google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, September 9, 2016, Patti Varol

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Sep 9, 2016

Friday, September 9, 2016, Patti Varol

Title: Beer today, song tomorrow.

Almost exactly one year ago, I blogged a Friday effort from Patti, who as all the regulars know is Rich Norris' assistant. I did have the thrill again of getting an email from her when the puzzle that JW and I did together was accepted. Anyway, we have something different, a sound-alike where phrases are re-imagined as being related to beer. Since both of my sons and my nephew have all worked in the beer business this was right up my alley. We have some nice fill like SCHOLAR,  MONIKER, RESENTS,  H. G. WELLS, AL PACINO, and  EGG SALAD. Let's see where she leads us.

20A. Beer made in Johannesburg? : STOUT OF AFRICA (13). OUT OF AFRICA is a well received book and movie and used as a clue for Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen).

33A. One who aspires to be the king of beers? : PORTER PRINCE (12). Port-au-Prince is the capital of Haiti.

41A. Sounds from a brewery? : LAGER RHYTHMS (12). Logarithmbrings back memories of college and slide rules.

57A. Toast said while hoisting presidential beer? : ALE TO THE CHIEF (13). HAIL TO THE CHIEF  is the official anthem of POTUS.


Across:

1. Crudités enhancers : DIPS. A vegetable tray for you French haters.

5. __ puppet : SOCK. Hand fits as well. Make your OWN.

9. Hot dogs and hams : MEATS. Tried to fool you with the other meaning.

14. With, on la carte : AVEC. Straight French.

15. Tartan wearers : CLAN. How better than with a single malt.
16. Lowest deck on a ship : ORLOP. I hit a rough patch here. This is just a word you need to remember.

17. Gadget that exercises the wrist : YOYO. I also never thought of a yoyo as a gadget.

18. Spydom name : HARI. Hello Mata, Hello Fata.

19. Crisp : NIPPY. New England evenings this time of year.

23. Lorry supply : PETROL. British trucks also run on gasoline.

24. Deck wood : TEAK. But not the orlop.

25. Chi. setting : CDTCentral Daylight Time.

28. Citrus suffix : ADE. Nothing like a shout out to get my attention. Thanks PV.

29. Letter before upsilon : TAU. Tau was derived from the Phoenician letter taw Phoenician taw.svg (𐤕). Letters that arose from tau include Roman T and Cyrillic Te (Т, т).

31. Ranking : SENIOR. Who is the senior office on duty?

36. Run out : FLEE. I was thinking using up something and having no more.

39. Larter of TV's "Heroes" : ALI. My thanks and apologies to Splynter and HG.

40. Tip for a dealer : TOKE.You ask WHY?

46. "Life of Pi" Oscar winner : ANG LEE.

47. Justice dept. heads : AGS. Attorney Generals.

48. Form 1040 fig. : AGI. Ajdjusted Gross Income.

51. Welker of the NFL : WES. The Dolphins had him, traded him and he became Tom Brady's favorite target. CAREER.

52. Highbrow : SNOB.

55. Oil once touted by Florence Henderson : WESSON.

60. Gourd fruit : MELON.

62. Happy __ : MEAL. Mickey D's.

63. Fluency : EASE.

64. Mesmerizing designs : OP ART.
65. Dark cloud : PALL.

66. They may not be quiet on the set : EGOS.

67. Fords a stream : WADES.

68. Gps. with copays : HMOSHealth Maintenance Organizations.

69. Paris' __ Neuf : PONT. The Pont Neuf (French pronunciation: ​[pɔ̃ nœf], "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. Remind you of  Ponte Vecchio?


Down:

1. Place for pampering : DAY SPA.

2. Polling place sticker words : I VOTED.

3. Desert hallucinogen : PEYOTE. You can make a mess of MESCALINE.

4. Use a Brillo pad : SCOUR. Next to...

5. Learned one : SCHOLAR.

6. Evil count of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" : OLAF. Did you watch the Movie?

7. Stone measure : CARAT.

8. Word with bread and butter : KNIFE. My bread and butter response.

9. Sobriquet : MONIKER. So many names for names.

10. Los Angeles mayor Garcetti : ERIC. An impressive sounding MAN.

11. Actor with eight Oscar nominations (and one win) : AL PACINO.
Academy Awards
Year         Film            Category                 Result
1973 The Godfather   Best Supporting Actor Nominated
1974 Serpico           Best Leading Actor Nominated
1975 The Godfather Part II                         Nominated
1976 Dog Day Afternoon                                 Nominated
1980 ...And Justice for All                         Nominated
1991 Dick Tracy Best Supporting Actor Nominated
1993 Glengarry Glen Ross                         Nominated
                Scent of a Woman Best Leading Actor Won

12. Cover : TOP.

13. Many a character in "The Americans" : SPY. The story a a soviet couple in the US as spies for Russia. It  was created by Joe Weisberg, a former CIA officer.

21. Wizard revealer : TOTO. Cannot fool a dog.

22. Coarse file : RASP.

26. Put in : DOCK. Put in port.

27. One on a cartoon desert island : TREE. For those special emails so many get...

30. State with five national parks : UTAH. extra credit id you can name them.

32. Trifles : NITS. The lifeblood of many blogs.

33. Marmalade ingredient : PEEL. Emma, we miss you.

34. Nevada copper town : ELY.  Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express and Central Overland Route. Ely's mining boom came later than the other towns along US 50, with the discovery of copper in 1906. Wiki

35. Beatles girl with a "little white book" : RITA.

36. Weak spot : FLAW.

37. Hatcher's "Lois & Clark" role : LANE.

38. Sandwich spread : EGG SALAD. Spread?

42. Feels sore about : RESENTS.

43. Monopoly deed word : RENT.

44. Sinclair Lewis nominated him for the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature : H. G. WELLS.

45. Tiny time meas. : M-SEC. Millisecond, 1/1000.

48. Italian cheese : ASIAGO. I like an asiago bagel now and then.

49. Takes the stage : GOES ON. Literally.

50. Overrun : INFEST.

53. Energy : OOMPH. Pah pah?

54. Players riding the pine : B-TEAM. A-team's spin off?

56. Docile sorts : SHEEP.

58. Mythology : LORE.

59. Circle overhead? : HALO. Love the simpleness of this clue.

60. Do the lawn : MOW.


61. AQI monitor : EPA. Air Quality Index : Environmental Protection Agency.

Well, we have done it again and I am mostly recovered from my bronchitis. I hope you all have been safe from the weather and are ready for fall (we have to wait another 2-3 months). Thanks Patti, Lemonade out. NFL is back!

46 comments:

OwenKL said...

FIWrong. :(
AGe + eNFEST and C_T + _OCK. Tried several letters including D for DOCK, but since I didn't realize AGE was wrong, I got no confirming ta-da. Chi (China? Chicago? fraternity?) and CDT meant nothing to me.

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

You can SCOUR the desert and see nary a TREE,
But cactus can yield up a crop of PEYOTE.
When shamen folk
Make tea for a TOKE,
They see visions of OP-ART, drawn by Coyote!

Fall is in-coming, the wind getting NIPPY,
Time for the snowbirds to prepare their RV!
When caravans INFEST
The desert South West,
We feed them hot chili, in hopes that they'll FLEE!

Mata HARI was a well-known SPY,
Heard of by even you and I.
But seems it's a FLAW,
When breaking the law,
To be known to even the hoi polloi?

The Scottish pirates sailed out from the DOCK
To plunder the foe CLAN across the loch!
For a foolproof disguise:
Hose pulled over their eyes!
But they should have used a nylon, not argyle SOCK!

Anonymous said...

{F, F, D-, F}
It might be time to take a break again and re-find your Muse.

Actual lyrics to Hail to the Chief

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Got though most of this unscathed, but then crashed and burned in the NE. Couldn't come up with PORTER PRINCE, even with PORTER______ in place. Couldn't remember TOKE and couldn't come up with DOCK or SENIOR based on the clues. It didn't help that I had CST instead of CDT. Also, was thinking fried food for "crisp" and couldn't come up with NIPPY. Finally had to turn on the red letter help to get 'er done. Ah well...

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. This seemed to be an easier level puzzle than the usual Friday fare. The beer theme is a good way to start the weekend.

Lots of ways for mis-directions, however, and I probably fell into them all.
* I learned that we have a SOCK Puppet and not a Hand Puppet.
* We have Happy MEALS and not watch Happy DAYS.
* Chicago uses CDT and not CST.
* In addition, a Brillo pad is used to SCOUR and not to Scrub.
* I confidently wrote down Bond, James Bond for the spy, and wasn't thinking of Mati HARI, the double agent executed during World War I.

Attorneys General or Attorney Generals? The National Association's preference.

QOD: The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. ~ Leo Tolstoy (Sept. 9, 1828 ~ Nov. 20, 1910)

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Everything goes better with beer...well, maybe not ice cream. After STOUT appeared, I thought the gimmick was going to be an added ST. Nope. Well done, Patti. I think my favorite theme entry was LAGER RHYTHMS -- was that the seed? My very last fill was the dead-center L at the cross of ALI and ELY; took an alphabet run to get that one.

Thought of IM at your one-TREE desert island cartoon, Lemon. ORLOP is etched into my memory, and that was the key to the NE this morning.

Anonymous said...

Another egocentric write up from lemony. Geesh....

Hungry Mother said...

Easy Friday, although I changed AGI to AGE at the end just because I'm stupid. As I recall, age is not on the form, and enfest is not a word.

desper-otto said...

"Nonintervention" is sort of an enfest, HM.

Big Easy said...

As soon as STOUT OF AFRICAN was filled I knew what type of puzzle this would be. That was after filling DIPS by perps because 'Crudite' was unknown. The rest of the puzzle was fun to guess and fill, TGIF. But I spent most of the time at the SOCK-TOKE intersection and couldn't figure out what SOCK had to do with 'Tie up' as K was the only letter that made sense. And then there was TOKE- casino dealers get TOKE-Ns as tips. So I just let it go. DNF. Usually the clue for a time setting will indicate regular or daylight savings- summer or winter.

No idea what a TOKE was so I looked it up. and I realized after Lemonade's write up that it is a drag off a marijuana joint, so it could be 'A tip for a dealer'. So this could have been a puzzle about beers of the world published in 'High Times'

Tinbeni said...

D-N-F ... Patti, ya-got-me ... but it was a FUN Ink Blot.

Lemon: Great Job on the write-up.

One TOKE over the line by Brewer & Shipley, 1971 is the only TOKE I'm familiar with.

Though I think that Dealer would appreciate the CHIP I tipped her.

Hmmm ... that gives me an idea ...
Cheers!

SwampCat said...

Fun beery puzzle. And a great expo, Lemon! Loved your observations.

Owen, I thought they were all A's. Made me laugh. I agree with you about Mata Hari. Everybody knows OF her, even if they know nothing ABOUT her. Hoi Palloi indeed!

Tin, I remember One TOKE over the Line, too.

Lemonade714 said...

How fun, egocentric but ergonomic.

Anyway, Big Easy, I do not believe the marijuana reference for TOKE as a tip to a dealer is relevant.

D-O thank you for understanding my choice of one tree island cartoon.

Hahtoolah, of course it is more correct to say Attorneys General but that does not stop Attorney Generals from being more popular in usage. It is like attorney's fees, which should really be attorney fees or driver license being correct, but driver's license being more popular.

I wonder how many of Patti's clues are changed?

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Well, Patti V sure gave me a run for my money! But it was a fun run and I enjoyed and appreciated the creativity and execution of the theme. Loved Lager Rhythms! I had sink, as put in a putt, before dock, and Happy Face before Happy Meal. I think I confused happy with funny. Didn't know Ely but did know Ali, so that helped. All in all, a smooth solve.

Thanks, Patti, for a fresh Friday challenge and thanks, Lemony, for your steady guidance. As I couldn't decipher the dialogue on the desert island cartoon, I had no idea why it reminded DO of me, BUT, I went back and enlarged the picture and then it made sense and brought forth a chuckle. I haven't heard from my Nigerian friends in a while; lucky me!

Have a great day.

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

First off, this puzzle, though clever and challenging, had a couple iffy clue/solves. I don't mind an occasional diversion, but the entire clueing for the SE corner was bizarre, IMO. I guess had I known Pont (in 59a) it might have helped. And I couldn't recall the WESSON ads that Flo Henderson did ( when I saw 6 letters with an "e" for the second letter my first thought was "Texaco"; wrong oil !!). I also penned in SSN before AGI in 48a, so I wasn't helping myself. But to end this "rant" I think one or two of the SE clues could've been a bit more intuitive

LemonADE - nice job, as always. I thought of your son when I started seeing the "beer" theme. Is he still working for a distributor?

Not sure when or how the whole SOCK puppet genre started - but I saw some clever parodies on YouTube - here's one that parodies The Beatles.

Another favorite of mine was the comic strip "JumpStart" which featured the infamous SOCK-ness Monster.

My beer-themed limerick:

After putting on my shoes and a SOCK
(When I secured my new boat to the DOCK)
Found redneck bar serving beer,
Had a few thugs, reeking fear;
Barmaid said, "Don't worry; I got your bock!"

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, Patti, for a fun and fresh puzzle! Got the theme early on with ALETOTHECHIEF and then STOUTOFAFRICA. Fun solving!

Nice write-up, Lemonade, and loved your pics and explanation of TOKE! Thanks.

Sailor said...

An intoxicating puzzle that went down easy for a Friday. :) High points for entertainment value: I smiled at PORTERPRINCE and laughed out loud at LAGERRYTHMS. Nicely done.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Greeting from Ft. Subbing!
-STOUT AFRICA made me think the theme would be manipulating SOUTH. LAGER RHYTHMS were my favorite because of my math background and the paucity of vowels.
-ORLOP had somehow stuck from experience
-No apologies necessary, Lemon!
-WES needs to hang up his cleats!
-We all now what the antidote for “A PALL-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.”
-I’ll bet I’m not the first to point out the Attorneys General/Attorney Generals NIT
-I don’t know about the cards, but this is a very cool Monopoly board
-We have to MOW every third day with all our rain
-Oops, here comes the 9th graders for Algebra!

Lucina said...

Nicely done, indeed! Amen to that! What an amusing puzzle; thank you, Patti Varol. It took some serious thinking in certain places but I finished it without looking up anything though I was tempted at ORLOP and WES. They worked out, however.

Initially, I thought MEATS was too simple, but as soon as it went in, the rest flew in too, MONIKER, TOP, SPY. ERIC was already there, being helped by STOUT OF AFRICA.

Even for a non beer drinker like me, this was such fun especially LAGERRHYTHMS. Love that! I had hesitations about AGI and CDT or CST but DOCK fixed that one. SENIOR replaced STATUS and it was done.

Thanks again, Patti Varol and Lemonade for your expert analysis.

Actually, I don't hate French, I just don't get it though I've tried and have managed to latch on to some terms such as AVEC and others. PONT is close enough to ponte (It.) and Puente (Sp.) that I may remember it.

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

Lemonade714 said...

Chairman, thanks for asking. My oldest is still working as the chain sales manager for his company, with some great successes with Publix, Whole Foods etc. promoting their companies products. My youngest still is with Station 26 Brewing in Denver. My nephew quit the beer business and is now in Army intelligence.

I agree that it would be best if Wes, who is only 5'9" tall not get more battered.

Lucy: Pont, ponte (Italian), puente, ponte (Portugese) all are derived from the Latin PONS. It makes it easier for me.

Lucina said...

Thank you, Lem. Pons makes it easier for me, too, but words like "neuf" are meaningless to me. I have no way to reference them.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Ha HA! I should have remembered my Italiano cheeses. I got this entire pzl with no cheating, except I settled for ASIANO instead of ASIAGO!
Well, you may ask, "Why didn't the perp save you?" My answer is that instead of EGOS (at 66-A), a mildly funny response to the clue, "They may not be quiet on the set," I went with ENOS. My assumption was that Brian Eno, who has scored many sounds for films and other media, may have family members who might serve to amplify his name with the added "S." Or, to outface any who insist Brian is a solo act, I'd point out that each track of his multi-track ambient sounds should qualify as a single ENO.
These are surely as likely answers as EGOS.
Anyway, that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

Lemonade714 said...

Lucina, you have

Latin for new = novus
Spanish = nuevo
Italian = nuovo
Portugese = novo
French = nouveau
French = neuf

Spitzboov said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Thanks Lemon for a fine intro teeming with information.

After about 8 entries I was hard aground. Poked around on the bottom and slowly filled my way up. Break-thru was with WESSON. Got the gimmick with ALE TO THE CHIEF, and then chortled with LAGER RHYTHMS. Favorite was PORTER PRINCE. Great choice of theme phrases. Last fill was the SENIOR DOCK crossing. Knew the Chicago setting was either CST or CDT depending on the time of year. Patti was devious today.
WESSON oil is Canola Oil per the bottle label. Canola oil comes from rapeseed.
ORLOP deck is a sailing ship feature. Have not seen it on cross-section diagrams of modern ships.

Unknown said...

DNF too SW corner was a problem. Ego having something to do with quiet on the set? A French bridge...ease meaning fluency??? all stretches for me even on Fridays. Combine that with my lack of Cheesy knowledge I was done for even with AGI, ale to the chief and Wesson...:((

Center problem as well with the intersection of proper names..obscure actress and an obscure town. Eventually came when I changed nsec to msec. In my professional world a millisecond is a LONG time ! But that gave me rhythms. Still really hated the SE corner !!
Have fun with tomorrows puzzler. Eight hours of hard work for me watching CFB while avoiding all commercials !

Unknown said...

oh...and ORLOP ! wtf...At least I learned a new word

Ol' Man Keith said...

How silly of me, to think that Pont Neuf referred to the "ninth bridge" over the Seine.

desper-otto said...

Me, too, OMK. I've only thought that for 50+ years.

Lemonade714 said...

OMK, of course you are correct the French noun, neuf means nine, but as an adjective (ninth) on dit neuvième.

ORLOP is not a common word, but is a Friday puzzle. We have seen it a few times over the eyars

Bill G. said...

Another fun puzzle this week. Thanks Patti and Lemon.

Miscellaneous observations...

ALL celebrities appearing on TV shows get a standing ovation these days as they are introduced. Standing ovations have been devalued it seems to me...

I haven't been to a concert in years but when I see one on TV, it seems as if people are standing up all of the time, or most of the time anyway. I'm sure I would find it annoying if people in front of me were always standing up. Is that the new normal?

Nobody is a model these days; everybody is a supermodel.

Misty said...

Well, this Patti puzzle was a real Friday toughie for me. I got Toto, and soon after that, STOUT OF AFRICA, which gave me the beer theme. Then a little later PORTER PRINCE fell into place. But the bottom just wouldn't give and I had to start cheating, looking up all those Oscar winners (I should have remembered them, for goodness sake) and things I didn't know (H. G. WELLS, e.g.). With cheating I got nearly everything in the end, goofing only by putting POKE (short for POKER, for a dealer of cards) rather than TOKE for that other kind of dealer.

But even though it was tough, this was a lot of fun, so thank you Patti. And your expo and pictures were a delight, as always, Lemonade.

I'm having a crazy problem having all my e-mails sent to my neighbors across the street returned, and no one can figure out why--not they, not my campus tech advisors, very frustrating. Technology--can't live with it, can't live without it.

Have a great weekend coming up, everybody!

Wilbur Charles said...

Enjoyed the puzzle, Lemony, Owen and Moe.

12d could be lid,lio,tip or top and 9a might have been meals. Oh well, ORLOP is a new one.

But I had SOCK and CST anyway.

Mata Hari was very well known prior to WWI as the Wilt C. of sexual athletes. The Germans turned her in when they didn't need her anymore.

Isn't ranking SENIORity?

MEAL twice, eh? Calling Mr Norris

I was thinking SNOUT of Africa.

Owen, A+ on the first.

I finished an old(9/8) nyt xword and thought of Tin when I needed a Green Spirit. That is, after I realized they weren't looking for a ghost

Anonymous T said...

Hi all!

Fun Patti! I almost nailed a Friday while enjoying an IPA [Victory's, from PA, Hop Devil. Never had it before and it's tasty]. Fun and informative expo LEM - I still won't get the "hint's" for natural languages as they elude me...

For a Friday, this was smooth sailing high above ORLOP [new to me] standing on the TEAK.

WOs: Hahtoolah - I entered BOND too! I also had PPO b/f HMO and DAs b/f AGs.

Alas, 4 bad squares in the end- It's not PaYOTE, nor is 39a ArI. PEar is right out. Apparently, I can't spell LAGaR. And, I have no idea about Life of Pi but can name it to 1,000 places ('cuz I'm white & nerdy).

Patti [and I'm not trying to butter you up for my next submission ;-)], this was a great theme and execution. Especially fav, LAGaRRYTHMS. I was on your wave-length and filled 1/2 the puzzle w/o a 3rd thought. I enjoyed the non-nonymous* fresh c/as [see 53d and 59d].

{A, A, B, A-} {B+}

LEM - Re: How many of Patti's clues changed == LOL!

Ever had a SENIOR moment thinking - "What is it called, you know, when you can't remember something 'cuz you're getting old?"

Cheers, -T
*I just trademarked that :-)

Jayce said...

Laughed out loud at LAGER RHYTHMS and smiled heartily at the other brews. Great theme! Otherwise some pretty tough places, which I suppose is why this puzzle is published on Friday. I didn't get DOCK or CDT until reading the explanation here, although I should have gotten C_T. Tried LID, HAT, and CAP before TOP. Smiled at how ELY crosses ALI. Then there's YOYO and TOTO, and AGS right next to AGI.

Lucina said...

Thank you, Lemonade. The progression from Latin to other Romance languages is familiar to me but I'm baffled by the radical change of "v" to "f".

AnonymousPVX said...

Completed it, but it was a "meh" puzzle for me. Agree with above, ranking is "seniority". At least it was at my job. And "toke" has an entirely different meaning, especially with "dealer" lol.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Anyone else have a vision of Patty with a frosty mug, sipping and giggling as she produced this well-done puzzle? For all I know, like me she's allergic to beer, but a great wordsmith.

Like Jayce, I laughed aloud at LAGER RHYTHMS. I perped LAGERRH & WAGd the rest. Then realizing what Patti did I went back and filled two other themes. Most fun I've had in two days.

UTAH was a gimmee. Once took an enjoyable bus trip that went to Zion, Arches, Brice Canyon and maybe Canyonlands NP. Never heard of Capitol Reef NP. Had to look up the five. Also went to Lake Powel.

My mother learned the word "crudite" and thereafter made lots of veggie plates so she could use the word with which she was obsessed. DIPS came easy.

Most of my moments are SENIOR any more. I do xwords to fend off the inevitable.

INFEST is the word of the day the past two. Mice. One (or more?) kept me awake until 5:30 a.m. I got up at 1 p.m. and sat down to my lunch and the !@#$% thing went zipping by within a foot of my chair. My lungs are getting a real workout. Automatic scream! There is evidence it is eating the Decon I have provided but doesn't seem to slow it down. Now it has dragged a glue trap 3 feet which is partly under the couch. I can't tell if it is still attached. If my son doesn't come and fix the house door to the garage so it will completely shut, I may FLEE the place.

Spitzboov said...

PK - Set out a couple mouse traps. Use a high quality cheddar like a NYS. They will come. If you get one, there'll probably be a second.

Yellowrocks said...

PK, just home from vacation. More later, but for now, my sister found relief from a serious mouse problem using "screamers," high frequency devices plugged into electrical outlets. Her mice fled quickly. These deices are sold at Home Depot, for example.

CrossEyedDave said...

What? No Pilsner?

Well, this puzzle not only screwed me up, it made me thirsty...

(I hate finding nits in my beer.)

"N"sec and era as a Nevada copper town totally messed up my rhythm
(Rhathns?)

Not only that, 26d I had lock instead of dock?
Trying to find out why revealed that my paper had printed the clue as "Tie up," instead
of "put in."

Desperotto, no beer float? - It's an art form...
(2 recipes, one for Men, and the 2nd for Women.)

If beer is not your thing, please harvest this endangered species carefully...

The Feetles, sock puppets, excellent! Made my day!

PK said...

YR: Do you know what brand your sister got? I bought some which don't seem to be working. Mine are intermittent.

I've got to get some better bait. I have some traps out which have caught nothing. I used butter with parmesan cheese that comes in little packets when I order pizza.

Tomcat said...

Peanut butter spread on the trap gets em every time! Easy to bait and the smell attracts them like crazy.

Anonymous T said...

PK - TomCat knows of what s/he types - contrary to Tom & Jerry cartoons mice don't dig cheese. I got one w/ a raisin and another w/ a sunflower seed. BTW, the "sticky traps" are not-nice; I found a mouse chewing his legs off trying to escape... I felt so bad. Make it quick & pain-free as possible.

For the record - I don't like killing things. Mice in my garage are fine - it's outdoors-ish. When they get the idea to go in my house is when we have a problem. -T

Anonymous T said...

All this talk of mice and beer - Bob & Doug discuss the scheme on TV but the FLAW shows up movie-wise.

Enjoy OK, eh?

CED - how do you find these things? A PSA on PEYOTE? Beer floats? (Actually those sound good - a high-roasted STOUT w/ vanilla - yum!).

Cheers, -T

TX Ms said...

Anon-T - for the last three days, I've been meaning to respond to your post re the Houston oil company's new find, Alpine High, reported in the (D-O moniker here) Houston Barnacle. Yes, its new CEO is what a CEO should have - vision. Hope its projections realize for the company.

CED - I agree with Anon-T - how the heck do you google these things? Never encountered peyote in its natural environment or in its 'optimum' processed state.

Abejo said...

Good Saturday morning, folks. Thank you, Patti Varol, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.

I started this Friday night while traveling to Erie, PA. Finished it Saturday morning. Tough puzzle, but very good.

Liked the theme. I enjoy beer, especially the craft beers, and the puzzle really grabbed my attention. My first was PORTER PRINCE. PORTER is one of my favorites. Dark beer.

Remembered ORLOP from past puzzles. Liked KNIFE. OOMPH took me a while, but it made sense.

Tried NSEC first. MSEC won that battle.

Tried MATA first. Changed to HARI with perps.

Well, I might try Saturday's puzzle now. In Erie, PA, and nothing to do until this evening when my Class is having its 70th birthday party.

See you later.

Abejo

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Picard said...

I agree with Chuck Lindgren that MSEC is a long time! I was thinking PSEC!

Got totally stuck where everyone else did with SENIOR-DOCK-TOKE. I finally decided TOKE must be a tip to your drug dealer. I don't do drugs, but I am familiar with that usage. Never heard of the casino term.

SENIOR does seem unfair for ranking.

As for CDT vs CST I have seen daylight and standard times used indiscriminately in puzzles. Perhaps CDT makes sense because in the season the puzzle was published it was still daylight time.

Clever puzzle theme!