Theme: WHAT'S FOR DESSERT? (59A.
Dinner table question answered by this puzzle's circled letter)- Torte,
Pie, Sorbet and Flan are hidden in each theme entry.
17A. Polygraph procedure : LIE DETECTOR TEST
23A. Aunt Bee's boy : OPIE TAYLOR - PIE is contained in one word.
38A. Five-card draw variation : JACKS OR BETTER-
48A. Tract : PLOT OF LAND -
Boomer here.
I just want to start by wishing all of you faithful blog visitors a very Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah as the case may be, and a prosperous New Year 2018!!!
Across:
1. Jeans joints : SEAMS - Seams like old times
6. Big coffee holders : URNS - Every morning I yearn for a coffee urn
10. Window unit : PANE - A window can be a pane in the glass !
14. Major deity in Indonesia : ALLAH
15. Sentence structure element : NOUN - No un ever called a noun an element. An Element is a mini Honda SUV.
16. Entry on a list : ITEM
20. Boots from school : EXPELS - Here in Minnesota in December kids wear boots to school.
21. Latte option : MOCHA - Most of these coffee names make no sense to me. I think Starbucks named them so they could charge more bucks per cup.
22. Small swallow : SIP - Do people really swallow sips? I thought we were looking for a small bird flying in to Capistrano !
17A. Polygraph procedure : LIE DETECTOR TEST
23A. Aunt Bee's boy : OPIE TAYLOR - PIE is contained in one word.
38A. Five-card draw variation : JACKS OR BETTER-
48A. Tract : PLOT OF LAND -
Boomer here.
I just want to start by wishing all of you faithful blog visitors a very Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah as the case may be, and a prosperous New Year 2018!!!
Across:
1. Jeans joints : SEAMS - Seams like old times
6. Big coffee holders : URNS - Every morning I yearn for a coffee urn
10. Window unit : PANE - A window can be a pane in the glass !
14. Major deity in Indonesia : ALLAH
15. Sentence structure element : NOUN - No un ever called a noun an element. An Element is a mini Honda SUV.
16. Entry on a list : ITEM
20. Boots from school : EXPELS - Here in Minnesota in December kids wear boots to school.
21. Latte option : MOCHA - Most of these coffee names make no sense to me. I think Starbucks named them so they could charge more bucks per cup.
22. Small swallow : SIP - Do people really swallow sips? I thought we were looking for a small bird flying in to Capistrano !
28. Jicama or ginseng : ROOT - Root, root, root for the home team, if they don't win it's a shame!
31. Two-time Oscar-winning director Lee : ANG
32. Stock market debut, initially : IPO - IPOs should do well in this bull market, and that ain't no bull!
33. Racket : NOISE
35. St. Peter holds its keys : HEAVEN - Time out. A fellow named Tony passed away and was met by St. Peter and was issued a harp and wings. He asked St. Pete if he knew a friend of Tony's, Sam Fink who had passed earlier. Peter said no, but he could check down at the other place. Tony went down and found his friend running a nightclub discotheque. They had a long chat but then Tony returned to the pearly gates. St. Peter stopped Mr. Bennett and asked about something missing. "Oh my gosh" said Tony, "I left my harp in Sam Fink's Disco."
41. Professional pursuit : CAREER
42. Sidekick who rode Scout : TONTO - "Who was that masked man, I wanted to thank him." I bowled a tournament now and then at the now closed West Side Lanes in St. Paul. They had a back dining room with hundreds of autographed 8 X 10s, one of which was Clayton Moore. I often wondered if he had a silver bowling ball.
43. Ventilate : AIR - I supposed there was not room in the puzzle for AIR OUT.
44. Article in Der Spiegel : EIN - The first word Army soldiers stationed in Deutschland learned. The second word was bier
45. Veterinarian's subj. : ANAT
53. Tease : RIB - Adam traded one in for his wife.
55. "I understand!" : GOT IT
56. Disney World's county : ORANGE - Absolutely ! Minnesota Twins used to hold Spring training in Orange County but they moved to Lee. (I wonder if they make Jeans with Seams there).
63. No longer here : GONE
64. Ancestry.com diagram : TREE - Their commercials drive me crazy. Who pays money to find out where their great great grandpa was from? Apologies to any of you who have done it.
65. Pop by: VISIT
66. They catch fish : NETS - Terrible, give the fish a chance. Use a rod, reel, hook, line and sinker like most of us Minnesotans do.
67. "Size matters not" Jedi master : YODA - Not the best looking, but at least the most intelligent.
68. Out of style : PASSE - Or this could be in Tom Brady's play book, right after Pass A, B, C, and D.
Down:
1. Black Friday events : SALES - We survived this over- advertised promotion to shoppers, The only black Friday I ever experienced was November 22, 1963.
2. Magical mixture : ELIXIR
3. Syrian city on the Silk Road : ALEPPO-Chris Matthews of MSNBC made a mockery of Gary Johnson when he was not familiar with Aleppo
4. Conjured up : MADE
5. Author Silverstein : SHEL - Famous for his work in Playboy Magazine.
6. One, for Monet : UNE
7. Mythical big bird : ROC - I am a Roc, I am an Island !
8. Apple pie spice : NUTMEG - I am no baker but cinnamon seems more appropriate, I guess there were not enough spaces for a longer word. Shows you what I know about crossword puzzles.
9. Supercilious type : SNOOT - I believe there are too many "O"s in this answer.
10. Brief and forceful : PITHY
11. Totally creamed : ATE ALIVE - Hey watch your third grade grammar. Should be "EATEN ALIVE".
12. Video game letters : NES - Nintendo Entertainment System. "Legend of Zelda" will drive you crazy. How do you think I got this way?
13. Life-saving pro : EMT - This is an acronym for something. My Graybar Electric career taught me that EMT was electric metallic tubing. aka thin-wall pipe.
18. General on Chinese menus : TSO
19. Early TV maker : RCA - Also early phonograph maker, advertised famously by Nipper.
24. __ Robles, California : PASO - See Tom Brady's list above.
25. Subject of Newton's first law : INERTIA - What goes up, must come down.
26. "0" button letters : OPER - Remember when you had to dial "O" to get an operator to assist you on a long distance call. This must be an Agnes clue. C.C. is not old enough to know why OPER is on the "0" button.
27. Director Howard : RON - A repeat reference to OPIE TAYLOR. Famous for American Graffiti, Happy Days and lots of good stuff.
29. It may be enough : ONCE - It could also be upon a time.
30. Dealer's tip : TOKE
34. Negev Desert land: Abbr. : ISR
35. Lady bird : HEN - No Way ! Claudia Johnson would be unhappy with that response. Lyndon and Lucy Baines may not like it either.
36. Soul singer James : ETTA
37. Oceans : A TON - I am sure that oceans weigh more than that
38. "Just Visiting" Monopoly square : JAIL - Of course. Tell the truth in comments if you have a Monopoly game in your home. Some of the newer versions are fascinating.
39. Overbearing : ARROGANT
40. City on the Rhine : BONN
41. Gas tank cover : CAP - Well, the CAP really does not cover the tank. My clue would have been "Anson of the Chicago White Stockings".
44. Matador's opponent : EL TORO - This is Bull
46. "Gunsmoke" star James : ARNESS - Matt Dillon of "Gunsmoke" fame was born in Minneapolis Minnesota in 1923. The most popular Western aired for 20 years and is now rerun regularly on cable and satellite TV. PS. Dennis Weaver did not really have a limp.
47. Mosul Dam's river : TIGRIS - Euphrates River runs parallel and said to host the Garden of Eden. Whaddya think?
49. Convenient bags : TOTES
50. Some NHL endings : OTs
51. Old Glory's star count : FIFTY - One for each state, But a U.S Grant bill is said to be bad luck in Las Vegas.
52. Female deer : DOE - A deer, a female deer, Re, a drop of Golden sun, Mi, a name I call myself, Fa, a long, long way to run. Sol, a needle pulling thread, La, a note that follows sol, Ti, a drink with jam and bread, that will bring us back to Do. And the hills are alive, with the Sound of Music.
54. Davis of "All About Eve" : BETTE
57. Invitation request : RSVP - This is an acronym for French - "Let me know if you are coming or not.
58. Much of the Silk Road is in it : ASIA
59. Chicago-based cable superstation : WGN - Too bad, they no longer have White Sox or Cubs games. I guess Fox Sports pays more money to the team at Guaranteed Rate Field, or the gum chewers at Wrigley.
60. Tool that gets ground up : HOE - Clever clue, I was thinking of coffee.
61. Flushed : RED - I may have clued the "Galloping Ghost" (Mr. Grange.)
62. Org. in the 2000 film "Traffic" : DEA - That would be the Drug Enforcement Agency. I think they only deal with PEDs and Opioids. My Metformin is safe.
Boomer
59 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Irish Miss, C. C. and Boomer!
Swell puzzle!
Had trouble with ALEPPO. But everything worked out OK.
Better luck making first at Word Solitaire today.
Bought Harv a decent iPad for the holidays. He really likes it!
Caught the caregiver's sore throat. Dang!
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
A tiger who lived by the TIGRIS
Placed a personal ad for a tigress.
He wrote he'd prefer
ORANGE tawny fur
Pantone 14-0848 -- but I digress!
His cafe was doing business like crazy!
The MOCHA with NUTMEG was tasty!
His success, no doubt,
Came from being a Scout --
His motto was "Do A Good URN Daily!"
{B, B.}
What are these small swallows you speak of? I think you meant to refer to the salmon of Capistrano.
You're welcome.
Dammit. It sucks when you screw up the punchline.
Thanx for fun puzzle again . Came in fairly easily only two write overs . 24 down started with pasa but realized it was paso robles. Passed through Paso Robles only once 11years ago . Overnighted and next day down to Ventura . Passed thru alot of the country next day that is devestated by fire now . Sad to see . Next over write 37 down started alot changed to aton. The long answers came quickly . Favorite clues were 20 A and 60 down. Cold here today. Chrismas concerts starting. Will miss the Old Time Jam session dance tonite.
Good morning!
Started right off with KNEES at 1a. Fortunately, that was the only stumble this morning. Noticed PIE, but forgot to look at the other circles. No matter. Thanx, IM and CC. Boomer, you were in fine form this morning.
Nope, no Monopoly set chez d-otto. Got Trivial Pursuit, though. It's remained untouched on the same shelf since we moved here ten years ago.
There are also ORANGE Counties in Texas and California. The old joke claimed that when the US was tilted up on edge, everything with a screw loose wound up in Orange Co. CA.
Had to make a trip to Houston yesterday. Wouldn't you know it? The one time I needed to use the Eastex, there was a 4-hour delay due to a pothole. Detoured to I-45 where there was only a 30-minute delay due to a stalled truck in the inside lane. Gave myself 90 minutes to make a 45 minute trip and barely made it on time. I sure don't miss that daily commute.
Good Morning, Boomer and friends. I loved your witty commentary on the puzzle. I am not keen on circle puzzles, so didn't bother to look at the circled desserts, but did enjoy the cluing of the puzzle.
I loved the crossing of OPIE TAYLOR and RON Howard.
My favorite clue was Boots from School = EXPELS.
QOD: The secret of my success is a two-word answer: Know people. ~ Harvey S. Firestone (Dec. 20, 1868 ~ Feb. 7, 1938)
Good morning Boomer, IM & CC. Since the paper printed circles in squares, it was obvious that a 'sweet' puzzle was in the offing after TORTE and PIE were in place. OPIE TAYLOR intersecting RON- how cute. One unknown today-PASO Robles, CA.
Boomer- 'here in Louisiana in December' the only boots needed are rain boots. 74 degrees this morning. A silver 16# bowling ball? @ $16/oz? 16lb X 16oz/lb X $16/oz = $4056 An expensive ball
Chris Matthews- making fun? I think he will be the next to fall due to the current harassment witch hunt. Twenty year old allegations but MSNBC PAID the woman. But he's a total hypocrite anyway.
Gas CAP? I rented a Chrysler Pacifica last month and it had NO gas cap; just a self sealing pipe to pump the gasoline nozzle into. It looked strange. My son's Ford Flex's gas intake is the same.
Thank you CC and Agnes, and thank you Boomer.
No circles on Mensa. It was mostly filled by the time I got to the reveal at 59A, which was also mostly filled. There's always room for DESSERT !
Thought it was CASA Robles.
Window unit with a PANE of glass. I hung a new interior door earlier this month. A divided lite door with 15 panes of glass. Safety glass. Made by the Zhou Xing glass company. I know, because I have already cleaned the PANES two times, trying to get the last of the smudges and flecks of paint off them. Talk about a pane in the glass...
Boomer, what do they wear from school ?
I rewired my dad's house in Texas with NM-B and replaced the 60A fuse box with a 200 Amp Square D panel. It had knob and tube wiring.
EMT piping is mandated by the county building code here. When I built my addition, I bought at least 60 sticks and pulled THHN.
Both jobs took similar amounts of time; the costs with EMT were higher. But hey, I learned how to bend pipe. Not correctly, in some attempts.
See all y'all later n'at !
Boomer that was classic; you really projected your inner comedian- thank you. Sam Fink's Harp...they booed me badly for my puns.
This was perhaps the easiest of the Irish Miss/C.C. puzzles so far. I continue to be overwhelmed by their productivity.
TOKE, TORO and TOTES.
James Arness (born Aurness) was 6'7" tall; his baby brother who acted as Peter graves was only 6'4". They did not emphasize how tall they were on either GUNSMOKE or MISSION IMPOSSIBLE .
There are certain someones whom are not surprising of their creepiness. Chris Matthews is one. His persona always led me to believe he is a sleezy guy.
The word "initially" in clue 32A is both redundant and a giveaway.
And, is it a DOPE dealer giving out the TOKEs?
Anon@7:38: "Initially" -- in early week puzzles there must be some indicator when the answer will be an abbreviation. Late week, not so much. And it's a gambler giving a TOKE to the dealer at the table. I've gotta admit, though, that One Toke Over The Line as recorded by Lawrence Welk, still brings a smile.
Speaking of Archie Bunker, I've been watching an "All in the Family" episode that aired on 11/03/1973. Edith puts Meathead in his place by saying, "if you was really smarter than Archie, you'd be smart enough not to let him see that you're smarter than him." Boomer, BE and others would be wise to think about that. Get off of fb and enjoy life. Especially you Ron. I was flabbergasted to read what you put on your page. You poor guy. I hope you use the season to enjoy life more.
Boomer was at his best today. OKL's day off paid dividends the last two days as well. Veeery punny, guys. As usual, IM teaming up with CC yeilded a clever and fun grid. Thanks, ladies.
I resisted ORANGE county because I knew that DisneyLAND was in OC Ca, and couldn't possibly be OC, Fl as well. Its a small world after all.
Didn't know PASO Robles. When I lived in CA, I tried to avoid going north of Santa Maria. I erased dated for PASSE and corrected TIGReS when VISIT appeared.
Boomer, I used to install telco equipment engineered and furnished by Graybar. All in very rural areas with REA-funded telcos including the Duo County Telephone Co-op and Merchants and Farmers Telephone Company. Most folks had to dial only 3 or 4 digits to make a local call, and dial zero for long distance.
And then later Archie says, "ahhh jeesh, look at all the Catholics here, if Bing Crosby was here we could make a movie."
What a sweet treat from IM and CC! So many funny clues. My favorite was Jeans Joint for SEAMS. And TREE for Ancestry. And Tool that gets ground up. Well, yes.
Boomer, you were in fine form. Thanks, all, for a special start to the morning.
Good morning everyone.
Joe @ 0151 FLN - Thnx for linking Moon Hooch.
Puzzle with circles today. Sussed the theme with OPIE TAYLOR. Interesting cross with RON. Favorite clue was for ONCE.
Great collaboration again by IM and C. C.
TREE- Agree with Boomer's comment.
FIFTY - It seems most of the English names for numbers have an easy to recognize cognate in the German. German fünfzig, L. German fofftig (the g was silent)
KNEE - German Knie, L. German Knee (ee has long a sound as in 'late')
CAPS - Neither of our cars has a CAP.
Musings
-A very sweet humpday puzzle by two lovely ladies
-Jerry flunks the LIE DETECTOR TEST(:30) and has to admit he watches Melrose Place
-The Homestead Act of 1862 provided many PLOTS OF LAND around here but no FLAN
-What a horrible pun, Boomer! I can’t wait to tell it.
-Nit ‘O The Day – Inertia – What goes in motion stays in motion…
-Some of our crossword friends showed up when kids did this comparative ANAT exercise
-Disney emergency vehicles carry the Disney “town” name of Reedy Creek Improvement District
-Notre prise de téléphone est très PASSÈ (Our phone on the wall is very outdated)
-Although I never saw him clearly, James Arness gave me a month of nightmares in 1951’s The Thing and here is how they killed him
-Our early cable had the lousy Cubs on WGN and equally bad Braves on TBS
Thanks IM and CC for a quick and enjoyable solve today. No circles because of using the Mensa site. Boomer explained everything nicely but had to PUNish us with his St. Peter's joke. Like HG I will be using it later today.
My DW has done a lot of genealogy research which has had us trooping through many graveyards, churches and local historical societies. She has found many errors on Ancestry.com. So, any trees that she finds on ancestry.com are viewed skeptically, especially trees that are uploaded by individuals who appear to have developed them from one data point, which is probably wrong. The census data and newspaper clippings on ancestry.com are a little more accurate than the trees, and more interesting.
Time to wrap some presents because some of the kids are coming home before Christmas this year.
Have a great day.
C.C. and Agnes, a dynamic duo! Thank you for the fun!
And then to top it, Boomer's quips and puns were like icing on the cake!
One of my birthday gifts was a "retro" Monopoly set which means it's the original design!
How interesting that some interpret Chris Matthews differently. I've always seen him as a sincere journalist who tries to ferret the truth.
I loved the crossing of OPIETAYLOR/RON.
Have a happy day, everyone!
FLAN? Did someone say FLAN? I love it and love to make it.
Hello Puzzlers -
Straightforward solve today, except that I didn’t know Jacks or Better. It makes sense now. Thanks, C.C. and Agnes!
Howdy, Boomer, I smiled right out loud at the the idea of lobbing a malleable silver bowling ball down the lane. Sounds expensive.
Lucina, hand up for Flan! It was the featured dessert at a once-prominent airport restaurant near me (now, sadly, boarded up).
Speedy, fun solve! For some reason I was expecting it to be WHATS FOR DINNER and I was puzzled why everything was a DESSERT!
Seeing TRACT made me think of this memorable Monty Python and the Holy Grail scene about HUGE TRACTS OF LAND
Anyone else?
Thanks, Boomer, for the reminder about the ALEPPO ignorance by someone running for president. So awful what has happened to Syria, one of the original cradles of civilization. Learning moment that it was also on the SILK ROAD. Thanks, CC and Irish Miss for that!
Thanks fellow physics guy Husker Gary for setting things straight about the meaning of INERTIA!
In a few minutes we are heading out to PASO ROBLES to visit friends who have a horse ranch there. The start of a long odyssey of holiday travel! See you all again when we return!
Good job on the write-up Boomer.
Irish Miss & C.C. Thank you for a FUN Wednesday puzzle.
Fave today, but not for the reason of the clue, was 30-d, TOKE ...
I've been "One Toke over the line!" many times.
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset ... or when the "Sun gets over the yardarm."
Cheers!
TTP Is knob and tube wiring the sane as nail and knob wiring? Years ago I bought an old fixer-upper. The city made me replace the fused 60 amp entrance box and the nail and knob wiring before I could move in.
Don
They are replacing/upgrading the power pole across the street. No street parking from 9:30 to 5:30. No electricity. No light. No heat. No TV. No computer. No DVR. No microwave. Garage door won't open....Aargh!.
Bye...
Don, I’ll speculate on TTP’s behalf that they are two names for the same thing. The “tube” part refers to the hollow cylindric porcelain insulators that allow wires to pass through wooden structure. I expect there were quite a few tubes in your building.
For other readers who never lived in old houses, “Knob” refers to the two-piece porcelain insulators that were used wherever a wire had to be affixed to structure. A single nail was driven through the center, squeezing the two parts together and clamping one or two wires in place. I never heard the term knob and nail but it makes sense.
Hi Y'all! Oh goody, another fun one from Agnes & C.C.! Thanks. Hilarious, Boomer! Thanks.
Had some slow downs with PASO, INERTIA & JACKS OR BETTER. All perps & WAGs. Last to fill was the "E" in EL TORO. DUH!
No circles but I found all the desserts. Or if we're watching our weight we can eat an ORANGE. I have never put NUTMEG in apple pie -- only pumpkin pie.
Couldn't remember where Negev Desert was. I knew last time. Duh! ALEPPO = ESP. Only vague idea where the silk road was.
Who is that creepy, crawly anon leaving slime on our page today?
My oldest daughter is having her "throat slit" (as she said) to remove her over-active thyroid today. Doctors said it was causing liver damage. I haven't heard anything yet from the hospital.
The only thing I love more than an Agnes/C.C. puzzle is one with circles. Woohoo! This one was so much fun! As soon as I got TORTE I knew we were in for some real DESSERT treats, and I was not disappointed. And I loved seeing both OPIE and RON, reminding us what a cool career Ron Howard developed after his acting days. Also all those wonderful references to old TV shows and movies, including some of my favorites like "The Lone Ranger" and "Gunsmoke." Anyway, wonderful puzzle--many thanks, Irish Miss and C.C. And Boomer, you are getting funnier and funnier, love your expos.
Off to get my passport renewed. Have a great day, everybody!
HI Everyone:
Thanks for the kind words and I'm glad that most enjoyed the solve. Just for the record, the clues for Inertia and Nutmeg were Rich's and the beautiful tie-in of Opie Taylor and Ron (Howard) is also to Rich's credit.
Boomer, you outdid yourself today! I can't imagine how much time, thought, and effort you devoted to your expo, but you certainly deserve an A+ for the results. Bravo!
PK, keep us posted on your daughter's surgery.
Have a great day.
Yes, there is a Monopoly Game hidden in my closet, tucked away
behind stuff on the top shelf, so the kids will not lose all the pieces.
(Still pissed off about my Mousetrap game...)
!st things 1st!
& then get serious...
or possibly, totally ridiculous...
Reality...
I just thought these were cool!
Ah! too be young again! Warning, Risque...
The REDUNDANCY of "initially" is its following "debut."
I almost never go to Starbuck’s (except for frapppes) but I have no problem with MOCHA, a variety of bean named for a Yemeni port that was the center of the coffee trade in the late Middle Ages. Their use of venti as a size is just pretentious, tho.
CAP Anson was a great player and innovative manager, but historians disagree on the amount of influence he had on banning black players from pro baseball
Well, playtime has come, at last. This AM I just finished my post in my allotted time when the blog site froze. I could not copy, alter or send my post or close the site. Weird! All the other sites worked. I restarted the computer to get back to normal and lost my post. Thanks for the sweet puzzle, Agnes and CC, and for the punny blog, Boomer. You were in rare form. Agnes you are becoming quite the constructor. I found this one very easy. PASO was automatically filled by perps before I got there. WGN was the only unknown, all perps.
There has been a Monopoly board in my home for three generations, kid, mother and grandmother. I prefer the old fashioned board.
I am a huge Bette Davis fan and have seen most of her movies multiple times on TV and Netflix. I love All About Eve.
POP BY = VISIT. In novels the Brits use POP constantly and are always getting things SORTED. They use PROPER differently and much more often than we do.
I remember using MOCHA long before Starbucks came along, not for coffee, but for frosting and dessert flavoring. I am glad billocohoes posted regarding the origin of the term meaning the superior Arabian coffee beans and the port of Mocha.
Today I baked more sand tarts and helped Alan wrap his gifts. I will wrap mine during Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune tonight. One more batch of cookies (buttery pinwheels), laundry and upstairs cleaning are left to accomplish. I’m closing in on the finish. Yay! On Christmas Eve I will make vichyssoise and Satin chocolate pie to take to Dave’s for Christmas. My DIL was so glad I hosted the family Thanksgiving. I am even more thankful that she and David are hosting Christmas. So, one hand washes the other.
And the best news is that daylight today lasts longer than it did yesterday. Yup, the days are now getting longer. I remember my grandfather telling anyone who would listen that he and my mom's mother were married on the winter solstice, the longest night and the shortest day of the year. Not quite true this year with the solstice happening shortly before noon, but close enough to make a good story. Years later I understood the implications of that statement.
To quote Misty: "Yoo hoo!" My wrapping is finished! Now to put away the paper, etc. and clean up. I'm hosting Christmas Eve dinner.
The 99c store has large, unique felt bags so I filled several with some of the small boxes. That will make it easy to carry to my daughter's home. One of the bags contains all Star Wars figures so on the tag I wrote: from Darth, Yoda, Luke and Leia. They'll enjoy that, I think.
Now the baking will begin.
PK:
Best of luck to your daughter. Keep us posted on her progress.
Enjoyable puzzle CC and IM and a great expo, Boomer. One of the great influences of my love of classical music was “The Lone Ranger.”
Cheers,
Mark
YR, save me some Vichyssoise, please! Also, thank you for the compliment but CC gets all of the constructing credit; I am strictly an idea/cluing apprentice. BTW, what is the latest on David's leg injury?
Inertia -- the tendency of this crossword puzzler at rest, to remain at rest.
And what can we say about Paso Robles? In days long gone, the simplest way to get to Pasadena from the Presidio of Monterey was to take the Greyhound bus, going through Salinas, King City, then pulling in to Paso at 3:30 AM or so, then off to Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, and on. In those days, it was a quiet little town, but I see that the escapees from LA have pushed the population to over 30,000.
And a world-class exposition by The Boomer!
Don @ 10:57, I agree with Dudley's response. Perhaps a local expression, but I've never heard it used before.
Not surprised that your municipality made you upgrade your service when you pulled your permit. Knob and tube is not modern by any standards, and gives a lot of people the heebie jeebies just looking at it.
When I pulled the permit to build my addition, I had to run wired and interconnected smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the addition and on both floors of the existing house. There was something else I had to do to bring the existing house up to today's code requirements in this county, but I'm drawing a blank on what it was.
My biggest surprise was finding out that a portion of my garage extended across the building line setback from the street easement. They considered my house (and still do), "Legal, Non-Conforming." That means it was legal when it was built, but would be in violation of today's building code (for setback from the easement). The county had changed the street easement from 21 to 33 feet in the interim. No such thing as being "grandfathered-in". I had to get a variance (time and $)approved to build the addition.
Dudley, thanks. I saved some of the knobs and tubes. I'm sure they're down in the basement somewhere, but I'd be hard-pressed to find them in a hurry.
What a pleasant way to spend some time this fine morning: a puzzle by C.C. and Agnes and a write-up by Boomer. Boomer, I loved the harp joke.
I didn't know Opie's last name until today.
No Monopoly game in our house. We gave all our board games to our son and his wife shortly after they had their second child. They've made very good use of them.
The Paso Robles area, often referred to as The Central Coast, has become a respected drape growing area and many wineries have sprung up. I think they're noted most for Pinot Noir. One of the very first earthquake detectors we installed was at Paso Robles.
Owen, excellent TIGRIS poem today.
Fermatprime, the iPad is a good gift. I find myself using it more and more.
Sorry about the power outage, Bill G. I guess you won't read this until later this evening.
Good wishes to you all.
Um, they grow grapes there, too.
Jayce, Whew !
Good Evening!!
Well, it's dark anyway. I am really late to this game. Today is DH's 70th BD and it's been calls all day. It's fun when the grandkids call. I married a much older man. I will not be 70 until next month!!Ha! I'm taking him out to one of our favorite spots tonight.
What a trifecta here!!!! Thanks, Agnes and C.C.for a quite an enjoyable solve. By this time of day WEES. Well, mostly since there seems to be some tartness out there today. My fave was also the cross of OPIE TAYLOR and RON Howard. Boomer, thanks for your very detailed and humorous tour of duty.
OMK: FLN> Thanks for the diagonal lesson. My son says I solve incorrectly: Across then Down. It takes too long! (He does corners). My response: I have more time than money!!!
Thanks, Misty for reminding OMK I was wondering. I am going to hire you as a party planner, but only if you bring your friend. ;-)
Spitz: I love the German language lessons. I know nothing of German; I love languages--especially those German compound nouns!!
Off to party with my favorite Septuagenarian!! Have a restful evening.
Madame DeFarge, - Boomer here. I sort of nicknamed myself years ago since I was born in 1947, one of the original Baby Boomers. I turned 70 in October. I once asked my retired friends that were looking forward to, or looking over their shoulder at 80, if they could give me some tips on what it's like to turn 70, but they could not remember back that far.
Jayce, I liked the original better. Togas, grapes and wine just seem to be a natural combination.
I call BS on myself. What I intended to say was that there will be longer duration of sunlight tomorrow than there is today because the solstice happens before noon. Otherwise tomorrow would have the least duration of sunlight. In any case, these long nights are getting shorter.
Boomer - I asked a 92-year old guy at what age do men loose interest in sex. He answered "how the hell would I know?"
But what happened to my cheesecake?!
I mean, c'mon guys! I appreciate that C.C. and Ms. Davidson have made an effort to satisfy our commingled sweet teeth, but really, I believe the test of a good meal, as well as the restaurateuses who provide it, must be the cheesecake.
Every good Ta- DA! deserves cheesecake!
For its taste and texture as well as for whether there's sufficient gut-room left to savor more than a bite or two.
OK, on to the business at hand. Today's pzl was a fine piece of mid-week craftsmanship. Just tricky enough to start a few missed answers, and chewy enough to satisfy - once the mistakes were corrected.
For seekers of the diagonal, today's grid pattern would not allow either the regular backward slash diagonal, nor the mirror - forward slash - version.
Madame Defarge, Sorry! I missed whatever it was that led you to thank Misty on my behalf.
Your son has a smart strategy with his corner attacks. In most grids, the corners are most interactive, so yield the quickest connections.
My diagonal starts are purely aesthetic; they hinder more than facilitate, but that's part of the fun.
Straight-forward solve today. Thanks for the fun, Agnes, C.C. and Boomer.
WEES by this hour.
We have one of those old Monopoly games. I should get it out and the family could play it over the holidays.
Have a good evening.
Ol' Man Keith , you have broken my heart!! Of course, cheesecake is a necessity for life.
But, alas, I recently found I am egg- intolerant so no cheesecake, or eggnog, another life giving substance, or anything with mayonnaise. What?? Everything has mayonnaise !
I said to my allergist after she told me all the things I can no longer eat, "I'll die! I'll just have to live off of Cavier and champagne ."
And she said.."oh, no. You can't have Cavier. That's fish EGGS,"
And now you have to talk about cheesecake!! My favorite!!
And I do have an old Monopoly board in my house. And we even play occasionally.
Hi All!
I was flying through the grid and 1/2 way through thought, "This SEAMS too fun,"* and I looked at the by-line, "Aha! That's why..." Thanks IM & C.C.! Though, I'm not a fan of DESSERT, this was a real treat.
That is, until the SE corner... Really 2 parallel names w/ a river in the middle?!? Took for me forever to get RIB to finish them all [coulda been a 'Tease' as in 'gets married men in trouble'...]
Boomer - you were on a roll (warmed, with poppy-seeds, a little sweet-butter...). The Gary Johnson bit almost made it too sweet... Entertaining expo; an eTOKE for you for dealing out the puns (and the Gary Johnson bit! - I thought of him too at 3d). Hope that Splynter's retirement leads to seeing more of your write-ups
WO: MOCcA
ESP: PASO plus the aforementioned NOUNs in the SE.
Fav: c/a for HOE. Chipper-shredder was too long to even try :-)
Runners-up: Desert@34d and DESSERT in theme; TOKE Xing JACKS OR BETTER; and, props to Rich, OPIE/RON xing.
//Jayce - this V8 is going to hurt... Opie's dad is Sheriff TAYLOR. --if you've never seen the show, never mind.
{B,A-}
PK - Keep us updated on daughter's recovery.
D-O: I heard the traffic report yesterday. So sorry you were stuck in that mess. Folks, it was quite the Pothole <- link D4
TTP - 1st, funny re: return trip foot-wear. 2nd, and Dudley too, Pop's house was one of the few on the North End of SPI in Lincoln's day. Not only did it have K&T, it had glass insulators with cloth-insulated wires parts of the basement. This is a cool site on insulators for those interested.
Picard - Me too at 48a; "But father, I don't whaant LAND, I, just want too... Sing"
@Anon - This V8 is for you: Think initials... If it were clue'd with 'NYSE debut' then redundancy would ensue.
CED - Two too-funnies- lost Mousetrap bits & the, um, they rhyme [with bits]. :-)
Cheers, -T
*My thoughts are dyslexic too :-)
I had a long, busy day yesterday so I never got to Monday until this morning.
Then I walked out of the house and forgot the newspaper. I finally started today's xword and promptly fell asleep.
Ever have xword dreams?
I had noticed that we had a CC-IM xword this morning but it was the clueing that reminded me. As been said, lots of fun on this Wednesday delight.
Not to speak of Boomer's write-up. Confession: it's been thirty years since I heard about Sam Fink and his Disco. I laughed again.
I started to put TIGRIS but then I wrote GEENA for Davis and RAG for RIB. But the rest of the perps bailed me out.
When I try to solve with just the Across I miss some of the clues. Fortunately, I saw the clue Swallow. SEP??? Oh, ELIXIR with two Is. And, not a bird.
Cheers, Betsy just asked for a Trip to Baskin Robbins. Whodathunkit???
WC
PS. The foot is much better. They said seven days for removing stiches. I've been walking around like Matt Dillon's sidekick.
WC
Oh yeah. Not just today but yesterday too, I loved your l'icks Owen. Pantine 48-*???? I get the gist.
WC
Hi everybody. I'm back. Thanks for the empathy Jayce.
Excellent jobs Agnes, CC and Boomer!
I agree with Lucina (as usual) regarding Chris Matthews. He's a very passionate, intelligent, thoughtful guy. He does interrupt too much though.
We have an old Monopoly game. Jordan and I enjoy it. To make things go a little faster, I divvy up some of the properties fairly at the start of the game.
Grumble, grumble. They replaced two tall power poles across the street. Very impressive. They use a special cherry picker to disconnect all of the stuff at the top, then they pull out the old pole, drill a home and install a new pole and reconnect all of the wires at the top. I didn't enjoy being without heat, lights, coffee maker, TV, computer, DVR, microwave, cordless phone, etc. A student came by unexpectedly for tutoring and we had to light candles to work by. It's amazing how much we depend on electricity. Not having it plays havoc with my habits. Grumble, grumble...
To all you LA denizens. I just found this live stream link to Port of Los Angeles.. Constant cargo ship traffic. You can see the USS Iowa moored on the left all gussied up in her Christmas finery.
Ay! Chihuahua! Everyone is in such good form today! It's a good thing I'm over my cough and can laugh!
OMK:
You might be pleased to know that for DESSERT on Christmas Eve we are having cheesecake!
BillG:
I'm so happy for you that your electricity is now functioning. I agree: life today is dependent on electricity!
Can’t let the night go by without commenting on a delicious Wednesday creation. Irish Miss, I loved so many of your clues. Laughed out loud when sip came to mind instead of a small bird. Those guys are pretty small already. Their mud nests are amazing.
I didn’t have circles as I sometimes run off a copy so I can take it with me...while watching basketball, batting practice, martial arts,etc. I think the circles may have helped me fill in PLOT OF LAND much quicker. I f I hadn’t misspelled Tonto, I would have seen BONN much sooner. I find that my best subject spelling, has become my second worse problem in CW’s....the 1st is abbreviations.
Boomer, you make all of us smile. Thanks! BTW, nutmeg and cinnamon go together in many recipes. Pumpkin bread comes to mind at the moment.
I’ve never heard of a snoot , although I’m familiar with snooty people. I had snoop, as I had forgotten what supercilious meant. Also I did not know Opie’s Last name. Paylor sounded fine.
Jinx, why did you avoid NO Ca? Was it the clean air? LOL.
Bill, you are a trooper giving lessons in candlelight. KUDOS to you.
Bill G - Sorry you didn't have power but you did get to watch the process!!! Did you see what type of insulators they used? Re: electricity - we really should spend what it takes to keep the grid up - it's attacked / prodded daily by advisories.
WC - Good news re: your foot; the mental image of you as Dillon's sidekick was a slap on the knee.
Boomer - The only game of Monopoly left in our house (still in it's wrapper) is a Houston version a college-pal's parents gave us upon moving here [they were near you D-O; near Humble*]. "Play this and you'll learn the place-names but not how to pronounce 'em . I have Kirk-en-doll down. :-)
[*the H isn't part of the word - just say Um-bull]
YR (and others) - I'm so jealous y'all are so far ahead of the holidays. I just, tonight, got the lights on the TREE that was delivered Sat. The family runs in so many directions we've not had time to get together w/ Nog & Cookies. Youngest's finals are done tomorrow so, maybe, Friday(?)
TTP, this is kinda your fault... You started it :-)
Installing stained-glass can be a PANE in the apse.
Cheers, -T
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