THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE NEBRASKA
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| Bruce |
BestForPuzzles.com said: Bruce Venzke is a veteran crossword constructor who began constructing puzzles in 2001. Of the nearly 600 puzzles he has made, about 400 have been collaborations with other puzzle creators. He has been published by the NY Times, LA Times, NY Sun, Newsday, Wall Street Journal and various other newspapers and magazines.
Here is a C.C. interview with Bruce posted on February 2, 2011.
Two of Bruce's parallel entries paid homage to my home state (hence the title):
9. Land of Lincoln? : CORNHUSKER STATE - Yeah, even I had to shed the image of Illinois AND
28. Planter : SOWER - The statue that tops our state capitol building in Lincoln
Here are the balance of Bruce's wonderful grid spanners that were also very useful:
20. Grasp : GET THE MEANING OF - In Good Will Hunting, Will did GET THE MEANING OF things others couldn't
25. Some drips : SALINE SOLUTIONS - I'm sure one of these is a SALINE SOLUTION
43. Charter acquisition : TIME WARNER CABLE - This is the change we got last year in Fremont, NE
48. Markings on gridirons : MIDFIELD STRIPES - Where coin tosses occur. Wait, Joe, someone has to call it first!
4. Unrelenting attempt : SUSTAINED EFFORT - Keep going Sisyphus!
5. Usury protection : INTEREST RATE CAP - It's amazing what people will pay on short term loans
10. Airport agents see a lot of them : IDENTIFICATIONS - There are many of these sites online:
Here's the rest of Bruce's Saturday lineup:
Across
1. Borrows without returning : BUMS - Also my Dad's beloved Brooklyn Dodgers
5. Intestinal : ILEAC - Relating to the ILEUM10. Apple that's inedible : IMAC - I've been mad enough to take a bite out of ours a couple of times but not nearly as often as with PC's
14. 1966 N.L. batting champ Matty : ALOU - Get three vowels in your name and you'll make the starting lineup here!
15. Drag-racing fuel, briefly : NITRO - NITROmethane fuel minimally costs $10 - $15/gal but definitely gives you more 1. Value for your money, idiomatically : BANG - for your buck
16. Very serious : DIRE
18. What tots might go after? : TATER - Pretty clever Bruce!
19. Many an RPI grad : ENGR - Some are on our blog here
23. Atmo- kin : AER - It's all up in the air
24. He served the fewest 20th-century days (83) as U.S. VP : HST - FDR died on April 12th and they finally gave HST details about the atomic bomb on April 24th.
34. Somali-born model : IMAN
35. Things for one to do : SOLOS
36. Blücher's title in "Young Frankenstein" : FRAU - Every time her name is mentioned:
37. Swing improvisation? : TIRE - He should improvise a sturdier rope
38. Move like Miley : TWERK - You'll have to find that on your own time
39. "__ it up and spit it out": "My Way" lyric : I ATE - Paul Anka heard this tune below (translates to As Usual) in Paris, bought the rights to it, came back to America and wrote My Way lyrics for Frank Sinatra
40. Learning ctr. : ACAD - My friend's brother got sent to Wentworth Military ACADemy to "straighten him out". Didn't work
41. "Peg Woffington" novelist : READE - Did anyone here, uh, READE it?
46. Tailor's concern : FIT
47. H.S. hurdle : SAT
57. Assorted mixture : OLIO
58. __ Bruni-Sarkozy, former French first lady : CARLA - From model to Première Dame de France
59. "Chocolat" actress : OLIN - Lena OLIN. Now Sweden is heard from.
60. Title derived from "Caesar" : TSAR
61. Early seal hunter : ALEUT
62. It's off-limits : NO-NO - I called my Aunt Norma Aunt NONO
63. Cease : HALT
64. Member of a 1969 MLB expansion team : PADRE - You'd have to be a real baseball junkie to recognize this most famous and highest paid 1969 Padre. Appropriate name, huh?
65. Difficult situation : STEW - A non-edible use of this word as a noun. I'd be more likely to use it as a verb unless I was cooking
Down
2. Film apiarist : ULEE - Peter Fonda lives on in Crossword nomenclature
3. A majority : MOST - They got the MOST popular votes but not the necessary electoral ones. I couldn't name Samuel Tilden in this array.
6. He played Oskar in "Schindler's List" : LIAM - Neeson
7. Diminutive suffix : ETTE
8. Realtor's measure : AREA - Claustrophobia alert! Here's a five-minute tour of a tiny house with an AREA of approx. 200 sq. ft.
11. Flash Gordon foe : MING - The Merciless
12. Mythical vessel : ARGO
13. Random House co-founder : CERF - Best known for his work on this panel. Shown here in a very early edition!
21. Layer : HEN - It was so windy the HEN laid the same egg four times! Rim shot!
22. Tour finish? : IST
25. Occupy, as a table : SIT AT - Who is allowed to SIT AT your table is a big deal in school cafeterias
26. Firenze friends : AMICI -More than one AMICO
27. 2016 NFL returnee : LA RAM - The RAMS are easier to move because their helmets have no city designaton like KC and some others29. City in southwestern New York : OLEAN - The largest city in Cattaraugus County
30. 2013 Grammy winner for "Royals" : LORDE - Born inNew Zealand as Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor. LORDE crossing READE could have been a trap for me but it came to heel (I'll take mixed metaphors for $200 Alex!)
31. Sonicare rival : ORAL-B
33. Kid stuff? : SUEDE - Leather items made from baby goat skins.
44. __ Chess: video game : WII - Most nursing homes (retirement homes?) have WII bowling which I really enjoy as well.
45. Train part : CAR - Arlo sang of The City Of New Orleans which had "Fifteen CARS and fifteen restless riders. three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail."
48. Clothes consumer? : MOTH
49. Victor Laszlo's wife, in a classic film : ILSA- When she thought Victor was dead...
50. Retro calling aid : DIAL - Thing used one is The Addams Family
51. Like a fantasy land? : LA LA
52. Historic plaintiff Scott : DRED - A horrible part of our past
53. Musical connector : SLUR - Notes sang/played without separation
54. One may be hatched : PLOT - John Wilkes Booth had laid out a very elaborate PLOT but only his tragic part of it hatched
55. Strauss' "__ Alpensinfonie" : EINE - An Alpine Symphony
56. Buffalo feature, often? : SNOW - Coming off our old cwd friend Lake Erie
What say you?
DA GRID:
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy 51st wedding anniversary to dear Gary and his amazing wife Joann! I met them when they came to Minneapolis for a wedding a few years ago. Gary is gracious, witty and patient in person as he is on the blog.
2) Happy Birthday to Chairman Moe (Chris), our wine and beer expert. Thanks for the punny haiku and daily fun!
3) The 41st American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (March 23-25, 2018) will be held at the Stamford Marriott in Stamford, Connecticut. For those who attend, I hope you won't miss the Cru Dinner organized by the great Mike Alpern.
The Cru Dinner officially kicks off the tournament and is a great opportunity to meet with constructors and fellow solvers. Our own Jeffrey Wechsler stopped by there last year. Today's constructor Bruce Venzke has been a ACPT judge for years. He might have attended one of those Cru Dinners also.
The space is limited, so be sure to contact with Mike (alpernm@aol.com) as
soon as possible. Mike also takes fantastic photos of the tournament each year. See Rich Norris?
Mike just turned 71. Have to share with you this wonderful picture of him.
Mike just turned 71. Have to share with you this wonderful picture of him.
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| Mike Alpern |
44 comments:
Oh, to be a rock star, when I go to work!
Oh, to be a TSAR of stage, famous for my quirks!
Why, I'd be CLAD
In rags so glad,
And watch my fan-girls TWERK!
After my first puzzle entry "State of Illinois" morphed into "Cornhusker State", things became much clearer. Guess I picked the wrong place to SWAG.
Good morning!
Hate to admit it, but Bruce got me this morning. I had TIME WARN... and figured we were looking for some kind of pun on TIME WORN. Managed to fix that one. ORALB went in, came back out, went back in. The Carolinas became a Wite-Out wonderland, but finally submitted. In the end I thought her name was MARLA and that protection was an INTEREST RATE MAP. Bzzzzzt! DNF.
Husker, I remembered Dorothy, Bennett, and Arlene, but had to look up Hal Block. Still don't remember him.
IMAC was my one and only Apple misadventure. I kicked it to the curb, literally, before its second birthday. No more fruit-based computers for me.
The IRS has finally released Form 8606, so today I can finish up our taxes. Pretty sure we're going to owe a penalty this year. What fun!
Congrats to Husker, and happy birthday to Chairman Moe.
Hello Puzzlers -
WOW! Outstanding grid design! Four spanners in each direction, in symmetry. Bruce, it’s a work of art.
Managed to work out most of the puzzle, ending up guessing between iMac and iPad...Ming and Ping seemed about equal, while Cerf seemed more probable than Derf.
Howdy, Huskermeister, it’s appropriate for you to be at the helm today with that big shoutout. Happy Anniversary!
HBTY Chairman Moe.
Enjoyed working the puzzle this morning . Had to start in the SW with MOTH and HALT. After DIAL I risked MIDFIELDSTRIPE . The long fills came with reasonable quickness. Had to change Plan to PLOT . The twerp's TWERK was a gimme. Many unkowns today , but as in flight school , its not if you know the answer but if you now where to find it. :) Thank you Bruce for the puzzle and Husker for the tour.
Am I still asleep or am I dreaming? Is today Saturday? ULEE, NESS, and Matty ALOU were gimmes and started the "BANG for the buck". I finished it in under 10 minutes, top to bottom with only a few unknowns filled by perps. The spanners were nice but easy to guess after just a few letters. The WAG-cross of READE and LORDE, both unknowns, was the only iffy part of the puzzle. CARLA and MING were perped.
My only change was INUIT to ALEUT.
"What's My Line", with Bennett CERF, Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, John Daly (not the golfer) and guest panelist. Sunday nights, either before or after "Candid Camera", with Allen Funt, Durwood Kirby, Woody Allen, Fannie Flagg.
Gary, working on your anniversary. Happy and kudos to Joanne for her patience.
Moe, hope the east coast is treating you well. Many happy returns.
Thank you, Bruce, and I suggest you all go read (reread) the interview Gary linked. Very informative and helpful.
I did not know LORDE or NATAL as clued. Luckily the perps were there. I also had no idea that Paul Anka bought "My Way."
I recognize Johnny Podres, but forget he was a Padre. I also appreciate the on-going CSO to Jason and the Argonauts.
Good Morning,
Thanks, Bruce for such fine construction and a good deal of fun. I was on your wavelength today as my long fills--at first WAGS confirmed by crosses--remained true to my first guesses. Even so, my faves today because they made me chuckle: TOT and HEN.
Once again, Gary, thanks for a most interesting tour. Illinois certainly came to mind for me as the Land of Lincoln, including the CORN-y start. We see a lot that here also. I wish you and Joann a lovely day for celebrating.
Happy Birthday, Chairman Moe. Thanks for all the good humor!
Have a very nice weekend. Peace to all of you.
Good Morning:
Not only was I on Bruces's wavelength this morning, but I broke my all-time Saturday record, finishing in 15:30! Those eight grid spanners were the key to such a quick solve. I had no w/os but needed perps for Natal, Reade, Amici, and Slur, as clued. Olean filled itself in after the Ol. Huge CSO to HG and normal CSO to Spitz (RPI) and CC (Olio) as that is one of her favorite words. My fav C/A was Kid stuff=Suede. Our Time Warner went to Charter and then Spectrum. (Their ads are silly and annoying.)
Thanks, Bruce, for a Saturday speed run/fun and thanks, HG, for the outstanding write-up. You truly outdid yourself this morning!
Happy Anniversary to Gary and Joann. 🎂🍾🎉🎈🎁
Happy Birthday, Chairman Moe. 🎂🍾🎉🎈🎁
It's nice and sunny right now but snow is expected tonight. Here we go again on the weather roller coaster.
Have a great day.
Congratulations to Husker and Ste. Joann, and HBDTY Chairman Moe. Nice newsy stuff, CC.
I had to guess at SLUR x CARLA, and Google to get READE because I also didn't know OLEAN or LORDE. But only one erasure - Acre gave way to AREA. READE is a great name for an author, but WRIGHT would be even better.
Favorite was "swing improvisation" for TIRE. I was thinking of golf, music or hedonism.
Thanks to Bruce and Gary for the fun Saturday exercise. Thanks for the second Nebraska CSO, Gary. I would never have known.
[NERD ALERT] Oh, and copper-clad cable is useful for relatively high frequency use because of a phenomenon called "skin effect". Even if the cable is solid copper, high frequency electricity only uses the outer-most portion - the "skin". That means that most of the material can be something cheap, like aluminum or steel. Kind of the opposite of fiber optic cable, where the tiny core (the center) is made of ultra-pure glass, while the bulk of the cable is lower-grade glass that has the job of keeping the photons in the core.
At first this puzzle was intimidating - but the grid spanners came relatively early and provided so much help as perps that it ended up faster finish than usual. I got the CABLE before anything else on TIME WARNER CABLE - so knew it would have to do with the CHARTER cable provider- but needed perps to finish it up.
Smiled when I saw CORNHUSKER STATE knowing HG would be blogging today - Happy Anniversary!
My husband was chiming in on possible answers throughout today's puzzle - kept reminding him that the question mark signaled it wouldn't have anything to do with Illinois! It took a bit because at first didn't know if it would be related to a Lincoln car or the prez. It didn't help that I had ILIAL before changing to ILEAC thus sitting on LORN for awhile...before the doh!
It's snowing here - but just light and beautiful! My husband was out and said the roads are fine - so plan to go to my Cardio Dance class later this am.
Happy birthday Chairman Moe!
Thanks HG and Bruce for a fun puzzle and write-up!
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Bruce & Gary. Very happy Anniversary to Gary & Joann.
Also a shout out to Kansas where there is a SALINE River and SALINE County, the seat of which is SALINa. Very nice mid-state city and area shopping hub at the intersection of two inter-state major highways.
The puzzle was engrossing as usual for a Saturday. Quite a number of unknowns. Unlike Big Easy, I struggled with the first block and didn't know the names. Thought ULEE started with an "O". We hadn't seen ALOU for awhile so it didn't come to mind. Last block to fill.
My SIL's funeral was yesterday. Her only son who lives in the same town didn't show up for the funeral. He is an addict who has lost a sister & mother in a matter of months -- the only two people who have tried to straighten him out. No good outcome in sight.
Happy Birthday, Moe!
Good morning everyone.
Happy Anniversary to Husker Gary and FRAU HG. Good write-up.
Happy Birthday to Chmn. Moe.
Eight grid spanners. Whew! Actually, overall they were some of the easier fill. Eventually got it all, but needed help with TWERK, READE, and LORDE. Knew the TSAR source, and guessed NATAL from remembering the Zulus were in the East of RSA. NATAL includes Durban. Had 'fly' before FIT. Thanks BV for the RPI SO.
OLEAN - Vowel rich city like Utica. OLEAN sits astride the Allegheny River south of whose great bend lies the only un-glaciated sector of NYS.
von Blücher - One of the top serving generals in the Prussian army. Coordinated his forces with Wellington's to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo.
If any Crossword Corner (CC) regulars will be at the ACPT in March (and hopefully at the Cru Dinner), please be sure to find me so we can take a picture for CC. Since meeting her (digitally) several years ago and after discussing her seemingly unlimited talent with my friend Rich Norris (and numerous other cruciverbal obsessives), my great wish has been to get her to the ACPT where, I assure you, she will be a superstar. Think Beyonce!
Should she come, I will gleefully pay for her Cru Dinner. And I will finally have a picture with her. My efforts have yet to bear fruit.
Sorry to interrupt the discussion of Bruce's (an ACPT regular) offering but I wanted her most intimate circle to know that veneration extends well beyond your 'family'.
She's a gem and everyone knows it.
Mike Alpern
Busy day today,
no time to do a really hard puzzle, AND bake a virtual cake!
What to do? What to do?
Oh well,
Happy Anniversary Gary and Joan!
Happy Birthday Chairman Moe!
(Just print it out and put it on a chair before serving, it was the closest I could come to "Chairman Moe.")
Oh, And for visiting the Blog,
Happy Birthday Mike Alpern!
(sorry it's blurry, I was in a rush...)
Thought I'd swing by to say hi, without falling off (of) my tire/tyre. Good to see a lot of old names/faces still hacking it out - led by OWEN still writing customized limericks ending with the perennial exclamation point/mark!
mm.... (that's the symmetry of today's grid) It means "Mirror, Mirror"... and it was indeed fair, and fair. (Although I have never considered the verb to BUM to carry any suggestion of BORROWING. Purely one way traffic, old chap.)
Allo, Allo, I thought. ALOU and ULEE crossing in the Northwest... Plus ça change.... but despite the limitations of small blocks (4x4, 4x5 and 3x3) needed to accommodate 8 grid spanners, there was plenty of fresh fill.
Indeed, a little too fresh in parts. My major bottleneck was a NATICK SQUARE where OLEAN and LORDE crossed TWERK and READE, with a cleverly clued SOLOS and a double bluff literal clue (SOWER) thrown in for good measure.
• FYI, today's NYT crossword had a very similar 10D clue, but the answer was the (much shorter) IDTAG.
• Finally, note that while TSAR is indeed derived from CAESAR, it may further be noted that in classical Latin, the "C" is pronounced as a HARD C; and, ironically, it was only the Germans – who held the Romans at bay for the most part – transliterated it properly, as KAISER.
Ciao Amici.
IM & BigE - ??!!!???. Wow! It took me 1.5h to FIW w/ 2 Googles. I'm not sure to be impressed or feel really stupid. :-)
Things started off with a BANG and whimpered-out quickly as the NW nearly filled itself. The rest-of the grid (AREA-to-AREA left->right): NITRO. IMAC. null. null. FRAU [Fav!*]. null. DRED but x'd Astro(?) [bzzt]. PLan (hi OAS!)
TIME WARNER CABLE was my first spanner with only the above in place. //I'm one of those drips that follow FCC rulings.
I had to consult the Google for LIAM and OLIN. I should have consulted for 41a... I have REnnE.
In summary, I'm not ACPT worthy. :-)
Thanks Bruce for a beautifully-constructed grid. There was some diabolical cluing (and too many acting-names for my wheelhouse) but it is a Saturday. You only fooled me with 'Tour finish?'; I was thinking 'it must be FIN' (French) [//sigh... yeah, it's Tours, D'Oh!]. I 'got' the rest of the '?' misdirection easily and had fun.
I did get a kick out of the clue for 1a considering my FLN post about Eldest getting me a new HHGTTG 'cuz mine was BUM'd.
Happy Anniversary HG & Joann! Great expo HG - the electoral losers was especially interesting.
Happy Birthday C. Moe!
Y'all have a wonderful Saturday!
Cheers, -T
*I heard the neighs in minds-ear as I filled!
The electoral loser link I apparently screwed-up.
#Brain-fart: {B+}. I enjoy your EFFORT every day OKL.
Nice to see you again Cuppa. Thanks for the trivia about hard-Latin-C and Kaiser - I did not know that; @60a I inked --AR waiting some while to see if it was gonna be CZ or TS.
-T
HUSKER Gary: Congratulations on being featured in the puzzle. I totally did not get the LINCOLN connection even after I got the answer!
Thanks for the write-up with the illustrative links. Glad to watch the FRAU clip again. Learning moment about MY WAY.
OLEAN/READE/LORDE was a very unfair Natick in my humble opinion. I did WAG it correctly to FIR. MING and CERF caused trouble in the NE. Was not sure if IMAC or IPAD.
Jinx: Thanks for the reminder about "skin effect". It varies with both frequency and material. Copper has less skin effect than iron, for example.
Here DW and I are doing a SWING IMPROVISATION.
I am guessing this was the intended mis-direction? Some friends asked if we had practiced that sequence a lot. That is the joy of SWING Dance. Never the same moves twice!
I have experienced SNOW in Buffalo and I have experienced Buffalo in Yellowstone. Another clever misdirection. (There are also buffalo in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco!)
I'm also late to this delightful party! Earlier I had about half the puzzle done then left to attend our annual HOA meeting of which I'm the secretary and was re-elected; actually, we can't find any more residents to join the Board.
I loved the grid crossers and had trouble only with CORNHUSKERS as I wanted KENTUCKY in there somewhere with the K from TWERK. Finally, TIMEWARNERCABLE came to the rescue.
AnonT: I thought of you FLN at BUMS.
READE and CARLA forced me to Google. Even though she was much in the news, CARLA didn't stick with me. EINE was another block. German and I don't mix well.
I loved the cluing for MOTH, SUEDE, and the CSO to my mother, LALA.
Thank you, Gary, and congratulations to you and Joanne. Thank you, as well, Bruce. I love your puzzles!
I hope all are enjoying this glorious Saturday!
Picard - and Buffalo nickels that may have an S or a D stamp'd on 'em. Date could'a been a feature too... As CED oft says, "Maybe I'm over-thinking this." :-)
With Youngest at dance all day & DW in AZ I've got time on my hands... Lucky you :-)
With @13d==CERF, I had to go-to-the-Google to see if Vint CERF, of author of multiple (45(?)) RFCs* and, along with Jon Postel, "father of the Internet" fame, were related... Vint's Answer. There, I've finally contributed something nobody at the Corner knew(?) :-)
Cheers, -T
*RFC: Request for Comments. RFCs are the protocols, or 'standards', of computer-communications that makes the InterTubes work. Think SMTP (email), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), etc.
Another weekend toughie, but what an amazing grid!I couldn't believe all those grid-spanners, and I even got one (GET THE MEANING OF) without any cheating. My favorite clues were "Clothes consumer" for MOTH, and "Buffalo feature, often" for SNOW. I did my graduate work at the University of Buffalo (S.U.N.Y. Buffalo, in those days) and, boy, did we have a lot of SNOW.
Thank goodness we have a sunny day here in California, today. Have a good one, everybody!
Happy anniversary, Gary and Joann. You are a very special couple, always there for each other. I admire you. Enjoy your day.
How nice to have such a big CSO, Husker Gary, and on the day that you are our exceptional blogger. Spectacular expo, as usual.
Chairman Moe, a very happy birthday. I enjoy your humor and poems.
CE Dave, you are a true trouper, always there with a cake and plenty of humor, no matter how busy you are.
Lovely puzzle, Bruce. It was just slightly easier than a usual Saturday. I was worried about the D in READE, but he is a favorite crossword author. I didn't know LORDE, but the perps, besides the D, were solid.
Many find Schindler's List dark and heavy. Not being surprised about the conditions under Nazi rule, I saw the film as a light of hope and humanity in the midst of darkness. LIAM was very believable.
Elliot Ness, for me is Robert Stack, in the TV series of The Untouchables, beginning in 1959. No one can take his place in my mind.
I loved What's My Line with Cerf and all the others.
Sinatra's My Way is one of my favorites. I knew the Anka connection.
Bruce, so many fun puns and misdirections: moth, tot, hen, kid stuff, tire. Great stuff.
OKL. Good poem. I like it!
The Washington Post has several anti-hugging articles today. Maybe I need to give up my screen name,Yellowrocks. 25 years ago we were told not to comfort crying kindergartners with a hug. Being a female, I got away with hugging many times. A male who hugged would not have survived.
Guess what the most popular square dance call is? Yellow rock. Our version of the hug and our intention is not to be overly familiar or intrusive, just to be friendly. When someone acts uncomfortable and backs away, we desist. Different people and different cultures have different values for personal space and privacy. The efficacy of human touch is enormous.
Just an informal survey, no right or wrong.Are you put of by pour hugging culture.
Hugging, ugh!!
human touch
Yellowrocks to you unless you object.
YR:
I agree with you about Robert Stack! His is my favorite version of Elliot Ness, too!
Michael:
FLN: Thank you for that observation and yes, I realize that wives, mothers are also responsible for our children's successes. I simply wished to acknowledge AnonT's direct connection with his daughter and the love she demonstrated by looking for his book.
YR:
What an interesting article on anti-hugging! I will confess to one and all that I and my entire family are huggers. We hug each other anytime we see one another. But I do respect the space of those who don't hug. Usually I don't hug people the first time I meet them unless they reach out to me. Hugging, to me, is an affirmation of love and acceptance. It dispels animosity and aloofness and brings people closer together.
If someone is sick and displays obvious signs of a cold or flu, I refrain from hugging, but otherwise, hugging is imperative for me and my friends, as well.
What a great puzzle construction for today. Plus, no gimmicks. And just tough enough to make a Sustained Effort worthwhile.
"Puzzling Thoughts":
First off, thanks for the birthday "hugs"! Great cake, CED; my favorite flavor.
Fitting that birthday #65 happened on a Saturday; hardest day of the week for the LAT xword puzzle, as well as the Sudoku and Jumble. I managed to complete all three, but with just the Sudoku solving with no cheats. I had to anagram the letters to find "BAND TOGETHER" in the Jumble, and the READE/LORDE cross was my Natick in the xword.
I had a plethora of WO's: ACRE>AREA; UTICA > OLEAN; TWIST>TWERK; NY MET>PADRE; PLAN>PLOT; ILEAL>ILEAC; NOTE>SLUR
BTW, to those here who are a tad bit older than I: what's 65 supposed to feel like??!!
Lemony, this area is treating me pretty well, thanks. Though as you know, the northern part of Palm Beach County is quite different than where you are, in Broward. Hope our paths will cross again, soon
The only Moe-ku I could come up with today is:
Santa got some hair;
Glued it on Rudolph's forehead:
A bang for his buck?
CM 65 is the new 45. Only a number if your healthy and fit.
CMOE:
Happy birthday! At 65 you are still a young man especially if you enjoy good health and can get around. It sounds like you qualify. I wish you a fun filled celebration!
Before I read all your comments I want to apologize profusely to you, Wilbur Charles, and beg your pardon. Yesterday I attributed statements to you that were actually made by somebody else. I am mortified that I mistakenly recalled you as being the person who called me disingenuous. It was not you. I am very sorry.
Wow, what a wonderful puzzle! Admirable! I enjoyed solving it, although I had to look up the author of "Peg Woffington" in order the dislodge the logjam at the center, in which I only knew TWERK and SOWER.
Hearty congratulations to Gary and Joann and to Chairman Moe.
Good wishes to you all.
Jayce, apology accepted .You really had me going. My only hope was that"disengenuous" wasn't recognized by my editor as having been used. I looked the word up; it does have some bite .I'd have thought it simply meant not completely forthright.
I think we're all disengenuous some of the time. Except Misty of course 😁😁😁
HBD to C-Moe and of course congrats to Gary on a banner day . This went went in four installments as I shuttled around greater TB . Moe ànd I have the same xword solving experience.
I thought the charter had a CATCH much like the fisherman eating breakfast Thursday behind me . He was outlining a plan to become a commercial fisherman to his wife. She kept saying"What's the catch?". So I said
The Catch is the Catch. At least she got it.
Alou was on 3rd when McCovey lined out to Richardson to end the 1962 World Serious*
And Berra's fly to left was chased down by Alomar to preserve Podres 1955 shutout that clinched the WS.
WC
Felt good to get a Saturday tada. I just knew a bunch would be talking easy-peasy.
Uhuh. Hardy-hardy .
* That's what the gamblers called it
PS. Kudos have become unnecessary for our masterful Eratorian duo.
Being a fan of TBBT, I often pause the TV to check out Chuck Lorre's Vanity Card sayings at the end of the credits. One that appeared back in October (and which recently was rerun) summed it up for me. I've taken the liberty to change a few words ....
"I just turned sixty-five. It is, by any measure, an advanced age. It is not the new fifty-five, or the new sixty. It is just old. And it has forced me to do some serious soulsearching, to ask myself a tough and vaguely frightening question: How will I know when it's time to quit? What signal, mental or physical, should I look for that tells me it's time to stop writing [sic] limericks or Moe-kus? After much careful thought, the answer came to me. The day I sit on the toilet and my balls hit the water, I'm done."*
*Chuck Lorre Productions, #556
Chairman Moe,
Aw Crap!
That happened to me last week...
(but wait, did I forget to put the toilet seat down?)
(Woohoo, A second chance at life!)
Only CED could could see the positive side of that scenario...
:)
😀👍
CM Overheard two oldtimers talking in a restuarant lamenting the absent minded embarassing things that happen . One said "when you realized you forgot to close your fly" The other said " or when you forget to open it " .
C. Moe - {LMAO!} Another 'Happy Birthday' to you mate. OAS & Lucina nailed it - health is key...
Wait, what? So that' what's going on down there when I hear kersplash? Just age?
Ha! OAS.
YR - I'm not much of a hugger but I'll play along. With my family, however, big-time hungers. We're Italian.
Lucina, if I'm sick, I'll warn-off others; "Air-hug!" or I'll just put up a hand (instead of shaking) saying "hi, but you don't wanna touch me; I'm ill."*
eHugs to all. -T
*this also works, even if not ill, on people who are "extra-huggy," creepy-weird/super-demonstrative, Baptist/Mormon, or, on your 1st day moving into what seems like a Stepford Wives neighborhood, with folk bearing cookies.
//all the above I found were OK enough - I just recoil at early/casual displays of niceness; it seems fake / they want something from me. #GetOffMyLawn
Happy anniversary Gary! Happy birthday Moe! I really appreciate both of your contributions around here.
I just finished watching a rerun of an old movie, "Laura." I was hoping to like it but I thought it was only mediocre.
On the other hand, I also stumbled across "Casablanca" but I haven't started it yet. I am really looking forward to it (for maybe the fifth time). It's one of my all-time favorite movies, right up there with "The Third Man."
Bill G:
I'm right there with you on Casablanca! It's my all time favorite movie and I can watch it again and again. I don't know about The Third Man, though. I'll have to catch it sometime.
Next in my queue is Moonstruck. I love that movie and all the characters.
Why, thank you, Wilbur, from trusting that I'm not disingenuous. Probably because I can't afford to pretend I know less than I do, at this time of life!
Mr. Stumbled Uponit says...
For all you Teachers who rightly think, "If we were treated like football..." [Key & Peele: 4m]. Cheers, -T
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