google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, May 12, 2018, Greg Johnson

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May 12, 2018

Saturday, May 12, 2018, Greg Johnson

THEMELESS SATUDAY PUZZLE BY GREG JOHNSON ON NATIONAL DOG MOM'S DAY

Greg Johnson has a very nice puzzle for us on this holiday that is celebrated on the day before, well, you know...


The NW corner was a bugger and while all the down fills were tough and looked solid, LIFO mocked me and I just had to go with it. Consequently, I now know 14. Inventory evaluation acronym: LIFO  which means Last IFirst Out shown here with its opposite



Hoping that you remembered to get a card (or at least a treat) for your four-footed mom in the house, let's see what Greg has given us on this "anything but a dog" exercise.


Across:


1. Bubbly stuff: FOAM - SOAP and WINE - not so much!


5. Skiing venue: LAKE - A Husker Gary blog without a kitty? Never happenin'!




15. Very top: APEX - Also can mean high




16. Babysitter, maybe: NIECE 


17. Mtn. stats: ALTS - HGTS and ELEV were candidates


18. Superstitious warning: DON'T JINX IT 9. "Got it, man!": I'M HIP



20. Quick: SPEEDY - A 1951 character produced by the Wade Ad Agency in 1951




22. Word in Montana's motto: ORO - ORO y Plata (Gold and Silver)


23. Pre-Columbian stoneworker: INCA


24. Apollo's place: HARLEM - This NASA guy wanted Apollo on the Moon but of course Greg was referencing this HARLEM institution 




25. Word with window or rum: BAY - This BAY Rum is clearly labeled "For External Use Only" but during prohibition, its 58% grain alcohol content made this Rexall product popular for other reasons




26. Beach bird: GULL - At the beach you might see a GULL on a buoy 

27. One with secrets to tell: SPY - A Mad Magazine staple for years. Each seems to have a secret




28. Some judicial officials: MAGISTRATES - In Mayberry, Andy Taylor performed this function under the title of Justice Of The Peace 


31. Want-ad letters: EEO - As opposed to this Want-Ad




32. Get one's signals crossed, say: ERR - Last week I found out what happens when you ERR and forget to put a cup under the spout 

33. Creative writing assignment: POEM - Our resident laureate Owen regales us most every day

34. Assurance of honesty: TRUST ME and 50. Sneak: WEASEL.




36. "That's a little better": IT HELPS.


40. Forced-air system output: HEAT - Did your schoolroom from ages past have radiators instead forced-air? I can still smell the drying mittens


41. Phi-psi link: CHI - Phi precedes these last three letters of the Greek alphabet




42. Astounded reaction: OOH.


43. Workplace dispute negotiator: LABOR LAWYER - During my teaching career, our LABOR LAWYERS negotiated with the school board's LABOR LAWYERS


47. When repeated, a football chant: OLE.


48. Cry of dismay: ALAS - The correct quote is "ALAS, poor Yorick! I knew him, well Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest..." and 
29. Mata Hari portrayer: GRETA GARBO 



49. What candles may represent: AGE- My youngest granddaughter Elise has just joined the ranks of teenagers  last week (our daughter is on the left) and 
54. Most unusual: ODDEST - Granddaughter requested a llama cake



52. Phnom __: PENH.


53. Single dose?: DAT - I want DAT one and some of DOSE too


55. Bush 43, for one: EX-GOVERNOR - Guess where four of seven EX-GOVERNORS of Illinois wound up




58. Kitchen addition?: ETTE - This is all ya need!




59. Spaghetti Western director Sergio: LEONE - These were a star vehicle for Clint Eastwood after Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson turned down the role 

60. Cry out loud: BAWL.


61. An earring may be shaped like one: PEAR


62. Vicks brand: SINEX


63. Page with views: OPED - Newspaper page OPposite the EDitorial page


64. Sailing group: TARS.



Down:


1. Undesirably rapid hardening of concrete: FLASH SET - Sulphates  are added to cement to prevent  this phenomenon. See last ingredient for cement below. New to me after eight summers puddling concrete




2. Specialized painting surface: OIL PAPER - "It features a powerful, efficient oil barrier that absorbs water, solvents and binders evenly while allowing the paint and pigment to remain on the surface"




3. Words spoken with a gentle hand gesture: AFTER YOU - Are women offended by this offer by a man these days?


4. German wine valley: MOSEL - It would appear you'd have to be a mountain goat to harvest these grapes in the beautiful MOSEL Valley




5. Billboard #1 song in 1975 and 2001: LADY MARMALADE - I missed it both times. Correction, I didn't hear it either time


6. Mil. address: APO - Army Post Office


7. Vader enemy: KENOBI - Here is Darth Vader squaring off with Obi-Wan KENOBI 




8. Loaded with heat: EXTRA SPICY - No thanks!


9. Pasta ending: INI


10. Lesser component of "The Legend of Zelda," say: MINI GAME - Inside the larger Zelda game, their are various smaller MINI GAMES one can/must play while on a quest, I read. I'm not likely to push that button.




11. Six-sided fastener: HEX NUT.

12. Winter hangover?: ICICLE.


13. Flower girl's tossings: PETALS - Or not...




19. "Let every heart prepare him room" song: JOY TO THE WORLD - Greg could have gone for "Jeremiah was a bull frog..."


21. Greek goddess of the harvest: DEMETER - For some reason I knew this


30. Brought back to work: REHIRED - George Steinbrenner famously fired and REHIRED Billy Martin many times

35. Tribe that sold horses to Lewis and Clark: SHOSHONE - The SHOSHONE had the horses that the expedition needed to get over the mountains and as luck would have it, Sacajawea was the long, lost sister of chief Cameahwait (He who never walks)




37. Leaves in a chest: LOOSE TEA.


38. Nocturnal travel guide: POLE STAR - It is the one point in the northern sky that never moves 

39. Stray protection: SHELTERS - This is where we got our kitty


43. Places for pins: LAPELS.


44. Former Soviet premier Kosygin: ALEXEI - A familiar apparatchik name to this child of the 60's


45. Hit hard: BANG ON.



46. Hand-wiping item: WETNAP.

51. Well-rehearsed: ADEPT.


56. Bug: VEX.


57. Be behind: OWE.






Just so you know, Joann is getting a lovely card from her third daughter tomorrow!



Comment at will:


DA GRID:




48 comments:

OwenKL said...

I can hardly believe I FIRight! Even after my second pass, there was so much white!
There seemed to be a mini-theme, with MAGISTRATES, LAWYER, and TRUST ME, IT HELPS. ALAS, my several attempts to meld them into a l'ick were all failures. A midwife's malpractice suit would be handled by a LABOR LAWYER. I don't know about the suit's LAPELS.

A LAKE filled with ale would have so much FOAM
Whitecaps at their APEX would seem like a dome!
Reeling over the BAY
Soused GULLS would play,
And TARS in their cups would write things like this POEM!

We have an orange cat we named LADY MARMALADE.
She was noisy, into mischief, even at her kitten AGE!
Now she doesn't BAWL,
Nor much of anything at all,
Since to keep out of HEAT, we had the lady spayed.

{B-, C+.}

alexa shortbush said...

I am today's constructor...thanks for solving. There are free puzzles available...via alexa shortbush on Twitter and FB. Feedback welcome. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Saturday LA Times crossword puzzle for reminding me yet again how intellectually dull I am. Sigh...

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

HGTS kept the snow on the northern Coastal Range until the very end. Otherwise, this would've been a smooth top-to-bottom solve. SHOSHONE, DEMETER, LOOSE TEA and OIL PAPER kept things EXTRA SPICY. I liked it. Thanx, Greg Johnson (is your alter ego really "Alexa Shortbush?"). Excellent tour, Husker.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! This looked like an impossibility for a while. Glacial upper 2/3 for a long time. Finally did fill it. Kept me engrossed, thanks, Greg/ALEXA, whoever you are. Thank you for your courage, humor and diligence, Husker.

I was amused by the juxtaposition of TRUST ME & IT HELPS. But who does it help? YOU or me?

National Dog Mom's Day? Who knew. I think this would include my daughter who is Mom to two furry kids.

I have no recollection of ALEXEI KOSYGIN at all.

A lady might take offense to the words AFTER YOU by a man, if she was climbing a ladder or steep stairs in a skirt.

Knew the Apollo was in Harlem, but couldn't come up with it. Too spaced out.

Never heard of OIL PAPER. Is this for walls or art? Look it up, PK. Later.

No idea what was "The Legend of Zelda".

The flower girl racing down the aisle looks like my oldest at age three at my bro's wedding. She started behind the last of several bridesmaid and beat the first one down the aisle. Cute tho in yellow satin.

This is my wedding anniversary, but he's been gone so many years nobody remembers -- even me until I saw the date on the puzzle. Quite a wedding. The best man wore one shoe and a cast on the broken foot. The groom's mother had run a wire under her knee cap and was on crutches. The matron of honor's two year old had a broken arm in a cast jutting out to one side. Luckily, the bride & groom were healthy and rarin' to go.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Good workout today. I was able to grind out everything except the San Ysidro area, where I had to give in and Google for LEONE and SINEX. Never heard of either, so at least I didn't get a bruise from the V8 can.

acme-->APEX, rah-->OLE, rarest-->ODDEST, wail-->BAWL, alleys-->LAPELS and lag-->OWE.

I'll take a CSO at 18A.

A great example of LIFO is the stack of plates in a cafeteria. The last plate added to the stack is the first one removed by the next patron in line. As an accounting technique it (usually) minimizes the value of inventory and improves "turns ratio". It also increases COGS (cost of gods sold), reducing net income and inventory / income tax liability. The alternative to LIFO is FIFO (first in first out). When grocery stores fail to enforce FIFO stocking you can end up buying milk that is a week out of date.

I'm glad to see REAL skiing (on unfrozen water) make an appearance today. I'm disappointed to see the "other" football game reference, but it IS Saturday after all. (Europe will have NFL teams in the next few years.)

Thanks to Greg and Gary for today's fun.

Oas said...

Thanks Alexa, Greg , ffor a brain teaser. Good touring with Husker.
As OwenKL it took several passes to solve.
I still can’t make sense of DAT and LIFO but they came together via perps.
FLN thanks for the well wishes , PK,C eh, Misty , AnonT.

ProfLinda said...

This was a suitably challenging (and humbling) puzzle for a Saturday. The first pass through left mostly blanks and there were many I simply didn’t know. A little help from Dr Google and it finally fell into place. Thanks Greg/Alexa for the brain stimulant!

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning,

Thanks Greg and Alexa [Are you the Amazon one? ;-)] Like others here, it took me a while today to find anything that worked with crosses. In the long run, it all worked after I walked away, threw in a load of wash and cleared the dining room table of the V-8 cans. Settled down, I had a fresh view and successful finish.

Thanks for another fine tour, Gary. I really enjoy them. I've said it before here, but I believe our new license plates--which are disastrously ugly--will not longer read "Land of Lincoln." Instead they will be inscribed with our new state motto: "Where our Governors make our license plates." Ha!

Enjoy this weekend.

PK said...

I did look up OIL PAPER and it is for art work painting if anyone else was uninformed as I.

Yellowrocks said...

After I got a start, the eastern half was fairly easy, the SW was moderate, and the NW was very difficult. One red letter there. My second guess let me finish that corner. LIFO and FIFO make sense, but this is my first acquaintance with them. Pleanty of fresh fill. Fine expo, Gary.
I like when anyone says politley, "After you." I say it, too, to men as well as women.
CSO. Hi there, JINX.

desper-otto said...

PK, sounds like it was quite a wedding. Did you get a shivaree?

Mme Defarge, your comments about Illinois remind me of this quote from Miss Congeniality. Sorry, YR.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Big CSO to Jinx in Norfolk.

Not so bad for a Saturday. Got most of it without trouble. Got double-clutched with 'dose'. I would have spelt it 'doze'. But then the author may not be from Upstate NY. With slang, spelling is a crap shoot. Good job Husker.
POLE STAR - "It is the one point in the northern sky that never moves". Not quite so. In Celestial navigation account is taken for the very tiny arc distance Polaris is away from the true pole. Its present declination is N89º 20.3'. So it makes a very tiny circle as the Earth rotates. Because it is so close to the pole, its computed height, Hc, is greatly simplified by using GMT of the observation to account for up to the +-40' distance from the pole. (Sight reduction tables involving spherical geometry are applied to all the other celestial objects.). The above is important when determining a fix to within one nautical mile which is equivalent to one minute of latitude.

PK said...

D-O: No shivaree. That wasn't a popular event in our neck of the woods. However, I heard that several people talked about having one for us, but decided not to. My husband wasn't the type to inspire that kind of tomfoolery at age 32 when we married. None of our friends ever got that liquored up. LOL!

WikWak said...

WEESAEE*

I believe this was the most difficult Saturday puzzle I’ve attacked in months. Like HG, the NW was the last to fall. Got DAT, but strictly through the perps; I had to come here to see why it was correct. After a short while, the entire east side fell quickly, but the west? Not so much. I did FIR in about 25 minutes but it was a real slog.

Mme DeF, you beat me to it. Somewhere among my 2,659,132 pictures (well, at least several thousand) is one of the IL license plate you referenced. It has a central image of George Ryan and Rod Blagojevic, with your motto under it. Ö

Thanks to the author (whomever s/he may be), I think. There were some fiendishly difficult parts buy hey—it’s Saturday! Thanks to you too, HG. Marvelous expo as usual.

* What Everyone Else Said About Everything Else.

Have a great day, all!

Lucina said...

WikWak, you said it, some parts were "fiendishly difficult" while others I found to be easy. Of course, JOYTOTHEWORLD, was one of those and that helped to link the entire eastern seaboard together.

I liked the clue for ICICLE, winter hangover. Also, make mine EXTRASPICY every time.

I don't recall ever hearing LADYMARMALADE so LIU and that resolved most of the lower area except ALEXEI so it led to another LIU.

Up north I erased COLA, had OILPAPER then FLASHSET emerged but not MOSEL. LIU. Again!

Outstanding job, Gary. Thank you. And yes, I like to have doors opened for me.

Whew! This was tough but thank you, Greg, for the challenge and mental workout.

Enjoy the day, everyone!

Lemonade714 said...

Hmm, Greg Johnson has 5 NYT published as of 2015; his picture looks like the caricature of Alexa on FB. Hmm. A puzzle outside the puzzle.

My father used Bay Rum after shaving; a smell I will not forget even thought he has been gone 45 years.

Loved SPY vs. SPY but got in trouble for buying MAD when i was 12.

I was called Speedy Alka Selzer when I was little since I did not stay still.

I have posted before and enjoyed watching the song performed in person as Patti Labelle played the Great Southern Music Hall in Gainesville in the mid '70s.
LADY MARMALADE . Gary, you sure you missed, "Voulez-vous couchez avec moi?

I will look for the video of my sweet Charlotte throwing petals at my wedding for two seconds and then dumping the basket.

I have a "trust me, I am lawyer" shirt.

Happy weekend all

Lemonade714 said...

My learning moment today was SHIVAREE .

Spitzboov said...

Re: HG's description of Lewis & Clark meeting up with the SHOSHONES, buying horses, and Sacajawea reuniting with her brother.
Years ago I read "Undaunted Courage" by Stephan Ambrose, an excellent book about the L & C Expedition. The above story is probably the most engrossing and emotional section of the whole narrative, rivalled only by the arrival at the Pacific Coast, and their return to St. Louis.

Yellowrocks said...

DO, obviously, Miss Congeniality is not from around here. I am laughing as I sit by the window listening to the birds sing and looking at all the flowers and green trees, and the blooming plum and cherry trees. This May our farms are harvesting Jersey Fresh spinach, lettuce, radishes, asparagus and rhubarb. I am eagerly awaiting Jersey strawberries and corn next month, along with peas, peppers, and cucumbers. And in the summer,Jersey tomatoes, especially the old fashioned varieties.
May and October are my favorite months here. The scenery is lovely and the temperatures are moderate. I am enjoying having my windows open and not needing heat or AC. Happy spring.

Big Easy said...

I worked this puzzle yesterday because the newspaper mistakenly published it a day early. This is what I wrote yesterday:

"
Dang! I thought the puzzle in my newspaper was a little strange for a Friday because there was no theme. Very tough, especially in the NW. But I finished it and came to this blog to check answers and realized it was a different puzzle.

They printed SATURDAY'S puzzle a day early. I guess I'll go to the LA Times website and print a Friday puzzle out."
*********************************************************************************************
As I said yesterday, the NW was really hard to finish because FLASHSET, OIL PAPER, MOSEL, and DEMEMTER were unknowns and I only knew LIFO because the owners of my company switched from FIFO (First In, First Out) to LIFO, which is an idiotic accounting system that has nothing to do with "inventory evaluation"; it's designed to delay taxes. As for inventory, you always try to sell the oldest stuff first. The NW was not a SPEEDY fill. Was it SUDS, BEER, or FOAM; I LOVE YOU, I HEAR YOU, or AFTER YOU; ELEV, FEET or ALTS? Mucho mind scrambling to complete.

The songs were easy-peasy fills but MINIGAME was all perps; "The legend of Zelda' is unknown for me. LADY MARMALADE lyrics: "Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir" if you speak French. Song is really about a street hooker, "down in Old New Orleans". Guess you could say the lyrics were EXTRA SPICY.

TRUST ME, LABOR LAWYER, & MAGISTRATE in the same puzzle? Hold on to your wallet. One is probably a WEASEL.

EX-Governors in prison. In Louisiana were had three successive Commissioners of Insurance in Club-FED at the SAME TIME.

Irish Miss said...

Good Afternoon:

It took some time to get any traction but some easy to discern long fill opened things up: Joy to the World, Labor Lawyer, Greta Garbo, Ex Governor, etc. The NW corner was a bear and the last to fall. Unknowns were Demeter, Lady Marmalade, Mini Game, and Kenobi. My "Star Wars" knowledge would fit in a thimble, with room to spare. I shared a few miscues with Jinx (rah/ole, rarest/oddest) nice CSO, btw, and others including tern/gull, trustee/trust me, moan/bawl, and OBO/EEO. Single dose=Dat brought a chuckle and Apollo being in Harlem brought an Aha. It took 33 minutes so, WikWak, your 25 minutes looks good from my standpoint. I consider a Saturday finish time of less than 30 minutes a win-win, at least for me.

Thanks, Greg/Alexa, for an enjoyable and challenging solve and thanks, HG, for an entertaining and elucidating write-up. Loved the skiing kitty and the fleeing flower girl!

FLN, OAS and Anon T, so sorry for your loss.

PK, I'm sure today will evoke many happy memories despite the reminder of those casts and crutches. 💐

Have a great day.

Misty said...

Well, Saturday puzzles are always toughies for me, and this one was no exception. At least I did get POEM right away. But still a lot of fun, many thanks, Alexa. What made you decide to go with the name Greg Johnson? Never heard of WETNAP, but I realized it made sense for a WET NAPkin. Lovely picture of the MOSEL Valley, Gary--thanks for posting that.

PK, I loved your wedding story. Perfect follow-up to the hilarious scene of the little bridesmaid racing up or down the aisle.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

AnonymousPVX said...

Well I got the solve....despite the horrible 53A clue....DAT isn’t even a word. A better clue would have been “not dis”. Still ridiculous but at least sensible.

OwenKL said...

Alexa's post mentioned he has some pages online, but gave only a hint where to find them. A bit of a task, since Alexa is also the name of a whatchamacallit from Amazon. I found a puzzle collection (online or PDF) and a friendless FaceBook page

IL License plate

I (vaguely) remember using OIL PAPER in grade school to make faux stained glass windows. Never knew it had any other uses.

Jinx: COGS (cost of gods sold)? I don't think many preachers pay anything for their gods. 😉

alexa shortbush said...

It's the other way around. Alexa is my more sociable persona. It's like that Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines thing but hopefully more successful.

alexa shortbush said...

The webpage and FB and Twitter accounts are new...it's my first go at each of them. I was trying to be low key but it is

alexashortbush.net

Thanks

Unknown said...

No chance in the Northwest. First clue had so many possible fills. I tried soda and cola. I didn't get "after you" but it was a great clue to a single possible fill. I know Saturday's are supposed to be difficult but German wine regions, inventory acronyms and mythology all in one corner was too tough for me !

D4E4H said...

Sheldor is back online.

- - Condolences Cornerites. Misty FLN at 10:21 PM summed up the feelings I have better than I could. Thank you Misty.

- - For those concerned that their late post will never be read, you can do what I just did. I just read the posts for 5-11. I have yet to work today's CW and link the links from 5-11. I must work, work, work.

- - It's much later. I FIR in 58:11. I'm here to tell Mr. Greg Johnson just how much fun I had with his Easy Peasy Saturday CW. I was almost finished on my first pass. By that I mean I almost quit. I had only three, 3 letter words.
- - I had to put on CW glasses as the white was blinding. Obviously I needed to nap and regrope. If you can get your mind out of the gutter for a minute, I meant 1. To reach about uncertainly; feel one's way: groped for the telephone. 2. To search blindly or uncertainly: grope for an answer.

- - Here is the sequence in which I discovered long answers: GRETA ... was first to bring JOY..., DON'T..., MAGI..., LOOSE.., LAPELS, LABOR..., SHOSH..., EXGOV..., LADYMAR..., TRUST..., AFTER..., OIL..., with the grand finale at the Apollo in HARLEM. I played the Apollo!

Husker Gary I have yet to enjoy your review, but I look forward to a good time.

Ðave

PS: I worked a paper CW today where I utilized " Ð."

Wilbur Charles said...

D-O, I went to the Congeniality link and first saw the panning by the critics, eg. Not PC enough. Then I paged through the quotes. Talk about ROTFL. I've got to find that movie. *

Lucina, yep, getting JOY was all I needed

FLN, Anon-T, let me add my condolences for your most excellent, dearly departed office mate. What a cool guy.

I was busy all day yesterday so I decided to attack Saturday first. I had mostly all white at first and searched for a sports question with an answer like YASTRZEMSKI* to try and get a foothold. I just nibbled around but square by square I eventually FIR'ed.

I greatly enjoyed CC's Friday chef d'oeuvre. Except I didn't Grok A TO LL until lemony 'splained it.

Fabulous l'icks from Owen both days.
I agree HAMLET was A++

WC

The un-PC stuff is what makes it. Humor is humor and becoming pricelessly scarce

Jayce said...

A pleasant workout today. Sometimes I feel the struggle is worth it; today it was. WEES.

Wilbur Charles said...

Oops my last sentence was supposed to be preceded by the *

While I'm here: Anon@6:38, all of us don't get a Saturday level xword right away. We peck away at it and use perps and the back of our brain. Fe. I stumbled on the B in BAY and was vaguely aware that a Star Wars character had a B CHEWBACCA didn't fit, Obi-wan KENOBI finally grok'ed in. And so on . Keep at it. I will used to routinely skip Friday and Saturday .

And.. Picard, thanks again for encouraging me to use text, copy, paste Now, as I read the blog I can comment as I read and fill at the end .

WC

desper-otto said...

Anon-T, just finished last night's late entries (ie: after 1 PM). Sorry to hear about your office buddy. Even though you weren't that close, a death like that hits home -- makes you think about your own mortality.

WikWak said...

OwenKL: that’s the one! (IL plate) I no longer remember where I first saw it but it was love at first sight.

I feel great pity for those who never heard of Legend of Zelda. It’s my favorite game of all time. The new Zelda game, Breath of the Wild, is outstanding when played on the Nintendo Switch!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

WEES. This was definitely a keep-at-it solve. Got there eventually. Hand up for needing Joy to the World to stitch that side together.

My “after you” story: at the all-female Mt. Holyoke College, I arrived at a door and opened it, then stepped aside for the young woman behind me to go through first. I didn’t say anything or gesture apart from an ordinary smile. I think there was no chance of my action being interpreted as lewd or sexist. I was simply being polite. The young woman stopped short, looked right at me, and said “I can do it myself.” I was stunned that a simple human kindness could be met with such ingratitude. This story dates to the middle 80’s, at which point I was a mere few years older than the student; I would hope she wouldn’t have been so rude to an elder.

Howdy Husker, I see you’ve raised your kitty right!

D4E4H said...

- - Keeping in mind that none of us are getting out of this alive, and lamenting the recent deaths which are causing us such grief, I bring to you the news of the death of A 104-year-old Australian scientist, Dr. David Goodall who was a botanist and ecologist. He traveled from Australia to Liestal, Switzerland where he died on May 10, 2018 (aged 104) via an assisted Suicide.

- - The New York Post article reported that he said "He was sorry to have made it to that ripe old age." - - LINK. If this information disturbs you, please remember, I am merely the messenger. Please forgive me for bringing something unpleasant to the corner.

Ðave

PK said...

AnonT: I was thinking about your saying that your office mate did things to make you laugh. I think that is what we miss most about people. I had a dear friend who had a year-long battle with cancer. When she died, I was laying there one night and thought, "Now I don't have anyone to giggle with." Such a loss. Glad you liked my comment about "living the dream with a motorcycle". For some guys that would be the preferred end with the power between their legs and the wind in their face.

WikWak: I never have played one of those games and probably won't. Never caught my interest.

Lucina said...

WikWak:
I'm with PK. I don't play those games and likely never will and don't ever solve the crossword online. I'm happy for those who do enjoy them including my daughter and her family. They are crazy about them.

For her birthday yesterday my S-I-L posed a ruse inviting everyone to a video game party at their home though the rest of us were informed that it was a surprise party at a different venue. She was delighted anticipating the video game. Her husband is now obligated to have one and they love all that. Not I.

Wilbur Charles said...

The Sacajewa story from the L&C saga is indeed heartwarming. I heard part of it on Sirius Radio classics.

LADY MARMALADE was sung and danced to in the movie"Beethoven"
I didn't know the name though

Again, I FIR on the weekend and slip earlier. Mostly through carelessness

WC

Lemonade714 said...

Alexa is a primarily feminine name, though your FB picture looks like Greg Johnson. Interesting.

alexa shortbush said...

Finally someone gets it.

Anonymous said...

Newsflash lemony, you are NOT a lawyer. At least according to the Florida Bar Association and the Sun Times.

D4E4H said...

- - Status of Kilauea Volcano 5-12-18, observed at Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, Summit Overlook Vent Lava Lake:

At the lower east rift zone, Fissure #16 to the Pu'u 'O 'o vent of the Kīlauea Volcano opened today at 6:45 AM. - - - LINK.

- - A total of 16 fissures have cracked open since the volcano's eruption on Thursday, May 3. Twenty-six homes and 36 totals structures have been destroyed, while hundreds remain evacuated from the Leilani Estates community as dangerous sulfur dioxide gas continues to spew into the air.

At least 117 acres of the surrounding area is now covered by lava.

Ðave

CanadianEh! said...

Saturday workout. Thanks for the fun Greg/alexa and Husker Gary.
P & P was required and almost succeeded, but I eventually BAILED in the NW corner.

WEES about LIFO, ALTS, FOAM (I did try Lava for the "bubbly stuff". Apollo did not bring HARLEM to my mind (although I think we have had it before). DAT was a meh for me when it filled in. But I did like ICICLE.
I had Irk before VEX, and my Chemistry training made me think of Exothermic before EXTRA SPICY.
I was misdirected with "leaves in a chest" and had Closeted for a long time.
I moved from Rat to Fly (thinking of the secrets that a fly on the wall would know) to SPY.
And of course LABOUR LAWYER would require another space!

Happy memories on your anniversary PK. I smiled at the flower girl story. At my son's wedding, the 3 year flower girl and 7 year old ring bearer came down the aisle together quite quickly. But then the ring bearer went to sit with his father, and the flower girl retreated back down the aisle toward her mother at the rear. But then she decided to walk the aisle again by herself and drop the PETALS. It was priceless but we corralled her at the front so she didn't repeat the performance.

Wishing all our Moms here a beautiful day tomorrow.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Almost forgot to check in today...

And almost forgot to finish the pzl, for that matter. After yesterday's sweetness, today's barricade from Mr. Johnson proved too much to hold my focus. After a couple of slow starts, I set it aside. When I remembered it (after daylight had seeped from the sky), it would have taken too much re-booting effort to do a fair job, so I whizzed through the hardest parts with four or five cheats.
I had the impression it contained too many obscure (to me) references.

But I honor those who practiced any number of the 4Ps and won their honest Ta- DAs!
Good on ya!

____________
Diagonal Report: Wouldn't you know it? After a valiant attempt by yesterday's pzl to get back in the game, today's pzl returned to the odd manner in which the week was started. Yes, I mean once again there were NO *#@! diagonals.
Let's cross our fingers for a better crop next week.
Have a fine weekend, everybody, and -
especially for you mothers -
Have a wonderful day of pampering and love!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Late today and pretty much WEES... That NW was not going fill itself (or let me fill it with waranty [sic] sitting there -- TRUST ME) so, thanks HG for getting me out of that jamb.

Thanks Greg for the puzzle, but ALAS, I'm not Sat worth.
//I've not looked into this Alexa thing except to note that alexashortbush.net was registered May 9 @Network Solutions. The primary addr is a Google-hosted box but then it redirects via 301 to a server in the EU (185.230 is a RIPE address). Me no trustie. Maybe I'll build a sandbox to play in later. #ShallWePlayAGame?

{B+, C+} FLN: {B, B+, B+, hey!...that's our OMK! :-)}

PK - Fun wedding memories!; D-O: I learned shivaree today too!

IM, PK, DO: thanks yous; IT HELPS. D-O: yeah, mortality and that; today it was a bit compounded with Eldest driving home from OU... I knew it was going to be OK but not until I heard her car pull in did I exhale fully. She's here and everything's set for Mother's Day.

Picard - Even though I'm on HG's frequency with you re: Three Dog Night, you musta heard this ubiquitous NOEL.

Cheers, -T

Wilbur Charles said...

I too thought of the Nero Wolfe story where Wolfe's clue was a so-called Law student not knowing a TORT from a Brief. At the climax the villain tries to shoot Wolfe but gets shot first.

Forensics later revealed that it was Saul Panzers bullet that nailed the faux Law student.

It was one of those war time 3-parters but I can't come up with the name even though I just (re)read it . I just reread RUBBER BAND, one of my favs.

"Rubber" also went down in a hail of bullets but managed to wound Wolfe. Wolfe of course preferred a flesh wound to showing up in Court.

-T, I'm glad your daughter arrived home safely.

WC



Pat said...

Did I miss where you gave answer for 50 A?? I finally figured that a sneak was a weasel.
Thanks for a Saturday xword I finally solved!