Let's see what our mistress has for us on this day before the last day of 2017 and our final Saturday of the year:
Across
1. On-the-go frozen breakfast : EGGO BITES - Just another good reason to enjoy syrup!
10. "Love, all alike, no season knows, nor __": Donne : CLIME - DONNE did "Git 'er done" would have two homophones
15. Sinatra's wife after Ava Gardner : MIA FARROW - Ava on Mia - "I always knew Frank would wind up in bed with a boy"
16. "Breaking Bad" toxin : RICIN - Chemistry teacher Walt cooked meth but used this deadly product of the castor bean to kill a rival
18. In the presence of : AMONG
19. Creator of the album "Reflection," which consists of one 54-minute track : ENO
20. Tijuana pronoun : ESA - Me gusta ESA música ENO (I like that ENO music)
21. Gulf of Finland republic : ESTONIA
23. 2001 bankruptcy headliner : ENRON - Their bankruptcy cost my uncle his retirement and dignity and here is their CEO Ken Lay doing one of his 34. Controversial police procedure practices : PERP WALKS
25. Shaper in a shop : LATHE and 64. "My bad" : OOPS SORRY
27. Minor player : COG - That describes me here
28. Tuscany city : SIENA - We walked in SIENA where bareback horse races around the town square have been run twice a year for hundreds of years
29. Kind of butter used in skin care : SHEA - Is that why the Mets are "butter fingered"? Yeah, I'll keep my day job!
30. Pop, in Paris : PERE
31. __ jump : SKI - Remember the show where the tagline for this mishap was, "The agony of defeat"?
33. To a large degree : IN SPADES - Highest Rank suit in Contract Bridge
35. Most likely : APTEST
38. Car system : STEREO
39. Homemade crystal products : AM RADIOS - I first listened to Husker football on an AM CRYSTAL RADIO over 60 years ago
41. "Entourage" agent Gold : ARI - Played by Jeremy Pivens who I really like
42. Driving force? : UBER - Worked well for us. The app shows you the nearest UBER driver and displays her progress as she drives toward you
43. Twin Cities daily, familiarly : TRIB - Our constructors hometown paper
45. Historic times : PASTS
49. Address-ending word : NET
50. Overplay : EMOTE
51. Tabbouleh grain : WHEAT - A Levantine (from the Levant) grain and herb salad
52. Walked-over : TRODDEN
54. Energy Star co-mgr. : EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
56. Modern art? : ARE - How Great Thou ART! vs. How Great You ARE!
57. Decluttering maven Kondo : MARIE - MARIE, thy name ART a mystery to me!
58. Branch : AFFILIATE
61. Strange : ALIEN
62. Wasted call? : DRUNK DIAL - The call isn't wasted, the caller is!
63. Literature Nobelist who served in the Irish Senate : YEATS - and now a tourist attraction
Down
1. Runs the show : EMCEES - Remember Bert Parks and his famous song?
2. Designer Versace : GIANNI - His murder in his Miami mansion will lead off FX's America's Crime Story next month
3. See 33-Across : GALORE - Did anyone else think of a Bond Girl?
4. Inaccurate : OFF
6. Nest egg accts. : IRAS
7. Court affairs : TRIALS
8. Sister of Helios : EOS - We usually see her and her friendly letters as the goddess of dawn
9. Improves, as an offer : SWEETENS
10. Box : CRATE
11. Long ride? : LIMO
12. "You win" : I CONCEDE - Rhoda says "I give up!"
13. Cookie in Snak Saks : MINI OREO - There's no where to hide from OREOS of any size in crossword puzzles
14. Keeps occupied : ENGAGES - A teacher who ENGAGES an angry student in an argument can't win
22. View from Yreka : SHASTA - A Cascade Range Mountain as seen from Yreka, CA24. GM security system : ONSTAR - We have it at no cost for 3 years with our car but have never used it
26. Often-grilled tuna : AHI
30. Outcast : PARIAH - Can you say Harvey Weinstein?
32. "Am I off-base here?" : IS IT ME - "Yeah, it's you Harvey! You're a creep!"
35. Light-brown brew : AMBER ALE
36. Seat of South Africa's executive branch : PRETORIA
37. Olds luxury car : TORONADO - Also the name of Zorro's horse
39. Peter Parker's adoptive mother : AUNT MAY - Some Spiderman purists thought Marisa Tomei was "too hot" to play this role compared to her predecessors Rosemary Harris and Sally Field.
40. Parking order? : SIT - "Park It!"
44. Strengthen : BEEF UP
46. Oceanside home asset : SEA AIR
47. Fried shrimp sauce : TARTAR
50. Wonderlands : EDENS
53. Losing effort : DIET - What is the world's record for getting off of these after New Year's Day?
55. Flagsticks, to many golfers : PINS
59. To and __ : FRO
60. Veiled reply, perhaps : I DO
Rail away about this Saturday puzzle:
DA GRID:
51 comments:
Love no season knows, nor CLIME.
To love is to love all the time!
To love is to AFFILIATE,
CONCEDE to thy lover's LATHE,
Let their shaping SWEETEN to an "I DO" paradigm!
That crazy ex-girlfriend from ESTONIA
Vowed that she would never phone ya!
But one DRUNK DIAL
Led down the aisle,
And a non-phone ring of real zirconia!
That crazy boyfriend from PRETORIA
Promised a date that would totally floor ya!
The LIMO was super!
The driver from ÃœBER
Is now your fiancé -- that date was euphoria!
{C+ x 3.}
C.C.,
Wow! I thought I had EGGO-Bit off more than I could chew for the longest time. I applied the P. & P. Principle or is it (al)? and sections filled as follows: NW, NE, SE. That left SW, and the last square to fill was the Y in the corner.
I had to do an alphabet run, first mentally, and then typally almost to Zed. I didn't exactly BAV, but I didn't SAV either so no FIR today, just F., and proud of it.
I considered the corner spot, 63A / 39D to be a natick. I have no idea who Peter Parker is let alone his aunt MaY. I'm going to guess Harry Potter related. Once the Y was in place I wished for a V8, YEATS, duh.
Thanks HG for correcting my name ignorance to Spiderman. Still no ta dah.
On 25A LATHE, I took woodworking in high school, and enjoyed using a lathe.
On 56A I wanted neo, then filled with perps so I learned ARE from your review.
Re 35D, Light-brown brew, I had Michelob AmberBock beer with my pizza Thursday. Oh it was good!
Re 47D, Fried shrimp sauce : TARTAR, I like it with fish, but not shrimp. The name of the red sauce with horseradish in it escapes me, but the savory taste does not. Who can name cocktail sauce, me! A brain is a terrible thing to waste.
Dave צוויי, Yiddish
On Wednesday Dec 27, 2017 Jason Mueller's 40D was "Gradually : BIT BY BIT"
Boomer showed a picture with the comment "Nothing gradual about these coins." I believe I have found them, "Bitcoin" a new worldwide currency. Does anyone other than Boomer know about this phenomenon?
Lucina FLN 1041P
She said "My picture as a novice was posted by C.C. some time ago." Is this the category that Maria held in "The Sound of Music?" Can you educate me on length of time in that category, and the progressions to being a fully functional nun?
Dave zwei, German
Hi Y'all! I'm practicing staying up so I can watch the parade in London on New Years. They posted a video of a rehearsal the kids were having in London. Very impressive. They are doing a patriotic medley that starts off with "O beautiful for spacious skies..." then Yankee Doodle is in there somewhere. Such a rich sound with 13 sousaphones and a very tricky compelling drum cadence for marching. I don't know how many are in the band. With chaperones, 177 people made the trip. They are taking in all the sights. Hope they aren't too worn out by New Years.
RIP Sue Grafton died yesterday, our famous cw author of the alphabet books, "A is for Alibi" etc. Her family said, "there will be no 'Z'. The end of the alphabet is Y". She was a good one.
Thank you for another engrossing puzzle, C.C. This had lots of unexpected fill to keep us alert & thinking. Always well done, Gary.
I was amused by DRUNK DIAL over OOPS SORRY and EGGO BITES crossing SWEETENS. Syrup sure does. I used to have a friend who would DRUNK DIAL me from the West Coast -- never could remember there was a two hour difference -- at midnight. Insomnia was good on those occasions. We both had lost our mates and needed the conversation.
MINI OREOS: I treat myself with a cup of these when I am a good girl and do my grocery shopping. Never have seen the SnakSaks though.
Pop in Paris: i was thinking soda before father. Duh!
An older friend had a Toronado and refused to ride in any lesser car, but wouldn't drive it out of town. She always wanted me to go places with her and drive her car. I was afraid I'd wreck it. When they discontinued the model, she refused to ever get a new car.
Good morning!
Happy penultimate day of 2017!
I was zipping right along thinking nothing could be finah, and then I got to Carolina and things ground to a halt. That corner required a liberal application of Wite-Out before it all came together. Thanx, C.C. and Husker. This one was suitably Saturday sticky.
LATHE: Husker, that's known as the bad way to remove a piece from the lathe.
SHEA: A fellow M-o-W volunteer has that as a first name, but she spells it SHAY, as in one hoss.
TORONADO: My folks had an early one. It was a humpless front-wheel drive monster, but good for their annual trek from Wisconsin to Arizona.
Bravo to C.C. for constructing and easier than usual Saturday puzzle. The North filled as rapidly as a Monday, thanks to the gimmes GALORE- MIA FARROW, ENRON, ON STAR, & ESTONIA. And C.C. SWEETENS it with miniature food- EGGO BITES (unknown but an easy guess) and MINI OREOs. The SE fell with just one change- STEADY to STEELY next to disgusting (IMHO) TARTAR sauce that my wife likes to dip shrimp into as she takes in the SEA AIR in a restaurant. D4E4H- you like it on one more thing than I do. I hate it. I put extra horseradish in cocktail sauce.
The SW was a little tougher. YEATS was a WAG, had to change EERIE to WEIRD to ALIEN in order to allow the unheard of and unknowns- AUNT MAY and MARIE Kondo. Thanks for the PRETORIA gimme.
IS IT ME? Am I a PARIAH here? OOPS, SORRY. I wanted OK instead of ME to follow IS IT to finish the last toughie of the year.
AVA over MIA any day. MIA was weird enough to hook up with Woody Allen.
ENRON- due to a fluke in our judicial system, Ken Lay's family got to keep all the money he basically stole from ENRON because he DIED before his trial.
YREKA or 'eureka'- somebody couldn't spell.
DRUNK DIAL- ask any kid if he knows what a telephone DIAL is. What does DIAL tone mean? Rotary phone? They've never seen one.
Thanx to C.C. For a fun workout this morning. First fills were OFF and Barenaked . Two clues that made me smile were parking order and veiled reply. Stumbled a little over driving force , got stuck on thinking some kind of bar. Last fill was "r" , didn't know ARI and perpwalk was new to me .McD's coffee still warm so finished in good time . Coldest night of the season so far brrrr. Most used words for me from Dec toFeb -- i love summer
Filled in eggo, emcees and MiaFarrow and it was smooth sailing.
Another thot , when seaair filled I was reminded of how pleasant the first sniff of seaair is when deplaning in pv --sigh--
Thanks CC and Husker Gary.
Held on to StabLe for unwavering in the SE a little too long, but worked it out.
Not Buck NAKED. It feels like a Duluth winter CLIME around here. Duluth Trading Company Buck Naked Underwear.
My driving force was going to be a wood.
Dot before NET.
Momentary lapse with cORONADO. That was the De Soto. Before my time.
Most likely suggested a superlative.
Aunt May or Aunt Kay ? Marie Kondo or Karie Kondo ? M was a good guess.
I CONCEDE - When you give up. ICON CEDE - When you give up your object of devotion.
THE Ohio State Buckeyes cruised past USC. The B1G Conference remains undefeated at 5-0 in bowl matches this year. Penn State and Wisconsin on the slate for today.
All three Aggie teams played in NCAA bowl games yesterday, Two Aggie teams lost and one won. The Texas A&M Aggies lost to Wake Forest in a shootout, while the New Mexico State Aggies beat the Utah State Aggies. First bowl win for NMS since 1960.
As Mel Allen would say, "How about that !"
From earlier this week, “Designated Decoy” is the punch line in Beetle Bailey today, in a different context. Don’t think the general drunkdialed Miss Buxley, though
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was this morning. I did fine until I got to the Mason-Dixon line, then I struggled. Finally gave up and Googled "tabbouleh", expecting a Yiddish word instead of the easy word WHEAT. Nice Saturday clue, CC. I didn't like Spiderman as a kid and haven't grown any fonder of him over the years, so I also had to get AUNT MAY online. I would have known it had the clue been "what Jinx's cousins call his Mom".
HG, we think alike. In her senior year of high school, by buddy's sister's nickname in the Annual was "PG". Her "Most likely to..." entry was "Start a flying circus". Her parents had seen Goldfinger, and she had some 'splainin to do.
I was involved in a project to determine the technical fesibility of ONSTAR when I worked at GTE Wireless. Due to confidentiality requirements we were told that it was to be called 5-Star and that the client was Mercedes Benz.
D2 - I have FOMO about Bitcoin, but I'm too old to make speculative investments. I suspect that "I almost bought Bitcoin at $2,000" will join "I can't believe I didn't buy Xerox" and "I had tickets to Woodstock but something came up" as the oft-repeated tales of woe told to bartenders across the country.
OKL, I liked them all, but especially the second one. I half expected wordplay starring Oscar Pistorius and PRETORIA. But if you were criticized for being insensitive you wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
Thanks to CC for a fun Saturday challenge. Just right for me, just beyond my reach. And thanks, Gary, for bringing your wit to the Saturday slot.
Oh yeah. I've never seen The Big Bang Theory, but my favorite Barenaked Ladies tune is "If I Had a Million Dollars".
As a devoted fan of the creations of Stan Lee and his artistic partners, Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby and others, it surprises me someone has not heard of Peter Parker a/k/a Spiderman.
I am saddened by the death of Sue Grafton. Her books brought much pleasure to me and others.
C.C. has continued to expand her skills and themeless now flow as well as her many intricated themed puzzles. DRUNK DIAL with PERP WALK and EGGO BITES MINIOREOS ... so much to like.
HG, I did not know the TORNADO the horse was also called TORONADO. We never owned an Olds TORONADO my father did buy a 1963 Buick Riviera. I was away at boarding school and I did not know of the purchase until he drove up one Saturday. The yard filled up with appreciative fellow students admiring the design.
Thank you both
Hello Puzzlers -
Zoomed through the West today, but over in the East, things slowed down a lot. When I got to “veiled reply”, I put I Do straight in, with a smile. Finished with a no-peeky.
Toronado: in the 70’s I worked at a successful restaurant. It had been built from the ground up by a hard working entrepreneur. At one point he rewarded himself with a brand new Toronado, the first one in town. It looked like a cavern of luxury to a skinny kid like me. Soon after, I went off to college, and lost track of my old restaurant buddies, but I did hear the boss had taken to rewarding himself with cocaine. I guess the Olds wasn’t exciting enough. The whole enterprise was soon lost.
Husker - I came to know the steely mindset at NASA during my KSC days. Back then I described it as “clinical”. There was an unwritten rule that you couldn’t show a bit of childlike enthusiasm even when surrounded by all this cool, expensive, noisy space-going stuff. However, there were sometimes cracks in the armor: my main colleague, a NASA engineer of long standing, had started his career during Apollo. He was utterly unflappable, as impassive as a rocket engineer is wont to be, but - as we drove past the Saturn V displayed sideways on the campus - he looked over at the big launch vehicle that made America proud, smiled just a little, and said, “Now that was adult equipment.”
In NASA that counts for downright giddiness!
Good morning everyone.
Good Saturday slog. Not too hard, though. Only erasure - had coca butter before SHEA butter. The Shay is a type of 'lumbering' locomotive. Favorite clue was 'modern art' - ARE. Cool beans.
TARTAR - I like Tartar on fish and scallops, but prefer, IN SPADES, cocktail sauce (with horseradish?) for all shrimp.
Ich wünsch Euch allen einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr 2018.
Good Morning:
Today's offering from CC is a mixed bag of "moving right along uptop and coming to a screeching halt down below." Several unknowns include: Ricin, Aunt May, Marie (Kondo), Mini Oreos, Eggo Bites, Pretoria and Shasta, both as clued. I have never seen "Breaking Bad" but knew about his meth business but not ricin. I have never read a Spider-Man comic nor seen the movies, so Aunt May could have been Aunt Bea, for all I know. (The whole action hero genre is Greek to me; I never even heard of Stan Lee until I saw him on TBBT.) I don't eat breakfast or cookies, so The Eggo and Oreo items were new to me. Geography/History are not in my bag of tricks so Shasta and Pretoria needed perps (the non-walking ones) as did so many other areas. I wanted Bulgur for the Tabboulah grain and got a chuckle at Drunk dial over Oops sorry. My favs were Driving force=Uber and Veiled reply, perhaps=I do. FIR with no help but took 38 minutes to do so.
Thanks, CC, for a Saturday challenge filled with fun answers and some devilish,but fair, cluing. Saturday's allow you to really shine, in more ways than one! Thanks, HG, your always interesting and informative expos which are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the mind.
Have a great day.
Good Morning!
Thanks, C.C., for an almost doable Saturday. I especially like the clues for DRUNK DIAL, I DO, and AM RADIO, which should have come to me much faster since I just bought a kit for my 12 year old grandson. I didn't know EGGO BITES or MINI OREOS. I always make my own pancakes and waffles when the grands are here. The later seems awfully dangerous! ;-)
Gary, what a great expo this morning! Thank you. I don't recall the TORONADO all that well, but that 1963 Riviera that Lemonade's dad had ran about $5700. Feels like a steal, but I know it certainly wasn't at the time. My dad sold Buicks, so that's about the only car I knew much about.
D4E4H: I would never have TARTAR sauce with shrimp either. The cocktail sauce is a breeze: ketchup and as much prepared old-fashioned horseradish as you like. Cheapo and it's always just enough for however many shrimp you intend to eat.
FLN: D-O: RJ Daley was sure Mr. Malaprop. RM Daley was not bad at malapropisms either.
Off to a family event. Have a cozy day, everyone!
Zorro's horse's name was usually spelled Tornado, he pronounced it torr-NAH-do
Musings
-It’s always disappointing to wake up on a Saturday and not have a puzzle to do.
-I couldn’t come up with the word for “next to last” but DO got penultimate in his post. I wish I had used it as the title for the write-up
-Tornado (occasionally Toronado) is a horse ridden by the character Zorro in several movies and books. Tornado is referred to as a black Andalusian in the movie The Mask of Zorro, although a Friesian plays the role
-TORONADO (sometimes Tornado)
-Dudley – I first heard that very complimentary, but reserved name used here, in my favorite NASA movie.
-Jinx, what a fabulous story! Did you ever, uh, get into her flight plan?
-Can one get tired of hearing the theme song from Big Bang Theory? YES!
-New Year’s Eve is predicted to be -20˚F and so that will cut down on some of the fireworks around here
"Puzzling Thoughts":
First off, great puzzle CC and excellent recap, HG. Love the pic's and links.
I guess after a few years now of a daily dose of LAT Crosswords, I am finally "getting" the clue "language" from the constructors. As I look at my almost error-free grid (two minor misspells at ALIAN > ALIEN & ENGAGED > ENGAGES) I realized I did not have to google anything, and completed in record Sat time. A couple of WAGS (SHASTA, as I'd never heard of Yreka); CLIME; RICIN; and PERP WALKS, which ironically filled in by, you guessed it, perps! 😀
I was a fan of the Spider-Man comics when I was a much younger boy. In the early issues, Aunt May looked more like "Great Grandma" May. I think I may have bought the very first issue, but that disappeared a long time ago, along with my baseball card collection, et al.
IS IT ME, or did I see an interesting progression on some of the vertical answers? SWEETENS ---> I CONCEDE ---> ENGAGED --> I DO
I have a goofy Moe-ku for today ...
Stock Market Icons:
When on the climb, it BEEF's UP.
Down, it's "BEAR" NAKED.
Moe-ku 2:
California town
Was unknown to me. Who said,
"Yreka? Found it!"
I love your puzzles, C.C., but this one was a toughie for me. I did get MIA FARROW, though and that helped fill in the northwest, although I put NAKED before I realized it had to be BARE, and then was surprised to see the first one show up below. But that's what made this puzzle fun. I was also happy to get YEATS right away. Some of the mis-directions were so loopy that, of course, I should have gotten them. For example, like Dave, I put NEO before ARE showed up--Modern art ARE? Thou art clever, C.C.
Fun write-up, Husker Gary, many thanks. And DANKE, Spitzboov.
I too was sorry to read about Sue Grafton's passing this morning. I can't remember how many of her mystery novels I read, but they were all a delight. RIP.
Another, lovely sunny day--a real joy. Only we'll have rain mid-week, when I have errands to do. But I sure can't complain with all the difficult winter weather elsewhere, can I?
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Husker and other Big Bang Theory fans - I’m pretty sure Bare Naked Ladies sing “...and nearly fourteen million years ago expansion started...” which drives me crazy because it should be fourteen billion years. Seems like it would have been easy to fix.
Thank you, C.C. and Gary! The clues were fair enough to SWEETEN the solve.
I liked so much of this fill I would have to list almost all of it! It's especially nice to see full names like MIAFARROW which I know but unfamiliar with MARIE Kondo though I have heard of the decluttering system.
AUNTMAY is another one I didn't know and had to research DRUNKDIAL. Never heard the term though I had a cousin and an uncle who regularly used to do that.
Hand up for STEADY before STEELY. Last night I watched part of Apollo 13 and saw those STEELY looks and demeanor.
D4:
In order to enter the religious life, three steps are required: 1) postulancy when one is introduced to the life style and at that time we wore a modified habit; 2) novitiate, a two or three year period of concentrated study of the rules and regs, prayer and one year of complete isolation from the outside world. A white veil is worn. That's the old way and I believe a few communities still follow that process. 3) temporary vows, the black veil is donned, and these are taken for a short time to ensure commitment then after two or sometimes three to five years, final vows which are assumed to be forever, but things change and they can be dispensed as I mentioned before, by the Pope.
I'm sorry if it's TMI.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Happy New Year's Eve Eve, all!
This wasn't as bad as I was afraid it was going to be when I first started. Favorite entry today was ART - ARE. I finished in just over 15 minutes, about par for a Saturday. Thanks, C. C., for getting my day started and Husker, I always look forward to your expositions.
There are about 3-4" of new snow this morning in Chicago's western suburbs and everything looks clean and white.
Dave2, bitcoin has been a thing for several years now. Recently the value dropped substantially and left many folks fearing they'd never get back the thousands of dollars they had invested. It's come back up some now; we'll see. The value of one bitcoin today is $12,954.25 US.
re: NAKED - Here is a Swedish music group doing "You can't hide anything when you're naked". Benny Andersson of ABBA plays piano. Benny Anderssons Orkester - Allt Syns När Man Är Naken
Just crunchy enough for a Saturday challenge. Thanks, CC!
Thanks for the memory of your own CRYSTAL AM RADIO, Husker Gary. As you know well, the CRYSTAL is used as a diode detector. A lot more expensive than a 1N914 off the shelf now!
Loved the misdirection of Modern Art for ARE! Can someone explain PINS to this non-golfer?
I do like TARTAR sauce on my fried seafood. Hard to get it out here in the West. Grew up with it in the East. Hand up for WEIRD before ALIEN. Hand up for STEADY before STEELY. Hand up AUNT MAY/MARIE crossing a Natick, but I did WAG it correctly as my final fill. Anyone else try SARIN before RICIN?
I can't match Husker Gary's SIENA image as I did not get to see the horse racing.
But here are a few photos I took in SIENA in the 90s
That first ceiling image was in our wonderful hotel room. Amazingly, not a high-end hotel by any means! SIENA was one of my favorite cities in Italy because no motor vehicles were allowed in the downtown area.
Sorry your uncle lost everything to the ENRON scam, Husker Gary. The lesson: Diversify.
Thank you for your comments on my SLOTH photo yesterday, PK and Lemonade! I was disappointed at the lack of wildlife in most of the Amazon that we explored. So that SLOTH was a rare find.
Dudley 1142A
You are correct. It was easy to fix. I contacted the ladies, they threw on some clothes, and changed millions to billions. They are glad it wasn't trillions because that just wouldn't fit.
While they were at it they wrote two more verses, and a coda. It is beautiful.
Here are the "Banging" lyrics
Dave 2 Billion
Picard 1127P
Thanks for pictures of Siena. Looking down from the tower, the people looked like ants. That reminds me of the last time I flew. The man in the window seat exclaimed. "Look at the people down there. They look like ants!" I replied, "They are ants. We're still at the gate."
Dave due, Italian
Beetle Baily strip mentioned by UAAlum72.
Picard: I'd love to hear the story of that gargoyle! I know, I'll make one up!
The sculptor labored with might and main
On the town hall facade -- there remains
Just one last drain.
But pay's short-changed!
Now the ugliest gargoyle has the mayor's mien!
Fast and fun Saturday puzzle, CC. Thanks for the expo, Gary. I did across and down together with easy perps and wags. I slowed down a bit in the SE until I did an ABC run for the P in PASTS which led to PERP WALK. AFFILIATE. and DRUNK. On, that kind of wasted! TA DA.
We used to see plenty of perp walks on TV news. They are especially embarrassing if the suspect turns out to be innocent. Also perp walks appear in crime novels,
Good-bye, Sue Grafton, you will be missed.
A friend used to bring TABBOULEH to pot lucks. Not my cuppa tea (or wheat).
I prefer cocktail sauce with plenty of horseradish on most seafood and fish. Nowadays our restaurants serve tartar sauce in little packages. Yuck! They kinda turned me away from tartar sauce when I am out, but I still love homemade. It's so easy to make. It's especially good on fin fish and fried clams.
Last night Jeopardy devoted an entire category to Stan Lee who turned 95 this week.
PK, how exciting to watch the parade on London. You must be proud.
Miss or is it mrs. Kondo is still a mystery to me. Trodden appeared as my last reveal. I have only heard the word used with down. I trried hard to make "tromped" work. I have a story about the Toranado as well but the first tee is open and calling to me. I'll tell the T story when I come back if there is any demand. It does fully explain the current state of the country...
HG, I think I was about five years her junior. She was a senior (so probably 18), so I didn't even get to peek under the circus tent. Besides, I was entranced by her beautiful (and ironically named) classmate Mica, whose father owned the local electronics store. Quite a combination for a hormone-poisoned 13 year old ham radio fanatic.
Picard, sorry of this is duplicate info. As a golfer, to me PIN means the stick that the flag is attached to. For example, if an approach shot is hit just the right distance it is said to be "pin high". It might be 50 feet offline, but it was the right distance. We say "please pull (remove) the PIN", but we say "aim for the flag" when the flag/pin is the correct target at which to aim. (When the pin is placed on the edge of a green near a hazard it is called a "sucker pin", and even the pros don't usually aim for them.)
"The grapes are first trodden for a period varying from twenty-four hours upwards, and are then allowed to ferment in the lagar itself."
Wikisource
Lagar, (in Spain and Portugal) a large, typically stone trough in which grapes are trod.
"Then they rode downhill and uphill, across a ryefield trodden and beaten down as if by hail, following a track freshly made by the artillery over the furrows of the plowed land, and reached some fleches * which were still being dug."
from War and Peace.
We had only an inch or so of snow this AM. The roads were salted early and are very safe at normal speeds.
I am getting used to the 10° to 15° temperatures, unless it is very windy. I am warmer outdoors than I was when we had the wild fluctuations from 20° to 56° a few weeks ago. Acclimatization.
I am more concerned about the heating bill. I have electric heat with passive solar. It works well and is not expensive with temps above 20°. Each room has a thermostat. I lower the heat in rooms I am not using and the heat comes back up in 5–8 minutes when needed. With this frigid weather I have to keep all the rooms quite warm all the time to avoid the pipes freezing. And the passive solar is so passive it does no good. I can almost see $ bills flying away. There will be no relief until Monday, Jan. 8. High, 34° and low, 23°, almost balmy.
I like almost all the puzzles but liked this one a lot. Clever as all get-out. Smiled widely at the cluing for ARE and I DO. Also liked the clues for DIET and DRUNK DIAL. Put in K at the crossing of Peter Parker's aunt and the Kondo, figuring Kondo was a brand name and the name-makers love alliteration, e.g. Snak Saks. Nope.
Hand up for thinking of the Bond girl at GALORE.
We've driven through Yreka several times. Shasta is a pretty mountain. The view of it from Weed is also lovely.
Best wishes to you all.
Ta- DA!
But very tricky, our dear C.C.! Very. Tricky.
Indeed.
Using less-familiar variants of over-familiar brands. Not just EGGO but EGGO BITES. Not just OREO but MINI OREO!
And she couldn't even do NAKED without adding BARE.
Husker G, thanks for doing the honors - and for that delightful quote from Ava in re. Mia!
Gimmes today were MIA FARROW, ESTONIA, and YEATS. My longest hangup was at 52A - for TRODDEN and its attendant perps. Something about past participles doesn't sit well with me. Chuck Lindgren seems to have had similar difficulty and, happily, Yellowrocks came through to straighten us out.
Still and all, this was do-able, although I must confess to one look-up, just a confirming glance to be sure of TORONADO. I just don't know old cars.
On that subject, I was reading in the LA Times this morning about the ten sweetest cars of 2017. If I were younger I'd be saving my pennies now for the Tesla Model X!
Man, can you imagine 0-60 in 2.9 secs? (Do they require astronaut training?)
Back to EGGO BITES. I have been a fan of the regular-sized Blueberry Eggos for a few years now. I haven't made my own waffles since 1979! But this morning I made my first from-scratch waffle in my Christmas present, a fancy new HB waffle iron. It was the first time I've used a flippable model, and it came out - perfecto!
Well, beautiful to look at but maybe a little soft to my taste. Next time I'll add a minute or two to get the outside truly crispy.
Lemonade, Misty, Yellowrocks, et al.: I'm sorry too about Sue Grafton's passing. I haven't read her books, but I lament the death of any literary figure. I guess now is a good time to start her - with ?
A is for ...?
Ah, yes, thanks, PK! I shoulda known - Alibi!
(Got no excuse.)
I CONCEDE: Apt entry since I hear on the news someone won't.
MINI OREOS dangerous, Madam D? I suppose there might be a choking hazard. However, I thought a little cup would give me a taste while a big pack of full size was dangerous to my waistline. All these OREOs in the cws make me hungry for them. Do constructors get a fee from the bakers for advertisement?
Dudley: loved your story about NASA & "adult equipment". I used to tease my USAF pilot son about not wanting to go to war. He just wanted to play with their toys. He got to fly some good ones.
Jinx: I had to chuckle at your "I can't believe I didn't buy Xerox" comment. I DID buy Xerox -- a bond which paid 9% interest. However, it was with my mother's money when I was managing her affairs. It was long term but paid out without penalty when she died. Man, I wanted to buy it from the estate, but couldn't afford to.
No, Diagonalers! Today was an anti-diagonal day.
Catching up from yesterday ...
Bill G, it seems we have much in common, from jammed spines to shiny clean teeth! Your photo shows a 4-legged pal, another similarity. We missed you today. Hope all's well!
PK well, I certainly don't do "everything the hardest way"! I don't always do Xwds the hard way either.
I started doing diagonals on days when the pzls were too easy - just to spice things up. As I got better, the easy ones seemed to come more often, so of course I found myself doing diagonals more often too.
But truth be told, whenever I have a real toughie I just give up the diagonal search. The neat thing is nobody's enforcing it.
As for my post regarding the Zen ko-an, on the sound of one hand clapping, is there no one - besides me - who has ever had that experience? I am honestly surprised.
Dave 2*10E9 - thanks for getting that lyric fixed. Anything you can do about the intro soundtrack?
Ol'ManKeith:
I tried clapping with one hand and it worked! It's surprising that my hand is so flexible but my fingers reach right to my palm which I suppose is due to yoga. A lot of stretching happens in yoga.
D4E4H:
Did you see the explanation for the process of becoming a nun @ my 11:43 post? The only thing I omitted is that the postulancy lasts 6 months.
PK 532A
How interesting that the last book Sue Grafton wrote is "Y." That is the last letter of my CW search today.
Jinx 858A & 903A, and WikWak 1152A
I'm too old for Bitcoin also. Thanks for sharing each of you.
Jinx, Here is "If I had a million dollars."
Spitzbooov 959A
Ich wünsche Ihnen auch ein frohes neues Jahr!
Lucina 1143A & 620P
Thanks for details of becoming a nun.
Chuck Lindgren 221P
Please tell your story about the Toronado.
Dudley 533P
You asked "Anything you can do about the intro soundtrack?" Yes, I can play it over and over and over. I hope that helps.
Dave δυο, Greek
Lucina - you see?!
I'm sure others can do it but just haven't tried. I guess it takes a little more flexibility than average, as you are finding out.
But the "sound of one hand clapping" is a very real thing, not at all impossible.
It goes to show how easily people will believe something without putting it to a test.
Wasn't it Aristotle who believed men and women had different numbers of teeth w/o subjecting it to empirical proof?
OK thanks to the unprecedented demand here goes. In the early 70's I had a basically useless BS in physics but I took the classes to get my teaching credential, started grad school at Wayne State , plus taught adult night school and summer school. I made $12,000 or so that year. My three doors down friend of my sister dropped out of HS got married to another drop out and both got jobs at Ford. She asked my sister if I could do her taxes. They had just bought a TORANADO and a boat. I was shocked when I saw that between the two of them they had made $43,364.00 ! I knew they worked second shift and lots of overtime but WOW. But incomes like that with no education or discernable skill were common especially in Detroit and other union towns. In the following decades the unions got weaker and weaker, overtime went away with the Japanese imports, resulting in less and less union workers and lower wages for the minimally educated and skilled. GM bought my company (Hughes Aircraft) in the 80's. We sent them dozens of software and systems engineers that automated more and more jobs such even with the end of the recession factories don't need the low skilled worker near as much. If they had invested that TORANADO's cost into some stocks they would be rich today. Unfortunately they got into drugs. Built gosh knows how many crappy cars and last I heard the hubby was in Jackson prison and even worse for my cute blonde neighbor. But it explains the dissatisfaction of millions of Americans. Without superb skills and the right education, the former middle class is in decline. We are now to the point that we can automate or robotize anything. Drivers are next to go.
Okay. So this is my new entertainment, self-clapping each hand against itself! And it makes more of a flap, flap sound than a slap.
I totally forgot to thank you, PK, for the news about Sue Grafton. I am not into reading novels, but she is a popular figure here in Santa Barbara. Interesting in this modern era to get local news from afar before hearing it locally!
Thank you, Jinx in Norfolk, for explaining the golf term PINS.
Thank you D4E4H/Dave for the "ants" comment about my SIENA photo straight down from the tower. Very amusing. But the people really do look like ants from up there.
That plaza is called Piazza del Campo and is a delight. We really need such spaces here in the US. Public spaces where people can hang out and feel at home. And centers of public events on a community scale.
Thank you, OwenKL, for asking about the Gargoyle. (And thank you also for connecting on Facebook!). I wish I knew the story and I don't have one to make up. Crazy that it has a human face!
Here someone is selling almost the exact same Gargoyle photo in SIENA for $20... $50 if you want to put it on your web site!
So, someone thought it was important!
PS: Thank you Chuck Lindgren for the TORONADO story.
Germany has the strongest union system in the world. Every corporation must have half its board made up of union members. Germany is also the world's largest exporter. True. Not China. Somehow Germany has kept wages and benefits high while making products that people want to buy at a fair price.
In the long run, automation is going to force us to change our economy. If we do it right, that should be a good thing. It should mean that we all work less and make more per hour. If done wrong, it might mean ever greater wealth inequality. The latter is not sustainable. It is up to us to envision the future society that we want. And to make it happen.
Thanks again, Chuck!
I agree with some that this was a smooth xword. SE had to be groked*. Everything has been said, questions answered, etc.
Owen I always like your C+'s. And C-Moe: nice one today. Gary, superlative write-up. It's interesting what some don't know and what I don't know others do.
On Saturday I look for a foothold and there was PERE crossing PARIAH. CC can be clever but she makes 'em doable.
I have notes but I can't read them. But.
(I think this is a repeat, but)
From Id they came
Of cartoon fame
The wizard and the jester.
Playing a riddle game
That had no name
The wizard posed this tester
On Charles bank dine
With choice of fine wine
Pick of salads GALORE
The roast beef so tender
Good service they render
All this midst exquisite decor
Got it said the SOT
With scarcely a thought
Rib Room Hotel Senesta
WC in the gloamin again
* Grok has been appropriated by NYT xword. I do Sunday a week late.
Hello again from Springfield, IL where it is so cold...
how cold is it?
It is so cold I just saw a politician with his hands in his own pockets.
//courtesy Pop.
Thanks C.C. for a fun puzzle. I got stuck in the SW. I knew Peter Parker == Spidey but had no idea adoptive mother... Worse, I had Keats... AnnTeak (which I justified as a play on antique(?)) was the best I could do - I was just hoping HG would explain what an N-BER was :-). No matter I didn't know the AUNT, I had MINT OREOs for a #DoubleFudgeFail
Thanks HG for the wonderful expo; You still art you that you gotta be :-)
Fav: 56a c/a. Modern art = ARE; too funny.
Runners-up: DRUNK DIAL; AM RADIO as clue'd
{C+,B-,B+; Solid A on the goyles} {ha! Good one; cute} (I like Wizard of Id WC)
OMK - Yes, I try to out-Zen the one hand-clap and have done the fingers to palm to make the slap/clap. Meta-Zen me, yet, still no tar chewin'.
PK - I see Mom tomorrow; Sue is one of her favorites; Thanks, I'll let Mom know.
Jinx - My fav Barenaked Ladies song is One Week. LIUY [sorry, it's late and I'm full of pasta]
Dudley - Apollo 18 is now proudly displayed at JSC.
Who said Bitcoin? Psst... check out these tulip-bulbs for sale //opens trench-coat.
Cheers, -T
-T, I didn’t know JSC had a Saturn V, thanks for that. Those were and are impressive machines, all the more so for having been built so long ago.
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