google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Apr 15th, 2017, Roland Huget

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Apr 15, 2017

Saturday, Apr 15th, 2017, Roland Huget

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing V,W,X)

Blocks: 27

Second Saturday from today's constructor this year, and looking over that puzzle, I noted that I had one cheat - well, there was none of that today. I did have a slow start and some vague cluing which was not that vague once I realized my first thought was the right answer.  The NW corner was last to fill in, and I had just enough in my wheelhouse to make this a challenge, but doable.  Quad 9's and triple 7's in the corners of this grid;  I am working from my desktop "tower" computer for the first time this week, and it takes some getting used to with the much wider monitor - 25 whole inches - and the "big buttons" keyboard.  My laptop has Windows XL, which Firefox no longer supports, so the internet was crashing too often.  The technological turnover in devices these days is sometimes too fast....anyway, some of the longer answers;

19. Asylum seeker : IMMIGRANT - we'll open with a musical refernce

The Immigrant Song

14. Candidate for Photoshop : EYESORE - forget the fact that this is also a courthouse, but to me, a real eyesore....


57. Carousel riders : SUITCASES -got it because I was not thinking of little kids on a carousel - it was because Airplane~! was on TV yesterday;


37. Water or gas : UTILITY - makes me think of Monopoly

or this one - warning~!







ACROSS:

1. Nevada's state flower : SAGEBRUSH - guess there's not a lot to choose from in plants out there


10. Yippie Hoffman : ABBIE

15. Silver tongue : ELOQUENCE

16. Like some winds : REEDY - my first thought, but thought it was too seedy

17. Becomes ripe : MATURATES

18. "Joyful, __ nations, rise": carol lyric : ALL YE

20. Walk quartet : BALLS - drew a complete blank, even after I finished, but then I finally got the V-8 can moment and figured out it's a baseball reference; see 11d.

21. Rathskeller turndown : NEIN - I spelled it 'backwards', which didn't help - we have a running gag at the poker table that there's a German playing when a "nine" comes out - get it~?

22. In silence : MUTELY

24. Half of Bennifer : JLo - Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck

25. "Inferiority complex" coiner : ADLER - pondered FREUD

27. "Unfaithful" co-star : GERE

28. Hold 'em holding : PAIR - I tanked in last week's game - and we're not playing tonight

29. Calif. NHL team, on scoreboards : LA Kings - who did not make the playoffs this year, but beat the NY Rangers for the Stanley Cup in 2014.  The Rangers gave it away last night to the Canadiens


30. How many TV shows are aired : IN HD

32. Liftoff sensation : G-FORCE

34. Record flaw : BLOT - ah, a 'criminal' record, not an LP

35. Moonraker, for one : SAIL - got stuck in James Bond mode


36. "You kiss by the book" speaker : JULIET - got it from -U--ET

39. Solar __ : CELL - not WIND

40. Word heard before a pistol fires : SET - ready, set, go~!

43. Heavy traffic may affect them, briefly : ETAs

44. Buddy : CHUM

46. Seriously hurts : MAIMS - had it in, took it out, put it back

48. First date concern : ZIT - first dates these days don't concern zits - compatibility seems to be the big issue at my age

49. Civil War battle site : SHILOH

51. Tahari of fashion : ELIE

52. Young would-be 19-Across in 2000 news : ELIAN

54. River across Quebec, in Quebec : St. LAURENT

56. Overindulgence : BINGE
58. Business that requires browsing : eTAIL

59. Lily's "Laugh-In" operator : ERNESTINE

60. Janitor's supply : LYSOL - oops, I threw in an "S" at the end thinking it would be plural

61. Collector's targets : DEADBEATS - I tried "WHOLE SETS", which fit, but seemed awkward

DOWN:

1. Pioneering : SEMINAL

2. Oakland's county : ALAMEDA - pretty good WAG from some crossings

3. Dairy line? : GOT MILK~?

4. Like some mounts : EQUINE

5. Hamlet : BURG - not TOWN

6. Prepare for a new assault : REARM

7. Innate : UNTAUGHT

8. Like many candles : SCENTED

did you see the candles~?

9. Hawthorne's Prynne : HESTER - forced high school reading - The Scarlet Letter

10. Sheikdom of song : ARABY

11. Coach of Nadia and Mary Lou : BELA - the "A" was my last fill, and I guessed
12. Protective display cover : BELL JAR

13. Charmingly rustic : IDYLLIC

23. By the book : LEGAL

26. Get to : RILE

28. Campaign pro : POLitician

31. V-shaped cut : NOTCH - I have finally gotten around to building my entertainment center after months of planning - the unit divides my space into "living room" and "bedroom"; I mounted the TV and the fake fireplace on a swivel, can see both from either room now


33. Thin coat : FILM

34. Grafton's "__ for Burglar" : B IS

35. Pasta ingredient : SEMOLINA - my first thought, but was not jibing with my crossings

36. Biblical wife of Ahab : JEZEBEL - good WAG from the "J" and the "L"

38. Selena and others : LATINAS

39. Lab dish subject : CULTURE

40. Historical Oder River region : SILESIA - filled via perps

41. Distinguished : EMINENT

42. Flies over Africa? : TSE-TSES

45. Sounded displeased : HISSED

47. Make bubbly : AERATE

49. Fishhook connector : SNELL


50. More than a little unpopular : HATED

53. Currency exchange fee : AGIO - hah~!  I knew this~!

55. Sch. in the same system as Berkeley : UCSB - somehow I managed to try U CAL, but it helped

Splynter

38 comments:

OwenKL said...

FIW. BELⒶ (forgotten) + BⒶLLS (Ouch!), JEZaBEL + ⒺLIAⓃ (forgotten) + SⓃELL (never heard of it before).

{A, B-, B.}

It was a wild family from which HESTER came,
And her mother's sister was largely to blame!
Though at fighting UNTAUGHT,
Should someone RILE her a NOTCH,
She'd hit what she HATED -- so beware, Auntie MAIMS!

Composing poetry makes a poet EMINENT,
Able to limn scenes IDYLLIC with elegance!
One must SET words astutely,
Not compost words MUTELY!
Decomposing is SCENTED quite unlike ELOQUENCE!

Twas the season for BALLS, but JULIET had a fit!
There on her beautiful face was a ZIT!
The BLOT was an EYESORE!
She'd lose CHUMS forevermore!
She must SAIL off to Tahiti and be done with it!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Splynter, I was right with ya, starting...and finishing...in the NW. I was also hung up on James Bond. Thanx for 'splainin' BALLS -- my mind was going elsewhere. Down south I tried San Diego before Santa Barbara snuck in. AGIO: Hello old friend, long time, no see. Nice challenge, Roland. I liked it.


Nice entertainment center, Splynter. Saw something similar on Ask This Old House a few weeks ago. The room divider was attached to a track mounted against the baseboard. You used a remote control to move the whole shebang, enlarging either the bedroom or the living area.

Big Easy said...

I HISSED a little before the puzzle started not being all white, with B IS, ABBIE, BELA, and UC__ the only gimmes. It's strange the way some answers pop up. In the NE I didn't know which Jennifer- Aniston or Lopez- was the female half, so JLO was a WAG. I've owned three sailboats, all sloops, but Moonraker is a SAIL that I hadn't heard of.

The SE filled rapidly with HISSED on one side, UC__ in the middel, and TSETSES on the right. I remembered Lily Tomlin's character but couldn't place the name until the SEMOLINA and AERATE fell. I knew the St. Lawrence River but not the 'Frawnch' spelling.

AS far as unknowns, GERE, ADLER, SNELL, and ELIE were teammates for that. Last fill was the intersection of ADLER and RILE.

Many Silver Tongues that have ELOQUENTLY talked many investors out of a lot of money and fooled millions of voters. Basically they "Dazzle them with fake brilliance but really baffle them with bullshit". Money's gone and the charlatans are in office. Never fails.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Me Too, Splynter. That NW corner nearly took my lunch money. For one thing, I put in Esther instead of Hester and thought it was solid. Oops! Somehow I never had to read The Scarlet Letter. Didn't know the hockey team or the desert bloom. I did, however, suss "untaught". By the way, that's an impressive room dividing scheme you came up with!

Agio and snell were all perps. Both look dimly familiar from past crosswords. Agio is not even in my spellchecker.

Off to dig some graves. No, seriously. My small town had the same gravedigger for 50 years, but he died over the winter; because I have some machines, the person in charge asked to help them out with the spring rush. This is all new to me!

BunnyM said...

Good morning all!

This was a nice challenge from Roland- thanks for the Saturday workout!
Thanks Splynter for a wonderful write up. I especially enjoyed the IMMIGRANT Song being a huge Zeppelin fan. That one always reminds me of my 16 year old nephew- he's known the lyrics since he was really young and we used to sing it in the car together. Not sure that he would do that now with me, though :)
Your entertainment center is quite impressive! Wow- great work and very cool.

I had a lot of good WAGS which helped but got hung up on a few things: had Anaheim>ALAMEDA, Ben>JLO (should have known that was too easy) Rtes>ETAS and misread "Historical Oder Region" as Order but had no idea anyway, so it was gotten via perps.
I also thought James Bond for "Moonraker" and had Film. Once SAIL was filled, I remembered it.

Perps: LAK(not a hockey follower) ELIE, EILIAN, SNELL, UCSB.
Two cheats: ARABY and AGIO.

Favorite clever clues/fills : "Carousel riders"/SUITCASES and "Dairy line?"/GOTMILK

Busy weekend with the holiday and a dear family member is terminally ill. This came on so quickly, we are all in shock. Most likely she will only live another day or so. It's my Mom's sister and I'm trying to help her get through this as well as my cousins. Life is fleeting- hold your loved ones close.

Doing the puzzle and reading the blog is my only chance to relax for a bit today. I have so much to do and it is with a heavy heart.

Lemonade- I do hope you are feeling better! I didn't have time to read the blog yesterday and just saw CC's post this morning. Wishing you a speedy and successful recovery.

Wishing everyone a great day and a Happy Easter for those that celebrate :)

Wilbur Charles said...

Bunny, so sorry for your aunt.

I got HESTER right off but put her in the wrong column. And if I'd solved left to right would surely have wrote DANE for 5d

Splynter, you do a great job on the write-ups. And, thanks Roland for making this Sat a shower not a deluge.

Owen, #1 rightly an A. Btw, according to a Wilbur rule, Tahiti could have been Caps since it's less than 3 days.

Misty I hope you get in here for some ELOQUENT Sylvia Plath discourse(BELL JAR)
Or, I'll gladly take some Hawthorne.

My son and I sang Duke of Earl in the car. He also coined the term "Driving finger". Speaking of Boston... Darn, I forget. Later on that

Jewish wife begins with J.. hmmm. I popped UCLA in there, it's UCLA Mon-Wed

The Rays (TB) have a pitcher named Snell. Would he be eponymously named?

Another one of my Minnie Bottoms* moves was reading Inmate for Innate

WC

Ps. I have a fellowship question for Splynter but perhaps I should take it offline.

* MB is a bridge character who misreads her Jacks and Kings

Anonymous said...

MATURATES? What became of MATURES? "Maturate" is one of those unnecessary, redundant, HORDE SHIT back-formed verbs, like "predestinate" and "orientate."

HD is standard TV transmission these days, not just "some." The variable these days is in the reception, not in the "air"ing.

Magilla Go-Rilla said...

24A - Bennifer Part-II: Jennifer Garner

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Good Saturday workout. Got the SE easily enough with SILESIA, ST LAURENT, and ERNESTINE. Others needed more WAGs and perp help. Needed help with JULIET. Favorite was UNTAUGHT; just the way it became parsed. SNELL was a new learning. Sort of a hint at CSO with SNELL being the first lock on the ST LAURENT upstream of the Quebec border. (ST Lawrence Seaway).
SILESIA - Much of SILESIA was acquired by Frederick the Great for Prussia in wars with Austria in the 18th century. Most of it became Polish after WWI.

I always loved ERNESTINE'S "Is this the number I am speaking to?"

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was an interesting solve inasmuch as I had several hiccups and stumbling blocks along the way, yet my completion time was the fastest ever for a Saturday puzzle. (I don't time myself, the app does, and I don't try to speed-solve, ever.). My w/o's included; EstherHester, Live/In HD, and Freud/Adler. I knew immediately that it was Elian Gonzalez but I mistakenly thought his name was Elia, so I resisted for awhile. I liked the intersection of Juliet and Jezebel. While there were some tricky spots, I was able to get several footholds and everything fell into place nicely.

Thank you, Roland, for a challenging but doable offering and thanks, Splynter, for the informative summary.

Bunny M, I'm sorry to hear about your aunt.

I'm still recovering from the noise and chaos of a niece's birthday party last night. There were 36 people there and the same group will be at the same place (my sister's house) for Easter Sunday brunch. (I'm opting out due to sensory overload!)

Have a great day.

MJ said...

Good day to all!

Fun puzzle today. I surprised myself by knowing most of the proper names without hesitation. Like others have noted, the NW was the last to fall. Thank you perps for SILESIA. Favorite clue/answer was "Carousel riders"/SUITCASES. UCSB is my alma mater. The Santa Barbara area is lovely. Thanks for another fine expo, Splynter. Impressive room divider. You are very talented.

Sorry to hear about your dear Aunt, BunnyM.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate. Enjoy the day!

Bill G said...

Hi everybody. I started off with red letters on to highlight my mistakes (as I often do on Saturday). I began typing letters and ... none of them turned red. It was as if I had a gateway into Roland's brain. Very cool.

Bunny, I'm sorry to hear about your aunt. Best wishes for you and her family.

Say, when you have the energy and inclination, why don't you fill in some of your profile? Then we would be able to tell where you live, what kind of a job you have/had, etc. Just a thought... BTW, this goes for quite a few other contributors also. I think it helps make us all feel a bit closer.

I hope we all have a good day and a good Easter weekend.

~ Bill G

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning,

Nicely done, Roland. A doable challenge. I liked SET when I finally figured it was a sequence. Most fun: SUITCASES! I too was at the park, not the airport. Great photo for that one, Splynter. Thanks to you both.

Peace, Joy and a few tulips.

JJM said...

Good puzzle for a Saturday. Funny, I had no trouble with NW corner, However, the NE corner gave me a run for my money.

HAPPY EASTER to all!
Enjoy your families!
We're going to miss our Tulane Freshman, but she'll be home in a few weeks.

Lucina said...

Ditto on the NW being last to fill. HESTER went in quickly but the rest took a long while especially since BERG started at 5D then BURG. IMMIGRANT and surprise!, I recalled NEIN. Getting better at German. FREUD before ADLER. Finally it all fell in place when ALAMEDA emerged. CSO to those in northern Cali.

For the rest I was in Roland's wave length but waited for BEN or JLO until BELLJAR appeared. JEZEBEL, as I recall, was not Jewish, she was a Phoenician.

I'll take a CSO at LATINAS.

Bunny M, I'm so sorry about your aunt. In our family our aunts are precious so very likely yours are, too, and I can imagine the pain.

Have a very special Saturday, everyone!

Lucina said...

Oops. Forgot to thank Splynter and congratulate you on the impressive room divider!

Anonymous said...

Set? What about ready, aim, fire...?

Argyle said...

Not for a foot race.

Wilbur Charles said...

Thanks Lucina, I've got a layman's familiarity with JEZEBEL the Jezebel but I didn't know Ahab married a Phoenician(there's that pesky diphthong again).

Who is the one lamenting the Tigers poor performance? They're leading their division unlike my Bosox. I'm interested in ex-Ray Mikey Mahtouk.

And enlightened comment about"The Bell Jar" can come from any of our book readers. I'm glad to OPine about Deighton(Len) when he pops up again as he surely will.

WC

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Quad stacks always look impressive but this puzzle was very doable
-We managed 5 days in D.C. with just carry-ons and skipped the carousel. You’d better board as soon as you can.
-Nebraska’s Silver Tongued Orator
-Throwing too many “BALLS” can get a relief pitcher a job at Wal~Mart
-NEIN, ich werde Ihnen nicht sagen mein Zeichen! (No, I will not tell you my sign!)
-Kids on their computers work MUTELY for a sub! Yay!
-This ride at EPCOT makes you pull about 2.5 G-FORCES by spinning you on a very high tech merry-go-round.
-For whom exactly are these SOLAR CELL powered devices intended?
-I’ve heard Oakland-ALAMEDA Coliseum quite often before Raider games
-You can’t teach people to play like Willy Mays
-Are your taxes by the book?

Spitzboov said...

Husker - Re NEIN. Good example but German likes it participles or infinitives at the end of sentences or independent clauses. (werde Ihnen mein Zeichen nicht sagen!)

AnonymousPVX said...

Kind of a toughie but went well enough once I got some footholds in various spots.

I must agree that "maturates" is ugly. No issue with any of the rest of it, a usual Saturday otherwise.

Best Easter wishes to all.

Ol' Man Keith said...

SNELL had to come from perps. Otherwise this Saturday pzl from Mr. Huget was a snap, a surprisingly easy breeze.
let me be clear: I'm grateful for it - and for this week's final run from Thursday through today. Three in a row provided sufficient challenges while offering this old brain the fine feeling of making connections and enjoying minor triumphs.
Some of today's clues were particularly likable--"Collectors' targets," for one, and "Carousel riders."
I think we're all in agreement that MATURATES sucks. It doesn't do anything that MATURES can't handle, and it adds a beat with a nasalized "ay" that rhymes with hates.
Oh, and thanks to Splynter!

Misty said...

A Saturday toughie for me, although I actually got the Northwest corner and some of the middle and bottom before I had to start cheating. It helped that I got both HESTER Prynne and IMMIGRANT, although like others, I thought of FREUD before ADLER. I remembered ABBIE Hoffman (although I was never much of a hippie) and it took me forever to remember ERNESTINE from those funny Lily Tomlin skits. But the word SNELL was totally new to me, never heard it before. Anyway, puzzle had lots of fun stuff in it--thank you, Roland, and you too, Splynter.

Wilbur, I had forgotten Sylvia Plath's BELL JAR and had to look it up. Didn't realize it was her only novel, and that she died a few months after it was first published. It sounds as though the novel predicted her own sad life.

BunnyM, so sorry to hear about your aunt. My Dad (88) is in the hospital, after a fall while trying to fix the lawn mower. Fortunately he didn't fall very far since he was bent near the ground (he's over 6ft. tall) and so didn't break anything. But he's having trouble standing and walking. I'm just praying that he'll be able to go home again after therapy.

Have a wonderful Easter Sunday, tomorrow, everybody!

Longbeachlee said...

I saw Juliet from the "iet", but decided against it because "by the book" seems post-Shakespeare to me.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Lots of white on the first pass through followed by flashing red-letters before I got enough correct answers to give some hints. Was surprised at the end to find my time was much less than usual on Saturday. Thanks, Roland & Splynter!

I was shocked when I typed in JEZEBEL for the first entry in that section and it was right. How'd I do that? Was so encouraged, I tried JULIET next and it was right. Oh, elation! Gave me strength to go on.

Wilbur: BELL JAR was known. That novel was such a depressing cry for help that Plath's editor should have intervened and had her committed for treatment. I read it as a happy young wife and mother and was very depressed by it. Didn't stick my head in the oven because I had an electric stove. Soon recovered my cheery disposition due to my sweet little tots dancing around.

Bunny: So sorry for what your family is experiencing.

WikWak said...

MATURATE? Really?

Jayce said...

Wow, those quad stacks of 9-letter words is impressive! I like this puzzle very much; seems to have a nice balance of crunchy and smooth, known and unknown. Smiled at "Dairy line." Noticed "By the book" and "You kiss by the book..." clues. I wrinkled my nose a little bit at MATURATES, REEDY, and TSETSES. A really excellent puzzle, though.

I like Santa Barbara; it's a nice town and has some terrific places to eat. It is probably unique in that you can sit on the beach and watch the sun rise, not set.

So, Dudley is now a grave digger!

Wilbur Charles, I actually did put DANE in at 5d.

Bill G, LW and I are going to a seaside joint called Barbara's Fish Trap next week. The name makes me think of your Barbara. How is she doing?

Best wishes to you all.

desper-otto said...

Dudley, my father was an undertaker. During Wisconsin winters the ground was frozen too deep for efficient grave digging. So the caskets were kept in "cold storage" in an unheated building. Come April, it was finally time for the "spring planting." Sounds like that's what you're doing now. No, I don't miss it.

Reminds me of the grave-digger who just kept on digging, and forgot to lower a ladder into the grave. When it was six feet deep, he was stuck at the bottom. While he was sitting down there, waiting for someone to lower him a ladder, the town drunk staggered by and fell into the grave. "There's no escaping the grave...," the digger said. Somehow, the drunk made it out.

Bill G said...

Jayce, thanks for asking. Barbara seems to be doing better. She is still experiencing spells of lassitude and lack of appetite, probably left over from the chemo. But I am keeping my fingers crossed...

TX Ms said...

Thanks, Roland and Splynter, for a fun Saturday morning. What others said about "maturates." What? Never heard of that word in anything I've read before, even going back to archaic junior high school science classes...well, from what I can remember. Re "Young would be 19-across in 2000 news" would have been so much easier and clearer if the clue was "youngster." But I nit-pick. NW corner was pretty much a white landscape except for "immigrant," so I cheated with NV state flower, and then everything came together. I wish I had persevered, but I hate ink blots. Maybe I should switch to pencil in the future in those instances.

Bunny M, I am so very sorry to hear about your aunt. Thoughts of strength coming your way to you, your mother, and your other family members.

Abejo said...

Good evening, folks. Thank you, Roland Huget, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for a fine review.

BunnyM: My concerns for yourself and family regarding your aunt. May God be with you all.

Lemonade, hope you are feeling better.

Puzzle started fairly easily for a Saturday, but I bogged down for a while. That is why I am logging in at almost 9:00.

Had ALPINE for 4D. That gave me SAGA BR for 1A. Thought of SAGE BRUSH but did not write it in. Thought the ALPINE was correct. Later on after I had SCENTED, ELOQUENCE, and HESTER, I entered SAGE BRUSH. Of course ALPINE became EQUINE. Different kind of Mount.

Was thinking of BEN and JEN for 24A. Getting all the downs in that area gave me JLO. OK, I am not really big on Hollywood stuff.

Had THRUST for 32A. All the perps forced me to G FORCE.

Thought of JULIET at first but decided that cannot be right. Later on after a couple perps I put her in.

ERNESTINE, I had no idea. Never watched Laugh In much. After some perps it was obvious.

61A fooled me forever. Was thinking of collecting valuables and memorabilia. Perps to the rescue. DEAD BEATS.

Got AGIO and SNELL easily.

Getting my mind ready for Easter tomorrow. Playing at church with the choir and organ. Then off to brunch, and then off to work at Amazon. Full day.

See you tomorrow, maybe.

Abejo

( )

Big Easy said...

HG- It's coincidental that you are mentioning W.J. Bryan. Just yesterday, I was talking with my neighbor about a man who lived next door to one of my classmates in HS. He worked as a geologist at United Gas Co. in Shreveport and was well known by everyone, one John Scopes. But he wasn't the most 'famous/notorious' person in town. H.L. Hunt had a second family there. Everybody in town knew about it but his Dallas family didn't. Billionaire problems.

Wilbur Charles said...

Re . Bell Jar, the book I read as a freshman was "Notes from the Underground" by Dostoevsky. Talk about depressing mind benders.

Pirates 3rd baseman Richie Hebner was a grave digger in the off season.

Misty, I hope your Dad gets better.

WC

Misty said...

Thank you, Wilbur.

Lucina said...

Misty, best wishes for your Dad.

Thinking about SAGEBRUSH, it spreads across vast areas of the desert and when it blooms, usually purple or yellow, it is gloriously brilliant. In fact at this time of year all the desert flowers are in bloom and create a beautiful panorama.

Picard said...

Can't believe I FIR! Hand up for ELIE, GERE, AGIO, SNELL as unknowns. Hand up for FREUD before ADLER. Learning moment.

I lived in ALAMEDA County twice, but I would think this is rather obscure for most of you.

I did my physics graduate program at UCSB, but I still did not think that was the answer! I figured they were meaning another campus. There are quite a few UCS_ campuses. San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Cruz come to mind.

Nice misdirection regarding SUITCASES and carousels.

Thanks very much for explaining BALLS and Walks, Splynter! I had no idea what that meant!

Hungry Mother said...

Slogged through this on Tuesday while watching the ocean from my cruise on the Feedom of the Seas. A bit overcast, windy, and rough this morning. We land in Puerto Rico early this afternoon.