google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, October 18, 2017 Robin Stears

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Oct 18, 2017

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 Robin Stears

Theme GUARDS! GUARDS! As we shall soon see, each theme entry is a [more or less] in-the -language two-word phrase that contains two quite different kinds of GUARDS. In all cases, each theme word can be followed by the word GUARD to yield a different in-the-language phrase.

17 A. Eastern seaboard, facetiously : RIGHT COAST.  I can't recall hearing it addressed as such, but it makes sense if you look at a map.  But why facetiously?  RIGHT GUARD is a lineman position on an American football team, and the deodorant brand he might chose after a shower. The COAST GUARD is a branch of the U.S. military that protects life, property and territory along the country's shore lines.

25 A. Unlikely to run : COLOR SAFE.  These colors don't run.  Hence the term.  Also a palette of 256 colors that is consistent on any computer monitor.   A COLOR GUARD is a uniformed group who present or parade an institutional or national flag on formal occasions.   To SAFE GUARD is to take active measures to protect against some undesirable event.

46 A. Secret overseas cash stash site : SWISS BANK.  I think the Cayman Islands and Cyprus give them some competition these days.  The SWISS GUARD is a small force stationed in the Vatican, responsible for the safety of the Pope.  They are famous for their colorful uniforms.


A BANK GUARD protects your deposited savings.

58 A. What Aladdin craved and Jasmine wanted to escape, in the Disney film : PALACE LIFE.  Aladdin is a street urchin who longs for wealth and luxury.  Jasmine has it all and finds it profoundly unsatisfying.  So - a match made in heaven, right?  The PALACE GUARD is responsible for keeping the PALACE and its occupants safe from street urchins and other miscreants.   A LIFE GUARD is a certified swimmer and CPR expert whose job is to keep us from drowning at the beach or pool. 


And, at last, the unifier.  37 A. Increase security twofold ... and what 17-, 25-, 46- and 58-Across literally do : DOUBLE THE GUARDS.   Twice as many guards should keep out twice as many urchins. And this is the apt description for the other theme entries, each having two kinds of GUARDS.

 Hi Gang, JazzBumpa on duty to GUARD your way through today's puzzling adventure.  Robin Stears has given us a good one with four clever theme entries and a grid-spanning unifier.  

Across

1. Back (out) : OPT.  Well, you can OTP out before you ever OPT in, but OK.

4. Go by : ELAPSE.  As time.

10. Peak in Thessaly : OSSA.  Greek mountain

14. Can. neighbor : USA.  Here we are.

15. City on the Liffey : DUBLIN.  It flows through the center of town.

I've seen Dublin twice,

Thrace thrice; made repeated trips
To WallaWalla.

16. Performs like Kanye : RAPS.  

19. Frantically : AMOK.  On a rampage.

20. Out in the open : OVERT.  With no attempt to conceal.

21. Open in the garden : BLOOM.  Look at all them BLOOMIN' flars.

22. Narrow opening : SLIT. Or cut.

28. Insinuate : HINT AT, To suggest indirectly or unpleasantly about something bad.  I could in-sin -you-ate about Mrs. Sprat's gluttony. 

31. Kitchen gadgets brand : OXO.

32. Sneak attack : AMBUSH.  Not OVERT, at least not at first.

33. Dryly amusing : WRY. As humor.

34. "More info later": Abbr. : TBA. To Be Announced.

41. Radical '60s gp. : SDS. Students for a Democratic Society.

42. Besides : TOO.  Also.

43. Scramble, as a secret message : ENCODE.  Convert into a decipherable form.

44. Tile container in Scrabble : BAG.  



45. Write, as music : NOTATE.  The act of writing out the score, not the act of composition.

52. Japanese noodle : UDON.

53. Leg bone : TIBIA.

54. Midwestern city associated with steaks : OMAHA.

57. Additionally : ELSE. Or alternatively

63. Abbr. on a city limits sign : ELEVation.

64. What's for dinner : ENTREE.  The main course.

65. Speed (up) : REV.  Hit the accelerator.

66. Piece of glass : PANE.  In the industry, this was commonly called a "light," or even worse, a "lite." Drove me nuts.

67. Radical in aspirin and vinegar : ACETYL.  This refers to a portion of a molecule that is common to vinegar [acetic acid] where the rest of the molecule is an -OH group; and to aspirin [acetylsalicylic acid] where it combines with a pendant -OH group on a larger molecule [salicylic acid] to form an ester.  In this form, it much less aggressive than uncombined salicylic acid, which is too harsh on the digestive system to be taken internally.   Externally, salicylic acid is used to remove warts and treat other skin conditions.

68. Spot on a peacock's tail : EYE.



Down


1. Taylor Swift's "__ Song" : OUR.

2. Trident-shaped letter : PSI (uppercase Ψ, lowercase ψ; Greek: ψι psi) is the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet.

3. "You're it!" game : TAG.  Touch me if you can.

4. 1999 Ron Howard satire : ED TV.

5. Journalist Clare Boothe __ : LUCE.   U.S. Ambassador to Italy [1953-60,] congressional representative from Connecticut [1943-47,] author, journalist and playwright.   Her husband Henry published Time, Look, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated magazines.

6. Multiple choice choices : A B OR C.

7. "Republic" philosopher : PLATO.    Cave man.

8. Family gal : SISter

9. MD treating canals : ENTEar, Nose and Throat specialist.

10. Postgrad tests : ORALS.  Question and answer ordeals.

11. South Pacific island nation : SAMOA.  My friend married a Polynesian woman.  Every time he kissed her, he wanted SAMOA.

12. "Blazing Saddles," for one : SPOOF. An exaggerated, humorous imitation or parody.


13. "Shoot!" : ASK ME.

18. Après-ski amenities : HOT TUBS.

21. Dude : BRO.  Buddy, pal - you know - moron.

22. Herring prized for its roe : SHAD.  I'll try anything [within reason] once, and that was enough.  This is on the short list of things I will never eat again.

23. Long rides? : LIMOS.  Usually a stretched vehicle.

24. Preparing to flower : IN BUD.

26. Handed-down tales : LORE.

27. Gas in a tank : OXYGEN.   For people with breathing difficulties.

29. Syst. with hand signals : American Sign Language.

30. What a treater picks up : THE TAB.  At the tavern, not on Halloween.

33. "Says __?" : WHO.  Expression of skepticism.

34. Touch-related : TACTUAL.  A word you are unlikely to encounter ever again.

35. In __ daylight : BROAD.  Narrow daylight is not so OVERT.

36. Supplement : ADD TO.  Here, supplement is a verb, not a vitamine capsule.

38. Garment worn in HBO's "Rome" : TOGA.  Or "Animal House."

39. 108-card game : UNO.

40. Not hidden : SEEN.  OVERT.

44. Merit badge org. : Boy Scouts of America.

46. Expensive : STEEP.   The price is high.

47. "My Ántonia" novelist Cather : WILLA.  American [1873-1947,]

48. "Hedda Gabler" playwright : IBSEN. Henrick, Norwegian [1828-1906.]

49. It won't hold water : SIEVE.  If you try, you might strain yourself.

50. Nick of "Hotel Rwanda" : NOLTE.  American actor [b 1941]

51. Chain with a Smart Sense store brand : K-MART.  Rapidly shrinking chain.

55. __-deucey : ACEY.  Card game

56. Scoundrel : HEEL.  Cad.

58. Stew vegetable : PEA.  Or porridge - hot or cold.

59. Mandela's org. : ANC.   African National Congress.

60. 15-Across locale: Abbr. : IRE.   The Auld Sod, the Emerald Isle.

61. 2000s "SNL" notable Tina : FEY.  American actor, comedian, writer and producer [b 1970.]

62. Wrapping time : EVE.  Not at our house.  Christmas EVE is when we have our big clan gathering.  The various sub-groups spend Christmas day with the other branches of their respective families.

That wraps up another Thursday EVE at the Corner.  Hope y'all had a fine time.

Cool Regards!
JzB



58 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Robin and Bumpa!

Fast, easy puzzle!

Did not know TACTUAL immediately, nor DUBLIN nor A B OR C But they filled in fast!

Cool theme!

Have a great day!

Lemonade714 said...

Tactual is really factual. This appears to be its debut in the LAT, though it has appeared in other puzzles.

Nice CSO to HG.

Finding phrases where the words can do double duty cannot be easy. Nice to see Robin back after a year absence and always fun to read JzB write-ups.

OwenKL said...

The speeder ran AMOK from OMAHA,
He tried to REV past the local law!
But his TAG was SEEN
By the radar machine --
The fine gave the troopers the last guffaw!

The choices to OPT for were A, B, OR C,
But he had not a HINT AT which it should be!
To ADD TO his stew,
His date wondered, TOO,
What ELSE was on the menu but UDON and sweet PEA?

{A-, C+.}

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Zipped right through this one, until TACTILE wasn't working. Perps to the rescue. Thought Mandela's Org. was the RNC, but perps also fixed that one. Thanx, Robin (long time, no see) and JzB.

Suz said...

"Right" coast could hint that the other side might be considered the "wrong" coast... :)

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Hand up for wanting TACTile. I then had TACT_AL, and _DON for the noodle. I remember that a lot of Cornerites discussed the merits of this staple the last time it appeared, so I knew it was was only my Natick. I SWAGged the "U", thus avoiding a FIW.

Also didn't know Liffey, ACETYL, WILLA or the Smart Sense brand. I erased IBSoN, and also for ELSE.

Blazing Saddles could never be made today, and if it were to be made, we wouldn't be allowed to laugh. I didn't know HBO's "Rome", but I would have known "Getup for Sloppy Joe's" or "Frat party garb" for TOGA.

We're camping near Fort Nonsense. No battles took place there, but it was ready for action for any attack from the east - the Chesapeake Bay. However, the only incursions came from the west - Gloucester, VA. Based on that, the locals came up with the name.

Thanks to Robin for a tough Wednesday puzzle, and to JazzB for another fun encounter.

Yellowrocks said...

2nd Attempt: No matter how hard I try to proofread, I always find a mistake after I publish.
Quickly solved today.
I didn't remember ED TV, but perps to the rescue. No other unknowns, but some fill needed a perp or two as suggestions.
I had color fast at first. Color fast applies to the material being washed. Color safe applies to the product used, such as bleach.
Safe Guard...I hope we soon get a patch to block the Krack attack. I read Windows 10 is not as vulnerable as some others. But, what about my Kindle?
JzB, interesting write-up. In re ROE, me, too. It is the only sushi I dislike.
I had the final L already, so I knew TACTILE didn't work. The references I can find for TACTUAL are quite old fashioned.
I like this well phrased quote from Helen Keller.
"Pile note on note the infinite music that flows increasingly to your soul from the tactual sonorities of a thousand branches and tumbling waters."
From Harry D. Kitson: "We may have tactual images of things touched; auditory images of things heard; gustatory images of things tasted; olfactory images of things smelled."
The gym work out yesterday made my back okay again and began to ease the nerve pain in my leg. It is a good incentive to continue working out.
Suz, my thought, exactly.

Anonymous said...

The West Coast is called (politically, but facetiously, if you will) the LEFT COAST; so the East Coast is the RIGHT COAST by default (and also as you see it on a map). But most "red states" are in the middle, aren't they?

billocohoes said...

Cleveland also refers to itself as the US's North Coast.

I don't think ELSE is "additionally". "Else" excludes the previous condition or action, as in old COBOL programming "If A do this ... ELSE do that".

desper-otto said...

Anything else?

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Easy enough solve. Got the theme fill ok, but didn't get the full sense of the reveal until I was done. Nice job to think of all those GUARD phrases. There are probably more but I think we had a nice cross-section today.
Did not know the Liffey - not big on Irish rivers - Only one I could think of was Shannon. But DUBLIN had easy perps.
hanks JzB for the précis s'plaining the organic chemistry pertaining to ACETYL

Big Easy said...

A nice mid-week puzzle with few unknowns that the perps solved for me. The RIGHT COAST was an easy guess, a term I've never heard; only the LEFT coast out west. I didn't catch the theme but DOUBLE THE GUARDS was completely filled by perps before I got to the clue. The SW was a little tricky for me, not knowing WILLA or IBSEN and the ELEVation of S. Louisiana- there ain't none- made me hesitate for a few seconds. OUR Song and ED TV were perps- both unknowns.

My TACTILE changed to TACTUAL, which I've never seen before or hope to see again.

A BANK GUARD protects your savings? No, he's a bank MONITOR (if you've seen the commercial).
Performs like Kanye- well you couldn't put 'singing'. RAPS- what you hear at a seance.

SAMOA- a friend's daughter married a Samoan, whose family flew in fire dancers ( I guess Hawaiian or Maori) for the wedding reception. In talking to the groom's father, I told him I lived in New Orleans. He told me his father, who he never knew, was a US Marine from New Orleans back in WW-II. He explained that the women from those small islands, his mother included, would always 'attack' male visitors to increase the gene pool to stop inbreeding. Oh, those South sea stories must be true.

Bluehen said...

Sorry, JazzBumpa, but I think there may be a problem with Mr. Ibsen's dates.

Northwest Runner said...

A little uncomfortable with encode clued as scrambled. Encoding (as opposed to encryption) does not use a key and is not intended to make the message secret. It's used to make the message readable across a channel. For example the angle bracket characters (less/greater than) are encoded in web page content so they can be rendered on a page without the browser treating them as if they were part of HTML tags. Nothing is scrambled. It's just decoded on one end by reversing what the source did to encode it.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-The men in the military COLOR GUARD for local funerals here are all over 70
-A rather ineffective BANK GUARD
-We’re going to the beautiful Lauritsen Gardens in OMAHA today
-Willa Cather is another home state shout out
-Colonel Potter – “Get me some acetylsalicylic acid” Nurse – “You mean aspirin?” Potter – “Yeah, I can never think of the name of that stuff”
-Retroactive Happy Birthday wish, Wilbur!
-Got a tee time!

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

My lone blemish today was choosing the wrong vowels in 57a. I had ALSO > ELSE. Otherwise, I was "on GUARD" and solved it with no other C's or E's. A few perps helped but didn't need any WAG's.

6d was an interesting clue/solve that I can't recall seeing here before

Right Coast vs Left Coast ---> too political perhaps, although as another poster said, more of the red states are inside the major mountain ranges. My semi-humorous limerick I penned last year re: the coasts

Heard report from a Fox News talk host,
What Pacific States' folks want the most:
To secede from U.S.
And I bet you can guess
They can truly be called the "left" coast

And another "repeat" limerick tagged to a word in today's puzzle:

A big fight commenced with our first daughter,
Over present her father had bought her;
She just couldn’t forgive
That he got her a SIEVE.
His apologies just won’t hold water . . .

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

A fair amount of crunch today but nothing the perps couldn't handle. The reveal was a complete surprise as I had no inkling what was going on with the theme. My kind of puzzle! Not familiar with tactual but knew the Liffey flows through Dublin. I hesitated at the noodle because Urdu popped into my mind first, which I knew was wrong, then, suddenly, Udon surfaced. Nice CSO to HG.

Thanks, Robin, for a tough but doable challenge and thanks, Jazz, for the fun and fanciful expo.

In the last month or so, I have received at least 6-7 emails from both Netflix and PayPal telling me my account is frozen and I need to update my credit card information. I have a Netflix account which is working quite well, thank you very much, but I do not have a PayPal account at all. Do these con artists ever give up?

Have a great day.

Chairman Moe said...

And speaking of right coast vs left coast, it's shaping up to be a battle of those if the Dodgers close out the Cubs, and the Yankees win 2 of the next three from the 'stros. Trying to recall the last time the WS pitted LA vs NY. The late '70's?

FWIW, I wouldn't mind seeing the Astros move on. The good news for them is having Keuchel and Verlander in games 5-6

Jazzbumpa said...

Bluehen -

'Twas a type O, of course.

Fixerated. Thanks for the heads-up.

Cool regards, everyone.
JzB

MJ said...

Greetings!

Thank you Robin for an enjoyable puzzle, and thanks for the thorough expo, JzB. Hand up for TACTile before TACTUAL until UDON fixed things up. Our scrabble game does not have a bag for the tiles. We simply turn the tiles face down in the box.

Enjoy the day!

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, Robin and JzB for a fine Wednesday outing. Last to fall was the SE. First theme entry entered was SWISSBANK, and from there, it was quick.

Happy Wednesday to all!

CrossEyedDave said...

WIMS (What Irish Miss Said)
Got the puzzle, had no idea how the theme worked...

Re: Yest,

Trying to find a funny link did not give me a fair shake,
so I decided to try and search again later,
but life got in the way...

Happy belated Birthday Wilbur!
It was the only cake I could find that had your name in real icing, and not that computer generated stuff...

Again, today, could not find any silly "double the guards" links.
So here are two singles...

P.S. Learning Moment:
When Jinx said he was camping near Fort Nonsense, I wondered why anyone would
camp near Morristown New Jersey. Had to reread the overlook description to realize
there are more than one Fort Nonsense.
(I wonder how many there are?)

Lucina said...

WEES and thank you, Robin, for a fun midweek romp!

Ask me how many times have I seen Aladdin? My granddaughter loves that film! She would watch it many times over. I'm glad those days are over.

I found the clue for OPT a bit strange but why not? You can just as well OPT in or out as Jzb said. Sadly, my noodles were ODON and I didn't go back to fix TACTOAL though I've heard of TACTUAL. Drat!

Thank you, Jzb, for explaining the contents of aspirin. No wonder some people can't stomach it!

I love OXO products and have several of them. I also love Herring! It's great with cream sauce.

Thank you, again, Robin and Jazzbumpa! Today's amusement was tops!

Have a fabulous day, everyone!

WikWak said...

Hand up for not liking the clue for ELSE. I have never known it to be anything other than exclusionary.

For the first time in a long time I was able to complete a Wednesday puzzle doing only the across clues, top to bottom. That doesn't happen very often!

Chicago is on the West Coast... of Lake Michigan.

Yellowrocks said...

I was thinking of the simple encoding kids fool around with by scrambling the letters, nothing electronic and technical.
C. E. Dave, fellow Jerseyite, I thought of N.J. Fort Nonsense at first, too.
I use two meanings of ELSE. I frequently ask people at my table, if they would like anything else, meaning more of the same. Or, since you don't care for cheese, could I get you something else? (different).
From the Free Dictionaryu:
1. Other; different: Ask somebody else.
2. Additional; more: Would you like anything else?

Wilbur Charles said...

I made myself try to glok the theme. I finally decided it had to with hygiene, eg SAFEGUARD, COAST and RIGHT GUARD.

My pastor had a senior moment and I identfied: I couldn't come up with WILLA Cather until that exact moment. The xword perped in nicely but I'd call it old fashioned Wednesday tough.

JzB nice haiku. Did you catch it C-Moe? I thought it was a syllable short but re-peated-ed is 3.

I don't know about TACTUAL but Misty can tell us all about (inter)Textual.

COBOL (shudder). It had to be Top down and structured.

I remembered the old comic "Watching the shad row".

I'll repost my cave poem later. I see my interpretation is different from the Eggheads on wiki.

Mitchner talked about the giant polonesian women sexually pinning the sailors so they couldn't get back to the ship to "pin" down the PALACE revolt going on in Hawaii.

Thanks for the cake and all the well wishes from everybody.

WC

Jayce said...

Cool puzzle. I enjoyed it. I filled it across down across down, from top to bottom. I liked the A, B, or C answer. ACETYL is pretty cool, too. TACTUAL is not a word I have ever used; tactile is a word I have used many times.

Tinbeni said...

Jazz: Outstanding, informative write-up. Good Job !!!

Robin: Thank you for a FUN Wednesday puzzle. Enjoyed the "DOUBLE GUARD" theme.

Have to admit 27-d, Gas in a tank, OXYGEN provided a V-8 can smack when I finally filled in the "X" and realized it was a different type of gas that the clue was asking for. DUH!

Fave today, of course, was THE TAB ... What a treater picks up. Generally that treater is me.

The Sun is setting at 6:59 pm tonight here in Tarpon Springs.
Guess that is why I start actually "toasting" when the Sun is over the Yardarm.

Cheers!

AnonymousPVX said...

Another nice puzzle where the theme is not needed to solve.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

CED and YR - "Learn something new every day" is right. I hadn't heard of the NJ version of Ft. Nonsense until today, even though I have spent some time in Morristown, hoping some of the Bell Labs / AT&T / Lucent / Alcatel genius would somehow rub off on me.

YR - I hope exercise continues helps with your leg pain.

xtulmkr said...

The presence of ACETYL is the reason aspirin that has exceeded its shelf life smells of vinegar.

While "Blazing Saddles" may be considered to be unmakable today, it is still available to purchase, unlike Disney's 1946 "Song of the South", which was pulled from the shelves and can only be found in bootleg versions today.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fun & fast puzzle, Robin. Enjoy your humor, JzB.

Had trouble getting started. Last to fill was the "P" in OPT/PSI. Couldn't think of the Greek symbol. Wanted Omicron which definitely didn't fit. When I finally tried "P", I felt stupid.

The picture of the Baywatch LIFE GUARDS made me remember the series was known less for its stories than for the great "flotation devices" of the female actresses. However, they were a flop while running down the beach.

Hand up for TACTile before TACTual. I thought of the latter and decided there wasn't any such word. Let perps fill it.

I thought Mandella org. was RSA not ANC. Another ESP.

During my traveling days, I said something to my daughter about being on all three COASTs that year. She sneered and said, "Mother there are only two COASTs." I reminded her of Gulf COAST. That wiped the sneer off her face. If we have RIGHT COAST and left COAST would the GULF be bottom COAST or down under?

SIS: no word from mine in Santa Rosa. I resorted to Google a list of known fatalities last night. Relieved to not see her name. Years ago no one heard from her for eight years. Mother kept sending her birthday & Christmas checks so Mom would know she was still alive when she endorsed them. I asked Mom why she still bothered. Mom said, "She doesn't get to choose MY behavior -- only her own."

Misty said...

A delightful Wednesday puzzle, even though I had a tiny problem in the top left corner when I put GET (out) instead of OPT (out) and that Coast just didn't work for a while. But I loved seeing WILLA Cather right next to Henrik IBSEN--a lovely literary treat. Never did get the theme though, even though I tried and tried. Many thanks, Jazz B, for explaining it so well.

Have to learn how to use my new I Phone today. I can't believe it didn't come with a manual or some other usage guide. I'm just supposed to figure it out? And my two neighbors, who have Apple I Phones are both out of town for a week or more and aren't here to help me. Well, the guy at the Verizon store told me I would have to be very patient as I set out to learn how to do it, so I'll give it my best shot.

Have a great day, everybody!

Michael said...

In defense of the "Left" Coast, we Californians note that many recent cultural 'advances' showed up first in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and only later were embraced in Oregon.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Still foggy with this head cold but I nailed it! Thanks Robin for a just RIGHT Wed. Pzl. I liked the theme and, w/ JzB's expo, I could dance to it :-). Thanks JzB for the fun expo.

The North central was the last to fall for me... It was WAG after WAG that somehow seemed to work. ENT was my only solid to start.

WO: WImLA b/f WILLA - don't ask why 'cuz I'd havta lie.
ESPs: OSSA, IBSEN (we've seen that enough I wasn't worried about the letter pattern), ACEY, ANC (I wanted RSA too PK!), LUCE.

Fav: This is hard today. I like WRY as clued, we've got some WHO, but then there's Blazing Saddles and the AMBUSH.

Jinx - I thinKKK any sendup is still fair game to ridicule the ridiculous.
Tin - I had the X and wanted EXXON for Gas - solving in ink makes you re-think.

{B+, A} {cute, groan :-)}

IM - No, no they don't quit. The fact is, even on <1% response, sending out 100,000 emails is cheap. Stay on GUARD.

PK - KRACK isn't as big as they're making it out to be. Bad, but the attacker must be in proximity of about 50'. The Kindle is Android-based (most vulnerable because of 0-nonce on reset) - I wouldn't recommend using it at a Starbucks until a patch is applied.

Lucina - Youngest has moved on from Aladdin. Now it's Newsies that rings through the house.

Misty - unless you drop it, you can't break it. The iPhone's interface is fairly intuitive; just play with it and you'll figure it out. Let us know if you need help.

TTP - The 'Stros are set in pitching. I just don't know if I can handle all 7 games pre: WS. If the WS ends up Left v. RIGHT COAST will anyone watch? No one here in the 4th Coast.

PK - LOL the flopping floatations devices on the LIFE GUARDS.

Re: TACTUAL - anyone recall the IBM M-series keyboard? Great tactile feed-back.

Tawnya - Did you think of No One Knows My Plan @ PLATO's cave too? [TMBG]

Cheers, -T

CanadianEh! said...

Great V8 moment when I got the theme today. Thanks for the fun Robin and JazzB.

Can. neighbo(u)r reminded me of Between Friends/Entre Amis, a book of Canadian/American border photos presented by Canada to the United States in 1976 to honour the American Bicentennial.
EntreAmis
Neighbourly relations may be a little strained right now with the NAFTA talks!

WEES about Tactile to TACTUAL (I tried Tangible first but ran out of room).
I'm with MJ@1102 re Scrabble tiles in a BAG. I had Box first because that's where we put ours.

Canada lost KMART long ago and now Sears has gone into liquidation.

Belated HBD to Wilbur C.

RIP Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip. Canada mourns.
GordDownie

CanadianEh! said...

Thank you Argyle. I was just getting ready to comment about that Anon's language. My mother would have threatened him/her with a bar of soap!

Yellowrocks said...

Jinx, I hope if you return to Morristown you will visit the Morristown National Historical Park, which is 20 minutes from my home. I have been there many times and have taken my guests there. I have seen Fort Nonsense, not much to see, but historic and interesting nonetheless. On the other hand the Ford Mansion with its tales of George Washington and the Revolutionary War has recently been much improved and is very worthwhile. Jockey Hollow with its recreation of continental soldiers' living quarters, reenactments, museum, the Wick house and hiking trails is especially interesting. Washington encamped at Jockey Hollow during several winters including 1779-80, the coldest winter in the 18th century. Valley Forge is so much more famous because, although the weather in 1777-78 was average, the army was inexperienced and smallpox was rampant in camp. 1000-3000 soldiers died there. Only 100 or so died at Jockey Hollow in spite of the horrendous weather because the army was more experienced and was inoculated against smallpox.The bravery and endurance of the army at Jockey Hollow is so heroic.
Jockey Hollow

Jockey Hollow and Valley Forge

CrossEyedDave said...

PK@2:19

Forgive an old (EX) Aussie punster
for thinking that there can only be "one" down under...

But, I guess, in looking at the map, I guess you could consider Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, & Alabama
as "Down Under," but wouldn't that make Florida a Giant Teat?

(or worse...)

Anonymous T said...

#SAD that our Canadian neighbour had to read such grist now deleted. C, Eh! I had a response too - quite vulgar to match, I may add, to @Anon. Not called for at all. Thanks Argyle for working behind the curtains. [hey did anyone just notice Double THE and THE tab?]. -T

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Thank you YR. I have a lefty pitching / power hitting grandson in Rumson, so chances are I'll be in the area before too long. Sounds like some great sightseeing side trips.

Yellowrocks said...

Anonymous T, Thanks. I was the one worried about Krack. Not having heard it discussed here and among friends I am somewhat relaxed. My Kindle offers few patches.Should I reserve it for ebooks only and use the computer for online?

Argyle said...

Not my deletion, it was gone before I saw it.

Mark S said...

Enjoyed the puzzle today. Ossa, Liffey, udon and 68a threw me. Ibsen and Willa thru perps. Good challenge.

Anonymous T ......ESP’s?

Mark



Ol' Man Keith said...

Sorry -I'm late today! I got caught up transferring family photos from six different places on my computer to a single file & nearly forgot to check in!

Yes, like others before me I found this one very easy. Thank you, Robin Stears, for a pleasant solving experience, a fine mid-week Ta- DA!

Misty, the lack of a manual seems almost normal to me as I've watched my wife navigate her way through successive iPhones. But that may be because she never reads instructions; it's agin her nature. I have grown used to her figuring things out on her own.
But, yes, now that you mention it, it does seem a bit strange that they would leave you without guidance.
I'll bet you can find clues to the various steps on line. In fact, this very morning I happened to forget a simple iMac function, one that I have done many times over the years. I just put the question on the web and - hey presto! - there was the answer.
Good luck!

OSSA caught my eye today. It reminded me of the line from Hamlet when the prince fights with Laertes over Ophelia's grave. Laertes wants to be buried with his sister, calling for the gravediggers to pile a mountain of earth over them. Hamlet's reply is:
"And if thou prate of mountains let them throw
Millions of acres on us, till our ground,
Singeing his pate against the burning zone,
Make Ossa like a wart!"

Oh, and I didn't like TACTUAL either. Give me TACTILE any day. But heck, I went with it.

Wilbur Charles said...

Here is my repost of my Cave poem

In the land of the blind the one eyed reign
Or so the sages speak
But in the land of the one-eyed men
The two eyed man is a freak

It's early 70s but speaks to today's political climate

Misty, there's I-phone for dummies and it's ilk in the Barnes and Noble

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Ps. Thanks Canadian-eh.

WC

TX Ms said...

WEES re puzzle.

Misty, you might try Googling "iPhone [model #] user guide and manual." When I searched experimentally for iPhone 7 user, I saw there's even a site "iPhone 7 manual for dummies." I'm going to see if there's a Galaxy manual for dummies since my Galaxy didn't come with instructions either; I do miss my simple flip-phone. I don't use my cell like 99.9% of the world's population do. Only turn it on when I'm meeting someone for lunch or for directions.

Hope you have good luck.

TX Ms said...

WC, sorry. I was typing while you were posting.

Anonymous T said...

CED - The PALACE GUARD was priceless. How you find these things?...

Mark S. ESP == Every Single Perp(endicular). Tin coined it years ago and I liked it so much, I stole it for my daily briefing.

YR - If you're using the Kindle around the house, I wouldn't worry unless one of your neighbors' grandkids looks extra-nerdy.
KRACK is not easy to pull off (yet) and the attacker needs to be nearby. The guy who announced KRACK (of whom I never heard in the hack-community group o' nerd) seems to be hyping his 11/2 talk. My $0.02.
Don't get my wrong - this is a fundamental flaw in the protocol and certain implementations (see: Linux & Droid) do the reset nonce wrong. It's the stupid IoT devices that will be most affected over the next >1yr.

Argyle - I'll chalk it up to your Ninja like reflexes. Regardless - 'Tis gone.

It's not been said but has to... I know it's a bad joke but it always tickles me...

"Why's Ireland the richest country?"
" 'Cuz it's capital is always DUBLIN"

Yes, I see the door... -T

Picard said...

Enjoyed the theme! But two notable glitches.

As so many others said, TACTILE before TACTUAL. A Google search says the latter is another term for the former. Spell check doesn't like it, though.

And I also had COLOR FAST before SAFE. Thanks, Yellowrocks, for validating my first choice.

I had a lady friend from DUBLIN for many years and we explored much of the IRE island.

Here is my favorite photo in DUBLIN in Henry Street. The statue is of James Joyce.

OwenKL said...

Jinx: SWAGged? I do wish we had an acronym WAEG or EWAG for a Wild-Ass Educated Guess, and could restrict WAG to just the nearly or entirely random ones.

I've often heard the West Coast referred to as the Left Coast (Liberal all the way), the East Coast (liberal from NY up, conservative [Reactionary, Republican] from DC down) not so much.

Picard said...

Thanks for the Morons of the West video clip from Blazing Saddles, JzB. That is one of my most favorite movie scenes of all time.

Argyle said...

I always wondered if Cleavon Little's reaction was genuine. It sure lookes like it.

Robin Stears said...

Hi everyone! I'm glad you enjoyed this puzzle. I had a lot of fun making it. It didn't take me long at all to figure out a clue for PALACE LIFE -- as soon as I heard the phrase, I thought of Princess Jasmine.

Remember that scene toward the end of "The Princess Bride" when Prince Humperdinck tells Yellin to double the guards to keep Westley away from the wedding? That's the moment when the wheels started turning on this one. I actually daydreamed up this puzzle while I was watching the movie and almost missed the best part: "I want my father back, you son-of-a-bitch." By the time Inigo had his revenge, I'd already figured out SWISS BANK and RIGHT COAST.

I hadn't realized that I've been away so long. I recently returned to college full-time to finish the degree I started a long time ago. Would you believe I'm working as a copy-editor on the school newspaper? Ain't that a kick?

But, unfortunately, I don't have as much time to construct puzzles as I used to, at least not during the school year. I'll have to work all that much harder over next summer, I guess.

Cheers!

Misty said...

Thank you all, so many of you, forgive me for not listing all your names, for your incredibly kind and helpful suggestions. I will actually try to follow up on a number of them on Friday (I have a play tomorrow and can't deal with the new phone) and will let you know how it goes. But since I have no neighbors at the moment (all away on vacations) who can help me, my blog friends are an absolute life line for me--thank you all, so much. As I say, I will let you know how things went and are going on Friday.

Anonymous T said...

For C, Eh! - I didn't realize Gord had cancer. Tragically Hip closure. RIP.

Argyle - I think I read somewhere that the line was ad-lib and Little reacted. I'd try to find it but my Google-fu is low; see below:

Robin - Thanks again for the grid. I tried to find the inspirational line but only came up with this Bride clip. If you've played Risk you know to stay away from Asia and don't F* w/ a Sicilian (.argg). ::-)

I wish you good fortune with classes and future puzzles. Cheers, -T

Misty said...

Robin, how wonderful to have you check in--many thanks!