google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday June 11, 2017 James Sajdak

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Jun 11, 2017

Sunday June 11, 2017 James Sajdak

Theme:  "Getting Old" - AGE is added to each familiar phrase.

23A. "Reduce, reuse, recycle"? : MESSAGE OF GREENS. Mess of greens. New term to me. Looks like just collard greens. Notice GREENS changes meaning also.


32A. Harm caused by some lodge builders? : BEAVER DAMAGE. Beaver Dam. Beaver remains the same.

47A. Black Friday scene? : ENTRY RAMPAGE. Vivid picture. Entry ramp.. Entry remains the same, in a way.

64A. Shredder fodder? : CLERICAL GARBAGE. Clerical garb. Clerical changes also.

82A. Inventory alert at the highway sign supplier? : STOP SHORTAGE. Stop short. Not much change.

98A. Aromatic oils? : MASSAGE MEDIA. Mass media. Media changes also.

111A. Saw you can't discuss publicly? : CLASSIFIED ADAGE. Classified ad. Classified changes meaning.

Two AGEs are attached to ends of the first words, five the second words. Consistent. No odd man out. I like when the non-key word change meanings also.

So nice to have James Sajdak back again. He is one of those very few constructors who're good at both themed and themeless grids.

Across:
    
1. Actually existing : IN ESSE

7. Bottle in a playpen? : BABA Just baby talk.

11. [Not my mistake] : SIC

14. Six-time NBA All-Star Stoudemire : AMAR'E. Can never remember his name.


19. Beethoven's "Appassionata," e.g. : SONATA

20. Designer Cassini : OLEG

21. Anguish : WOE

22. Meet competitor : MILER

26. "__ Mio" : O SOLE,  "My sunshine."

27. Involving a lot of tossing, perhaps : SLEEPLESS. Motrin PM helps Boomer.

28. Go wrong : ERR

29. Stunt setting : AIR SHOW

31. About six weeks on the liturgical calendar : LENT

34. Cod and others : CAPES
 
37. Ups : RAISES

38. Tap output : ALES

39. Mantilla material : LACE. Mantilla is a new word to me.


40. Teach improperly? : LEARN. I don't get this clue.

42. Pejorative : SLUR

44. Half a score, or a perfect one : TEN. Nice clue.

51. On topic : GERMANE

54. Gets going : INITIATES

55. First name in Solidarity : LECH (Walesa)


58. It may be set in stages : OATER

59. Certain dancer's accessory : FAN. Fan dance. We also have 65. Half a dance : CAN

60. In any way : EVER

61. Michelangelo work : PIETA. In St. Peter's Basilica



63. Unborn, after "in" : UTERO

68. "Heavens!" : OH GOD!

71. Tasteless : TACKY

72. Swear words : OATH

73. Got an __: aced : A ON.  Filled in AN A. Not reading the clue.

76. Gold standard : KARAT. Also 80. Good as gold, e.g. : ANALOGY

77. Went under : SANK

78. Means more than : OUTWEIGHS

85. NFL advances : YDs

86. Actor Morales : ESAI

89. They come from têtes : IDEES. Followed by 90. Sans opposite : AVEC

91. Season, in a way : SALT

94. Got into the market : TRADED

96. Gay song locale : PAREE. Gay Paree. Cheerful Paris.


101. Pelts : FURS

103. Problem when using a well? : INK SPOT. Inkwell! Not the well problem of TTP's neighbor.

104. Sheltered side : LEE

105. 1898 Dewey victory site : MANILA BAY. Learning moment for me. George Dewey. I only know Dewey in Dewey Defeats Truman guy.

110. Airheads : TWITS

114. Late, in Los Cabos : TARDE. Probably same root as our TARDY.


115. Farm layer : HEN
 
116. River to the Caspian : URAL

117. Evasive tactic : END RUN

118. Guatemala girls: Abbr. : SRTAs

119. "Go on ... " : AND

120. Hand off : PASS

121. Boundary marks : STAKES

Down:

1. Beliefs : ISMS

2. Coward often quoted : NOEL. Noel Coward.

3. Massachusetts motto opener : ENSE. "Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem". Mouthful. OK, it means "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty."

4. Freelancer's enc. : SASE

5. Gun insert : STAPLE. Staple gun.

6. "Tequila Sunrise" group : EAGLES

7. Lift : BOOST

8. UFO pilots : ALFs. ALF stands for Alien Life Form. Got via crosses.

9. Request a pardon? : BEG

10. Seeing eye to eye : AGREEING

11. Changes course suddenly : SWERVES

12. It's charged : ION

13. Activist Chavez : CESAR

14. Seeing no evil? : AMORAL. Nice clue also.

15. Long-distance lover's question : MISS ME?

16. Nickname based on a salutation : ALOHA STATE. Also 70. Island entertainment symbol : GRASS SKIRT. These ladies seem to have fun.



17. Enter again : RE-LOG

18. "Maid of Athens, __ part": Byron : ERE WE

24. Bard's nightfall : EEN

25. Significant times : ERAS

30. "__ you to try it!" : I DARE

32. Vamp Theda : BARA. Our old friend is back.


33. Community coll. class : ESL

34. Tropical plant with large foliage : CANNA. Another learning moment for me.


35. Join the cast of : ACT IN

36. Sassy : PERT

37. Gavel sounds : RAPs

39. Adventurer Ericson : LEIF. Second son of  Erik the Red.

40. More recent : LATER

41. Professor __ : EMERITA

43. "Gross!" : UGH

45. Cabinet dept. formed under Carter : ENER. Slight clue dupe with 64. Energy source : COAL

46. Lyre-playing emperor : NERO

48. Retreat in the face of : YIELD TO. Look, this big tree yielded to my kick.



49. Wild party : RAVE

50. Formal lament : ELEGY

52. Less polished : ROUGHER

53. Game-ending call : MATE. Oh, checkmate.

56. Pilot's announcement: Abbr. : ETA

57. Do some serious bar-hopping : CAROUSE. Good old days.

61. Scout carriers : PACKS

62. Type : ILK

66. Realty ad count : BATHS

67. Lawrence Welk's upbeat : A TWO

68. Approve : OKAY

69. Set of cards : HAND

73. Mescal source : AGAVE

74. "Wow!" : OH GEE.  I shouted "oh, wow" a few times after D-Otto showed me some mad programming skill. Boomer asked me "So, what's Tom's bowling average?"

75. Infinitesimal span, for short : NSEC

77. PBS part: Abbr. : SYS. Error, right? PBS has no System. Public Broadcasting Service.

78. Piece of one's mind? : OP-ED

79. __-Tass : ITAR

81. Start : GET GO

83. Prepares for guests : TIDIES UP. Our house is quite messy.

84. Classical theaters : ODEA. Also learned from doing crosswords.

87. Bill passer? : ATM. Great clue.

88. Swift's birthplace : IRELAND. Jonathan Swift. Not Taylor.

92. Legal drama fig. : ASST DA

93. Lost moments : LAPSES

95. Citrus drinks : ADEs

96. Serengeti families : PRIDES. Lions.

97. Not upright : ASLANT

98. Diamond equipment : MITTS. By the way, TTP was right last week. This catcher is A. J.


99. Co-Nobelist with Menachem : ANWAR

100. __ Sketch : ETCH A

101. Some are epic : FAILS

102. Article in Le Monde? : UNE. DES/LES too.

105. Curators' credentials, on a C.V. : MFAs

106. "__ dash of ... ": recipe words : ADD A

107. Request for Alpo? : BARK

108. Feverish feeling : AGUE

109. Itches : YENS

112. Quarterback Dawson : LEN. Hall of Famer.



113. Novelist Levin : IRA

Looking forward to seeing some of you at the Sixth Minnesota Crossword Tournament this afternoon. 

C.C.

43 comments:

OwenKL said...

Friday: FIR! Even got the theme before the reveal! Substitution was an easy guess, but I guessed FRAT > STAG and CAT > RUG, so didn't get the GIST of it until RANGER and DOG sent me to RENEGE my earlier guesses. I did expect GIST as the reveal by the time I GOT to it, tho!

Saturday: FIW¡ The SW corner had several wags, but RAte instead of RANK was my bete noire¡ IRe made more sense than IRK, which I think of as a small annoyance, not "big-time". TItS I didn't even notice, uncharacteristically.

Sunday: FIR! Too many w/os to contemplate! Theme helped a lot, though I had a hard time letting go of "new SAGE MEDIA".

Been trying to compose a l'ick for three days now. Still managed only one today. I hope quality, or at least risquéity, atones for quantity.
{A.}

There once was a dancer from GAY PAREE
Would kick so high, you could see -- OH GEE!
Made an OATH, she vowed, "OH,
GOD I'd go commando
For a can that can CAN-CAN with glee!"

fermatprime said...

Hi everyone!

Thanks to James and C.C.! Enjoyed the puzzle!

C.C.: "Can you learn me that?" Old improper way to ask to be taught something.

I didn't know AMAR'E. But that was about it. Oh, MANILA BAY also. EAGLES filled in itself.

Really cute theme.

Have a great day!

TTP said...


Good morning. Thank you James and thank you CC.

Well, I turfed it today. Had HOIST instead of BOOST, and wondered if HABA was some brand name for a baby's bottle. Oh, baby talk. Now I get it. Didn't pay attention to 23A not making sense. Guess I should have had more sleep.

I thought "Seeing no evil" for answer AMORAL was the best clue of this puzzle.

CC, unfortunately for my dear neighbor, the water problem went from bad to worse. 35+ years of water bills came due. Finally fixed Friday afternoon. Then she moved yesterday. It had to be repaired.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Yay me! D-O got the theme. I think that makes at least twice this year. Perhaps because I'm of a certain AGE? Thank you, James Sadjak!

Had to CAN my CHA cha. Hand up for HOIST. Also tried WAWA before BABA showed up. Bet you also thought of Baba Wawa. C.C., thanx for 'splaining ALFS. I remember the show Alf, the alien from the planet Melmac, but forgot what the letters ALF stood for.

billocohoes said...

In Life on the Mississippi the experienced steamboat pilot tells apprentice Mark Twain "I'll learn you the river".

"MESS of greens" may originally have been Southern US. Mess has an informal meaning of "a large amount" with a hint of untidiness to double the emphasis. Your life could be a mess, you could be in trouble, or you could be in a whole mess of trouble.

MJ said...

Good day to all!

Fun puzzle. I don't recall ever hearing the expression "MESS OF GREENS" before. AMARE was also unknown. Favorite clue/answer was "Half a score, or a perfect one" for TEN. Thanks for the grand tour this morning, C.C..

Enjoy the day!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

After entering Message of Greens and Beaver Damage, I was off to the races. The title was the frosting on the cake. It was a fun theme and a smooth and pleasant solve which, IMO, is what Sunday puzzles should be but so often aren't. The biggest CSO is to our dear Misty, Professor Emerita! Amare appeared yesterday (I think) with a different clue.

Thanks, James, for an enjoyable offering and thanks, CC, for the expo and lovely visuals.

Bill G, I enjoyed Sunday Morning, even though I missed the beginning. I saw most of the Tommy Tune segment, the New York artist (what a feat she accomplished!), that admirable young patriot, and Lorde. I can see why you like the show so much and I find Jane Pauley a very competent and classy host. I also enjoy Mo Roca.

Have a great day.

TTP said...



And FermatPrime as well. Professor Emerita.

I wonder if Moe Roca (sic) is any relation to Almond.

Continuing on with yesterday's golf acreage discussion, Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune Sports writer, on Erin Hills in Wisconsin. It's the site of the 2017 US Open.

"The property is ginormous. Erin Hills is spread out over 652 acres, about four times more land than a standard American course."

They'll be playing from 7693 yards, That's only 2 yards shorter than the longest ever played for a US Open. They should have moved them to the back tees. The course plays at 8348 yards from the back tees.

It's a public course. You can play it for $280 per round, plus caddy fees. No golf carts. You have to walk it. About 6 miles. I'll pass.

OwenKL said...

Catching up on the past 3 days of the blog, and even tho they're past, a couple things I still need to jump in on as they were never (IMHO) properly resolved.

Magic as a goose: the golden goose and/or the goose that laid golden eggs, i.e. charmed, lucky, profitable.

TED TALKS were in the news just a month ago with a secret presenter.

ALEXA web ranking (established 1996) has no connection to ALEXA the artificial intelligence (introduced 2014). That both are now part of the Amazon conglomerate is coincidental, as they are not connected in any way!

Bill G said...

Hi everybody.

"I'm gonna learn ya how to speak good English."

AnonT, I'm sure there are lots of excellent restaurants in that area. Unfortunately, it's a ways off from where we live and I don't know of any of them.

Irish Miss, I'm glad you like "Sunday Morning" as much as I do. I'm about 20 minutes into it so far, watching the Annie stars. (I do love my DVR.) BTW, you can catch most of "Sunday Morning" online at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sunday-morning/

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, James, for a fun Sunday play-on-words theme. Had some of the pitfalls like HOIST before BOOST and ORGY before RAVE, but got through after a bit of time.

C.C., DH always says, "I'll learn ya, dern ya". Makes me laugh!

Have a great end of the weekend to all!

tawnya said...

Good Afternoon!

This one did not flow as easily as some Sundays, but I still finished with Google! Enjoyed it and got my learnin' in for the day. Thank you, C.C.!

The Eagles are on my Top 5 list of "If I were stuck on an island, and could only listen to one band/person forever, it would be ..." Take it to the Limit demands to be sung at the top my lungs every time! A not-so-well-known favorite, Wasted Time, can bring tears to my eyes. FWIW: Tom Petty is number one on the list. Hands down. Who's on your list @anon-T?

Here in MO, you can have a whole mess of just about anything. And people are referred to as "a hot mess" - meaning they are falling apart (medically, mentally, emotionally, in their personal lives, etc...) Generally not a good thing!

Happy Sunday all!

t.

WikWak said...

79D: ITAR-TASS
I have absolutely no idea what this is/means/stands for/etc. I finished the puzzle in a little over 40 minutes, about average for me, and as usual I did all the across clues I could first. Didn't even see ITAR until I was proofreading at the end, and it made me double check all the perps there; I was sure it must have been wrong. Nope. What the heck IS it?!

Other than that, I really liked this one. Thanks, James and CC!

Mark McClain said...

I really enjoyed this fun and occasionally funny puzzle (doing on same day uncharacteristically). Just wanted to interject that I had the opportunity to hear Lech Walesa speak in person some time ago at a lecture series in Dallas. He spoke in Polish, which I do not understand at all (had an interpreter), but just listening to him was exciting. He is obviously one of the most inspirational leaders of our time, and a happy edition to any crossword!

desper-otto said...

WikWak, according to the Encyclopedia Brittanica:
ITAR-TASS, abbreviation ofInformatsionnye Telegrafnoye Agentstvto Rossii–Telegrafnoe Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soyuza, (Russian: “Information Telegraph Agency of Russia–Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union”), Russian news agency formed in 1992 after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. ITAR reports on domestic news, while TASS reports on world events, including news from the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Thanks, James & C.C.! Real mental gymnastics the last couple of days.

Got AGE early which helped fill a lot of white space. This was a leap frog puzzle for me, i.e. I jumped around a lot putting in a few letters and WAGs at a time. Seemed like I had to read a lot of the clues then let my subconscious bounce them around a while.

AMARE was a gimmee. He played at his peak for Phoenix Suns when they were my favorite team because of Steve Nash.

ITAR-Tass: wasn't demi-Tass. Google says it is the Russian News Agency.

No idea on the Massachusett's motto. Didn't know what was "good as gold". ESP

CANNAS was a memory of lovely flowers. I used to plant over two dozen CANNAS in an old truck scale curbing filled with dirt. You could see the blaze of glory on my farmstead hill from the highway. Many people remarked on them. Only problem was they weren't hardy and had to be dug each fall, wintered in the cellar and replanted each spring. Oh my back!

I knew 1898 was the Spanish-American War, but forgot it was also in the Philippines. I kept trying Havana before MANILA crept out of some mental mist. Havana fit but kept turning red except for two "A's".

Huge limb crashed down from my front yard maple tree yesterday. My front yard is half covered. My poor yard man will come and look at the mess in front and back yards and drive away screaming, "Nooooo!" Better remember to call and tell him to bring his chain saw. Hope he will come. Usually just wants to mow & blow in peak season.

desper-otto said...

Oops, should have said Encyclopædia.

Misty said...

Busy Sunday morning with a graduation celebration to attend in an hour. So this will be quick. Very fun old AGE puzzle, James--thank you so much! I loved it, and got the theme early on which helped a lot. And terrific pictures this morning, C.C.--thank you for those. I got the whole puzzle without any cheats except for one goof-up: I put KISS ME instead of MISS ME since I didn't know the NBA fellow, and should have looked more carefully at the down clue. Guess I'm just a romantic at heart.

Many thanks for the kind shout-out, Irish Miss. The answer EMERITA fits really well with the old AGE theme, doesn't it, since it refers to retired faculty? Very clever, C.C.!

Have a great Sunday, everybody!

Jayce said...

Whew, this puzzle was hard for me. I didn't remember AMARE so its crossing with EREWE was a Natick for me. Plenty of other hard spots, too. For some reason I don't feel that triumphal satisfaction I usually feel when I complete a solve. I still don't get what that "Shredder fodder" clue has to do with clerical garb(age). One would have to know French to get some answers such as AVEC being the opposite of sans. You all already know my opinion on (over)using French, or any other foreign language, in an American-English-language puzzle.

Shrug.

And yes, ITAR-TASS is a hard-to-figure-out answer.

Good wishes to you all.

Yellowrocks said...

-James,cute theme, just enough crunch to be interesting, neat puns. As I was doing downs first in the NW, MESSAGE appeared at 23A. AHA! Seeing the title I wagged OF GREENS. The theme in the first seconds! BEAVER DAMAGE was a gimme.It was fun finding and filling all the age references.

-I forgot what CV stands for but knew FMA was a curator's credential. Later I looked up Curriculum Vitae vs resume.
The difference

-BAY with Dewey tipped me off that we needed MANILA.

-PK, you surely do have yard problems this month, Frustrating. So sorry.

-Very pleasant day. Smooth sailing, no problems. Relaxing in the blessed AC with a glass of Merlot.

Yellowrocks said...

-TTP@ 11:15, thanks for your input. I posted this yesterday, but hit a wrong key and lost it.

Of course, you all were correct when you parsed the meaning of COURSE as Merriam Webster does. “An area of land laid out for golf with a series of 9 or 18 holes each including tee, fairway, and putting green and often one or more natural or artificial hazards “ That is the part of the land used just for the actual game of golf.

-As a non–golfer I was thinking of the whole shebang. Dictionary.com sees it my way.
“The ground or course over which golf is played. A standard full-scale golf course has 125 to 175 acres (51 to 71 hectares), usually with 18 holes
varying from 100 to 650 yards (91 to 594 meters) in length from tee to cup”.

-Words can have varying meanings and connotations. I call it a draw.

Argyle said...

clerical firstly refers to clerks and clergy secondly.

Bluehen said...

Apropos to today's theme: Everyone has probably heard the adage that wine gets better with age. But did you know that the inverse is even truer? Age gets much better with wine!

PK said...

AVG Joe, good to see your post yesterday. I've been worried about you.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Dicey 1 & 7 Across and “so clever” themers made for a fun Sunday
-Hudson’s team ERRed 6 times and issued 6 walks yesterday and got creamed
-A TWIT I know told me he was giving up liver for LENT (ha ha) 10 years in a row. In cards he said, “I’ve got a HAND like a foot” every time we played
-Ah’m gonna LEARN ‘em some science today! [SIC]
-PIETA – “I just chiseled away everything that didn’t look like Mary holding Jesus”
-Hooters – “Delightfully TACKY, yet unrefined”
-Doing the zoo when grandkids called OUTWEIGHED golf by far Thursday
-Did you also grow up with school desks that had INK WELLS you never used?
-The IRS envelope you return is SELF ADDRESSED but you supply your own STAMP
-When we visit somewhere these days, we usually leave ERE EEN
-There always seems to be a LATER version of your technology
-Union Pacific COAL revenues are shrinking
-Where did Law and Order find all those hot ADA’s?
-I’m doing this in the car and so I can’t link but I’ll post in a few hours

Husker Gary said...

p.s. I too am glad to see fellow Husker Avg. Joe back!!

TTP said...

Yellowrocks, I am not disagreeing with you. I was commenting that I thought it was a good misdirection clue for a late week puzzle. Obviously, most people would go with holes for golf course units. And interesting about the acreage of Erin Hills.

BTW, I did not like second definition for DATE BAIT at Urban Dictionary we had awhile ago. The one that was lewd. So I just made up a different definition about baiting bats with dates and posted it to Urban Dictionary. It's now the number 1 definition there, and even shows up when you Google Date Bait.

That's the problem with some crowd sourcing input to some of these "dictionaries" that never gets vetted at all, or gets poorly edited. Anybody can say anything, and Urban Dictionary is just to full of smutty and lewd definitions.



Yeah PK and Husker Gary, we haven't heard from Average Joe for months. But I must have touched a nerve with my questions about shelling eggs to make deviled eggs. Then I remembered his comments from a long while ago about blowing into the egg to release the shell. Average Joe, don't be a stranger !

Anonymous T said...

Sunday Lurk Say:

{A-}
Tawnya: RUSH, Beatles, They Might Be Giants, Mozart, The Who - If I 'tip' the guy banishing me to said metaphorical-isle enough coinAGE, I'd sneak in The Boss.

YR - Thanks for the CV v. Resume link. I've seen CVs from our UK office and knew about it; and DW uses CV (she's academia). I didn't know the finer distinction. I've been Lernt [how's that for bad 'taught' C.C.? :-)]

HG - That has to be the best description of Hooter's I've ever read. LOL! Anyone who says "for the wings" is fibbing. I've been to one once, "Meh" wings and the girls weren't that cute, just, um, hostesses with assets. [I'm sure Urban Dictionary has something there too TTP :-)]

TTP, YR, HG, et.al. Re: Avg Joe: Sometimes the Corner goes in circles (let that sink in; rounded edges, com'on that's funny). We should be a MESS o' stale. [scratch my 1st para re: music :-)]

With nowhere (finally!) to go today, I planned to introduce the girls to History of the World, Part I this afternoon. Not on Netflix, nor XFinity, nor HBO on demand, nor iStore [what ever Apple TV calls it]. What's the point of all this crap; I'm sure if we still had a Blockbuster around the corner, they'd have it. 'COURSE, I don't have a VCR any more :-). #TechSucksButILoveItToo #sigh

Wishing y'all a relaxing Sunday. -T

Yellowrocks said...

TTP I thought I was agreeing with you. BTW those were standard vetted dictionaries.

Big Easy said...

I know that nobody of 'AGE' would be commenting here, would they? The North filled fairly swiftly and I caught the gimmick at BEAVER DAM-AGE. I got hung up at the GARBAGE after writing ROOMS for BATHS and CAROUSE was slow to appear. That caused STOP____TAGE to be an annoying fill until by brain clicked.

But ultimate cause of my failure today was the cross of AMARE and ERE WE ( hello Jayce). I had know knowledge of the basketball player's name and ARE WE looked pretty good.

CANNA & ENSE- all perps.
SLEEPLESS- I don't think that there's any type of pill that make me sleep all night. Over the years, I've tried them all (except maybe Seconal, Tuinal, & Nembutal- barbituates). Nothing has ever worked on me.

YR- 650 yards- is that a par SIX or SEVEN? It would take at least four ( probably five) good strokes to even get to the green.

Bill G said...

I've been to Hooters twice. My experiences with the waitresses was; they were cute, most had good figures but not sensationally so, and they had pleasing personalities making me feel as if they were really interested in whatever I had to say; a good personality trait for life in general I'd say. (I don't remember much about the food, adequate IIRC.)

Anonymous said...

A ONE and A TWO both were "upbeats" from Lawrence Welk.

OH GOD and OH GEE: Taking the Lord's name in vain again.

STAKES are "boundary markers," not "marks."

OKAY is misspelled (that's OK).

Irish Miss said...

TTP @ 11:15 ~ Thanks for mentioning my lapse in not mentioning Ferm as our other dear Professor Emerita. Mea Culpa, Ferm.

Bill G @ 11:47 ~ Thanks for the info on getting Sunday Morning at CBS.com. I'm going to make a concerted effort to remember to DVR it.

It was 92 today, making it challenging for the participants and onlookers of Troy's (Home of Uncle Sam) Flag Day Parade. It is the largest such parade in the country and was extra special today, celebrating its 50th anniversary. (We are in for three days of the three H's, unfortunately.)

Yellowrocks said...

Okay is an alternate spelling of OK. Both are acceptable in informal language.
Dictionary.com says a stake is "stick or post pointed at one end for driving into the ground as a boundary mark, part of a fence, support for a plant, etc." The definition does use the term boundary mark.
I think we make mistakes by not being broad enough in our definitions. We tend to ban things that those who make a living studying words do not ban.

Anonymous said...

Regarding 77 D "Sys" appears to be (partly?) correct. At least if you browse to http://pbs.org the home page is titled "PBS: Public Broadcast System". On the other hand, browse to http://www.pbs.org/about/contact-information/ and you'll find that the postal address to write them is

Public Broadcasting Service
2100 Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA 22202

tawnya said...

I knew Anon@5:03 wouldn't miss a day with two GOD references. Hope he doesn't do the NYT puzzle today because 95D is "Me so ________" (1989 rap chart-topper) (Do NOT google if you don't already know the answer - would not pass the breakfast test!)

@Anon-T - I knew Rush, assumed Beatles (me too!), surprised by Mozart, would place The WHO in the top 10, and am totally surprised by TMBG! I bought Flood for Birdhouse in Your Soul and fell in love. Not only are they amazing artists, but they also learn ya so much! And I remember them being featured on Animaniacs.

Happy Sunday Evening,

t.

Mike Sherline said...

Anonymous @ 1703:
When Lawrence Welk counted off his band, One & Two were his DOWNbeats. The upbeats were "and-a" the way he did it.

He would count off: "a-One and-a Two and". The initial "a" was a preparatory (or UP) beat to beat ONE, which is the DOWNbeat, the "and-a" was the UPbeat of beat one, preparatory to DOWNbeat TWO.

As for OK/Okay, Oh God/OhGee, Marks/Markers - who cares?

Anonymous T said...

Tawnya - Yes; the bands listed have eclectic range and don't get boring. Mozart was absolutely brilliant that way - I've never heard anything by that Cat that didn't rock or inspire in some form [Beethoven can get a bit redundant].

As for TMBG - they seldom repeat themselves either*. Not just Animaniacs, but, I remember watching HigglyTown Hero's when the girls were younger and shouting, "That's TMBG!" After the show was over I pulled out Flood to learn them.
I got to see TMBG once in Houston at a club called Numbers back in '99.

And on Learnin' ya - yeah, who, outside of a historian, would know ofJames K. Polk if not for that. [linked has to be a non-sectioned video, but it's cute]

OK, back to xwords... Here's a TED TALK that opens with AGE by the Johns. And BlueHen, you nailed my sentiment on wine :-)

Cheers, -T
*Y'all know I love Rush, but let's face it Snakes and Arrows drones on. If it wasn't for their 40yrs of experimenting, they wouldn't have so much good & different stuff. Ditto The Who - Keith Moon carried it [in my book, write your own if you don't like it! :-)]

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Late to it, but I'm glad to see that someone came to the same conclusion I did about upbeats and downbeats.

Evening, C.C., if you're in the neighborhood, there's an old birch here that needs your kick!

Bobbi said...

Hey! No one answered why LEARN is clued "teach improperly" !?!? As a retired teacher, I take umbrage with this innuendo!!

Anonymous T said...

Tawnya: I thought I said this once (and I did! [found it]....

I screwed up my Girls before they got to Kindergarten 'cuz before they could talk I'd dance with them and riff on TMBG at bed-time:
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
How I know Just what you are
A fiery ball of burning gas
Making elements with Higher mass
Burning brightly night and day
Fusing elements far away

They still know 'it' that way. When my girls repeated me 'knowing' that's the way 'Twinkle' went, the other 5yros would point & laugh at 'em. #BadDad.

SO we ended up watching Blazing Saddles. Youngest wouldn't sit for the N-word. I tried to explain parody but she just walked off in a huff. #GoodMom? -T

Anonymous T said...

Bobbi - I'm gonna Learn you is the improper way to say I'm going to teach you... -T

Picard said...

Maybe it was due to being away from the puzzles for ten days, but I found this difficult and FIW.

No idea about MESSAGE OF GREENS. Put MESSAGE IN GREENS even though it made little sense.

Hand up for HOIST rather than BOOST.

AMARK/KREWE was my WAG that failed.

Thought Welk's upbeat was ANNA (Anna One, Anna Two). But I did correct it with crossings.

I think CC is correct that SYS is incorrect. But I didn't notice the mistake, so I got it correct.

Apparently that translation of the Massachusetts motto is a "loose" translation.