google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, December 7, 2016, Matt Skoczen

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Dec 7, 2016

Wednesday, December 7, 2016, Matt Skoczen

A very nice diversion on the 75th anniversary of this momentous event in our history - LEST WE FORGET



TITLE: I DON'T WANT A FREE CRUISE!

Matt has built this offering around one of the most annoying occurrences in the digital age: POP UP ADS. As you can see in the grid below he has the word ADS popping UP in four areas.



Here is his reveal:

39. Web irritants ... and what appears in each set of puzzle circles? : POP UP ADS - Here is one that visits my MacBook Pro too often!



Husker Gary here, blogging for the very busy Jazzbumpa for December. Here are Matt's theme entries where ADS pops up in the puzzle, (okay, horizontally here, but still...)

3. "Pillow Talk" actress : DORIS DA- The most famous scene from that movie


9. Museum pieces : OBJETS D'ART - Straight from Amazon


26. Brand of blended seasonings : MRS DASH - Those seasonings are onion, spices (black pepper, parsley, celery seed, basil, bay marjoram, oregano, savory, cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin mustard, rosemary) garlic, carrot, orange peel, tomato, lemon juice powder, citric acid, oil of lemon

31. Population information : CENSUS DATA - States sized by population. Can you find yours?


Let's see what else POPS UP in Matt's puzzle on this day:

Across

1. Kind of basin : TIDAL

6. State secrets? : RAT - State is a verb here

9. Intense dislike : ODIUM - Coincidence?


14. Act poorly? : EMOTE, usually in 61. Stage performances : PLAYS

15. Run a tab, say : OWE

16. Words between two "thanks" : BUT NO

17. Chef protector : APRON

8. With 18-Across, Southwestern cuisine : TEX 18. See 8-Down : MEX - Muy sabrosa (very tasty)

19. Floorboard support : JOIST - Pre-made floor JOISTS



20. Many a Sundance film : INDIE

22. Rent payer : LESSEE

23. Registered names: Abbr. : TMS - Trademarks - as in


25. Action at the front : COMBAT

28. H.S. hurdle : SAT

29. Adorn : BEDECK - Tis the Season!

32. Comical punctuation marks from the drummer : RIM SHOTS


34. Marshy lowland : SWALE - SWAMPS and SWALES are now Wetlands

35. Chihuahua, por ejemplo : ESTADO - Just south of the Estados Unidos


36. "__ Eyes": Eagles hit : LYIN - Groucho in Duck Soup - "Who are ya gonna believe, Me or your LYIN' eyes"

37. '60s campus gp. : SDS

38. Hieroglyphics reptiles : ASPS

41. "Do __, not ... " : AS I SAY - "...as I do" - Standard parental advice

43. Work on, as a stubborn squeak : REOIL - Yikes! I thought I saw ENOIL coming...

45. Tablets' kin : CAPSULES

48. Swingline insert : STAPLE - Then insert it in Jello


49. 2,170-mi. trail terminus : ORE - Lewis and Clark went 3,700 mi. to get to OREGON

50. Walk with style : SASHAY

52. Luau music provider : UKE where you'll probably see a 59. Aromatic necklace : LEI

53. Wanting too much : GREEDY

55. Pry : SNOOP

58. Cookie named for its flavor : 'NILLA

64. Words after miss or skip : A BEAT

65. Resting place : BED

66. Down source : EIDER

67. Singer Bruni married to Nicolas Sarkozy : CARLA - Former model married to former French president



68. Morning cuppa : JOE - I miss our blog's Avg. JOE

69. Amounts to : COSTS


Down

1. Leaves in a bag : TEA - Conniseurs here like C.C., Steve, et al would only use loose leaf tea as seen in this double-walled modern Chinese vessel called a gaiwan


2. Prankster : IMP

4. Lots : A TON

5. Provide with for a time : LEND

6. Montague lad : ROMEO

7. Blow away : AWE

10. Lucy and Ethel and Thelma and Louise : DUOS

11. "Indeed!" : IT IS SO - Picard's command for this


12. Oust, in a way : UNSEAT - It is rare when a member of the Senate is UNSEATED

13. Church choral works : MOTETS

21. "Eww!" : ICK

22. Tibetan title : LAMA

23. "Angie Tribeca" channel : TBS

24. Weak cry : MEWL

27. Itsy-__ : BITSY - Nah, I'm not gonna link "that song"

30. Inventor Howe : ELIAS - An interesting look at this process


33. Book after Daniel : HOSEA  - The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah, and during the reign Jeroboam son jehoash King of Israel. Oh, THAT HOSEA!

35. Ulysses threesome? : ESSES - How would Daffy Duck pronounce those 3 S's

40. __-screen printing : SILK 

42. Faulkner's "As __ Dying" : I LAY - Title from Agamemnon's speech to Odysseus. Yeah, I knew that. :-)

44. Actor Marvin of "Cat Ballou" : LEE - "Mr Shileen, Mr. Shileen, your eyes are all bloodshot!"
"You ought see 'em from my side!"



45. Courvoisier, e.g. : COGNAC

46. Speedy Gonzales cry : ARRIBA - Spanish for "UP". "ARRIBA, ARRIBA, Andale, Andale" means "Get up let's go!"

47. Kitchen gadget : PEELER

48. OED entry : SYN - Poecilonym is a SYNONYM for, uh, SYNONYM

51. Words for the audience : ASIDE

54. Hebrew for "skyward" : ELAL

56. Oil bloc : OPEC

57. Hodgepodge : OLIO

59. Pres. sworn in on Air Force One : LBJ

60. Job listing ltrs. : EEO

62. "Is it soup __?" : YET

63. Fourth-yr. students : SRS

I'm sure your comments that will POP UP now will be anything but irritating.

Husker Gary

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Windhover, who joined this blog earlier on. How are things with you, Windhover?

Windhover & Lucina, July 24, 2015


38 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks, Matt and Gary!

No problems. HOSEA was a WAG from two letters.

Happy Birthday, Windy!

Did not sleep at all last night. Rescheduled ophthalmologist appt. (He doesn't charge if you are too sick for appointment like some of my other doctors do. Anyone else have this problemn?)

Have a great day!

fermatprime said...

You can use Adblock in Safari (an extension) to keep the MacKeeper and other unwanted things on your Mac.

You should also use Malwarebytes regularly to get rid of anything that sneaked in.

Montana said...

Happy Birthday, Windhover!
Surprisingly easy Wednesday puzzle and I got the theme right away, too.

I'm in my Great Falls airport waiting to board to SLC, then JFK. A car will take me to CT.
It's -3° here. Hope it's warmer on the east coast.

Montana

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I emulated Lucina and SASHAYed through this one with nary a stumble. Thanks, Matt and Husker.

HBD, Windhover. Wow, that photo got to do double-duty this week.

tawnya said...

Good morning?

Are you wondering what I'm doing up so early? Me too. Lesson learned: don't take 12 hour sudafed after 6pm (cleared my ears and sinuses though!)

Thank you, Matt, for a most enjoyable Wednesday! Didn't see the theme because it took me forever to get POPUPADS - kept wanted 'populace' but that didn't make any sense.

Saw an article awhile ago about the famous red STAPLER from the classic Office Space so thought I'd share! If you haven't seen it, you should.

Had the chance to see The Eagles when hell froze over, went with my mom and my best friend. Lyin' Eyes is one of my favorites. Take it to the Limit always wins though.

Wanted to put PERRITOS instead of ESTADO but there wasn't enough room. My Instagram and Facebook is mostly pictures of chihuahuas and goldens...

Guess I'll work on my final project for the semester. Betting there's a nap on my agenda later today.

Happy Wednesday!

t.

PS - HBD Windhover!

OwenKL said...

{B, B+, A-.}

CARLA liked to spend her days
Attending symphonies and PLAYS.
And then at night,
BEDECKED in white,
POPPING UP the avenue she SASHAYS!

According to the CENSUS DATA
Population growth pro rata
IT IS alarming,
SO my darling
We'll take precautions while probing your strata!

Some like partners who softly MEWL,
Others braying like a mule!
What floats your boat
When you EMOTE
Will grant to your performance, fuel!

Hungry Mother said...

Smooth solve for a Wednesday. In June, 1960, I took my first commercial flight on a 707 from PHL to LAX. I sat on the aisle next to a man and his wife from LA. They provided me with whiskey from their flask and told me that their son worked for a Hollywood studio. When they found that I had a girlfriend, they gave me a bracelet for her, purported to be one worn by DORISDAY in "Pillow Talk." Three months later, I gave it to my girlfriend. When the girlfriend and I split up a couple of years later, she did not return the bracelet to me.

unclefred said...

NE last to fall. Couldn't think of ODIUM or BUTNO. Always think it's OBJECTSDARTE, with a C and an E that doesn't really belong there. Dang. CHIHUAHUA, POR EJEMPLO had me trying to figure out the Spanish words for lapdog for a while. Overall, CW took about twice my usual Wednesday time, but eventually got 'er done. Never noticed the ADS gimmick, DOH!! Anyway, thanx, Matt for the challenging Wednesday offering! And thanx, HG for the fine write-up. Owen, thanx for the usual grins.

Anonymous said...

On Monday, to EMOTE was to "act with passion." Today it's to "act poorly." Same thing?

thehondohurricane said...

"Mama said there would be days like this, momma said." Now I'm thinking....is it just a bad day or is age catching up with me? Got my rear kicked bad today.

To begin with, had TEX/MEX reversed so I never saw ROMEO or RAT. Spelled LESSEE Leasee so that hid DUOS. Wondered what the heck was a duoa? Never have heard of MRS DASH so the r,s, & d squares remained blank. RIM SHOTS, ESTADO, & SDS failed to appear in my aging grey matter.

I hope this was a bad day for crosswords and not a sign of "other" issues.

The way this day has started, I probably would be smart if I continued reading my current Bernard Cornwall book instead of watching the UConn ladies tonight, but I'll watch. Experts really like ND...very experienced and deep team.

TTP said...


Good morning all. Thank you Matt and thank you Gary. liked the visuals !
Happy Birthday Windhover !

Decided to solve from the SE to the NW today. Saw the reveal at 39D, so opened up the puzzle at the LA Times site to see where the circles were. Then put in SDA in each of those. Kinda sorta took some of the fun out of the solve.

I always thought of SASHAY as an exaggerated walking style. Overdone, as emoting is to acting.

True, we haven't seen Avg JOE for awhile. Did he get miffed ?

Montana, I saw the wind chill report on the evening news as they talked about a system pushing down from Canada. They reported it as -14 in Montana, and lower in western NDAK. Thought of you heading to the warmer climes of Connecticut. Have a safe trip.

Tawnya, I was really surprised to see your post so early in the day. Liked that Office Space Clip ! So many Eagles favorites, but the dueling guitar solos by Don Felder and Joe Walsh at the end of Hotel California makes it my most favorite.

Unclefred, I always want to add the C in OBJETS D ART. In fact, I know I did last time we had it as an answer. Got it correct in the puzzle and then added the C when I chimed in with my comments that day.

Hey Hondo, I had one of those terrible crossword solving days on Sunday.

This video was on the news this morning: Christmas Squirrel, "The Bulb Bandit" Caught in the Act! ?

Tinbeni said...

Happy Birthday Windhover ... First Sunset-Toast is to you!

Husker Gary: Outstanding, informative write-up. Liked the Pearl Harbor Day salute.

Matt: Thank You for a FUN Wednesday puzzle. Nice POP-UP ADS theme.

Fave today, of course, was 45-d, COGNAC ... go figure.

Cheers!

Big Easy said...

The SDA circles were obvious but my brain was thinking 'ADS UP', duh! even though 'adds up would be correct. Puzzle was easier than usual for a Wednesday with the 'Angie Tribeca' clue being the only unknown. The registered trademarks-TMS- took care of TBS on the cross.

The NE was the only part giving me trouble with the 'thanks BUT NO thanks' and IT IS SO for 'indeed' cross slow to fill. I had the ACT test before the SAT test replaced it.

Tawnya- There are TWO completely different Sudafeds. The original Sudafed is pseudoephedrine and it will keep you up; the replacement Sudafed is phenylephrine, which is the same as Neo-Synephrine nose drops and shouldn't keep you up as much.

TIDAL basin- every time I see the word 'basin' I can't help but think of TIDAL. About forty years ago, one of my employees told me he was walking down Bourbon Street and this photographer wanted to use him in a photo shoot with this model for an upcoming edition of 'Cherie Magazine'- a Playboy knockoff. He brought the magazine to work a couple of months later and there were pictures of him and Fanny Foxe, aka the TIDAL BASIN BOMBSHELL ( if you are old enough to remember her and Congressman Wilbur Mills from Arkansas). Everybody at work laughed because he didn't know who she was; he thought she was just another stripper.

MJ said...

Happy Birthday Windover, and good day to all!

SASHAY--Hi Lucina! Needed five perps to get CARLA Bruni. Thanks, Husker Gary, for the links and for guiding us through today's offering.

Enjoy the day!

Northwest Runner said...

Ore makes it two days in a row. Leaves in a bag is a clue I've seen before, but like "Layer on the farm" for hens, it's one of my favorites. The other day I wanted the clue Ducks to be eiders and not eludes, and today my wish was granted. Solvers of a certain age like me, will "instantly" recognize "Is it soup yet?" Not sure how that one goes over with others though.

Matt Skoczen said...

I always appreciate the kind words. ---Matt, today's constructor

Irish Miss said...


Good Morning:

This was a fun and speedy romp with a theme that just popped right off the screen. W/o's included tenant/lessee and needed perps for Estados and a few others. I always liked Doris Day. Is she still alive? I know she was a strong animal rights activist. Big CSO to Lucina at Sashay.

Thanks, Matt, for a mid-week treat and thanks, HG, for a visually striking summary and for doing double duty for December. You're a good man, Charlie Brown!

Very Happy Birthday wishes to Windhover! Hope the Irish and you do something special.

Tawnya, it's nice to have you posting more often and I hope you'll continue while you're on vacation from school. (In between naps, that is!)

Montana, it's not balmy here but it's not frigid either. Not sure of Connecticut's forecast but ours is just colder temps. Hondo, any thoughts?

Boy, did I embarrass myself yesterday! I picked up some birthday cards and a box of candy and a gift card at the drug store and, for reasons unknown, my mind wandered so far astray that when the clerk said my total was $72.50, I responded not once but twice, "Are you kidding?" I completely forgot about the $50.00 gift card. I'm sure my face turned a lovely shade of red as I offered repeated apologies. As Jayce would say, Sheesh!

Have a great day.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Fine puzzle from Matt today. Liked the TEX MEX juxtaposition. Only small bump was in the west; wasn't sure about the TBS/TMS cross, but it made sense.

Remembrance of the Pearl Harbor attack today. My feeble connection:
When the attack began, RADM Isaac Kidd was Commander of Battleship Division One. He was on the bridge of the Arizona carrying out his duties when it blew up and he was lost. He received the Medal of Honor for his heroism.
His son, Isaac Kidd, Jr, was at the USNA at the time, and his class was graduated early because of the War. He went on to achieve 4 star rank and became CINCLANT, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic fleet. During this period I performed training duty With SACLANT,Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, one of ADM Kidd's other "hats". As such I participated in his morning briefs during a NATO live exercise. He did not suffer fools. He was a real Cold Warrior, and our country was lucky to have his service. (A Fletcher Class destroyer, USS Isaac Kidd, named for the father, is a museum ship at Baton Rough, LA.)

OwenKL said...

{A} Thanks to Husker Gary for this! One poem in 3 stanzas!

A wonderful word is POECILONYM,
A synonym for a synonym!
No need for Roget,
No thesaurus today
To page thru for an anti-antonym!

ποικίλος ‎(poikílos) seems like a weighty word,
Needlepoint, treated as a verb.
Embroidered language,
Polka-dot badinage,
Writing BEDECKED -- repetition abjured!

oνοµα (onoma) is Greek, a word for a name.
While a name is a word, it's not quite the same!
See, a name, when it's heard
Is a sort of a word,
But the more I explain it, I'm going insane!

Lucina said...

Happy birthday, Windhover! We should probably send C.C. some new photos of ourselves.

Yes, it's true. I did SASHAY through most of this until the NE stopped me cold. No problem with OBJETSD'ART, but JOISTS never made it. I had JOINTS but UNNEST seemed ugly, yet we've seen ugly before in crosswords. So, DIW and not only there. Since I've never heard of Angie Tribeca had no idea where it aired. Anothe DIW. Drat.

Otherwise, all went well. TIDAL basin went in immediately when I saw TEA at 1D. And I've always loved DORISDAY so that was easy. CARLA, however, was not and though she was oft mentioned in the news her name didn't make a big impression on me.

Hand up, Tawnya, for wanting PERRITO instead of ESTADO which quickly replaced it.

So thank you, Matt Skoczen, for a delightful passtime today and thank you also for stopping at our Corner.

Have a gorgeous day, everyone!

CrossEyedDave said...

Hey Matt!

I had fun with your puzzle today,

I thought the crossing of 54d & 67a was going to be a Natick,
but an alphabet run stopped jarringly at "L"
with a V8 can to the head...

Kudos on 22a,
I had tenant, & then renter, then rentee, before lessee. (what an inkblot...)

You finally made me FIW at the crossing of 9a/13d.
Just a minor Natick for me,
(I hope it doesn't get you a Motet of intense dislikes from the Anons...)

Anon @ 7:42 Emote meaning? You decide...

HBD Windhover!

Mewling had me internet surfing:
I don't get it! Why is this little guy complaining?

Pop up ads go way back...

Correction:
PopUp ads go WAY WAY back...

AnonymousPVX said...

Kind of a breeze today, enjoyable. But it's "Make it so", as depicted, not ""It is so". I don't believe the good captain ever said the latter.

Jayce said...

Fun puzzle; I enjoyed it. Lucina and SASHAY are and will be forever linked. Happy birthday wishes to you, Windhover. Thanks for the story about Fannie Foxe, Big Easy, and for sharing your experience with Adm. Kidd, Spitzboov. Sheesh, Irish Miss! Thank you, Husker Gary.

thehondohurricane said...


Irish........... Going to get cold here also. Not too much difference in the climes between Ct & Albany. My personal opinion is I like this weather a lot better then the heat of a few months ago.

And I forgot again ..... Happy birthday Windover. Enjoy your celebration.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Husker - a Fascinating illustration of the sewing machine operation!

Thanks too for the Pearl Harbor anniversary salute! I remember the war years like they were yesterday. I wonder if being a child on the West Coast (San Fran) made the war more vivid. We were always dreading a Japanese attack -- I can even remember the false "attack" that had us cowering and crying under the kitchen table.

Thanks Matt Skoczen for a solid & enjoyable pzl.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Happy Birthday, Wind! Was this the source of your nom de blog?
-PVX – The way I explained Picard’s line was “Picard’s command for this” – IT IS SO. My intent was that someone would say IT IS SO after Piccard said “Make it so”. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
-The kids today where I am subbing today all seemed to know it was Pearl Harbor Day and had some rudimentary knowledge of it.

Misty said...

Well, I don't know why, but I found this a real Wednesday toughie. Got about 3/4 through when I stopped and did a Sudoku, hoping things would work better after a break. They did, but it was still tough, and in the end I still messed up by putting CMS instead of TMS since I didn't understand "registered names" and don't know "Angie Tribeca." But I got the theme, and thought it was cute, so many thanks, Matt. And you too, Husker Gary.

I said "No way," when I read "Ulysses threesome." If there's anything I know pretty well, it's "Ulysses," both the classic version and Joyce's novel, and there's no significant "threesome" in either, I don't think. Took a minute for the "Doh!"--three ESSES--to kick in.

Happy Birthday, Windhover!

Have a great day, everybody.

Yellowrocks said...


I wpoirote early this AM. Just as I hit publish my Internet connection went down. Post gone! Need tech help @ $139! Many snafus in everything today. I will sooth myself with Merlot and chips. Diet, what diet?
This survives, happy birthday to Windy. I enjoy your posts. I hope you will check in today.

Wilbur Charles said...

Well got in late on Tuesdays blog. Forgot to wish Lucina a HBD. Posted a trivia but I'd better repost.

It was because of OCS and Academies.
Can you name the Military Academies and the Heisman winners that played for them?

Eg. West point: ?; USN: ? etc

Anyway, when last I visited in real time I'd just finished Sunday and came here to find I'd finished NYT Sunday. Stickier than I'd expect for an LAT XW I'd been thinking.

But the Monday gang was talking about the difficulty of Sunday. And we're y'all ever right. I still have a square or two before I look at Sunday's posts.

OK. Enough ancient history. Matt. Thx for dropping by, nice workout. Owen's back to post election A level.

One last note about 12/7. Why did we go to war with Germany. OK. They declared war on us. But why, as H-Gary's kids might ask.

Because, Hitler engineered the whole attack, specifically by embedding a spy team on the island to map the defenses etc.

That's fact btw.

One last one. Anyone have ETUI for that Vanity Case yesterday?

PPS. You can google that Heisman question but you won't get it unless you pay attention to the hidden clue.

WC up to his tricks.

PPPs. Nice write-up up Husker.

CrossEyedDave said...

I was driving around bemoaning (mewling?)
the fact that I can never be as poetic as OwenKL,
when, on the car radio, these lyrics stopped me cold...

"And yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers,
But all that lives is born to die
And so I say to you that nothing really matters,
And all you do is stand and cry."

Led Zeppelins most mellow song, That's the way

CrossEyedDave said...

Guitarists lesson for today...

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts"

Wilbur Charles @ 2:40: well for sure, Glenn Davis RB for Army (USMA) and Roger Staubach QB for Navy (USNA) were Heisman Trophy winners. Knew those without looking up the answers. Are there others? Not aware of any player from the USAFA winning a Heisman Trophy ...

Too late in the day to add anything else. Most all of the posters here are probably in bed! 😜😜😜

Seriously, a good puzzle and theme from Matt - I always enjoy his puzzles because they are solvable but make you think. Very few Proper Nouns (aka people's makes) which I like.

Got a few more limericks to share but they're waiting in the bullpen until one of the words or themes show up here at the LATCW

Bill G. said...


* The other day a clown held a door open for me. It was a nice jester.

* Whoever invented knock-knock jokes should get a no-bell prize.

* I put my grandmother on speed dial. I called it Insta-gram.

Yellowrocks said...

I was dumped off the Internet just as I about to publish this AM. Finally I unplugged the computer just now and am back on after a day full of similar snafus everywhere in everything. We used to call 4PM the attitude adjustment hour. I am adjusted now. Ready to watch Jeopardy.

Wilbur Charles said...

C-Moe. Thanks for your interest in my 'trick' question.
Yes Davis and Pete Dawkins for army

Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach for the Navy
Air force academy none

US Coast Guard had Otto Graham but he wasn't Heisman
And, here it comes.. Quantico Marines played Division I football from the 50s into the 60s. Their QB in 1968?

Roger Staubach

Please. Mute your applause please. My blushes as Sherlock once said to Watson.

WC

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Ouch - FIW w/ the wrong OLeO. I was just glad to finish - the NE is a mess o' ink. As is the W and SW. Thanks Matt for the pzl and stopping by. Thanks HG for the expo - loved the RIM SHOT GIF.

WOs - a sampling: tEX & mEX fusion at 1st [btw, tricky Matt]; ACT/SAT - former gave me rejEcT; W-CED-S w/ leasee b/f LESSEE; abore [sic]; oiled b/f RE OIL; A turn b/f A BEAT; ORg b/f ORE. AS I SAY - lots of ink spilt.

ESP: No idea anymore.

Fav: I wanna say 16a c/a - BUT NOoooo. Gotta be the theme 'cuz it helped w/ 3d, 9d, 31d. I got the theme after two SDA's up.

{B, B, B+; A}

Funny Bill G.

Tawnya - Thanks for the info on the Red Swingline; did not know that

Spitz - thanks for the history!

Happy Birthday Windhover!

Play later after work. Cheers, -T

Anonymous T said...

Work is done but no one left to play - to BED w/ me. I'll have a Cuppa [where you at?] JOE (enjoyed the 2x CSO in c/a) in the morn to get ATON of work done again. C, -T

windhover said...

Yes it was/is.