google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, February 23, 2017 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Gary's Blog Map

Feb 23, 2017

Thursday, February 23, 2017 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Shh, I can hear you!  The reveal tells us what to look for in the circled squares ...

57A. Blog comment format usually interpreted as the word spelled by eight aptly circled puzzle letters : ALL CAPS

... and thus we find SHOUTING. I puzzled a little over the "aptly" in the clue, then realized that the eight circled letters each begin eight proper nouns, and thus are capitalized, even when we're not shouting.



The Dynamic Duo are back with a nice Thursday challenge, I struggled with the top-left and middle-left sections of the grid. The cluing was tricky and parsing out SANTA FE, AS EVER, MEANS IT and COUNTS ON was not easy. ARIOSOS was new to me too, but eventually the crosses brought it together for me, so it's all good.

Let's see what else we've got.

Across:

1. Oldest U.S. capital : SANTA FE, New Mexico. It took me ages to see this - my mind was firmly fixated on the East or the South. It didn't help I couldn't stop seeing SAVANNA when I know it's not spelled like that and it was a capital during colonial times, before U.S. independence.

8. Spade creator : HAMMETT. Dashiel Hammett, author of the Sam Spade mysteries, most famously The Maltese Falcon.

15. Melodic movements : ARIOSOS. Thank you, crosses. I discover an arioso is a solo vocal piece in an opera or oratorio.

16. Ancient region now part of France : ALSATIA. So named when part of the Roman empire, now known as Alsace. The region has been subject to a fair bit of tug-of-war over the years, mainly between the French and the Germans. The food, wines and some of the customs have a distinctly Germanic feel.

17. Is serious : MEANS IT

18. Impulse conductors : NEURONS

19. Much toothpaste : GEL

20. U.S. neighbor : MEX. My neighbors to the south.

21. "Picnic" dramatist : INGE. William Inge won a Pulitzer Prize for drama for this play; Paul Newman's Broadway debut in 1953.

22. Letter between November and Papa : OSCAR. From the NATO phonetic alphabet. I always need to remind myself that it's ALFA, not ALPHA.

25. Singer's warm-up syllables : DOS

26. Indy-winning family name : UNSER. Al, Bobby and Al. Jr. have all recorded wins at the Indy 500.

27. Swears by : COUNTS ON

29. 66, e.g.: Abbr. : RTE. Get your kicks with the Rolling Stones.

30. Metaphor for jobs : HATS

31. Lav, in London : LOO

32. Singer Kitt : EARTHA

36. "... __ quit!" : OR I

37. Kind of bath : TURKISH

39. "Just like that!" : BAM! A certain television chef has made this something of a trademark. He says "Bam!", the audience claps. That's about all there is to it.

40. Sign-off words : AS EVER. I got fixated on some variation of OVER and OUT. Signing off, as a letter writer, not a radio transmission.

42. Director Lupino : IDA

43. Corny state? : IOWA

44. MSN, for one : ISP  Internet Service Provider. This seems to generate some discussion whenever the clue crops up, but MSN Dial-Up is still provided as a service to customers who cannot access broadband service.

45. "I'm good" : NO THANKS

47. Jazzy Jones : NORAH

50. Miracle Mets manager Hodges : GIL

51. Frozen fruit-flavored drinks : ICEES

52. Slanted piece : OP ED. Opinion pieces traditionally placed on the page opposite the editorials, hence the name.

53. Sounds at spas : AHS

54. 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee : ELO. Just now, really? I'd have assumed they'd been in for years. Accompanied this year by Yes, Pearl Jam and Journey.

55. Enchant : BEGUILE

61. Norse explorer : ERICSON. Waited for the cross to decide between a C and a K.

62. Daughter of Agamemnon : ELECTRA

63. End of a baseball game, usually : LAST OUT. If the home team scores the go-ahead run in extra innings, the game is over at that point. A game can also be called because of rain.

64. Like siblings : RELATED

Down:

1. __ Adams : SAM. Totally blanked on this one. Patch, Grizzly, Tony (you wouldn't know him, from English soccer) - all kinds of Adams. Finally, the penny dropped. Cheers!

2. "Who __ you kidding?" : ARE

3. Actress Vardalos : NIA. I've GOT to remember this one. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was wonderful.

4. Polynesian archipelago natives : TONGANS. Fixated on SAMOANS. 

5. State as fact : ASSERT

6. Impede, as a plot : FOIL

7. Guinness suffix : EST. Established 1759. Arthur Guinness was so confident of his business venture that he leased the land for his brewery on a 9,000 year term at 45 Irish Pounds per annum.

8. __ Her Way : HANES

9. "A Clockwork Orange" narrator : ALEX. Played by Malcolm McDowell in the movie version. Not everyone's cup of tea.


10. 2015 Big Ten champs: Abbr. : M.S.U. Michigan State football.

11. Siren's victim : MARINER

12. Waist-length jackets : ETONS. I stayed a night in Eton last year, home of the historic college. The students no longer wear the Eton jacket, they all wear tailcoats. The garment was dubbed a "bumfreezer" in school vernacular.

13. Faint trace : TINGE

14. Trademarked weapon : TASER

20. One-piece beachwear : MONOKINIS. Sneaky plural.

22. Former #1 golfer Lorena who hosts an annual Guadalajara LPGA event : OCHOA. She won the Women's British Open at the "home of golf", St. Andrews in Scotland. She retired to start an educational foundation in her home city of Guadalajara. 

23. Heads up : SOARS

24. Adorable one : CUTIE

25. Screen __ : DOOR

26. Four Corners state : UTAH

28. Openly enjoy, as soup : SLURP. Good manners in some Asian countries. I used to work with a Singaporean and I swear you could hear him eat soup two miles away.

29. Convened again : RESAT

33. Rib eye alternative : T-BONE. Food! My favorite steak is a bone-in prime rib with lashings of freshly grated horseradish.

34. Ethan of "Boyhood" : HAWKE. Never saw the movie, but didn't bat an eyelid here.

35. Gather up : AMASS

37. John who composed the "NBA on NBC" theme song : TESH

38. Much-followed star : IDOL

41. Gorge crosser : VIADUCT. This is the beautiful Ribbleshead railway viaduct on the Settle-to-Carlisle line in northern England.



43. Former Chrysler head : IACOCCA. I never know where to start spelling this one. Crosses help.

46. Early Jewish scholar : HILLEL

47. 116-year-old prize : NOBEL. We learned last week that the Pulitzer prize medal sports a profile of Ben Franklin (and according the the Pulitzer web site on the obverse, the reverse has "a husky, bare-chested printer at work, which sounds rather racy for such an august body). This eponymous medal has Alfred. And no "husky" printers to be seen.


48. Philip Glass' "Einstein on the Beach," e.g. : OPERA

49. Kelly's ex-partner : REGIS. Philbin and Ripa.

50. Belgian treaty city : GHENT

53. Jesus of baseball : ALOU. Nailed it! C.C. will be proud of me.

54. She, in Cherbourg : ELLE

56. Bar opening? : ISO- These weather-map contour lines. Had some lively weather in Los Angeles over the last couple of weeks.



57. __ Lingus : AER. Irish carrier. I'm flying United as usual this week. Quick out-and-back to Miami. It was a tad bumpy on the way into Denver and crossing Texas, those pesky isobars.

58. DIRECTV parent : AT&T. Grrr. AT&T and I have a difference of opinion over them switching me from uVerse to DirecTV.

59. Ante- kin : PRE-. Pre-boarding, ante-bellum, pre-screening, ante up - which to choose?

60. Bummed out : SAD

And bummed as I am, I think that just about does it for me. Here's the grid!

Steve


Note from C.C.:

Happy 78th Birthday to Keith Fowler (Ol' Man Keith), who has his own Wiki page. Keith has been with our blog since 2009,  I'll never forgot your Blue Tits story, Keith!


57 comments:

  1. FIR, but was unimpressed with the theme today. Yes, each letter started a capitalized word both across and down, for 16 words total, which was neat. But other words would also be capitalized, and there are enough proper nouns that finding ones that fit doesn't seem too much harder than constructing a themeless would be.

    Still not past my depression, but think I at least passed the nadir. A meme about that I found yesterday: This too shall pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass. Yesterday I just reported a meme verbatim. Today I properly weaponized/poemized it. So many proper nouns today made poetizing a bit extra challenging, so not my best work I fear.

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

    There are books by Dashiell HAMMETT
    Where SAM Spade runs the P.I. gamut
    Of "goils" sent to FOIL SAM
    Or goons to give his head a BAM!
    But when he sets his HAT, he MEANS IT, dammit!

    To stimulate my NEURONS I was offered artificial,
    But was told that natural would be more beneficial
    So I took omega-three GEL
    (ALL CAPS I swallow real swell)
    But judging by this poem, results were Super Fish Oil!

    Pioneers from MEXICO came to SANTA FE.
    They settled and they changed it in Spanish way.
    Now the HAWK is seen once more
    In the skies where he did SOAR,
    And a TINGE of MEXI-culture is throughout the U.S.A.!

    If you're up on Groucho you've seen a VIADUCT
    But brother Chico wants to know, AS EVER, why-a-duck!
    If we would add a Marxist name
    Into the comic hall of fame
    We must ASSERT the ceremony we do in-a-duck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello everyone!

    Thanks to Don, CC and Steve!

    Perped and WAGged ALSATIA, SANTA FE, ERICSON, HANES and MAU, VIADUCT and ALEX.

    Nice puzzle.

    Steve, it has been raining here for aeons. Where were you? More coming, too.

    Have a great day!

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  3. Good morning!

    From LAS to DOS, but otherwise Wite-Out free this morning. Thanx, Don G, C.C. and Steve.

    I remember IDA Lupino from Four Star Playhouse back in the day. The other three were Dick Powell, David Niven and Charles Boyer.

    John E -- Finished It Right. As opposed to FIW.

    Steve, you sent me to the dictionary to investigate "lashings." Never heard the non-whip usage before.

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  4. Should be "WhoM ARE you kidding?" not "Who."

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  5. Got through it with no major problem today. I also took a while to see SANTAFE.

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  6. The oldest state capital is Santa Fe, but the oldest capital in the US is San Juan.

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  7. Nice write-up Steve.

    Don G. & C.C. Ya got me ... D-N-F ... never on your wave-length today.

    ARIOSOS, ALSATIA were unknown "learning moments" that I will forget by noon.

    ALEX & ETONS were wags (Wild-Ass-Guesses) but correct luckily.

    Liked how ALOU crossed LAST OUT.

    Cheers!

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  8. I resisted SANTA FE as well. I think of COUNTS ON as an internal mental process, and "swears by" as an (external) endorsement. My favorite today was "heads up" for SOARS.

    I live in the GHENT area of Norfolk. I bought a sailboat with my neighbor, which we named Treaty of GHENT.

    About 30 years ago a friend's cute sister showed us the new MONOKINI she just bought for a trip to France. It consisted of a Bikini bottom. After extensive online research I see that the definition has drifted over the years. Of course the "bi-" in Bikini doesn't mean "two kinis", just the atoll that was annihilated by an A-bomb.

    Thanks for a fun start to Thursday Don and CC. The theme helped - I had __OUTING by the time I got to the unifier, and the first two letters fell easily after that. And thanks to Steve for another fine write-up.

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  9. Good morning everyone.

    Took a little tinkering to get ALSATIA. RPI had a HILLEL Society, so that broke after getting the HI and final L. Invoking a few more WAGs than usual helped complete the puzzle. No searches needed.
    55a Enchant - BEGUILE - Reminds me that our ship's voice call sign was ENCHANT.

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  10. Good day to all!

    Thanks Don and C.C. for today's fine puzzle. SANTA FE was a learning moment. Favorite clue/answer was "Heads up" for SOARS. Thanks, Steve, for the thorough expo. At 49D, however, I think it is Kelly Ripa.

    Enjoy the day!

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  11. MSN.com is a portal, not an ISP. MSN dial-up is an ISP. But when you just say MSN you are at the least suggesting the portal. Without further clarification, no one would think "oh, you mean the dial-up service?"

    A small nit, but one that is often repeated in cw's.

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  12. Whew! Good Morning!

    Well, Don and C.C., you knocked one out of the park today! A definite DNF, and I am usually able to fight to the LAST OUT, but not today. I was apparently out on one of the seven new planets. Thanks for the challenge and keeping me humble.

    Steve, wow! I wouldn't have had a clue today without you. Thanks! Great expo.

    Have a good day, everyone.

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  13. Musings
    -ARRGGHH! ATTEST/ASSERT, MEANT IT/MEANS IT put me the wrong way on a one-way street but I still had fun and four bad cells are not fatal
    -She really MEANS IT when mom adds your middle name when addressing you
    -Peyton Manning said OMAHA, not OSCAR!
    -DOS conjures up this nightmare to me
    -The Stones did ROUTE 66? Wow!
    -Is that stranger than IOWAY in an occupied Berlin bar? (3:41)
    -C.C. skillfully wears many HATS at this Popsicle stand!
    -Don’t say “OR I QUIT” without a Plan B.
    -I had _ _ O and thought, OMG, ONO couldn’t ever be in a hall of fame.
    -May 23, 1901 – Washington only needed one LAST OUT but Cleveland scored 9 runs with two outs in the ninth to win 14 – 13
    -I thought EST was for the Guinness Book Of World Records like -largEST collection of Star Wars memorabilia C.C.?
    -A SCREEN door for a subMARINER

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  14. Fun puzzle. I was all ready to post when I decided to check if there were more comments I wanted to cite. Bad idea. Just then my internet and phone shut down for about an hour and I lost my post. No time now to recoup.

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  15. Finished it, but it took some work and no circles (Mensa Site). Clever cluing by CC and Don. Steve pulled it together for me today. Even though I filled it all in, it took Steve's expo for the Ah-ha moment.

    A few stumbles along the way today.
    - Had a problem with ALSACE vs ALSATIA
    - SYNAPSE before NEURONS
    - CAN vs MEX
    - 59d ANTE kin to me was a BET. Wrong ANTE.

    Like Spitz, the HILLEL foundation was near the campus when I went to school, so with the HI___L it was an easy fill.

    I didn't have any of the NW corner answers until the first 4 down clues filled in and then SANTAFE, ARIOSOS and MEANSIT became obvious. Boy, aren't PERPS great.

    Somebody in Indiana won the $435+ million PowerBall Jackpot last night. I guess I'll have to do some more retirement planning other than trying to rely on winning the PowerBall.

    Supposed to be warm in PA today and tomorrow and then they're predicting more wintery weather. Hope it's nice where you are.

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  16. Good Morning:

    A typical late week challenge from our favorite duo, filled with twists and turns and a few stumbling blocks but, nevertheless , a fun and enjoyable solve. Needed perps in a few places but all ended well. Santa Fe (howdy, Owen) was slow coming and it took forever to dredge up Regis; for some reason, his name just wouldn't surface. I saw the theme after the reveal but it took Steve's eagle-eye to see that each letter in Shouting was capitalized. Well done, Dynamic Duo!

    Thanks, CC and Don, for a crunchy but doable Thursday treat and thanks, Steve, for the chatty and enlightening summary. BTW, my learning moment of the day is "lashings of horseradish."

    DO @ 6:54 ~ You brought back fond memories mentioning "Four Star Playhouse." I loved David Niven. The others were talented, too, but he was special. Not as special as Cary Grant, [ sigh] but special nonetheless.

    I'm glad I can face the day so much wiser thanks to the grammar lesson and learning the difference between a portal and a provider. Thanks, Anonymice, we'd be lost without these constant corrections.

    Have a great day.

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  17. HI gang -

    Typical Thursday - went from "How will I ever get this?" to a completion.

    Had to google HAMMETT, which I should have known, and OCHOA, which - ditto Then things fell into place.

    The theme is both subtle and remote, and elegantly executed. For me, this is the proper way to use proper names.

    I'm just the right age to remember the original MONOKINI, as invented by Rudi Gernreich - even remembered his name. Pretty much half a bikini - the bottom half. Quite a wonder, back in the day,for my adolescent eyes for my adolescent eyes.

    Preseason starts today. Tigers take on Florida Southern U. FSU has a strong, very successful, baseball tradition, and I think they play the Tigers every spring. Tomorrow it's the Orioles and then the frequent crossword denizen ASTROS on Sat. The 'STROS are a fun team that I always enjoy watching. Jose Altuve is a favorite.

    Cool regards!
    JzB

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  18. Atonement for yesterday's Rollo - Sluggo mash up.

    Rollo.

    Well - Rollo!

    Cheers!
    JzB

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  19. John E. re: FIR. Finished It Right.
    For pilots: Flight Identification Region. Dudley can tell you more.

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  20. BAM, I'm done - not! This was a fun Thursday workout. Thanks C.C. and Don, and Steve (good explanation of the aptly!)
    Once again I was on the Mensa site and had to jump to the LA site to get the circles.
    I thought I was getting a CSO with 20A but the US neighbour turned out to be MEX.
    My singer's warm-up turned from Las to DOS, Mad turned to SAD, Agee turned to INGE. My 116 year old prize was Oscar before NOBEL (but then I needed OSCAR for 22A). Rain Out moved through Wash Out before LAST OUT.

    ERICSON reminded me of his possible connection to this remote spot in Newfoundland that we must go back to visit. L'AnseAuxMeadows

    Steve, your comment re your flight being a "tad bumpy" reminded me of this recent Transportation Safety Board of Canada report.
    AirTurbulence

    Have a great day.

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  21. Hi everybody. It's a beautiful day here; clear and cool. Rain due again for Oscar Sunday apparently.

    I managed the puzzle and theme OK but had trouble in the same places as some others. I couldn't make sense of "Aptly" for the capitals until Steve explained it.

    Off for a little breakfast and coffee.

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  22. Who do you think you are kidding? "The use of whom as the object form of who is on its way out of the language. More and more educated speakers and writers use who as both subject and object. There doesn’t seem to be any reason not to. 'Who do you want?' has become acceptable."
    -from Daily Writing Tips. Formal writing still may use whom. Informal writers and speakers most frequently uses who. Our language is constantly changing, first in informal speaking, then in informal writing, and finally in formal writing. Many word and sentence forms we find perfectly acceptable today were once scorned and vice versa. Were this not so we would still be speaking in the Old English style of Beowolf or earlier.
    "Who do you think you are kidding?" is a fairly informal phrase. Are we wearing our tuxedos to a backyard barbecue? This is a pet peeve of mine.

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  23. My NEURONS started firing quickly when I saw CC&DG as the constructors. Well done, dynamic duo! As a westerner, SANTAFE emerged but instead of HAMMETT I started with DASHIELL and no way did that work. Once erased, it came together.

    Nice to see OCHOA, MEX and DOS (I know, wrong clue) but it does mean two which could all have been connected somehow. It's the third time this week I've seen Ms. OCHOA.

    Learning moments: TESH as composer of NBA on NBC song and lashings.

    When in Turkey one year I did go to a TURKISH bath in Bursa. They believe in bare essentials! No MONIKINIS there. And it appears that MONOKINI was introduced in the mid 60s so of course I didn't hear of it.

    CSO to our resident MARINER, Spitzboov.

    REGIS and Kelly RIPA, I believe. Thank you, Steve, CC & DG for today's fun run.

    Have a terrific day, everyone!

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  24. Thanks, Don & C.C. The Caps starting all the proper nouns escaped me, so I didn't really get the theme until Steve explained it all. Nicely done!

    Thanks, Steve, as always, for your fun write-up!

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  25. I'm teaching my class on Gertrude Stein's "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" in a few hours, so I'm in a rush this morning.

    Figured a Thursday Don and C.C. puzzle was going to be a toughie, and it was. But I got a good chunk of the Mid to low East and the Mid to South west before I had to start cheating, so I still enjoyed the process a lot--many thanks, Dynamic Duo!

    Steve, thanks for explaining the theme, which I didn't get, and OP ED for "slanted piece" (I of course read it as a single word). I still don't get HANES unless it refers to stockings, maybe? And I learned new things, like SANTA FE being a US capital. Also, I'm glad that I remembered ELECTRA.

    Hang in there, Owen.

    Have a good day, everybody!

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  26. Musings II
    -Just back from the funeral for the man who gave me my first job. Back in 1968, there were so many kids he took a chance on a rookie who looked as young as his JH students. I learned how to teach school by teaching school.
    -Jeff Foxworthy – A lotto ticket is a Redneck IRA
    -Any opinions on my earlier post -I thought EST was for the Guinness Book Of World Records like -largEST collection of Star Wars memorabilia C.C.?

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  27. I agree with Husker Gary on EST, makes more sense and leads of a "reach", IMHO.

    Very crunchy today but I FIW, and also learned what that means. Had REMET before RESAT. The NW came last, that was a tough section.

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  28. Happy 78th birthday, dear Ol' Man Keith! Sorry I was late. My computer died this morning.

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  29. Happy Birthday, Keith, hope it's a great one! 🎂🎉🍾🎈🎁

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  30. Happy Birthday, Ol' Man Keith! Great picture of you! Hope you have a wonderful day!

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  31. "Puzzling Thoughts":

    In reverse order . . . HBTY, OMK. Hope it's enjoyable!

    I scratched my head answer to _______ Her Way, but figured it had to be HANES once I saw the CAPS for the other two words. As Misty said, dunno what article of underwear it is - perhaps Splynter can enlighten us on Saturday with a pic . . .

    Lucina, I never visited Turkey during my stint as an International Business Mgr. I traveled to about 16 countries when I wore that "HAT", and many of the hotel spas had a "turkish-style" bath/sauna/steam room. Each country was slightly different about what one would wear - or not wear - in the hot room. And some countries would only allow the same sex to enter together; thus having duplicate spas.

    I found Germany to be the most liberal; every sauna/steam was co-ed and no one wore any MONOKINI or any other type of swim suit. Showers, pools were all for one and one for all.

    I FIR and without any write-overs, save for changing an O to an A in IACOCCA. Had been awhile since I'd seen that name used. Also, ETONs doesn't show up very often anymore. Used to be a staple answer for many a 4-letter clue involving either the jacket or school

    Owen, second limerick was the best of the bunch, although I thought you punned Super Fish Oil (superficial) recently

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  32. A nice puzzle. One nit though. A suffix must be part of the word. "Est" is not a part of Guiness.

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  33. Happy birthday, OMKeith! I hope your celebration today is fabulous.

    HG:
    EST as relating to Guinness Book of World Records immediately came to mind as they publish the best, largest, most, etc. of everything.

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  34. Thanks for the RIPA correction. I was watching an episode of "The Kitchen" with Katie Lee and my mind obviously went wandering in a strange direction.

    @HG - re: Guinness - yeah, you're probably right. I like my version though :)

    @Canadian Eh - that's why when the seatbelt sign is on and the person next to me insists on ignoring it and standing in the aisle, I might just mention that I don't care if they break something when they hit the ceiling, I will care when they land on top of me.

    "Lashings" must be British English!

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  35. I agree with Husker and AnonymousPVX as to the meaning of EST in relation to Guiness.

    Happy birthday, OMK. Keep on proving your genes to be wrong.

    Hanes Her Way is a brand (est 1986) of underwear for women. Same parent as Hanes (est 1901) of underwear for men.

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  36. I repeat. San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, is in the United States and is older than Santa Fe. Santa Fe is the oldest state capital of the fifty.

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  37. My Thanks for the birthday wishes!
    - and especially to C.C. for remembering the Blue Tits story. I forgot (a sign of my advancing years?!) that I shared that with you.

    Thanks too for showing my old photo. I like that one but guess I should post something newer. That headshot comes from a one-man show, my reading of A Christmas Carol that I used to do. I had a splendid three-voice backup chorus and a glass of wine to help me along.

    Ah, but I haven't done that in over ten years, so I promise to scare up a more recent pic.

    A nice straightforward theme in today's pzl. Thanks to Don Gagliardo and again to C.C. - and to Steve, esp. for explaining "aptly."

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  38. No, "est" is the suffix used by the Guinness record achievers. WC for YR.

    Speaking of, YR you so charged my NEURONS on the Who vs whom post

    It's funny, yesterday got me. I finished with one lookup yesterday but just had to change NEWYORK to SANTAFE today.

    Actually, rainouts go back to the LASTOUT of the previous inning.

    Re. teaching. I'm out of time. To wit. "The Elements of Discipline" would be the Ed. Course most useful

    WC

    Back later

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  39. I'm back. I couldn't get SOARS. Too simple. Matty Alou was on third when McCovey made the LASTOUT in 1962.

    Who does NYT xword? Wasn't IRA GLASS in it? I sometimes take a stab at It between Fridays.
    I used to have those lost posts a lot.

    REMET messed up IDA for awhile.

    I imagine St Augustine may have been considered a capital of Florida way, way back

    Sam's seems to have the best deal on Super Fish Oil.

    WC

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  40. San Juan, 1521, is still a capital. St Augustine, oldest city in the continental US, 1565,

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  41. Steve, I didn't struggle with the NW as SANTA FE ( not shouting ) should be a gimme for most Americans but I never knew that Microsoft's MSN was and Internet Service Provider (ISP). Dial-Up? A mobile hot-spot would be faster and cheaper. BAM- you couldn't be talking about one of our local chefs, Mr. Lagasse could you?

    And as long as we are discussing beer, SAM Adams & Guinness, is the 'EST.' an Irish LTD or shortened abbr. for Established? H-G & PVX don't know either.

    OP-EDs- there are very few of them in the two local newspapers. They just print syndicated columnists who agree with THEIR biased opinion.

    The ALSATIA I knew as ALSACE so the Latin ending made sense. ALEX and HILLEL were unknowns solve by perps.

    Mr. Coppage- P.R. is NOT A STATE- yes I'm shouting on that one. I repeat. Puerto Rico is NOT a state.

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  42. Of course, Puerto Rico is not a state. San Juan is not a state capital. San Juan is the capital of Puerto Rico, which is part of and in the United States. It is the oldest capital in the US, not the oldest state capital. They are quite proud of that so your shouting is quite misplaced.

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  43. I liked this puzzle a lot. Such a nuanced and layered theme, so typically Gagliardo and C.C. Also typical is the stretch that some clues have, such as Gorge crosser (for which I wanted KNIEVEL but it wouldn't fit). I'm glad I remembered OCHOA, whom we had recently and whom I then expected not to remember. I learned that interesting fact about SANTA FE and learned a new meaning for "lashings." I wanted QUINCY Jones but it wouldn't fit. I have heard singers warm up by voicing the syllables LA LA LA LA or MI MI MI MI but never DO DO DO DO.

    Many happy birthday returns to you, Keith! And best wishes to you all.

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  44. HBD Kieth, you dapper devil!

    "To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I eye'd, Such seems your beauty still."

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  45. WC - But if the winning run comes across in the bottom of any inning after the eighth, the game doesn't end on a final out. Even if the run scores on a sacrifice or force out, the run scores and the game ends after the "final" out.

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  46. Jinx, I completely agree. Someone mentioned rainouts where no third out is registered. That's where the last out of the previous inning ends the game

    Unless it was tied Also, this rule doesn't apply to postseason play.

    I liked Owen's Groucho reference. Am I correct in assuming that you were referring to the duck which would drop during the 50s quiz show if the magic word was uttered?

    We've had some excellent write-ups lately. Not to speak of CC etco's great xword.

    Keith, I second all the compliments on the pic.

    WC

    Ps. Didn't Groucho have a movie DUCK SOUP

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  47. Hi All!

    Well, Don lived up to his "hard" G and drug along C.C. w/ him :-) Seeing C.C. did help some c/a's GEL but, who's words were whom's that FOIL'd me? :-). THANKS TO THE BOTH OF YOU! 'Twas fun.

    Fun expo Steve. I liked the Stones doin' RTE 66. I LOL'd with you @ Guinness connection - as I understand the brewery started The BestEST book to settle (ISO)bar arguments. And, at 9,000 yrs, that's gotta be the longEST lease ever! [you open'd the DOOR on that...]

    Oh, DNF even after 3 Googles. I won't bore w/ ESPs, WOs (ok, I did have FROME b/f HAWKE), and just move on to
    CUTIES: c/a for HATS; OP ED - didn't trick me today; IOWA c/a; HANES Her Way (I was going for always gets...?); Jinx took Heads Up == SOARS (tricky); Tin took ALOU xing LASTOUT so

    Fav: Ante for PRE as in Pasta!(?)! I'll ASSERT English mugged it to Antipesto :-)

    {A, A (nice REuse of PotY*), A-, B-}

    HG - DOS is (mostly) gone but the command line interface (CLI) is still there under Windows if you wanna use it (I do).

    LAST OUT - usually is an out but, in a tie-game in bottom of the NINTH, a HR will end the game on no OUT, er, Walk-off.

    Happy Birthday OMK! I love your theater stories and you have fun insights into plays. I bet you didn't havta Google INGE!

    Cheers, -T
    *Pun of the Year, FLN

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  48. Happy birthday, Keith. I love your theater and other cultural stories.

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  49. Happy Birthday Keith. Hope you're having a great day.

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  50. Spent most of the 3 hours on a plane trying to figure this one out.
    Most of the top, some of the left middle, and bottom right
    Remained stubbornly blank.

    When I got home to a wifi source, I was relieved of my puzzlement
    By looking at the completed blog grid.

    About an hour later I tried to ink in the missing pieces,
    And still failed...
    (Still lots of unknowns, and my Alsatia came out as Albania...)

    Happy birthday OMK!

    I planned to write my post on all caps, as a joke,
    But it was giving me a headache...

    plus, my keyboard is grouchy enough as it is...

    Here is a learning moment, a music typewriter!, if you hit the cap lock, everything prints as whole notes!

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  51. Hello Puzzlers -

    I'm glad others worked out that Guinness business. I was solidly in the same camp as Steve, trying to tie it to the brewery somehow, and it didn't seem to fit. Now it all makes sense. Similarly: I watched a Doctor Who episode tonight in which a character explained a surprising plot point which took a moment for two other two characters to absorb. While the latter were considering it, the former said "Penny's in the air...", and after a pause "...and the penny drops!" That's the first time I've heard both halves of that British phrase.

    HBTY OMK, late though it is!

    Howdy Spitz, I frequently read FIR as Flight Information Region in my head. American aviators aren't generally well acquainted with FIR's because that airspace designation is irrelevant to flight in the continental U.S. Our complex mix of airspace is chopped up in other ways. FIR's are more meaningful in other nations, especially in Europe, as I understand it.

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  52. CED - Gumpy keyboard was LOL! HAT'S off to you.

    I'll be trying the Friday pzl on my Flt to NOLA. I doubt I can finish during the MONO-hour flt. Maybe add in the hour-early spent at the Bar (I love you TSA) I may :-)

    If y'all don't hear from me for a spell, fret not. I'm headed to join my buds w/ Bacchus Krew. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

    Any of the NOLA contingent want to meet in the Quarter for a pint (I'll buy, ICEES!) on Sat?

    Cheers, -T

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  53. WC et alia: Why a Duck is a classic Marx Brothers routine. Clips and transcripts abound on the Net, but the article linked above gives some added context.

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  54. FIR but only because of the theme! The entire north needed those two letters to give me a toehold.

    Hand up for ARIOSOS being unknown. So were MSU, INGE and GIL. Had long since forgotten ALEX. That movie really creeped me out.

    Agree that it is surprising and mysterious that ELO is only now getting inducted.

    OSCAR was a gimme only because I recently decided to learn that alphabet. It comes in handy trying to give email addresses and other alphanumeric information over the phone.

    For impulse conductors I was stuck surprisingly long on AXONS (wrong length) before realizing they were claiming entire NEURONS are impulse conductors.

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