Theme:
Holy Holly- Double up the middle consonant to form the second word and clue appropriately.
Holy Holly- Double up the middle consonant to form the second word and clue appropriately.
20. Pilfered German fruit bread?: STOLEN STOLLEN
32. Evidence of Russia's currency collapse?: RUBLE RUBBLE
42. "Mister Ed" dot?: TITLE TITTLE
54. Final course in the Sahara?: DESERT DESSERT
Argyle here. No reveal Monday; not needed. Small nit; tittle is defined as a point or small sign used as a diacritical mark in writing or printing. MISTER ED doesn't use one; MR. ED does. Still fun.
Update: The dot on the lower-case "i" is also a tittle, at least according to some dictionaries.
Across:
1. Cartoonist Addams: "CHAS". Creator of The Addams Family.]
5. Sour substances: ACIDS
10. Parroted: APED
14. ___-poly: ROLY. May refer to: Link.
15. French painter of café scenes: MANET
16. Smallest American coin: DIME. Smallest in physical size.
17. Mil. no-show: AWOL. (Absence Without Leave)
18. "Fear of Flying" author Jong: ERICA. (1973 novel)
19. Herr's home: HAUS
23. Up until now: SO FAR
24. Timeline start: YEAR ONE
27. Play at the highest volume, as a radio: BLAST
31. Bravery award: MEDAL
37. Sch. in Charlottesville: UVA. (University of Virginia)
38. Words said with a nod: "I SEE"
39. Jeweled headpiece: TIARA
40. Stadium ticket designation: SEAT
41. Harbor puller: TUG
44. Bow and __: ARROW
46. Cotton thread: LISLE. A fine, high-twisted and hard-twisted cotton thread, at least two-ply, used for hosiery, gloves, etc.
47. Tortoni's cousin: SPUMONE
50. Pentathlon blades: EPEEs
58. B-movie safecracker: YEGG
60. Cheering noisily: AROAR
61. "Yes __?": ultimatum words: OR NO
62. Length times width: AREA
63. Infamous skater Harding: TONYA
64. Hall of Fame catcher Carlton: FISK. Nicknamed "Pudge" and "The Commander", Wiki Link.
65. Marries: WEDS
66. After-lunch sandwiches: OREOs
67. Lavish bash: FÊTE
Down:
1. Rude and crude: CRASS
2. Genre for do-it-yourselfers: HOW TO
3. Distant and cool: ALOOF
4. One of two in seven: SYLLABLE. The word, seven, is made up of two syllables.
5. Chorus from the pews: "AMEN"
6. Some "Wheel" prizes: CARS. You are better off on "The Price is Right" if you want a car.
7. "What's __ for me?": IN IT
8. Fake drake, say: DECOY
9. Opposite of fresh: STALE
10. Stick (to): ADHERE
11. Keyboard work for two: PIANO DUET
12. Rhea's Aussie relative: EMU
13. Hôtel __ Invalides: Paris landmark: DES
21. Author __ Stanley Gardner: ERLE. "Perry Mason"
22. Like a weak excuse: LAME
25. Part of USNA: NAVAL. (United States Naval Academy)
26. Make more than merry: ELATE
28. Intro-to-painting course: ART I
29. Exec's three-piece: SUIT
30. Little League precursor: T-BALL
32. Hayworth and Rudner: RITAs
33. Seize illegally: USURP
34. Gave reluctantly: BEGRUDGED
35. Matzo __: Jewish egg dish: BREI
36. Back muscles, in the gym: LATs. (lattismus dorsi)
40. Measures by pacing: STEPS OFF
42. Dance floor units: TWOs
43. Sights in la Méditerranée: ILEs. Here's a nice list of the îles de la mer Méditerranée to look over on those cold winter nights. List
45. Pricey watches: OMEGAs
48. "Gee, cool!": "NEATO!"
49. Mistake in the field: ERROR
51. Creepy: EERIE
52. Dadaist Max: ERNST. Road rage?
53. Tend to the flames: STOKE
55. Musical quality: TONE
56. Belafonte classic: DAY-O
57. Gaslight and Big Band: ERAs
58. Deviate from a course: YAW. (of a moving ship or aircraft) twist or oscillate about a vertical axis.
59. Before, in odes: ERE
Argyle
57 comments:
Good morning all. Thank you Mel and thank you Argyle.
The only unknown was BREI, but I hardly took note of it as it perperd in.
My sister-in-law makes an excellent stollen, but my wife does not care for it.
Stollen seems to me to be like fruit cake. It can be really good or downright awful. The best fruitcake I've ever had comes from Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, TX. It's somewhat expensive, but I think it's worth it.
Greetings!
Thanks, Mel and Santa!
Nice theme.
I had more trouble with this one than the other 5 Monday puzzles that I work! (Came out OK, though.)
Shouldn't the abbr. CHAS be noted?
UVA was perped, as were FISK and BREI.
It's not very cold here tonight, maybe 50 degrees. Great, as all of my kalanchoes have not been carted off to the pool house.
Have a great day!
"Blare" instead of BLAST, "asyet" in stead of SOFAR, and "spumoni" instead of SPUMONE at first, but it all came together at the end.
Got 'er done, but seemed a wee bit crunchy for a Monday. A bit over my time. Thanx, Mel, for the fun CW! My German g.ma used to make stallen; she could cook or bake about everything. Made homemade noodles, with no machine. She'd throw the dough and fold it, throw it and fold it, over and over again, then one cut and mysteriously she had noodles! Thanx for the nice write-up, Argyle!
Good morning!
Tried "Blare" and "As Yet" -- (Hi, Hungry Mother!) Tried to spell it SPUMONi -- bet I'm not the only one. Tried Matzo "Ball" -- bet I'm not the only one. Tried TaNYA Harding -- bet I'm not the only one. Tried SHTOLEN before STOLLEN -- hey, that's how DW pronounces it -- bet I'm the only one. Crunchy Monday, but eventually got 'er done.
TTP, a couple of years ago DW made me drive to Corsicana to visit the Collin Street Bakery. We did. She decided everything was too high-priced. She bought nothing. We drove home.
Lately, those CARS on WoF are lower in value than the $34K "standard" bonus round prize.
Good Morning, Argyle and friends. Interesting puzzle, but I found this to be more challenging than the usual Monday fare. After getting STOLEN STOLLEN, I realized the gimmick. TITLE TITTLE seems pretty obscure.
My favorite clue was Fake Drake = DECOY. I also liked the Smallest American Coin = DIME.
Nice to see some fresh new clues for our old friend OREOs.
Matzo BREI is a staple in our home during Passover.
I was sure her name was Tanya, but that spelling would have given me an ERROR.
Tried the perps before deciding between BLAST and Blare.
QOD: The fortunes of the entire world may well ride on the ability of young Americans to face the responsibilities of an old America gone mad. ~ Phil Ochs (Dec. 19, 1940 ~ Apr. 9, 1976)
Agreed, this seemed crunchy for Monday yet easily finished and with amusing theme. WEES on SPUMONI/SPUMONE, TANYA/TONYA but had a nagging sense that TaNYA was an ERROR. All perps for FISK and BREI. Pop Warner didn't fit so TBALL went in. LISLE is well known to me from my previous life when I wore LISLE stockings.
SYLLABLE was tricky and fake drake, clever. I love Belafonte singing DAYO.
In the past I ordered fruit cake from the Collins Bakery and loved it but the last one was exceedingly dry. Hmm, maybe I could soak it in brandy. I had a great-aunt who sent us one every year and it came wrapped in cheese cloth soaked with brandy. I think she baked them weeks or months in advance. I've made my own from a great recipe sent by a Corner friend and it's a lot of work!
Thank you, Argyle and Mel Rosen!
Have a lovely day, everyone!
Very difficult Monday puzzle for me. LISLE crossing with BREI and ILES, coupled with YAW and YEGG crossing, tripped me up this morning. Even the northeast corner took some sussing out with unknown CHAS and tricky SYLLABLE clue. CRASS and ALOOF didn't jump immediately to mind, and was thinking AS YET before ALOOF finally led me to SO FAR.
MISTER ED doesn't have a tittle but "Mister Ed" does - the dot on the lower-case "i" is also a tittle, at least according to some dictionaries.
Good catch.
I also found this to be a bit crunchy for a Monday. Thought it was just me since I'm having trouble getting into the swing of things this morning due to a busy weekend.
I haven't even started yesterday's puzzle. Just as I was set to begin my DH suggested we catch the early bird showing of the new Star Wars film "Rogue One". Good movie, so fun way to spend time on a lazy, cold dreary late morning. With so much to do before Christmas, I may not get to the puzzle. I have this routine of coffee and crosswords upon waking and if I don't get the puzzle done in the morning I never seem to find time later :)
Fun reveal today. Thanks Mel and Argyle!
Good Morning:
Hand up for spumoni at first and brash before crass. Didn't understand the Mister Ed fill but I think billocohoes is right about the dot over the "i". Not a fruit cake fan; actually, not a fan of any cakes or pies, either. Needed perps for Brei but knew Tonya and our long-lost pal, Yegg. (Auto correct didn't feel the same way about Yegg.)
Thanks, Mel, for easing us into the week and thanks, Santa, for the tour. Is your sleigh packed up yet? Just think of all those cookies and milk waiting for you!
It's sunny but mighty cold. Based on the long-range forecast, I don't think we're going to have a white Christmas.
Have a great day.
Argyle: Nice write-up.
Mel: Thank You for a FUN Monday puzzle.
Learning moment with the Matzo BRIE.
At Villa Incognito the staple for Festivus Day (This Friday) is Pinch Scotch.
It is sunny and 72 degrees (heading for 80 degrees) ... Hope y'all stay warm.
Cheers!
Here early today after lurking on the weekend (too late to comment but both fun puzzles). Today was a workout for a Monday. Thanks Mel and Argyle (loved the Holy Holly title). I got the theme early which helped a little.
Hand up for Blare before BLAST. I Had Chad before CHAS, Rolex before OMEGAS, Monet before MANET, and was stuck on the cross of YEGG and YAW. BREI was unknown. New clue for OREOS (somehow I never thought of them as sandwiches!)
BEGRUDGED and ALOOF are great words. AROAR not so much.
PIANO DUET reminded me of a recent concert. (don't worry, the music is in English!)
PianoChameleons
Have a great day.
Good day to all!
I see I'm not the only one who found today's offering more challenging than a typical Monday. I liked the rhyming clue "Fake drake" for decoy. Do business execs wear three piece suits any more? Not here in Socal. Matzo BREI arrived via perps at 35D. Thanks for guiding us through today's puzzle, Argyle. Fun!
Bill G. from last night-I can only imagine how challenging it must have been to deal with aging parents across the country. I'm fortunate to be only about a 90 minute drive away from my mother, and we've been happy to see that the smallish Mazda we purchased last year gets fantastic highway mileage.
Enjoy the day!
Good morning everyone.
NEATO puzzle this morning. Liked the gimmick. No look-ups needed.
STOLEN STOLLEN was a gimme. My Mom used to make it. Now, my dear Frau bakes them for the holidays. Much better than your normal fruitcakes. Aldi's sells them in their stores around holiday time. A little too sweet for my taste, though.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Mel Rosen, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a fine review.
Started with ERLE since I spotted it by chance, and worked from there.
Liked the theme. Very clever. My first answer was DESERT DESSERT. And, my newspaper had Mister Ed, with a lower case i that gave me the TITTLE. I think someone else mentioned that too.
I also wrote in TANYA, then fixed it later after ERROR.
I have STEPPED OFF many areas for marching. My drill team has a specified area to drill in. So many feet long by so many feet wide. We have to make sure we can get our drill routines done within the boundaries.
Our old friend the EMU.
EERIE is as close as we get to ERIE today.
I got up at 5:00 AM and the temperature was -14 degrees. They called off school in the Elgin area. They could not get 30 of the school busses started. And, with the wind chill factor it was down in the -20's. Supposed to be warmer the rest of the week.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Easy aces Monday puzzle.
Good Morning.
Thanks SANTA--it's your time of year--and Mel for a rather nice Monday. Just enough crunch for someone who hasn't been here since last Thursday (?). I enjoyed the theme today. Once again, Argyle, you offer fine links.
At 11, I'm picking up the Blonde Tornado today at preschool. Yesterday, I told her we would make bread today. Uh, no! The kitchen's too cold for rising, and there's no longer a pilot in or on the range to cheat. Muffins! We'll make them with a teaspoon of jam inside and she can surprise her brother when she brings them home.
Have a cozy day!!
I liked Mel's Monday puzzle and Argyle splained it nicely.
I knew what a STOLLEN is, so the first theme entry filled in immediately and made it obvious what to expect further along. However, I did need perps to get a foothold on the TITLETITTLE.
Like others I had BRASH vs CRASS, BLARE vs BLAST and I wanted BALL before BREI. Also the down entries at the bottom of the puzzle were all filled in by the time I got to OMEGA at 45d.
Only 6 shopping days left (including today.) Amazon has made it a lot easier for me in avoiding any crowds.
DW and I have reached the point where we usually buy whatever we want when we want, so there are no big desires at Christmas time. So when we find anything we want near Christmas we buy it and tell each other how nice the gift is that "they" just got for us. It's a good thing that there are still some kids in the family so there are presents under the tree for them.
Abejo @ 9:26 am: Here in Central PA(not too far from Elk County) we are having a veritable heat wave at 19 degrees above zero.
Have a great week everyone and don't get overwhelmed by the Holidays.
Musings
-Somehow I knew LISLE, which gave me BREI, and I “got ‘er done”
-No idea on MONET/MANET and of course I got M_NET first
-BLAST – Should a sound system in a car actually hurt my ears when you it is emanating from a car 50’ away and his and my windows are up?
-What did these North Korean soldiers do to get all those medals? Perfect attendance?
-A tough YEGG job? (:30)
-I used a HOW TO site to stop my smoke detector from beeping yesterday
-Ferrante and Teicher had hit PIANO DUETS in my yute including the theme from Exodus
-A lot of those TWOS on the dance floor in my teens were girls because we boys didn’t dance
-For some reason singing DAY O has become a thing at baseball games
I'm half German and have never heard of STOLLEN. It was always fruit Cake and always darn good. Fruit cake is now taboo at my residence, much to my annual complaining. It's eight against one.
I kept trying to make "e letters" work for 4D, but the light eventually came on. And I always want MOnET rather then MANET, but today I decided CARS made more sense then cors.
And of course we had AROAR, one of my disliked A(h) words.
I attended a game at Fenway a long time ago. The Yankees were the opponents. Don't remember who won, but I remember FISK and Munson getting into a fight. Nothing like a game between the Sox & the Bombers.
Desper-otto, at that point, I would have went in and bought one. Hopefully it was a nice day to go for a ride.
Lucina, I recall you saying you ordered from them for years. My dad sent one to us every year for Christmas. Never had a dry one. One year, I got two as they made a shipping error and had the name of my aunt in Ohio but my address. I called them and they told me to keep it, and they sent her another. It went in the vegetable drawer in the second refrigerator in the basement and I forgot all about it. It was still good nearly a year later. We saved the tins for Christmas cookies. Weren't they wonderful ?
Abejo, I wondered why I didn't see the kiddies out at the corner this morning. I was up at about 3:00 AM this morning and looked at my old cheap analog thermometer. It read - 14. Then I looked at my digital weather station and it read - 6.7. A bit later I turned on the tv and the morning news was reporting the weather for your town and mine as - 14 with -28 wind chill. I guess my fancy-dancy weather station doesn't do well in the cold.
Neither do bugs. Haven't seen a single one for a few weeks, and probably won't until spring.
Musings 2
So, how’s your Monday going, Gary?
-My pickup key wouldn’t work and so I had to wake up my lovely bride two hours early because I couldn’t find her key in her purse I affectionately call “the abyss.”
-The boiler in the school where I am subbing had a hole in it and so it was 55˚F when I walked in
-The PA system was having an issue and so there was a loud and constant blip, blip, blip…
-Like most other teachers, she had ZERO pencils and so I had to do the puzzle in ink (DEY O/DAY O the only write over)
-I was in the windowless restroom, seated and committed to a process when the lights went out and I was in pitch darkness. Man I was glad my iPhone has a flashlight.
-What else can happen?
I loved this puzzle. The gimmick made it EZ PZ. No hangups.
Chas, pronounced Chaz, is a nickname like Bill or Joe, not just an abbreviation. I have known several guys named Chas, pronounced Chaz.
https://www.amazon.com/chas-addams/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Achas%20addams
Chas nickname
HG, many twos on the square dance floor today are women because they outnumber men. Since I can both lead and follow I can always find a partner, 50% of the time male and 50% female.
Like billocohoes, I thought of tittle easily because of the dot on the I.
I have now acclimated to the 19 degree weather, although I wouldn't want to be an outdoor worker in this cold. Abejo, I doubt I could acclimate to your subzero chills.
I am a fan of the impressionists, Manet, Monet, etc.
My shopping is done, all on line. I have heard few carols because I don't frequent the malls. Now I can enjoy them on my CDs.
Today I have to roll out my Grandma's very touchy cookie recipe. Much patience required. Only once a year. I make tons because they are a big hit.
Slept in today, and only had one poem written before I crashed last night. Almost trashed it but the purposeful misspelling seemed too cute to kill.
A ROLY-POLY bug went out searching one fine day
And found an armadillo who was waddling his way
"I SEE we must be cousins,
We've got scales by the dozens,
We're pleated so repleatedly to be a BALL at play!"
IrishMiss:
You are so lucky and I'm green with envy that you don't like cakes and pies. Diabetes forbids me to have any so that's a lot of joy gone.
TTP:
That goes for fruitcakes as well and I do love them.
However, I'll bake for other people and that's on my agenda this week since my shopping is finished.
Since this is our temperate season here I'm enjoying the 60s and 70s with 62 at the moment.
Gary, did that smoke detector require something other than a new battery? I'd like to know why the low-battery chirping always seems to occur in the wee hours of the morning.
Madame Defarge,"Blonde Tornado" -- very cute.
Ich kann das Deutsch sprechen aber habe noch nie "STOLLEN" gehort. I have never heard the term TITTLE before either. Those were easy fills as the reveal was obvious. I don't know Yiddish, so BREI was the only other unknown.
TANYA/TONYA, MANET/MONET, ISLE/ILE/ISLA, CHAS/CHAZ (Chastity Bono??)
YEGG & ERLE- years ago they were X-word staples.
SPUMONE- The local company that makes it, Angleo Brocato, spells it SPUMONI. This past summer his Company truck's driver was carjacked by a robber looking for cash. He realized the driver had no cash and all he got was ice cream. He ditched the truck about a mile away.
TTP-my parents were from NE Texas and fruit cake seems to be prevalent in the area. I like it but everybody else hates it.
Just put the trash and recycling bins out and went to the mailbox and am now trying to defrost! I don't know what the temperature is, but my nose would put Rudolph's to shame!
Lucina, I've been wondering how you are doing on the restricted diet; I hope well, without too much "pain". I have never been a "sweets" person but, boy oh boy, don't leave any chips (CSO to oc4beach, wink, wink) or popcorn within my reach!
Question of the day: Why is my garage door coming to a stop about 9/10 of the way from completely closing and then going back up again? This happened the other day but when I hit the control the second time, it closed normally. Today, I hit it about 10 times and it just kept going down so far, then back up again. Finally, I kept my hand on the control and it did go all the way down. I should probably call a serviceman, yes?
^{A-}^ v{A, B+, B+.}v
An Impressionist Mnemonic
-- ------------- --------
If it's a battle or city where people have part,
It's probably Ed MANET, who thought man was ART!
But if landscape's the thrill
And folks are near nil,
It's likely Claude Monet, with openness to impart!
TONYA and Tanya each wore a TIARA
Each danced with the prince for over an hora !
Could he tell which was which?
Well, number one was a bitch,
But number TWO he took off with to the French Riviera!
In a NAVAL academy, one learns ARTS of wAr!
A navel, instead, is what oranges worE
(Except those in Eden
Where Adam was feedin',
Eatin' all of the fruit right down to the core)!
Irish Miss, that happened to my garage door this week. I just pushed the one sensor forward 1/16 of an inch or less and all was copacetic. Upon returning home yesterday the door wouldn't open at all. When we got in the front door we realized the electricity was off. Later it can back on and all was okay.
I just finished rolling 2/3 of my cookie batch, 90 wafer thin melt in your mouth butter cookies. After resting my back I will finish. Getting old isn't for sissies, lots more breaks are needed. Wednesday I will bake another batch.
Lucina, there is hope for diabetics who care for themselves like you do. I was diagnosed two years ago and still take one Metformin a day. I no longer have to be so very scrupulous about my diet. I eat moderate amounts of pasta and bread and occasional sweets. My A1C is 5.3 and my morning fasting glucose is 87. I am told there is even a hope of not needing medicine over time, as happened with my mom. Good luck.
Well, I have babied my back enough. Onward! To the kitchen!
HuskerGary said:
"-My pickup key wouldn’t work and so I had to wake up my lovely bride two hours early because I couldn’t find her key in her purse I affectionately call “the abyss.”
You mean your hand got out ALIVE?? Count that to the good today ... the last time I tried that I shot 5 or 7 minutes searching in vain, only to have my wife reach right in the purse and say, "Here it is."
And for Yellowrocks -- "Getting old isn't for sissies, lots more breaks are needed."
True, too true, but I've found that 'breaks' turn often into full-blown naps. Some days if I sit down, I'm out for an hour or more. If I had known how much 'fun' getting old is, I'd'a done it first.
Husker -
A former girlfriend had a black leather draw-sack sort of hand bag, chock full of who knows what. I called it The Black Hole.
I was scared of the inside of that thing!
I liked this puzzle and sometimes felt it was unusually hard and sometimes felt it was almost too easy. What made it especially easy was the predictable pattern of the theme answers. What made it hard for me were entries like FISK (I can rarely remember the names of sports figures), LISLE, TWOS, and BREI, as well as STOLLEN and TITTLE which I would not have gotten were it not for the corresponding STOLEN and TITLE.
Argyle, your Holy Holly was funny and clever.
A friend of ours made some delicious biscotti as gifts for us and his other friends; it had candied fruit in it, much like little fruitcakes, and looked a lot like that linked image of STOLLEN.
So, Gary, did anything more go wrong for you today? (I hope not.)
Irish Miss, our garage door did the same thing as yours. There are some adjustments on the motor that can be turned with a screwdriver to increase or decrease the "limits" where the door stops opening or closing. However, what we did was clean off some debris, dirt, and spider webs from the garage floor and the edges of the door, which fixed it. Apparently the dirt blocked the beam just before the door fully closed, fooling the detector into thinking there was a blockage and causing it to open the door.
Congratulations and encouraging words to all of you who have diabetes for eating right to keep it under control. Yellowrocks, a fasting glucose of 87 is terrific! Mine is stubbornly clinging to about 130, which I can't seem to get lower. My latest A1C was about 6.3.
Best wishes to you all.
Since PA Dutch is a dialect related to Low German, let me ask you German speakers. My dad called the last little lump of cookie dough that was too heavy to be re-rolled yet another time the duncer and just flattened it and plopped it on the cookie tray.
He pronounced duncer not with the u in dunce, but the u in put. Has anyone heard of it?
Great Monday puzzle, if a little crunchy in spots, because I got STOLEN STOLLEN early on and that gave me the theme. So this was a lot of fun--many thanks, Mel. And great pics, Argyle--thanks for that too.
Actually, a great morning for me, all around: got the puzzle without cheating, the Sudoku, the Kenken, and even the crazy Jumble! Yay! Well, big deal, I guess--it's a Monday, after all.
I have a chapter on Max ERNST in one of my early books, so that was quick and fun. (But never heard of FISK).
I'm off to Austria tomorrow to visit my 92 year old Aunt Paula. I'll be gone for a week, and will really miss both the puzzles and all of my blog friends.
So I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a beautiful holiday season! And I'll be back in time to wish you all a Happy New Year!
Musings 3
-Nah, the rest of the day has been pretty good. We even had homemade chili and potato soup with many goodies for lunch, which was a pleasant surprise!
-One other surprise is that the biology classes are now 32 kids each which is quite a few but we got along great.
-On the smoke alarm, I did learn that I had to install a new 9V battery, hold down the button to drain the FARADS (yesterday’s puzzle) from the capacitor and then use my compressor to blow out the dust from the inside. All’s good now.
-YR, I think it is so cool when school PE classes force boys to dance with girls, even if it is just line dancing. Teachers just have to vigilant for CRASS behavior.
-Now we just have to make it to Lincoln tonight for a K – 6 Christmas show.
Misty, I envy you - I spent a Christmas in Austria some years ago, and it was delightful. I'd love to go back.
Misty, have a wonderful Christmas in Austria with your aunt!
Misty:
Safe travels and have a wonderful time. What a beautiful place to spend Christmas!
YR:
I only wish that I could take Metformin. My Dr. prescribed it but it nauseated me. That happens to me with a lot of medication. Yet I've talked to others who take that one with no bad consequences. I was told I could eat almost everything in small portions, except sweets of course though I occasionally indulge.
HG - Sounds like your smoke detector may be elderly. You should replace them every 10 years, even if the push-button test works fine.
I got frustrated in the NW corner of today's puzzle. I guessed CHAd and ROLi and they made diLLABLE, which wasn't close enough for my cold-addled brain. Erased as yet for SO FAR and bow and stern for bow and ARROW.
I liked the gimmick which brought to mind LISA LISA from last week.
I'll bet the busses that wouldn't start were mostly diesels. Gas engines usually can be jump started, since it is most often just a cold battery that causes the problem. I had to take my RV to Caterpillar today and was pleasantly surprised when it started in the 35 degree morning without using the block heater.
An oldie but goodie about pocketbooks. Link(2:33)
Happy Monday! I got the theme with STOLEN STOLLEN. The NW was snowed in until the end when I got answers from the bottom of that corner and worked up. Nice puzzle, Mel! Thanks for the write-up and links, Argyle!
Hand up for TaNYA/TONYA and not knowing BREI.
Misty, have a great trip.
Cincinnati was settled by Germans so STOLLEN is advertised by a couple bakeries. I haven't had it. I may be biased but I think the best fruitcakes come from my kitchen. I started making a Mixed Nut Fruitcake in 1981 when the recipe was published in Good Housekeeping magazine. Several years ago my mother could no longer eat nuts so I've been making another recipe for her (while she was alive) and my daughter who prefers minimal nuts.
Pat
Austria at Christmas...how timely. I introduced my wife to the movie The Sound of Music last evening. There is much fun in showing her all the old stuff that never made it to Thailand.
Have you shown her your rap sheet?
Thank you all for the sweet wishes. They're a lovely send-off to my trip.
Yes Misty, have a safe and wonderful trip. Say hello to your Tante Paula from all of your crossword friends.
On another note, I'm glad to see that we have more than a few fruitcake lovers here. I think fruitcakes get a bad rap, and have become the butt of some jokes.
Irish Miss, as Jayce said, make sure that the two safety sensors are clean and pointing at each other. They don't have to be exactly pointing at each other, but close enough. They should be about 3" or 4" off the garage floor, one on each track. Given what you described, it's probably not any adjustment. The reversing symptom usually indicates an issue with the safety sensors, or, as was the case when mine was doing the same thing, a failing circuit board. It was intermittent, and sometimes it would take five or six attempts before it would stay down. Then it might work for a few days and start failing again. Took him three trips but they only charged me for one, and the board. I think it was around $175 to $200 total.
Jinx good point. Per building code, I had to install hardwired interconnected combo smoke and carbon monoxide detectors (with battery backup) when I built my addition. It wasn't too bad in the new construction area, but running the steel conduit to the floors in the existing structure to bring it up to code was a real pain. I believe the detectors have to be replaced every eight or so years. They were somewhere around $40 to $50 apiece.
Yellowrocks, I asked my wife and she has not heard of that.
Irish Miss @ 12:08
9 times out of 10,
a garage door reverses due to binding or sticking
of the door in its tracks. This happens even more often with
older wooden doors during severe weather changes.
Before you have anyone increase the downward pressure sensitivity
(which "could" fix the problem)
be very aware that this may make your door very dangerous to children.
(note that the backup light beam sensor is not required by law
in every state, & some doors do not have them.)
Here is the recommended test for auto-reverse pressure
(which is supposed to be done monthly, but no-one ever does...)
Note that there is to much pressure if it crushes the core of a roll of paper towels.
However, there is always that 1 in 10 chance it is something else, like
what happened to me...
A chipmunk had eaten a hole in the bottom weather stripping to gain access
to my garage for the winter.
It left a tiny strip of plastic sticking out that interrupted the light sensor beam
just as the door was almost closed...
Hi all!
My WAGs were too LAME to save me today. What Chief P said @7:13a re: LaSsE xing 35 & 43d :-(
Oh well, it was fun Mel. Thanks. I did the add-a-doubled-letter/change-the-word-theme. Thanks Argyle for expounding on the theme, the expo, and DAY-O!
WO: teir [sic] b/f SEAT
ESPs: CHAS, DES & ERICA
Fav: Fake Drake = DECOY. SYLLABLE c/a was pretty cute too.
{B+; A,A,C}
TTP - Hand-up for Collin Street's fruit-cake. Their's is the only one I've ever had more than one bite from.
MJ - I work w/ the SUITS; haven't seen a 3 piece one worn by a C-I-EI-EI-O. However, a guy from the support desk wore one to the corp. Christmas party.
Safe travels Misty!
HG - LOL The Abyss. DW's seems like Mary Poppins' bag with what she can pull out of that thing; I can't even locate the iPhone charger in there.
Cookies! We pressed out >50 pizzelles last night and Youngest made a batch of Choc. Chip while I was at work today [she's good too; all from scratch].
Cheers, -T
A nod to our crossword regular Ang Lee: just re-watched Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon after fifteen years. It's still a magnificent looking film. I'd forgotten how lovely Michelle Yeoh is!
D-O @ 12:01: indeed the Blonde Tornado is cute. She's the youngest of my six grand and three step grand children. We have a wonderful relationship. She's four and always shocked when I call her out--like yesterday when I asked, Why are you WHINING? She was as surprised as was her dad--my youngest. Something about being wrapping Daddy around her little finger . . . .
Misty,
Safe travels! Merry Christmas!!
Hello cloud, I thought I'd talk to you awhile...
Nice Monday piece. Sherlock pointed out a list of old cases once and "The Vanderbilt YEGGman" was one.
Hondo, the FISK link talked about that big fight. I watched it on TV;the coup de Grace was Craig Nettles sucker punching Bill Lee.
Misty, have a safe and loving trip.
Owen you're bringing out your artist side.
Hondo, besides FISK we had (Y.A.) TITTLE and (Al) Rosen
Did I tell you that I had a Palindrome dream the other night? Don't ask.
And my ear worm was Sad Movies (Sue Thompson). Question. Did she lie to her mother or not?
Good night, Cloud
Wilbur
Ps. Always great write-ups Argyle
My goodness, I can't tell you how much your sweet messages make me happy as I approach the holiday season and go on my trip. What a wonderful group of friends you all are--thank you so much. And thank you, C.C., for having assembled this group of lovely, supportive people for all of us.
D'Oh - Mel: I meant I did like the [...] theme. Somehow that was lost in post-edit edits...
Misty - I think it's C.C. 3-Ps [Politics, Personal attacks, Prosthelytizing religion] that makes this corner an oasis on the net. We all follow the rules and get along. Those who don't get slings and ARROWs from us or Stomped by our melevolent moderator.
Boy, I wish I could find a funny puzzlepropos link, but SO FAR, nothing I SEE is a BLAST.
Cheers, -T
Dudley:
I love that movie! Not only is the scenery spectacular but the martial arts scenes are impressive and it's a pretty good story, too. I'll have to watch it again. My, has it really been 15 years?
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