Theme: BRANDED (40A. Labeled ... or, divided into three parts, what surrounds the answers to starred clues)- Read it as BR and ED.
17A. *More than just indoctrinated : BRAINWASHED.
62A. *Brunette : BROWN-HAIRED.
11D. *Hit at an intersection, maybe : BROADSIDED.
28D. *Alert and peppy : BRIGHT-EYED.
Boomer here.
Good morning or afternoon as the case may be. I am excited to notice that daylight hours are getting longer again, but not too enthused about double digit below zero temperatures. You would think after 70 years in Minnesota I would be used to winter, but I am already looking forward to Springtime.
Across:
1. Bottomless gulf : ABYSS
6. See 8-Down : MAJOR 8D. With 6-Across, prime minister before Tony Blair : JOHN - I don't pay much attention to British politics. I remember Tony Blair and Winston Churchill.
11. Murphy __ : BED - tough clue. Not many homes have a Murphy bed anymore.
14. Lerner collaborator : LOEWE
15. "That's my wish" : I HOPE
16. "Fahrenheit 451" novelist Bradbury : RAY - 'Twas also a good movie.
19. Ducks' home: Abbr. : ORE - Strange name for a college football team, almost as odd as Gophers or Badgers.
20. Hindu retreat : ASHRAM
21. Available to watch anytime : ON DEMAND
23. Classic Fords : LTDs I owned one years ago. An affordable but upscale model. I believe it competed with the Chevy Impala.
25. Pomegranate bit : SEED - There are about 100 seeds in one fruit. Said to be very healthy.
26. Three-time Pulitzer-winning playwright : ALBEE - most famous for "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf" (About a middle aged couple named Martha and George). I'm not sure if George chopped down the pomegranate tree.
29. Big letters in home security : ADT - American District Telegraph - Their security packages are pretty expensive though.
32. Costume items for horror movie villains : MASKS
35. __ of paradise : BIRD - HOF Indiana Pacer. Larry is on a 1981 rookie card with Magic
36. Top : BLOUSE - Blouse is a good word. Top is a lousy clue.
38. CD yield : INT - Yes, and not very much these days.
39. "Rope-a-dope" boxer : ALI - The Greatest ?
41. Actress Ruby : DEE - I remember her in "A Raisin in the Sun" with Sidney Poitier.
42. Pester : NAG
43. Irritated reply to "Aren't you ready yet?" : I AM NOW
44. Toolbar button with a question mark : HELP
45. Messenger service replaced by Google Hangouts : GCHAT - Is this one of those social media things ?
47. Suffix with front : IER - I get it but I am not sure about suffixes in Crossword Puzzles.
48. Area component : WIDTH - times length and you got it.
49. Lipstick holder : TUBE
51. High-five sound : SLAP - We do high and lower fives in bowling, but no slaps.
53. Homers, in baseball lingo : GOES YARD - Dinger, four bagger, outta here, Sportscasters must have thousands of names for a home run.
57. Have high hopes : ASPIRE - Frank Sinatra - "Once there was a silly old ram, thought he'd bust a hole in a dam." He had high hopes.
61. At all : ANY - Again, I did not like the clue. It's like people saying "As Well" instead of "Too".
64. Frozen water : ICE - Plenty up here in MN. People drive their vehicles on the lakes. (We have 10,000 of them. Not me though. Every year we have stories of cars breaking through to the bottom of a lake.
65. Cry after a golfer's ace : IT'S IN - I don't think so, but I have never witnessed a hole in one in person and I have never made one either.
66. Human __ : BEING
67. Journalist Koppel : TED
68. The ones here : THESE
69. Newspaper copy : ISSUE
Down:
1. "Sin City" actress Jessica : ALBA - A couple of "Sin City" s and a "Good Luck Chuck".
2. Knight of the Round Table : BORS - Never heard of him. OK, he was a buddy of Lancelot.
3. "You said it!" : YEAH
4. Blew in circles, as the wind : SWIRLED - Or how Dairy Queen makes a Blizzard.
5. 100-lawmaker group : SENATE - You probably heard that one of our senators resigned. As of January 2, 2018, Minnesota will be one of only four states represented by two female senators.
6. Actress Farrow : MIA - Gossip tabloids exploded with stories about Mia and Frank Sinatra. She got her career started on "Peyton Place" which I never watched. I remember her in "Rosemary's Baby" - Although I hated the movie.
7. "Got it" : AH SO - I have never been to Japan, but I doubt if they say this.
9. Newspaper essays : OP-EDs - Opinion / Editorials. Not my favorite section.
10. Used, as credit card rewards : REDEEMED - Could be, however - Has anyone ever redeemed Gold Bond Stamps? How about S & H Green stamps?
12. Merit : EARN
13. Made blue, in a way : DYED - Tricky clue
18. Iraq War concern: Abbr. : WMD
22. "Do __ favor ... " : ME A
24. Sandwich meat : SALAMI - Baloney had too many letters
26. Go out with __ : A BANG
27. Flowery candle scent : LILAC - Green grow the lilacs all sparkling with dew.
30. "No man is an island" poet : DONNE
31. Henry VIII et al. : TUDORS - The Tudor Monarchy lasted from 1485 - 1603. I did not know that, I Googled it. I thought Tudor was a body style of a car.
33. Prepared to pray : KNELT
34. Two-time NBA MVP Curry : STEPH - Turned down a trip to the White House.
36. Bikini half : BRA
37. Wrap (up) : SEW - Once again, I feel the clue does not fit
40. Gradually : BIT BY BIT - Nothing gradual about these coins.
44. Many Woodstock attendees : HIPPIES - Could be an opinion. Woodstock was in New York State. Hippies were flower children of northern California. I am not sure how many could travel 3000 miles when they made their living begging for quarters.
46. Ger. neighbor : AUS (Austria) - A relatively small country near Munich.
48. Sushi condiment : WASABI - really bad tasting mustard. I think you need granite taste buds to put this in your mouth.
50. Third of eight : EARTH - Used to be nine, then Pluto ran away.
52. "Well, __-di-dah!" : LAH
53. Walking pace : GAIT
54. Previously : ONCE
55. Wine choice : ROSE - To be a true Rose wine, you need one of those little hash marks above the "E". Otherwise, it's just a flower.
56. Sobriety checkpoint concerns, for short : DWIs - We have DWIs in Minnesota, (Not Me), but I have never seen a sobriety checkpoint. Other states?
58. Spring flower : IRIS
59. Bausch + Lomb product : RENU - A must for contact lens users.
60. Brink : EDGE - Or could be a Ford SUV.
63. Peoria-to-Green Bay dir. : NNE - If you really want to go to Green Bay. Some guys were shirtless Saturday at Lambeau's 4 degree Packers/Vikings game. What a way to get on TV!
Boomer
Notes from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to dear Dudley, who's been with our blog since April 2010. Dudley started the "Rabbit, Rabbit" tradition, WBS (What Barry Said) and a few other popular blog Abbrs. This picture was taken during Montana's visit to Northeast in September, 2013.
 |
| Left to right: Marti, Dudley, Hondo & Montana |
Look at this special pizza Christmas gift Dear Gary and his wife Joann made for their granddaughter Elise!
65 comments:
Thank you Jason Mueller, and thank you Boomer. High five.
Happy Birthday Dudley !
"What do you do when you're BRANDED ?" Professional athlete turned actor Chuck Connors knows.
Ducks' home: Abbr. ? ANA(heim) was first today. They're a point ahead of Chicago, Minnesota and Calgary in the hunt for a wild card spot in the Western Division. The OREgon Ducks lost to Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Boomer, do you remember having to BLOUSE your boots in the Army ?
Homers, in baseball lingo : GOES YARD - Dinger, four bagger, outta here, Sportscasters must have thousands of names for a home run. Hawk says, "You can put it on the board...YES."
How do you respond to a person that asks, "Can you do ME A favor ?" and then waits for a response before saying what it is ? Yes ? No ? It depends ?
Frostbite territory around here. My cheapo thermometer is reporting -12. My weather station is reporting -3.6, and The Weather Channel is reporting -5. Wind chills -15 to -30 according to ABC. There's plenty to do inside today. Anon-T, you'd better bring your thermals to SPI on your visit, or stop by the nearest Walmart on your way to your pop's house.
I saw that Abejo's Erie got 5 feet. To paraphrase Rory, "We're going to need a bigger snowblower."
Terror! Horror! Science Fiction!
DEE was a denizen of the deep ABYSS.
A mermaid perhaps? A fearful miss!
Her BROWN HAIR is a rope
In which sailors loose HOPE,
As she drags them below to a final tryst!
You could tell by his GAIT that JOHN was a zombie,
That, plus the way that he made his SALAMI!
The health code he watched,
So each BRAIN he WASHED,
Then sliced BIT BY BIT, and served with WASABI!
The alien saucer-ships SWIRLED in from the void!
Their menacing RAY-TUBES they swiftly deployed!
To their triple BRIGHT EYES
The EARTH was the prize!
Their rays DYED folks LILAC, and caused hemorrhoids!
{A, A-, A-.}
Good morning!
Made a real mess in the center section this morning. My irritated reply was DAMN IT before it morphed into I AM NOT. [Sigh] DNF, for lack of a W. I looked at GOES YARD three times trying to figure out where I'd gone wrong. Still looks weird. Thanx, Jason and Boomer.
Yes, Boomer, we collected and cashed S&H Green Stamps. You'd get 'em at the Clark Super 100 gas station which sold 100-octane leaded gasoline for about a quarter a gallon. IIRC, a filled stamp book was worth about a buck.
Few people around here use ADT, but many folks have an ADT sign in the yard.
Boomer, Misty is going to take umbrage at your Austria comment.
Murphy BED: DIY companies like Rockler sell hardware kits so you can build your own.
STEPH: Good for you.
Good Morning, Boomer and friends. I had fun with this puzzle. I got the BRANDED early on, which helped with the other theme answers.
I liked how the two tops - BRA and BLOUSE - crossed.
Once again, we have Tinbini's dreaded ICE.
I wanted End in lieu of SEW for Wrap (Up).
QOD: How do you know love is gone? If you said that you would be there at seven and you get there by nine, and he or she has not called the police yet – it’s gone. ~ Marlene Dietrich (née Marie Magdalene Dietrich, Dec. 27, 1901 ~ May 6, 1992)
The BR-ED was an easy spot but BORS??? Never heard of him, GOES YARD or GCHAT. Without the solid perps of gait, BIT-BY-BIT and BRAINWASHED those three would have never filled my grid. No other problems.
JOHN MAJOR was PM after Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher.
"Aren't you ready yet?- I don't bother to ask because women are NEVER ready, if ask them that question.
DNF, having to look up LOEWE and ASHRAM. Had I known BORS I would have gotten a FIR. Erased amen for YEAH, whIRLED for SWIRLED, i see for AH SO, daNtE for DONNE, and lENs for RENU. I wear RGP lenses, so I use B&L's Simplus, not RENU.
In addition to those already mentioned, homers are also called "touching 'em all" and "the big fly". Others?
I think I already mentioned this, but the first time I was in Virginia in the early 80s I ate in a restaurant where they offered three types of wine - White, red and rose-a. They offered them by the craft, or by the half-craft. This phrasing wasn't written on a chalk board, it was on professionally-printed menus.
Boomer, I heard some wag on radio suggest that senators form the Pervert Caucus. If they put aside partisan politics and voted as a bloc their numbers would make them unstoppable.
Also, I learned from fellow Cornerites that OPED stands for Opposite (the) Editorial (page). After all those years of reading it as you do.
FLN, Lucina: You forgot to include the phrase "but it's a dry heat". State law requires Zonies to state that qualifier whenever temperature is mentioned.
Brrrrrr. No dry heat in south Texas today. It's cloudy, dank and 42°. Expected high today, 42°. Expected low tonight, 40°. In a word, crappy. Crisp, clear and 0° would be nicer.
Good morning everyone.
Happy Birthday Dudley. Do you plan to fly any barrel rolls today?
Easy enough solve but I got bolluxed up in the center with DONNE and SEW.
Don't think I've heard GOES YARD either. Another new learning.
Nice picture of HG's granddaughter.
Good Morning:
No real problems but needed perps for a few unknowns, e.g., Bors, Goes Yard, etc. I have never, ever heard Goes Yard for a homer; it sounds illiterate to me. I saw the Br and the Ed but the reveal was an aha after I read the clue more carefully. Finished in normal Wednesday time.
Thanks, Jason, for a mid-week treat and thanks, Boomer, for the humorous write-up. In our area, sobriety checkpoints are a given on New Year's Eve. Several local businesses offer free rides home for those who have had a little too much of the hair of the dog. (With or without _ _ _, Tin!)
Happy Birthday, Dudley, hope it's a special day! 🎂🎉🎁🍾🎈
Lucina, FLN, I won't tell a soul! 😉
Have a great day.
Oops! I missed it. Happy birthday, Dudley. Glad to see that you've decided to visit regularly once again.
Musings
-Products of the ultimate BRAINWASHING
-ABYSS? Wife’s purse
-A very famous horror mask and Nick Castle who wore it
-Pilot describing a runway when he landed at a 90˚ angle to it –It was lacking length but had tremendous WIDTH
-I was so stunned by my ACE, I don’t remember what anyone said!
-Me too, Boomer. Didn’t know/need to know BORS
-Only half the college bowl teams will have their season go out with a BANG
-This footware can cause very odd GAITS
-Happy Birthday Dudley.
-My pizza box w/cash follows Christmases where the cash was in ice, Jell-O and balloons. It beats trying figure out what they might want but still make it interesting. I’ve already got next year figured out.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jason Mueller, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Boomer, for a fine review.
Got up at 8:00 and it was -8 degrees, then the puzzle wanted "third of eight" I guess today is an eight day. And, I did see that my home town, Erie, got another foot last night. My brother, who lives there, lost electric for 15 hours in the middle of all the snow. They had a family gathering in the middle of all that. Something for them to talk about next year.
Puzzle was fine. A few sticky spots. Theme was a little weird, but I got all the answers. BR and ED. OK, not sure what that signifies.
LOEWE was easy, but I had to remember how to spell it.
Liked 50D, EARTH. Clever.
BORS and ASHRAM crossing was a wag. S made sense.
Tried DUIS before DWIS became the answer.
Lots to do today, then to work tonight. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Oh I forgot about aces. I've come close, hitting the pin a couple of times, but the ball has never ended up closer than 4 inches from the hole. I have witnessed one - a beginning golfer who topped the ball, and it ran. And ran. And ran. Onto the green. Into the hole.
Hi, I am back. I was so eager to get to the Corner that I forgot that I left the coffee shop with the puzzle only two third finished. Drat! I saw MAJOR and the explanation of the gimmick and before I realized I didn't have the puzzle SEWn up yet, a common enough expression. Am I ready for the blog? I AM NOW.
GOES YARD had me wondering, but the perps were solid. BORS was also ESP.
The east coast had its hippies, too, as did many parts of Europe.
I watched and was very interested in Nightline during the 25 years that Ted Koppel was its star. I stopped watching as the show deteriorated and became less serious, IMO,
after he left.
I redeem my credit card rewards for cash. Most the prizes do not interest me.
I use ANY and AT ALL interchangeably. Although I do not use AS WELL in place of TOO, I hear it all the time.
I wish you very happy birthday Dudley.
That was some pizza for your cute granddaughter, Gary and Joann.
You can still redeem your S&H Green Stamps by converting them to "Green Points" -- one point per every two stamps. Just send in your 60+ full stamp booklets. Oh, you don't have at least 60 full booklets? No deal.
A very happy birthday to Dudley! I'm so glad you have resumed your commentary.
And thank you, Boomer, for a delightful Blog.
Thanks to having read Eat, Pray, Love I recalled ASHRAM, otherwise would not have known it. Other unknowns: GCHAT, GOES YARD (???) and ONCE knew but couldn't recall, JOHN MAJOR. My family gave me two DVDs and one of them is "Love Actually" in which Hugh Grant is the PM. It's raunchy but hilarious.
I, too, saw BLOUSE/BRA crossing. DONNE and ALBEE are very well known to me.
I wonder if the BROWNHAIRED is DYED?
We have DUI posts on every MAJOR holiday. The whole weekend if it falls on a S, S or M.
When I first moved away from home my first Green Stamp purchase was sheets and several items after that.
Yes, of course, it's a dry heat! In fact we haven't had rain since August so it's super dry. Oh, wait, we had a few drops about three weeks ago.
Gary, that's a clever way to give away dough!
I hope you all have a restful day!
Thanks to Jason Mueller for a BRANDED grid. I FIW though because I had SET/NOT. Drat!
Catching up. We were very busy on Christmas Eve having a delightful visit with my youngest sister, going out to dinner and and then attending mass together. Then on Christmas Day she went with us to visit David and his family. What a fantastic day. We had a delicious beef rib roast with Yorkshire pudding. Alan and I and stayed a second day until early this morning.
David and Motoko always make my birthday very special. At the evening meal after all the Christmas hoopla is over, they dedicate the time solely to me and regale me with candles. song and additional gifts. I love my Christmas Birthday. Thank you, CE Dave, for the pretty cake. Happy birthday, Fermatprime on our mutual birthday. And thank you all, dear Corner friends, for your warm birthday wishes.
I did the Sun, Mon. and Tues. puzzles on paper and read your interesting comments. I do not like to type on my Kindle and so waited until today to respond.
I hope you all had a wonderufl holiday, as well.
I figured this was going to be a real toughie, but was pleased that it slowly but surely filled in and I got it. Only one tiny goof-up, putting "I AM NOW" instead of "I AM NOT" for the "Are you ready" reply. I'm always ready a bit early, so I guess that was my inner self responding. And SEW seemed just as logical as SET for a response to 'Wrap' up (I was thinking fabric for wrap). Never heard of BORS. Got the reveal early, before I'd even finished, so thank you for a fun puzzle, Jason. And you too, Boomer, for your write-up.
Always nice to see AUStria in a puzzle, and no problem with the write-up, Desper-otto.
Cute gift, Gary. Happy birthday, Dudley, and glad you had such a wonderful Christmas birthday, Yellowrocks.
Have a great day, everybody!
"Born and BRED in the briar patch!" as Brer Rabbit said after once again escaping the clutches of Brer Fox. What with BRAIN, BROAD, BROWN, and BRIGHT I was looking for some sort of vowel sound progression. Upon solving the reveal, I realized I had overthought it. BRANDED is pretty nifty as well! I liked this puzzle. I, too, thought I had made a mistake at GOES YARD but the perps were solid. I learned BORS, the name of a knight of the round table I didn't know before; I wonder how long I'll remember it. It sounds like the name of a cheese. After filling all the cells I didn't get the Tada and the clock kept running, so I knew something was wrong. Ah, for lack of a W, as desper-otto said. Changing T to W fixed it and I was done.
GCHAT? Sounds like another social networking medium I would never use. After reading stories in the news about how people are getting BRAINWASHED by Facebook, I'm glad I never dabbled in it. The same as I'm glad I never got hooked on smoking because I never started in the first place. I'd have a hard time giving up reading and participating in this blog, though.
Best wishes to you all.
Happy Birthday Dudley
Husker: You can send me a pizza anytime!
DNF ... had I AM NOT and SET (for Wrap (up) ... Oh well, s**T happens.
Was surprised that BORS and ASHRAM were both correct. Lucky WAGS!
Fave today was 26-d ... I always liked A BANG ...
Cheers!
I caught the BR**ED with BRAINWASHED, but kept looking for AND until Boomer explained that it was the conjunction.
Q: “Can you do me a favor?” A:”What’s the favor?”
Back in the Dark Ages (the 60’s), my mother collected both green and yellow stamps.
Sir BORS and GCHAT were both located in some dark and dusty corner of my memory; GOES YARD was completely perps.
Bikini half: BRA -- Why do constructors never want the other half?
Misty, you did get the FIR, SEW and NOT were correct. It is I who did the SET and NOT. AAARRRGGGH.
Boomer, were you thinking of (former) Celtic Larry Bird?
A former Redsox 1B, George Scott referred to homers as taters.
HBD Dudley from Mass. But not Dudley, Mass
WC
Aaarrrggghh!!; NOW and SEW.
WC
Dear Jinx:
I see Virginia isn't much of a wine state ... I've heard of being 'half-plotsed', but 'half-craft' made my day.
As to idiomatic baseball gems, "According to Factiva: '1988 Chicago Tribune citation: "A batter with power can hit a ball out of the ball yard ... he can go back, go massive or go yard." ' ." This at least makes some sense.
fled the NE due to excessive cold.
Sitting on the beach in Naples Fla, 80 degrees...
For got to bring back up phone battery,
Started puzzle at 40% battery,
Going absolutely batshit crazy trying to get past the advertisement screens on the
laTimescrossword site before the phone dies
hbd Dudley
Fun puzzle. Thanks, Jason. Boomer, you are too funny!!
HBD. Dudley.
Owen, I loved them all!
Hitter can also go deep. If the bases are loaded it’s a grand SALAMI.
S&H Green stamps must’ve been fifty years ago
Knew ASHRAM because my daughter spent a month at one getting certified as a yoga instructor
Thanks, Wilbur. How did I manage a double-goof up thinking NOW and SEW were wrong when there they are both in Boomer's write-up and in the grid? I must be having post-Christmas-stress syndrome!
Hi Y'all! Enjoyed the BR AND ED theme, Jason. Good to have you again, Boomer.
Didn't know WEES. Forgot JOHN MAJOR & DONNE. GOES YARD just sounds dumb. Never heard it. Forgot "3rd rock from the sun" and had to red-letter run the TH in EARTH/ITS IN cross since "aced" didn't fit.
As a young bride, I REDEEMED S&H Green Stamps for a silverware chest for my wedding gifts of sterling. Also got some more teaspoons to supplement my everyday stainless steel flatware.
Sobriety checks are a fact of life here too. In my old home town there was quite a flap when an enterprising patrol cop climbed on top of a downtown bank to watch the door of a local tavern and nearby club, then radioed hidden cops several blocks away on all the main streets. Among inebriated local businessmen hauled in that New Year's Eve was a vice president in that bank. The bank had not given permission for the cops to be up there. Cops had also damaged the brick facade scaling the wall. Lawsuit ensued. DUI charges dismissed as entrapment. Climber cop fired.
Happy birthday, Dudley. Glad to have your high-flying self back here to give your perspective.
I was up in the night and the TV said it was 3 degrees at 3 a.m. Took a minute to let that register. Think it was BRAIN freeze. Hibernation sounds better and better. It is just 12 degrees now.
Son emailed that his group had landed safely in London. Glad to hear it. Hope it isn't sub-freezing temperatures in London on New Years. The kids lips will freeze to the instrument mouthpieces. Ow! Grandmas can always find something to worry about.
Update on that cop: He's still at it.
One night, a police officer was stalking out a particularly rowdy bar for possible violations of the driving under the influence laws. At closing time, he saw a fellow stumble out of the bar, trip on the curb, and try his keys on five different cars before he found his.
Then, sat in the front seat fumbling around with his keys for several minutes. Everyone left the bar and drove off. Finally, he started his engine and began to pull away.
The police officer was waiting for him. He stopped the driver, read him his rights and administered the Breathalyzer test. The results showed a reading of 0.0. The puzzled officer demanded to know how that could be. The driver replied, "Tonight, I'm the Designated Decoy."
Santa, my version:
Guy stumbles out of the bar holding out his car key. Staggers around until he bumps into a beat cop. Drunk says "ocifer, I'd like to report a theft. They stole my car. See this key here - the car was right there on the end of this key." The officer said "OK buddy", then glanced down and saw that the drunk's fly was open and he was totally exposed. The cop said "Hey buddy, you need t zip up." Drunk looks down and says "oh no, they stole my girlfriend too".
Designated decoy. I love it! Good joke.
Thanks Jason for this fun CW that I finished FIR. I was surprised to see the theme word BRANDED show up as an answer, and the key to the theme. I saw BRs at the start of the starred answers, but did not catch BR --and--ED until Boomer's review.
At 40D you show some coins with the comment "Nothing gradual about these coins." Tell me more about them.
C.C. Thanks for the pics. HBD Dudley Folks are glad you are back, especially
D-O 930A
Who said "Glad to see that you've decided to visit regularly once again." I'm glad to hear that your "Irregularity" is under control.
HG 939A
My favorite pizza has Italian sausage, pepperoni, green olives, and anchovies with jalapenos on the side. I plan to have one tomorrow. The pizza in your pic would come in a close second.
C-E-D 354P
I clicked on your HBD Dudley link. It wasn't much, just "Not Found Error 404."
Misty 404P
She wrote "I must be having post-Christmas-stress syndrome!" Yes that is a variation of the more general PCL, that's Post Christmas Letdown, the feeling that comes over one after all the rush, and fuss is past, knowing the next holiday after New Years is Valentine's day.
PK 417P
Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine didn't let a little cold slow them last New Year's Eve. One singer was in a sleeveless red dress, but the fans had on heavy coats, hats and gloves.
Stay warm. That's an order! Dave dos
Here's CED's HBD cake for Dudley
Hi All!
Well, I was thinking the theme was "Time for BED" or some such as I parsed RAIN WASH sans BED, ROAD SIDE, RIGHT EYE (close), but ROWN HAIR was just wrong. :-). Me BEING a dope, the theme wasn't my only ISSUE...
Thanks Jason for a fun puzzle but you killed my solve in the NW. G-HELP needed. I had to look up ALBA to confirm spelling (YEAH, I know we get her all the time) and then LOEWE hoping to get enough to name the Ka-ni-G-it but he was not in Quest for the Holy Grail. Anyway, I guessed BORG (maybe that's where Trek got it(?)) and AgHRAM (with a silent h(?)). #FAIL. At least I knew JOHN MAJOR w/ only 3 perps [M--OR]
Thanks Boomer for getting me squared-away. //Yes, TTP, BLOUSEd them boots.
WOs: IED b/f WMD, w/ D-N-E I guessed Alighieri Dante :-)
ESPs: DONNE
Fav: How can it not be ITS IN da hole.
Runner-up: Jason started us staring at the ABYSS of white and we finished on the EDGE.
{A,A (ewee), A+}
Happy Birthday Dudley! //CED - I got a 404 on the cake
Jinx/Bill-o: Milo Hamilton used to say "Graaand SA-LAM-I" on a 4-run tater.
Do ME A favor? Give ME A break...
Time to pack... TTP - I think I'll wait to get longJOHNs in IL. In Texas, they're all at the sporting-goods stores and thus in camo.....Or, maybe... In Camo, DW wouldn't see me sneak up on 'er :-)
Cheers, -T
Came down to San Antonio to see older son - and got away from the bitter cold to a mild 45 - which they think is cold - but we think is on the warm side for this time of year!
Fun run puzzle
HBD Dudley!
thanks Boomer and Jason!
"Designated decoy!" I love that!
YR:
That is just wonderful that your family does so much to make your birthday special! I'm glad you had such a good time.
You all just crack me up!
Spent an inordinate amount of time this morning trying to think of all the three-letter combos that can mean "Wrap (up)." Stuck far too long on the obvious - "End" - and that kept the middle of Mr. Mueller's Xwd unresolvable.
Not until I was willing to sacrifice good sense in favor of a beauty parlor finish and insert SET in 37D did I believe I'd finally found a viable solution.
So what happened? My Ta- DA! vanished as soon as I turned to Boomer's blog. It turned to dross, melting into a *#@! DNF when I read that Mueller and I have different opinions as to what an "irritated reply" ought to be in the 43A perp.
I would most definitely say I AM NOT(!) rather than his more compliant I AM NOW. (Going with my SET over his SEW.)
I accept that by all standard rules he gets to say which is correct.
But my rebellious spirit holds that in a parallel cosmos, my answer is worthy of the Ta- DA! I thought I had.
Now that my grump is finished, I see that Misty and Wilbur C had a stumbling exchange over the same issue. It is good to be not alone.
Anything else? Oh, yes, HBD Dudley! A happy personal day between Xmas and New Years's!
And No, there's no diagonal today.
Post b/f Refresh says... Funny Argyle - I'm going to steal that. Jinx, funny too, but I can't think of a situation to use it :-)
Thanks OKL for saving the Cake! -T
Tsk.
I see I also had NOSE in place of ROSE.
"Wine choice," eh? How do you choose your wine? I doubt I've had a ROSE since 1960.
But with the perp at 53A, I bow to the baseball-geeks who know GOES YARD beats GOES YAND.
(I actually thought it was an insider's version of "Goes Yonder"! Ayayayay...)
Jinx in Norfolk @ 4:42,
Goodness me. Borderline raunchy joke. Is anyone feeling harassed?
(Still laughing....)
Hello Puzzlers -
Didn’t have much trouble with the puzzle, except that I couldn’t make heads or tails of “Goes Yard”. At least the perps were plausible.
Thanks for elucidating today, Boomer!
Also thanks for the birthday greetings and cake, everyone! I think Spitz was the one asking about barrel rolls, to which the answer is: no, not today...the sorts of airplanes in which barrel rolls are done generally have poor heaters!
I did take a trip to Cape Cod yesterday, and even at a modest 5,000 feet, the air temperature was a shade below zero. It makes for a crisp performance, but really stretches the heater.
Thanks for the new angle on a drunk joke, Argyle!
Hand up that I got the BR-ED theme quickly, but had a hard time figuring out BR-AND-ED. I did get it before reading the write-up here, though!
Only learned of the male athlete with the girl's name STEPH from these puzzles. Now I hear about him all the time.
Hand up never heard GO YARD. Learning moment. Indeed, it sounds illiterate. BORS another learning moment. I have a dance partner who calls herself RUBY Aloha. I wonder if she was named for RUBY DEE.
I learned about Google HANGOUTS as a way to record messages from a phone. Never really got it to work, though. Never heard of GCHAT. Amazing that Google can afford to give out free phone numbers with this service.
RAY BRADBURY used to come to a book fair every year here in Santa Barbara.
Here I found photos I took of RAY BRADBURY when he spoke at UC Santa Barbara in 2005 when I was working as a reporter
One of my favorite RAY BRADBURY short short stories was "The Pedestrian" about a time in the future when it would be criminally suspicious to walk anymore. I am very interested in encouraging walking, biking and transit and I asked him if he had that in mind. I was disappointed that he said it was not what he had in mind. It was more about television replacing activity in the real world.
So surprised that so many here have not heard of GOES YARD. Must not be many ballplayers or fans in those that choose to comment.
Abejo, I checked later and the temperature actually dropped here too. Or should I say, AS WELL ?
Anon-T, go with the camo. ACADEMY ! Bought my three-legged propane burner with deep fryer there. They have everything for the outdoor enthusiast.
OwenKL, thanks for linking the cake that CED tried to link. He must be suffering from heat stroke in Naples. Or a low battery and intense pressure to get it done before it drains completely. Dave always comes through, so he gets the pass on the 404. He never fails to amuse.
Hey sports fans, how about those Iowa Hawkeyes beating Boston College in Yankee Stadium ? Lots of teams didn't even make it to the sidelines this time of year. Iowa finally broke through and won. Good for them.
Tigers and Longhorns up next. Should be another good game.
I can't believe I saw another Monarch butterfly on my milkweed by the back patio this afternoon. I guess with our relatively warm winter weather they may be here to stay in southern California.
Misty, where do you live that you are seeing Monarchs?
We live in Goleta, near Santa Barbara. Our Monarch grove used to be one of the best in the state. The numbers have been falling a lot over the years.
Here is one clump I was able to photograph on Christmas Day
It may look like a lot, but we used to have at least 25 times as many.
Boomer,
Extra props for catching onto Albee's naming of the main Virgina Woolf characters after our founding pres and first lady, George and Martha. Not everyone catches the significance, even among first night critics who scrutinized the text for symbolic meaning!
Albee was a stickler for detail and wouldn't let a naming opportunity pass without making good use of it.
He directed me in a revival of Finding the Sun. He was very demanding - and kept harping on one young actor who was not reading a particular line correctly according to Edward, who shouted the poor kid down two or three times.
It was during a note session when our stage manager politely corrected Edward by reading the scripted line back to him, just as the actor had been saying it.
It is to Mr. Albee's credit that he apologized. And did not change the line (as was his prerogative.)
Picard,
Great photo! Thanks for posting!
Argyle & Jinx: very funny jokes!
Picard: with so many butterflies, do the larvae eat things you don't want them to?
WEES re SET vs SEW. "I am not NOT" sounded more logical to "Irritated reply to 'Aren't you ready yet?'"
Thanks, Boomer, for the funny recap and for the reference to S&H Green Stamps. My mom started saving her books to redeem for my full service of International Silver "Springtime" China that I still have today, 50 years later. Just now remembered - those stamps also were also redeemed for my sister's everyday dishes - service for 12. Considering Mama's penchant for using coupons for not-needed items and hoarding those S&H stamps, she must have been breaking the weekly grocery budget for years, considering I was the only one still living at home. Dear Mama.
PK, loved your news report re DWI/lawsuit/entrapment! And ARGYLE's, lol!
Haven't been checking in for the past week or longer - Christmas prep and out of town for the holidays (visiting my sister and her family in Wimberley; beautiful spot in the TX Hill Country), but I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.
Picard, what an amazing picture! I've never had that many Monarchs clustering together! I live in Laguna Beach, and I've never seen them this late in the season, so I'm excited about that.
Ol'Man Keith, loved your Albee information and history! What a terrific career you've had!
Thank you very much OlManKeith, PK and Misty for the kind words about my butterflies photo!
My photos of RAY BRADBURY were much harder to get!
Regarding your question, PK: The Monarch butterflies take nectar from flowers. Their caterpillars eat milkweed. So, I don't think there is any way they can be harmful. But the milkweed makes them taste bad to predators. As I say, we used to have way more of them clustering in our neighborhood.
I do remember S&H Green Stamps.
Here is a photo of our local Santa Cruz Market in Goleta, CA. They still have the S&H Green Stamps sign!
I doubt you can get yours REDEEMED there, though! I wonder if the stamps were ever worth as much as the labor that went into collecting them. At least modern store loyalty programs don't require quite so much work.
On S&H Green Stamps...
In the days of lore
Before
TVs had 500 channels
Phones were more than a 10 button panel
Atari 2600 was all we had to pass the time
And S&H stamps to lick
And stick
from the five-and-dime
For a napkin holder for Gramma?
A transistor radio for me?
More likely it would be
Some goofy-shit avocado-colored thing
my Mom saw.
//Best I could do on short notice. Punch it up OKL :-)
Cheers, -T
Greetings!
Thanks to Jason and Boomer!
Am late today as I have been exhausted! Christmas celebrations three days in a row!
I did not know: BORS, STEPH and GCHAT.
Dudley: hope you had a wonderful birthday!
It was eighty degrees here today, they tell me!
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
Picard, I occasionally saw Monarch larvae in my garden where there were no milkweed but I can't remember what type of plants they were on. The caterpillars are very distinctive so I knew what they were, but didn't know they supposedly ate only milkweed. We had milkweed in the pasture about half a mile from the house.
The green stamps had to be sent in to be redeemed. We were so poor when I was living in Texas and redeeming them, that it was worth it for me to get a few little extras by saving the stamps. I'm not poor now but I feel righteous saving coupons -- $43 worth off my grocery bill last shopping day at Dillons.
Great pictures, Picard! I don't believe I've ever seen that many monarchs clustered together.
These days reward points/cards are so much simpler than collecting green or gold bond stamps! Right now I have $20 Kohls cash that I must spend before it expires! And I'm saving my frequent flyer miles for next summer. I'll have two tickets, for me and one of my sisters. I believe we'll return to New England and also Niagara Falls.
I did not know GOES YARD, either. But finished puzzle w/o error.
Tony: No punching up needed -- that's actually a very good poem!
Hi everybody.
Happy birthday Dudley!
AnonT: I liked your poem too.
I've heard "Goes yard" many times. I never liked it much though.
G'night
~ Bill G
I finished the puzzle with no problem. I see the BR and ED, but still do not understand the theme!
The theme is phrases that start with the letters BR and end with the letters ED. No other relationship between the phrases than that.
Reveal BRANDED is split into three parts, BR-AND-ED.
Thanks! All clear now.
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