A THEMELESS SATURDAY PUZZLE BY CLAIRE MUSCAT ON NATIONAL BEER DAY
Claire Muscat has brewed up a wonderful Saturday puzzle for us on this festive holiday! I skated around from section to section and eventually I ran out of cells to fill in. The "S" in SCRAP PAPER and STEAD earned for me a highly desired "got 'er done!"
As often happens to me I got off to a 11. What you might get on a day off : SLOW START (Those are my faster solver friends ahead of me) but slow and steady carried the day!
Two triple stacks of ten's were impressive, helpful and "gettable". Now let's see what else Claire has for us this first Saturday of April where we it is snowing here on the Great Plains!
Across
1. Where thoughts can be organized : SCRAP PAPER - I've put some important phone numbers on the backs of some receipts I found near the phone
11. __ punk: No Doubt genre : SKA and 37. "It's Raining __": The Weather Girls hit : MEN - Neither are on my iPhone playlist
14. Not go off-script : TOE THE LINE - A mantra for members of Congress if they want reelection money or committee chairmanships
15. Zero-star fare : GLOP
16. They're hidden annually : EASTER EGGS - We asked our daughter if our 15 year-old grandson and 12-yr-oldgranddaughter still wanted an EASTER EGG hunt at Papa's. The answer was YES even on a dreary Easter Sunday.
17. Holds up : ROBS
18. Got into a pickle? : ATE - Not in the baseball sense
19. Xi preceders : NUS - Or 19. Belonging to the Huskers - NU'S
20. Kind of baseball league for pre-Little Leaguers : PEE WEE - Add your own caption
 |
| Is your team ahead or behind? |
22. Duplicates : DITTOS - Do you know this movie where Patrick Swayze couldn't say I love you back to Demi Moore but rather said this
24. Dogs follow them : SCENTS - Cool Hand Luke used pepper to throw them off the trail
26. Ruled by thieves : KLEPTOCRATIC - A new word to me but pretty easy to suss out as I am sure you all did. Many of our African UBER drivers in D.C. claimed this is what was going on in their countries where leaders are stealing all the money and commoners get nothing
30. Like some restaurant boxes : TO GO - Guilty! I have added TO GO when ordering at a drive thru
33. Crispy triangle : DORITO
34. One of two possible Passover mos. : APR or Mar
35. Indignant reply : I DO SO - Playground patter
38. Sip : NURSE - What I would do with a $20 cocktail
40. Charge : FEE - Where they abound
41. Lost control in a big way : RIOTED
44. Throw below deck, say : STOW
45. Bolo ties or bell-bottoms : FASHION CRAZE- What? They're not popular now? Next thing you know they'll say the same about my Nehru jacket!
48. "Camptown Races" refrain syllables : DOO DAH - Perhaps where you might have least expected it. (I would have posted the entire clip but it has "that N word" in it.)
49. Brick partner : MORTAR
53. Graduates : ALUMNI This blog has many of them with a degree in 9. University dept. : ENG
55. One using bugs : SPY
56. Media co. based in D.C. and Fla. : UPI
57. Best Actress between Jennifer and Julianne : CATE - The $35,000 Hermes bag Cate Blanchett carried in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine was worth more that the entire costume budget for the rest of the film58. Targets : ZEROES IN ON
62. Building blocks for tots : ABC'S
63. They take forever : ETERNITIES
64. Kinda equivalent : ISH - I consider myself "OldISH"
65. "Quit it with the attitude!" : DON'T SASS ME
Down
1. Begin to fast? : STEAD - Horton was STEADfast and stayed on Mayzie's egg through all manner of difficulties
2. Raccoon kin : COATI - I can see the family resemblance
3. Start over : RESET -Kids soon learn that real life doesn't have that button like their games do
4. Grisham hero, often: Abbr. : ATT - An ATTorney not the communication giant
5. Carbolic acid : PHENOL - In very dilute amounts, it is used in many household cleaners and mouthwash
6. Read carefully : PERUSED - Senators like Rand Paul were given 30 hours to PERUSE the 2,322 page Omnibus Budget bill
7. They may be blonde or red : ALES - They must have stayed up nights thinking up these names
8. Glutton : PIG
10. Franklin spelled it out : RESPECT - Tell me again why anyone else should sing this song
12. Laker great, familiarly : KOBE - Bryant
13. Arcing recess : APSE - I grabbed him in the APSE by the organ
15. Former Fox News anchor Van Susteren : GRETA - GRETA famously underwent plastic surgery during her career
21. 2001 scandal subject : ENRON - Bankrupted my uncle
23. Ring stats : TKO'S
24. Extend : STRETCH
25. Expression maker : COINER - We have COINED quite a few words here at the corner, e.g. Clecho
27. College in Claremont, California : POMONA - POMONA has joined athletically with Pitzer College and competes as the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (smart chickens?)
28. __ jure: by the law itself : IPSO - by operation of the law is a phrase used to describe an automatic change in a legal situation that is a consequence of some other action or some other failure to act. You're welcome.
29. Word with neck or cut : CREW
30. Row : TIFF
31. Ancient performance halls : ODEA - Here's one on the edge of the agora in Thessaloniki
32. Shares expenses, in a way : GOES DUTCH - I haven't dated since LBJ was president. Is this a common practice now?
36. Star-studded hunter : ORION - My favorite constellation
39. Intervention target : USER
42. Like much table salt : IODIZED - Iodine was originally added to prevent goiters
43. Depresses : DAMPENS - Every group has "that person" who can bring everyone down
46. Development units : HOMES - My fair city is proposing putting 400 of them in a very small area just across the street from us
47. Lawn grass genus : ZOYSIA - This "warm weather" grass is better suited in southern climes as it hates winter
50. Arab Spring city : TUNIS - This was triggered by a fruit vendor's desperate act against an oppressive government. Google at your own risk to see what he did if you have forgotten.
51. "__ begins in delight and ends in wisdom": Frost : A POEM - A lovely sentiment
52. Certain cycle : RINSE - Just show me where to turn it on!
53. Antioxidant-rich berry : ACAI - Vowels, vowels vowels!
54. Chocolates, e.g. : LABS - Our neighbor had a hyper active Golden LABrador who had to be given to a friend with a farm and lots of land
55. Kind : SORT - "What SORT of person are you?" There is a wrong answer! 😏
59. WWII arena : ETO - Despite Stalin's pleas for America to open a front in Western Europe, America opened its European/African Theater of Operations in North Africa in 1942
60. Han and Leia's son Kylo __ : REN - Okay
61. "__ a date!" : IT'S - Let's do this all again next Saturday!
Pertinent and impertinent remarks now welcome:
DA GRID
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Claire and Gary!
Not a bad Saturday. No cheats!
Things that I did not know: SKA, PEE WEE, KLEPTOCRATIC, PHENOL, RESPECT, IPSO, TUNIS, A POEM and REN. All sussed pretty easily.
Have a great day!
FIRight! The first time I tried this one, I filled 3/4ths of it, but was left with a lot of white in the NW. Went to sleep for a few hours before trying again, without much luck, until I erased BREAK(fast) as 1d, and with that, I finally saw some light! SCRAP, TOE THE, DITTOS, STEAD, RESET, COATI, & PHENOL (the last two unknowns needing ESP) all came into focus!
ReplyDeleteThe COATI lolled on the ZOYSIA grass
Complacently digesting its recent repast.
With its nature KLEPTOCRATIC,
In a manner systematic,
It had stolen every EASTER EGG to the last!
The tramp had little in his backpack to STOW.
He wouldn't TOE THE LINE, so on the road he had TO GO.
But his spirit didn't DAMPEN
From his urban campin' --
Worn shoes used SCRAP PAPER to LINE THE TOE!
He said it in Greek, but just to confuse
He left out the letters that came after mus.
He said it followed practice of African gnus,
Whose cacophonous lowing meant no moos is good NUS!
{B, C+, C-.}
ReplyDeleteSpeedy Saturday but not "easy". TBALL and TEEBALL did not fit for PEEWEE. Thank God it's the weekend. Longest week ever. #taxmanapproacheth
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteTOE THE LINE went in...and came out...to allow "Start to fast" to become BREAK. And I held on to that far too long. Same with "Zero-star fare" -- GRUB. Once those fox-passes were corrected, things started zipping along, and I ended up finishing in better than normal Saturday time. Thanx, Claire (are you from Oman?) and Husker.
Husker, it's not just the Uber drivers in D.C. who are saying that.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was one of those Saturdays that look formidable but, with a few, easy, long-fill toeholds, Voila! Fini! It was much easier and more enjoyable than yesterday's offering. W/os were: Emo/Ska, Slop/Glop, Break/Stead, and Spat/Tiff. Unknowns were Phenol, Zoysia, and Men and Ren, both as clued. Didn't know there were Blonde Ales and Coiner seems forced. Other than that, smooth sailing.
Thank you, Claire for a pleasant solve and thanks, HG, for being the host with the most! (We had a dusting of snow overnight, also.)
Owen, all three 'licks made me smile, so thank you, too.
A special thank you goes to the blog members who played a part in getting Argyle back online, especially CC, who gives new meaning to the words persistence and tenacity. Brava, dear CC.
PK, thanks for the positive update on Aaron. I hope he's better each day.
Have a great day.
Good Morning Cornies.
ReplyDeleteI thank Ms. Claire Muscat for this extremely difficult CW that I eventually FIR.
Thank you Husker Gary for your fine review.
I'm through.
Ðave
SLOW START to this puzzle with WEES about the BREAK/STEAD shift, but then it picked up speed as I worked my way down.
ReplyDeleteZOYSIA was a sort of lawn CRAZE when I grew up. The plus side was in the hot humid weather it stayed green when everyone else's lawn went brown, but it was weirdly a yellowish white color in cooler weather when everyone else had green grass.
I knew once I had EN in the middle, that the answer would be the chemical class for carbolic acid - but I'm not up to snuff with all the chemical formulas so waited for perps to get to PHENOL. We used a carbolic acid based cleaner to keep the ants away from our kitchen when I lived in a sketch area of the city in my 20s. PHENOL was the alternative to formaldehyde for our cadaver preservatives in anatomy class - a kind of sicky sweet smell that seemed to stay with you the whole semester.
Thanks HG for an entertaining write-up and Claire for the puzzle!
Just read some of yesterday's blog comments - thanks Jenn for keeping Argyle connected to us. He's in my prayers each day. Hopefully spring will come there and here soon- then he can get outside a bit- hard to believe it is 23F here today!
Not quite a speed run; more of a slow jog but I managed to FIR. Husker, I'm with you: one of the things I don’t like about the approach of summer is that I won’t be seeing Orion high in the sky at night for a while.
ReplyDeleteI found the NE to be the place that slowed me up the most. Not sure why, but things didn’t jump out at me there, as they did in other places. Liked some of the fill that was fresh; GLOP, KLEPTOCRATIC, GOES DUTCH among others.
Brilliant sunshine here in DuPage County today, but only 24 degrees and breezy enough to make it seem like only 14. Not a great day for working in the yard; I believe I’ll stay indoors and play radio.
I hope everyone has a good weekend.
Thank you Claire Muscat and thank you Husker Gary.
ReplyDeleteTinbeni finally gets a beverage or two in the puzzle, and it's on a day that he normally doesn't solve.
I sometimes generate a lot of SCRAP PAPER using the print command. It's a downside of having a large memory buffer in the printer.
Spent 5 minutes studying that Time Warner Cable bill. The line items are very similar to my Comcast bill.
I was looking for a proper noun at Expression maker. ALA "Regal maker" for answer Buick.
Me too, CartBoy. Couldn't get any variation of Tee-ball to fit.
National Beer Day ? Thanks for the heads up Husker Gary !
Well, sunny and 76 degrees as I sit at my computer with the door open enjoying the fresh air. Our snowbirds are abandoning the condo, so it is getting quiet here as we prepare for summer.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the puzzle with KLEPTOCRATIC, GOES DUTCH, ZEROES IN ON, and DON'T SASS ME were all fun. It was nice to get a beer reference in the puzzle on National Beer Day.
Thank you to a new young female constructor, the disciple of David Steinberg who is still quite young. She debuted March 29 in the NYT with a collaboration with David. here she is...
CLAIRE
I've been away too long! I missed all the birthdays.....happy happy to IM and Abejo. Hope your days were great.
ReplyDeleteI did see the good news from Jen that Argyle is getting our good wishes and prayers. Many more to follow.
I struggled with today's puzzle but I liked it. Some easy to Suss clues and some impossible. About right for a Saturday .
HG, I do appreciate the Patrick Swayze ditto from Ghost.
Owen, all three were chuckle-worthy. Thanks.
FIR, I guess it took about average Saturday time. I interrupted my solving to buy groceries before the weekend crowd arrived. Thanks for the fun, Claire and Gary. Adorable kitty. I still miss Kahlua after all these years.
ReplyDeleteAbout hanging the TP, I do as I please despite the OCD police. I realize that when there are prints they may be upside down if you pull the paper from underneath, but it works better for me that way. The embossed flowers on the brand I buy look good either way.
I was steadfast about keeping BREAKfast. At the end I finally finished with STEAD and SCRAP.
When I write a note to myself on scrap paper I often lose it.
Having the Z brought to mind ZOYSIA, but I had to have perps to spell it.
There are plenty of kleptocrats in Washington. This term has been used about Washington for many years.
Weekly health report: 2 days at the Y, 2 days square dancing, 1 day walking, 2 days zero. I lost one pound this week. I am thinking of asking for PT because my back is not good.
Nearby Branch Brook Park has more cherry trees and a greater variety of species than Washington DC, really spectacular most years. The cherry blossom festival there begins today with no blossoms. They are hoping for blossoms before the festival ends in two weeks. During the two weeks the attendance usually runs to 1,000,000. Many come from far away. The early arrivals will be disappointed. It will continue to be cold through mid-week.
I'm off to get for haircuts for both of us. Have a great day.
National Beer Day? I had an early start last night with a few Abita Amber and Miller Lite drafts.
ReplyDeleteSlow Start? With BREAK and BLANK PAPER for 1D&1A it was real slow in the NW with only EASTER EGGS and ATT in place. The rest was easy for a Saturday level puzzle, only having to change TASTE to NURSE for the 'Sip' clue. After Filling GRETA, SLOP never got a chance, so GLOP it was, but GLOP is a word I've never noticed anybody using. Pig-GLOP?
"It's Raining MEN", SKA, and Kylo REN- the only fills filled by perps and were only 3-letters each.
SKA & EMO- I have no idea ( and don't care) what they really are but they are crossword regulars and easy fills.
KLEPTOCRATIC- Congress, state legislatures, city councils. Talked to you Congressional representative lately?
RESPECT- spelled by Aretha? Not the first. Otis Redding wrote it and sang it first a couple of years earlier. IMHO, Aretha is overrated. Otis died way too young in a plane crash.
Thanks to Gary for a fine write up and to Claire for an engrossing Saturday solve. I got the NE corner first, but just had OCRATIC done. The KLEPTO had to come from perps.
ReplyDeleteAs in the case with most Saturday puzzles, the obvious answer was wrong. I thought of Ben and not Aretha Franklin for 10D. LEGOS for 62A, which didn't fit, although some cubic blocks do have the alphabet on them. Etc.
Husker Gary's Octopus laying brick video reminded me of an old chestnut, Gerald Hoffnung reading "The Brick Layer's Story" in his 1958 address to the Oxford Union. It is dry British humor and was run on the comedy show that ran late Saturday nights on our local classical music station.
BRICK LAYERS STORY
I had to do the rest of the puzzle by bits and drabs. The final D in the ODEA and IDOSO was done by totally running the entire alphabet as a QWERTY run.
Happy Beer Day to all. I gather this was when beer first came back after Prohibition.
Live Well, Heal and Prosper
VS
Thanks to Claire Muscat for a fairly easy Saturday solve! Admittedly, I had a SLOW START but gradually picked up steam once EASTEREGGS were revealed.
ReplyDeleteBolo ties, a FASHION CRAZE? Really? Though they are the state tie, not many people wear them.
Thank you, Gary; I'll include myself in the CSO as my major is ENG.
KLEPTOCRATIC is a new word for me as is ZOYSIA which was completely perped. I may have seen them before but don't recall. And it is news to me that Han and Leia had a son, REN. Luckily, the long fill helped with the unknowns.
My girlfriends and I as well as my sisters GO DUTCH whenever we go out, either to the movies or to eat.
Argyle, if you read this, please know that I have kept you in my prayers and hope the very best for you in your recovery. You are missed!
Gary, thank you, for the excellent expo!
Have a beautiful day, everyone! I'm sending warmth to all, 90 degrees of it.
VirginiaSycamore, I really enjoyed The Bricklayer's Story. Thanx.
ReplyDeleteYR, unless you're taking someone with you, I would opt for only one haircut.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteLMAO at the Bricklayer's Story.
It seemed extremely daunting as I started. Began with APSE because it looked like GLOP might cross it. Flitted around at the bottom and got some momentum in the SW. Questioned ACAI, but it held. Began getting longer fill like GOES DUTCH, and the branches and tendrils slowly kept spreading to where it was finally solved without searches. Woohoo! I did have to change plate to craze to get FASHION CRAZE. Favorite cluing was for ALES. Good learning was ZOYSIA.
Solve, though, was like putting a nail in jello; almost every clue had several possibilities for answers. Those for APSE, EASTER EGGS, GRETA, and ORION were exceptions. Answers were bright and SASSY, so the rewards were worth going after.
Special best wishes to Argyle.
Good Morning.
ReplyDeleteWik Wak has already provided the weather report from these parts. IMHO, the sun always trumps [that's a card term, not a political one ;>)] the cold. It just hit 30 here. Heat wave! Thanks for the warmth, Lucina. Actually, you always provide that here!
Thanks for fun, Claire. I've finally learned never to give up on Saturday. Ha! I wanted a Hebrew month for APR or Mar. Speaking of which, Happy EASTER to celebrants this weekend. Also wanted TEE in there for PEE WEE. And so it goes.
Thanks, Gary, for your explication and all the great links.
Owen, I never thank you enough!! I admire your early daily creativity.
It was so good to "hear" Argyle in the background. Thanks, Jen and C.C. for keeping us in the loop. Keep at the rehab, Argyle. Be well.
Have a sunny weekend wherever you are.
55D: Since you brought up the subject of toilet paper loading preference, I once saw a holder that looked like the ordinary type. However, you could twist it 180 degrees to change it from a front loader to a rear loader. Perfect for those indecisive families.
ReplyDeleteWell, as soon as I saw all those long across spaces, I turned on the computer to get ready for cheating. Good idea since I got practically nothing on my first round--except DOODAH (at least I know my "Campdown Races"). But slowly things filled in and it was a lot of fun--many thanks, Claire. And you too for your witty report, Gary.
ReplyDeleteVirginia, I too thought of Ben Franklin before Aretha.
Lucina, I also never heard of KLEPTOCRATIC or ZOYSIA.
Fun poems, Owen. And I hope your back gets better soon, Yellowrocks.
Have a good weekend, everybody.
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteI needed one Google (IPSO) to continue play and FIW (UPI - an 'A' was left in place when I had Tanir [sic: should be Tahrir] Square for Arab Spring).
Thanks Claire for a nearly doable-by-me Saturday puzzle. Lots of fun words in there too. It took me about an hour (not quite and ETERNITY) during Wait, Wait and another hour to read HG (and everyone's) follow-up.
HG - I loved that cable (CABAL?) bill's FEEs as annotated. And of course Blazing Saddles was top-of-mind with DOO DAH.
WEES - I ZERO'd IN ON brEAkfast slop b/f GLOP.
I've heard of Kleptocracy so making it -TIC wasn't much of a STRETCH.
I put in SPY for ATT and then found a SPY using bugs.. Oh, right, ATT's are Grisham's subject.
Knew Raining MEN (donno why) but thought of No Doubt as more Fem-Punk, not SKA (I have their CD "Tragic Kingdom"). But, Wiki says Ska. Live and learn.
VS - I too was thinking Ben Franklin and had SPEnT for a long time trying to think of aphorisms he COINED. Here's one for BEER day: "Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy." [ Snopes' msg-board says not Ben. See Kathy B.]
REN w/o Stimpy?!?
Youngest called TO GO-boxes simply GO-Box.
{A, B, ha!}
Y'all have a great weekend!
Cheers, -T
I originally had FASHION CRIME but realized my mistake when DIMPENS made no sense. However, I still like my first answer.
ReplyDeleteAs usual I could comment on each post, but only have the strength for one.
ReplyDeleteVirginiaSycamore at 10:14 AM
- - Thank you for introducing me to the "Humor" of Gerard Hoffnung - "The Bricklayers Story." Some of the Cornerites found it worth a LOL, but I found it rather sad. First the canned laughter was atrocious. By itself that detracted greatly from anything humorous. Then there was the basic story. The barrel of bricks injured the bricklayer on his way up, and again on his way down. He injured himself on the pile of bricks, and for the grand finale the broken barrel fell on top of him with injuries sever enough to put him in the hospital.
- - Which part of this is supposed to be funny? I can only imagine the laughter if the tale were extrapolated slightly, and the bricklayer were killed by the free falling barrel.
- - On the other hand Gerard Hoffnung'scartoons are worthy of study. He was taken from us way too early (22 March 1925 – 28 September 1959) only 34.
Ðave
I'LL HAVE A Red Stripe later when I "toast" National Beer Day.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite day of the year is July 27th ... National Scotch Day.
Cheers!
"injuries sever enough to put him in the hospital. What a difference an "E" makes. I meant severe.
ReplyDeleteÐave
I liked this puzzle very much. Sure enough, I stuck with BREAKfast for a long time, as well as TASTE instead of NURSE. Had enough footholds to give me a pretty good start, what with knowns such as GRETA, DORITO, DOODAH, MORTAR, ORION, and POMONA. Loved the excellent fresh fill such as SCRAPPAPER, KLEPTOCRATIC, and DONTSASSME. Good stuff!
ReplyDeleteGary, I love that Time-Warner bill you posted and spent several minutes PERUSING it. Our phone bill looks a lot like it.
Good wishes to you all.
There’s crunchy and there’s Super Crunchy and today was the Super variety. Never thought after the first pass that I’d even get some fill, but worked it from the bottom up for the solve.
ReplyDeleteAretha overrated? Compared to who?
Three times today my post "timed out" on this site, all gone into the ether. The last post I really worked hard at. I give up. All my references were lost. Maybe I will have the heart to reconstruct it later.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Misty. Having to report my progress or lack thereof is an incentive until I get rolling. Once momentum takes over in two or three weeks I will be fine on my own.
Alan cannot use a smart phone. His present flip phone and all those flip phones advertised seem to have battery and charging problems. Alan uses the cell phone only one or two times a day to call and receive, no texts, no messaging. We were on Consumer Cellular, but all their flip phones have battery issues. I need to buy a simple, inexpensive, easy to use phone with a compatible network. Any thoughts on this?
Whew!
ReplyDeleteAfter yesterday's monster jam, we all deserved an easier go.
Thank you, Claire Muscat for stepping up! Today's pzl was a strong challenge all around, but also, to use HuskerG's immortal label, eminently "gettable."
So,
Ta- DA!
HG's write-up was a real delight - all the way through. The gags and illustrations were spot on! The Thessaloniki stage used to represent ODEA is a real beauty, a late-style theatron of the type the Romans built all around the Mediterranean. It reminds me of one I remember from Trieste.
The empire never matched the Greeks in dramatic output, but they outbuilt them and spread the cultural message in physical theaters.
Yellowrocks, sorry about your back but, Yes, DO go for phys. therapy. I went for two sessions a week for three months a few years back. I hate/loved the exercises - which helped immensely - and learned how to phase them depending on my pain level.
Now I do the same routines nearly every day at home.
____________
Diagonal Report: Three. A mirror 3-way forward slash (NE to SW). No hidden message.
D4 - It's funny because it's cartoonish. As for the brick-layer, it was "his letter" thus survived the falling anvils as the rules of cartoon-land dictate. It's silliness in the minds-eye (ear) like Newhart's telephone routines.
ReplyDelete//GoBox story:
From an early age, DW taught the girls expensive taste (no kid's menu for those two). Youngest somehow always found grilled salmon or filet mignon on the menu (she was 3, I'm sure she didn't read!). About 1/2 way through her meal...
"I t'ink I needa go-box."
It was sooo cute.
Tin - I've not a Red Stripe in some time. An idea is brewing....
Cheers, -T
Hi Y'all! Great puzzle, Claire! Always great expo, Gary!
ReplyDeleteKLEPTOCRATIC? New to me, but apt. It is why I didn't send alms to Haiti during their troubles. Cable Bill: oh DOO DAH! They hiked my bill $10 a month after sending me a "free" modem to hike my internet speed during a period when I still don't have email because the improvements they made locked me out. This is KLEPTO-something if not CRATIC.
SCRAP PAPER/STEAD filled last ESP. Didn't understand STEAD until Gary 'splained. I use SCRAP PAPER from mostly blank pages of my bills to make notes for this posting every day.
37* in bright sunshine here. Despite the crispness, two little girls were jumping on the trampoline next door in pretty little spring dresses without coats. Brrrr! Spring one day, winter two days lately. Light skiff of snow last night.
I am chuckling over a family at church Easter picture my son emailed. Dad in suit & tie, Mom in lovely dress. Oldest boy in white shirt & tie. Youngest boy in old gray jeans and untucked T-shirt. 3rd boy in plaid shirt & jeans. Red-haired Aaron, dapper in black suit pants & jacket, black shirt, big white bow tie and gleaming white basketball sneakers. Expresses their personalities perfectly.
YR: are you making any progress on finding a new home for Alan?
I sympathize with YR as I accidentally hit something on my iPad and lost my post.
ReplyDeleteSo, I will express thanks to Claire and Husker Gary and WEES for everything else.
I have never heard of that grass and am sure it would never survive Canadian winters.
FLN, thanks to Jennifer and C.C. for connecting Argyle. Continued thoughts and prayers for the journey. It may be a marathon rather than a sprint but know that we are cheering you on.
Sadness in Canada today with a tragic accident in Saskatchewan involving a Junior hockey team. 14 fatalities and 15 injured.
Sorry I can't link properly on my iPad.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-rcmp-in-saskatchewan-responding-to-serious-crash-reports-say-bus-was/
PK, yes, there is progress after a fashion. The mills of the gods grind slowly. I am filing initial papers this week. I asked the state DDD rep for a list of steps and needed forms plus an approximate time line. The rep laughed and said, "This is NJ, what do you expect?" She is very dedicated and caring, but just as frustrated as I am. We have to wait blindly for each step to unfold. It seems it will take months. Alan and I are happy that we can take the trips together we booked months ago for one week in July, one in August, and one starting with Labor Day. This process is difficult enough for me, having resources and Alan's history available, it would be a confusing nightmare for David and Alan both, if I suddenly could not help. This is why I must pursue this now, although I am much happier with the status quo.
ReplyDeleteI messed up the post about Al's phone. Sorry for the confusion. Please disregard it. Here is the complete message:
Alan's "newish" phone is dead. It won't charge. He cannot handle a smart phone. His present flip phone and all other flip phones advertised seem to have the same battery and charging problems. Alan uses his cell phone only once or two twice a day to call and receive, no texts, no messaging. It is necessary for him to have a phone so we can keep in touch with each other. He was on Consumer Cellular, but all their flip phones have battery issues. I need to buy a simple, inexpensive, easy to use phone with a compatible network. How do I match phone and network? His phone and mine came with included SIM cards. Do they all? Any thoughts on how to proceed? Thanks.
JessP, I had Fashion Gaffe. And liked it a lot because it made Fescue work for the 6 letter grass genus. Still like it better than craze, but it was not to be.
ReplyDeleteYR:
ReplyDeleteMine is a flip phone from Verizon; it's not cheap, but I've never had battery issues. Including unlimited texting I pay around $34 monthly. The cost of the phone was added to my monthly payment for two years until it was paid off.
I'm sorry to hear about your back problems. What does your doctor say?
Misty:
Kleptomaniac is familiar to me but not KLEPTOCRATIC. Our summer grass is Bermuda but I have no idea about its genus.
MME DeFarge:
Thank you for your kind words.
Canadian Eh!
What tragic news about the hockey team! It's on the news as well as on the internet. My deep sympathy goes out to all those families affected.
Hello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteBeen away of late, due to the passing of a dear friend and colleague lost to leukemia. Let’s see, quite belated birthday wishes to IM and Abejo, and greetings especially to Argyle.
Didn’t zoom through, too challenging for that, but got there in due time. Hand up for not knowing about zoysia grass, although the timing is handy - just yesterday I drove past a well cared for house with a smooth yellow lawn, and wondered what was the cause of the abnormal hue. Must be zoysia. It is, after all, still cold around here, and apparently the green is smart enough to go south for the winter.
VS, loved the bricklayer’s story! I’ve heard other versions, but his presentation was delightful.
Howdy Husker, this Saturday gig suits you!
Dudley, sympathy for the loss of your friend.
ReplyDeleteYR: my flip phone is from Verizon, LG brand, $34 a mo. No problem with batteries. Only charge it after occasional hour-long gabfests. Don't know how to text. Make only 6-10 calls a mo. but keep it because of emergencies. I used to have a Motorola flip phone with Verizon which wouldn't keep a charge. Had to have it on the charger every night. Pretty much ditto what Lucina said, but she didn't mention the brand/maker. Think the phone maker is important not the service.
I'm a bit surprised by the response to KLEPTOCRATIC.
ReplyDeleteIt's just a short step from KLEPTOCRACY, a word identified by Anonymous T @12:45,
and one I've spotted many times,
most recently in criticism of Vlad Putin and his Russian cronies.
I was ready to post the items below. I had "Previewed" and was satisfied. When I hit "Publish" nothing happened. Then nothing could happen. I had lost the internet. In a moment it was back, but my post was gone. I returned to my composition on Gmail, and we go again.
ReplyDeleteYellowrocks at 2:36 PM
- - Re your lost post, do you compose on your gmail account? I learned early on the advantages of doing it that way. I copy paste to the Corner. If something went wrong with the post I could copy paste again. Then I mail what I composed to myself.
- - Do you use the ctrl key functions? Ctrl-c copies, and ctrl-v pastes. Other favs are ctrl-x prepare to move text, ctrl-p print, and ctrl-z undo. When you google ctrl key functions, a whole page shows up. Then there are the 2 alt keys, lots of fun.
- - Re Alan's phone, I like the LG brand quality. Could he be frying his battery unknowingly. My understanding of the correct way to charge lithium ion batteries which power almost every device right up to electric cars, is to catch the battery before complete discharge, and charge till just shy of full charge. One should NOT charge overnight. Charging too often shortens the life of batteries. Please LIU.
Anonymous T at 2:39 PM
- - Thank you for your opinion on "the brick-layer." I may be the only one to Corner my view, but I am comfortable with it. The bit apparently was very popular.
PK at 2:47 PM
- - Wrote "...I still don't have email because the improvements they made locked me out." I find it hard to believe that you can have the internet sans e-mail. To be blue you must have a gmail account. Do you use it?
CanadianEh! at 3:29 PM
- - You are correct. ZOYSIA grass is optional even in Louisville where it is considered a weed. We still insist on bluegrass for our lawns. If our weather gets any hotter, we will have to rethink.
Ðave
Thanks to you all. I checked it out and found the flip phone is only six months old. I called customer service and was told how to shock it. It worked. I was also told we should charge it overnight every night.
ReplyDeleteI have arthritis and lumbar disc problems. PT has helped before. I must go back to it.
Thanks for the posting advice. I know better, but do not do it and
so I blow it.
OKL. The first one is A plus, a great blend of rhyme, meter, and humor.
D4: If I have a gmail account, I don't know about it or how to use it. I had Cox email that I am locked out. Their tech came out to install a new line to the house and couldn't make it work either. I'm waiting for a mentally sharp day to phone their support line.
ReplyDeleteCanadianEh: so sad about the JR. Hockey tragedy!
Virginia Sycamore, much credit & many thanks for posting the Bricklayer story.
ReplyDeleteIt is a wonderful example of how repetition can win even a resistant listener.
Speaking for my grumpy self, I can attest to its effectiveness. Listening to audio (only, with no visual cues to aid the impact), the recorded audience laughter is initially offputting. As Henri Bergson observed in his famous essay on Laughter (1900), one must feel part of the congregation to cry at a stranger's funeral, and this holds true in reverse when joining an audience for jokes or comedy. One needs to be part of the "in" group.
But the length of the Bricklayer's trials allows for sufficient repetition that even holdouts may succumb to his series of misfortunes. Bergson's "expectation of (more) laughter" kicks in. The laws of physics forewarn the listener as to each approaching blow, but also establish our "superiority" to the density of the Bricklayer who cannot see the same inevitabilities.
It helps that, as in a cartoon, we know the Bricklayer is not actually being injured. Real pain kills comedy.
The turning point for me (when I first laughed out loud) is the unexpected moment when, after the third or fourth blow, the poor sap admits he may have lost his "presence of mind."
Teddibly British, whot?
Here is a poem and cartoon.
ReplyDeletePK at 6:29 PM
- - Google Gmail. Click on Inbox. That takes me to my Gmail account. Click on Compose, and address it to me. Oh yeah, click on send.
Ðave
The great toilet paper roll direction debate continued...
ReplyDeleteSigh...
I have always insisted that the correct way is toward you,
while at the same time realize that whatever works for you is the right way...
However, in looking for a silly link, I realized
that not even the most wise can see all ends...
P.S. Yellowrocks, copy your text periodically while typing.
(at least you won't lose all of it...)
Although I was pressed for time I managed to knock off Friday and Saturday. I didn't find them difficult. I've got no notes .
ReplyDeleteIM, thank God you picked up on my misreading Saratoga for Sarasota . I put reading glasses on for today.
I agree that Owen had some good stuff today. And yesterday . Speaking of.. how about Bovine high.. LOW.
NPR has a brain segment on Saturday afternoons. Today: deep thinking vs interruptions. I notice some of you stopped and started. I do know that if I allow for the possibility of a"cheat" I would FIW all the time.
Spoiler alert. Don't talk about the Masters tomorrow . I have it on tape but can't watch until 8 or 9:00.
I see so far so good for Patrick
WC
Lemony, I'll get to your links but great write-up
Spoiler alert comment:
ReplyDeleteHey Wilbur, I would suggest to avoid any unwanted information in re The Masters, that you stay off the blog, or the internet entirely, until you view your "tape" of the event. No sense in everyone altering their posts for your selfish request.
OMK - You destructed the comedy to the point of sterile; if you have to explain a joke...
ReplyDeleteActually, your treatise is spot on (and quite eloquent) as to what makes shtuff funny. You are, indeed, a master of presentation-art. Yes - the 'presence of mind' line was ROTFLOL
I found Newhart's Lincoln on the other end of the line gag.
Cheers, -T
I didn't think of that . That being those who otherwise would not have ever thought of posting in here about the Masters until they saw an opportunity.
ReplyDeleteOnce I indeed tried to remain completely off the grid but got foiled by NPR-Jazz night .
Then there's the customers in my shuttle
I suppose any request, even "Pass the butter,please" is inherently"selfish".
WC
Wilbur Charles,
ReplyDeleteSorry to spoil it for you, but in the end the ball goes in the hole...
Still catching up from travels. WEES about BREAK -> STEAD being the main hangup. But last to fall was SKA/KOBE/ROBS/APSE.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else think A LIFE before A POEM?
A worthy Saturday challenge and glad to FIR.
Husker Gary: Thanks for the FEE graphic of the KLEPTOCRATIC cable company. So glad to have cut the cable. And that DOO DAH scene is exactly what I was thinking! The MORTAR animated GIF is mesmerizing.