Theme: At the Top of the Hour - For your busy commute.
20A. Lena Horne classic that begins "Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky ... " : STORMY WEATHER
26A. Measure of a store's visitors : FOOT TRAFFIC
48A. Bright spot in tough times : WELCOME NEWS
53A. What a Geiger counter measures ... or, as two words, what the ends of 20-, 26- and 48-Across are : RADIOACTIVITY. Radio Activity
Argyle here. A text book Monday. Easy but not stupid easy with interesting themes. I do wonder if it is a new collaboration from Don and C.C. or has it been waiting in the wings. Another appearance of PETSIT makes me wonder.
Across:
1. Birthstone between sapphire and topaz : OPAL. October.
5. Frees (of) : RIDS
9. Russian ruler until 1917 : TSAR. Nicholas II.
13. Get a better mtge. : REFI. (refinance)
14. Take by force : USURP
16. Germany's von Bismarck : OTTO. Prussian statesman.
17. Biting remark : BARB
18. "Divine Comedy" poet : DANTE
19. Auntie of Broadway : MAME. The original Broadway production starred Rosalind Russell.
23. Historic time : ERA
24. Earth tremor : SEISM
32. Tic-tac-toe win : OOO
34. Dryer screen buildup : LINT
35. German-born sex therapist, familiarly : DR. RUTH. PSA? She has her own YouTube channel.
36. Neither here __ there : NOR
37. Choir members : ALTOs
39. John, in Scotland : IAN
40. "All My Children" vixen : ERICA. Susan Lucci.
42. "Not so hot" : "MEH"
43. Tangerine kin : ORANGE
46. Subj. for nature lovers : ECOLogy
47. Before, to Byron : ERE
50. Sales talk : SPIEL
52. U.N. advocate for workers' rights : ILO. (International Labour Organization)
60. Tiny "smashing" target : ATOM
62. Gem measure : CARAT
10-Carat-Forever-Brilliant-Lab-Grown-Moissanite
63. __ of expertise : AREA
64. Works on the lawn : MOWS
65. Subway entrance : STILE. I tried STAIR first.
66. Fish home, at home : TANK
67. Game on horseback : POLO
68. Piped up : SAID
69. Grinds to a halt : ENDS
Down:
1. Planets, to poets : ORBS
2. Gardening moss : PEAT
3. Oversize coif : AFRO
4. Opera text : LIBRETTO. First of the four excellent long columns.
5. Poet Kipling : RUDYARD
6. "__ Mommy kissing ... " : I SAW. Santa doesn't kiss and tell ... unless it is Lois.
7. Sandy hill : DUNE
8. Madrid miss: Abbr. : SRTA. Señorita.
9. Marisa of "My Cousin Vinny" : TOMEI
10. Touring figure skating show : STARS ON ICE. Tinman approved use of _ _ _.
11. Emer. cash source : ATM
12. Caviar : ROE
15. Feed the neighbor's cat, say : PET SIT
21. "The A-Team" muscleman : MR. T
22. Actress Anne : HECHE
25. Milked animal, in kiddie-speak : MOO-COW
26. Olympic stadium centerpiece : FLAME
27. Mideast ships : OILERS
28. Hunting, catlike : ON THE PROWL
29. Common typeface : ARIAL
30. Old French money : FRANC
31. Practice fly ball, e.g. : FUNGO. Usually hit with a FUNGO bat. (1865-70, Americanism; of obscure origin)
33. Postgrad tests : ORALs
38. Spread, as seed : SOWED
41. Do over, as a kitchen : RENOVATE
44. They're dug up at digs : RELICS
45. Gave off : EMITTED
49. Yalie : ELI
51. "You are not!" rebuttal : "I AM SO!"
54. Cheerios grain : OATS
55. Opera showpiece : ARIA
56. Colombian city : CALI
57. Persia, now : IRAN
58. See to : TEND
59. Jabbers : YAKs. I dunno...they may have been yaking.
60. Rock band need : AMP
61. As well : TOO
Argyle
48 comments:
{C+, B, B-, B+.}
BARB and MAME are friends of OPAL.
To set her up with a hubby they're hopeful
Thru dating-site lotto
They've located OTTO,
He's lost both his hands, so he shouldn't be gropeful!
There once was a salesman named IAN McNeil
Who could sell you a car at a really good deal!
Fuel wouldn't take much money;
It was quiet as a bunny --
That it hadn't an engine wasn't part of his SPIEL!
Catman was in costume, with cape and cowl,
Patrolling the alleyways, ON THE PROWL!
Where stalked the hero,
The crimes were zero;
He scared muggers off with his fierce meowl!
The ALTO was worried about the LIBRETTO,
To finish her ARIA she'd need a falsetto!
To get that last note
Would strain her poor throat,
To help her get high, her shoes were 12-inch stilettos!
How embarrassing! FIW on a Monday! In my defense, both were proper names, one I didn't know, the other I didn't know how to spell: HECHt + tRICA.
Mostly typical Monday simplicity, tho I did have SEIZE > USURP, MOO-MOO > MOO-COW, and TORCH > FLAGS > FLAME.
Caught the theme as parts of a news broadcast, thinking TV, so thought the reveal was clever! Other possibilities might have been hits or oldies.
As a poem, the following would be a D+, but the gimmick is too good to just throw away:
Josh went to school to learn about ECOL-
ogy, and the role of bacteria like E.COL-
i. When he got the chance,
He traveled to France,
To expand his studies at their Grandes École!
Morning, all!
Fun, easy puzzle overall with a nice theme. But FUNGO? On a Monday? How odd...
Hi Y'all! Really enjoyable puzzle, Don & C.C.
Fun expo, Argyle! However, as I remember it, you may have done the kissing, but Lois was the one who YAKked about it! LOL! How is Lois these days. Miss her irreverent posts.
Hand up for "seize" before USERP.
Learning experience of the day was SEISM. I'd heard SEISMograph so it made sense to me.
Love that song "STORMY WEATHER". Used to sing it.
What a delightful puzzle from @Don Gagliardo and C.C., and entertaining writeup by @Argyle. This took me less than 5 minutes, a good time by my personal standards.
Having recently returned from 56-Down, my wife (17-Across) and I faced some 20-Across last night. Simultaneously, a certain Midwest city got some 48-Across, as was predicted almost two years ago with Hello Loneliness ...
Meanwhile, allow me to offer a quick shoutout to my daughter for her one-year anniversary!
Good morning!
Hmmmmm. PETSIT, yet again. Conspiracy? Don't recall hearing FUNGO...ever. Really wanted RADIation, and that slowed me down in the south. Still, this was a quick solve, even for a Monday. Thanks, DG and CC.
Stormy Weather is heard often on NPR. It's the background music for the financial news on "down" days.
Still can't seem to get caret, carat and karat straight in my mind.
Good Morning!
Thanks Don and C.C. for a nice Monday run. I really liked the theme--initially, I couldn't see what RADIOACTIVITY had to do with WEATHER, but slowly it came to me. I know FUNGO, but don't know why it has that name.
Thanks for the clarifications, Argyle. I chuckled at YAKS!!!
Have a fine day!
Argyle, Good Job on the write-up ... as always ...
Don G. & C.C. Thank You for a FUN Monday puzzle with a nice theme.
Yup, if you can "skate-on-it" ... I don't mind filling in STARS-ON-_ _ _ ... just won't type THAT word here. LOL
Congratulations to Cleveland on (finally) winning a Championship!
Hope all the Dads ... and Grand-Dads had a wonderful day yesterday.
A "cool-front" went by ... and I have the windows open, and the A/C off.
It is a beautiful, sunny day here in the Tampa Bay AREA.
I think a walk on the beach is on the agenda.
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
First time in last three tries that I got ILO w/o needing perps.
If you don't know "catching FUNGOS" then you probably aren't familiar with the phrase "shagging balls" either.
When position players take batting practice, the pitchers are usually the ones shagging the balls. They field the balls and toss them back to the mound.
When infielders and outfielders take fielding practice, a coach or another player will hit FUNGOS for the players to field or fly balls to chase down. A special "FUNGO" bat is often used, and more likely to be a part of the team's equipment the higher the level of ball that is being played. Little League ? Probably not. Major League ? I'm sure every team in the bigs has at least one FUNGO bat.
Chairman Moe, Great US Open but I don't like how the rules officials handled the situation with Dustin's ball moving. Not saying they were wrong or right, but they should have made the decision immediately. Not fair to either DJ or the other players that were in contention. BTW, 4 under 276 was correct, but I only thought 3 would end up in red figures.
Congrats to the Cleveland Cavaliers. First championship in any of the major sports since 1964.
TTP, I'm familiar with shaggy balls, but FUNGO? Not so much.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, c.c., and Don G., for fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.
Almost to Cincinatti. Our church group is heading to South Carolina for a mission trip to rebuild after flooding. Did the puzzle on the IPad.
Did not catch the theme until after I finished. It was clever.
Got through the puzzle fairly easily. A few tricky ones.
Got FUNGO with perps. Same for HECHE. ERICA I knew.
STARS ON ICE I wagged after a couple perps.
Wanted REMODELS for 41D. Held off and RENOVATE won.
PET SIT was interesting. We just had that.
Tried BARK for 17A. BARB was it. That gave me LIBRETTO.
See you tomorrow from South Carolina. I might try the Sunday puzzle next. Had no time yesterday.
Abejo
Good Morning:
A fun run from CC and Don with a little bite to keep us on our toes. Needed the reveal to catch the theme which was clever and fresh.
Thanks, Dynamic Duo, for a great start to the week.
I saw the last half hour or so of The Courtship of Eddie's father with Glenn Ford, Shirley Jones, Dina Merrill and a very young and precocious Ron Howard as Eddie. He was as cute as could be and, IMO, has retained that boyish innocence to this day.
Have a great day.
Forgot to say THANK YOU to our co-constructors and Sherpa today ! Thanks all !
D-O, LOL. Shag ing, not y. Maybe you were thinking of NPR's Schweddy Balls ?
Speaking of balls, I've been seeing a lot of cottontails in our yard and gardens. At least three or four little ones. Another month or so and they'll be fully mature and producing their own litters. They don't need any help from DR RUTH.
So Irish Miss, what was that second plant that you sent CC ?
Enjoyable Monday puzzle by C.C. and Don. Argyle's write-up pulled it together nicely. Once across, once down and a quick scan to fill in a couple of errors.
Had QUAKE vs SEISM, PITCH vs. SPIEL and I had to wait for perps to see if it was eriKa or eriCa. (I had a black lab named ERIKA.) Other than those stumbles it flowed very nicely.
I was surprised when Argyle said DR RUTH had her own YouTube channel. I didn't realize she was still among the living. Recently I watched her on a 30+ year old Johnny Carson rerun on a retro channel and she appeared to be older than she apparently was. I guess I'm not good at guessing ages, but according to Wikipedia she turned 88 two weeks ago.
I hope all of the fathers had a great day yesterday.
Try to stay cool this week.
After her break up from Ellen Degeneres, Anne Heche was found wandering waiting for a spaceship to pick her up; that I remember.
I also played lots of baseball and the fungo was how we learned to field and how we played when there not enough kids available to play a game.
Loved the puzzle, immediately thought of the radio when I saw weather and traffic and this NEWSMAN
Nice to see C.C. and Don Hard G. together
Thanks Argyle
Hello Puzzlers -
Hand up for Fungo being 100% perps. Otherwise, a breeze.
Adding to Lemon's post: I'm unfamiliar with Anne Heche, so I read her Wiki. Yowza! If her life story as written is even half true, then it starts to make sense why she'd roam the desert waiting for a spaceship. Talk about a tough childhood.
Cute theme..... thanks Don & C.C. However, never heard of FUNGO, but it makes sense.
Thanks, Argyle, for your usual great job!
"Puzzling Thoughts":
TTP @ 7:47 - Yeah, I too was pretty confused and critical of how the USGA treated the ball moving incident with DJ at yesterday's US Open. First, there was an on course official - with DJ's group - who ruled on the incident when it occurred. Second, if, after reviewing it with other rules officials, and it was deemed that he (DJ) caused the ball to move, a penalty stroke should've been applied right then and there. It's hard enough to play the game and face a final day at the USO, but I know it had to affect both he AND the others playing, over the final holes. Supposedly there is a "new interpretation" of the rule, and the grounding of his putter while taking a practice stroke apparently "caused" the ball movement. That interpretation needs to change. If you accidentally hit the ball while taking a practice stroke, that's one thing. What DJ did - IMO - was NOT a penalty. Good call, BTW, on the final score.
As for today's puzzle, lots to like here, especially for a Monday. Made you think, so it wasn't a complete waltz in the park. I don't recall any major write-overs today as I filled both the across and downs in each grid as I worked top to bottom, left to right. Thanks to Don G and CC for a fun puzzle, and to Argyle for an equally fun recap.
In addition to DR RUTH, the Fruitcake Lady was a pretty cool grandma. The clip pulls no punches, nor should it! PG 13 rated, I suppose . . .
FUNGO was a "fun" clue/solve. Check out the link for a little history, perhaps, on its origin. I recall when I played baseball in HS our coach had a FUNGO bat - always wondered why it was never used in actual play, or why it existed, but the article makes sense.
Congrat's to Clevelanders . . . first professional sports team championship in 52 years. During the same time period, Pittsburgh has won 13 team championships (including one this year) . . . just saying! ;^P
Good morning everyone.
Easy Monday with some fresh fill. Argyle, those YAKS look like MOOCOWS, at least to Tibetan kids. Got STARS ON ICE easily because BH is a skater. Hit lots of FUNGOS as a tween/teen.
SPIEL - Means 'play' in German. I think Yiddish speakers stretched its meaning to 'chat up' sales. Krieg SPIEL is a war game.
ATM - I use 'em for regular cash needs, since my bank is in another state. Plenty of ATMs in the 'network' so no fees are charged. Very convenient.
SEISM and FUNGO both unknown words to me. Still, fast solve. Fun CW that I really enjoyed, thanx, Dan and C.C.! Terrific write-up, too, thanx, Argyle. Owen, C+, B+, D+, C. Not quite up to your usual skill, but still a smile, thanx! Poem, eh, no.
Thank you, C.C. and Don! No static on this GEM of a puzzle. I do have one tiny nit though, TOPAZ is the December birthstone, sapphire is September's so there are two in between, citrine, November, and OPAL, October. But with four letters, OPAL filled immediately.
FUNGO?? Not anything I've ever heard of but the perps nailed it.
I had two write overs, FLAME to FLARE when MEH became apparent and changed POND to TANK.
Thank you, Argyle; I also laughed at the yaks yakking.
Have a golden day, everyone!
Oops. That was FLARE to FLAME.
FUNGO - think Sosa & the cork'd bat issue back in the day. I remember them calling that broken bat a FUNGO.
Bummer in the NE - auTO to OTTO didn't know 9d and SEISM was not quake. But, all's well that ends well. Thanks Don G. & C.C. It was fun to turn the little grey cells on early on a Monday. Thanks Argyle for the writeup.
I'll play latter - there's too much fun in the puzzle not to., D-O don't think I missed your Market Place "whow-whow" trombones . OKL {C, B, C+, A-} {A}. Cheers, -T
D-Otto next time you get a clue for Karat or Carat think of a gold rink with 18K stamped inside. That way if it's a gem clue you know it's a C if it's a ring clue then it's a K. Hope this helps ~!~!
Me too FIW seism got me i transposed the I and E not knowing HECHE. Still a fun puzzle for a Monday.
Plus Tard from Cajun Country ~!~!
I agree with Argyle, who said it so well: "Easy but not stupid easy with interesting themes." Thank you for the yakking yaks.
Congratulations to the Cavaliers, but I was rooting for the GS Warriors.
Best wishes to you all.
Yep, another Monday that wasn't for dolts. Not very hard, but still something to chew at times. FUNGO gave us a sign that we were to take it seriously.
The main thing about FUNGO is the batter tosses the ball up in the air and hits it as it comes down. I believe it teaches bad eye/ball coordination which is why it usually only a coach does the hitting. As the only boy on the farm, I would toss up rocks to hit and never developed a talent of hitting an actual pitch. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.
The FUNGO bat has a big barrel to make easy contact and a slender handle to reduce the shock of hitting so many balls.
TTP @ 9:40 - I have no idea what any of the plants are; I just choose the arrangement based on its appearance. (My avatar may be green and floral, but my thumb is not! My knowledge of plants would barely fill a thimble.)
Sorry, chose not choose! 🙃
Boo luquette - the other way I remember is that Diamond gems are rated on the 4 Cs (Cut, Color, Clarity, Carat), so gold is the K. But whatever works.
Also, if you watch baseball you may see the "no fungo" sign around the infield.
A nice start to the week, easy but interesting.
Straight-forward Monday solve today. Thanks C.C., Don G., and Argyle.
Enjoyed your contribution today Owen.
WEES about SEISM (I started with Spasm) and FUNGO (all perps).
Genealogy digging has helped me to learn about names in various languages. John is IAN in Scottish, Sean in Irish, Ivan in Russian, Iwan in Ukrainian etc. It is helpful to know the older versions of the names when you are looking at older documents, census information etc.
I was out in my garden early today because it is getting hot (and windy). We may have STORMY WEATHER tonight.
Enjoy the day.
Musings
-A C.C./Hard G puzzle was as refreshing as the overcast cool day here!
-When you most want all of that info from the radio, there is the moronic “morning team” YAKKING and thinking they are being much more clever than they are.
-Ah, Lena!! That slowed me down Argyle!
-I loved Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday but NOT in Mame
-OTTO ruled in an ERA where European leaders loved sending other men to die for…
-“Neither here NOR there” was my Grandma OPAL’s favorite idiom
-How many times/day do these guys work their SPIEL?
-Cleveland’s long pro championship drought did grind to a halt last night in a fabulous game. Good for that city on our cwd lake.
-Las Vegas doesn’t work this way!
-Before the College World Series deserted Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, I saw a local TV weatherman use a FUNGO to hit some balls right at the Zoo’s Desert Dome
-Who wrote the libretto for Oklahoma? Ya got a 50/50 shot
Juan in Spanish, Joan in Catalan, Johan in German, Hoani in Maori, etc. etc.
I just got back last night from my week-long James Joyce conference in London! What fun to wake up to a Don and C.C. puzzle this morning! A real welcome home gift! No STORMY WEATHER at all for me--I sailed right through this one. It's great to be back on the blog.
London was rainy for much of the week and it's weird to come back to 90 temps here at home. My talk was about "Adultery in James Joyce's 'Ulysses'" and was well received, I thought. This was my first conference since Rowland's 2008 stroke, and it was great to be back in my academic world again. And really great to be back on the blog on my return.
Have a wonderful week, everybody!
Should the Toronto Raptors feel better now - that they lost to the team that won the championship?!
AnonymousPVX, I think you are thinking the
"No Pepper" signs.
Pepper Explained.
Baseball "spikes" are shoes with metal cleats. Pepper tears up the field.
Chairman Moe, I never heard of the Fruitcake Lady, but she was funny. Watched a couple more after that one.
Irish Miss, OK, thank you. I looked up Hypoestes after my wife spelled it for me, and it looked like Boomer's picture, but she wasn't absolutely certain.
Thank you C.C. and Don G. for a fun start to the week. I enjoyed your expo, Argyle.
Like others, I had quake/SEISM, fish bowl/TANK and my tiny smashing target was a gnat/ATOM. Otherwise, no problems.
Thanks to TTP last Monday, when I heard Aretha Franklins' RESPECT on the radio this morning I understood what her reference to TCB meant! How many years has that song been out and I finally "get" the lyric.
15D: PET SIT We had our daughter's Doberman for 2 weeks, he went home for 3 days and came back for the weekend. He's a good dog and I like being able to help her, but it's time for her to stay home for a while.
Today may be the end of our streak of 90*+ weather for a few days. I'm ready for a cool-down.
Have a wonderful day/week!
Pat
Wees, late to the party...
Learning moment: Fungo
Weather activity?
Traffic activity?
Slow news day?
well, that's one way to get rid of it...
TTP. I agree with you about the USGA Officials. The TV commentators said the PGA Tour do the officiating at most other tournaments and I seem to remember other gaffs by the USGA guys. It seems to me that the USGA striving for purity interpreted as don't change anything to make the experience better for the fans who ultimately pay for the USGA's and the Pro's income. I seem to remember the brouhaha they went through over not playing 36 holes on Saturday. Their insistence on an 18 hole playoff is another example of purity over fan entertainment. The other majors at most leave a couple of hours of daylight and play either sudden death or in the case of the British Open four holes then sudden death.
john28man @ 1:36 - The PGA Championship also uses an aggregate playoff system in case of a tie. This occurred in 2010 when Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson were tied; and of course, Dustin Johnson would have been, too, had he not grounded his club in the bunker for his second shot into the 72nd hole . . .
As copied from the Wikipedia site for "Playoff":
An aggregate playoff consists of a series of extra holes, usually three or four, with the player with the lowest cumulative score being declared the winner. If there is still a tie after completion of these holes, then further sudden death holes are usually played. This is widely considered to be the fairest way of deciding a winner, as one bad shot does not eliminate all chances of winning, and is used in two of the four men's major championships. One flaw of this system is that it takes longer to complete, meaning that a tournament may risk not being over before sunset.
The Open Championship (aka British Open) was the first major tournament to use the aggregate playoff system when a 4-hole playoff was introduced in 1985. However it was not invoked until Mark Calcavecchia, Greg Norman and Wayne Grady tied at Royal Troon in 1989. Calcavecchia came out on top to win his only major title.
Since 2000, the PGA Championship has made use of a 3-hole playoff, having previously used sudden death. The U.S. Senior Open is also decided by means of a 3-hole playoff, as is the U.S. Women's Open, having previously used an 18-hole playoff until 2007. Three-hole playoffs are also expected to be used in the 2016 Summer Olympics if there is a tie in medal positions.
CED @ 1:35 - I'm am still laughing out loud after reading those Police Report snippets, especially the one about the cat 🐈 that was acting suspiciously! And the missing 5 pounds of bacon that was consumed as a snack! Too funny! Thanks a bunch! 🍌
Fun Monday, funny expo, thanks all!
Owen....B, B, B+, A (A). Reaching for high notes in stiletto heels is just too delicious!!
Lucina @10:47
That "FLARE to FLAME" comment ...
Were you talking about your "local weather" ????
Ken's gold wedding ring is measured in KARATS,
Barbi's gem ring is Cut into CARATS.
A CARET with an E
Is an Editor's v,
While breeding RRabbits are partial to CARROTS!
Parts per 100 are % percent
Parts per 1000 are ‰ per-mil or per-mille
Parts per 24 are K Karat
All incorporate a /
The quality and value of a diamond are judged on fundamental criteria known as the "four C's", sometimes "five C's". Carats, colour, clarity, and cut…and the fifth C, confidence, in the form of a grading certificate.
A diamond’s weight, not size, is measured in carats. One carat is divided into 100 points, so a diamond of 75 points
weighs .75 carats.
Greetings!
Thanks to Don G, CC and Santa!
FUNGO was all perps.
It's 112 degrees here.
If you live near me, come and get some squash! (Care giver evidently did not pick for a few days. Am drowning in the stuff.)
Cheers!
Hi All!
I didn't give the puzzle the attention it deserved earlier. The theme was great and even (almost) has a double theme: RADIOACTIVE STORM / NEWS but neither TRAFFIC nor FOOT (unless you step in U238). There was no clunker fill (except for what I didn't know [see below], but that's on me) and DR. RUTH was a treat to recall.
WOs: MiMi b/f MAME & quake b/f SEISM. 9 & 22d didn't help a lick; both ESPs.
Fav: MOO COW just 'cuz it made me think of Louis Black's routine (MA-L).
Argyle - Thanks again for the writeup and correcting me on FUNGO. I searched for Sosa & the corked bat looking for the word FUNGO but never found it. I thought that's where/when I learnt it.
I tried to one-up OKL today, but I can't think of anything that rhymes with ORANGE :-)
CED - Those police-beat reports are funny... The only place I know [don't ask] where you can say "Sure officer, um, hold my beer" and not get arrested is NOLA. Good to see you back BooL.
Cheers, -T
CED: those police reports are so good. Reminded me of the old man I met once. He and our niece shared a driveway which split to a shared garage. I pulled in one day and had just left my car when the old boy backed out fast and rammed my car. He said, "Well, you weren't there when I went in the garage." I asked him if he ever looked in his rear-view mirror and he just turned around and walked off. He had a mirror. I looked to be sure. I got a broken headlight and dented fender out of the deal. Needles to say, I never pulled in that driveway again even when I had a bunch of stuff to carry in.
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