Theme: "Island Hopping"- Seven islands are hopping in the grid.
24A. Preliminary negotiations : INFORMAL TALKS. Malta. With the L in 22A: "I didn't mean that": NOT REALLY and 25A. - : TALKS
48A. Former Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale component : VERBAL IQ. Bali. With the A in 43. Italian peaks : ALPS and 50A. - : LIQ
51A. Fluorescent bulb element : KRYPTON GAS. Tonga. With the O in ' 44. "Seriously?" : YOU DO? and 52A. - : NGAS
67A. "On the Good Ship Lollipop" performer : SHIRLEY TEMPLE. Leyte. With the Y in 63. Fine-grained wood : YEW and 69. - : TEMPLE
84A. Lesser clergy member : MINOR CANON. Minorca. With the R in 81A. Show some teeth : GRIN and 86A. - : CANON
88A. Confirmed : BORNE OUT. Borneo. With the N in 82. Washington soccer team : DC UNITED and 89. - : EOUT
110A. Check out a wreck, perhaps : GO SCUBA DIVING. With the B in 105. Lacking what it takes : UNABLE. And 112. - : ADIVING. Cuba.
As I mentioned before, Across Lite can't handle no clues, hence the "-" in the last part of each theme entry.
Amazing grid from John! The starting & ending phrases are all symmetrically placed. I especially loved those few where the finishing parts are real words, like TALKS, TEMPLE and CANON.
Tons of sparkling long fill, despite various theme restrictions.
Across:
1. Pond organism : ALGA
5. Traffic sound : BEEP
9. Spin, for one : CYCLE
14. Niger neighbor : MALI. Ali Farka Touré!
18. Slight mitigation? : NO OFFENSE. And 20. One dressed for dinner? : CAESAR SALAD. And their symmetrically partners: 115. Babysitters' woes : HOLY TERRORS. 119. Romcom, perhaps : DATE MOVIE. Gorgeous 11's.
23. Defense opponent, briefly : ASSISTANT DA
27. Bivouac structure : TENT
28. Sportage automaker : KIA
29. Olympic skater Ito : MIDORI. We see ITO more often.
31. Mag. edition : ISS
33. Obliterate : ERASE
37. Blow bubbles into : AERATE
40. Canberra school : UNI. University.
41. Benjamin of "Private Practice" : BRATT. He was in "Law & Order" also.
46. Teachers' org. : NEA
24A. Preliminary negotiations : INFORMAL TALKS. Malta. With the L in 22A: "I didn't mean that": NOT REALLY and 25A. - : TALKS
48A. Former Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale component : VERBAL IQ. Bali. With the A in 43. Italian peaks : ALPS and 50A. - : LIQ
51A. Fluorescent bulb element : KRYPTON GAS. Tonga. With the O in ' 44. "Seriously?" : YOU DO? and 52A. - : NGAS
67A. "On the Good Ship Lollipop" performer : SHIRLEY TEMPLE. Leyte. With the Y in 63. Fine-grained wood : YEW and 69. - : TEMPLE
84A. Lesser clergy member : MINOR CANON. Minorca. With the R in 81A. Show some teeth : GRIN and 86A. - : CANON
88A. Confirmed : BORNE OUT. Borneo. With the N in 82. Washington soccer team : DC UNITED and 89. - : EOUT
110A. Check out a wreck, perhaps : GO SCUBA DIVING. With the B in 105. Lacking what it takes : UNABLE. And 112. - : ADIVING. Cuba.
As I mentioned before, Across Lite can't handle no clues, hence the "-" in the last part of each theme entry.
Amazing grid from John! The starting & ending phrases are all symmetrically placed. I especially loved those few where the finishing parts are real words, like TALKS, TEMPLE and CANON.
Tons of sparkling long fill, despite various theme restrictions.
Across:
1. Pond organism : ALGA
5. Traffic sound : BEEP
9. Spin, for one : CYCLE
14. Niger neighbor : MALI. Ali Farka Touré!
18. Slight mitigation? : NO OFFENSE. And 20. One dressed for dinner? : CAESAR SALAD. And their symmetrically partners: 115. Babysitters' woes : HOLY TERRORS. 119. Romcom, perhaps : DATE MOVIE. Gorgeous 11's.
23. Defense opponent, briefly : ASSISTANT DA
27. Bivouac structure : TENT
28. Sportage automaker : KIA
29. Olympic skater Ito : MIDORI. We see ITO more often.
31. Mag. edition : ISS
33. Obliterate : ERASE
37. Blow bubbles into : AERATE
40. Canberra school : UNI. University.
41. Benjamin of "Private Practice" : BRATT. He was in "Law & Order" also.
46. Teachers' org. : NEA
53. Functions : OPERATES
55. Ring holders : TOES. Tiny dupe with 26. "Single Ladies (Put __ on It)": Beyoncé hit : A RING
56. Fish eggs : ROE
58. Toffee candy bar : SKOR
60. Alloys, e.g. : MIXES
61. Corner office execs : CEOs
62. Word spoken con affetto : CARA. Google Translate "Con affetto" means "with love". Looks like "with affection" to me.
64. Sleep it off : SOBER UP. Also 72. Youth support group : ALATEEN
66. "Shame!" : TSK
71. Tach figure : RPM
74. Antique : OLD
76. Storage facility sometimes found underground : SILO
77. New Mexico's __ Ski Valley : TAOS. Never skied. You?
78. "What __": "Ho-hum" : A BORE
79. Scoop : INFO
80. Part of TNT : TRI
90. Balaam's mount : ASS
91. Vade __: handbook : MECUM, New phrase to me.
92. Old Vatican bread : LIRE
94. Port of __: Trinidad and Tobago's capital : SPAIN
96. Fashion initials : YSL. Lovely.
102. Plane wing parts : SLATS
104. Driver's lic. figure : HGT
107. Mauna __ : LOA
108. Blood prefix : HEMO
121. Piton user : MOUNTAINEER. Looks dangerous.
123. Sludge : OOZE
124. Wonder Woman's __ of Truth : LASSO
125. Chinese: Pref. : SINO. We also have 6. China's Zhou __ : ENLAI
126. From Denver to Topeka : EAST
Down:
1. Golfer Sorenstam : ANNIKA. She is a special VIP during the annual 3M Championship here in MN.
2. Canadian coin : LOONIE
3. Had success : GOT FAR
4. Picked hairdo : AFRO
5. Classic "Star Trek" order : BEAM ME UP
8. Manning in Nationwide ads : PEYTON
9. Amontillado holder : CASK
10. Base reply? : YES SIR
11. "__: Miami" : CSI
12. Final part of a task : LAST STEP
13. Art Deco artist : ERTE
14. Watchword : MANTRA
16. Bloke : LAD
17. Early civil rights activist __ B. Wells : IDA. Wiki says she "was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, feminist, Georgist, and an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909."
19. Pro, country-style : FER
20. Colombian city : CALI
21. Clear-minded : SANE. Nothing seems to rattle D-Otto.
30. Pair : DUO
32. Relish : SAVOR
34. ATV part : ALL-TERRAIN
35. Watches secretly : SPIES UPON
36. Legal titles: Abbr. : ESQs
38. Actor Lew : AYRES
39. Some action figures : TOYS
41. Successful shot : BASKET
42. Vocal effect : TREMOLO
45. Subway line with a Yankee Stadium stop : D TRAIN. Have any of you been to the Yankee Stadium?
47. "Whoa!" : EASY
49. Payoff : BRIBE. Common practice in my first job near Tsingtao. My boss knew how to bribe those local mayors.
51. "Laughing" Australian bird : KOOKABURRA
52. "SNL" alum Kevin : NEALON
54. Paul Bunyan tool : AXE
55. Chicago Museum of Science and Industry showpiece : TESLA COIL. Got via crosses.
57. Bobby on the ice : ORR
59. Has a loan from : OWES TO
61. Windy City transp. org. : CTA. Chicago Transit Authority.
62. Frito-Lay product with a spokes-feline named Chester : CHEETOS
64. Put together, as film : SPLICE
65. U.K. heads : PMs
67. __ A: Italian soccer league : SERIE. New to me also.
68. "The Simpsons Theme" composer Danny : ELFMAN
70. 105-Down launch : MIR. And 105. 70-Down launcher : USSR
73. Slew : TON
75. "... the worst thing you can __ nothing": Teddy Roosevelt : DO IS
77. Clobber : TROMP
79. Attaché attachment : ID TAG
81. African bovines : GNUS
82. Two-baggers: Abbr. : DBLS. Doubles. Also 91. Commissioner's Trophy org. : MLB
83. High : EUPHORIA
85. Timberlake's former band : NSYNC
87. Approve : ACCEDE TO
93. Welding fuel : ETHYNE
95. "And So __": Billy Joel song : IT GOES. Rare 6-letter partial.
97. Riyadh residents : SAUDIS. One of our readers lived there for a few years as a diplomat.
99. Kid-lit pig : OLIVIA
100. Elixirs : TONICS
101. Like the best wisdom : SAGEST
103. Paving stone : SETT. Regular in our old Wayne R Williams days.
106. Classic language : LATIN
109. Dinner, for one : MEAL
111. It has a Double Stuf variety : OREO. Three characters in Chinese. O RE O. The first character and the last one are the same.
113. The Beatles' "__ Loser" : I' M A
114. Burrowing rodent : VOLE
115. Aetna offering : HMO
116. Tic-tac-toe win : OOO
117. Spanish light : LUZ. New to me also.
118. ER workers : RNs
120. Young Skywalker's nickname : ANI
Mike Alpern told me that only three spots remain for the Cru Dinner. So email Mike (alpernm@aol.com) now if you don't want to miss the chance to mingle with other solvers and constructors.
C.C.
C.C.
DNF today -- didn't know con affetto/CARA, NEALON, ETHYNE, SETT, probably others that perps took care of. A few CSOs to me tho.
ReplyDeleteNew Mexico's TAOS Ski Valley
Is the place for a winter-time rally!
Go join the folks
Who like the slopes --
Or stay inside with the SANE ones like me!
I drive a KIA SPORTSTER and I like it!
Tho circumferentially enhanced, I still fit!
It looks A BORE outside,
But it's comfortable to ride,
And it helped me solve the puzzle by today's wit!
The Star Trek line was "Scotty, BEAM ME UP!"
It got them out when they ran out of luck!
It had a side effect
Which Scotty would affect,
The transporter caused an instant SOBER UP!
Georgism, also called geoism and single tax, is an economic philosophy holding that, while people should own the value they produce themselves, economic value derived from land should belong equally to all members of society.
That Georgism comment is cut & paste from Wiki, since I didn't know what it was, either.
ReplyDelete{B+, C+, B-.}
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to John and CC!
Got 'er done sans cheats. but what a struggle!
Also did Friday's without problems. Saturday, however, was a disaster!
Things that I didn't know: VERBAL IQ, A RING, CARA, TAOS, MECUM, SLATS, IDA, D TRAIN, SERIE and ETHYNE.
Great amount of rain! The trees that are left may survive the year!
Have a great day!
Without the circles, this would have been a disaster, and even with them, it was not easy. Once I got started it began to make sense but the islands did not all jump to mind. Another feat of visual building skill.
ReplyDeleteIf you watch William Shatner on his crazy new show, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER he repeatedly denies ever saying "Beam me up Scotty."
I very nice shout out to Kazie. When my oldest brother started school, he had music class where they sand songs and the Kookaburra song was my favorite.
Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree
Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gumdrops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra, Stop, Kookaburra
Leave some there for me.
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra, Stop, Kookaburra,
That's no monkey, that's me.
Do they really LAUGH .
DST next Sunday, except for Arizona contingent.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteIt took me foe-evuh to figure out that the answers spanned two horizontal spaces with a "bump" in the middle. D'oh! The E in BORNEO gave me the second E in SERIE. Without that, it would have turned into a DNF. Whew! Nice puzzle, John. Thanx for the expo, C.C.
AYRES -- I remember him as Dr. Kildare in the old movies with Lionel Barrymore. Back when we first got a TV the studios licensed only old movies (at least 10 years old) to TV. We got to see lots of early "talkies." Tried to misspell AYRES as AYERS, like the rock. Quickly fixed.
ETHYNE -- Looked this one up after finishing. I knew Acetylene as the welding gas. Its "systematic name" is ETHYNE. Who knew?
Spring has sprung in the southland. The azaleas are in bloom, the trees are in bud, and the pollen counts are out of sight.
Time for that bike ride...
A neat little theme with the islands incorporated in other words today. But with so many unknowns, it was difficult to grind all of them out. Benjamin BRATT, Vade MECUM, Amontillado, Lew AYRES, DT RAIL, Danny ELFMAN, ETHYNE (acetylene?), LASSO, OLIVIA, LUZ- those I managed to get, but the WAG cross of another two- ALATEEN and SERIE- stumped me. I guess AL-ATH-EN for the 'athletic' part, guessing sports.
ReplyDeleteYou can't win them all.
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteEven having caught onto the trick, I struggled in a few places. Hand up for wanting Acetylene, which doesn’t fit of course. Early on, with empty white all around, I confidently put in “Make it so!” at 5d. Sorry, Picard, it turned out to be “Beam me up”. Very artful grid design, John!
Morning, C.C., nice to have you on the bridge today (a nod to Star Trek there)
Speaking of which: last night’s Symphony performance was a hit. The first half was all Star Trek music, the second was Star Wars. Each section was accompanied by a costume contest from the relevant franchise. There were some first-class examples. Winners of both adult and youth groups were determined by strength of applause. The younger Star Trek winner was a manifestly disfigured child with a pretty good costume who really won over the crowd - I think the little kid was well rewarded with applause. Really warms your heart!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteBecause of the title and helpful circles, this was a fairly easy solve, but needed lots of perps and wags. Unknowns were: Serie A, DC United, and (Vade) Mecum. W/os were Agreed to/Accede to, Mole/Vole, and DOB/Hgt. Minorca and Borneo were the hardest to parse because of the surrounding fill. CSO to CanadianEh with Loonie.
Thanks, John, for a fun and enjoyable challenge and thanks, CC, for the detailed summary. Your professional observations on clues and fill are much appreciated.
Our recent foot of snow is melting at a good clip due to temps in the 40's. However, another storm is expected on Wednesday. It's too early for any accumulation estimates, though.
Have a great day.
Since we’ve discussed a cappella harmony at the Corner now and then: 95d, Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes”, has been a favorite of close-harmony groups for some years - it works well with the moving chords that make a cappella so enjoyable. There are lots of good examples on YouTube.
ReplyDeletea capella fans should check out
Deletethe mighty echoes at genghis cohen in la this sat 3/10 @ 8
they’re funderful and pretty decent chinese food too
Musings
ReplyDelete-Wow!! This linear thinker finally looked at the title to get the gimmick(s) that C.C. so skillfully exposed in her always great write-up. I even wondered why there was no reveal. Out of the box thinking escaped me today but I had a great time!
-High temps and winds both near 60 today on the Great Plains.
-Otto, azaleas in the southland? Can the Masters be far behind?
-ALGA/ALGAE and AMEBA/AMOEBA
-Site of some Underground abandoned SILOS in my hometown
-James Caan’s son’s lack of HGT (5'5") is pretty obvious in this shot from Hawaii-50
-NETFLIX’S Narcos first features Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel and then the Rodriguez Bros. and the CALI Cartel
-I took my family to Yankee Stadium when the girls were little and it was amazing and scary at the same time
-My friend just returned from visiting her daughter in Riyadh. She said at least the weather was nice
FIR for a change. I didn't see the circles, but caught on to the superscript continuation of the first part of the theme answers. Didn't catch the islands gimmick. Caught on when I had to change TEMPLE to SHIRLE. Also changed tank to SILO and a couple of minor misspellings
ReplyDeleteI used to scuba dive on a wreck of a sistership of Jacques Cousteau's vessel. We got there on my buddy's scuba-friendly powerboat he kept in Channel Islands Harbor (in last week's OXNARD, CA.). It was pre-GPS days, and we had to locate the wreck using a fish finder and compass bearings.
CSO to one of our favorite constructors, Jeffrey Wechsler. For us antique and collectible car aficionados, another CSO to the great auction house MECUM.
Thanks to John Guzzetta for a fun, tough puzzle, and to CC for another interesting explanation and comments.
Hi everybody. I started and finished this late last night. No circles on Mensa. I struggled along until the title finally clicked and made sense. I saw the "Island Hopping" gimmick and thought it was very clever and tricky though I didn't know a few of the island names. (I thought the clues were hopping over a black square (island).I was guessing the folks who didn't tumble to the gimmick would not enjoy this very much. Thumper maybe? Thanks John and CC.
ReplyDeleteThis started easily enough and I sashayed along quite well, caught on to the circles, then I hit a big time Natick at the intersection of two soccer teams and the unknown TESLA COIL. Yikes! Google, here I come! That finished me, or so I thought.
ReplyDeleteI had FLAPS for the airplane wings (Hi, Dudley) and I garbled ETHYNE with LIRa.
Sports and I do not mix!!!!!!
Time to go. Thank you, C.C. for explaining it all.
Have a delightful Sunday, everyone! It's gorgeous here.
This was a struggle for a long time as I groped for the theme. With so many unknowns I had lots of scattered bits, but no completed theme answer for quite awhile. Then I got INFORMAL TALKS/MALTA and I smiled! Very creative theme! And mostly fair.
ReplyDeleteA few Natick crosses: CARA/NEALON and TROMP/MECUM. Otherwise the unknowns had comprehensible crosses. Hand up with Big Easy I know ACETYLENE; did not realize this is also called ETHYNE. Learning moment! My welding experience is limited to spot welding for physics experiments. Maybe someday I will graduate to gas welding.
I have done ISLAND HOPPING in Southeast Asia.
Here I was DIVING in a WRECK at the Tubbataha Marine Reserve.
The WRECK offered more marine life than the surrounding reef, which sadly was mostly killed off. It was the first time I was diving with sharks around me which was exciting. My favorites were the sea turtles, though.
CC: Did you do anything special for Chinese New Year? Sorry if I missed a previous post about this.
Here is my article about our beautiful SINO-West Chinese New Year performances.
SINO-West is the name of a local dance school. The teachers are Chinese, but you can see they mix in some dance of the West, too!
Learning moment about the TESLA COIL at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. I was thinking of Sue the T Rex at the Field Museum.
Here is my article about our recent SpaceX Falcon 9 LAUNCH!
Frustrating that we still depend on the former USSR to get Americans into space. But glad to see this LAUNCH may be getting us closer to a return.
Learning moment about IDA B WELLS being a Georgist. Thanks, OwenKL for sharing the information. The concept of Georgism is to tax consumption/pollution rather than creation and production. A carbon tax and a road user tax are similar ideas.
His idea was that if we taxed the use of land we would make more efficient use of it. It would eliminate taxes on income which would encourage more innovation. A little something for everyone on the political spectrum.
Yes, Lemonade, it is true that BEAM ME UP, Scotty was never actually said in any Star Trek episode. But BEAM ME UP was said quite often and made for some exciting moments!
WEES about everything! For some reason this was the most difficult Sunday puzzle for me in months. I can usually finish one in half an hour or less, but this one took about 50 minutes. I did FIR, but what a struggle. I don't know why, but the theme took ages to filter into the little grey cells. Once it finally cleared up for me, things began to go much better.
ReplyDeleteI know that I have read before (several times/places) that while Shattner did say "beam me up," it was most often "beam us up," and was never "beam me up, Scotty."
Sunny here in NE Illinois today. Looking forward to a little more of this, but definitely NOT looking forward to Daylight Saving Time, which I detest!
Have a good week, all!
Sure could have used the circles!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant puzzle!
ReplyDeleteSunday Lurk say...
ReplyDeleteWow! I can see, sans circles, how John's puzzle would be a doozie. But, it's quite a brilliant concept. Thanks, C.C., for letting me play vicariously.
{B+,B-,A}
Good to see you Fermat. What's your standing in the game?
//nothing puzzlepropos follows:
IDA, I've have known but not as clueed: Georgism is new to me. I like the ideal; quite egalitarian and in-line with what little I think I know about Native Americans' philosophy - that is: 'the land is for all.'* This too would apply to natural resources like wildlife, ore, and oil.**
This would make sense with the tax paid by the land-holder. And, for a resource-extraction play, the %x on resource would be passed on to the users of said product; e.g. %x on oil would make plastic go up but only significantly for those constantly nursing water from a 12oz plastics.
While this kinda sounds ideal (and I'm sure we could do the maths to get the %x right to balance what we had paid on labour), our Congress Critters would surely muck it up. Especially, if the tax is 'weighted' based on the supposed scarcity of said resource. Eg. We've lots of sand but oil, as a resource, was on a decline (we're running out!) until we learnt fracking - then we's ain't gots enough sand (which is needed to frac).
You can pick any two natural resources and make a similar comparison.*** Fun ensues and we still gets screwed. :-)
//end
Back to xwords... 'Beam me up' gave me an idea for a common word that could be clue'd as: Picard's "Step on it" //don't shout it out Picard :-)
Cheers, -T
*Oh, Com'on - there's a little Guthrie in us all, no?
**shhhhh - don't tell my boss
*** Proof is left as an exercise for the reader :-)
How well I remember VADE MECUM! In our daily spiritual instructions we were often told "make this your VADE MECUM today" meaning, whatever the reading or instruction consisted of, take a word, phrase or thought from it and mull over it throughout the day. Often it was Scripture or readings from the vast convent library.
ReplyDeleteOwenKL;
I thought of you at TAOS and Canadian Eh! at LOONIES, Kazie at UNI and Dudley I already mentioned.
Well, I averted an afternoon filled with frustration and gnashing of teeth. My upstairs (main) TV was inoperative. It's connected through a DVR and cable box. It was unresponsive to DVR commands. Just a dark screen. The only diagnostic fix I could think of was unplugging the box and letting it reset itself. That solves almost everything. But no. Still nothing. A call to the cable company resulted in their opinion that it was a problem with my TV. I normally control everything with the DVR universal remote. I hunted up the TV remote and found it unresponsive. Taking off the battery cover revealed two AAA batteries, one of them badly corroded. I cleaned out the battery container and got two new batteries. I reset the input to the TV and voila! Teeth gnashing avoided. In the olden days, I could often fix things. These days, it's try unplugging something. If that doesn't work, then it's buy a new one.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to our CC are in order. She won the ORCA Award for Best Free-Style Puzzle of 2017 for her puzzle that appeared in The New York Times on June 16, 2017. Brava, dear CC! (Complete list of awards is on Crossword Fiend web site.)
ReplyDeleteIM - Thanks for the heads-up. That's awesome and Congrats C.C.! //that is a cool puzzle. Y'all check it out... just, um, neat-o!
ReplyDeleteC, -T
I still have no idea of what this puzzle is about. My printout had neither title or circles. I finally cut my losses and took a DNF
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Wow, wow, wow! Tricky layers of a puzzle without circles. Thanks, John. I finally caught on to the hop up to capture a crucial letter and was satisfied that was the island. Then I came here and learn that in addition there is an island name, from C.C. Thanks so much and congratulations on the ORCA Award. So brilliant, our darling!
ReplyDeleteNo idea what Vade MECUM could be or that ROMCOM wasn't a technical computer term. Romantic Comedy. Why can't people say what they mean anymore instead of speaking in abbreviations?
I kept books for and processed all invoiced purchases in three garages as well as having a husband who did a lot of welding. I never saw the word ETHYNE gas. Acetylene, I know.
ALATEEN is, of course, associated with Alcoholics Anonymous and a great learning experience.
Picard, thanks for the information on city event planning. Actually, I was kidding about moving to your town although it sounds like a lovely place to live. The city in which I live has some really good events which I enjoyed when I was still able. Loved the authentic Mexican Fiesta with costumed dancers & music. Can't go anymore.
PK:
ReplyDeleteAre you satisfied that you know the meaning of VADE MECUM? Someone earlier translated it, "come with me"; it's a small compendium that you take along with you.
Irish Miss:
Thank you for informing us about C.C.'s award. Congratulations, dear C.C.!!!!
I'll have to check on that puzzle now.
It is wonderful to note the recognition of our founder, C.C., with such a nice award. I also want to acknowledge John Lampkin and Roger and Kathy Wienberg who have their LAT work nominated. I also want to congratulate all mentioned in the recap for their continuing contributions to crossword construction.
ReplyDelete- clues totally ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteDudley: Way cool you thought of "Make it so!" before BEAM ME UP. I did, too, of course!
ReplyDeleteAnonT: Sorry, but I am not getting the inside joke. Please do let us all in!
PK: Glad to know you were joking about moving here for our community activities. And glad to know your community has such activities, too! Where do you live? Your profile seems to be blank.
Picard - see email. it's a real c/a I'm thinkin' about.
ReplyDeleteOK, who has Amazon Prime? Bill G. - I got Season One of WKRP on Prime for $10 today. Youngest & I are binging. See you after S1E7 (Turkeys away! :-))
C, -T
AnonT, I think I saw every episode of WKRP once and, I'll bet, many of them twice. Some even more often. Brilliant stuff. What a great ensemble.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Kimmel taking some of the Hollywood elite across the street to meet some movie-goers inside a theater. More brilliant stuff.
Organic chemistry notes: Carbon has four attachment points possible, for any single carbon atom.
ReplyDeleteIf you have two carbon atoms attached together, and hydrogen for the rest, you can have ethAne, C2H6. This is called a saturated bond. (Remove one -H and replace it with an -OH, and you have Tinbeni's Solution, ethanol.)
But you can also have the two carbons bonded TWICE to each other: C2H4, an unsaturated bond. The formal IUPAC name for this is ethEne, but it is better known to us as ethylene, or minus an -H, as vinyl, which become many differing plastics.
And if the two carbons have three bonds to each other, C2H2, then it is formally called ethYne, but almost universally known as acetylene.
The reason for the odd names here, is that when chemistry was starting to take off around 200 years ago, a handy starting point was "acetum", vinegar in Latin.
Thanks, Michael. I was hoping some knowledgeable person would shine some light on that. I didn’t exactly excel at chemistry.
ReplyDeletePicard - I suspect you’d have enjoyed one of last night’s orchestral pieces particularly. It was the full suite built around the simple, pretty flute melody played by Capt. Picard on The Inner Light and subsequent episodes. Since they didn’t have a Ressikan flute available, a good quality penny whistle was substituted. One of the orchestra’s three usual flutists took up the challenge of learning the unfamiliar instrument and turned in a splendid performance. She got a solid round of applause! Lots of Trekkies in that audience.
Gee, Picard, you say you're glad I'm not moving to your town. My feelings are hurt. LOL! As for not having anything in my profile, I've had some strange people in my past who precipitated happenings I wouldn't want repeated so I'd rather leave people guessing. One of them died last week, but there are still a couple more somewhere out there.
ReplyDeleteMidnight and gave up after eleven hours (off and on) of struggle. Not feeling well, computer off line, so I tried the "old way" using my two sets of encyclopedias and my two most recent almanacs. . impossible! Why, oh why make puzzles with so many twists and ifs?? Word knowledge, history knowledge, scientific knowledge, geographic knowledge doesn't count any more, just the ability to log into an on-line "cheat site" (and there are dozens - I've counted. What's the value of a puzzle if it only measures your computer skills?? Please don't lecture me - as some have before when I expressed my concern before - about looking for "easier" puzzles. How demeaning is that?? why do puzzles need silly gimmicks and un-clever guises to get published?? As I go to bed unfulfilled, I think I might cancel my subscription to the LAT after over a half century of faithful readership
ReplyDeleteI see that somewhat obscure actor Gary Oldman has just received a Best Actor Oscar for playing Churchill in Darkest Hour.
ReplyDeleteSome of you will know why I posted this - if you read really late posts like this one.
Clever puzzle. WEES about ethyne - never heard of it. Actually did some acetylene welding decades ago.
I hear that Taos has an unusually high number of steep runs - intimidating for beginning skiers.
Very clever, challenging puzzle. Loved it!
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