mint but not in the garden. Mint tends to take over so I keep it in a pot. In Norman, OK we planted it around the rock path - it made every step deliciously aromatic.
Bill G. #3 was beer-out-the-nose funny. Thanks for sharing.
PK - if you have an iThing, there's a podcast app. TED Talks is a popular one. My favs are Freakonomics Radio, Dinner Party Download, and Paul's Security Weekly from Hack Naked (many times they'll even review beer TTP).
I had a wonderful time w/ MIL and the family at dinner. I hope MIL did too. Happy Mother's Day to all who qualify and even those who don't :-)
Cheers, -T
This isn't the first time that our leader has invited a contentious correspondence. Let's just say that my opinion would draw criticism and for that I am wont. . It's a shame that the obvious had to put on display today. I'm sure my nominations for consideration would have been mocked as it has happened in the past. Already someone has insulted a writer I admire.
TTP - at one time I had a small acreage-mowing business, mainly in support of local horse owners. There was one pasture I maintained that had a large patch of wild mint, and I always looked forward to cutting that section. It smelled so nice!
Hello all, long time lurker, first time commenter.
I only got the crossword bug a few months ago, and being an Angelino, the L.A. Times is where I do most of my puzzling.
Question for the veterans -- how long was it before you could get through a Sunday puzzle without cheating? I came somewhat close today, but still had to look up a handful in order to close the loop.
Big Easy: Ginger for redhead far predates the Ginger on Gilligan's island. Ginger (n.) Sanskrit srngam "horn" + vera- "body," so called from the shape of its root. But this may be Sanskrit folk etymology, and the word may be from an ancient Dravidian word that also produced the Malayalam name for the spice, inchi-ver, from inchi "root." Used in reference to coloring, by 1785 of fighting cocks, 1885 of persons (gingery with reference to hair is from 1852). Meaning "spirit, spunk, temper" is from 1843, American English. Ginger-ale is recorded by 1822, the term adopted by manufacturers to distinguish their product from ginger beer (1809), which was sometimes fermented. Ginger-snap as a type of hard cookie flavored with ginger is from 1855, American English.
TTP: Superman one-dimensional? Well, yeah, but it was the dimension tween-aged boys were interested in!
& Bluehen: I also enjoy the Carbonaro Effect.
Bill G. & C.Moe: Thanks for your welcomed comments. I've mentioned before I try to reinvent what a limerick is, like your third example from the Net. Maybe I should call them something else? Laurions? True limericks are just a special case of what I try to write.
Being deaf so I can't listen to any podcasts nor most videos is a TREMENDOUS time-saver!
Jayce: Ditto your comments about Edge! But I only see 4 icons on Edge (back, hide, resize. close), and no way to customize it. Firefox I've got about 30 icons from 40 add-ons!
Avg.Joe: LOL!
On columnists, my faves are the humorists: Keilor, Weingarten, Berry, Swami Beyondananda, almost anyone in Funny Times except Borowitz.
Steve M.: I've been doing crosswords since I was a kid, 50+ years. If I ever am able to consistently get thru Sunday puzzles (or Fri. or Sat.) I'll let you know!
Steve M., I'm no CW expert. I just don't worry about cheating. I solve them online. I try to solve them all on my own. If I get totally stuck or am taking forever, I look up something on Google or turn on red letters to show me my mistakes. I usually get up to Wednesday on my own and sometimes need some help on Thursday and Friday. I always need help on Saturday. Sunday difficulty seems about like Wednesdays so I sometimes need a little help. I just do my best and then don't worry about it.
Yes, King, I agree to an extant. It's very liberal here and things are civil as long as you agree but at the same time you should always agree with the person in charge. It's very wise to.
Steve M:
It takes a while to become proficient at solving crossword puzzles. I also started as a child, 10 years of age, in fact and have been doing them since then. I'm 78. Knowledge slowly builds upon information garnered as do instincts when a dilemma exists among several choices. Don't be fearful of trying your best guess before researching it.
Dear CC:
<< 16. K-pop city : SEOUL. Korean Pop. J-pop is Japanese Pop. Chinese pop is Mandopop (Mandarin). Cantopop is in Cantonese, of course. >>
Then Iowa-pop should be 'pop-corn', no?
Yes. Mournful mediations matriculate mountains. Geesh
The great UR adds his two cents. UR=UnRead. I started Thur and finished this morning. How could I miss ABAS?? And I see the gimme STIR crazy came out STAR and aROC as if I never HEARD of it. I had great difficulty but stuck with it as long as I could fill one more square.
And I too misread Homer for Horner and cursed at there being two Simpsons references. Sundays are more like Friday difficulty for me.
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