Theme: Eleven-eleven~!
Words: 68 (missing J,Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 30
Good day and a salute to all Veterans.
I did not recognize the constructor's name, but he has three puzzles
under his LA Times belt, his last being two years ago. Today's offering
was a smooth one, done in half my personal allotted time, with a lot of
proper names that filled via perp(endiculars). Just one bad cel that I
should have recognized as being wrong, but had to change to red-letters
to find it. A hashtag pattern of 15-letter spanners and climbers, with
9- and 10-letter fills paired to them;
20. Unplanned acquisition : IMPULSE PURCHASE - that's why the candy is at the register
10. Dreaming, at times : WISHFUL THINKING - most people say "Eleven-eleven, make a wish~!" - I change it to 'say a prayer'
50. Litmus test for fun? : BARREL OF MONKEYS - here's a barrel that does not look like fun;
Note the forklift
4. Statement after an ordeal : "I COULD USE A DRINK"
- this sometimes slips past my lips, even though I have been in a
12-step program for some 12+ years; good thing I read "24 Hours A Day"
every morning; Nov 8th had this quote -
Philippians 3:13~!
ACROSS:
1. It sold its mobile phone business to Microsoft in 2014 : NOKIA - When I first read this, I thought it said mobile HOME business - and I thought "what would Microsoft need that for~?"
6. Econ. numbers : GDPs - Gross Domestic Product; I tried GNP, that which I learned way back in economics - the Gross National Product
10. Beverage sometimes boxed : WINE
- oh yes it is~! In fact, it is rather popular among our clientele -
we are down to the last of last year's supply in boxed wine.
The Tasting Room in front of the office/warehouse
14. Build : ERECT
15. Square calculation : AREA
16. Title type: Abbr. : ITAL - TYPE type I get, but Title type, not so much. It crossed "IT'S A SECRET", but mine started with "I'VE" - thus my bad cel
17. Serf of Sparta : HELOT - filled via perps, but now that I see it, I have heard the term before
18. Backstage accesses : VIP PASSES
22. Kylo's mom in "The Force Awakens" : LEIA - And Han is daddy - er, or, was - should I have called spoiler alert~!?
23. Hairdos made popular by Marie Antoinette : POUFS
24. Home to the National Gandhi Museum : NEW DELHI
28. Showing faith in : TRUE TO
31. Jesus on a diamond : ALOU - my first thought, but I waited; baseball reference
32. __ Linda, Calif. : LOMA - I'm East Coast - filled via perps
34. Metal giant : ALCOA
35. Kia subcompacts : RIOS - knew this
36. Smartphone downloads : SONGS
38. "Divergent" heroine __ Prior : TRIS - never heard of the novel/movie, so I didn't know this character;
sounds a little like "The Hunger Games", which I have read,
but only attempted to watch; I just don't care for the casting.
39. Trainee : CADET
41. Zoomed : TORE - SPED did not work
42. Prefix with ski or pad : HELI - heli'pad', yes, heli'ski' - not in my vernacular. I had to look it up - oh, now I recall the "spoRt", not the "spot"
43. John Williams quintet : OSCARS - I wanted VOWELS, but he's only got four (o,i,i,a), not five
45. Ones eating on the house? : TERMITES - cute. and clever.
47. "You've got __" : A DEAL
49. Novelist Hunter : EVAN
56. Judicious : ADVISABLE
57. "But wait! There's more!" knife : GINSU
- "and if you act now, we'll throw in an additional set of knives for
JUST the shipping and handling~!!!". Handling~? I don't recall getting
any extra money for "handling" a Ginsu knife package....
58. Property attachment : LIEN - almost too easy for Saturday
59. Campus official : DEAN - same here
60. Tatted up : INKED - not for me, yet, but I have a design idea
61. Sting target : MARK - "The Sting" - great movie
"The Entertainer"
62. USMC rank : SSGT - staff sergeant
63. New __ : AGERS
DOWN:
1. Radar's pop : NEHI - oh, duh, his soda pop, not his DAD pop
2. Where Utah's minor league Owlz play : OREM - four letters and Utah~? Try OREM
3. Wet forest growth : KELP - forest~? I just learned that "forest" is an underwater area with a high density of said kelp
5. Churchill's 1945 successor : ATTLEE
6. Cared : GAVE A HOOT
7. Worn-out washer result : DRIP
- had my share at the restaurants; in fact, I think I have replaced
every faucet in both places after four years of working at the locations
8. Invigorate : PEP-UP
9. Fungal disease affecting 40-Down : SAP ROT
11. "Shh! Don't tell anyone!" : "IT'S A SECRET~!"
12. Scottish resistance : NAEs
13. Otherwise : ELSE
19. Legend maker : ACURA - crossword foolery - this car
21. Spots for flowers : SILLS - delicate flowers~!
21. Spots for flowers : SILLS - delicate flowers~!
24. DEA employee : NARCO - I prefer "NARC" to the added "O"
25. Literature Nobelist Canetti : ELIAS
26. Geppetto, for one : WOODCARVER - I tried wood WORKER, which was a big help
27. "__ kidding!" : "I'M NOT..."
29. Decorative curtain fabric : TOILE
30. Source of relief : OASIS
- I needed some serious relief yesterday; got sawdust in my eye, and I
tolerated it for half the day - then I tried to drive, and that
exacerbated the irritation like I could not believe
33. Accord : AGREEMENT - HONDA didn't fit (har-har)
37. Electronic control mechanism : SERVO
- funny how a word is common, and can be used in conversation, but when
you get right down to it, I could not tell you exactly what a
servomechanism really was, so I went to Wiki; their example suggests that a power window control is not, but cruise-control is.
40. Pines, say : TREES - ah, this time, it's the noun, not the verb; 9d. should have clued me in
44. Menu heading : SALADS - ah, restaurants, not computers
46. Italian "Eat!" : "MANGIA~!" - my mom used to say this at dinner - and she is 100% English
48. Frontal and temporal : LOBES
50. Lip application : BALM
51. 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit : ADIA - vowel friendly crossword staple
52. Mark for attention : FLAG - Mark's a popular guy in the is crossword - see 61a.
53. Three-time speed skating gold medalist Karin : ENKE
54. 1914 battle river : YSER - I'm reading a book from Christopher Reich called "The Runner", set immediately after WWII, and he mentions the ISAR river; seems odd that a man named Reich would be writing about post-war Germany
55. Kegger quaff : SUDS - A quote from one of my favorite movies;
we have kegs of wine at Lieb, too
Splynter
ReplyDeleteGood morning all !
No real problems, and no errors or help. Seemed quicker than most Saturdays, but it was fun and stretched the gray matter a bit. Surprised it took 29:44; but a good five minutes of that was working out the west side. NARCO held me up.
Splynter, see Strunk and White. Well, maybe not. Anyway, it's an element of style. Underlining or Italicizing titles of books / mags etc to denote them.
Anon - T (FLN): It (DDE vuln.) seems like a good opportunity to see if employees have been paying attention to company memos and education about online security. Have fun. Ouch on the overflow.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteDang! People are staying away in droves this morning. I agree, Splynter, this one was a speed run. My only stumble was IMPULSive -- quickly fixed. Poor Kristian, getting all those TERMITE bites. Thanx for the outing.
Splynter, do you suppose Christopher was the fourth Reich?
Most modern faucets don't have washers (though I think the washer in the clue was a washing machine). Newer faucets have ceramic innards that are polished to provide a face-to-face seal. That seal just gets better as it "wears."
Anon-T (from yest)
ReplyDeleteSorry I had no giggles yesterday,
I was in NYC taking my daughter Birthday shopping and out to Dinner.
Didn't get home till midnite.
Speaking of yesterday vents, (vents, not events...)
I have not done todays puzzle yet, prior commitments.
I arrived home late to discover a Lady in the next town has a stray cat
sleeping in box on their porch, weather predicted to be 16 degrees and windy overnite,
I was going to go back out and make a rescue when I made contact
and found they had put the cat in their garage for the night.
I told them I would pick up the cat by 9am Saturday.
I started feeding the birds, the feeder is so popular I have to fill it
every day, and the birds are killing my bushes.
(DW wants to kill me...)
I bought a bird bath de-icer for them only to discover it encased in ice this morning.
I tried to print an amazon return label for it, but the printer died...
I am just about to go pick up the cat, and decided to read my horoscope:
"Libra,
What you got into voluntarily won't we gotten out of with as much ease.
Think about this before you raise your hand. Would you still volunteer if you knew you couldn't undo it later?"
Hmm, things do not bode well.
Oh well, I m off to meet my doom.
Wish me luck!
Well this went quickly for a Saturday. Thanks Kristian for giving us a break. And thanks Splynter but since this was no ORDEAL all you get is Decaf.
ReplyDeleteFrom last night. John Adams.
Well, work beckons.
WC
Nice run for a Saturday - quicker than usual, but still very creative.
ReplyDeleteLots of Veteran's days events continue today. Thanks to all who have served.
My son drove up to Ft Worth from San Antonio to be my great niece and nephew's "veteran"
at their elementary program yesterday. Fun to see the pictures- they think
he is the coolest!
Thanks Kristian and Splynter!
I don't usually attempt Saturday puzzles, but I looked at the NW corner at the LAT site and decided to print it and give it a go. I'm glad I did. DNF, having to look up TRIS on Genie. Other unknowns were HELOT, POUFS, ELIAS Canetti, Geppetto, MANGIA, TOILE or Karin ENKE.
ReplyDeleteMy Favorite today was "ones eating on the house" for TERMITES. I got OREM, home of Utah Valley University, whose bb team gave my UK Wildcats all they could handle last night. Turns out that their coach was part of a national championship team at UK, so there was extra incentive for his team to play well. My team looked AWFUL last night, and they were lucky to win. I suspect they will be unranked by Christmas (they are rated #5 now).
YR (from yesterday), I echo that you and Alan feel like family. Please keep letting us know what's going on.
Thanks, Splynter, for a very fun review. I LOVED the word "utpuffer". I think I have a new euphemism for a certain part of my anatomy. "Barking spider" was getting SO trite. And thanks to Kristian House for a puzzle that allowed even me to play today.
Just finished the puzzle, surprisingly easy for a Saturday,
ReplyDeletewith my new found friend sleeping behind me. She is a tortoiseshell cat.
Just waiting for the shelter to open at 12pm.
My Horoscope was right, this is going to be the hardest thing ever to "undo."
(Plus, my basement smells like tuna Fish!)
(it's all I had in the house suitable for a starving cat.)
Musings
ReplyDelete-Oh my, eVan/serVo was right for a “got ‘er done”!
-I’ve played many a game of BARREL OF MONKEYS
-Four letter female Star Wars name? Duh!
-A former friend was not TRUE TO his wife and doing it in secret ruined three lives
-The schools WiFi went out yesterday and the kids clamored to show me how to use my iPhone to get internet access on my laptop. Cool!
-Somedays I am paid $140 just to watch a CADET teacher struggle and while I say nothing unless asked
-Have you ever talked to an INKED-up person who regretted it? Me too.
-Menu heading was edible SALAD not FORMAT
-Thanks for the birthday greetings for my bride yesterday! BTW, her twins name is Joyce to match the five letters of my wife’s name Joann.
I finished a Saturday puzzle...................hip hip hooray!
ReplyDeleteI knew the name Evan Hunter, but I thought it was one of Michael Crichton's early pen names. I was apparently thinking of Jeffrey Hudson. Among many other pen names, Evan Hunter also wrote as Ed McBain (87th Precinct novels - I think my mother had all of them). He also wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's movie, The Birds. He was quite prolific - the Nora Roberts of his day.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-Happy Veteran’s Day to all here who served or loved someone who did.
-YR, my wife’s twin sister’s name is Joyce and my wife’s is Joann (which is seldom spelled the way her mother intended)
-WC, yes that “one thing led to another” story was prelude to the Boston Massacre and I recently watched a documentary about it where America’s second president (while still a lawyer) defended those British soldiers.
-The iPhone camera is not perfect but here’s how to use it to control depth-of-field pictures. Its main advantage is that it can do lots of tricks and is very available.
FIR W/O help in usual Saturday time or a little less. It seemed daunting at first.
ReplyDeleteThe K in ENKE and INKED was my last fill. I have just gotten used to TAT. TATTED still seems odd. Full sleeves of tats turn me off. SAP ROT filled itself. I never heard of it, but it makes sense. I doubted SERVO but let it stand. Elias was perps and wags. LOMA LINDA and KELP forest were gimmes.
CE Dave, what a bad day you had. Good luck with the kitten. My older son says no good deed goes unpunished. Anon-T what a bad day you and your daughter had, also. Too bad your ceiling got soaked. Sometimes ceilings dry quickly without causing mold. I have my fingers crossed.
Splynter I hope your eye is better now. Marvelous that you are sober for 12 years. I have a relative who is two different persons, Sober she is lovely and competent and happy. Drunk she is morose and mean. Yet she believes drinking makes her feel better.
D/O, My son is offering to buy an after market back up camera for my Nissan Sentra as a Christmas present. Is that a good idea? Do you like yours? Does it have any draw backs?
Thanks to all of you for your wonderful support, especially Anon-T, Lucina, WC, Swamp Cat, PK, Jinx and Misty. Alan's counselor will be here soon for her quarterly visit. I will respond to your kind suggestions this afternoon.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteEasy for a Saturday. No look-ups needed. Only white-outs were I had Orne before YSER and fern before KELP. The 'forest' descriptor in the clue skewed my thinking a little, too.
Some of you might be interested in the historical aspects of this excerpt from a US Naval Institute e-mail this am:
"It just so happened that there were three officers that stood all the deck watches at sea in the New York when we were in the North Sea, because whenever we went to sea, we always went prepared for action. And the three of us--the three watch officers--stood watches and I was the junior one of the three. It just so happened—-I suppose the golfers would call it the rub of the green--but it just so happened that the German Fleet surrendered on my watch, and I had not only the duty but the privilege of writing the log of the surrender of the German Fleet.
Vice Admiral John L. McCrea, from his Oral History to the U.S.Naval Institute that was recorded in 1990.
With battles raging in Europe, the United States entered World War I on April 6, 2017. The Armistice ending the War was signed between the allies and Germany on November 11, 1918; the war at sea came to its formal close ten days later. The watch officer aboard the battleship USS New York (BB-34) made the following entry in the ship’s deck log:
UNITED STATES SHIP NEW YORK
Battleship Division Six
U.S. Atlantic Fleet
November 21, 1918
8:00 to meridian:
Steaming as before, following movements of the 5th B.S. standard speed 12 knots., course 270.
At 8:20 c.c. to 90. At 8:42 in obedience to signal from Commander-in Chief Grand Fleet c.c. to 157 and proceeded to form Red Fleet as per operation order “ZZ.”
At 8:56 c.c. to 90. At 9:16 sighted H.M.S. Cardiff with kite balloon in tow two points on stbd. bow.
At 9:18 went to battle stations. At 9:20 astern of H.M.S. Cardiff standing in a westerly direction were sighted 5 battle cruisers, 9 battleships, 7 cruisers, and 49 destroyers of the German High Seas Fleet, which surrendered for internment.
At 9:43 in obedience to signal, squadron leaders turned through 180 degrees, steadied on a westerly course, and proceeded to conduct the surrendered vessels to the Firth of Forth.
At 11:20 c.c. to 245. Throughout the remainder of watch, speeds various keeping station astern of H.M.S. Agincourt.
J.L. McCrea, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteFirst off, thanks, JessP @ 9:48 for saving me the trouble of Googling for Ed McBain's name. I knew Evan Hunter was his pseudonym but, despite having read numerous 87th Precinct novels, I couldn't think of his name for the life of me!
As happens so often with a Saturday puzzle, the first pass through yielded little results but, slowly but surely, the dominoes started to fall, and rather rapidly, I might add. Wishful thinking, It's a secret, and I could use a drink all fell into place quite nicely and led to a speedy finish. My w/o's were Updos/Poufs, Leak/Drip, and Arum/Orem. (Where Arum came from remains a mystery!) Kelp in a forest puzzled me until reading Splynter's expo. Other unknowns were Tris, Enke, Elias, Adia, Rios, and Servo.
Thanks, Kristian, for a smooth and satisfying solve and thanks, Splynter, for the illuminating summary.
CED, I'm sorry that you have to make such a hard decision.
YR, please know that we are always here for you and Alan. That is what "families" are for.
It's quite cold here but with less wind and lots of sunshine. I have to go to a 90th birthday party later today and am already thinking about what to wear that'll keep me cozy and warm.
Have a great day.
Smooth puzzle this morning, and a quicker solve than most Saturdays! Thanks, Kristian, for the nice offering.
ReplyDeleteSplynter, looks like the vineyard is a good spot for you! Glad you found it!
Happy Veterans' Day! Thank you to all service men and women, retired and serving. I'm full of gratitude to you. And reading Sptizboov's post gave me chills; the list of real life ships and people made real what we read about, see in movies, etc. Thank you for that, Spitz.
ReplyDeleteToday's puzzle seemed a tad easier for a Saturday yet it wasn't without it's challenges. SERVO, TRIS, ENKE, and even HELI. I couldn't reconcile HELIski though HELIpad is common.
TATTED seemed strange but made sense. I think LOMA Linda is where Misty lives.
Having those long strands across and down creates an advantage where other fill can radiate from them. TERMITES was cleverly clued.
Thank you, Splynter, for your stalwart attention to detail and congratulations on 12+ years!
Have a beautiful and peaceful day, everyone!
I forgot to mention that I FIW'ED ON NARCO. I t was careless; I forgot that I needed a plural and of course SSCARS made no sense. I forgot Jayce's rule that if it appears wrong it probably is wrong.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get "K-roger". I'm not too bright. C above.
NOKIA didn't have the marketing but I believe it had the camera. MS was supposed to be a third player in the cell wars but I don't hear much about them.
I also had PERP before MARK. I was on the wrong side of the law.
I didn't know EH was Ed McBain. I read some of Ed.
WC
Well, I was going to start by calling this a Saturday toughie, but after reading how so many thought it was easier than most Saturdays, I feel pretty silly. I started off well because I got NEHI right away for Radar's drink--having watched practically all the seasons of MASH. I also got the northeast corner and a good bit of the south. But then I had to resort to cheating to finish up. Lots of total unknowns like SAP POT, TRIS PRIOR, ENKE, and others. I too thought the TERMITES clue was funny and cute. So, thanks for the puzzle, Kristian, and for the great write-up and pictures, Splynter.
ReplyDeleteHow kind of you to rescue that kitty, CrossEyedDave.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
WC, here's your answer. Wiki.
ReplyDeleteOh dear,
ReplyDeletejust got back from the Shelter,
No microchip,
and they are full up...
I'm good until Monday afternoon when Dear Wife gets back,
at that point, anyone out there willing to foster a tortoiseshell cat and a CrossEyedDave?
Oh well, time to canvas the streets to see if i can find anyone
that lost a cat that can save me...
New favorite answer of the year at 4-d, "I COULD USE A DRINK" ...
ReplyDeleteIt has been said many times here at Villa Incognito.
Cheers!
Hi Y'all! I enjoyed this puzzle although there were some tough spots. Thanks Kristian. Thanks, Splynter.
ReplyDeleteI got NEHI immediately but NOKIA was a mystery until later. Didn't know Microsoft bought them. Wet forrest didn't conjure up KELP as an answer -- tried "fern" then tried to think of some kind of mushroom. RevUP before PEPUP. Hand up for GnPS before GDPSI. Leak before DRIP. Yorba before LOMA Linda.
Didn't know ELIAS, ENKE, SERVO. SAP ROT? New one on me. Liked all the long entries. Proud to get HELOT when I just had HE___.
Spitzboov: Lt. McCrea's log entry moved me to tears. My last "boyfriend" was a retired Naval Pilot (Tailhooker) with 28 years of service. He told such "hairy scary" stories about his life on & off a carrier during the Vietnam War and later stationed in the Philippines. Being a journalist, I knew how to listen and heard more than was good for my mental health after he'd had a couple of Scotches. Very interesting anyway.
Spitz: from last night. I got a chuckle out of the "utpuffer...kaput" story. German can be hilarious to non-German speakers.
Picard: thank you for last night's info about the camera. Very interesting.
AnonT: Glad you resisted "killing" your daughter after the flooding. Easier to get a new ceiling than a new daughter. When I was on the farm, my washer had a drain line out to a grassy area rather than hooking into the sewer line. In winter I couldn't use the washer for a cold water load or the drain line would freeze up and back up and overflow. After the first ceiling replacement, I got a ceiling system for the bedroom below which had decorative tiles snapped into clips on rails attached to the joists. Had to replace some of those twice. The last overflow was at Christmas with a house full of guests. I had explicitly told my daughter not to run a wash load, but she was an adult who would not be "bossed around" by Mom and just had to have ONE sweater. The only consolation was that the water wet down the bed she & her husband were to sleep in so they spent the night on the couch for her sin.
Argyle, thanks for the link. I had no idea that Kroger is so big, I still think of them as a regional operation.
ReplyDeleteWC - The grocery chain's name sounds like the fish "croaker", but with a "g" instead of a "k". My co-worker came back and called it kay - roger, and associated it with KMart. Like most jokes, not too funny when explained. But this one wasn't a joke, just something that happened at work that gave a lot of us a few chuckles.
Enjoyed this puzzle. A few unknowns like helot and tris but perps to the rescue.i found this easier than yesterday’s crossword. Off to the nursing home with Dominique. Lots of residents look forward to seeing her and she enjoys the experience immensely.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Mark
Go Knicks!
ReplyDeleteYR, about that back-up camera. I wanted one for my pickup, because it's difficult to see anything nearer than about 10 feet when looking through the rear-view mirror over the top of the tailgate.
ReplyDeleteI bought a cheapie (less than $50) from Amazon. The instructions were less than stellar -- schematic only. I managed to get in installed in about 3 hours unassisted (so long as you don't count Google as assistance. I used Mr. G to figure out my vehicle's wiring diagram color-codes). Is your son handy, both mechanically and electrically? You need a little of both. I wired the camera to the backup lights, so the camera is powered whenever the vehicle is shifted into reverse and the ignition is on. The display unit is wired like the radio, so it only draws current when the key is turned on. You don't want it draining your battery overnight.
I've only had it for a day, so I can't comment on its durability, but I'm really happy with it so far. It works well, and the installation looks nice. The dash unit looks similar to an after-market GPS screen. (It never dawned on me that the camera has to project a flipped image so it "mirrors" what you see in the rear-view mirror. I'm glad they thought of that.) Downside: I had to drill a hole in the top of the dashboard for routing the wires from the display unit. My truck is 12 years old, so who cares about a little hole? If you don't want a hole in your dash, the alternative may be a dangly cable that plugs into the cigarette lighter. You'd need to unplug it when you stop the car. There'd be a second dangly cable coming from under the dash with the video signal.
I liked this puzzle, especially the long fills and the clue for TERMITES. Last to fall, where I had trouble, was in the TRUETO/TRIS/OASIS/HELI area. Hand up for not ever having heard of HELIski. Good puzzle.
ReplyDeleteHmm, Desper-otto, and comments that made me re-read Anonymous T's post from yest...
ReplyDeleteThis is why I fill my life with silliness,
if you can't laugh at your troubles, you are in deep doo-doo.
Anon-T, your leak made me think of this clip...
And Desper-otto, just remember that life's plan is at the end of this clip...
:)
HuskerG --
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the 50s, there were ex-servicemen galore, too many of whom had been tattooed in Korea or Japan ... by the time I saw them, all that 'brilliant' ink had been oxidized, faded to a most repulsive gray tone. Never had any urge for tattoos after seeing these results!
and you think you have problems...
ReplyDeleteAs big as it is, Kroger is not that familiar to this Easterner.
ReplyDeleteMisty, I hate when I do a toughie and the gang talks about how fast they finished. I finished fast but I should have waited on that one box. In fact just reading the clue for DEA Agent, singular, would've done it.
YR, there was an old saying "I never knew the man was an alcoholic until the day I saw him sober. Or .
People come to recovery because they're sick and tired; they leave because they're sick and tired of NOT being sick and tired.
Enough of that on a beautiful Florida day
C'mon DOWN
WC in the daylight
INKED: Saw an interview the other day with singer Aaron Neville. When he was a kid he did a tattoo with a straight pin and burnt black from a kitchen match of a dagger on his cheek. His daddy made him use sandpaper to try to get the tat off. He said, "The skin came off but the tattoo didn't." At the peak of his career, he sang with Linda Ronstadt at the WhiteHouse in a tuxedo with that dagger on his cheek. Tattoo is still there at age 76.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteThat was an easy Sat.-level puzzle. I FIW w/ only 3 bad squares (POoFS, NARCs, and ELIAn(?). Oh, well it it was fun. Thanks Kristian.
Thanks Splynter for the expo and cool WINEry pics. Please tell me that's NOT your BARREL room. I missed the MARK 2x - good catch.
WOs: Boxed milk b/f WINE, ATTLEr, Beer b/f SUDS
ESP - to many to count...
Fav: 37d made Tom SERVO! come to mind :-) [1.5m]
TERMITES c/a was cute (if not scary for a home-owner) too.
Speaking of home... Poor kid was so upset this morn. about last night. I told her I'm not mad 'cuz shtuff happens and we can't sweat the small, just deal and move...(and, um, learn from it :-)). Yep, CED, all you can do is laugh it off.
DO - a little grommet around the hole will make it "neater." But like you said, who cares on a vehicle that old; my new sun-visor doesn't match the interior on my 10yro Civic - as if I GAVE A HOOT.
This is from memory so do your own Googles... M$ purchased NOKIA to get into the mobile business and compete w/ Palm and Blackberry (Apple wasn't yet in the space yet, IIRC). Anyway, they insisted on keeping the "Start" menu and it would take no less than 10 seconds to make a call - on a phone!. Start->[wait for menu]->phone (or whatever), [wait..]... Only M$ Bob had a worse UI for what it was for. //rant off.
TTP - Yep, I'm writing the communication this weekend and Phishing folks next Thrus. Gotta keep awareness high - it's not ADVISABLE to click stuff from folks you don't know. //What's troubling -- criminals are now doing research on LinkedIn and targeting Acts. Payable to find AP's connections whom they impersonate on the "From:" line. Oy!
CED - I counted 4 trials already! Good luck with your new cat and the birds you've baited :-). IM, I'm afraid CED's locked in on this path.
HG - PSA: Tethering is cool but that is your data plan.
PK - Funny karma story ("and you ran the washer for only one thing!?!" - I hate when DW does that when there so much that coulda gone in w/).
To all Brothers (and Sisters) in Arms... God Speed. Salute.
Cheers, -T
CED...please consider keeping the Cat. Adoptions are good karma, that Cat is a beauty. I’ve rescued 2, one from a foster home and one right here off my street. You won’t regret it. Here’s hoping...plus cats don’t usually leave the shelters alive unless no kill, if not then they are doomed.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, a decent Saturday puzzle with some misleading clueing. Never heard of “sap rot” ever. Had TONES before SONGS and BEER before SUDS, that was about it.
C’mon CED, keep the little beauty!
WC @11:47, when you parsed Kroger that way, the light bulb went off - now I get it (I remember the K-Mart/K-Roger comment)! My blonde hair might now come from a bottle, but sometimes my true blonde brain shows.
ReplyDeleteCED @12:30, funny. You're a good man and animal-lover!
KELP, I remember reading a NG article about the kelp forests off of CA - beautiful eerie photos.
MANGIA came only because we have a great Italian restaurant in the Galleria - Maggiano's - and they have a small sign in the bar area with the word.
Mower's calling - hate mowing nowadays.
TxMs - Thanks! That's where I remember KELP forests from. (Youngest wanted an NG subscription for Christmass - and I get read it too... Bonus!)
ReplyDeleteMaggiano's is across the street from my office - 1/2 of vendor lunches are there. Their lunch special includes a second take-out PASTA. I always get the Ravioli. MANGIA, MANGIA. You must eat, Ludwig [SNL]. Hey, look at that, a comma saved another life [MA Only - BuzzFeed].
-T
This was a love/hate sorta thing.
ReplyDeleteThose who found it easy are in a different memory bubble. I believe Mr. House's pzl required familiarity with proper names beyond my orbit.
I really didn't have the time to devote to the project - with a Sat morning doc's appointment looming - so I was sorely tempted to throw in the towel. But when I came back home, I picked the *#@! thing up, and in the spirit of What the Hey! stuck it out. With P+P I reached my Ta- DA! with only one error. (AROU instead of ALOU, with a forced perp of ERIAS.)
Misty, your instant recognition of NEHI was just the opposite of my experience. NEHI (and the NW sector) took me the longest time of all,
I wanted BLIP for starters, "Radar Blip" being the name of our former Yorkie. When that wouldn't work I tried all sorts of words ending in HI. I should have made the connection from MASH because I knew the Radar actor, Gary Berghoff. I directed Gary twice. (I had to step into one of his roles when he left for Hollywood.) But I wasn't a loyal follower of the TV series and wasn't familiar with the character's beverage of choice.
The moral here is to ...
Pay Closer Attention to All Your Life Acquaintanceships.
(You never know when they - or their props - will show up in a Xwd ...)
Yes, Happy Veterans' Day to all vets and their families!
ReplyDeleteActually,
ReplyDeletemy biggest problem is I tried to be funny at home...
PVX - $5, ONES, in CASH, says CED keeps the kitty; It's just too cute!
ReplyDeleteInre, birdbath... Pop (the Dad, not the soda) has a heated birdbath too, CED. The funniest thing I ever saw was one of his 'garage' cats [he found 4 kittens under his front porch and took care of 'em] sitting in the birdbath still, like a statuary, just awaitin' the prey - it was like something out of Tom & Jerry or a Far Side TOON.
OMK - I found it "easy" 'cuz I almost got a Sat. (I think I've solved 2, like, ever!). FIW but it was fun.. (Misty, I didn't "know-know" it so, no count-y count-y in my proverbial book:-)).
It was a peculiar puzzle to me because the long fills seemed to fill backwards and then close-up whitespace which LED TO more fill. For example, I had 'S-ES' sitting in the NE and thought "PASSES" @18a and back-filled VIP. Same thing on 20a, 50a, and 45a. FREAKY.. FWIW, I had the same thought of Bing or Blip for a Radar's 'pop'. I'm sure that had to run through Spitz's mind too (thx for the log-notes Spitz... Cool and wow).
-T
Thanks for the kind comments, Wilbur and Ol'Man Keith, and I love your story about directing the wonderful Radar O'Reilly actor! How cool--what a great profession you've enjoyed!
ReplyDeleteI found this difficult with a lot of crossed unknowns:
ReplyDeleteHELOT/OREM/ATTLEE
TOILE/TRIS/HELI
MANGIA/GINSU/ENKE/YSER
ALOU/ELIAS/RIOS
Plus unknowns SAP ROT, EVAN, GEPETTO, KYLO
Did anyone else try WISH FULFILLMENT before WISHFUL THINKING?
Hand up for LEAK before DRIP
Hand up for getting Radar from MASH but wondering who his father was. I am sure I have seen every episode and never heard his father named. A moment of amusement when I got NEHI!
Similarly amused when I got some of the long fill, too, so that made the struggle worth it. And I did FIR!
Not sure that the rule if it sounds wrong it is would work. TRIS, ENKE, ADIA, YSER and HELI SKI seem totally wrong.
Thank you for the kind words about the information regarding my Sony RX10 camera and photography in general.
AnonymousT: I paid $998 for it in 2014. But I bought a second one a year ago for $848. That is because they are now on to the fourth version of the RX10!
Here is the one I bought. It is $798 now on Amazon. Our local store no longer carries it.
The newest one has a much greater zoom range, but you pay for it with it being slightly larger and heavier. And a lot more expensive.
Here is the newest RX10 version 4 which costs $1698
I don't think many people would find any meaningful advantage with an SLR and interchangeable lenses. I think the highest end point and shoot cameras like this are as good or better than most SLRs except perhaps the ones that cost several thousand dollars.
The most important factor in choosing a camera is the physical size of the sensor in mm or inches. That is what gives good low light performance. But... The bigger the sensor, the bigger the lenses have to be. Some day I think there will be a breakthrough in optics that can get around that. But we are stuck with it for now.
My old fashioned take on TATTED is that my Grandmother tatted lace edges on hankies and doilies.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion that maybe Alan is being bullied at work. We chased that rabbit round and round the garden for a long time, even having a meeting with the staff. To mix metaphors, it was a wild goose chase. Most of the time when he wants to stay home Alan just feels lousy . Occasionally, like most of us, he feels bored with work. He is not happy when the bussers don't have to come in and he does.
Alan has problems even on weekends and has had problems before in those years he wasn't working. Things have gotten worse lately because his poorly developed organs and systems are aging too quickly. Literally half the time he has severe headaches and dizziness and general malaise. I count it as a bad day when he doesn't even want to do his favorite activities like the fall foliage excursion we missed.
Last night I saw a TV special about children who had dozens of epileptic seizure every day.
Their families were trying to get a law passed to use nonaddictive medical marijuana oil to treat them. It was so sad and put everything else in perspective. AN OLD SAYING: I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.
D/O thanks for the advice about a back-up camera.
Anon-T, I had to laugh when I pictured your kitty sitting in the birdbath waiting for lunch to fly in. Just like a cartoon!
Splynter and others curious about what makes a system a SERVO: The key is that a SERVO involves feedback.
ReplyDeleteMuch of my career involved a SERVO system called an Atomic Force Microscope which flies a probe about an atomic radius above a surface. Some tricky feedback needed! I mostly designed and built the hardware, but I had to write some software, too.
This is my favorite photo taken with our instrument! Individual atoms in a crystal lattice!
This image was taken by my friend and former co-worker Bruce Schardt. As noted in the caption, notice the missing atom in the lattice. That was proof that we were seeing individual atoms, not just a bulk effect.
Today was a quiet Saturday (actually Remembrance Day here in Canada) and I had a chance to do the CW. Thanks for the fun Kristian and Splynter.
ReplyDeleteI was pleasantly surprised to finish without requiring Google help and with only a few inkblots.
Hand up for trying to figure out Radar's father's name. Neat story OMK!
I had Ales before SUDS.
Like YR, I had a grandmother who Tatted lovely lace edgings for handkerchiefs and linens. (It is a lost art now.) Needless to say, it took a while for INKED to dawn.
YR, I admire your devotion to your son. It must be so difficult to continually advocate for him. We feel inadequate to help you except to offer encouragement.
Prescience of the blog re ALCOA. I went back to see about AnonT's flooding problem (your daughter will never forget to leave the water running again!) and see that he was mentioning aluminum. I did not know there was another British word "aluminium", as I use the American pronunciation. (We have brand name of Alcan and call it tin foil but apparently it is made of aluminum not tin!)
Picard, I have neglected to say that I have enjoyed your photos and noted the quality of them. I am not a camera buff but DH has always had a better quality camera. Point and shoot for me.
CED, that kitten is adorable. We had a stray years ago but already had a cat. Daughter would not let me take it to the SPCA because she heard that they euthanized. I managed to find a home for it on a farm (but was worried they would change their mind when I discovered that it was pregnant. Thankfully they didn't care; more barn cats to catch the mice!). Hope you can find/provide a home. (AnonT how about $5 in Loonies!)
Back to Remembrance Day- here is a link to the Ottawa ceremonies.
RemembranceDay
Do Americans know the poem, In Flanders Fields, written by Canadian, John McRae?
ReplyDeleteWe wear poppies in our lapels at this time of year in remembrance and to support our war vets and Legions.
InFlandersFields
To Canadianeh, I wore a beautiful scarf full of poppies that my daughter-in -law gave me the last time Ii was in England during Veterans day. I lived in Canada for 4 years.
ReplyDeletePicard, thanks for the camera info. Interesting. I should take my Nikon to the camera shop here and see if any of the lenses are still usable at least and if I could trade them in. Probably not, with all the electronic sensors etc.
ReplyDeleteYR, so glad Alan is not being mistreated. Worth inquiring about though. I can feel for you both since I have days when I am not well. So frustrating.
CanadianEh! The farming community where I used to live always has had a big Vet's Day Parade with the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars organization) selling poppies to raise funds. Even during the Vietnam War when there were protests, our county had a high percentage of men going to military service. Never heard of a conscientious objector there. During my newspaper years, I did a lot of interviews of veterans and wrote stories for an annual special Vet's edition. When I moved to the city, I was surprised there was no Vet's Day parade. The last couple of years the wife of a "fallen soldier" has drummed up support for a parade and other events. We know the poem "In Flanders Field".
CED & C-Eh! As for cats, it is hard to have too many on a farm with grain attracting mice & rats. Cats are fed but expected to keep the rodent population down. I figured we needed nine going into winter to have enough to reproduce in the spring. One year they over-did with production of 25 kittens. My kids loved them and socialized them, but the coyotes, etc. also loved them. Some had short happy lives.
C, Eh! - I'd take it in Twonies too! (you'll need ~3 at current rate of exchange :-))
ReplyDeleteYR - I really did expect to see water streaming out Dylan's (Pop's Cat) mouth a-la the fountain CED posted. Dylan is a funny cat - he also likes to sit under the humming-bird feeder; never saw a cat twitch back-and-forth so fast...
Picard - That looks like a bargain compared to what I found last night ($1,900). I almost clicked IMPULSE PURCHASE, er, "buy now" - but then recalled I didn't wake up this morning needing it.
Cool Iodine pic (and crazy-cool gig) - I didn't start to understand atomic lattice until Chem II. I found it even more fascinating in Organics (not that I did well in that class). La Tech was just starting up it's Nanotechnology center in my Jr. year; we got a professor from IBM right after they did this with Xenon.. I don't think Prof was on that team but he was an expert in nano and taught us Schrodinger's equations and n- & p-doping*.
New pro-tip! I fell asleep and Youngest and I didn't get to the grocery store until 9:30-ish (PM). There were only 40 or so other shoppers @HEB and we got in-and-out (with all our goodies in-tow) in under 30 minutes! TxMs & Misty - stay tuned; Misty's Plated Pear salad is on tap for tomorrow.
Cheers, -T
*Not what you think Tin :-)
AnonT, flattered to hear my pear salad may get a try-out tomorrow. It's a pretty simple dish, so I hope it won't be disappointing.
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks, my heart is with you. My 61 year old brother has had schizophrenia since his late teens, but has led a productive, helpful life all these years, maintaining a job, helping our family, and just being a wonderful son and brother. But this year he's begun to suffer from depression and apocalyptic fantasies (worries about the apocalypse) and has had to be hospitalized for the first time in his life. My heart goes out to these men who work so hard to maintain jobs and good family relations but things begin to haunt them in their senior years that keep them from functioning normally. I pray for both, and all, of them.
A Narco is not a DEA employee unless he or she is crooked, i.e., a Narco is a drug dealer.
ReplyDelete