google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, August 22, 2016 John Doering Sr. and C.C. Burnikel

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Aug 22, 2016

Monday, August 22, 2016 John Doering Sr. and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Want fries with that? - There are four types orders to be found in the circles and the circles are on each side of the theme entries.

18. Paper or plastic choice: GROCERY BAG. Gag order; no discussing the current case to the press.

24. Waitstaff boss: MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL. Mail order.

40. Misfortune: BAD LUCK. Back order; what happened to your mail order.

51. Popular climb from Lone Pine, California: MOUNT WHITNEY. Money order, to pay for your mail order that has been back ordered.

62. Fries, slaw, etc. ... and what this puzzle's circles represent: SIDE ORDERS

Argyle here. C.C. has her latest protégé in tow and provided us with a doable Monday but with circles. Lack of circles shouldn't have slowed things up very much, I would imagine. Still, it's more fun with them.

Author:

1. D.C. fundraisers: PACS. (political action committee)

5. Throat-clearing word: [AHEM!]

9. Square root of 64: EIGHT

14. Marathon aftermath: ACHE

15. Singer Horne: LENA



16. Versailles send-off: ADIEU

17. Moscow: nyet :: Berlin: __: NEIN

20. Detective Pinkerton: ALLAN. C.C. worked for Pinkerton's at one time. The founder(Allan) of the Detective Agency was long gone by then.

22. Protest singer Phil: OCHS. He died in 1976 at the age of 35.

23. "Okay, __ do it!": LET'S

27. Gravy container: BOAT

28. Cocktail: DRINK

31. Online company with many drivers: UBER. Now they want to do away with the drivers.

33. Tot's piggies: TOES

37. Religious symbols: ICONS

39. "__ culpa": MEA

42. Tales of __: misfortunes: WOE

43. Bamboo eater: PANDA

45. Watson of "Harry Potter" films: EMMA. She looks different now.


46. Learning by memorization: ROTE

47. Carrier that added "ways" to its name in 1997: USAir

49. Butter toffee bar: SKOR. Still chewing on this one.

57. Car rental giant: AVIS

60. Most of the Jolly Green Giant's laugh: HO HO

61. "Done!": "THERE!"

65. "Terrible" tsar: IVAN

66. Coral island: ATOLL

67. West Point initials: USMA. (United States Military Academy)

68. Take a break: REST

69. Oater law group: POSSE

70. Gas company with toy trucks: HESS. They got rid of their gas stations but still sell the toy trucks.

71. Neighborhood: AREA

Down:

1. Old TWA rival: PAN AM

2. High-speed Amtrak service: ACELA. A made-up name.

3. Legumes used in cook-offs: CHILI BEANS

4. McCain or McConnell: SENATOR

5. Math subj.: ALG. (algebra)

6. King of Judea: HEROD

7. Firstborn son of Cain: ENOCH. Bible study: quiz later.

8. Ultra-manly: MACHO

9. Corn piece: EAR

10. Peaceful: IDYLLIC. In my local area, the corn is idyllic; grown up tall and the ears are filling out but beware, the choppers are coming.

11. Barb: GIBE

12. Furnace output: HEAT

13. Harbor craft: TUGS

19. Cornerstone abbr.: ESTD. (Established)

21. Gun lobby org.: NRA. (National Rifle Association)

25. Kett of old comics: ETTA

26. Christine's lover in "The Phantom of the Opera": ERIK


29. Ultimatum words: NOW OR NEVER

30. Tie the __: marry: KNOT

31. Strike caller: UMP

32. Older brother of Jeff Bridges: BEAU

34. "__ to Billie Joe": ODE



35. Large shade tree: ELM

36. Total in math: SUM

38. "Understand?": "SEE?"

40. Scott of "Happy Days": BAIO. "Chachi" Arcola is the younger cousin of Fonzie.

41. Flea market payment: CASH

44. Ones "in distress" in old films: DAMSELS

46. Tax-sheltered nest egg: ROTH IRA

48. German coal valley: RUHR. Haven't seen the valley in awhile.


50. Modeler's buy: KIT

52. "Obviously, Einstein!": "NO DUH!"

53. "__ are the times that try men's souls": Paine: THESE


These are the times that try men's souls. In the course of our nation's history, the people of Boston have rallied
Bravely whenever the rights of men have been threatened. Today, a new crisis has arisen. The Metropolitan
Transit Authority, better known as the M. T. A., is attempting to levy a burdensome tax on the population in the
Form of a subway fare increase. Citizens, hear me out! This could happen to you!


54. Early-bird catches: WORMS. Did you catch an ear worm from the above intro?

55. Rub out: ERASE

56. Gossipy sort: YENTA

57. Without delay, in memos: ASAP. (as soon as possible)

58. Don Corleone's first name: VITO

59. Nuptial vows: I DO's

63. Barcelona cheer: ¡Olé!

64. Carrier to Copenhagen: SAS. Scandinavian Airlines
Argyle



Note from C,C.:

John Doering Sr. is our own witty Jayce, who speaks fluent Chinese and understands every quirky thing I say. Jayce also learns super fast and is lots of fun to work with. 

Congratulations on your LAT debut, dear Jayce!

Jayce
Picture was taken in June 2013 in a hotel in Santa Barbara where Jayce and his wife were enjoying a week of vacation with his son and his family.




51 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Jayce, CC and Santa! Fun puzzle!

Forgot HESS. Otherwise, OK.

Have a good Monday!

OwenKL said...

Mondays are creampuffs! I did it on Mensa today, so no circles. Figured they were supposed to be there from the mélange of probable themers, but once I found the reveal, it was easy to go back and identify where the circles were supposed to be! I didn't see anything in the two long downs, but right next to them at 4d & 45d, the words incorporate ROTA, a Latin synonym for order, in forward and reverse order. I looked up SATOR to see if it also meant order in Latin, and while it doesn't, it does have an orderly significance.

{B+, B-, C+, C+.}

SAT. OR Sun., days on the week-end
ARE PO' days to force polish on men.
TENET of culture:
OPERA is dull, sir!
ROTAS of comedies, they'd rather attend!

ENOCH, in Genesis, founded a town!
HEROD, in Gospels, pushed babies around!
MACHO builder and villain,
The WORMS now they're fillin' --
And crossword puzzles, each five letters down!

WHITNEY was having a stroke of BAD LUCK!
T-men was chasing, now his BOAT had got stuck!
To escape his pursuers
He mooned the revenoors,
The CHILI BEANS he et pushed him off thru the muck!

IVAN loved moaning about all his WOES,
The pain in his back, the ACHE in his TOES!
The state of the nation,
His lousy vacation,
And that red-suited pimp bragging 'bout his HO-HOs!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Crunchy Monday -- not a problem, but well above the normal early week breakfast fare. Nicely done Jayce (congrats!) and C.C. You, too, Argyle.

We had an airline mini-theme this morning with PAN AM, US AIR and SAS. I'm headed to the airport in just an hour or so.

Back in the 60's I met a couple, George and Gloria, from Lone Pine. They were both teachers and had signed up to go to Guam to teach school. During their summer off they toured through Micronesia on a tramp steamer tour. On that trip they visited an island where the women traditionally went topless. But missionaries had visited the island and were shocked by the nudity. They supplied the women with tee shirts to make them "presentable." The women wore them, just to make the missionaries happy. But nursing mothers cut holes in them, you know where.

The SKOR bar is very similar to a Heath bar, remember those? I was surprised to learn that today both bars are still around, and both are now made by Hershey.

Maybe you remember this Phil Ochs song. Joan Baez recorded a popular cover of it.

kazie said...

Congratulations, Jayce, on a great debut, and to C.C. for another great puzzle.

My only hesitation was at HESS, which I didn't know : neither the gas company nor the toy trucks. Only Tonka around here as far as I remember.

inanehiker said...

Nice Monday run - at first I thought they might at be bags - but realized that wouldn't work with grocery bag as the first theme answer- NO, DUH !!

Thanks Argyle, CC and Jayce!
Congrats to Jayce on his debut!

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning!

I agree with Owen: a lovely Monday cream puff, AND home grown at that!

Nicely done Jayce and C.C. Thanks for the fun run. I wanted Koala for PANDA. Got my bears mixed up!!! Bamboo is not Eucalyptus!!! I didn't see the theme, but that's the puzzler's fault here, not the constructors'. Congrats, Jayce!!

Thanks, Argyle. Nicely linked again.

Have a sunny day. It's cooled off and dried up a bit here in Chicagoland. Ahhh!

Tinbeni said...

Jayce, Nice debut with C.C. Thank you for a FUN Monday puzzle.

Argyle: Excellent write-up. Enjoyed the musical links.

Fave today, of course, was that Cocktail DRINK ... go figure, lol.

hmmmm, the Sun is Over the Yardarm ...
Cheers!

tawnya said...

Congrats Jayce! Well done! Very enjoyable and a learning moment when I realized I had no idea how to spell MAITRE D and that HOTEL comes after it. Three years of Spanish wasn't going to help me on that, was it? Overall, a good challenge for a Monday puzzle.

PANDAs!
More PANDAs!!
Even more PANDAs!!!

Happy Monday :)

t.

MJ said...

Greetings to all!

Fun Monday puzzle, well executed. Thank you, Jayce and C.C. Congrats on your debut, Jayce.

Listened to the CD of Phantom of the Opera just yesterday.

Thanks for the expo today, Argyle.

Enjoy the day!

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-I just couldn’t suss out the gimmick but had fun looking on a fun Monday exercise
-Congrats on your debut, Jayce!
-A unique way to treat those marathon ACHES
-Louie XVI and Marie Antoinette bid ADIEU to Versailles violently
-I always dread having to issue a MEA CULPA on days I blog
-A POSSE gone terribly wrong
-What were Billie Joe and Bobbie dropping off the Tallahatchie Bridge?

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Congrats to Jayce on his inaugural offering in collaboration with C.C. Nice job.

Got it all without serious mishap. Too fast out of the chute and had Bucolic before IDYLLIC. Liked the theme and circled words were bright choices for order types. A little Deutsch there with RUHR and NEIN, and UBER without the umlaut. Danke.
HESS stations in our AREA are now Speedway.
PAN AM - I believe the brand name is now owned by a New England railroad. Its western terminus is near Schenectady, NY, and includes the Hoosac Tunnel near N. Adams, Mass.

Have a great day.

Vidwan827 said...

Very illuminating blog, Argyle. Loved it, and learnt a lot. Thank you ever so much.

When I saw the authors names on the puzzle byline .... my first thought was, who is the latest name debut that ( the cat - ) CC bought home ? I felt fairly sure that I must have heard of him, somewhere in the blog. Ofcourse, I know Doeringer-Knoll ( (;-D) ) or better known as Doeringer Ingelheim ( (;-x) ). the giant german pharma company .... and also Doeringer, the infamous pocket pistol, which among things, of being a favorite of gamblers, - was also used to shoot our President Abe, in the back. But, I learnt it was our old friend Jayce.

Not to take away, from any of your thunder, Jayce, and you deserve full, unreserved and generous credit. Well done ! I find your blog posts very polite, gentle, and full of grace.

And while, your seismic research is earth shatteringly complicated, your academic inclinations are awespiring and only to be wondered at. Good luck for the future and a hearty congratulations.

C.C., my appreciation for your work and collaborations, only increases by leaps and bounds. I can add nothing more. Humbly submitted.

Lucina said...

Congratulations, Jayce! And kudos to C.C. for her generosity in mentoring the novices!

It was a smooth sashay even with the German and French additions and nothing to ERASE. Oops. I recant that as ERIC had to be changed to ERIK. I cringe at the spelling of CHILI but it's in the language and nothing I can do about it. To me it's always CHILE.

Tomorrow I'll be on USAIR's companion, American, and be back in a week. Our annual sister trip this year is to New England but starting in NY.

Thanks again to Jayce, C.C. and Argyle.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Argent said...

Thanks to C.C. and Jayce for easing me into the week, and to Argyle for the enriching walkthrough.

A big "you're welcome!" to Bill G., Ol' Man Keith, CrossEyedDave, and anyone else who enjoyed the musical sidebar of the past several days. I'm so glad you liked the guitarists. Music is indeed the universal language, and I'm amazed at how eloquent it can be.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

What a wonderful way to start the week! I couldn't wait to see who this John fellow was; I was wracking my brain trying to think of everyone's first name but no John's came to mind, only JD (right initials, wrong gender). Now I know who the able accomplice to OFL is! Yay, Jayce. As usual, any puzzle with CC's byline is sure to contain some twists and turns that keep you guessing until the reveal and elicits a smile and a "She's done it again" conclusion. No nits, no problems, just a lot of fun.

Congrats, Jayce (AKA John), on such an impressive debut and thanks, CC, for being such a generous mentor and for this "order-ly" offering.

DO, I have a bag of miniature Heath Bars staring me right in the face. Somehow, though, they don't taste as good as the full-sized ones of my "ute". Then again, what DOES taste the same?

Owen, I'm no expert on poetry or limericks but, IMHO, your last limerick is the best and deserves an A+.

Today's scam email informs me that I won £1,000,000 English Pounds in a lottery sponsored by Yahoo, among others, which I can claim immediately by forwarding my name, address, phone number, bank routing and account numbers, and a copy of my driver's license or my Passport. It's all very official looking which makes me worried to think that there will be someone (several, maybe) who will fall for this. This pales, however, with the $8,000,000 I'm entitled to through the benevolence of some Malaysian's dying widow who wants me to share in this wealth as she has only a few months to live. As Jayce would say, Sheesh!

Have a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Sorry, Argyle, I got so carried away with all those millions pouring in that I forgot to thank you for your usual nice and nifty review. Merci, mon ami! 😉

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fun & interesting puzzle, Jayce & C.C. The only shakeup was when I lost it half done. But then I had the fun of seeing the clues again. WOE is me. No circles so I didn't get the theme. I looked in vain for food side orders. Found RED HOT in one. Gave up and came to Argyle for the answers. Thanks for the melodies, too.

Bon Air Voyage, Lucina! We'll miss you but have fun with your sisters.

Vidwan, good to hear from you again.

C6D6 Peg said...

Very smooth Monday. Thanks, C.C. and Jayce and congrats on the debut!

Thanks, Argyle, for the pic of the Ruhr Valley. Looks really pretty!

Jerome said...

A hand up for "The OCHS BEAU Incident"

CrossEyedDave said...

Congrats Jayce!

I got confused looking for a cake for you, and a gag order...

I wonder what the dog ordered by mail? & how he got in the mailbox???

Sorry for the links today, it may have something to do with the back order...

Well, I just wanted to add my two cents, but I may have to come back & post again later...

JD said...

Congrats Jayce for a great Monday puzzle, and kudos to C.C. again. We are all very proud of all of our constructors. Knowing you adds another dimension for us. I am amazed at how many people never stop to look who created the puzzles.
As usual, I had a few sticky areas...Acela, Ochs, and Maitred Hotel. And, I didn't see the theme even though I had circles.

I prefer a Heath Bar , and cut them up for my favorite cookie recipe. Do ask or bars taste the same?

Lucina, have a wonderful trip and give your sweet sisters a hug for me.

Owen, your poems were terrific today, and thanks Argyle for always making sense of the many things that go over my head.

JD said...

Yes, I did not preview 😟

AnonymousPVX said...

A nice easy-ish Monday puzzle that is both well-constructed and well-clued. A nice effort by the constructor, kudos.

Nice Cuppa said...

• Lucina@9:38. CHILLI (sic) with 2 Ls and an I is the usual Brit. way to spell the hot pepper. My Dictionary says it comes from the Spanish "CHILE", derived from the native American (Nahuatll) word CHILLI (not certain how the latter was transliterated), so etymologically speaking your choice of the Spanish word, CHILE, is superior to CHILI; but if you want to be PC and look exotic (and British at the same time - always a tricky one to pull off), then CHILLI is mother superior.

MOUNT WHITNEY took me to HOUSTON, and then to NASA HQ, and a quote I half-remembered:

“From out there on the Moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.’” Edgar Mitchel, Apollo 14 astronaut, 8 April 1974. House rules forbid me to say more, but there is little more to be said.

• Oh, I am forgetting my ETTA-KETT: Great job, JAYCE and CC. As usual I can find little to fault and plenty to admire. A pity you could not link IDYLLIC with HAPPY DAYS. Nice to see MAITRE D in full, protected by the NRA, overlooking the dangerously dyspunctuated PANDA (eats, shoots, and leaves),

• The only other additions to my ASL (American as a Second Language) lexicon were BAIO (obscure, but HAPPY DAYS is not); Pinkerton's first name; ACELA (is that pronounced like a scout leader?); and HESS - up there with ADOLPH in the 1946 book of "What NOT to name your child".

Lucina said...

Jerome:
Too funny!

Thank you, JD and PK, for the good wishes. I do hope it's cooler there.

NiceCuppa:
Thank you for that reassurance.

I shall miss you all!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Well, I must say I rather liked this puzzle, easy as it was. I learned a lot about the process, and also had it driven home that Rich will change many of your clues. It was fun working with "quirky" C.C. She's a sweetheart but will clearly tell you how things can be improved. Her knowledge is deep and broad, not in small part due to her vast experience. Thank you for your mentorage, C.C. Let's do it again maybe.

Misty said...

Wow! What an exciting way to start the week--with a C.C. and Jayce puzzle! And it was wonderful! I just loved working my way through it, and held my breath only to see if HESS, which I didn't know, was correct. It was--Yay--I got the whole thing. And I loved the theme, which I didn't get until after the reveal. What a fun experience! Thank you so much, Jayce and C.C. And you too, Argyle, as always for your fun expo.

CanadianEh, I thought of you last night when I watched another "Murdoch Mystery"--my favorite TV series! I'm also enjoying "Night Of" and am sorry it will soon be coming to an end.

Have a great week, everybody!

Irish Miss said...

Not only did I forget to thank Argyle for his guidance, I forgot to wish Lucina a wonderful trip with the "Sissies"! (That's what the nieces call me and my four sisters!). It 's a beautiful day today in my part of New York State and the rest of the week looks decent until maybe some rain on Friday. Not sure about New England, though. I do hope you will have a lobster roll or two, Lucina, and that you will think of me when you do! (Also, when you have clams, scallops, fish or anything else that comes out of the Atlantic!). Hope you enjoy every minute and every morsel!

A few minutes ago, I received notification of another windfall coming my way, this time from the Repuplic of Benin to the tune of $1,000,000.00. Double Sheesh, eh, Jayce?

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Jayce, on your debut! Great puzzle! Thank you, C.C., for your willingness to mentor new constructors. Thanks to all constructors as I enjoy the fruits of your labor. Argyle, wonderful expo!

No serious problems that perps couldn't fix. My only hold-up was 11d, Barb. I wanted to put in "sister", but it wouldn't fit. I have a sister named Barb, so it sounded good to me!

Lucina, Bon Voyage. I hear it pronounced as Bugs Bunny says it--I can't find an audio clip of it.

Have a good week.

Wilbur Charles said...

I thought with all that corn ready for shucking,that it was HG doing the commentary. OK. So Argyle, what's the definitive take on cornbread vs cornpone?

The worm I had was TOMMY.

Anybody ever read Lawrence Gardner? He has some interesting ideas about Cain, Enoch and the Mesopotamian gang.

Not to speak of Barbara Thieving who's books are barred from passing customs

Who was it that was interested in my Hari Selden theory?

I think I'll look at the Sat xword. I only do Monday as my ticket to the blog

Wilbur Charles said...

Oh and Kudo wise ditto to all previous encomiums. I think Jayce did most of the work because I usually recognize CC's hand.

And Owen, if course, with the Carrollian imagination.

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

First off, congrat's to JAYCE (and his mentor, CC) for creating a cleverly clued Monday puzzle - that was a tad bit harder than most Monday puzzles! At least for me it was, and part of that was my fault - as I mistakenly inserted OCHS (the answer for 22a) into the slot for 23a (LET'S). It took me awhile to recognize my error, but once I did, the rest of the puzzle fell into place. Another "boner" was putting POLS before PACS in 1a, but I figured it out once the perps came into view. Actually, I think I solved most of the top half by filling in the "downs" first.

Not sure I'd seen the fill "Maitre D Hotel" in its entirety before

When I saw the clue and solve for 29d my first thought was this "ditty". I haven't had time to read the other posts, so I hope this isn't a "PECHO" (duplicate post) May you all, like me, spend the rest of the day humming this tune!! ;^P

Didn't we just have SKOR a few puzzles back?

I have been noticing that my iPhone was not properly saving to iCloud, so I made it a task to delete some App's and other items I wasn't using. My daughter - who's a millenial - suggested I also try deleting some old text messages, as these tend to be real storage hogs. Sure enough, I went in and looked at messages I had for her, my son, my Mom, my DW, and in the course of about an hour (I had to re-read some of them!) I must have "purged" well over 2,000 text messages. Sure enough, my storage is now MUCH more manageable. And, my phone is again, "backed-up" instead of being backed up!

FWIW, despite my now unclogged phone, I am going to bite the bullet and upgrade. I've been using a 4S for several years, and would probably benefit from a new phone with greater storage, and the ability to get the latest "app's". I hope Sprint will make me a deal I can't refuse . . . unless some of the bloggers here have some other suggestions for the Chairman??!

Jayce said...

Chairman Moe, interesting you should mention, and link to, that "ditty," because the original clue that C.C. submitted was "Ultimatum in an Elvis song". And about your iPhone 4S, most people I talk to about upgrading advise not to if you are happy with the device and it works for you. I have the 4 (no S) and my wife has a 4S, and they continue to serve us well, including many texts and emails. One reason you might want to upgrade, though, is to get a larger screen.

Wilbur Charles, C.C. did most of the work. All I did was propose the clues.

Irish Miss, you are fabulously fake rich! Sheesh, sheesh, and triple sheesh!

Lucina, I hope you enjoy your visit to New England. It will probably be cooler but, as you know, the humidity can get stiflingly high.

Vidwan, good to read you.

Best wishes to you all.

john28man said...

I got this from a Baptist minister:

This is what happens when your child is exposed to too many commercials on TV. A Baptist pastor was presenting a children's sermon.
During the sermon, he asked the children if they knew what the resurrection was. Now, asking questions during children's sermons is crucial, but at the same time, asking children questions in front of a congregation can also be very dangerous. Having asked the children if they knew the meaning of the resurrection,
a little boy raised his hand........
The pastor called on him and the little boy said, "I know that if you have a resurrection that lasts more than four hours you are supposed to call the doctor." It took over ten minutes for the congregation to settle down enough for the service to continue.

Chairman Moe said...

Jayce @ 2:51 ---> it's not that I dislike my 4S nor its size; my issue going forward will be the battery and finding power cords and other accessories for it. Also, I don't have the latest operating system installed, so getting the new app's are impossible.

john28man @ 2:51 ---> hilarious!

Jayce said...

Chairman Moe, just our opinion, but the latest apps don't really give you anything much better than you already have. Of course I understand there may be some apps you want that won't run on the 4S. As for power cords and the like, I can heartily recommend the Power Mat by Duracell. It's a flat pad that is powered by a "wall wart." You also have to buy a matching case for your iPhone 4S, into which your phone slips nicely and cozily. Then, to charge it, simply lay the phone on the mat and it charges. LW and I use one and love it. When we travel we bring it with us. If you don't have the mat with you, the case has a microUSB connector through which you can charge it from a USB port or your wall charger, but you need to have a USB-to-microUSB cable.

I just read that back and I come across as twisting your arm. Not my intention, and I'm sorry if your arm got twisted too much.

TTP said...


The last cell phone I had was in 1993. It was a bag phone. It was supposedly included free with the purchase price of my new pickup truck. Along with either six or twelve months of free cellular service. I may have used it a half dozen times. It had no apps.

Congrats Jayce ! Well done by you, CC and Argyle. Keep 'em comin'.

Jerome said...

Jayce- I'm assuming that since your name appears in the puzzle's credits first that the theme idea is yours. It's impressive, and a very different way to present that kind of theme. Great job, especially for a debut. And don't sell yourself short. Even though C.C. is an A Team constructor, you certainly are talented.

Yup, Rich will change a lot of clues. Most of the time for good reason. Do your clues fit the day of the week the puzzle runs? Are they too hard, too easy? Are the definitions spot on? Are they too long, too short? Not written clearly? Are they just simply, well, crummy clues? If you're going to keep constructing get used to clue changes. Oh, and don't forget, you get the credit for the great ones he might come up with.

Once again, Damn Good!

SwampCat said...

Congratulations, Jayce , and thanks to you and C.C. for a fast and fun Monday! Owen, I thought all of the verses were A's.

Big Easy said...

NO DUD! That was my understanding of the circles even after I filled SIDE ORDERS because I didn't finish reading the clue and I never heard of a GAG order. It was a fast fill, as Monday's should be, with ERIK as the only unknown. I've never seen or tasted a SKOR candy bar but know of it from completing puzzles. Nor have I ever seen ACELA except in an X-word.

Vidwan827- It's Boehringer Ingelheim. Knoll, better known as the manufacturer of Vicodin & Dilaudid. Bought by Abbott. There was also a Boehringer-Mannheim (now part of Roche). It's hard to keep up with who owns who these days.

Jayce & Moe- I want a phone that has a battery that lasts more than a day and is break resistant. But if the designers would quit worrying about how thin they can make them, just maybe you wouldn't need a case or running out of juice because they could put a bigger battery in them.

Congrats Jayce & C.C. and go pick some corn and eat it while it's still sweet Argyle.

CanadianEh! said...

Great Monday puzzle. Congrats on your debut Jayce, thanks C.C. for mentoring so many Cornerites, and thanks Argyle for the fun today.

My newspaper arrived before I had a chance to start the puzzle and voila! I had circles. I saw the theme early. My only slow-down was the cross of PACS and ACELA where I toyed with an O before the A.

I really wanted ITS Now or Never.

Bamboo eater reminded me that I must take the grandchildren to see the PANDA cubs at the Toronto Zoo who are 10 months old already.

Nice Cuppa: loved your MAITRE D, NRA, PANDA comment.

Lucina: Have a wonderful trip to NY and New England with your sisters.

Misty: Glad that you have enjoyed Murdoch Mysteries.

Vidwan827: I think you mean Boehringer (Knoll) Ingelheim, and derringer (apparently misspelled from Deringer the original maker.

CanadianEh! said...

LOL Big Easy. Great minds think alike! We were both posting at the same time.

Misty said...

Lucina, I forgot to wish you a wonderful trip. Hope you have great weather and a great time!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Congrats Jayce! The BOAT's left the DRINK; Your cover's blown now :-)

Thanks to you & C.C. for the easy return to the puzzle-week. Thanks Argyle for the expo & tunes.

Theme eluded me at 1st. I had SIDE ORDERS & GAG (me w/ a spoon) and (get) BACK - those both ORDERS of the wrong genus.

WOs: HEROn @1st, USMc b/f A, and spelling it ScOR.

ESPs: ACELA, RUHR, & EMMA

Fav: PANDA just 'cuz of NiceCuppa's follow-up :-)
NO DUH was cute as was BAD LUCK right before WOE.

{A, B+, C, A}

Lucina - Enjoy!

John28man - LOL!

IM - SUMming it all up you're virtually rich!

NC - I also enjoy'd your ETTA'KIT :-)

The word DAMSEL always makes me think of Dudley Do-Right. What do you know? It crosses MOUNTy :-)

Cheers, -T

CanadianEh! said...

AnonT: LOL at your Dudley/Mounty comment!

Lemonade714 said...

How cool to have another C.C. mentee join the ranks. Jayce, do you pronounce it like the gun or the way out?

Too late to add anything much except, hey to MBFAM Vidwan- big day ahead and to give you another version NOW OR NEVER

Thank you C.C. senior and Argyle

Jerome said...

Can't help it-

What's the first two letters of PANDA?
P AND A

"Is that you, EMMA?"
"No, it's ME, MA"

Anonymous said...

ChairmanMoe, Apple usually introduces new phone models in September; the old ones go on clearance prices, or reduced prices. So waiting a few weeks will do you good. Use the time to explore features of the current models and you'll be in a great position to understand whether the premium prices for the new models are worth it to you,.

iPhones also can't be upgraded later with more storage so be sure to buy one with enough storage to last until your next upgrade. And with all the hacking of phones and the personal information stored on them keeping your phone updated to the latest operating system is more important than ever.

There is a trend to use "the cloud" for storage -- which means not havong to move or lose things when you change your phone. Apple's options are expensive but well integrated with their phone. Other third party options include Amazon, Google, Microsoft, DropBox. Some have a feee tier, some are included with other services (e.g., Amazon Prime includes photo backup; Microsoft Office 365 includes 1 terabyte usable between your desktop and mobile devices).

Good luck!

Vidwan827 said...

Hi Lemonade, with a DW who's also a gourmet cook, I hope you haven't gained too much weight. ;-D) Again, best wishes, for continued joy and happiness.
I have to renew my various car registrations and my driver license, this year, before that date.

Big Easy and Canadian Eh! ... Thank you for your posts !! .... those words were purposely misspelled, which is why I put in the smiley face. I thought someone would notice, and I'm glad, both of you did. I worked for the pharma firm for a short time, and I am familiar with almost all of the major pharma companies .... but I guess most people on the blog are not. (Based on how long it took, for someone to point out the error .....).

Though I was very sure that people would instinctively catch the misspelling of the Derringer gun .... but apparemtly not. I am not a gun owner, but a misspelling of the word derringer, would catch my attention right away. ( It just doesn't look right .)

Good night, all.

Anonymous said...

Vidwan,

You assume everyone read your post. Presumptuous.

To start with, the subject matter probably wasn't particularly interesting to most people on this blog.

As soon as you started rattling off like a know it all, most people probably skipped the rest of it. I know I did.

Abejo said...

Good Tuesday morning, folks. Thank you, John Doering, Sr, and C.C., for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.

Now that I know that John Doering is Jayce from our corner, I am really happy. Great job!

Theme was excellent. Nice job!

The only one I needed four perps for was BAIO.

Really enjoyed Phantom of the Opera years ago. ERIK came easily.

Have been by Mount Whitney many times while living in California. I traveled the Sierra Nevada range up to Lake Tahoe many times. We had work in Stateline, NV, plus all the small towns all the way down to LA. At the time it was Continental Telephone Co. More than once I had to get out and put my tire chains on the car. They do not use salt.

Anyhow, two great puzzles this morning.

See you tomorrow (Wednesday).

Abejo

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