google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Aug26th, 2017, Mike Buckley

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Aug 26, 2017

Saturday, Aug26th, 2017, Mike Buckley

Theme: "Crossword and see me sometime"

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 30

Mike Buckley's last Saturday puzzle was back in April, with his clever spiral galaxy theme and grid design.  Today it's a quotation/speaker theme, and I blew right through this one, in record time.  Did not look promising with a lot of blanks on the first pass, and when I saw the circumreferential clues, thought we were in for a long one.  But then the Down clues were practically gimmes, and that gave me so many perpendiculars that I had no trouble on the second Across pass.  Just to be clear, I know the 'theme' title is a play on a famous quote, which is famously misquoted; see here.  The irony of a sex symbol crossword this week, following some of the comments last week is not lost on me, either. The theme fills;

19. See 38-Across : LOOKED OVER

38. She said, "It's better to be 19-Across than 55-Across" : MAE WEST

I like this one, as well

55. See 38-Across : OVERLOOKED

12.9 billion miles ONWARD~!
(see 22a.)

ACROSS:

1. One who's often over a barrel? : COOPER - the technical term for one who makes barrels

7. Band member with a vihuela : MARIACHI - I have never heard of a vihuela, so I went to Wiki for more.  Mariachi can be found on the golden record of Voyager - see below

15. Use a combine : THRESH

16. Tiny orbiter : ELECTRON

17. Not shrink from : RISE TO

18. Maintain control : RIDE HERD - since we had this in a Saturday puzzle this year, it has become crosswordese for me

21. "The Owl and the Pussycat" poet : LEAR

22. Watched : SEEN  - I watched a show on the Voyager spacecraft Thursday night - fascinating stuff.  Some facts: both missions were launched 40yrs ago; as of Aug 2012, the Voyager I officially left our solar system and became the first man-made object to reach interstellar space; it is traveling at 38,000mph; more here

23. Chocolate-flavored spread : NUTELLA - hey, I knew this one~!


25. Gets misty : STEAMS UP - ah, reminds me of a line from a Tom Jones remake;

@ 0:48

29. Welcome item? : MAT

30. Online shopping offer : CHAT - yeah it pops up, I knock it down, but the little button lingers there on the side....annoying

31. Testimony opener : I SAW

33. Glitterati member : CELEB

37. IV sites : ORs

40. Bedazzlement : AWE

41. Rwandan ethnic group : TUTSI - had to 'guess' just the "S"

43. One of Pop's partners : SNAP - Snap, Crackle & Pop, Rice Krispies

44. "Roast beast"-eating people : WHOS - of Whoville

45. Adobe file format : PDF

47. Shelley dedicated an ode to one of them : SKYLARKS - what, to a Buick~?

49. Musical star who received a 1949 Honorary Award Oscar : ASTAIRE

53. Big heads? : EGOS

54. Split hairs? : PART - I used to part my hair; now I go for the Giorgio Tsoukalos look


60. Blathered : PRATTLED

62. Current quantity : AMPERE

63. Antlion relative : LACEWING - didn't know what an antlion was, but once the answer filled, I sensed it was some sort of dragonfly-type insect; the antlion larva is vicious - a video here

64. Squanders, perhaps : SPENDS

65. Dramatic break : ENT'R ACTE

66. American of Japanese descent : SANSEI - I had NISsei, which is 100% 50% correct

DOWN:

1. PC key : CTRL

2. Its state quarter displays the Wright Flyer : OHIO

3. "... __ it seems" : OR SO

4. Gives a sidelong glance : PEEKS AT - OGLES did not work, but the ----S AT part I left

5. Respect : ESTEEM

6. Onetime Botswana neighbor : RHODESIA - now Zimbabwe

7. "Jeopardy!" first name : MERV - dah~! NOT Alex, not Jack; Merv Griffin, the creator.  I'd like to see a real version of the original concept - that is, one word answers in a category, and you have to come up with the question.  e.g.; Category US state capitals: answer; $200 Oklahoma City - - - - $1000 Albany

8. Sci-fi staple : ALIEN

9. Shining example of mirror-writing? : REDRUM - ah, the Shining - Stephen King's novel, Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny", and the word 'murder' written on a door


10. Curling surface : ICE - curling has been popular on Saturday lately

11. Shoe endorser : ATHLETE

12. Angler's wicker basket : CREEL

13. Every 60 minutes : HORAL

14. Hindu weather deity : INDRA

20. Responsibilities : ONUSES

24. Diplomatic asset : TACT

25. Kilt wearer : SCOT - it was brought to my attention that I have neglected my women commenters, so I will post a picture of a man in a skirt this week


26. No __ traffic : THRU

27. Right in the atlas? : EAST - we had "point in the right direction?" two weeks ago

28. Potential queens : PAWNS - ah.  I forgot about this chess rule, known as promotion - a pawn that reaches the eighth rank ( the far end of the board ) can be 'promoted' to one of the more powerful pieces.  I do not have an equivalent rule in my game, and thus I will have to consider adding it in.  I am on vacation this week, and it is one of my goals to have the board game completely ready for play by four people by Labor Day weekend

32. Not so potent : WEAKER

34. Memorable big cat portrayer : LAHR - the cowardly (ant)lion~?!?

35. Furry Endor native : EWOK - such a gimme for a Star Wars nerd like me

36. Catfish Row heroine of opera : BESS - only had to guess the last "S"

38. Modest skirt : MIDI - and now for the woman in skirt


39. Pirate's viewing aid : SPYGLASS - such a cool word, and the name of a street in my old neighborhood - Spyglass Lane

42. "CSI" evidence : SPATTER - well, not so much evidence as a place to collect it, so to speak

44. Showed willingness to listen (to) : WAS OPEN

46. Cavort : FROLIC

48. Oompa-__: Wonka worker : LOOMPA - not much leeway in cluing for a word like this

49. Big __ : APPLE - I left it blank - and yet probably should have been my first answer, being that I live in New York

50. Leftovers cover : SARAN

51. Political essay : TRACT

52. Ceremony, e.g. : EVENT

56. Border : EDGE

57. Guy dolls : KENS - been keeping in shape~!

and TWO hunks this week~!

58. Mahler's earth : ERDE - I had no idea, so I went and looked it up after it filled via perps - the Wiki

59. '50s sitcom name : DESI

61. Longtime Howard Hughes asset : TWA - I didn't know; so again, the Wiki

Splynter

Notes from C.C.


1) Happy Birthday to dear Montana, an extraordinary courageous mom and grandma. Hope your eyes are getting better. We think of you often.

 Montana and her 5 children celebrated her birthday in 2014, Vail, CO2)
2) Anon T (Tony) sent me this "Huge" image.  He said below. He lives in Houston. Stay safe and update us when you can, Tony, Peg, TX Ms & D-Otto!


"I've never seen a storm like this outside of Jupiter's "spot." (I'm exaggerating; a bit)

What's somewhat disconcerting is the projection (zoom in and look for the 'line') that this goes back to sea and strengthen before making a bee-line to HOU."

49 comments:

OwenKL said...

The Prescience of the Blog: when Wilbur used COOPERs yesterday, he put it in all caps for no particular reason! (Hey, feel welcome to join into this game! Use the PotB heading when you see an example, too! I'm sure I don't catch them all! (and when you think about it, pre/science is a weird word. 😱 ))

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!
You have a song, let's hear it!
If SKYLARKS sang malarky
They could PRATTLE MARIACHI,
With lyrics erotic and explicit!

The owl and the pussycat in a pea-green boat,
Needed a loan to stay afloat!
They PAWNED his VIHUELA,
Sold her stash of NUTELLA,
But couldn't sell charter tours of the moat!

{C+, C.}

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Very quick solve this morning. The newspaper is out on the driveway getting soaked, so I wound up working the puzzle on-line. As a result, my grid is Wite-Out free. Took a tad over 10 minutes. Thanx, Mike and Splynter.

Splynter, I also watched that PBS program about the Voyager program. Velly intellesting! Here's a cw clue from that show: Most far-out rock singer -- Chuck Berry. His Johnny B Goode is the only contemporary song included on the Voyager audio record. I couldn't believe that they made only two copies of the record, for Voyagers I and II. I'll bet lots of folks would have liked to have a copy of the "sounds of earth" in their collection. I did not remember that Voyager II launched a couple of weeks before Voyager I.

I've found that on-line CHAT is an effective way to get a company's attention. I complained in a cable company CHAT about the shoddy installation of their cable box out in the property easement. They promptly corrected the problem...thirteen months later.

Happy birthday, Montana.

For today's entertainment we have the Harvey rain bands. No walkee, no bikee.

billocohoes said...

Though CSI collects DNA evidence from it, SPATTER is evidence in itself, used to determine direction of a blow or shot, position of bodies or other objects, whether arterial spray, sequence of events

Big Easy said...

Was I ever lucky today. Correctly filling INDRA, LEAR, & HORAL with WAGs. Not familiar with any of them. There were only a few places that went in the wrong direction.

ALEX or MERV, OATH or I SAW, BEAV, LUCI, or DESI. I have no idea about the WHOS or Whoville but the perps were solid and I let it go. TUTSI or HUTUS- the perps also took care of that one. I'm with you, Splynter, on the LACEWING, as I had heard the name before but had no idea as to what it was.

The REDRUM-murder was all perps. The crosses were solid and I left it. Never saw the movie.
SPYGLASS- expensive, exclusive golf course by Pebble Beach.

CHAT with a company BOT- I always ask the 'person' who won the Super Bowl to see if it's a real person or AI. The BOTs can never solve your problem. I just call the company, keep pressing '0' until a live person gets on the phone.
My favorite Mae West line: ' Are you happy to see me or is that a gun in your pocket?'

OwenKL said...

Is Sir Walter the SCOT of "Great Scott"?
Or is it Winfield, as likely as not?
Well, not to get STEAMED UP,
It's Montgomery who beams up!
The only red-shirt who never got shot!

{B+}

Spitzboov said...

Good Morning everyone.

Happy Birthday, Montana.

Thanks, Splynter, for starting my morning.

Not too hard for a Saturday. Liked the MAE WEST connection. Perp help was ample.
ICE - I curled for 10 years up to 2009. Utica has a 6 sheet club; one of the largest in our state.
ERDE - Dutch is Aard - think 'aardvark' (earth pig)

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was relatively easy for a Saturday with just a few unknowns: lacewing, Indra, Lear, etc. I knew the "Owl and the Pussycat" poem but not the author's name. Funny to see Scot and Midi after yesterday's Scott and Maxi, and Cooper from a few days ago, although clued differently.

Thanks, Mike, for an enjoyable solve and thanks, Splynter, for the detailed expo. Good luck with your board game.

Happy Birthday, Montana, hope it's special. 🎂🎉🎁🎈🍾

Hope everyone affected by Harvey is safe and sound.

BunnyM, will this affect your vacation plans or is it too soon to tell?

Have a great day.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Easy enough for me to try, hard enough that I didn't come close to a tada. Gave up and Googled for ASTAIR and still had trouble. IMDB says he won the 1950 Honorary Oscar, not 1949. I did appreciate that the clue was for '49 and located at 49 across.

I'll never get anything related to that dang chocolate factory without looking it up. Try me on Blazing Saddles, Caddyshack, Animal House or Porky's and you are in my wheelhouse. And my last lookup yielded LACE WING.

My favorite clue was "Shining example..." for RED RUM.

Congrats to those who solved it easily. Thanks to Mike for a puzzle level that allowed me to at least do most of it without help. And thanks to Splynter for coming through with the legs at the end.

MJ said...

Happy Birthday Montana, and good day to all!

I found this easier than most Saturdays but still had to google for poet LEAR in the NE which gave me HORAL, a new word to me. Favorite clue/answer was "One of Pop's partners" for SNAP. Thanks to Mike for the puzzle, and Splynter for your faithful Saturday expo.

OMK--Glad to hear the good news on your ear. I hope the pain has subsided. Best wishes.

Enjoy the day!

Argyle said...

Once again, the old bugaboo about Academy Awards rears its head; the awards are presented the year after the year that they won for. Sure leads to confusion.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-leaR/indRa was my only question mark as this went down quickly
-C’mon, was I the only one who erased ALEX to put in MERV?
-Fun write-up and great Voyager info Splynter. I bookmarked that bad boy!
-THRESH is not heard around here where $250,000 combines perform many tasks. Hence the name combine. My neighbor heard THRESH when he visited German farms in the 60’s
-RIDE HERD? Oh, you’ve substitute in elementary before!
-My STEAMED UP image
-I accidentally dialed my cousin in San Diego last night and we had an hour long CHAT
-I live on EAST SKYLARK Street.
-Splynter, is sitting on a Van de Graaf generator
painful? :-)
-Shoe endorsers are mostly basketball players as you can not wear spikes on the street
-Argyle, it’s the same for College Football. Clemson won the national championship on January 9, 2017 but will be referred to as the 2016 champions
-HBD, Montana!

Yellowrocks said...

Fun puzzle, easier than usual. There were many helpful perps.
Happy birthday, Montana. I miss you and often think of you.
We have watched coopers ply their craft in early American demonstrations at Willimasburg, VA and Mystic Seaport, CT. Cooper was a common profession in the early days of this country. I love these early Americana demonstartions
I listen to Das Lied von der ERDE occasionally, so ERDE was a gimme.

I think it was on Jeopardy that there was an item about Snap, Crackle, Pop in Mexico. Other countries have their own version. The same goes for animal sounds like meow.
Denmark - Pif! Paf! Puf!
Finland - Riks! Raks! Poks!
France/Quebec - Cric! Crac! Croc!
Germany - Knisper! Knasper! Knusper!
Italy - Pif! Pof! Paf!
Switzerland - Piff! Paff! Poff!
South Africa - Knap! Knetter! Knak! (Afrikaans)
Mexico - Pim! Pum! Pam!

Billocohoes@ 7:33, I agree that blood spatter is evidence.
The first generation or initial Japanese immigrants to the U.S. are called ISSEI,
Their children are called, NISEI or second generation.
Their grandchildren are called SANSEI or third generation.
These words are not used in Japan, but are used in North and South America by the Japanese who immigrated her.
Nikkei refers to Japanese immigrants across generations.
REDRUM is good, but would have been even more effective as an across fill.

OwenKL, I, too, thought of Sir Walter, Winfield, and Great Scott at that clue.
I misplaced this line earlier. Great Scott trips me up again.

Tinbeni said...

Happy Birthday Montana ... The "first" Sunset Toast is to you!

D-Otto: Glad to see you are surviving Harvey ... I'm glad to be in Tarpon Springs.
(Trust me, when there is a Hurricane like this one ... you want to be 800 miles away from it).

Cheers!

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, Mike, for a pretty quick solve on a Saturday. Like Jinx, loved the clue for RUMRED! Very ingenious!

Thanks also to Splynter for another great write-up, as well as the legs for us ladies!

Just over 5+ inches of rain overnight.... more to come, I'm sure. No high winds or damage. Just hope it doesn't last for the 5-6 days they predict!

Lucina said...

Happy birthday, Montana! I hope you check in.

Thank you, Mike Buckley! This was one of the easiest Saturday puzzles in a long time and for me, easier than yesterday's.

At first I jumped around, finally filled the NE and should have known MARIACHI right away but didn't know vihuela. The entire eastern hemisphere blossomed quickly then across the bottom. Love the clue for PART.

As soon as OVERLOOKED filled, LOOKEDOVER came to mind as did MAE WEST.

This was a lovely solve! And thank you, Splynter; you never disappoint.

Stay safe all you southerners in Harvey's path.

Everyone, have a peaceful day!

Lucina said...

OwenKL:
You made me laugh out loud! Well done.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Late, but the paper was out front this morning. Our streets flooded but subsided after the leaves were cleared from the storm-drains. I cleaned them last night but more flotsam floated down the road. 9" of rain so far. Good news is that the models now predict the storm will not go back to sea.

Thanks Mike for a fun puzzle. The MAE WEST quote gave me enough perps to finish out most of the grid w/o Google (and fix Alex to MERV).

Thanks for the Expo Splynter. Like HG, I'm bookmarking that Voyager link. With little to do today - maybe the special is on-demand.

WOs: Handup Alex b/f MERV; almost put home in for CTRL
ESPs: HORAL (new to me), INDRA, ERDE, ENTRACTE, BESS
Favs: I really liked c/as for SNAP and PAWNS. Splynter, Pawns can also capture En Passant; I don't recommended adding that to your game :-)

I almost had SPiTTle for 42d but didn't think that would pass Rich's "breakfast test." I'm not sure SPATTER does especially w/ RED RUM in the grid

{B+,B}{A+; lol}

Happy Birthday Montana! Stop in when you can.

Stay safe DO, TxMs, & C6D6Peg. The rains here just picked up in earnest again.

Cheers, -T

inanehiker said...

Relatively quick solve for me to especially for a Saturday! But the NE with WEES about INDRA, HORAL, and LEAR slowed things down before the finish!

Thanks Splynter and Mike!

Happy birthday to Montana! Stay safe and dry all who are in Harvey's path. My son who lives in San Antonio is currently taking some coursework in Maryland - checked with him that his car is up on a higher level of the parking garage back in Texas!

desper-otto said...

Anon-T, what a difference a few miles can make. As of noon we'd gotten only 2 inches, and it's reduced to drizzle at the moment. The mail got delivered on time, and the trash got picked up, so it can't be too bad up this way.

Remember that old song, "I'm LOOKin' OVER a four-leaf-clover that I OVERLOOKED before."?

Misty said...

Great Saturday puzzle, Mike--many thanks, although I had to start cheating after getting only about 3/4 of it. Good thing too, because I firmly had ALEX in place for 7 down, and would not have changed it if I hadn't looked up MARIACHI. I've watched "Jeopardy" every night for years, and even after Rowland's stroke, we still watched it every night and I still kept score of our correct answers. I was always amazed how many Rowland still got. So, of course, I put ALEX Trebek, because I foolishly didn't get Mike's clever "first" name hint, referring to the first host, MERV, and not to ALEX. Loved the MAE WEST quote, and never heard of HORAL. Fun expo, Splynter, many thanks.

Thanks for explaining the American/Japanese categories, Yellowrocks.

Happy birthday, Montana.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Argyle said...

Edward Lear: I like the cut of his jib.

Wilbur Charles said...

I started slowly then filled fast for a Saturday. Like everyone I popped in ALEX quickly (in ink) and figured someone got transfixed but couldn't reverse it.

Misty got a CSO today I see. Not reading nor seeing"The Shining" puts me in the minority.

Owen, as someone mentioned, COOPERS wasn't prescience but deja-vu. We'd had it. Again if you can find it the Mario Bros movie with the COOPERS swaying to Lara's theme is hilarious.

BESS is Porgy's mate in Gershwin's opera.

I must have read Owl and Pussycat a hundred times to baby Phillip.

Yes. Lahr was the ANTI-LION of Oz.

WC

Oh yeah. Great write-up Splynter. That SCOT is Rodin's"The Thinker" eh?

Anonymous T said...

D-O: Kind of... I know the tune but Boy Scout camp had it's own words:
I'm LOOKing OVER
My Dead Dog Rover
That I OVER ran with the mower
One leg is missing, the other is gone
One leg is SPLATTER'd all over the lawn
No use explaining, the one leg remaining
That's nailed to the commissary door
I'm looking over...

//hey, breakfast is over

Argyle - Um, thanks. I don't know why but, with the L in place and needing perps, I thought "Oh, Norman LEAR." [Interview on PBS]. I got it right for the wrong reason :-)

Cheers, -T

Misty said...

I was thankful that Mike didn't capitalize the M in "Gets misty," Wilbur.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Ta- DA!! - And what a fine pzl it is today!
Many thanks to Mr. Buckley for a worthy challenge, especially tough for me in the NE and SW corners. But except for one semi-lookup (for LACEWING, which just barely caught the corner of my eye when I was googling "Antlion" - Seriously!) this was a DIY victory.
Thanks to Splynter too, especially for the fine links and visuals. (That crazy Hair illustrating PART is how I am trying to train my remaining hair to do. Just like that. A senile folly, perhaps?)

At first I thought this pzl a strange pushover for a Saturday entry. The middle and lower (SE) sectors gave way almost instantly to WAGs, one crazy left-field guess after another. The most successful was ONUSES - that I WAG'd without a single perp clue! But then the truth set in, and I was sorely tempted to cheat many times.
But No! (sez I to the demon on me left acromioclavicular joint) No!! And I knuckled down and saw it through. Huzzah!

HORAL was new to me. I also wondered whether the singular of MARIACHI should have followed from "Band member" in the clue. Not knowing enough Spanish, I ask whether there is a singular version (MARIACHO?) or are these entertaining fellows like Deer or Fish?
Or Hair?

Hands up for all who went with EROTIC before FROLIC!? Yes, I know it's an adj. for a n., but isn't that often the challenge in Xwd solving? How easy should we be in accepting convenient answers even when they don't feel right? I am learning. Over the years I have come to one of the finer maxims governing cruciverbal solving:
When your answer feels off,
even by a smidgen,
know that you're wildly wrong

It is indeed an excellent guideline, friends. Please help yourself to it, as it hasn't been of much use to me.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fun & fast, thanks Mike & Splynter! Hope your hair has recovered. Too funny, Gary about the electric shock factor.

Hand up for ALEX first. Never heard of HORAL or REDRUM. All perps. Don't watch scary movies.

Happy birthday, Montana. I miss you too.

D-O & Tony: thanks for the weather status updates. I turn on the weather channel and just get some idiot standing out in weather he should know enough to avoid and who is talking excitedly about nothing I wanted to know. At least if you are posting, we can figure you still have electricity. Right?

Anonymous T said...

PK - so far today DO and I are in the LULLs between bands of red & orange on the RADAR map(s). We still don't know WTF Harvey is going to do - is it a Wallbanger (with Galliano) or Jimmy Stewart's malevolent imaginary friend - at least for H-Town. SW of us got the rabbit with Fangs (Google you're own Quest for the Grail :-))

OMK - I meant to say, re: the Fear, of the Ear. 'Tis good to Hear, that things are better... I would rhyme that, but not my forte.

Cheers, - dry-so-far, -T

Jayce said...

I liked this fun puzzle with the famous quote by MAE WEST. I also learned a new word, HORAL, which I do not expect I will ever use in conversation except for the present instance. Hand up for (over)confidently entering ALEX at first which blocked me from entering ALIEN because I didn't think 16a would begin with LL. Turns out ALIEN was right after all, and it was ALEX that was wrong. Sheesh. Some excellent clues.

Anonymous T and other Texans, from what you have been saying it seems you and your property were not damaged, and I am glad for that.

OwenKL, excellent verses!

Argyle, I can see why you like the cut of his jib.

Happy birthday, Montana. Best wishes to you all.

Anonymous said...

1
This must have been an easy puzzle because, with a few peeks at the grid, I finished a Saturday!!Thank you, Mike Buckley! Great expo, Splynter!

Hand up for alex/MERV. 50d leftovers cover gravy/SARAN.

I liked the MAE WEST quote. I've heard it before.

I've read THE SHINING so I remembered REDRUM. That was my last Stephen King book.

Happy Birthday, Montana! Hope it's a great day!

OwenKL, happy to hear the ear is healing well.

I'll take a CSO for yesterday's SCOTT, my maiden name, and for today's SCOT, some of my ancestors.

Beautiful weather here with temps in the upper 70's and low humidity. Unfortunately the ragweed is blooming and allergies are kicking up.

Have a great weekend.

Anonymous T said...

Bound to OVERpost just for storm-catharsis say:

Misty - the not-gotten little 'm' - LOL!

Jayce - so far, so good. I still have power, Internet, Sat Radio, and all the PopTarts (3 boxes) we could possibly eat in the next 12 months - That's 525,949.2 minutes [use them wisely - the PopTarts, not the time :-)]. However, the pool is at the EDGE and I'm not sure what it will do w/ more rain - DW's worried about the plants - frankly, least of mine.

'Right, for the wrong reason,' reminds me of POPs (DW's dad - RIP FIL - once a Marine, always). We (DW, MIL, FIL, & I) would play the 'name game'... Here's how it works:

Write famous / CELEB names on a slip of paper. Everyone puts 6 or 8 names in the hat (how many minutes you have?). Then, you draw a name and try to get your partner to guess based on your "clues."

DW & MIL (Team A) knew way more "People Magazine" fodder than FIL & I (Team B) and they usually kick'd the snot out of us.

Once, trying to be cute, DW or MIL threw in "Joan of Arc". I clue'd "Let them Eat Cake" and FIL nailed it. DW & MIL called foul.

He got it right for the wrong reason...

//Coda: He (FIL) clue'd "Dusty the Dolphin" for Flipper. "Dusty" (really?!?) is still family lore and evokes a laugh at Thanksgiving.

Stay safe TX Cornerites.

Cheers, -T

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks Mike and Splynter!

Gee, a gettable Sat.!

No time is appropriate for those lyrics, Anon. T!

New personal best at Spider Solitaire today (4.20 min.).

Happy Birthday to Montana!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

fermatprime said...

That's 4.10 minutes!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

I'm such a hick - I thought of "...a 4H clover...", a tune I learned in my ute as a member of the 4H club. Can't remember all the H's, just Heart and Health.

TX Ms said...

I've never watched "Jeopardy," but with ALIEN in place, knew it couldn't be Alex, then I remembered long, long ago...MERV! Having CREEL in place helped with MARIACHI. With ----SI--, RHODESIA came from somewhere. Long before all the CSI shows came to be, I was interested in forensics and would check out library books on forensic evidence; what others have said about SPLATTER. Alert for the squeamish!: But the most interesting was the larval stages of various insects found to determine time of death. I'm sure they have modern devices to determine this now, but I read those books about 35 years ago. Along those ghoulish lines, the clue for REDRUM was my fav; but only because I remember that from the Simon Baker detective show from some years ago, "The Mentalist, and his quest to capture Red John who had murdered his family - TMI - sorry!

D-O, I think you're going to fare the best. Anon-T, when I read your post that Harvey won't be going back out to the bay, I was so hopeful. But then I checked the National Hurricane Center's radar map, and it's going to stick around the coast until Wednesday! Can't complain, only 3" this am, no wind so far, but NHC predicted that Monday-Tuesday are going to be the worst for our area.

Hope AT&T NO-Verse will hang in there until at least the Texans' preseason game is over tonight. The bundle was out for five full days a couple of weeks ago. I told them I needed a new modem, but no, they tried to reboot the old one. Fifth day, THIRD tech visit, "Juan" finally showed up with a new modem and reset everything.

Anonymous T said...

Fermat - sorry for the graphic lyrics... Can I make it up to you with this link about Babylonians and Trig on clay I stumbled upon today? -T

SwampCat said...

PK, don't watch those Weather Channel reports of Texas! They did have a terrible time on the coast, and lots of stormy weather.

BUT...here in New Orleans we have had a perfect summer day...sunny and warm with light breezes. Your granddaughter is not only safe but probably happy! We are far away from the remnants of the hurricane.

That's not to say it won't rain here later in the week. This storm is big. But our governor has just been on TV saying it doesn't look like we'll get any more rain than we usually do in late summer. It rains here every day in summer! But, Loyola is in the highest part of town, so flooding shouldn't be a problem. Your granddaughter should be fine!!

I'll keep in touch....

SwampCat said...

Anon T, I'm embarrassed to say I remembered all the words to the hymn to poor Rover. It was hilarious in grammar school. Not sure why it stuck with me.

I'm glad our Texas friends seem to have weathered the storm so far. Stay dry!! I'm thinking of all of you. It was certainly awful in spots.

The puzzle was easy and entertaining. Love Mae West! Splynter, thanks for...er...the Thinker! We're we supposed to be noticing the kilt?

The Texans fans are all over our TV now and obviously having fun taunting our Saints. Probably just glad to be here instead of home with Harvey! We are glad to have them. Football fandom at its best.

Owen you made me laugh!

PK said...

SwampCat: thanks so much for the weather report.

Big Easy said...

Jinx- you left out 'Hollywood Knights' from your movie list.
Swamp Cat- 'Monkey Hill' at the Audubon Zoo is the highest point in town.
Since RHODESIA became Zimbabwe it has completely deteriorated. I want to get one of their $500,000,000 bills, which were worth about $2.00 US back in 2008.

SwampCat said...

Big Easy, Momkey Hill is the highest point in the highest PART of town. What is your point?

Oblio said...

He may have a point. But if he wears a hat, no one's likely to notice it.

CanadianEh! said...

Just lurking to check that all our Cornerites are safe in Texas. Glad to hear the reports.

Happy Birthday Montana!

CanadianEh! said...

LOL I have a misplaced modifier.
I was checking that all our Cornerites in Texas were safe.
We aren't all in Texas (but maybe we should visit after Harvey has passed).

TX Ms said...

Anon-T - are you OK? This evening on local TV saw all the horrible news from your area. Or, maybe, you're getting a well-deserved snooze?

Anonymous T said...

TXMs - Yep. I'm still whole here; just running on fumes. How about you? It sounds like inner-loop is getting hammer'd (as is Pearland according to a buddy). I heard the Hilton in the Galleria is starting to take on water. [KTRH is keeping the vigil and preempting the Crazy People show; The hosts are punch-drunk - they're goofing on Kim Son leftovers!]. I digress - you still dry?

C, Eh! - Speaking of punch-drunk; I'm so spent from lack of sleep I missed the modifier misplacement. Funny.

I tried to sleep last night but the iThing kept alarming Tornado Warnings about every 50 minutes. Get up, step out & sniff the air, check on everyone, wait, sleep again for 10. Rinse & Repeat.

Tonight, Youngest and I tried to watch The Breakfast Club on-demand (I couldn't find the Voyager special Splynter) and EBS kept interrupting with Flood Warning! (You think?!? - Actually, it's pretty cool tech that EBS can override what your doing - Sat Radio did it too). Took us an extra 20 min to watch but she enjoyed Hughes' move.

PK - NOLA is still dry and won't see the most of this. For Houston, this is going to be a 4-5 day rain event. A bit more than Alison in '01. So far, for Sugar Land, the land's been able to handle the rain's volume (about 1' so far).

Last little bit re: 60 minutes clue... Here's a fun Midwest colloquialism for you. Mom called to check on me [If you're a Mom, it's what you do] and started snickering at her new kitten... "Silly Kitty - she's no bigger than a minute and trying to take at the dog."

TXMs, DO, & Peg - keep posting so we know you're good.

Cheers, -T

TX Ms said...

Anon-T, relieved that you're still nodding, awake and among the living. Ch 11 David Paul (one of our most reliable and sane meteorologists) has predicted a second band of intense rain moving in from the west to my area. The first unbelievable deluge (7pm to 10pm) prompted me to move cherished photos, albums, AT&T NO-verse modem from low-lying areas in my house - 1st time event in my 42 years here, unrelenting thunder and lightning - haven't seen that display since a tornado in Oak Forest 30 years ago. Even David Paul hasn't seen this, in his 20 yrs' experience, "different type of animal." D-O, Anon-T, and Peg (don't know what area in Houston you live), hopes for all that we survive this. Even my sister in Wimberley hasn't seen this type of weather even during Allison and Ike; plus Harvey has affected one-third (well, maybe 1/4th?) of the state of TX. Can't wait for Thursday until he's gone!

OwenKL said...

The second time this week someone's commented on my ear. Ol' Man Keith is the fellow with the sore ear. He's OMK, I'm OKL. I get them mixed up sometimes, too.

Wilbur: Yeah, COOPER was used earlier in the week -- that happens every day. I guess you all-capped it because it had appeared recently. But you used it just yesterday when it wasn't in the puzzle, and in a different context! That's why it was prescient.

REDRUM was an episode of the Mentalist (as TxMS already noted), and the title of a movie based on a Poe story (tho Poe didn't use it himself), and probably other places. I got it easily enough, but didn't know it was in the Shining.

PK said...

TxMs & Tony, Prayers for your deliverance from this awful tempest. My electricity just came on after being out an hour. No storm here. Don't know what happened, but I sat in the dark and thought of y'all. Moving your pictures is a worthwhile activity on such a scary night. Hope the rest of our Texas friends are okay. I lived at Wharton, Texas 50 years ago. Everyone I knew there is gone now but I am remembering the area.

Picard said...

Thought I FIR but SENSAI/ERDA is a Natick off by one letter.

Learning moment about the LACEWING. Knew of ant lions. Apparently it is the larva of the LACEWING and the ant lion that has the nasty biting things at the front. They don't seem interested in biting people, though.

Hand up for unknowns INDRA, HORAL. CREEL, too.

Hand up that SPATTER clue seemed a bit off. Avoid horror movies, but I did finally figure out that REDRUM was murder backwards. Did not know it was from the Shining, so I missed that part of the clue.

I went all the way to an ancient coliseum in Verona, Italy to see an opera. And it was the American opera Porgy and BESS!