google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, February 20, 2017 Mark McClain

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Feb 20, 2017

Monday, February 20, 2017 Mark McClain

Theme: No Reveal Monday - A step above just a number sequence.

19. Panama Canal nickname: EIGHTH WONDER

34. When baseball closers usually shine: NINTH INNING

42. NYC thoroughfare that becomes Amsterdam at 59th Street: TENTH AVENUE

57. When time is running out: ELEVENTH HOUR

Argyle here. Missing: {JZ} The theme was easy enough so some of the fill was not. On balance, a good Monday.

Across:

1. Soothsayer: SEER

5. Quick fix for an elbow hole: PATCH

10. Underwater vessel: SUB

13. Cuba libre fruit: LIME




14. Lorena of LPGA fame: OCHOA. She played the Tour from 2003 to 2010.

15. Phony: FAKE

16. Votes in favor: YEAs

17. "My mistake": "SORRY"

18. Rice field draft animals: OXENDifference Between Ox and Buffalo(link)

22. Robotic maid on "The Jetsons": ROSIE


23. Inherently: BY NATURE

27. Where to find Lima and llamas: PERU


30. Like farm country: RURAL

31. Thanksgiving tuber: YAM

38. They're often big in showbiz: EGOs

40. Sparkle: GLEAM

41. "I'm hungry enough to __ horse!": EAT A

45. Vert. counterpart: HOR. (horizontal) 63A. TV signal part: AUDIO

46. Gandhi's land: INDIA

47. Garbage email: SPAM

49. "Get moving!": "STEP IT UP!". STAT, ASAP.

53. Wash or spin: CYCLE

60. Computer image: ICON

64. "Giant" author Ferber: EDNA

65. Four-sided campus area: QUAD. (quadrangle)

66. Extended families: CLANS

67. Cincinnati ballplayers: REDS

68. Tennis match segment: SET

69. Saintly rings: HALOs

70. "Garfield" pooch: ODIE

Down:

1. Not as forthright: SLYER

2. "Old MacDonald" letters: EIEIO

3. Webzines: E-MAGs

4. Mail again, as a package: RESHIP

5. Fancy-schmancy: POSH

6. Have __: freak out: A COW

7. Pulsate: THROB

8. Like grandpa's jokes, probably: CORNY

9. Contemporary of Mozart: HAYDN. "One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." ~ Gemälde von Edouard Leon Cortes.



10. Jazz combo horn: SAX

11. Don Ho's instrument: UKE

12. "Gone Girl" co-star Affleck: BEN

15. Mint of money: FORTUNE. Don't be minting your own fortune; it's frowned upon.

20. High school junior, usually: TEEN

21. Merit: EARN

24. Dickens villain Heep: URIAH

25. Totaled, as a bill: RAN TO

26. "Pomp and Circumstance" composer: ELGAR. Sir Edward Elgar.

28. Capital of Latvia: RIGA


29. Sch. near the Strip: UNLV. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

31. "Abominable" critters: YETIs

32. Insurance rep: AGENT

33. Paris newspaper Le __: MONDE


35. Golfer's starting point: TEE

36. __ Christian Andersen: HANS

37. "Still sleeping?" response: "I'M UP"

39. Regular payment: STIPEND. One you receive, not pay out.

43. Precipitation stones: HAIL

44. A pop: EACH

48. Rescued damsel's cry: "MY HERO!"



50. Enlighten: TEACH

51. Throat dangler: UVULA

52. Bicycle feature: PEDAL

54. Encrypted: CODED

55. Monday, in Le Mans: LUNDI


56. Use the delete key, e.g.: ERASE

58. El __: weather phenomenon: NIÑO

59. Throw away: TOSS

60. Mensa nos.: IQs. (intelligence quotient)

61. Billiards stick: CUE

62. Breakfast grain: OAT
 
Argyle


Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear Santa Argyle, who just wrote his 748th blog post this morning. Argyle joined me a few months after I started and has been tirelessly guiding us every since. Off the blog, he's also my trusted advisor and sounding board. Thanks for being you, Santa!

Argyle, Jan 29, 2017

55 comments:

fermatprime said...

Hi everyone!

Thanks to Mark and Santa! Very fast puzzle. ROSIE suggested by perps.

Raining again!

Have a great day!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Anybody else notice the sequence of 10a and 13a? SUB LIME. Thanx, Mark. Only writeover was STEP ON IT / IT UP.

Rum and Coca Cola was banned on many radio stations -- just too sexy. Did you notice who wrote that song? Morey Amsterdam, of TV panel show fame.

Gonna be coming down in buckets in a few minutes, but it's moving fast and shouldn't last long. I've got an extra M-O-W route later this morning -- hope it's all moved on by then.

Happy birthday, Argyle!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

HBD Santa, and thanks for another solid write-up. Erased OCHOS for OCHOA (how quickly they forget), RESend for RESHIP, and A fit for A COW.

Didn't know ROSIE, although I thought I knew all the Jetsons characters. The only NYC streets I know are Wall, Broad and Broadway. Also didn't know ELGAR, but most folks have attended more graduations than CIRCUMSTANCEs warrant. The best graduation ceremony I have ever attended was my nephew's at the USMC boot camp at Parris Island, SC (and they didn't play that iconic tune).

Thanks to Mark for a fun, truly Monday-level puzzle.

Anonymous said...

The clues for SUB, UKE and TEEN had no indications they were calling for abbreviated forms for answers. The clues for EMAGS, SAX, UNLV and IQS did ("zines," "combo," "sch.," "nos."). We can excuse QUAD (no one but Argyle says QUADRANGLE).

You don't have to be a saint to wear a HALO (holy or angelic will suffice).

Tinbeni said...

Happy Birthday Argyle !!! ... My "First Sunset Toast" tonight is to YOU!

Needed ESP to get ELGAR and LUNDI, learning moments to be forgotten by noon.

Fave today, of course, was that LIME that makes a "Rum & Coke" a Cuba libre.

Cheers!

desper-otto said...

Anon@7:46, SUB, UKE and TEEN may have begun life as abbreviations, but they're used alone so frequently that they've become words in their own right.

BunnyM said...

Good morning all!

Nice Monday puzzle from Mark- thanks! And thanks to Argyle for being our faithful guide (784 times! Wow ��) Happy Birthday, Santa!

Just a little crunchy for a Monday. Perps were: OCHOA, ELGAR and RIGA.
Like desperate-otto, I had Step On It for STEPITUP. Another write over was RESHIP- I had resend but crosses soon fixed that.

Nice to see my beloved Cincinnati REDS. However, I'm not happy about them trading Brandon Phillips last week. He was loved here not only on the field but off as well, with his work in the community. It'll take awhile to get over this. Heck, I'm still upset about losing Johnny Cueto and the NINTHINNING closer Aroldis Chapman a.k.a "The Cuban missile"- I only saw him pitch in person one time but it was something else! The excitement on the field and in the stands was electric.

Very foggy here this morning! Glad I don't have to drive anywhere as it looks dangerous. We've had such mild temps, hard to believe its February! Saturday was gorgeous- 65 and sunny. I saw a bee (!) - can't ever remember that happening this time of year. I have so many bulbs sprouting up and noticed yesterday that most of our trees are starting to bud. Plenty of weeds, too.

Nice to be back after my short break this past week. I've been working the puzzles, just been very busy and also not feeling that great, so missed the blog since Tuesday. Hope everyone has been well :)

Have a great day everyone!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

A nice balance for a Monday.

Happy Birthday Argyle! We're glad you do what you do.

Lucina from last night - the LW and I have been enjoying Victoria also. We're impressed with Jenna Coleman's lively portrayal. Last night's episode was interesting as it gave a view of the humble beginnings of English railroads.

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning.

Off to watch my grands for Presidents' Day. They are off but not Mom and Dad. The weather should be nice for some park time today. In February??!! A bonus.

Thanks, Mark for a fine Monday romp. My fave was precipitation stones. Didn't see the HAIL at all.

Happy Birthday, Argyle! Thanks for all you do to keep us together. Nice links again today.

Enjoy this Monday, everyone.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy Birthday to Argyle. Hope you have a great day.

Agree with Argyle's take as to difficulty and theming. Straightforward solve needing no assistance.
Cuba libre - LIME - My first liberty port - in the late 50's - was in Bermuda. The drink of the day was Cuba libres. We hit Happy hour and drinks were 15¢ a pop. One could get stone-cold sloshed for $1.
RIGA - There's a suburb just to the West of Rochester, NY called RIGA. The map showing Riga, Latvia appears to have a mislabelling at the upper left where a peninsula jutting down is shown as Finland. It is an Estonian Island.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Carl Denham’s EIGHTH WONDER of the world in 1933
-Yesterday we had late week cluing “72. Closers often open it : NINTH. Inning.”
-ELEVENTH HOUR – my florist friend said the line of men at her shop was out the door on Valentine’s Day AFTERNOON
-Fairly predictable YEAS and Nays
-Making 50 years of marriage - My fault I say, “I’m SORRY” Her fault I say, “I’m SORRY”
-No one expected this incredible ”You’re not special” graduation speech after ELGAR’s song
-I grew up with only AUDIO Modulation radio.
-The Xerox Star is credited with the first ICONS or GUI Graphic User Interface
-Name the actress and movie - I have this thing about saxophone players, especially tenor sax...I don't know what it is, they just curdle me. All they have to do is play eight bars of 'Come to Me, My Melancholy Baby' and my spine turns to custard.
-LUNDI, LUNDI (1:23) Annoying voice over at start!
-HBD, Argyle. And on this blog we had a Santa, E, I, E, I, O!

Husker Gary said...

Musings II
-I have blogged before about how I dislike greeting cards and our 50th anniversary proved me out. We received over 200 greetings via Facebook and this wonderful blog. No one had to go out, dither over a card, write something, stuff an envelope, find a stamp and mail something that will be discarded very quickly. These obstacles would have greatly diminished the number of people who would have recognized our milestone. Thoughts?

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

HBTY Argyle (Santa) - many happy returns! 🎂🎆

I had little trouble solving but did have a couple w/o's (write-overs): RESEND > RESHIP; and CAULK > PATCH. Solved from top to bottom, left to right. Got EIGHTH WONDER then NINTH INNING, and somehow didn't just WAG TENTH for the avenue! Wasn't getting the progression until I got ELEVENTH HOUR. Where's the V-8 can when you need one??!! 😜

No worries about Quadrangle for QUAD, Santa. I understood. We had one at Pitt, where I went to college. All of the women's dorms were there. I became very acquainted! 😀

So, without looking to see if Owen appeared today with a few witty poems, I went all "OKL" today on mine, which is pretty non-sensical but I hope for a "cute" when -T grades it ...

Popeye the Sailor says, "I YAM what I YAM"!
Dr Seuss character's named, Sam-I-Am!
If you put them together
With a PATCH made of leather
Would they still eat their green spinach and SPAM?!

MJ said...

Happy Birthday Argyle, and good day to all!

Caught the theme for today's fine puzzle at the NINTH INNING, which made for smooth sailing for the lower half. Hand up for STEP on it before STEP IT UP. Thanks for being our faithful Monday tour guide, Argyle, and for the musical links. Especially enjoyed the HAYDN selection.

Have been helping out with the grands the past few days. Fun, but tiring. With all the rain, we had to come up with creative indoor activities. We capped off our time together yesterday with a trip to a wonderful hands-on science center.

Enjoy the day!

Tinbeni said...

Husker

I remember last August NOT receiving ANY birthday greets via Facebook.

(OK, I do NOT have a Facebook Account/Page ... but ... )

I'm happy for a phone call ... no card required ...
So I guess you could say ... I agree with you 100%

Cheers!


PS Argyle is such a wonderful person ... today should be a National Holiday!

Chairman Moe said...

HG @ 8:58 ---> greeting cards vs cyber greetings

Tough call; on one hand, I know exactly what you're saying about the not having to go and find a card, write an appropriate comment, do the stamp/post office thing. OTOH, it is nice to open the mailbox and find a personalized piece of mail once in awhile. Too much of my snail mail is SPAM, and having an actual greeting card show up is OK by me, and I still send them.

I, too had scores of birthday greetings via this blog and Facebook last week, but the actual cards I received probably got more attention, and will be remembered longer. Different takes I guess. But in the end, it's not so much the number of greetings I get, or how, it's who's remembered to send them. The fact that someone here on the Crossword Corner takes the time to alert us all of birthdays and anniversaries is pretty cool.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Nice Monday offering to start the week. Had a cow and Eat a horse struck my funny bone. If Mark had more space, he could have given us a little Twelfth Street Rag! (And Thirteen Steps!) Rosie was an unknown but not an issue.

Thanks, Mark, for an easy, peasy solve and thanks, Argyle, for your faithful and dedicated blogging which continues to be above and beyond the call of duty and is greatly appreciated. Best wishes for a very Happy Birthday. 🎂🎉🍾🎈🎁

I hope I'm smart enough to figure out all of the bells and whistles on my new "Smart" TV!

Have a great day.

CanadianEh! said...

Testing my IQ with the CW on Mensa today. Thanks for the fun, Mark and Argyle. Happy Birthday Argyle!
Thanks for the HAYDN link. Other music today also with AUDIO, UKE, SAX, and ELGAR.

Hand up for Step on it before Step IT UP, a Fit before a COW, resend before RESHIP. I moved from Ayes to YEAS, thought about Darn (one letter short) before PATCH (LOL at your Caulk, C Moe), Mea Culpa before SORRY (three letters too many). I was searching my brain for jewellery for "throat dangler" before UVULA filled in with perps.

Echoes from yesterday with NINTH (HG already noted) and GLEAM (sparkle could elicit glisten or glitter). "A pop" is the clue for EACH today.

Ontario (and Alberta and Saskatchewan) CLANS are celebrating Family Day today. Happy Presidents' Day to my American friends.

Like Lucina, Misty and Dudley, I am enjoying Victoria.

oc4beach said...


As Argyle and others have said, this was a nice easy Monday level puzzle from Mark. The puzzle filled in so fast I didn't look for a theme today. Argyle explained it well. Happy Birthday Argyle.

The only across fill that I needed perps for was STEPITUP because I had STEPonit. ELGAR, which I didn't know, was filled in before I got to the down clues. LE MONDE was a fill that I knew. I don't know why I knew it, but it lives in the recesses of my grey matter.

Why do we see certain words used in different puzzles for a while? Words like ODER and ODIE have been used a few times recently. Do constructors look at other puzzles and say there's a word I can use or is it the Editors who modify the puzzles to add them? It doesn't seem like it's just a coincidence. How many more times in the next week or so will we see ODER and ODIE?

Luckily for me that the weather has been warm (60's) this weekend. Apparently a board that controls the zones of my HVAC system had failed on Saturday. So, no heat. A call to my heating contractor (at $135/hr) rendered the verdict that the board will need to be replaced, that is if they still make it. If we have to go to another manufacturer it will be a lot more $$$ and more parts that will need to be replaced. Oh, the joys of home ownership.

HG: I think it was Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot", a real classic movie.

I hope the weather where you are is reasonable, and the rains out west slow down. Enjoy the day.

CanadianEh! said...

HG@8:58 - I have moved to sending e-cards for both birthdays and Christmas for all those that I know use computers. I still have a few older folks who only use snail-mail. I informed everyone the first Christmas that I switched that I was sending a donation to charity equivalent to what would have been spent on cards/stamps etc. Most who responded seemed to feel that this was appropriate.
I bought a Jacquie Lawson membership (only $14/year) and they have lovely choices of cards for any occasion (English company with lovely choir boys and scenes at Christmas) and a Christmas Advent Calendar also. I use them to send birthday cards during the rest of the year. I only buy cards for immediate family. (Free advertisement over!)

desper-otto said...

IM, have you ever listened closely to PeeWee Hunt's Twelfth Street Rag? I've been trying to figure out what the guy is saying at the 1:56 point, just before the doo-wacka-doo's: Twelfth Street Rag -- 1948

Anonymous said...

Husker Gary @ 8:53

AM is amplitude modulation.

FM is frequency modulation.

Has something to do with the height and width of the sine wave.

Don

TTP said...


Good morning all. Thank you Mark and thank you Argyle.

Happy Birthday Argyle. 748 recaps is impressive. Just 7 short of a number that sticks in my mind. Hammerin' Hank hit 755 round trippers. You need a nickname. How about Analyzin' Argyle ?

Quick solve this morning. Filled in the long diagonal first, then the SW and NE corners, followed by the two remaining diagonals. So I had NINTH, then EIGHTH, followed by ELEVENTH and TENTH. Otherwise, might have entered FIFTH AVENUE.

Thought of Irish Miss at AUDIO for TV signal part. Her last TV couldn't produce the other part of the TV signal.

Didn't know that the Panama Canal was nicknamed the EIGHTH WONDER of the world.

The neighbor's teenage daughter had a sleepover last night. Three cars left just before sunrise. Eleven kids left just after 8 AM. There's still five more cars in the driveway, and another three in the front yard. And another parked in a different neighbor's driveway. The daughter was just out doing litter patrol. Another neighbor, clearly agitated, waved her over. The really nice mailbox that her husband put up last summer was broken off. The husband is probably looking at his security camera recordings. This won't end well. They're already not on the best of terms.

Wilbur Charles said...

I still haven't got a chance to get to Sunday. So I did Monday. And I'm still short of time but not so rushed that I couldn't dash off this Haiku.

Who came?
MY HERO
When?
At the ELEVENTH HOUR

WC in the morning

Wilbur Charles said...

Whoops. Haiku are 11 syllables? Scratch AT

WC

Magilla Go-Rilla said...

9D: I remember well the Haydn piece you presented us. In the late 50's early sixties Ernie Kovacs did a TV show called "Take a Good Look" sponsored by Dutch Masters cigars. Ernie produced the cigar commercials that included himself and the music played during these ads was this Haydn piece simply called "Serenade".

Lucina said...

Happiest of birthdays, Argyle! You are our LUNDI HERO so thank you for all you do! I hope you celebrate.

Thank you, Mark McClain for giving us a nice Presidents' Day sashay. Hand up for STEPONIT/STEPITUP and RESEND/RESHP. Those are the only ones I had to ERASE. And when was the last time anyone considered TEEN an abbreviation? SUB? They are now in the language as their own words.

CanadienEh:
I also subscribe to Jacquie Lawson e-cards and use them on holidays, however, too many people I know don't have e-mail or even computers so I send them physical cards. As mentioned, it's lovely to receive those cards and open them. A few friends send me cards and I love that. Someone I know recycles cards and remakes them so I cut off the front and give them to her. The rest goes into the recycle bin.

Have a beautiful day, everyone! I'm glad others are enjoying Victoria. I like Mercy Street, too.


Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Don, I learned Amplitude Modulation, worked with it and taught it but my 70-yr-old brain must have gone south for the winter and left me here. Thanks for the gentle reminder.
-A local funeral director jumped all over me about “people being too lazy to go buy a card” for my dad’s funeral after I mentioned how much we enjoy using email cards to express sympathy at other funeral homes. It allows me to avoid exposing my bad penmanship yet still write a nice memorial. He offered that same service six months later.
-Yup, oc4beach, on Saxophone players! (2:24)
-Magilla, I preferred the pitch Ernie Kovacs’ wife had for her cigar that featured Stan Getz on SAX.
-Email cards with pictures and beautiful music are way cool!

TTP said...



I feel like I'm channeling Gladys Kravitz. Three more cars left, and a few minutes later another pulled up. Two girls got out of it, got in their cars, and left.

D-O, I remember Morey Amsterdam from the Dick Van Dyke show.

Canadian Eh, my neighbor sends us Jaquie Lawson greeting cards on various holidays. Very creative. They've all been interactive. Especially the Thanksgiving and Christmas cards. Some are quite involved.

Cycling fans would remember the only American to be recognized as having won the Tour de France. He was the first non-European to win it.

Irish Miss said...

DO @ 9:42 ~ I listened to your link but couldn't catch what was said. Google Liberace Twelfth Street Rag for another take.

TTP, as noted, I am now enjoying audio and video, thanks to my new Smart TV. However, I'm disappointed that it doesn't cook, clean, or do the laundry! Sheesh! (Thanks, Jayce.)

Bill G. said...

Hi everybody. That was a pleasant Monday puzzle. Thanks Mark and Argyle.

We got a Christmas card from Barbara's brother and his wife that said they were making a charitable donation instead of their usual gift. Neither of us cared for it. I'm all for charity. We contribute often. If they want to contribute, excellent. But I don't like their deciding to make a contribution for us. Contributions are great. Christmas remembrances are great. I don't see the need to mix them together.

AnonymousPVX said...

Irish Miss - what would you expect a SMART TV to do? - it's smart enough to not do the housework for ya!

Nice Monday puzzle with just a touch of crunch.

Yellowrocks said...

A very happy birthday, Santa. Thanks for the loving care you give this blog and us Cornerites.

I remember Rosie from the old Jetson shows. OCHOA was all perps, the only answer I have never seen before. I already had the last P for step it up, so no prob.
I have heard Pomp and Circumstance called "The Elgar" and the traditional march, "Bridal Chorus," simply called "The Lohengrin."

OKL from yesterday. Fermatprime did tell me long ago that her screen name was in tribute to Fermat. I always think of her for both Fermi and Fermat. Illogical? Maybe. I have seen her name shortened to just Ferm sometimes.

Also from yesterday, interesting about the macassar hair oil. I didn't know that, but I do know that antimacassars protect the seat backs and arms from sweat and natural hair oil these days.

I, too, like to get cards in the mail. David chooses very sweet verses for me and often indulges my mania for butterflies by locating card with butterflies.See my avatar.

Mark McClain said...

Thanks, Argyle, for the nice write up for this breezy puzzle - it didn't start out as a Monday, but that's where it ended up. And, we were successful in covering some of the tougher answers like OCHOA and ELGAR with easier perps, so hopefully everyone gets a score! Oh, man if we could get rid of ODER and ODIE, that would be great (not to mention ARLO, OMOO, and EDIE - and a whole string of words that I refuse to use even though they're still seen) - but they're so doggone handy to cross those much-more-fun words, we just can't help it. A commentator on another blog wondered if this is one in a series of ordinal number themes, and the answer to that is, no, but . . . maybe.

Argyle said...

10A13A

Hungry Mother said...

Nice early week offering.

Jayce said...

Crunch crunch chew chew; lip-smackingly delightful puzzle. Once I got the EIGHTH and NINTH the TENTH and ELEVENTH became obvious. I loved EAT A right above HOR. I put in had A FIT before WONDER revealed it was A COW. I never know if it's going to be HALO(S) or AURA(S) before solving at least one perp. I vaguely remember a song by Rolf Harris (the guy who did "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport") in which one line in the lyrics was "I love you-vula" (UVULA). At the time, I think it was in the mid 60's, I thought that was really funny.
Happy birthday, Argyle. A toast of single-malt to you!

Misty said...

Perfect Monday puzzle, Mark--thank you so much! Not only did I get everything easily and smoothly, but like Desper-otto, I had to erase only once to replace STEP ON IT with STEP IT UP. And I loved the consecutive 8, 9, 10, and 11 number sequence!

Happy Birthday, Argyle (is it okay to call you Santa?). You really outdid yourself with wonderful pictures this morning! Your llamas were my favorites.

I like getting Jacquie Larsen cards too. They are sweet to look at and listen to, and it's nice to be able to respond and thank the sender right away. I nowadays just send an e-mail, but I can usually find Happy Birthday or other celebratory images on Google to add to the bottom of my message, to make it a little more cheerful.

Have a great day, everybody!

Irish Miss said...

Anonymous PVX @ 12:45 - Point taken! ☹️

Bill G, I would feel the same as you do. Are you supposed to be grateful for a gift you didn't receive and be happy about a donation you didn't make? It doesn't make sense to me but, then again, I am truly confounded by a lot of current behavior. My sister just received an invitation to a St. Patrick's Day party with a notation, "Please feel free to bring an hors d'oeuvre (sp?) to serve 8." (This is from someone she hasn't seen or heard from in over a year.) And then we have the niece whose bridal shower was last April and the wedding June 3rd and we're still waiting for a thank you. I have a feeling we'll be waiting forever. End of rant.

inanehiker said...

Just got back from an 11 day trip to West Africa on a medical mission trip - so as far off the grid as you can get - but only a few times without any electricity at all this time.

So - first crossword puzzle in awhile today - and with jet lag and trip fatigue the brain was still actually operational!

Thanks Argyle for the write-up and Happy birthday as well!

Anonymous T said...

Hi all!

D-O, Tx Ms - did y'all float away yet today? The rain is still falling in Sugar Land.

Thanks Mark for a fun pzl; the grid filled in like paint-by-the-numbers and for stopping by. Late week explains ESPs (below) - thank goodness for the perps!
Thanks Argyle for the expo (and the music!)

WOs: WEES - RESend (ROSIE fixed that - nailed it!) and NINa
ESPs: OCHOA, ELGAR, & LUNDI

Sparkle, er, GLEAM: c/a for 15d; Le MONDE after Greg on Sat (Fri?) [Hi TTP!]; c/a for STIPEND. LOL SUB LIME guys...

Fav MY HERO, Zero [Lemon Heads - or, if you prefer, considering all the cigars today, the non-smoking original School House Rocks]

The Astrodome is the only EIGHTH WONDER I knew of.

Ever notice how one's IQ seems to drop to that of a YETI by Saturday's pzl? :-)

{} {Funny! (That's one up from cute :-)}

IM - Careful if you decide to hook your "Smart" TV to the Internet. There malware designed to attack Internet connected TVs which are typically less secure than a laptop. I personally don't recommend it.

HG - I've given up on cards all together. Somehow dates sneak up on me and Whoosh right by. One exception is DW - If I miss a card for her I don't live it down. She got 3 this week - Valentine's, B-Day, and our "church" anniversary. I didn't get nuthin' and don't mind 'cuz I got a smooch :-)

And not least, Happy Birthday Argyle!

Cheers, -T

JD said...

Good afternoon all,

HBTY, Argyle♪♩♬♫•*¨*•.❤.•*¨*•♫♪•.¸¸.•´♫♪♩♬*¨*`•.♥.•´*♫♪♩♬and many more. Thanks for all of the A-HA's over the years, and explanations of themes and who's and why's.I am dense when it comes to themes, although today it sunk it right away and helped me glide quickly thru Mark's creation. By nature gave me pause; Rosie was an easy WAG, but Ochoa was all perps. Riga and Elgar would have been unknowns, but they were filled when I got there.

Anyone watch "The Good Fight" last night? I didn't think it would be as good as its predecessor, but I think it will be just as interesting.

Funny thing happened the other day. A good friend of my DH emailed that he had seen our picture on C.Corner. Bob asked if he was a lurker or did he have a handle,LOL...neither. He said when the puzzles get too hard at the end of the week, this is his go-to place for answers.

TTP said...

WiFi connected security cameras too, right Anonymous T ? There was a short news story the other day. Bad actors are using them to spy on the homeowners and businesses that installed them. Just like routers, they get installed and users don't change the default settings. Very basic security on most of the internet connected appliances anyway, as manufacturers rush to market with the features, but skimp on the security. What's that old Latin saying for consumer, be wary of your internet connected devices ? Caveat, internetto protectum ?

Well, the teenager's father and the other neighbor whose mailbox was vandalized faced off a couple of hours ago. Didn't need to be an expert in body language to figure out how that discussion went. They won't be exchanging greeting cards.

We've had OCHOA a number of times. A quick glance looks like she's been clued every day of the week. Most recently was by CC on Dec 28th, 2016, clued as Former #1 LPGA golfer Lorena.

But one only needs to go back just a little farther to see her in this golf themed gem Wednesday, April 8, 2015 D. Scott Nichols & C.C. Burnikel.

Argyle said...

Certainly you may call me Santa, Misty (and sit on my lap, too).

Irish Miss said...

Anoymous T @ 2:11 - Other than streaming, what are the advantages, if any, of being connected to the Internet through the TV?

Welcome back, inanehiker.

Bill G. said...

I went back to CBSNews.com and found this headline on an article about Daylight Saving Time that I read a couple of days back. What were they thinking (or not thinking)? No wonder I got easily confused.

Daylight Saving Time Is Here, Don't Forget To Set Your Clocks Back

Ol' Man Keith said...

Thank you and happy B'day, Argyle.

(He's a beagle, true-bred!)

I've been praising Monday pzls of late, glad to see them toughening up. This one by Mr. McClain joins the stout & stalwart ranks. Not TOO tough, mind you, but chewy enough to make me think twice about parts of the throat and bicycle and cause some messy write-overs.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Whoops! Nearly forgot it is Presidents' Day. Happiness to anyone celebrating it!

BTW, how DO we celebrate it?

I can't get it straight, as to whether it is dedicated to Washington and Lincoln, the two giants who used to enjoy their own February dates (12th and 22nd) or just fudged to include ALL, great and small, who've occupied the office. On the one hand, I get why we can't expect to make federal holidays of Fillmore Day or Coolidge Day; but on the other, doesn't it diminish the nation's respect, just a bit, to lump Jefferson and FDR in with such a mixed lot?
I know, the usual answer is "respect for the office," but I confess I don't get much inspiration from the Oval's floors, walls, and furniture (even the Resolute desk).

Misty said...

Thank you, Santa, and thanks for the offer. But instead of the lap, I'll look forward to sending you a wish list at Christmas!

Wilbur Charles said...

I'm back. Glad you're feeling better Bunny.
I should have looked up Haiku. It's 5/7/5 on the syllables. I guess what I wrote was a Wilbur.
So, after knocking off Monday at the diner near the CC Dental clinic I started Sunday. And yes, finished to the tune of distals and buckels.
I found it a tough Sunday. I'm going back to the Sunday posts now.

Argyle, I finally know why they call you Santa. Anyone call you GBS?

Mark, perfect Sunday xword. I thought the Strip was Sunset and UCLA the school.

WC

Ps. I liked your 'Lick C-Moe

Argyle said...

GBS, no. William Conrad, yes. Howard Taft, sometimes.

Lemonade714 said...

Scott, my virtual birthday present to the hardest working man in the puzzle biz and the most reliable. GIFT .

Mark is really doing well as a regular on our rota. Thank you both.

Argyle said...

Thank you all for the birthday wishes.

Lemon, the sweater would need a couple more X's.

Bill G. said...

I just finished doing the Sunday NYT crossword. A good puzzle to be sure but it felt different from a similar LAT puzzle. Since we have lots of experts here, I'm curious how you might describe the differences in cluing? Themes? Other attributes?

Anonymous T said...

Respect for the office - LOL OMK!

IM - Yep streaming is the only real reason to hook your Smart TV up to a network. Some TVs have shopping apps if you're into that. If you already have an Apple TV box, use that instead (I do). An easy to digest expo on Smart TV security. One thing to note is, because these are consumer-grade, don't expect the manufacture to provide updates after a year or two. Also note sometimes bugs stay in software for years b/f they found and exploited.

"Buy why would they hack my TV?", you may ask. They can use it as part of a Botnet they sell time on. Here's one happened a few months back. TTP - yup, web-cams were part of it too.

Well, we're into the ELEVENTH HOUR here and no one said 8d reminded them of -T's jokes... That's FORTUNate :-)

Have a good night all. Cheers, -T