google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, February 21 2017, Bruce Venzke & Gail Grabowski

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Feb 21, 2017

Tuesday, February 21 2017, Bruce Venzke & Gail Grabowski

Theme: Lend Me Your Ears.

17. High-tech bookmark : INTERNET ADDRESS

28. Office gossip : WATER COOLER TALK
 

48. Right granted in the First Amendment : PROTECTED SPEECH

62. "Et tu, Brute?," e.g. : FAMOUS LAST WORDS

Melissa here. Love the four grid-spanners. No reveal clue today, but it's hiding in the answer to 62A. Very clever.

Across

1. One in a bad mood : CRAB





5. Diplomat's asset : TACT

9. Vatican-related : PAPAL

14. Memorization method : ROTE. Repetition.

15. Patron saint of Norway : OLAF. Not Olav.

16. Nimble : AGILE




20. African language group : BANTU

21. Winter bug : FLU

22. Cupid's counterpart : EROS

23. Safari beast : RHINO

26. Mystery writer whose Baltimore home is preserved as a museum : POE

35. Moved quickly, old-style : HIED

36. Meat inspector's org. : USDA

37. "Awesome!" : ZOWIE. Stumped me.

38. Office coffee holder, perhaps : URN

39. Hard-rock link : AS A

40. "O Sole __" : MIO. "The sun, my own sun."

42. 1965 march state: Abbr. : ALA





43. Gold or silver : METAL

45. Rainbow flag initialism : LGBT

47. Gillette's __ II razor : TRAC

51. Bubbly prefix : AER. Aerate.

52. Clapton classic : LAYLA

53. Gem from Australia : OPAL

56. Private eye : TEC. DeTECtive.

58. Go around in circles? : ORBIT

66. Pat down : FRISK

67. Inbox clogger : SPAM. NOAA discovered this perfectly preserved can of SPAM resting at the bottom of the ocean (4,947 meters) on the slopes of a canyon leading to the Sirena Deep in the Mariana trench.





68. Pamplona parlor : SALA. Spanish, a large room or hall to entertain guests.

69. Sight or hearing : SENSE

70. Wine city near Turin : ASTI

71. River of central Germany : EDER





Down

1. Bed with sliding sides : CRIB

2. Author Jaffe : RONA

3. Mail-routing abbr. : ATTN

4. Obviously embarrassed : BEET RED

5. Weigh station unit : TON

6. Pub offering : ALE

7. Science Diet product : CAT FOOD

8. Nonstick kitchen brand : T-FAL. French cookware - portmanteau of TEFlon and ALuminum.

9. Sketching tablet : PAD

10. Shake hands on : AGREE TO

11. Harbor strolling spot : PIER

12. "One more thing ... " : ALSO

13. Not as much : LESS

18. Industrial area of western Germany : RUHR

19. Play for a sucker : DUPE

24. Post-op areas, briefly : ICUs. Intensive Care Units.

25. Margarita option : NO SALT

27. Ricelike pasta : ORZO

28. Sound of a tree falling, say : WHUMP

29. Broadcaster : AIRER

30. __-one: long odds : TEN TO

31. Kappa follower : LAMBDA

32. Informed (of) : AWARE. I wonder why the (of) is needed here - since of could also follow AWARE.

33. Pale purple : LILAC

34. Stacy who played Mike Hammer : KEACH





39. Out of the wind : ALEE
41. "The __-bitsy spider ... " : ITSY

44. Completely flummoxed : AT A LOSS. I often hear "I am lost for words," instead of "I am at a loss for words." Doesn't make sense to me.

46. Easy-to-swallow meds : GELCAPS

47. Flowering hybrid with thorns : TEA ROSE. Wikipedia: Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses. They were created by cross-breeding two types of roses, initially by hybridising hybrid perpetuals with tea roses.






49. Phased-out PC screens : CRTS. Cathode Ray Tubes.

50. Farm machine : PLOW

53. Does in, mob-style : OFFS

54. Whittle (down) : PARE

55. Idi of Uganda : AMIN

57. Big cat of film : ELSA

59. Actor Pitt : BRAD

60. Vegging out : IDLE

61. Many an Ivan, in old Russia : TSAR

63. Lute kin : UKE

64. Gained a lap? : SAT

65. "No more deets!" : TMI. "Too much information!" (Deets=details.)






49 comments:

Hungry Mother said...

Very quick one done early due to insomnia.

fermatprime said...

Hi everyone!

Thanks to Bruce, Gail and mb.

I worked three Gail G puzzles tonight.

Didn't know ZOWIE right off the bat, but it fell in nicely.

More rain coming.

OwenKL said...

Bad bout of depression yesterday, so no poems. In atonement, today's offerings are based on sets of across answers:
CRAB TACT PAPAL (+TRACt, +SPEECH)
ROTE OLAF AGILE (+WORDS, +TEN, +WHUMP)
ADDRESS BANTU FLU EROS RHINO (-INTERNET -POE)
WATERCOOLERTALK HIED USDA ZOWIE
(Skipped to the end)
LASTWORDS FRISK SPAM SENSE ASTI EDER (-FAMOUS -SALA).
It's discouraging that my normal output isn't markedly better than these poor things.

Caleb was a CRAB, he completely lacked TACT
He should never have been priest, and that's a fact!
When an eminence, PAPAL,
Gave a SPEECH at his chapel,
He followed with a homily from an atheist TRACT!

OLAF studied gymnastics, he learned it by ROTE.
To try out for the team, every flex he could quote!
After arguments facile
(At WORDS he was AGILE)
He tried out, but TEN WHUMPS, and his chance was remote!

EROS was bored, he had nothing to do,
So ADDRESSED a safari in the land of BANTU.
There he found, to his woe,
Hearts hard as skinned RHINO --
His arrows of romance only caused mild FLU!

WATER-COOLER TALK at the U.S.D.A.
Was the inspectors' inspector was due today!
So inspectors all HIED
To inspect some cow hide.
ZOWIE, they spend time in "meatings" that way!

There was a FRISKY fellow from ASTI
Claimed wine, to his taste SENSE, was nasty!
Kidnapped by his neighbor,
Set adrift on River EDER,
His LAST WORDS, "I'm SPAM, EDER way!"

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Nice softball from BV and GG this morning. My only write-over was OFFS -- I'd written it accross instead of down. The Z in ZOWIE was my final fill -- WOWIE would've been OK, ORWO, not so much. I've never been accused of being too TACTful.

I had a nice T-FAL pan that I used for lemon pepper shrimp. Had to throw it away after I managed to warp the bottom. The replacement pan is one of those Red Copper (use no oil) thingees -- I don't like it nearly so much.

Melissa, you've provided more proof that SPAM is forever...even three miles down. And thanx for 'splaining "Deets" -- my peeps don't use the term.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Nice, easy run today. Makes up for having WHUMP, TEC, ZOWIE and deets in one puzzle.

Erased freedom of SPEECH for PROTECTED SPEECH and AGREE on to AGREE TO. Since "to" was part of the clue, missing that one was pretty clumsy. At least I held off from "dog" FOOD.

Thanks Bruce and Gail for a fast run. And thanks Melissa for a fun review.

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning,

Thanks, Bruce and Gail, for a pleasant morning project. Everything fell pretty easily for me today. Not because it's Tuesday; I think we were on the same wave length--especially with the long fills.

Nice tour, Melissa. Chuckled at the SPAM. Thank you.

Have a fine day, all.

Anonymous said...

ZOWIE? Did anyone every really say ZOWIE?
WHUMP? Did a tree ever actually go WHUMP?
Deets? . . .

TTP said...


Good morning all. Thank you Bruce, Gail and Melissa.

What D-O said. At least about it being a softball. Funny line about your "peeps." We ditched the Teflon-type coated pans. Bought open stock ceramic fry pans. Very pleased.

BANTU is West African. UBUNTU came to us from South Africa. Anon-T speaks and writes in the language of the latter. With INTERNET ADDRESS, SPAM and AGILE (a software development methodology), we have a mini theme in the background.

There's a USDA office in every county in the US. That's over 3000. The department does so much more than agriculture.

MJ said...

Good day to all!

Grid spanners in an early week puzzle is quite impressive. Thanks, Bruce and Gail for today's fine offering. "Deets" is a new term for me. Thanks for explaining it, Melissa, and for the expo.

Enjoy the day!

BunnyM said...

Good morning all
Thanks Bruce and Gail for a solid, easy Tuesday puzzle and to Melissa for a fun tour. I, too had a laugh at the SPAM reference :)

Only perps were MIO, LAMBDA, SALA and ZOWIE which is a new word for me. WHUMP just seems awkward, lol

Nice to see LAYLA- it reminds me of my dear Mom. It's her favorite song. She used to play the album "Layla and Other Love Songs" by Clapton's band Derek and the Dominoes constantly when I was growing up.

Per yesterday's comments about traditional greeting cards vs. ecards, FB wishes, etc: I send both but prefer to give and receive paper cards. Just more exciting to find something in the mailbox. I suppose I'm old fashioned compared to most of my generation. I still send hand written thank you notes and letters. Card making is one of my hobbies but I usually reserve those for close family and friends as it is time consuming ( especially Christmas cards!) I will send handmade cards for birthdays, get well, Congratulations for babies, marriage, achievements, etc. It does take some planning ahead and when I'm pressed for time, will just purchase a card. But they are expensive!
However, any wishes I receive either way are appreciated since the sender took time in one way or another to send me their regards :)

Still enjoying the warm weather. DH grillled steaks yesterday (we received one of those variety pack gifts from Omaha Steaks for Christmas) A few minutes into cooking them, the gas ran out. Luckily there is a mini mart a couple of blocks away to buy propane tanks, so it only slowed dinner by about 10 minutes. Wonderful, delicious filets and such a treat to grill in February! Grilled chicken is on the menu tonight :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Do my puzzles in ink as God intended...so created quite a mess crossingnout 48 across "freedom of" instead of "protected". Also bad habit of knee jerking the razor clue with "atra" bit still finished quickly albeit sloppily.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Nice smooth Tuesday with impressive grid spanners.

Thanks for 'splaining MBee, and I'll bet there's an interesting story to how the Spam ended up at the bottom of a deep ocean.

Tinbeni said...

Melissa: Wonderful write-up. Especially enjoyed the NOAA link re: Ocean Trash.

Bruce & Gail: Thank You for aFUN Tuesday puzzle. Nice grid-spanning themes.

Cheers!

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Gail and Bruce, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Melissa Bee, for a fine review.

This puzzle was not a cake walk to me. A Little sticky, but I got it done accurately and no inkblots.

Liked the four grid spanners. Great job!

WATER COOLER TALK reminded me of Dagwood Bumstead at work.

Our crossword friend Idi AMIN is back again.

Liked the SPAM history, Melissa. I understand more Spam is eaten out of the US than in the US.

My first name is in this puzzle. Does not happen often.

Have to run. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

thehondohurricane said...

Morning all,

Nice offering today with a some bite. OLAF/olav, resulting in TFAL/tval, and I did not recognize either. Lucky wag.Tried atra before TRAC. Wanted wowie but went with ZOWIE because ORZO seemed more Italian. After those guesses, everything else filled in without too much doubt.

Thanks for the write up Melissa. You gave me an idea for dinner one evening this week. My better half is going to Fla for a few days to help a lifetime friend celebrate her 75th birthday, so I'm thinking SPAM may be the menu for one evening. I'll trust that it has spent no time on the bottom of the ocean.

Spring is springing in Ct. Temps will be in the high 60's by the weekend. Probably a warning that we will be in for a brutal summer.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

I liked today's puzzle. Some easy stuff; some a little more chewy. No look-ups or erasures needed.
WHUMP - Never heard a tree fall with a WHUMP. Usually more a crackly or crunchy sound. Maybe it's the sound made when a tree falls and nobody's around. Anyway, I knew what was meant.
OLAF - We have seen the niche in the wall of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim where some relics of St. Olaf are interred. It was a major pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages rivaling Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
EDER - A minor river perhaps better know to puzzlers than geographers. It flows into the Fulda which flows into the Weser which flows into the North Sea at Bremerhaven.
PLOW - Old spelling plough. German Pflug; Low German Ploog; Dutch ploeg.

Have a great day, everyone.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-When hated/protected speech came to a small Illinois town
-FAMOUS LAST WORDS at Graceland – “I’m going to the bathroom to read”
-I’ll bet you know what Elvis song was based on O Sole Mio
-Calling nose surgery RHINOplasty gives one pause
-This Hormel (SPAM) town will get many more USDA inspectors when the $300M Costco chicken plant arrives
-Which is bigger – The number who said they were at Woodstock or the number who said they marched at Selma?
-OPAL in the field
-My SENSE of hearing is on the ropes. Sofia on The Golden Girls said, “Old age is not when you need a hearing aid, it’s when to refuse to get one!”
-Our TEA Roses are fenced in because bunnies think they are delicious
-Many know but no one will tell who OFFED the town bully
-With a magnifying glass, my kids saw these on their CRTs
-The only DEET I knew came in bug repellents
-LAST WORDS in the galley for that SPAM – “I ain’t eating any more of this junk!”

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A coda on yesterday’s greeting card/electronic greeting discussion for me since I started it. The electronic method is easier for me because the only time I enjoy writing is one-letter-at-a-time here everyday. I’m sure the number of people who acknowledge any milestone is greatly enhanced when they have a high-tech option. Your call!

CrossEyedDave said...

Sorry, I have not done todays puzzle yet,
just read yesterday & had to jump on for a sec...

Busy holiday weekend has me all backed up.

Belated Happy Birthday Argyle!

And being late, must post two.

(hmm, I wonder how long it would take me to post 748 cakes?)

Oh, & Bill G,
I thought you might like the honor of being the 1st to sign my new petition
to move DST (the changing of the clocks) to April 1st.
(Just imagine the fun it would generate..:)

Yellowrocks said...

Easy peasy. Faster than yesterday's puzzle. The theme was obvious after ADDRESS and TALK.
I like WHUMP. It is onomatopeic and calls to mind the exact sound of a tree landing or thumping down after it breaks. The tree makes a cracking sound as it is breaking, but it hits the ground with a loud whump. I have never seen DEET written, but I have heard it in this sense.
Alan eagerly goes out to the mailbox for a whole week starting a few days before his birthday and a few days afterwards to look for greeting cards. He loves mail. We stand our cards up on a table for a few weeks and enjoy them and their thoughts for many days.
We like Spam sliced cold for sandwiches, fried with eggs or ground up with onions and celery and then we add mayo. I have taken these Spam salad sandwiches to outings and friends have liked them thinking they were ham salad sandwiches.

Argyle said...

Dropping an evergreen with lots of branches, landing in deep snow, will make a satisfying WHUMP!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Another enjoyable offering from Gail and Bruce. Impressive grid spanners and an aha with Famous Last Words; as MB noted, very clever entry. Whump didn't bother me (but autocorrect didn't feel the same way) and Zowie was fun, sort of comic-book lingo, "Deets" was a little odd but the meaning was clear, at least I thought so. It's nagging at me, though, because it reminds me of a character called Deitz (sp?) in either something I read, "Lonesome Dove" perhaps, or a TV show, "NCIS," maybe? Sound familiar to anyone?

Thanks, BV and GG, for a Tuesday treat and thanks, Melissa, for a fun tour, especially dredging up that can of Spam!

Anonymous T from yesterday: Judging by the selection of movies available for streaming, I won't be connecting to the Internet anytime soon. I have checked out the TV series that are available so, depending on whether I have any interest there, I may change my mind. I'm still learning all of the options that make my TV so Smart!

Bill G. from yesterday: I used to solve the NY Times Sunday puzzle until I canceled my newspaper subscription last July. My feelings about the puzzles were ambivalent. I would say I had more negative than positive solving experiences because, IMO, they were too "gimmicky" for my taste. I am more of a purist who wants a puzzle to be just that: a straightforward puzzle w/o three letters in one cell, words spelled backwards, missing word parts, etc. Granted, the Sunday puzzles are supposed to have a playful theme/twist but I found the Times puzzles went overboard with the "cutesy, look-how-clever" construction. As a comparison, over the last 5-6 years, I think there were only 1 or 2 Sunday LA Times that I wasn't keen on versus 7-8 out of every 10 NY Times.

On the greeting card subject, if I have someone's email address, I send an ecard. If it is a milestone birthday or anniversary or any special occasion, I send a regular card. (However, I would like someone to explain why the most plain and simple card costs over $5.00; I think that's an outrageous amount and is probably the reason why ecards, especially free ones, are so popular.)

BunnyM, I enjoy your cheerful posts. 😉

Owen, I hope today is brighter.

Have a great day.

Lucina said...

Bruce and Gail always offer entertaining grids and this one fit the bill. Being on their wave length I buzzed right through it like a bee on a TEAROSE. Some write overs though, LITHE/AGILE, ATTRA/TRAC and since it's pencil I use, it's neatly done, as God intended! LOL.

I liked the theme and since we are all wordsmiths here, I imagine everyone enjoyed that.

I've never been a fan of SPAM but I have a neighbor who is and YR, I like your recipe and will try it to see how that comes across.

Spitz:
I love the geography lesson.

Thank you, Melissa, especially for explaining deets; I've not heard that.

Have a delightful day, everyone! It's gorgeous here, sunny and bright.

Argyle said...

Marty Deeks, NCIS: Los Angeles.

Wilbur Charles said...

This was a smooth solve. I tried to fill the long acrosses without perps.

I see we've gone with EDER over ODER today.

Hondo, I say seize the Spam, open that can and fry up a slab.

Mmmm

BC and GG, MB and Owen. Thx.

I asked a poet if I should continue to write Haikus and he said

NEVERMORE!!!

WC

Husker Gary said...

Musings II
-I’m sitting here getting my bimonthly (every two months not twice a month) infusion administered by some lovely nurses. It’s 70˚F outside, so guess where I would rather be.
-As I’m sitting here I’m deleting a lot of my electronic bookmarks.
-That falling may make a WHUMP (vibrations) but it’s not a sound until someone hears it. That might be good for another discussion. ☺
-Perhaps email/FB greetings trade quantity for quality? I still prefer hearing from more peeps. Perhaps we’ve sufficiently flogged that issue
-DST would be fine if it could be proven to be useful. It seems like summer vacation for school that once seemed to make sense in a country that was mainly agricultural

AnonymousPVX said...

This one went quickly, easier than Monday.

Misty said...

A terrific Tuesday puzzle--many thanks, Bruce and Gail! Got it with only one tiny erasure when I accidentally started writing AGIE instead of AGILE. But otherwise I got everything even though, like others, I've never heard of DEETS. Thanks for explaining that one, Melissa, and also thanks for great pics--especially that beautiful TEA ROSE.

Well, one more day of hopefully easy puzzling and then Thursday my rough part of the week will start if it's anything like last week. Although I just remembered that I had an exceptional Saturday when my internet wasn't working and I finished the puzzle perfectly. Well, life is a challenge and crosswords are a fun challenge.

Broke my glasses and have to get them fixed today, hopefully in time for teaching my class on Thursday.

Have a great day, everybody!

CanadianEh! said...

Straight-forward solve today (and easier than yesterday). Thanks for the fun Bruce and Gail, and Melissa.

Hand up for Atra before TRAC, and debating over OLAF or V. I toyed with various Safari beasts - Zebra, Hippo, Eland before RHINO (sadly being killed for their horns even in protected areas). Like Wilbur C, I noted EDER today not Oder (and knew that Spitzboov would give us more info and learning moments!).
I did fill in LGBT correctly today.

Hope you are feeling better soon, OwenKL.

Wishing you all a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Thanks, Argyle, but after asking Mr. G., I found Mr. Joshua Dietz, a scout in "Lonesome Dove." That gets rid of that brain worm for the day!

TTP said...



Bunny M, yes grilling is on the agenda in this abnormal weather pattern. Grilled chicken for fajitas Saturday, pork chops last night. It will be brats tonight, and if I can talk DW into it, ribeye steak tomorrow night. She doesn't like beef all that much.

The Dollar Tree store sells nice greeting cards 2 for $1.00. The nicer ones are $1.00 each.

Husker Gary, good noise/sound question.

What I want to know is if a man is all alone in the woods and says something, is he still wrong ?

Anonymous said...

It's Now or Never was the song Elvis based on O Sole Mio

Argyle said...

Irish Miss, you were even closer that you thought. Per IMDb, Danny Glover played Joshua Deets.

trubrit said...

I found this puzzle easier than Monday's.
Very enjoyable.
Irish Miss, do you have a Trader Joe's near, their cards are great for 99cents.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle, and I love "words" such a ZOWIE and WHUMP. Sometimes, when LW and I have seen or done something especially awesome, we look at each other and exclaim "Zowie wowie!" And I often like to say "Foomp" as a sound effect to accompany certain actions I do such as plopping down in a chair or peeling a teeshirt off over my head.

Bill G, I agree with Irish Miss's opinion of the NYT puzzles. She had I have discussed it several times.

Loved your peeps comment, desper-otto. Also, thanks for your evaluation of the Red Copper pans; we kinda figured the same thing. LW has gradually been replacing pots and pans that we have abused with new ones; she likes All-Clad, Calphalon, and Le Creuset.

Thanks for explaining deets, melissa.

It seems to me, if sound is the waves of compressed air alternating with rarefied air (or other medium) then it is still sound even if there is nobody or nothing to sense or detect it, just as light is still electromagnetic energy regardless if it is observed.

Best wishes to you all.

Jayce said...

Abejo, your first name is Spam???

Ol' Man Keith said...

Enjoyed WHUMP & ZOWIE. Had ODER before EDER and didn't trust TFAL although I settled for it.

I appreciated being reminded of Eric Clapton's fine Layla, so am offering a link right here -- Layla!

I agree with those who thought this one nicely chewy. Or is it crunchy? Anyway, yes, it was a tasty Tuesday treat. I thank the team of Venzke & Grabowski who deserve an extra bow before the curtain drops. And kudos too to Melissa B!

Bill G. said...

Irish Miss and Jayce: Thank you for the feedback on NYT puzzles. I have been forming similar opinions.

I passed some more Oxalis growing in some local yards and some random patches of ground. What a beautiful yellow hue! Remember, a weed is just a flower out of place.

Irish Miss said...

Argyle, thanks for jogging my memory about Danny Glover playing Deitz. I did see the miniseries but I read the book twice (that's how much I liked it) and I think I remember the characters more vividly from that source.

Trubrit, there is a Trader Joe's in our area but too far away to go to just to get cards. There is also a dollar store that has decent cards but, there again, not conveniently located. Most of the cards I buy are either for special occasions or special people so I just mumble and grumble and pay the metaphorical arm and a leg cost!

Big Easy said...

Melissa- thanks for the definition of 'deets'- never heard of it except for DEET being the ingredient in Off Bug Spray.

Never heard of WHUMP either. Other than those two it was a 5 minute speed tun.

Yellowrocks said...

In novels you read about the whump,whump of the helicopter rotors.

I used to go to the library to photocopy the Sunday NYT puzzle every Saturday. No longer. I agree with Bill and Irish Miss that their Sunday puzzles are too gimmicky.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Thanks Bruce and Gail for a fun puzzle. Almost a FIW, but 1/5 chance I put the 5th one in BANTU; ZOWIE! Nice Spanners and consistency.

Thanks Melissa for the fun expo and SPAM in the ocean (and the rest of the junk down there - we need to be more careful).

WOs - LBGT @1st (C, Eh! - G, B. Lucky.)
ESPs: RONA, RUHR [I'll never learn it...], MIO, AER, SALA, EDER, KEACH... (whew)

Fav: CAT FOOD - not for c/a but... Anyone else think of Larson? <-link

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

Tin - I thought you'd comment on NO SALT :-)

TTP - I "saw" Dagwood there too

Spitz beat me to no one around to hear the WHUMP...
Jayce beat me to "Abejo, your name is ____ "[I was goin' w/ LAYLA? :-)]
Now I'm AT A LOSS for humour...

HG - I'm AWARE it's PROTECTED SPEACH but I hate Illinois Nazis

Cheers, -T

Madame Defarge said...

HG@9:31-
I beg to differ--Skokie is not a "small" town in Illinois. 65,000 folks, and a very diverse population. It's in Niles Township, just NW of Chicago, some of which borders Chicago. I graduated from Niles Twp HS WEST in 1965, my freshman class had 1000 students. Pretty big by small town standards, if you ask me. The march ended up in a park-- a former trash dump-- next door in Evanston. Freedom of speech protected, nonetheless.

TTP said...

Best bratwursts I've had in months !*

Anonymous T, that was Abejo that mentioned Dagwood, not me. I know, we all sound (whump, maybe ?) alike.

BTW, in the last few days, LG got a credible UL certification for cybersecurity with their webOS 3.5 platform for their connected Smart TVs. That's good. They've raised the bar. Other Mfrs will have to follow suit quickly as awareness and concern grows. OTOH, I couldn't find any of their Smart TVs that are in the marketplace with webOS 3.5 yet. Searched their website. Latest there looks to be webOS 2.0. I'll continue to use my Chromecast and my Firestick for now...

We're still setting records for the daily high temperatures for this time of year. Tomorrow is supposed to be over 70.

* Actually, the only bratwursts I've had in months.

JD said...

Always enjoy Bruce and Gail's grids. Got a kick out of Whomp and Zowie...so much easier than yesterdays, although the theme did not come as quickly. Last fill was CRTS, where it crossed aer... had to ask DH. Also had to perp the BT in LGBT. So often I know just part of an answer and have to WAG or perp the rest. It's in the brain somewhere but won't come out to play.

deets= details---thanks Melissa

No Salt...ha,ha...that was me this morning as I planned to make Play Doh for the boys this morning (as it is still raining). Like many I have started using Sea Salt so I did not have 2 cups , just the remains in my salt shakers. Quick early errand.

Madame Defarge said...

Seriously, TTP, I laughed OUT LOUD about the man in the woods, and so did my man in the living room when I asked him. Thanks for the endorphins!!

TTP said...

Madame DeFarge, small world !

My DW is a '79 alum of Niles West. I went with her to her 20th reunion. There seemed to be more attendees at that reunion than we had students in my entire high school ! Actually, three towns and the countryside made up my school district. My graduating class was right around 85 students. My class reunions have typically been multi-year affairs just to have enough people attend to make it worthwhile. Needless to say I was shocked when I went to hers.

CrossEyedDave said...

Finally caught up,

You know, you can print your own free cards right from the internet.
Unfortunately they print out on standard 8-1/2x11 copy paper that you have to fold yourself.
Which is alright.
If they complain how cheap you are,
just send them an email image of a cake to make up....

Internet address?

Water cooler talk?

Protected speech?

famous last words...

Anonymous T said...

Maybe y'all already know. I heard about this story on NPR this afternoon and find it on the front page of the Chron tonight - New Whitman novel discovered. Thought this literate crowd would like to know. Cheers, -T