When the cold, harsh winter has given its last breath,
When the sky above shows life instead of death,
When the claws reaching to the frozen sky become decorated with leaves,
When the animals -long in hiding- scurry from trees,
We know winter has ended.
Camile Gotera
With spring in full bloom, what's better than to take a metaphorical roll in the hay! Parikshit has given us three words ending a two-word phrase denoting a bucolic area that "shows life instead of death" this time of year, at least for those of us north of the Mason Dixon Line. I wondered in what direction we were headed when I saw FLUSHING first but it was all good. I fully expected our crossword citizen LEA to show up too but was greatly entertained by this puzzle. MONGER, MENORCA and ICE UP slowed up the swift completion of my appointed rounds.
As best as I can determine, it appears that Parikshit is a PhD candidate in India where The LA Times Crossword runs in this newspaper below. I hope he will drop in to give us more info on himself and this lovely puzzle. It would also be interesting to know how he came about acquiring all these American cultural references.
THEME FILLS
17. New York City park that hosted two world's fairs : FLUSHING MEADOWS - The Unisphere of the 1964 World's Fair serves as a backdrop for this comedy opening
35. Rice cultivation lands : PADDY FIELDS - The 31st Infantry Regiment in a rice PADDY FIELD
54. More exciting circumstances : GREENER PASTURES - How they are made in Nebraska
Across
1. Sleep lab study : APNEA - How do you sleep in these?
6. Dalí works, por ejemplo : ARTE - Art in español
10. Drug cop : NARC
14. Some storytellers : LIARS
15. Midday : NOON - Astronomical high NOON occurs 36 min. sooner in Chicago than Omaha but both are on CDT
16. Chevy hatchback : AVEO
20. Current fashion : RAGE
21. Put on any old way : DAUB - One section has been DAUBED and the rest of the wattle awaits
22. Permissible : LICIT
23. Ordinal suffix : ETH and 34. Wks. and wks. : MOS - Our FIFTIETH anniversary is nine MOS. away
24. First-rate : A-ONE
25. Albania's capital : TIRANA - At the Mickey Dee's in TIRANA you'll get 38Lek in change for this bill when you buy a Big Mac meal
26. Dry out, so to speak : DETOX
28. Fall behind : LAG
29. Periodontist's deg. : DDS
30. "How Deep Is Your Love" group : BEE-GEES
37. Prefix with life or wife : MID
38. Star in Scorpius : ANTARES
39. Voice legend Blanc : MEL
40. U-verse provider : AT&T
41. "Not just a scooter, a way of life" brand : VESPA
45. Kind of surprise kick : ONSIDE - Football trickery
47. Popular berry : ACAI
50. Trawler's catch : COD
51. Present moment : NONCE - "For the NONCE, however, he (Queequeg) proposed to sail about, and sow his wild oats in all four oceans." Chapter XII Moby Dick
52. Farm implement : PLOW - My minimum tillage neighbor and many others sold their PLOWS years ago
53. Coil in a garden : HOSE
57. Tan tone : ECRU
58. Scale for rock hounds : MOHS
59. Alaskan native : ALEUT - The volcanic island homes of these subarctic Alaskans
60. Filing tool : RASP
61. Petty fight : SPAT
62. Señorita's parent : MADRE - I'll bet you can translate this truism about Mamas - "Si la MADRE no es feliz, nadie está content" (* translation at the end of the write-up)
Down
1. Valet at Wayne Manor : ALFRED
2. Hand-washer of the Gospels : PILATE - "Pilate . . . took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. "—Matthew, 27 : 24.
3. All for __: in vain : NAUGHT
4. Celtic language : ERSE - "Maidin mhaith" is "Good morning"
5. Volcanic cloud that can disrupt flights : ASH - Can rise from those islands of the ALEUTS
6. 1997-2006 U.N. leader : ANNAN
7. Disobedient way to go : ROGUE
8. Mummy's resting place : TOMB - Lord Carnarvon, a real occupant of Highclere Castle below, financed the 1923 opening of King Tut's TOMB and died the next year. Curse?
9. Yakima-to-Spokane dir. : ENE
10. Low point : NADIR
11. Guacamole ingredients : AVOCADOS
12. Goes back a scene or two : REWINDS
13. Bob of "Football Night in America" : COSTAS
18. Words before a kiss : I DO
19. Sacha Baron Cohen alter ego : ALI G - Talk about a POSEUR (43 Down)
24. Shown the office door : AXED
25. Stun gun brand : TASER
27. Bk. after Amos : OBAD - OBADIAH with only one chapter and 440 words is the shortest book in the Old Testament
28. Daughter of Darth : LEIA - Almost LEA
31. Bit of online courtship : E-DATE - I suppose
32. Ibsen's "Peer __" : GYNT - Surely some constructor has clued Oslo as "Where PEER GYNT premiered in 1876"
33. Young newt : EFT
34. Inventory: Abbr. : MDSE - Exchange students from the Baltic States are AWED by MerchanDSE in our American stores
35. Tapered beer glasses : PILSNERS
36. Big name in jeans : LEVI - LEES knew the wrath of my Delete Key
37. One of Las Islas Baleares : MENORCA - ENE of Valencia
39. Fish tail? : MONGER - A seller of fish. A WARMONGER?
40. Yemen coastal city : ADEN - Where the USS Cole was attacked in October 2000
42. Made a point : SCORED
43. One with affectations : POSEUR - also Poser
44. Carol opener : ADESTE
46. Acquire a winter coat? : ICE UP - Very dangerous on airplane wings
47. Omega's opposite : ALPHA
48. Move effortlessly : COAST
52. Pocket watch, to a hypnotist : PROP
53. Luau dance : HULA - Did MEL sing Aloha'Oe?
55. Ambulance letters : EMS
56. Edinburgh bonnet : TAM
*62 Across roughly - "If mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy!"
Now let's put me out to PASTURE and FIELD some of your comments:
Answer Grid:
62 comments:
Sorta FIW, but righted it without reds or any other help, so also sorta a win. Had a natick at AL-G + T-RANA and WAGed "E" first, but when no ta-da, knew that was the only cell I was uncertain about, so changed it to "I" on the first new guess!
In a MEADOW was a fellow named Lester Lee
Who loved PASTURES as far as the eye could see!
But his heart he did yield
On the tiniest FIELD,
Where Les Lee met Leslie on less lea!
If a man is wed thrice, is his second a MIDWIFE?
Would a FISHMONGER share a PILSNER with an alewife?
When Adam said I DO,
And Eve said it too,
Was she being a POSEUR, and not really a goodwife?
Old man North Wind got bored with his grind
So he went to fly kites with some kids he could find.
But to the ground kites stayed pinned
Till old North agreed to RE-WIND,
And blew them until the kids did their kite-strings REWIND!
{A+, B-, B.} I think this is the first A+ I've given. I wish a couple of you would grade me too. From my small editing experience, I believe an author is often the worst judge of his own work. Limerick haters, feel free to give lots of D's and F's. It means that at least you're reading them, and that's really the best compliment you could give me!
Morning, all!
This one put up a bit of resistance, but not too much. MENORCA was new to me, and I had PADRE before MADRE, but the perps took care of those.
Took the family to see the New York Hall of Science in FLUSHING during our first trip to New York a few years back, but didn't realize it was actually called FLUSHING MEADOWS. We could see the Unisphere of the 1964 World's Fair in the distance on the way there, but we didn't go visit it.
Congratulations, @Parikshit Sreedhara Bhat for this debut, and @Husker Gary for the description. I actually lived in FLUSHING from 1960-1966, in walking distance from the World's Fair grounds and the (then new) Shea Stadium.
To all my friends at C.C. Crossword Corner, Jedi hope you know today's date, please enjoy this unusually shaped puzzle.
Greetings!
Thanks, Parikshit and Husker! Fun puzzle!
MENORCA was perped. Rest was easy.
Cheers!
Good morning!
Nice debut puzzle with interesting fill like NAUGHT, NONCE, MONGER and POSEUR. Tried to fit MAJORCA where MENORCA needed to be. Was familiar with the former, not the latter.
Husker, I also wondered where we were heading when FLUSHING appeared. In answer to your query at 8a -- yes, I do.
Oops, meant to say 8d.
Husker Gary: Outstanding write-up and links.
Parikshit: Thank You for a FUN Wednesday puzzle (that I finished in Thursday time).
How appropriate, on the day we say to each other ... "May the 4th be with you" ... LEIA makes an appearance.
Fave, of course, was 35-d, Tapered beer glasses, PILSNERS ... go figure. lol
Needed ESP to get TIRANA, MENORCA, NONCE ... and didn't notice (until the write-up) that I had "_ _ _ UP"
(That would NEVER happen at Villa Incognito.
I'm enjoying a bit of rain this morning ... bringing a cool front.
Cheers!
Greener pastures are more enticing than exciting.
Good Morning,
Thanks, Parikshit, for a fine first CW. It was pretty smooth for me with the already mentioned catches.
Gary, thanks for another fine explication. Great links. On CST, I am always surprised when we visit my daughter in Dallas about the variation in sunrise and sunset between her home and ours in Evanston, (Chicago). Only 802 miles as AA bird flies!
Have a great day everyone!
The puzzle today was really different and really interesting to me. Lots of things I didn't know, but it all fell into place eventually. Thanks, HG for walking us through.
Owen, I think today's offerings were all A+. But then I always think you grade yourself too harshly. If it makes me chuckle, it's all good!
Thanks to all for a good morning.
Nice puzzle, grokked the theme easily. Longer time than most Wednesdays. Being from the PA/NJ/NY area, after filling FLU.....I guessed FLUSHING MEADOW. I attended the 1964 World's Fair there. Of course, we hear about Flushing Meadow all the time as the home of the Mets, who are having a great season so far. They are flushed with victory, not being flushed down the drain. Its the Yankees who are being flushed down the drain. They are dead last.
At first I read CURBSIDE chorus. Beeping traffic? The ATT for AT&T was tricky.
I can never remember ALI G, The nattick "I" was a good guess.
My DIL always says Happy Wife/Happy Life when she doesn't get her way or when she is being most difficult. It seems to have no effect, so all three are unhappy for a while.
Great job, Gary.
OWEN KL, okay, I'll bite. I really liked the first two. A+, A- B-
We are having days and days of gloom and drizzle with temps 10 degrees below normal. Unfortunately that kind of rain does not fill the reservoirs. The weekend promises to be warmer than normal and sunny. That should perk us up.
Hello Puzzlers -
Hand up for needing perps to fill Menorca, otherwise a straightforward solve.
Today's mention of the New York World's Fair sent me to Google for information. My family went to the fair, which I barely remember because I was just 4 or 5 at the time. Only a few memories do stand out from that day: the life size animated brontosaurus at Sinclair, the U.S. Royal Tire Ferris wheel, the Unisphere, and the amphibious cars swimming around in a big pool.
Until today I never made the connection that the fairgrounds were in the Flushing Meadows. I gather the Unisphere is still there; I saw it by chance in 1978, while driving a (loaded) hearse in some of the most disrespectful traffic in America.
I filled it all in except for the N where MONGER and NONCE crossed. Ergo a DNF. I just couldn't come up with the right letter.
Nice puzzle PSB and HG did a great job splaining it. You both get ATTA BOYS today.
Like Dudley, members of my family went to the Worlds Fair in Flushing Meadows. My father went to the 1939 one as a teenager and I went in 1964 as an "Early person" (I was 20 and therefore no longer a teenager.) I thought it was really something. My dad said that he was impressed with the new technology that he first saw there (Television.) Technology and Time march on.
Have a great day everyone.
Good morning everyone.
I always felt fortunate that I was able to spend my youth among the MEADOWS, FIELDS and PASTURES of our dairy farm near Saratoga, NY. Spring always was the best time of year, too.
Overall I liked the puzzle; it was bright and had interesting fill. No issues concerning the solve.
MENORCA - Wanted Minorca, but figured we were doing Spanish or Catalan spelling here. Formentera and Ibiza wouldn't fit.
PLOW - In my youth, it seemed plough was commonly used. Dictionaries say plough is a Brit. var. German : Pflug; L. German : Ploog.
ANTARES - One of 57 selected stars for navigation.
FLUSHING - Remnant of place namings from the Dutch colony of New York. Dutch Flushing is Vlissingen on the Schelde estuary. Founded in 620 AD.
Pleasant puzzle, FIW due to a couple of Natick names/languages, but no complaints.
Let's see what this theme reveals to CrossEyedDave:
Well, that was obvious...
Don't complain about the weather, do something about it...
Beware what you wish for...
Thanks to PSB for an interesting and amusing puzzle! And thank you, Gary, for your very nice expo. One tiny nit on your quotation: the last word should be "contento." Your auto correct likely dropped the "o."
I'm not sure why but FLUSHING MEADOWS glided right off my pencil. ALIG made no sense to me so I looked it up to verify it since I know nothing about Sacha Baron Cohen. And ONSIDE defeated me. I had INSIDE and of course MINGER meant nothing but I left it. Sigh.
But, Peer GYNT is very familiar to me as a beautifully haunting piece of music. My favorite selection is Morning.
Because my daughter and her fiancé are AVID Star Wars fans they are getting married today at 5 P.M.
Have a delightful day, everyone!
Good Morning:
A fun but crunchy offering but easily doable with strong perps. Being a New York stater, Flushing Meadows was a fast gimme.
Owen, whether the limericks are good, bad, or indifferent; you get an 🅰➕ for effort.
Thank you, PSB, for a pleasant stroll and thanks, HG, for your usual wise and witty write-up.
Best wishes to the soon-to-be newlyweds, Lucina.
Someone on the blog (Steve, maybe) described the frustrating and time-consuming experience of getting a customer service rep to accept the cancellation of his cable service. I had the same experience yesterday cancelling my newspaper subscription. I can't count the number of times I was asked if I would consider another offer despite my up-front reason for cancelling, which is plain and simple; I no longer want to receive the paper. On the plus side, I was polite and didn't lose my temper; on the negative side, I really wanted to scream and holler! End of rant. 🙊
Have a great day.
Well done and so much fun, Parikshit S. Bhat and Gary!! Getting the theme was a plus for me as I'm usually in the dark. Not knowing Tirana, but had ..IRANA and ..ASER, I put an L...never thought of the T. So much better! Had 2 other misspellings which caused strange answers too.
I don't think that the acai berry has lived up to all that marketing hoopla we were given a few years back. Seems that every type of sales person had a jug of it for sale in their trunk. But, the avocado...it is delicious and healthy, if eaten in small quantities.
Annan, Alig and Antares were all filled via perps.
Spitzboov, thanks for pointing out that ANTARES is a navigational star.
I once had a sailboat named Antares which I thought was appropriate. Antares, as I'm sure you know, is an aging star, a red star, as opposed to newer blue stars, the novas. Since both my husband and I were definitely "aging," a red star seemed to be a good fit.
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Parakshit! Thanks, Gary! Owen, I read and enjoy your ditties, but I'm not going to insult the creative process by grading you.
Thought the puzzle was fun. I knew FLUSHING MEADOWS despite not ever having been there. We were a year married and had planned to go to the 1964 World's Fair but I started having this strange nausea. Yup, pregnant. I'd had an earlier miscarriage, so doctor said, "No travel". We gave up one adventure for another.
The SW corner was a plethora of NATICKS: MONGER/MENORCA/ONSIDE/NONCE. Knew PILSNER, ECRU, RASP, MEL & MID. Hand up for MAjORCA. Never heard of Balearic Islands or MENORCA. Finally had to red-letter alphabet there. After filling in MONGER, I googled it and found out I was right about what it meant: "a dealer or trader in a specific commodity". I very much dislike the clue "fish tail". Boo hiss! FishMONGER may seem to fit that clue after you know it, but too obscure for me to get it.
Also didn't know TIRANA & ANTARES, but the perps filled these okay.
Lucina: blessings to your daughter & husband to be. May they have many good years together.
IrishMiss and PK:
Thank you! It is also my hope that they have a long and happy life together. Between them they have four children and have blended nicely.
OwenKL:
I enjoy all your poems and limericks, even the occasional groaners and as Irish Miss said, you deserve an A+ for all that effort and keeping us entertained.
Dudley;
What do you think of the solar powered airplane? Would you ever pilot one?
Hi Everyone! Thank you for the kind words..
I'm Parikshit Bhat, from Mumbai, India. I'm currently employed as a research scientist with an Indian MNC (Zydus Cadila). I was trying for a PhD (Hence, the PhD list available online containing my name), but couldn't pursue it because of issues with the funding agency.
For today's puzzle, Flushing meadows was an easy choice, since I had read about it in an article published during the US Open. I opted for Paddy fields over Elysian fields, since the latter felt too pedantic. Greener pastures is a common idiom and I was lucky that it fitted in perfectly with the theme.
Well, this was a Wednesday toughie for me (actually, the whole week has been a bit tough for me so far) and in the end I missed two letters (had AVEA and CASTAS, and ALEG and TERANA)--one of my worst Wednesdays in a long time. But Husker Gary, your amazing pics saved the day--so many thanks for that.
Owen, I always read your limericks but one of the blessings of being a retired teacher is that you don't have to grade anymore, so forgive my not grading your work.
Lucina, my best wishes for a lovely family event today!
Have a great day, everybody!
PSB thank you for stopping by; please tell us more about yourself.
I enjoyed the puzzle. I don't have anything new and interesting to contribute but thank you to Parikshit and Gary. BTW, thanks to Parikshit for stopping by.
Owen, I agree with all of the positive comments about your limericks. I enjoy them and couldn't do nearly as well. I would only add that for me, the meter or rhythm of a limerick is critical. Using your first one as an example, it could go more like this to preserve the normal rhythm for a limerick.
In a MEADOW was a fellow named Lee,
With PASTURES as far as the sea!
But his heart he did yield
On the tiniest FIELD,
When Lee met Leslie on less lea!
(I only tried this since you asked. Mine isn't as good as yours but I mostly got the rhythm right I think.)
We get a lot of unsolicited calls each day, maybe about four or five; some from charities, some contractors, etc. I just got another call from a charity we support, Habitat for Humanity, supposedly thanking me for past support but really hoping to talk me into another contribution I'm sure. I asked if her computer screen showed the date of our last contribution. She said April. I was flabbergasted to be called again, only a month later. I told her of my frustration with so many calls and she agreed to put me on a Do Not Call list. Geez...
Musings: (ALA HG)
Could not place the name Peer Gynt with the music,
but it is delightful listening while reading the Blog...
Antares was always a favorite telescope object because of its beautiful red color.
I have seen stars of many colors, gold, red, yellow, but there was this double in Draco
that was the most brilliant blue I had ever seen, & now I can't find it again...
(I keep looking...)
From yest.
Re: Stickshift
My worst nightmare was on my motorcycle, 45 degree hill, stop sign...
but my back tire was on a sewer cap, & it had been raining...
What to do to get off this thing?
It rear wheel was spinning so bad I thought if I got off the dang thing
I would do a triple 360 in mid air & land on a car three cars behind me...
Re: tock,
I have a Grandfather clock that is very temperamental if it is not level.
I can tell when it is out of sorts when it goes "tock, tick" instead
of "tick, tock."
(everyone else thinks i am crazy...)
A friend of mine sent me a picture that I believe belongs on the Blog!
A fun Wednesday level challenge today. The themers were all easy enough to get with some perp help. Not sure I've ever heard the double-up of paddyfields. Simply rice paddy or rice field, but that's not a nit.
I think I may have finally committed Ali G to memory, but it's taken a long time. Menorca was all perps, but it seemed reasonably familiar. Didn't realize that Taser was a brand name, a learning moment.
Thank you Gary. And thanks for the puzzle and visit PSB.
Thank you Parikshit and Gary. Fun puzzle and write up.
I've been fighting a bad cold the last few days. Just now starting to get back to some sense of normal.
Seemed a bit tougher than a typical Wednesday. TIRANA and MENORCA were new, but perps filled them in. Seeing NONCE more often lately.
PK, funny sometimes how we each react to clues and answers. I though fish tail = MONGER was clever. Even fish follower would have been better than fish suffix (which many here would object to), but tail was even better than follower IMHO.
Cross Eyed Dave, That cat looks just like Anonymous T's pop's cat !!!
Nice puzzle and write-up, thanks PSB & Gary!
@Irish Miss - yes, it was me trying to cancel my DirecTV service and move to today's 40A U-Verse. Ironically, since then AT&T have acquired DirecTV, are winding down their U-Verse TV product, and about three weeks ago gave me a great deal to go back to DirecTV, so here I am, back where we started :)
Bill G @ 1:57 - On average, I receive 4-5 "telemarketer", I.e. scam calls a day. I have Caller ID and if I don't recognize the number, I pick up to stop the ringing and immediately hang up. Recent names showing on my ID screen: Vets Support Fund, Healthstream, Consumer Debt Relief, NYC Dept of Co (?), although the majority just show a city, state, and the number. Sometimes, it just shows Unknown Caller. When I Google the numbers, invariably they are either out and out scammers or con men trying to convince you that you ordered something and it is ready to be shipped and, therefore, your credit card number is needed! They never give up and call over and over again. I may get a call blocking machine soon, as the calls are going to increase mightily once the politicians launch their campaign blitz.
CED @ 2:00 - You must have ESP because I was thinking earlier that a cute feline 🐱 picture was over due. Thanks for such an apropos offering today. (Although, you could have made me even happier with a canine 🐶 co-star!)
Steve @ 2:40 - As long as you are happy, that's what counts. (I've never even heard of U-Verse.)
A fun pzl with lotsa gimmes. My wife wears that sleeping gear--not for APNEA, but for an allied condition--and she sleeps quite well.
I played PILATE in a film once, and there's a lot more to that hand-washing story than the public is ever told.
And how could I forget FLUSHING MEADOWS? Hmm. I was there for the fair in '64, but now that I think of it, I don't remember anything except rolling by Michelangelo's Pieta.
PILSNER stays with me ever since my first trip to Germany when a kindly elderly waiter confirmed my request for a light beer, by saying, "Ein kleine Pils, ja?"
NONCE and MONGER brought back my Shakespearean studies.
POLONIUS. Do you know me, my lord?
HAMLET. Excellent well. You are a fishmonger.
But even with the easy ones, this was a learning pzl from Mr. Bhat. I had to resort to the web to confirm the Spanish spelling of MENORCA for the MINORCA I thought I knew. I needed help to be sure the capital of Albania was not LIRANA (turning the perp into LASER instead of TASER).
Musings 2
-I think you can see I am/was a visual learner and teacher
-What a treat to hear from Parikshit today. You answered some questions but left us hanging such as how you came about all this Americana knowledge. However, you probably gave us as much as you cared to share or had time to share and that is great!
-I loved blogging your puzzle and am sure your knowledge of life on this side of the world far outstrips ours of life in your part of the world.
-Owen, I too eagerly read your lims everyday and would not presume to grade them.
-Dave gotta love the b/w kitty on the cwd puzzle!
-Give to an online cause and prepare for an onslaught from others!
-I got an early 18 in today, as I did not have to solve/blog the puzzle. That’s bittersweet for me.
Irish Miss @3:19,
We get more telemarketers than you do. It is no exaggeration to report that we receive over eight and sometimes fifteen calls a day. We pick up about half the time, especially if we are near a phone, to stop the noisy routine of the ringtone and answering machine. When we answer, there is usually no one there. If it doesn't turn out to be a taped message, we presume the lag-time is because caller is monitoring several robo-dials at once.
Back when we first signed on to do-not-call lists, there was a brief down-turn in the calls, but that was long ago.
I don't know who it is who encourages these callers. Everybody we know hangs up on them. We're pretty polite. If we get a "live" one, we'll say "No, thanks!" while hanging up in their mid-sentence.
But somebody, somewhere, must be accepting these pitches and paying good money to buy whatever they're selling. Otherwise the calls would have dried up ages ago. Right? We hear that some older victims, needful of human contact, are giving away their children's inheritances. Does anyone know of people falling for these unwanted calls?
We don't get the volume of spam calls as you do, IM, or nearly as many as you, OMK. But we still get plenty. I'm usually pretty calloused, and just hang up. But I have developed a habit that let's me feel I've exacted some revenge when the setup is appropriate. The caller opens by saying "May I speak to Joseph please." After I acknowledge,, if he then says "How are you today Joseph?" I reply: "I'm great! Thanks for asking!" And hang up.
I'm sure it makes no difference to the caller, but it makes me feel as though I've gotten a fair trade for that time of mine which was wasted.
Avg Joe @3:58.
It is strange, isn't it, that how we handle these unwanted calls has become a small sign of personal identification, a touch of pride? I mean, you enjoy cutting them off at a certain point, while I compliment myself on my good/bad manners. We both recognize that it means little or nothing to these calloused callers.
I also take a small measure of satisfaction by sometimes responding to their question, "Is this Keith?" by answering, "Who's calling?" Put the onus back on them, I say!
And if I sometimes add a little Oxford accent, with just the hint of a suggestion that they have reached my private secretary's line, what's the harm? I haven't yet gone on to, "Shall I call him out of his meeting?" or "No, no, the commissioners will wait," but that may be only a matter of time.
Hi all!
Great puzzle today - it got a little crunchy but I figured it all out and enjoyed it! PSB you did a great job and we are happy to have you join our conversation! I did George's puzzle too, took less than 5 minutes - the theme was fun and the grid pattern was so different!
I haven't had a landline since 2008 and don't miss it a bit! It turned out the only people that called the landline were telemarketers and our mothers. So we cut the cord and signed up both cell phones for the National Do Not Call List so people don't bother us. If I happen to answer a sales call, I ask them to place my name on their Do Not Call list. Life is way easier this way.
I tried to cancel my newspaper but they kept offering me a great deal for three months. So every three months I called and they re-upped the offer and I was happy. But by the time I got around to reading the paper, I had done the puzzle and read all the stories online so the only thing that made it worthwhile was the coupons. So of course I got rid of that too. It took some arguing for them to actually let me go though.
Took a final in pharmacology today - I loved the class but am glad it's over. Have two more finals next week. Next Thursday is my last final at 8am then start Summer semester at Noon. We get a whole two hours of break between semesters. This accelerated program might kill me. Good news: graduation is May, 2017. Hope I can hang on until then!
May the Fourth be with you!
(Here's where all the good Catholics respond: "and also with you!")
t.
Let me say, once again, that if you have a VOIP phone provider you should try NomoRobo. If you don't know what a VOIP provider is, you don't have one. NomoRobo monitors my incoming phone calls; if it's from a known robo-caller, NomoRobo disconnects the call after the first ring. All we have to do is to remember to never answer the phone on the first ring. I can't remember the last robo-caller who actually got through.
Another ploy is to check the caller ID, and if not recognized, pick up the phone and answer with, "Is Frank there?" That usually stops 'em cold. If not, "I'm a [expletive of choice] lower-than-dirt telephone solicitor, and I need to speak to Frank. Please put him on, [expletive of choice]!" In only once instance did I have to tell the caller, "This is where you should hang up."
CeD, it looks to me like that kitty is saying, "I'll let you read the clues when you exchange that gawd awful beer!"
I read a beer review recently that Corona scored consistently at the bottom of the lists on blind taste tests. I can only attribute it's popularity to marketing genius.
I tried to find the Jerry Seinfeld clip where he
says "yes I would love to" but only the abbreviated version comes up....
For Irish Miss...
I also used the national Do Not Call Registry and that worked well for most legitimate business, but the bad guys don't care about following those rules.
So I tried Desper-Otto's suggestion a couple of years ago Nomorobo for our landline. It's been wonderful. You may not be able to use it if you have analog or wireless only...
-T's pop's cat can't believe that the clue for 51D is "Old Nigerian capital"
tawnya, Good Luck and Congratulations. Glad you take time to stop by.
I renewed my registration with the Do Not Call list in the last year. I believe it periodically expires.
I also like to blow names and agencies about if I do decide on a whim to answer. I often mention that the Attorney General of Illinois might be interested in your call. Do you mind if I record it and send it to her? Usually NO!
When they ask for me and I am here--if I answer--I might say: Oh, I'm so sorry you missed her but she died in an attempt to climb a mountain in Kathmandu. Perhaps you'd like to take her name off your list. Response, Oh, yes. I'm so sorry. So am I--I know everyone has to make a living, BUT leave me alone.
I used, "This is the Argyle office of the FBI. What is your name?" CLICK
We have Cox Cable in SoCal for all incoming signals-- TV, Computers, phone. I don't know why it is, but when we asked them about a Nomorobo type service (one that was touted on ABC News), they said they don't have that capability.
We're in the same boat as many other American sheep--hoping but doing little, just waiting for mass servers to solve our problems for us.
[I'm about to click on "I'm not a robot" in order to post this message. Sometimes I wonder...]
Tawnya, I also gave up my landline long ago because the only people who called me on that line were the telemarketers . I haven't missed it
CED, I think Antares is low in the summer sky so maybe you'll be able to see it in late May or June. It impressive!
Mr Bhat, please entertain us again with more of your puzzles.
Fishmonger is a common word down here in the swamp where we eat lots of fish . (Hey! Better than snakes or alligators!) and your fishmonger can be your best friend in a shortage.
Desper-Otto,
I was typing up my comment about Nomorobo when you had already posted.
Actually, I was mostly watching Dirty Harry on AMC.
Argyle, and Madame DeFarge, funny.
Keith, there may be some misunderstanding. Don't ask Cox. They don't have the service. Nomorobo has the service. Cox is a supported carrier. I just checked. Take the link above, press get started, enter your carrier type (landline / VOIP) and then select Cox in the "Carrier" drop down...
Bill G.:
"I was flabbergasted to be called again, only a month later. I told her of my frustration with so many calls and she agreed to put me on a Do Not Call list."
You mean there's a DNC list that actually works???!!!
CED - Very cute twosome! Many woof woofs!
Tawnya - Good luck with the finals. Enjoy your two hour break!
DO, unfortunately my land-line phone service is with Verizon, so no nomorobo for me.
I've been catching up on the comments from the last couple of days.
I've never had a Reuben that had pastrami. IMO, a Reuben is a very specific sandwich, starting with the corned beef. I've had hot and cold pastrami sandwiches, but never with the other Reuben ingredients. Might have to try one that way. Big Easy, are the chicken salad sandwiches there made with turkey ? :>) Just kidding.
I just looked at the online menu for our favorite deli. NEW YORK STYLED CORNED BEEF, PASTRAMI OR TURKEY PASTRAMI $9.99. CLASSIC REUBEN OR TURKEY REUBEN $8.99. Turkey Reuben ? What is the world coming to ?
Parikshit, I worked with a guy in India (Pune or Guragong) that also had a name with 'shit' in it, and so many in the English speaking world found it embarrassing to say his name, so he anglicized it with HR to Harsh. Some of us that were close to him wish that he had asked us for an opinion first.
Irish Miss, Verizon is also showing as supported for both traditional landline and FIOS digital. It's curious that you aren't able to use Nomorobo either.
85-yr-old lady on a bus trip across Canada told us just before she got off at the end what she says to unwanted callers. This gal was a typical rural small town strait-laced pious church lady in home-sewn dresses and hair in a bun at the base of her neck. Gasping for breathe and breathing hard she claims she says, "I can't talk now, I'm having sex." Then she hangs up. She exited the bus leaving 49 people roaring with laughter, it was so unexpected.
Yup. That response is the best possible. Contest (not that there was one) is over.
Michael: No, the Do Not Call Registry has never seemed to do any good for us. However, the lady from Habitat for Humanity meant she would put a notation of Do Not Call on my name on their own list of contributors.
Speaking of Antares, it is a HUGE red giant star. If it replaced our sun, it would extend past and gobble up most of our solar system.
CED, I know what you mean about your pendulum clock. They need to be level so that the pendulum swings the same distance side-to-side compared to the clock mechanism. That's assuming the mechanism that pushes the pendulum isn't bent or off-center. Also, the two prettiest double stars I even looked at through my telescope were the red/blue pair (Albireo) in Cygnus and a yellow/blue pair (maybe eta?) in Cassiopeiae.
Completed this puzzle in our newspaper after working all day and enjoyed it. Thanks Parikshit and glad you dropped by. Thanks Husker G for explaining.
If I have never heard of U-verse (and Irish Miss said she didn't know about it), how does Parikshit know it?
I'm glad I took the time to come here tonight - such fun posts today! So many things to comment on.
Congrats to Lucina (mother-of-the-bride) and the family.
OwenKL I enjoy your efforts.
Tawnya, I feel your pain with the pharmacology course.
PK, loved the story from your Canada trip. Was that 85-year-old Canadian?
I could continue but I am working again tomorrow and need some sleep.
TTP @ 6:49 - According to Verizon, Nomorobo doesn't work on dial-tone land lines, which is what I have. 😔
Lucina 1:12 -
I'd be only too happy to try my hand at piloting a solar aircraft, but at this stage in the technology, it would be just for the novelty of it. The battery powered ships that are starting to show up in Europe are more promising - they're more like Teslas of the air, meaning that they need a full charge from the grid before takeoff, and they have no means for replenishing via sunlight. The energy available from the sun is so slight in comparison to the power consumption of such machines that it's not worth equipping for it. Instead, it's deemed acceptable to live with a short range, and plan to land for a recharge.
It will be interesting to see what improvements may spring up in coming years!
Hi All:
All for NAUGHT - 3, count 'em 3 bad squares in the SE. I had Top for bonnet @ 56d and POSEeR. Hey, PADRE fit the clue. FIW.
Thank you PSB for the puzzle and stopping by. I did the puzzle much earlier while waiting on my flight and must'a looked like a dummy shaking my head and throwing up my hands during the solve. The SW was last to fall but it was fun (and plenty of learning moments).
Thanks HG for the writeup and the POSEUR Manga - it reminded me of MegaTokyo (my fav MT: 'Airplane the Movie' - "Excuse me miss, I sp33k l33t.").
WO: EnT b/f EFT; AmaN b/f ADEN; and I mixed up my vowels in LEIA just about every way one could - even tried an 'h' once for good measure :-)
ESPs: Too many to list. 25a & 37d come immediately to mind.
Fav: ALI G. I won't link because this is a family blog but he is funny. Cohen's King Julian is more family-friendly. Runners up: ALFRED & LEIA.
YR - Hand-up: I read Curbside @49d like 100 times too.
Lucina - Congrats to your daughter. May the 4th be with her (Tawnay - you beat me to the "also w/ you" punch line; good luck on exams)
OKL - {A++; B; B+}. //not that I'm qualified to judge.
Argyle - Brilliant! Since I can't get away w/ PK's story, "FBI, Agent -T speaking" it is.
I get about 7 calls a day on my cell. I don't answer numbers not in my contacts. The really annoying "Unknowns" are those that leave a message so you think it's important.
Cheers, -T
Irish Miss @8:49,
OH, ok, that's different. So Nomorobo does work on Verizon, just not the type of Verizon service you have.
In looking at the way Nomorobo lists carriers in their pull down menu, it looks as if they have 2 entries for carriers that have both. Weird that they would do it that way...
I ditched standard telephone lines as soon as I could, and went VOIP. Unlimited coast to coast calling for ~ $25/ mo versus AT&T and their "plans" and then add in the cost of the long distance from them or someone else ? My monthly phone bills were easily $100 /mo so that was a good reduction. Better quality too.
Canadian Eh, I think that Rich probably changed the clue to u-Verse for the ATT answer.
Parkishit, I probably wasn't clear earlier. HR was for Human Resources, and his name was Harshit.
Anon-T, so what is the name of your pop's black and white kitty ? Sounds like you had a good visit.
I think that's 5 for me, so I'm out. Time to shut down.
TTP - Dylan. Pop has 3 garage-cats that he found as kittens abandoned by mom-cat under the front porch ~10 years ago. Florida is a calico-looking cat and Neumann looks like Seinfeld's nemesis. Neumann does not like petting; the other two are whore-kitties.
Pop & his DW have two dogs too - Coco (a poodle-something mix who's 6mo-old) and Tinker (a chocolate lab @2yrs-old). The cats & dogs seem to get along until food comes into play.
As for the choice of breakfast-beer Sam anon@4:38p - free beer is free beer. Add a lime and salt & it ain't so bad.
I'm glad y'all enjoyed the photo. I sent it to CED thinking he'd get a grin. I didn't expect him to post it but I'm happy he did. Thanks CED.
The trip was fantastic, hectic, and way too short. But, I'm glad to be back home.
Cheers, -T
Oh crud - I messed up my MegaTokyo l33t l1nk. C, -T
That's better ... but I still don't get it.
Argyle: Translation -
"The Pain"
"I need help"
"I need you to get the doctor. I gots some bad pain. In my chest. I need my pills."
/"Does anyone speak leet?"
"Yo"
It's a take on - Airplane (@37)..
133t is a substitution-"code" old school h4X0rz would use on BBS and IRC in the day to keep out the n00bz, er, POSEURs (which we all were :-))
Cheers, -T
@TTP- I actually find the 'shit' end helpful, as it makes the task of spelling my name quite easy..:)
@Gary and Lemonade 714- I used to regularly solve LA Times crossword puzzles, along with my brother and father, in the late 1990s, though we were never able to complete one single puzzle. Then I lost touch after finishing school and for the next 5-6 years, I rarely solved a puzzle. Only in the last 4 years have I regularly solved crosswords and now, I'm almost always able to safely navigate through Monday to Wednesday; I really like the Thursday and Friday puzzles, though at times, there remain a few empty squares. I struggle only in the puzzles published on Saturday. Being a regular solver has helped me gain some knowledge about America, though I do come across names now and then, that I'm not familiar with.
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