google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, June 23, 2017, John Lampkin

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Jun 23, 2017

Friday, June 23, 2017, John Lampkin

TITLE: Let's go camping!

John Lampkin is back with another delight. The theme answers in this letter exchange puzzle are all silly and clued with John's special wit. The base phrases are an odd set, but they work. The grid is a bit different with symmetrical 9 letter fill (NW- SE) around a 7 letter middle word and 11 letter downs set out in opposite corners. This makes one work a bit more. He also includes DEEP END, ALL TIME,  RATTLER,  FUSSPOT,   COURAGE,  LEAD DOG as sparkly fill.  Well, let us see how he built this Friday.

16A. Vermicelli for the greedy or lustful? : VICE-A-RONI (9). RICE-A-RONI the San Francisco TREAT.

38A. Energy drink? : VIMSHOT (7). RIMSHOT.  Who is your favorite comedian? LINK.

10D. Practical approach to preparing saltimbocca? : VEAL POLITIK (11). REALPOLITIK. You want to STUDY?

24D. Pamplona preeners, with "the"? : VAIN IN SPAIN (11). RAIN IN SPAIN. LISTEN.
the reveal
61A. Camper upgrade, literally seen in four puzzle answers : RV TRADE IN (9). A really fun reveal which tells us the we trade our beginning R for a V.

Across:

1. Clumps or chumps : CLODS. It takes a mind like JL to realize this relation.

6. Wall Street Journal co-founder Charles : DOW. Along with Messrs Jones and Bergestresser. LINK
They started the Dow Jones Bergestresser averages.

9. 2013 Zipcar acquirer : AVIS. Another sharing venture started in Miami. LINK.

13. Word on mail from Madrid : AEREO. Is there still airmail?

14. Have to shell out : OWE.

15. Break the silence of the lamb? : BLEAT. Such an appreciation for words and humor.

18. Get high : ELATE.

19. Get going : PROD. Like they do with cattle, or tigers.

20. Threat in old Westerns : RATTLER. My brother and I bought a house in Gainesville after law school. We were very surprised when we saw many diamondback rattlers sunning in the middle of the street. Turns out before it was leveled for development, the area was called rattlesnake hill.

John was nice enough to provide this pic.

22. Knuckle under : GIVE.

25. Bungler : OAF.

27. Import : SHIP IN.

28. Nutty : INANE.

30. Slam __ : DUNK.

32. Clever comment : MOT. Bon mot.

33. Word with gown or wreath : BRIDAL. I was not an expert on SPIREA.

35. Sandra's Supreme Court successor : SAMUEL. Ms. Day O'Conner and Mr. ALITO.

37. What's big in London? : BEN. Cute.

40. Texting qualifier : IMOIMOpinion.

43. Glacial mass : ICECAP. Politics.

45. __ milk : MALTED. Malted milk shakes were very popular when I was young.

47. Dedicatee of Lennon's "Woman" : ONO. Not really up on Yoko years.

48. Barrel band : HOOP. And staves.

50. 1937 Shirley Temple title role : HEIDI. Do you remember the MOVIE? 80 years ago!

51. Cover, in a way : INSURE. Not put a top on.

53. Pot leaves : TEA. Not ASH.

55. Comparable : AKIN.

56. Subsequent edition with no changes : REPRINT.

58. Flew : SPED.

60. With 12-Down, Carnegie Hall icon : ISAAC. 12D. See 60-Across : STERN. Cue the VIOLINS.

66. Skeptical sound at Belmont? : NEIGH. Horsies.  The Belmont was a snooze fest this year.

67. Crude stuff : OIL.

68. Dry Italian white : SOAVE. Considered cheap wine when I was younger.

69. Sebaceous gland issue : ACNE.

70. One of several found in a golf cart : TEE.

71. Graceful wader : EGRET. More expertise from JL, beautiful bird.









Down:

1. James, for one, briefly : CAValier. 8 NBA championship appearances, 3 titles. He appears to be getting better and better but still not winning it all as much as he would like.

2. Hilo hello accompaniment : LEI. What beautiful alliteration!!!

3. Hobbit hunter : ORC.

4. Where it's not good to go off? : DEEP END. I am seeing more and more of this type of misdirection, like last week's " Bad thing to draw during a test."

5. Birds do it : SOAR. So do butterflies.

6. Thingy : DOODAD. Fun word.

7. Routinely trounce : OWN.

8. Small dam : WEIR. No relation to- did you think of this as well HG and Big Easy?

9. Never surpassed : ALL TIME.

11. Unwelcome response to "Where's the leftover pizza?" : I ATE IT. Who likes cold pizza?

15. Kiss classic : BETH.

17. Milne marsupial : ROO. Kanga too.

21. Referral from dad? : ASK MOM. Such a wonderfully phrased clue.

22. The "Gee" in Bee Gees : GIBB. This is not true, as explained in wiki "They were introduced to leading Brisbane radio DJ Bill Gates by speedway promoter and driver Bill Goode, who had hired the brothers to entertain the crowd at the Redcliffe Speedway in 1960.... Gates renamed them the BG's (later changed to "Bee Gees") after his, Goode's, and Barry Gibb's initials—thus the name was not specifically a reference to "Brothers Gibb", despite popular belief

23. About : IN RE.

26. Fuddy-duddy : FUSSPOT. I have not heard this word in years.

29. Igloo's lack : EAVE. No shed dormers either.

31. "Nope" : NAH.

34. Fungus/alga symbiosis : LICHEN.

36. Bryce Canyon locale : UTAH.

39. Red Guard leader : MAO.

41. Prefix with -terranean : MEDI. Sub?

42. Master of the Valkyries : ODIN.

44. Grit, but not grits : COURAGE. Too true. How many like eating grits? Shrimp and grits are popular.

46. It's never a poodle in the Iditarod : LEAD DOG. Really? MUST READ.

47. "Be right there!" : ONE SEC.

49. Chef's crusher : PESTLE. My wife has two like below. Very important for Papaya Salad.

51. "The Three Sisters" sister : IRINA. Olga and Masha were older.

52. Loaded : RICH.

54. Busy time for CPAs : APRil.

57. Relaxed pace : TROT. A mini-clecho.

59. Relaxation : EASE.

62. Strive : VIE.

63. Temple neighbor : EAR. Cute, not the University where Bill Cosby graduated.

64. Mass ending? : IVE. Because  neither Adoro te devote nor -pike fit.

65. A daredevil might eschew it : NET. Yes, neither C.C nor any of her minions ever works with a NET, even though we might fall. But it is summer now, so enjoy. Lemonade out.


38 comments:

TTP said...


Good morning. Thank you John and Lemonmade. Fast Friday TADA !

Getting the R to V swap helped immensely. Especially for the northeast corner, where I first tried Uber and Lyft. AVIS became the obvious answer with the required V.

Odd solve pattern for me today. Nailed DOW, OWN, OWE, WEIR quickly, and then DOODAD, OAF, FUSSPOT, HOOP, TEAS, PESTLE, SPED, APR, OIL, TEE, VIE and TROT all fell within a couple of minutes. So the center columns were fairly complete.

That's when I looked at the reveal clue, "Camper upgrade..." and with the RV in place, typed in RV TRAILER. That didn't last as I got no agreement from the perps at 63, 64 and 65 down.

The northeast was the only real challenge for me today, and that primarily caused by going off track with Uber and Rubin rather than AVIS and STERN. Remembered the song BETH after I got the B, E, T and H in place.

A row of bridal wreath Spirea spans about forty yards on the north boundary of my property. I love it. So do the rabbits and wrens that make it home.

Big Easy said...

The R-V TRADE IN was obvious at the VICE-A-RONI. I didn't understand the 1D clue for James and it was perped but realized it was the basketball player after looking over the finished puzzle. The West fell rapidly but the 'Western Threat' had to change from RUSTLER to RATTLER before the NE could even begin to fill in. I didn't know what either 'Saltimbocca' or 'Zipcar" was but knew one had to start with 'V' and AVIS was the only auto company I could think of that had the 'V' as the second letter. After changing AS IN to AKIN the puzzle was done.

HEIDI (unknown) and I ATE IT were just WAGs. I knew ODIN and UTAH were correct and HEIDI looked reasonable.

And Lemonade, I didn't think of Mike WEIR but I love cold pizza. It drives my wife crazy because she likes everything hot ( to eat, that is).

TTP- I read that when KISS first sang BETH at a concert, they were booed. Their fans weren't looking for that type of song.

OwenKL said...

FIRbNTD! AS IN > AKIN held me up. The theme answers reeked, IMHO. VIM SHOT was good, VAIN IN SPAIN was meh, and VICE-A-RONI and VEALPOLITIK both stank! Getting the reveal did help me fill in a few vital cells, tho.

Old joke: Where was Solomon's Temple? On the side of his head!

{B-.}

The Ale Brewer's Conspiracy must forthwith be halted!
Our cities are being by oceans assaulted!
Turning arctic frost into froth
Will make weather-gods wroth!
Sea levels will rise when the ICE CAPS are MALTED!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

As usual, John provided several red herrings to lead us astray. I fell for OR SO (about), AGE (massAGE), and was sure 1d must be AGT or SPY, apparently it's some sort of sports guy. I had a different take on "Pot leaves." Hand up for RUSTLER, before RATTLER slithered in. Well done, Mr. Lampkin. It takes a special talent to devise a puzzle where even I can figure out the theme.

MALTED milk: Loved it in my ute. The very best came from the soda fountain at Rennebohm's drug store in Madison. A1C is too high to enjoy it today.

HEIDI: November 17, 1968, a date which shall live in infamy....for football fans.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Sorta got the theme and sorta didn't. Saw all the V's and thought the TRADE-IN might be a VAN which I could find in a couple of the theme fills. Duh! I knew the V replaced an R in the saying, but didn't quite get that that was the theme gimmick. Well, I'm up early with a stomach ache, so I guess I can't expect to be brilliant.

Didn't get the James = CAV was basketball until Lemony explained. And I'm probably the biggest basketball fan on the blog. The fact that CAV filled with perps doesn't excuse the several times I puzzled over James as a clue. I just watched him get whooped in the finals. Yay!

Lots to learn today, such as some EGRETS aren't all white. I've only seen the Snowy ones. Also was astonished with the poodles running the Iditarod.

I lived in west Texas awhile where RATTLERS adorned the warm highway pavement after dark. Shudder! Made car trouble and flats very worrisome.

Hungry Mother said...

I got the theme right away and it helped. It was a bit of a slog, but I got through it.

BunnyM said...

Good morning all

This was a bit tough for me and I didn't EASE through it. Hats off to John for a clever puzzle with lots of crunch (IMO)
As usual for me with Fri/Sat solve, I was all over the place so I got the reveal early. It didn't help much since I didn't replace the R with a V in VICEARONI. This made the James answer 'Car' which had me scratching my head. I did go back around and saw my mistake and had a V-8 moment realizing it was LeBron James/CAV. Mini theme?? with VIMSHOT, Slam DUNK, NET and possibly VIE and RICH ( he has a net worth of around 400 million)
I had As In/AKIN so VEALPOLITIK was Veal Politis- I'd never heard of Real Politik, so thanks Lemonade for the explanation.
And thanks for a great tour! Especially liked the story about the poodles running the Iditarod and the origin of The Bee Gees name.

Perps were DOW, ISAAC STERN, SOAVE (not sure how I don't know this wine)
W/O's: I had Heat for 'Igloo's lack'>EAVE , Not good to go off? The Road> DEEPEND and thought Birds Sing>SOAR

Favorite was "Referral from dad?"> ASKMOM :)

I don't like cold pizza or grits. I always reheat my pizza in the oven, not the microwave (it gets too rubbery and soggy). I've only ever tried grits as a breakfast dish, so haven't had shrimp and grits. I probably wouldn't like them that way either, as I'm not a fan of shrimp.

I remember the "HEIDI" movie well. My youngest daughter loved watching it. She had a lot of Shirley Temple movies on VHS that my Mom had bought for her but that one was her favorite ( I think that one was won as a 'Pickle Prize' at Christmas). Great classic movie and book!

The rain is here now and we're supposed to get up to several inches by tomorrow. However next week's forecast looks really nice!
Hope it's dry and sunny where you are and that you have a wonderful day :)

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This had the usual Friday crunchiness but all ended well. Hand up for Rustler/Rattler and I plead guilty to being slow on the uptake with the theme. This led to some head-scratching at Veal Polotik but finally the lightbulb came on. John certainly has a way with words and a clever cluing ability which adds an extra layer of enjoyment to the solve. The only Chekhov sister I remember is Olga but Irina filled in nicely with perps.

Kudos, JL, for a fun Friday and thanks, Lemony, for the fact-filled summary. Hope you are feeling better.

Have a great day. (Testing another new trick I learned, thanks to DO.)

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning.

John, this was exceptional fun even though I struggled so in the NE. While I succeeded with VAIN IN SPAIN, I neglected to see the theme, which would have provided me with some inspiration in that corner. Loved the "Referral from dad: ASK MOM--a skill learned early.
The EGRET is beautiful; I love the grace with which they fly. Thanks so much for a fine Friday piece.

Lemonade, nicely done again. The explication with the links is wonderful. I'm hankering for a chocolate malt from Wilson's in Door County, WI. I believe there is no bad ice cream in the Dairy State. Never much hear FUSSPOT, but quite a few were called "fussbudgets" by my folks. Thanks.

With the VAIN IN SPAIN, it sure looks like My Fair Lady week around here. I must take leave here and be off to the library to check out the DVD.

Have a sunny day regardless of the weather where you are.

Anonymous said...

A fun Friday puzzle and wonderful write-up by Lemon. Good crunch overall made easier if you got the reveal early on, which I didn't. Favorite clues - referral from Dad and skeptical sound at Belmont. Have a great Friday everyone! JB2

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Eventually got it all, but I needed help with GIBB. Not in my wheelhouse. Nice V for R theme. Lots of flora and fauna.
My basal cell MOHS removal site was on my temple near my EAR. (mostly all healed now)
Igloo's lack: EAVE. Probable don't have A/C, either.

Have a great day.

CrossEyedDave said...

Where is Fermat today?
She usually posts first...

Oh well, DNF. The NE corner did me in
(Can't believe I didn't think of "Rustler!")

I got the Theme, and WAG Irina panned out.
But temple neighbor eluded me...

An example of me trying to do this puzzle:
29d Igloo's lack
Door? No?
Window?
I know, refridgerator!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Today is bring your dog to work day. Too bad I'm not employed, and I'm not consulting today.

Me too for rustler. My igloo lacked a DOOR, and my Valkyrie was OLAF at first. Never heard of rEAL POLITICK, so the "V" didn't make me giggle and wasn't enough to make me fix AsIN, resulting in my only bad cell.

The HEIDI Game was the 1968 AFL championship. With about a minute left in the game and the Jets leading, NBC preempted the game and switched to a Heidi rerun. The Raiders made a miraculous comeback and won the game. Bon MOT from Broadway Joe Namath: "I didn’t get a chance to see [Heidi], but I hear it was great."

With "get high" and "pot leaves" as clues, I expected the musical clue to be "Tom Petty's Last Dance With ____".

I really like grits with butter or cheese, but some versions turn into a monolithic clump after cooling just a little. I don't like those.


Thanks John and Lemonade for an almost-doable (by me) Friday puzzle and fine write-up.

CanadianEh! said...

Some Friday crunch today. Thanks for the fun John and Lemonade.

I did finish with a couple of Google helps and smiled when I got the R-V trade.
Like d-otto, I had a different take on "pot" leaves. Same with 18A "get high". Must be the new laws the Trudeau government is working on for Canada Day 2018.

Hand up for Rustler before RATTLER, As in before AKIN. My igloo was lacking a Door before an EAVE.
I smiled at Big BEN and the Iditarod Poodle LEAD DOG. (Interesting link, Lemon)
Clever clue for CAV. James has finished off the Toronto Raptors two years in a row.
I learned Alito from CWs. Now I have to know his first name too! Add SAMUEL to my memory bank along with the Three Sisters, IRINA, Olga and Maria.

PESTLE could have been clued as a pharmacist's crusher also. But not used so much any more.

Mike WEIR is a fellow Canadian from Bright's Grove near Sarnia. Friend bikes that way daily. Not far from Chris Hadfield International Airport.

No NET for daredevil Erendira Wallenda who hung by her teeth from a helicopter over Niagara Falls last week. She was required to have a safety harness (like her husband Nik who crossed the Falls on a tightrope exactly five years to the day previously). Here's the link from the Toronto Globe and Mail (as discussed yesterday!).
AerialistDaredevil

We are enjoying some needed rain.
Have a great day.

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, JL, for a fun puzzle, although FIR. Also, loved your pics. Thanks for contributing them!

Nice write-up, Lemonade. Enjoyed the Ididarod Poodle link.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Puns using mostly foreign words added spice to this delightful puzzle! As always John made me stretch on some synonyms. Fabulous!
-My DOW would have been a little more prosaic
-R _ _ T L E R western threat was not a RUSTLER and DEAD END was not DEEP END
-SHIP IN - seeing this SHIP on the Savannah River was amazing
-BRIDAL Wreath was ubiquitous in my yute
-Several recent political SLAM DUNKS got rejected
-With the frost out of the ground, I’m back to long TEES
-Yes, Mike WEIR is one of those golfers who win the Masters out of nowhere
-The shape and lack of EAVES make this a hurricane-proof house in Charleston, S.C.
-Do druggists use PESTLES any more?
-Have to put on a jacket and go mow MIL’s yard. Lovely, chilly summer day.

Lucina said...

Tee hee, hee. I'm still laughing at the sight of a poodle leading the Iditarod! Great stuff from John Lampkin. Thank you, JL!

My hand is up for RUSTLER before RATTLER and I live in their territory though I've never seen one in the flesh, only at the zoo.

It required jumping through more than one HOOP to complete this clever puzzle. Of course I didn't see the theme but did notice the prevalence of Vs. I also failed to change ASIN to AKIN and didn't check VEALPOLITIS.

HEIDI was a favorite movie with both my daughter and granddaughter and I love the book as well. I still have the VHS copy. I don't understand what it has to do with sports. Someone please 'splain.

Thank you, again, John Lampkin. This was a hoot! And thank you, Lemonade. I do enjoy your detailed commentary.

Have a spectacular day, everyone!


Bill G said...

Hi everybody. I knew I was going to enjoy this puzzle when I saw John Lampkin's name at the top. I enjoyed all the clips in the write up too, especially the poodle sled dogs and the Calvin and Hobbes panel. I remember enjoying grits as a kid served hot with melting butter on top, kinda like Cream of Wheat as I remember.

I remember 'fuss budget' too.

I always enjoyed camping, both in tents and a VW Vanagon camper. Never in a big RV though I'm sure I would have liked that too.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Lucinda - the reason it is called "the Heidi game" is that it is one of the all-time worst decisions in network television. Rather than joining the movie rerun a little late or starting the movie a little late, NBC just switched away from the AFL Championship game with Oakland trailing by 4 points and only a minute to go. Complaint calls from fans flooded not only NBC, but also the NYPD. After that unbelievable comeback, the winner (Oakland) lost Superbowl II to Green Bay.

Bill, I started camping in a tent in my ute too. Then a VW bus (not a pop-top), then a travel trailer, and now in a class A diesel pusher. I loved camping in all of them, but if I slept on the ground now I don't think I would be able to get up in the morning. My camping now involves a coach with a convection oven, washer-drier, central HVAC and autmatic DirecTV high def dish and DVR.

CrossEyedDave said...

RV Trade In?

Been there, done that...

Sure is a friendly bunch!

MJ said...

Good day to all!

Loved the puzzle, beautiful nature photos, and all the clever cluing, a John Lampkin trademark. Favorite was "Referral from dad?" for ASK MOM. Hand up for AsIN before AKIN. REALPOLITIK is a new term to me. Terrific write-up and links, Lemonade.

Enjoy the day!

Jayce said...

I loved this terrific John Lampkin puzzle. It's clear lots of original thinking went into constructing it, and it took plenty of original thinking to solve it.

Lucina said...

Jinx in Norfolk:
Thank you! I can imagine the rage over that situation! I like your idea of "camping."

Count me out of any camping trip. On the last and only one for me I contracted poison ivy and that soured me on camping forever.

Anonymous said...

Fun. Best Friday in awhile.

Unknown said...

mot ???? I've heard of bon mot AS FRENCH but it wasn't clued as foreign. 67 years and counting never heard the word mot used or written alone. Screwed up the NE for me for an hour as I was too stubborn to give in. ... and how is "elate" equal get high ??? Cant see it for either high in the air or high on drugs My fault for trying Ford , Uber and lyft before avis. I had heard of zip car but had no clue who bought it

vaininspain and vicearoni were clever. Mot and elate to me are just wrong.

RV's can all burn in hell for all I care. Residents keep parking theirs on our private street. Camping to me is staying at the Hilton when the Ritz Carlton was full ! I had my fill in boy scouts. Our leaders were WWII REMFs and seemingly tried to recreate Bastogne even though the closest they ever got was Ft. Hood.
REMF's are Rear Area....guess the rest !

Pete Rozelle said...

Re: The "Heidi" game

This was a regular season game between NY Jets and Oakland Raiders. Unfortunately, the game took longer than the 3 hours that had been allocated for broadcast. The NBC network brass started the movie at exactly 7pm (EST) with the Jets ahead by 3 points. Everyone, but the fans in the Eastern Time Zone, watched as Oakland scored 2 touchdowns in the final 65 seconds to win by 11 points (43-32). The same teams met 7 weeks later in the AFL Championship game with the Jets winning 27-23 and then upsetting Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. In 1997, the "Heidi" game was voted the most memorable game in NFL history. (WIKI)

Irish Miss said...

To any Broadchurch fans out there, the third and final season begins Wednesday, June 28th, on BBC.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Ta-[fudge-a-bit]DA!!

I owned all of Mr. Lampkin's fine pzl, except (Shhh...) for a tiny sticky point in the kick-off (NW) corner.

The cluing was so clever on this sturdy beast that I marveled whether Mr. L could have been on top of his own mis-leads. The first to catch my eye was down in the SW quadrant where HIGH was just as good an answer (perhaps better than?) as RICH at 52D for "Loaded." Over to the SE side, we had the option of BAR instead of EAR at 63D, as "Temple" surely evokes "Temple Bar" in the minds of many a Londoner or cruciverbalist. Other clues didn't offer the same one-for-one switching, but showed off Mr. L's mischievous spirit. Until all the perps were filled around 27A, who could choose among the multiple possibilities implied by "Import"? I mean, really ...

On another matter, I was puzzled over IN RE as the answer at 23D to "About," as I have always taken IN RE to be an abbreviation for "In regard to." When I checked it, however, I learned that it is also the stand-alone Latin phrase for "In the matter of." "Re" in this usage is likely a variant of the Latin "Res," or "matter," commonly used in legal proceedings to denote a particular case.
Ah, how we love to learn.

Oh, as to the "stickiness" of the NW corner, I had inserted my wife's suggestion for 2D - OEI - for the "Hilo hello accompaniment." You know, "Aloha oei!" She has lived in Hawaii.
That gave me an "o" where an "l" ought to have been, which (naturally!) led to WOODS at 1A. And who's to say that WOODS is not a perfectly fine response to "Clumps or chumps"? (Janice will have a word with you.)

Ol' Man Keith said...

PS.
Oh, Lemonade, I forgot! You asked "Who likes cold pizza?"

Me me me me me ME!

Rainman said...

Exceptional work today, IMO, and same goes for the write-up. Truly enjoyable work.

TX Ms said...

Loved this c|w! Thank you John and Lemonade! Never heard of realpolitik; realpolitis didn't sound correct - sounded more like a medical condition. Forgot about the old c|w stand-by - aKin, not "aS in."

After several comments re poodles in the Iditarod, I clicked back on Lemonade's link - rats - The Washington Post trolling for new subscribers wouldn't let me access the article. Copied a partial link, and found the Toronto Star had re-published the WP article. My favorite part of the article: “If you fall off the sled, the huskies will keep running down the trail,” said Suter... “The poodles will turn around to see if you’re there and do a U-turn and come pick you up.” Maybe the poodles aren't as driven as huskies, but they're more compassionate toward their human leader.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/03/17/once-upon-a-time-poodles-raced-in-the-iditarod-they-werent-half-bad.html

Jinx - is there room for three in your RV? That's my idea of camping. Although on our yearly family trips to Colorado decades ago, we were always amazed at the drivers' skills in maneuvering those humongous vehicles along the back-then narrow twisting mountain pass roads.

Igloos sound really good to me right now.

Have a good weekend, everybody. So envious of you, HG - a jacket in June?!!


Wilbur Charles said...

I inadvertently cheated when I mislaid my newspaper and went to the corner and spotted CLODS. I still had the east to deal with. My son, categorically stated UBER bought Zipcar.

Fixing that gave me everything but the K in REALPOLITIK. So close after despairing that I'd even come close.

The commish cleared up the Heidi game. Jinx, you can be excused; 50 years. AFL games had gotten very exciting by then.

Mike Weir was pretty good when he won the Masters. Injury slowed him down to the point where only the Champions tour can save him.

I originally had ALICE before HEIDI because I had SLED DOG.

WC

Crispy816 said...

Hi Gang!

Time for my annual (or so) check in. Loved this puzzle from JL since I printed it out for use with my trusty pen. Just don't enjoy doing a crossword on the laptop.

Madame Defarge, you got my attention when you mentioned Wilson's in Door County, WI! My aunt & her business partners used to own the place in the 50's & early 60's. I never got the chance to go out there from my then-home in NJ to waitress, but heard many stories from my sister who did. I took my daughter out to visit that aunt, who had by then moved to Sister Bay, & we made a trip to Wilson's just to poke around. Great fun!

The Belmont was a snoozefest? Could have fooled me & many others in this corner of the universe who have local connections to Irish War Cry's owner & trainer! I'll concede the fractions were slow, but it was still exciting.

Thank you Lemon for the usual great write up, & thanks to all the others who do the heavy lifting on a regular basis. Much appreciated even if I rarely comment.

Crispy

Madame Defarge said...

Crispy816: nice memory, For both of us, actually.

Rainman: You've been hiding. Nice to hear from you,

Oh, and YES to cold pizza! For breakfast no less. Ah, pizza, the perfect food-- especially homemade. Yum.

Argyle said...

The test of a good pizza is if it still tastes good cold. Some do and some don't.

Wilbur Charles said...

I should have complimented lemonade on his great write-up. I finally got to all the links and the links from the links.

I see there's a Seinfeld movie coming

John Lampkin returned us to those days of difficult Friday.

I was at camp lejeune at the time of the Heidi fiasco. We had a place at Surf City.

WC

Lemonade714 said...

Growing up I was impressed with Minnesota born HAROLD STASSEN.

Thanks for stopping by Crispy816. We know most readers do not comment, but we appreciate all who read our efforts.

Picard said...

Got the theme fairly early. Fun!

Is INANE really nutty? I think of it more as annoyingly silly. Anyone else?

The NE was the last to fall. BETH unknown. Surprised that is from Kiss. Seems too sappy.

Hand up for RUSTLER before RATTLER. Hand up for MASSAGE before MASSIVE.

The Washington Post link didn't work for me. But I was able to read the title. Interesting learning moment that poodles used to be sled dogs and they were good at it.

Never had RICE A RONI. But the San Francisco cable cars really do have ads for it.