google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday January 28, 2018 Matt Skoczen

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Jan 28, 2018

Sunday January 28, 2018 Matt Skoczen

Theme: "On the Road"- Six different anagrams of GEARS span across each theme entry.

23A. One of three presidents who served in 1881 : JAMES GARFIELD. ESGAR.

35A. It's just outside the Oval Office : ROSE GARDEN. SEGAR.

44A. Kitchen gadget : CHEESE GRATER. SEGRA.

74A. Private company paperwork : STOCKHOLDERS' AGREEMENT. SAGRE,

103. Certain sci-fi superfan : STAR WARS GEEK. ARSGE.

111. "Awesome!" : THAT'S GREAT! SGREA.
  
130A. Unexpectedly changing one's attitude ... and what's literally hidden in six long puzzle answers : SHIFTING GEARS

We often see four-letter anagrams. Five-letter is a little trickier, fortunately the letters here are all relatively common.

Chunky upper right/lower left corners. Those 7*7 are not easy to fill cleanly. Love the lower left corner.

Across:
     
1. Distinguished : ENNOBLED

9. One in on the deal? : CARD. Nice clue.

13. 1984 Martin/Tomlin film : ALL OF ME. Never saw it.


20. Wetsuit substance : NEOPRENE


21. Feng __ : SHUI. Literally "water". Feng = "wind".

22. Causes of tots' tears : BOO BOOs

25. Dignitaries working abroad : CONSULS. You can find US Consulates in five major cities in China.

26. Wife of Wang Lung in "The Good Earth" : O-LAN. Great book about the old village life in China.

27. Joke closing? : STER. Jokester.

28. A fancy one may not include prices : MENU. Tiny dupe with 63. Asian menu assurance : NO MSG. I finally figured out why the Vietnamese carrot and daikon pickles in our local Asian grocery store is so much better than my own, Anon T. They put MSG in theirs.

30. Surprise from a lamp : GENIE

31. 1983 Streisand film : YENTL

33. Scratches (out) : EKES

38. Caveman Alley : OOP

40. Mich. NBA team : DET. Detroit Pistons. Can't be clued as short for detective due to 41. Sam Spade type : TEC

42. Word on a fast food sign : THRU

43. "Billy Budd" captain : VERE. Unknown to me.

50. Subj. for some newcomers : ESL

51. "__ to you, matey!" : 'ERE'S. Gluey.

52. Thumbs-up cry : A-OK. And 84. Thumbs-up cry : YES

53. Biblical name meaning "hairy" : ESAU

54. Cone filler : ICE CREAM. Boomer (diabetic) is happy with the sugar-free ice cream at Walmart.

57. Discipline with poses : YOGA

59. Sagan's sci. : ASTR. Also 114. Suffix from the Greek for "world" : COSM

61. 21st of 24 : PHI

62. Fired up : GUNG-HO. From Chinese "Gong He", literally "working together".

67. It measures rpm : TACH

69. Pennsylvania railroad town : ALTOONA

73. More achy : SORER

79. Some bar food : SUSHI. And 110. 79-Across fish : EEL. Love eel rolls.


80. USA Today owner : GANNETT. I think they once owned our Star Tribune also.

81. Somme spouses: Abbr. : MMEs

82. Move, as artwork : RE-HANG
 
85. "Ozark" actor Morales : ESAI

87. Cartagena cat : GATO

91. Stop one's horse, in England : DRAW REIN. New expression to me.

95. Envelope-pushing : EDGY

97. Half a dance : CHA

98. Passion-ate composer? : BACH. See here. I drew a blank.

102. __ trip : EGO

106. Dos cubed : OCHO. 2/8. Also 71. Uno e due : TRE

107. Pinup's asset : GAMs. We also have 6. Staying power : LEGS

109. Sold-out letters : SRO. Standing Room Only.

117. Role for Dustin : RATSO. "Hey, I'm walking here!"

121. King or queen : TITLE. 11. King or queen : RULER

122. Taunting word usually repeated : NYAH

124. Persian for "king" : SHAH

126. Ostrich cousin : RHEA

127. The Beatles' last studio album : LET IT BE

133. 50-50 shot : EVEN BET

134. Hendryx who was part of the "Lady Marmalade" trio Labelle : NONA


135. Alienate : ESTRANGE

136. Allergy symptom : RED EYES

137. Big refs. : OEDs. Oxford English Dictionary.

138. Aficionados : DEVOTEES

Down:

1. Fancy : ENJOY. Been enjoying this Shea body butter Jim (JimmyB) sent to me. So rich and healing.




2. Author Zora __ Hurston : NEALE

3. "__ is an island": Donne : NO MAN

4. Sandal feature : OPEN TOE

5. Abbr. in home sale ads : BRs
 
7. Related on mom's side : ENATE. Have not seen this fill for a long time.

8. Literature Nobelist Walcott : DEREK. Wiki says he's an "Saint Lucian poet and playwright".


9. "__: Cyber": 2015 spin-off : CSI

10. "May I speak?" : AHEM
 
12. Quick denial : DID NOT

13. Pie equivalent, in a simile : ABC

14. Canterbury commode : LOO

15. Half a strait-laced pair? : LONG A. Oh, two long A sounds in strait-laced.

16. Witness : OBSERVE

17. Stumble, as a horse : FOUNDER. Learning moment for me.

18. "L'ecole des femmes" playwright : MOLIERE

19. Reputed Dead Sea Scrolls transcribers : ESSENES. This has become a gimme.

24. "Band of Gold" singer Payne : FREDA. Never heard of her.


29. Theater work : USHERING

32. Be outscored : LOSE

34. Alien-seeking gp. : SETI

36. Highland tongue : ERSE

37. Solzhenitsyn subject : GULAG

39. Passover : PESACH. Also a new word to me.
 
44. Great Barrier Reef feature : CAY

45. Boo mate? : HOO. Boo hoo.

46. Heart doc's readout : EKG

47. Guzzler on the road : GAS HOG. Great 6-letter fill.

48. Hard thing to get out of : RUT

49. Share on Facebook, as a picture : RE-POST

55. Complete, in law : CHOATE. Lemonade/Hahtoola might know it. Not me.

56. Paris's __ Rodin : MUSEE

58. "Right back __" : AT CHA

60. Curtin castmate : RADNER

64. Masters prog. entrance criterion : GRE

65. Female lobster : HEN

66. Uneaten bit : ORT

68. "There's __ of Hush": Herman's Hermits hit : A KIND

70. They can make things clearer : LENSES
 
72. Philip II's fleet : ARMADA

74. Bygone cartography initials : SSR

75. Third col., usually : TUE. Column.

76. __Kosh B'gosh : OSH

77. Female nonclericals : LAYWOMEN

78. Asylum seeker : EMIGRE

83. Shorthand pioneer : GREGG

86. Stitch : SEW

88. One may be high or low : ACE

89. With 104-Down, what bosses rule : THE. And 104. See 89-Down : ROOST

90. Wood used to age spirits : OAK

92. Preserves thickener : AGAR. Widely used in Asian desserts. Vegetarian gelatin.


93. "__ a date!" : IT'S

94. Buster? : NARC. Bust-er.

96. 1914 battle river : YSER

98. Soft drink manufacturer, e.g. : BOTTLER. We sent to a Pepsi bottler once. Very complicated procedure.

99. Get by effort : ACHIEVE

100. Exchanged texts, say : CHATTED. Such a luxury not to own a smart phone. Or on social media.

101. Emergency phone link : HOTLINE
 
105. Quietly show anger toward : GLARE AT

108. Disagrees : SAYS NO

112. Put on ice : SET BY

113. Sierra Nevada resort : TAHOE

115. Backed (away) : SHIED

116. Parson's place : MANSE

118. __ of Glamis: Macbeth : THANE

119. Worsted variety : SERGE

120. Resting places : OASES

123. Rear : HIND

125. Cable channel for remodelers : HGTV

128. Queen's subject : BEE

129. French connections? : ETs. Just French for "and". Toi et moi.

131. Fourth notes : FAs

132. Miracle-__ : GRO

If you're struggling with cough from the flu, try Robitussin. It finally brought me peace last Wednesday. The Formula 44 did not work at all. Thank God I don't need codeine, Picard/Big Easy!

C.C.


59 comments:

  1. FIR! Not without a bunch of w/os, but that's par for the course. Saw the theme letters, but only rearranged them to RAGES or AGERS, didn't see GEARS. So only partial credit for that today.

    Tried to put OWEN LORION in 103a, but it wouldn't fit.

    OMK will be happy with the diagonals today, both sinister and dexter. The letters in the main one anagram to "RAGE REPELLENT: RUM GEARS" or "GEARS ENLARGE TRUMP LEER". The sinister will make "TWELVE GURUS HONOR GEARS".

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  2. Good morning!

    This one turned into a quick romp, but not without a stumble. Was certain it would be "G'DAY to you, matey" and hung onto it far too long. We used to see ENATE often, but not recently -- looks like the senate was beheaded. C.C, thanx for parsing LONG-A; that one whooshed over my head. PESACH was a learning moment, soon to be forgotten. So was CHOATE, though I've heard "inchoate." Thanx, Matt.

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  3. Good morning all. Thank you Matt Skoczen and thank you CC.

    Nuts, nut nuts. Could not get anything in the NE corner despite having LOO, GENIE and GARDEN. Remembered the basic storyline of the movie, but confused the title ala Victor Victoria.

    As far as "L'ecole des femmes" playwright, aucune idée. "The School for Wives" probably wouldn't be long-considered for the title in these times.

    I would have missed ESSENES too, and wouldn't know VERE since I didn't know Billy Budd either. (Hi CC !)

    So no perps to the rescue today for my personal naticks. Other than that corner, the rest filled relatively easy with plenty of perp help, and I found each of the anagrams of GEARS.

    It wouldn't be a typical solve for me this week without a typo. Today it was an odd one; I somehow had OOK as the wood used to age spirits.

    Had to change STAR terk to STAR WARS because of SEW.

    OK Anonymous T, no earworms, just a couple of classics:

    She's got GAMS, and she knows how to use them

    Listen very carefully

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  4. From our ENNOBLED C.C. who rules the ROOST in these parts, we have today's write up. I would love to say that I was able to ENJOY today's puzzle but after almost grinding out the NE corner with five unknowns- ALL OF ME, FOUNDER, MOLIERE, ESSENES ( not a gimme for me), & VERE- I made a BOO BOO at the cross of VERE & ESSENES placing a 'D'. Now I will be SHIFTING GEARS ( which I never noticed) and note that there wasn't "Half a dance' but a a complete dance- AT CHA (58D) and CHA (97A). No complete ACHIEVEment today. DNF.

    NEALE, OLAN, CHOATE, PESACH, THANE of Macbeth, DRAW REIN, NONA (I knew it wasn't JIMI) Hendryx, DEREK Walcott, MUSEE- all came from perps. And then there was NYAH. What the hell is that thing. Never seen it. SSR- Isn't that a Chevrolet?

    Just got my second 'smart phone'. The first thing I did was DELETE or Uninstall the the preloaded APPs for Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Netflix, and Amazon. Used mainly for phone calls and email but the Google and Microsoft One-Drive backups for everything is great, especially if you use Google DRIVE and Google KEEP to share documents. Everything on my desktop PC is on my phone, backed up at the perfect price-free.

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  5. The crossword will not load onto my iMac this morning. Is anyone else having trouble. It does load to the iPad. I usually print it from the computer.

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  6. Easy as Sunday Morning, with apologies to Lionel Richie. This filled quite quickly and I was surprised to learn that JAMESGARFIELD had two other presiders in 1881, Arthur, his vice-president and Hayes, the one he succeeded. Yes, I looked them up.

    Also had to look up ALL OF ME though I got MOLIERE, OBSERVE, LOO and ABC, FOUNDER had me floundering. I was looking at go UNDER.

    Otherwise, the grid flowed smoothly toward a fine finish. PESACH is new to me, too, but it perped. My daughter and her family are STARWARSGEEKs so a CSO to them. Their den looks like a mini planet populated with alien beings. YES, they are true DEVOTEES.

    ESL! yea to my career in a past life.

    COSMos Carl will never be forgotten

    I loved The Good Earth and read it twice.

    Thank you, Matt Skoczen, for a good challenge!

    And thank you, C.C. I'm so glad you are better and your normal self again.

    Have a fantastic day, everyone! Bright sunshine and warmth here today.

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  7. I did this one in pieces. It was a disjointed and distracted solve, but FIR w/o help. Not a walk in the park, but fun nevertheless.
    CC, that sushi looks delish, my favorite. Sushi skeptics, the eels are not raw.There are quite a few types of sushi that are not raw.
    I was fascinated by The Good Earth. I read it with different "eyes" recently, than I did years ago. At first I was into Olan's story and her feelings. The last time I was into the historical perspective. Unlike some, I do like to reread great books. I have read Gone with the Wind three times, years apart, each time from a different perspective, the love story, the havoc of the Civil War and women's lot in the old South.
    I know well the non legal usage of inchoate, not fully formed. "And yet, as she settled in, she couldn’t escape a growing, though inchoate, sense that something was wrong." In solving it was not a big leap for me to think of choate.
    What in LONGA? Oh, long A, I filled it right, but no clue. This type often tricks me.
    I don't eat at restaurants so expensive they don't list prices. I hate jewelry counters and furniture stores where I have to keep asking the prices. I tend to shun them.
    We see signs for PESACH foods in the grocery stores at Passover time.
    Coral bleaching caused huge sections in the northern part of the reef to died in 2016. What a loss!

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  8. OOPS, the coral bleaching was in the Great Barrier Reef. As I edited my post, I accidentally deleted that.

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  9. I loved this Sunday puzzle, even though I of course didn't get everything without cheating. When I first saw the grid-spanner and the long items, I figured this was going to be pretty impossible for me. But it slowly filled in, and pretty soon I had pretty much four fifths of it done, except for the bottom, which gave me trouble. There were lots of names and words I didn't know (SETI, FREDA Payne, PESACH, NONA, CHOATE, etc.) but the across items helped to fill them in. That's actually my favorite kind of puzzle, where the toughies are surrounded by doable ones. The England horse item drove me crazy, because I knew the LAY WOMEN had to be correct, and DRAWRE IN just made no sense to me. Oh, DRAW REIN--didn't get that until I came to the blog. And I just couldn't figure out the theme, until C.C. great write-up and explanations. So, many thanks, Matt, for getting my sunny Sunday morning off to a great start! And thank you too, C.C., and so glad you're feeling better again!

    Have a great day, everybody!

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  10. For us old timers here is Don Cherry's Band of Gold(2:35). Now, for extra credit, what was the novelty record that sampled Band of Gold(twice)?

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  11. I don't think there is a plural of the Oxford English Dictionary.

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  12. In one sense there is no plural of the Oxford English Dictionary. In an informal manner of speaking I can order 3 Oxford English Dictioanries from the book store. Of course, more formally that would be three copies of the O.E.D. Informal language is real, too.

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  13. Plenty of head scratching while solving this one. A nice challenge, yet duly solvable. I feel pretty good I didn't have to look anything up, although I did turn on red letters to discover a silly typo; I had put in SHOCKHOLDER instead of STOCKHOLDER and would never have found it were it not for red letter help. I had seen the movie Billy Budd starring a young Terence Stamp, but did not remember the captain's name at all. And sure enough I too-quickly entered READING for the Pennsylvania railroad town, which scrambled things badly for me for quite a while. Similar difficulties ensued in the left side because the H from ATCHA made me think of NACHO instead of SUSHI. I guess nachos are like potato chips: you can't have just one. ("I'll have an order of nacho, please.") A lovely hour of solving pleasure today.

    In the Jayce household we swear by Robitussin; it always works well for us. I'm also glad you're beginning to feel better, C.C.

    Years ago, when my employer offered me an iPhone4 for work, I refused at first, thinking I didn't need or want such a versatile device. I soon changed my mind, accepted the phone (it was supplied my them at no cost to me, after all), and have loved it ever since. For a long time I only used it as a phone; the screen was too small for me to use it for email and such. Although LW and I have newer iPhones, that old iPhone4 still works and is still my official work phone. I have grown to rather like the Apple "ecosystem." Still hate iTunes, though.

    Oh, and technically, CHA is 1/3, not 1/2, of the actual dance name, which is officially Cha Cha Cha. Just ask Len Goodman.

    Best wishes to you all.

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  14. I loved hearing FREDA Payne's Band of Gold and I'm also familiar with inCHOATE as YR quoted it.

    BOO hoo and BOOBOO made me laugh

    It's surprising that someone would not know of NYAH, NYAH, NYAH as a mockery.

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  15. "Puzzling Thoughts":

    One cheat allowed me to finish (ALL OF ME), but I still FIW with EDGE in 95a, as I completely ignored the clue for 96d (YSER, not ESER). Ah, well; I DID NOT see the theme either, yet I did manage to suss SHIFTING GEARS. Considering I drive an Audi with a manual gearbox, with 6 forward speeds, you'd think I'd have had this "in my CLUTCHes" ... pun intended ...

    I had a couple w-o's: MANCE > MANSE; and LAYETTES > LAY WOMEN. I'm wondering with all of the horrific stories coming out of the US Women's Gymnastics scandals, if that term might be erased from the OED ...

    Lots of clever clueing from Mr Skoczen, and an equally enjoyable recap from our RULER of THE ROOST!

    In preparation for 1040 season ... my limerick du jour:

    Charter fisherman's ready; awaits
    For new Internet software. Creates
    A new password, relax;
    Then downloads Turbo Tax.
    And enjoys all the pop-up "click-baits".

    (They had him hook, line, and sinker!)

    And my Moe-ku:

    Ranger asked Yogi
    Why he wept tears? He said,
    "Friend died." BOO BOO HOO

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  16. DNF NE corner got me good. Knew the plot but not the name of the movie. I know eeny meeny miney moe but not anything to do with Dead sea scrolls. Typical DNF for me when three or more proper nouns intersect unless they are sports or science related I am usually toast. Don't bother cheating any more but may look something up out of interest. Its coming down to M-F TADAs and weekends a crapshoot.

    mid eighties to ninety here in the OC today. October Santa Ana winds up to 50 mph. If we don't get a fire somewhere it will be a minor miracle. Might get to 91 tomorrow, shattering all records. I wish that Oklahoma senator would bring me his snowball so I'd be sure there isn't any global warming. YEA Fossil fuels and fracking...oil prices are up so coal burning and fracking are profitable. Jobs Jobs jobs....

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  17. Sunday slog for me today. Thanks for the fun Matt and C.C.
    Plenty of ink blots and a few Google helps- but I did get the SHIFTING GEARS!

    Unknowns included NONA, GANNETT, GATO. I really must memorize the American presidents as I mentioned earlier this week.
    Hand up for needing C.C's explanation of LONG A.
    We had ESAU and ESAI today.
    CSO to MME Defarge.
    The other day I wanted BOOHOO and it was booboo so guess what I entered first today!
    Pectin was too long to be the preserves' thickener.

    Favourite was the "easy as ABC" simile. But no XYZ Affair.

    Enjoy the day.

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  18. OEDS is correct. LIU. There are numerous citations on the web. Guess I don't understand some complainers crashing in here without first doing their due diligence. Learn to trust the editor more.

    Couple red letter areas in the top center. Rest was gotten with some perp help; many obscure proper names. DRAW REIN was a learning. Never really focussed on the theme before finishing.

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  19. Musings
    -Call last night, “Papa, I’m playing violin in church at 9 tomorrow? Could you come?” Left here at 7:45 and just now back at 1:30. Anytime they ask…
    -Upper right corner was a bear for me too but it fell after BOOBOOS
    -Feng SHUI
    -He always talked about ALTOONA
    -A new home-state coach has Husker FB fans GUNG HO for next season. I’d mention his name but if you follow FB you know it already and if you don’t, you don’t care
    -Netflix NARCOS was set in Bogota, Cali and Medellin but not Cartagena
    -I was shocked this weekend at how many former students we ran into at an event told us they were ESTRANGED
    -Matt must not be a baseball fan by how he clued DEREK
    -This CHOATE counts JFK and his brother Joe among its alums
    -“Right back atcha” is a cold response to “I love you”
    -I always told my kids in optics class that Galileo changed the world with two LENSES
    -The D.C. to the Kremlin HOTLINE came to be after this tense event

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  20. G Day Mates,

    I'm late to the party. I was sleepy yest, so I slept. Thank you Mr. Matt Skoczen for this overly challenging Sunday CW. The NE corner would not give up its words. 13D was not as easy as A B C. I had to buy each of them.

    Thanks C.C. for your excellent review. The eel rolls look delicious. One housekeeping request:

    "Six different anagrams of GEAR" Please add an "S" so this agrees with the " SHIFTING GEARS explanation. Thanks.

    It struck me that 122A NYAH, 124 A SHAH, and 126A RHEA sound alike.

    134A introduced me to "I Need Love" with NONA Hendryx.

    24D FREDA Payne singing "Band of Gold" brings back memories of my ute.

    55D CHOATE reminded me of shoat: a young hog and especially one that has been weaned.

    Dave

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  21. Sunday Lurk say:

    Thanks for the MSG info (and brand) C.C. and I'm glad to hear you're feeling well again.

    {?} {cute, groan :-)}
    PSA - get your taxes in early. With the Equifax hack last year there's a big up-tick in hackers filing for you (and getting your refund $$).

    TTP - Thanks for the Little o' Band from Texas [the Top 40 Ranch is about 8 miles from me] and Herman's Hermits ear-worms (good ones!). Honesty, after my FLN JOKESTERish post on TRUE, I was expecting you to RickRoll me on the second link... I'd deserve it :-)

    YR - Ordered 3 OEDs? Better call Splynter [GAMS & LEGS CSO!] for bookshelves :-)

    YR & Jayce - The Girls were introduced to SUSHI early and love it. Pop came to visit.
    "Let's get Sushi tonight" was the Girls' request.
    Pop: "I don't eat bait. Son, what kids eat Sushi?"
    Me: "um, all of them... in Japan(?)"

    Like my buddy from Hong Kong likes to say..."Know what we call Chinese Food back home?... Just food :-)"

    D4 - One of the many amazing things about C.C. is that English is not her native tongue. I'm likely speaking out of school - those that know better please correct me...
    Many Chinese folk I know have English pluralizing problems because that's not part of the Chinese language - same w/ he/she/it. It's like English speakers trying to remember which gender to use for Table in French or Spanish [I think - I don't know nuthin' but English and I'm not terribly good at that either].
    Since I'm really not the expert here... Here's my favourite sketch about being completely unqualified. [Kids in the the Hall - They're Canadian hence favourite correctly; eh? C, Eh! :-)]

    Argyle - even with "novelty record" in the hint I'm stumped. Little Richard(?)... Otherwise, No clue.

    Cheers, -T

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  22. Choate, a term in law, is not to be confused with Choate the preparatory school pronounced to to rhyme with shoat, choat.
    Choate in law is an illogical back formation from inchoate (in ko ate or in ko it). The IN is not a negative here, but means within. Forming choate to mean complete from inchoate, not fully formed, is unreasonable. Choate's legitimacy as a term is arguable. It is pronounced (Cho it) or (cho ate), not (choat).
    choate

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  23. After yesterday our clothes are clean and pressed. Who can explain why mom washed on Monday?

    97A CHA I loved to cha cha when I was young.

    107A Pinup's asset : GAMs, and 6D Staying power : LEGS,
    another tribute to (Sphynkter), and our friend Splynter. How would you like to have a Splynter in your Sphynkter?

    134A I just noticed that Nona Hendryx was part of the "Lady Marmalade" trio Labelle.

    Here it is again with the lyrics which include the controversial, sugestive French line “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?”

    Dave

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  24. LAY WOMEN? And as of 5:00 pm, so far nobody has made a comment, especially without all the sexual harassment charges going around.

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  25. FA is a syllable in an ordered range starting on any pitch (do, re, mi, fa, sol...), and as such isn't a note. A note indicates length of sound duration (linked with tempo)and can be placed upon any line or space in the staff, the lines and spaces corresponding to pitch names. The clue really is incorrect.

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  26. Sounds like my third graders snickering whenever screw was named as a simple machine in science class.
    Many of us have heard of lay men and lay women ever since we were knee high to a grasshopper.

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  27. Well, Anon T, I said it was for oldsters. Jayce had the Goodman part but Len, not Dickie. Here, from 1956, The Flying Saucer (Parts 1 & 2)(4:18). Sampling of Band of Gold starts Part 2.

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  28. LIU Fa, the fourth note of the major scale in solfege. Merriam Webster

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  29. Ah Big Bang Theory

    Leonard: What would you be if you were attached to another object by an inclined plane, wrapped helically around an axis?
    Sheldon: Screwed.
    Leonard: There you go.

    Ice(d) Cream but no comment? :-)

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  30. HG - you missed my FLN post about Youngest & I at the Cantina and ICE[D] CREAM [no, I hadn't seen the pzl when I wrote that]

    BigE - We had MSU in yesterday's puzzle and I refused to touch that too. The Corner's a nice place [ChuckL - take note, eh?]

    Argyle - Yep... Waaaay before my time [Pop was only 6!] but LOL! Thanks for sharing and schooling me. Oh, BTW, I did hear Tutti Frutti in the production :-). -T

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  31. i finished a Sunday puzzle!! I needed help in several areas, but I usually run out of patience and give up on Sundays. Thanks, Matt, for the challenge. Thank you, C.C., for the expo.

    I had most of the issues already discussed.

    Favorite c/a today was 54a cone filler/ICE CREAM. Last January the Cincinnati Zoo welcomed a 6 week premature hippo, Fiona. Because of the 24/7 care she needed, many groups/businesses/individuals donated to a fund for her care. This year, to celebrate her 1st birthday, Graeter's ice cream created a limited edition flavor, Chunky, Chunky Hippo and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the zoo. I feel that I must contribute so I have bought and am eating ICE CREAM. Fiona's Ice Cream It's a tough job but someone has to do it!

    Have a restful rest of your Sunday. Here's to a great week.

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  32. Big Easy, I am also sometimes bewildered when I read a clue or answer and expect some wry comment will ensue, but none does. I hadn't taken any particular notice of that answer today - usually it's the political connotations that draw no rein. Glad those that regularly choose to inflict pain chose not to with that answer.

    Husker Gary, that's so funny. I love it !

    Can't believe that CBS televised the final round of the Farmers only to switch to the Grammy Red Carpet show. Glad I have the Golf Channel.

    Dash-T, I rick-rolled you here a few years ago. Wait, maybe it wasn't you. I'll look later. Shoot, I coulda done it agin ! Here, check out this puzzle.

    Argyle, and I thought that lyric answer routine was invented in the '60s.

    D4E4H, as a newbie GI in Germany, I got slapped by a Fraulein for asking her the German equivalent of Lady Marmalade's question. The guys that taught me that thought it was so funny.

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  33. TTP 740A

    It's only OOK after too much spirits.

    CanadianEh! 231P

    Wrote " Favourite was the 'easy as ABC' simile. But no XYZ Affair."

    Thank you. I finally see 13D Pie equivalent, in a simile : ABC

    Easy as pie = easy as ABC. Thanks.

    AnonT 321P

    TTP may not have RickRolled you, (I was expecting you to RickRoll me on the second link... I'd deserve it :-) but you sure did me. I went to the link, and did not understand a word. I have been AnonTRolled.

    I have trouble myself with "he/she/it." He is going to have to clean it up.

    Argyle 523P

    "Here, from 1956..." I was 12, in the 7th grade and remember each song of the parody.

    Pat 650P

    They even made Fiona look cute. Check out those eyes. Graeter's here I come. A hippo is a terrible thing for my waste.

    Dave

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  34. CC: Thanks for the review. I had EEL SUSHI yesterday. Yummy food and tempting photo.

    FIR but only by luck. These seemed like unfair Naticks to me:
    NEALE/OLAN and ESSENES/VERE and FREDA/DET

    By the way, yesterday I met someone from Natick out here in SoCal!

    Can someone explain why SET BY is "Put on ice"?

    I am back from leading a long hike and we are about to head out to a dance show. So, only time for one set of photos for now.

    Here are a few of my photos flying over the GREAT BARRIER REEF and diving in it.

    Of course you can see me in the final photo in my NEOPRENE WET SUIT with a huge wrasse. That is an interesting story.

    Hand up for lots of unknowns. OK with that, but not with crossed Naticks.

    D4E4H from yesterday: I think the snorting TROJAN HORSE effect involved something like a really big CO2 fire extinguisher. It was quite dramatic! I think she had to swap out several during the parade. She is not in any of my parade photos, so I think she was inside keeping it going! I took all those photos before jumping on my unicycle and joining the latter part of the parade!

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  35. C.C., thanks for the great write-up (esp., gung-ho=gong he), and glad that you're feeling better. I'll remember Robitussin for the future. DRAW REIN luckily filled in w/ perps but not a term I've ever heard, along with Billy Budd (who?).

    TTP, thanks for the links, gotta dust off my ZZ CD - great, energizing house cleaning music. A tribute to Splynter - hope he's doing OK. Trivia: Frank Beard of ZZ Top is the only one without one. Herman's Hermits - my first album decades ago.

    Pat, thanks (I think) - gotta buy Graeter's Fiona ice cream tomorrow - sounds yummy and that a portion of the sales will be donated helps ease my guilt!

    Anon-T, FLN - hilarious clip of History of the World, Part I - somehow I missed it in 1981 (not surprising). Guess I won't be able to see it on cable - too many years ago. Mel Brooks is/was a comedic genius - still kickin' at 91.

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  36. Dash T - I found it. Dec 7, 2015. Argyle's jpg link for Trapdoor was an unintentional rick-roll for the early viewers of the blog that day. But it was Clear Ayes on Dec 31st 2008 that first referenced rick rolling here on the blog.

    Pat, good to see you pop back in, and also good that you are supporting Fiona in any way possible. "Someone has to do it !" indeed.

    The Farmer's goes on. Sudden death playoffs suspended due to darkness. At one point they were showing the sunset and a full moon on split screen cameras. Play resumes tomorrow.

    Picard, Put By. Put Aside. Shelve. Defer for now.

    TxMs, I think I missed 1981. Period. But I was single and having fun in Houston :-)

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  37. Argyle,

    If Google Earth can be believed. you live south east of the Adirondack mountains.
    You might find "Seismic Circles, an introduction to earth's formation" to be interesting.

    Once you have studied the introduction, continue down till you find the "Index of Impact Sites." On the top left you will find the " Adirondack mountains." At a radius of 100 km the circle runs through Saratoga Lake and along Fish Creek.

    At 360 km, the shock waves defined the southern coast of Long Island, and it just keeps on.

    Dave

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  38. I'll take that with a grain of salt. Google Street View, 65 Main St., Argyle, and you can see the house I live in

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  39. It's time for me to order a few news books for my Nook. Suggestions? I'm a fan of the Spenser novels by Robert B Parker and have read them all I think. I liked Nero Wolfe and Archie. I like Louis L'Amour. Dave Barry makes me laugh. What to order next?? I need to find some new good-quality page turners. Ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  40. Argyle - showing some ignorance here - is NY40 in fact painted on the road surface? It doesn’t appear to be a superimposed Google feature, but...

    ReplyDelete
  41. Bill, have you read L'Amour's The Walking Drum, set in 12th century Europe and the Middle East? This is a great adventure story giving us a glimpse into a little known time and place.

    ReplyDelete
  42. YR, yes, I read it and enjoyed it too.

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  43. BillG, have you ever read one of our xword staples:Len Deighton. He's got a bunch of early stuff but he wrote a triple trilogy which starts with Berlin Game.

    If you do I want to point out something that Deighton"embeds" in the work.

    First Saturday's xword. I FOUNDERED and googled that N.O. drink. Also, I had GROOVY before GNARLY and OPIE before ODIE.

    Today was a fair challenge and I sussed out MOLIERE from my French lit days. And I know all about the ESSENES including the modern conclusion that the Scroll people" weren't Essenes after all.

    Also, remember"Pen and ink". Well, someone left the xword in the rain and it was an inky mess.

    Btw, was STARWARSGEEK a CSO to Picard?

    WC

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  44. D4E4H - glad to be of help. I took a while to get the easy as pie (ABC) and thought others might have already commented.
    And speaking of favourite, AnonT is becoming Canadianized. I even saw an eh😀🇨🇦

    ReplyDelete
  45. Picard - beautiful Reef photos. I did not know "wrasse" and LIU. Learning moment.

    ReplyDelete
  46. WC, I,too, am very interested and continue reading about the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls. I do not see the modern theory as a conclusion, but rather as an interesting debate. Many scholars have not accepted it as yet. I am awaiting further evidence. Have you ever visited Qumran? Great tour.

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  47. BillG - Not sure you'll like what's in my queue. I'm a NF fan so deGrasse's "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" and Isaacson's "DaVinci." Is on my short-list I'm also consider "When" from D.Pink. I gotta finish the books on AI first.

    ChuckL - while it may be - no, let's just say it's teetering on political. A NO NO at the corner (I don't disagree but let's agree to share off-line).

    Cool pix (again) Picard. I'm guessing w/ you in the pic, you dropped your camera :-)

    TxMs - glad you enjoyed...; C, Eh! - I grew up w/ some Canadian TV (why in Central IL?, I don't know - but it was "out there" (in both senses) and I loved it -like Monty Python (too much PBS?))

    Long story follows.... Lucina - cover your ears...
    Pop & I just got off the phone... He'd told me about going to Mass Monday (a once in a row in 20yrs) at St. Louis' Basilica before he and his DW went gambling on the boats (they promised each other not to Pray for winnings; which worked out to $300 up).

    Pop & I mostly discussed the architecture and size of the perfectly swung doors, #of hinges, etc. Pop's tour guide @ the Basilica also knew of the orphanage Gramps & his 7 brother & sisters were sent to after Great-gram passed...

    The conversation moved onto Super Bowl LII.
    "That's 52!" Pop said he explained to a kid...
    "Yeah, Pop, the Stations of the Cross kinda learns you Roman Numerals."

    "The Stations..." He goes on to explain...
    "I - You getta born.
    "III - You're you givein' away fish & loaves. Everybody loves a-you.
    "IV - You tell them nott-ta Sin no more.
    "XI - That pisses them off and they crucify you
    "You know the one they don't show you?... XV. You get-ta come back and tell Judas and Thomas they're a**holes."

    That's near verbatim... And now you know why I'mma so warped. :-).

    Y'all have a good night. -T

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  48. Greetings!

    Thanks to Matt and C. C.!

    Nice puzzle! Finished w/o error. Several names were perped.

    Hope to see you all tomorrow!

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  49. Bill G:
    A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Bach is really a hoot. It's one our book club read last time. I also enjoyed A Column of Fire by Ken Follett. He deftly, in fictionalized form, outlines the beginnings of the Secret Service which protected Elizabeth I. Ironically, tonight on PBS in, Her Majesty's Secret Service, the organization was described as masterminded by Sir William Cecil. KF followed the historical facts interwoven with an interesting story in Kingsbridge where Pillars of the Earth began.

    AnonT:
    Your father sounds like a hoot! Don't worry, I'm becoming INURED (a CW staple).

    ReplyDelete
  50. Oops. Sorry. That's Fredrik Backman. A Man Called Ove.

    ReplyDelete
  51. CC: Glad your cough is under control!

    TTP: Thanks for explaining SET BY. I wonder if it is a regional expression. I never heard of it.

    Wilbur Charles: This is the second mention of me and Star Wars. Not sure I understand the connection. Not much of a Star Wars fan. But thanks for thinking of me.

    CanadianEh! Glad you enjoyed the BARRIER REEF photos! The scale is amazing. You fly over it and it goes on and on. It is not in good health, though. As for the wrasse, apparently it has gotten to know the particular dive boat I went out on. It lives out on the reef, but it has become somewhat domesticated and hangs out with the divers! That was a learning moment for me!

    AnonymousT: The dive boat has its own photographer. I had to pay for that photo, but it was worth it! The rest were my photos.

    Here is a repeat viewing of DW and me at TAHOE.

    This was two years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  52. FYI.....

    Monday's edition of the Wall Street Journal features a crossword puzzle created by C.C. (So True !)

    Solve or print at: WSJ.com (go to "Life & Arts", then click on WSJ puzzles)

    ReplyDelete
  53. Picard, if you happen to see this, mea culpa; mea Maximo Culpa. It's Star Trek that is your interest. I'm a LOTR guy and don't follow either of the Stars.

    YR. Yes the debate does go on. Eisenman is very interesting reading.

    WC

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  54. FYI, Abbey Road was the Beatles' last studio album, not Let It Be.

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  55. The rest of the story: Let It Be was recorded before Abbey Road but released the year after Abbey Road.

    ReplyDelete

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