google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, May 8, 2018 Bruce Venzke & Gail Grabowski

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May 8, 2018

Tuesday, May 8, 2018 Bruce Venzke & Gail Grabowski

"Strong Persuasion"

17. "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" singer: BARBARA MANDRELL.



25. David Bowie genre: GLAM ROCK.


32. Bourbon-making process: SOUR MASH.    TinBeni's favorite answer today.

42. Electromagnetic radiation unit: GAMMA RAY.

49. Cost per night, in hotels: ROOM RATE. Got a great room rate and free upgrade at the Hampton Inn in Pauls Valley, OK on our drive down to Texas.   Thirteen hours drive from Chicago.    Enough for one day.

And the reveal:
58. Using coercion, as shown in this puzzle's circles: TWISTING ONE'S ARM.   Arm was "twisted" in each of the five theme answers.


Across:

1. Swampy spots: BOGS.   Fens.

5. Hopeless case: GONER.

10. Zoo structure: CAGE

14. Pinza of "South Pacific":  EZIO.

15. Verdi aria translating to "It was you": ERI TU.

16. Gem from Australia: OPAL.

20. Flying nocturnal predator: OWL.   DW was driving and I was reading clues.  She guessed bat. 

21. Good, in Grenoble: BON.

22. "Makes sense to me": I SEE.

23. Decide not to use: PASS ON.

29. Israeli port: HAIFA.  The other three major seaports are Ashdod, Elat, and Hadera.

31. Sneezer's need: TISSUE.

35. Charlemagne's realm: Abbr.: HRE.  Holy Roman Emperor, 800-814

36. Pampered: DOTED ON.

37. Part of EDT: EASTERN Daylight Time.

41. Juillet's season: ETE.   French for summer or summertime.

44. Online financial site: E-TRADE.

48. Cuba __: rum drink: LIBRE.    TinBeni's favorite clue today. 

51. "The party's been canceled": IT'S OFF.

55. Cocktail party spread: PATEpâ·té

56. Seagoing pronoun: HER.

57. Extinct emu-like bird: MOA.


63. Northern neighbor of Chile: PERU.

64. "This I Promise You" band: NSYNC.
NSYNC received its name after Justin Timberlake's mother commented on how "in sync" the group's singing voices were. The group's name is also a play on the last letter of each of the initial members' names: JustiN, ChriS, JoeY, JasoN, and JC. (Wikipedia)



65. First chip in: ANTE.

66. Escalator part: STEP.

67. Storied granter of wishes: GENIE.

68. Neither winning nor losing: TIED.

Down:

1. Charlie Parker jazz genre: BEBOP.

2. Longtime Boston Symphony conductor: OZAWA.  Seiji

3. Brownies, e.g.: GIRLS.

4. Weep loudly: SOB.

5. Apache chief: GERONIMO.

6. Algerian port: ORAN.  One of nine major seaports in Algeria, but the one we see most often in crossword puzzles.

7. Matchstick-removing game: NIM.   I'd never heard of this game, except for in crosswords.

8. Internet sales, collectively: E-TAIL.

9. Rushes toward: RUNS AT.

10. Apple pie-making gadgets: CORERS.

11. Wild way to go: APE.

12. Four qts.: GAL. Four quarts make a gallon.   Four fifths make 80 %.

13. Building add-on: ELL.

18. On the ferry: ABOARD.

19. Moore of "Ghost": DEMI.

24. Actress Elisabeth: SHUE.

25. Grill fuel: GAS.

26. Irish actor Milo: O'SHEA.

27. Spicy Indian dish: CURRY.

28. Excited about, with "on": KEEN.  Fervent. 

30. Vampire tooth: FANG.

32. __ voce: softly: SOTTO.

33. Southern New Mexico county: OTERO.

34. Prefix with sphere: HEMI

36. Woodland grazer: DEER.

38. Atmosphere, as of a restaurant: AMBIENCE.   Had the best Chicken Genovaise I've ever had at DiBZ in Temple, Texas on Friday evening.  My sister finds the best restaurants.  She says, "I can't cook."   I think she confuses don't and can't. 

39. French existential dramatist: SARTRE.

40. "__ chic!": TRES.

43. Many a micro brew: ALE.

45. Excites: AMPS UP.

46. "Doggone it!": DRAT.

47. Enjoying the bistro, say: EATING.

50. Needing a chill pill: TENSE.

52. Muscat native: OMANI.  Muscat is the capital city of Oman. 

Oman is about the size of Kansas.
"The inhabitants of the area of Oman have long prospered from Indian Ocean trade. In the late 18th century, the nascent sultanate in Muscat signed the first in a series of friendship treaties with Britain. Over time, Oman's dependence on British political and military advisors increased, although the Sultanate never became a British colony. In 1970, QABOOS bin Said Al-Said overthrew his father, and has since ruled as sultan, but he has not designated a successor. His extensive modernization program has opened the country to the outside world, while preserving the longstanding close ties with the UK and US. Oman's moderate, independent foreign policy has sought to maintain good relations with its neighbors and to avoid external entanglements."  Source: CIA World Factbook

53. Strong point: FORTE.  Lake Charles born, Slidell, LA. raised Matt Forte played played running back for the Tulane Green Wave before having a highly productive career in the NFL with the Chicago Bears.   He retired this year.   JJM's daughter studies at Tulane.

54. Widely known: FAMED.

56. Hägar's daughter: HONI.

58. Adorns with Angel Soft, briefly: TPs. Adorns with toilet paper ?  Made me smile.  Fun clue.  Anonymous T, did you get your TPS Report submitted on time ?... with the right cover letter ?

59. Freshly painted: WET.

60. Hothead's emotion: IRE

61. MD for women: GYN.

62. Took it easy: SAT.

Vising in Texas.  That's all from me.  See all y'all later n'at !

Here's the grid:




54 comments:

  1. FIWrong¡ When I didn't get a ta-da, I thought sure it was OzAWA + EzIO, but that turned out to be right! The bad cell was 4 cells to the right of that, OmAN + EmITU¡ I should have been tipped off by OMANI in the opposite corner.

    Earworm for the day -- I recognized Eres Tu, and I'm not much of a one for opera. So I searched for this Spanish version. It was covered by Perry Como and others, in different translations, sometimes re-titled "Touch the Wind".

    Lament for the rich tourist in HAIFA
    Told a yenta, "I can't find a wife-a."
    DRAT, a GONER for life,
    He was married that night --
    But he still had no WiFi provide-a!

    With hay fever I have a serious issue.
    It's the need for a continuous TISSUE!
    It's like the AMBIENCE
    Of an ambulence
    Whenever I lean in to kiss you!

    {C, A-.}

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tappy Tuesday Teveryone!

    CanadianEh! FLN at 11:08 AM

    - - Unfortunately Cavaliers won the series 4-0. I attempted to join the Raptors Uprising, but raptorsuprisinggc.com refused to connect. That might be why they did not "Rise" to the occasion.

    - - I'm gun shy after "Lila Cherry" yesterday, but I recognize today's constructors so I thank Mr. Bruce Venzke and Ms. Gail Grabowski for this CW with two 15 square spanners. I RAMmed the theme letters which helped. I was stuck several times, but P & P came thru each time. I FIR in 28:32.

    - - Thank you TTP for becoming our regular Tuesday reviewer, and for all your info today.

    Ðave

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  3. Greetings!

    Thanks to Bruce, Gail and TTP!

    No circles. Easy otherwise. Things I did not know: NSYNC and OTERO.

    Hope to see you tomorrow!

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  4. Good morning!

    I was playing hooky yesterday. As I investigated the glacial slowness of my PC, I received a notification that the hard-drive was in the process of failing. It said I should save what I could and replace it. So yesterday I spent the day creating a Windows install thumb-drive, replacing the hard-drive (I re-used the one from my failed fruit-based computer), reinstalling Windoze, and then hunting down all the apps I needed to reinstall. Ugh! Still not finished, but at least I've got it breathing again.

    Enjoyed the puzzle, but a 3-letter twist seems a pretty simple theme. Still SARTRE, OZAWA and BARBARA MANDRELL added some obscurity to the mix. Thanx, BV, GG and TTP.

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  5. FIW, missing my WAGs at both Naticks: O_AWA x E_IO and N_M x ER_TU. Also erased bat for OWL and rack RATE for ROOM RATE, and had to fix AMBIaNCE. Bad spellers of the world UNTIE!

    Fun puzzle today. Thanks to Gail and Bruce for constructing it and to TTP for 'splainin' it.

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  6. Thanks for a fairly easy tuesday coffee break.
    I was too stubborn or lazy to LIU a couple of times so FIW.
    Had ERETU for ERITU because I didn’t know NIM
    Wasn’t sure if Grenoble was Spanish or Portugues so went with BOM for BON so ORAM for ORAN.
    I didn’t have the killer instinct today.
    Yard work waiting for me today , burning branches tilling , etc.
    Thank God for the health and energy to work .
    Wishing all a great day .

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  7. Good morning everyone.

    Got the theme with the reveal @ 58a. Reaction was 'unremarkable'. (That's what doctors report on biopsies when things are normal.)
    For 20a, OWL, instinctively wanted 'bat', but smelled a rat and held off until OZAWA filled in and then entered OWL. Thought it had more bite than the usual Tuesday; lucky guess with the 'I' in NIM/ERITU crossing. So I FIR and needed no searches.
    MOA - There is some argument whether the MOA is a full-fledged ratite like the emu and most of the other examples in TTP's diagram.
    That doesn't make it any less extinct, though.

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  8. Good Morning.

    Beaucoup de francais ici--which helped Madame today. All faves, there.

    Thanks, Gail and Bruce. I stumbled in the South because I could not parse INSYNC!

    Thanks, TTP, for taking over on Tuesday. Your subbing has been grand, and I look forward to seeing you here! (AND maybe at Pasta Mia--for that matter. What say ye, Abeyo and WikWak?)

    Lots to do today. I'll be back later to check all your ideas.

    Have a sunny day.

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  9. There was no need to RUN AT or RAM through this puzzle. For me, it was a walk in the park, especially with realizing the circles needed A, R or M.
    EZIO was a gimme. I enjoy TV airings of his operas and Broadway performance of South Pacific. He had a beautiful, rich voice. OZAWA was also a gimme. NPR often airs music from the Boston Symphony conducted by him.
    GERONIMO reminds me of being a kid when daredevils would shout “Geronimo,” before launching into a daring feat. They learned it from movies about US Army paratroopers, who shouted, Geronimo, before jumping from planes.
    The story of the real Geronimo was a sad tale of the appropriation of Native American lands and a violent cycle of revenge begetting revenge on both sides.
    MY DIL I and serve PATE to each other. The rest of the family does not partake. So having two to share it makes it worth buying. It seems people either love it or hate it.
    OPAL from Australia: a CSO to Kazie.
    I thought of BAT before OWL, but rejected it because most bats prey only on insects. Now I remember that there are some species of “carnivorous bats that prey on small mammals, birds, lizards and frogs; fish-eating bats, and perhaps most famously, the blood-sucking vampire bats of South America.”

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  10. Hello Puzzlers -

    Hand up for not knowing Nim, so that left Eritu in doubt. Got there eventually.

    YR, I smiled right out loud at your mention of Geronimo as the word you say just before taking a flying leap. I certainly did that as a kid, but never knew why - just followed the crowd, I guess.

    TTP - your NSync video reminded me of this: years ago I heard one song by the group on the radio, and because of the vocal blend, I figured they were part of the A Capella world. Didn’t know any better. I bought a CD, and soon realized that the group sounded more like teen angst whiners than I had thought. Got rid of that disc pronto.

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  11. Good Morning:

    I found this a little on the bland side, considering the constructors, but it was still a fun solve. My only w/o was Roc/Moa but the cross of Nim and Eris Tu did me in so a FIW. On a Tuesday, no less. 😱

    Thanks, Gail and Bruce, and thanks, TTP, for accepting the Tuesday blogging duties. I think we're very fortunate to have you and Boomer join CC's All Star Team of bloggers!

    YR, I hope you and Alan enjoy your outing today for his birthday celebrations. 🎂🎉🎁🎈

    Have a great day.

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  12. Lucina - FLN: Maybe Pop was just being nice 'cuz I didn't belong there [@MIT]...
    Evidence: A Tuesday DNF!!!
    Anyone else hearing an echo of Rich's evil MWAHAHA during their fill?

    Thanks Gail and Bruce for the puzzle but I guess I put the wrong cover-sheet on my TPS report again. I got the memo but E-IO xing O-AWA and E-ITU xing O-AN is, nevertheless, a true DNF.

    Thanks TTP for the expo and expla - the clues were self explanatory with your fill but I was clueless A PRIORI. Thanks for filling in the blanks -- I'm happy you'll be our Tuesday's host moving forward. [Note to self: find DiBZ for next trip to Sulfur Springs]

    WO: spelling BARB[ara|rah]; AMBIaNCE (Hi Jinx!), PASSes b/f ON
    ESPs: geography
    Highlight - I actually knew SARTRE - thank you osmosis* of DW's studies!
    Fav: I'll go with GLAM ROCK 'cuz I'm KEEN on Bowie [not so much on N'SYNC]

    1) 5d was not the CEO at my office.
    C) Hand-up Dudley - GERONIMO was also my predecessor to "Here, hold my beer." :-)

    {B+, No!!! - Allergies are so bad I actually took meds; HEMI-DEMI-headed today}

    D-O: I feel your pain about a fresh system. The office gave me a nice Win10 laptop + two(!) 30" screens w/ a 27" on the side. My Win7 box [only 3 27" :-( ] is still my primary 'cuz every time I need to do something I realize "I haven't installed that yet" on Win10. //my Win7 box is 1/2 *NIX; GNU's Win32 tools are a must.

    Cheers, -T
    *yes, I know - but given use is in the vernacular; right YR?

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  13. Aonymous T, "Cheers, -T *yes, I know - but given use is in the vernacular; right YR?
    In reference to what? I guess I am dense today.

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  14. Gail and Bruce put forth a nice Tuesday challenge. No circles since I used the MENSA site, but didn't need it to solve the puzzle.

    Like others I had BAT vs OWL at first, but when I started the down clues, BEBOP changed it to OAT, so OWL it was. I also tried REBA MCENTIRE but it was too short so I waited for perps to start filling in BARBARA MANDRELL. EnzO became EZIO with the down answers of OZAWA and GIRLS. And finally PASSup became PASSON with ABOARD and GERONIMO correcting my mistake.

    Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day, National Coconut Cream Pie Day and National Have a Coke Day. So, to all of the teachers out there I hope you get to enjoy a piece of pie with a coke today.

    Also, Jeopardy is having it's annual Teacher's Tournament which I enjoy watching. I find that most teachers on the show are really nice people who are passionate about teaching and are not squirrelly as some of the other players sometimes seem to be.

    To all of the teachers out there and everyone who has been shaped by them, I hope you have a great day.

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  15. Sour mash is not a process, it is the basis for bourbon. The process is distillation.

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  16. I was just entering "Picard, thanks for the advice about using text" when I realized that I wasn't taking it. I'm now sending a text to myself. I'll cut and paste it. I'm on Android.

    Two glitches. Not only the NIM Natick but I had entered ROC and IRANI, changed the I but not the O.

    These easy Mon, Tuesday xwords are the ones I FIW on.

    I take it the jury agrees that querying (sic) family is not"cheating". We just have to credit them. Phil's my cyber-wise guy and Betsy knows her yoga and astrology.

    Btw. When I had NAM sauf* NIM I thought FLN and why the clue wasn't "Unpleasant draft result".

    TPS etal. Shudder.

    Now let's try cutting and pasting

    WC tada

    * = Except. Handy French like SANS, MAIS

    PS. TTP . Great write-up. Fun l'icks Owen.

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  17. Good morning all.

    Not my best effort today. Just didn't have much time to devote to it. Had to get the golf league started up, and then we drove down to central Texas.

    Speaking of which, Desper-otto, I'm just a short drive away in Texas terms. Well, just a couple hundred miles away, but if you need a second pair of eyes on it. (I know you don't.) Guess we're not driving down to Houston this trip.

    D-O, that Windows 10 Version 1803 update took forever. The little wheel just spins and spins. About two hours total for the update on my fastest PC, and over four hours on my slowest. But they're all done now.

    Madame DeFarge, I'm game, but we won't be back in town for a week or so. I haven't even been able to do most of the puzzles or read the blogs and comments.

    Anonymous-T, call DiBZ first, as they are closing after Mother's day and relaunching as Benny's in a newer location in a month or two after that. The new location will accommodate more guests in his growing business.

    Oops, gotta run.

    See all y'all later n'at.

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  18. YR, *NIX = UNIX. Not sure what -T was getting at. Since you're here best wishes for Alan's serenity . And I hope my offering "advice" wasn't boorish.

    WC

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  19. No ARM twisting needed for this Bruce and Gail fun fest!

    Luckily I knew EZIO and that helped OZAWA but not before I erased BAT and changed it to OWL. Update: Brownies are no longer just GIRLS. Boys can join, too.

    Hand way up for not knowing NIM and going with ERETU.

    Our geography lesson today included ORAN, PERU and an ORANI.

    Thank you, TTP, for filling the void on Tuesdays. Good job!

    I hope you experience joy today, everyone!

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  20. "Puzzling Thoughts":

    Oops! I now see that I FIW, due to a big miss in the Natick of 56d/56a.

    Plus, I had two WO's (LOSER>GONER and AMUSES>AMPS UP)

    Like a few other of the Corner regulars, I got stumped by the duo of Bruce and Gail

    TTP, don't recall if you follow the Pens, but I kinda hated to see them finally lose a playoff series to the Caps. Not sure this year's version of the Pens was good enough to three-peat; maybe I'll root for the Golden Knights and Marc-Andre Fleury ...

    Chuckled when I read the posts regarding GERONIMO. I, too remember yelling that whenever I was about to do something daring, dumb, and/or stupid. I'm wondering with all of the PC-ness, if kids even use this expression anymore ...

    I am an Angel Soft user, if anyone cares

    Try though I did, I couldn't come up with any punny haiku or limericks that used today's crosswords. Maybe I got overzealous yesterday when I constructed 5 ...

    Oops - I just had a "brain fart" - and this nauseous poem just escaped:

    Do you think, maybe,
    That Alan Alda enjoys
    Drinking, SOUR MASH?

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  21. I wondered about sour mash being a process. LIU. It can be the process, the type of mash or the type of whiskey.
    Wikipedia:Sour mash is a process used in the distilling industry that uses material from an older batch of mash to start the fermentation of a new batch, analogous to the making sourdough bread with a starter. The term sour mash can also be used as the name of the type of mash used in that process, and a whiskey made using this process can be referred to as a sour mash whiskey. Sour mash does not refer to the flavor of the whiskey, as is sometimes thought.
    NIX for UNIX sounds okay by me in the vernacular.
    Wilbur @10:57, I am lost again. Thanks for the advice. What was it?
    I advocate that we all follow Dave 2s habit of listing the time when referring to other posts. I spend so much time trying to find them, sometimes without success. Especially late at night, there is a whole thread I do not follow because I can't find the initial reference. Thank you for considering it.

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  22. I love Bruce and Gail puzzles though, like Cross-eyed Dave, I found this a bit of a Tuesday toughie. Thought I had gotten it all, but like Oas and others had ERE TU because I'd never heard of NIM. Never heard of BARBARA MANDRELL, so that made the top a bit challenging. Thanks to the circles I figured the theme would be RAM and had to laugh when I got the reveal "TWISTING ONE'S ARM" and realized it was ARM. Anyway, still a lot of fun--thanks, Bruce and Gail. And thanks for the helpful write-up, TTP.

    My favorite item today was MILO O'SHEA. He played Leopold Bloom in the 1967 Joseph Strick film of James Joyce's "Ulysses" which I saw when I was still in college and which inspired me to become a Joyce scholar. A wonderful performance!

    OC4beach, I'm also enjoying the Teacher's Tournament on "Jeopardy".

    Still dealing with cataract issues, which is why I missed the blog yesterday, but I won't get into that today.

    Have a great day, everybody!

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  23. WC & YR:
    "Highlight - I actually knew SARTRE - thank you osmosis* of DW's studies!"

    "*yes, I know - but given use is in the vernacular; right YR?"

    Osmosis is a solvent passing through a semi-permeable membrane and NOT just absorption (actually more about balance). However, the word is used to intimate an assimilation of knowing because, e.g., you put the Calculus book under your pillow before the exam and learned because, somehow, the material was just absorbed.

    {groan/snicker!}

    Cheers, -T

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  24. Hi everybody.

    I often try to find a couple of minutes at the end of a tutoring session to play NIM with my students. (Jordan likes it too.) We usually play an easier version. We start with 15 toothpicks (or marks on a piece of paper). When it's your turn, you can take either one, two or three). Whoever gets the last toothpick is the winner. I encourage them to try to figure out how to come up with a winning strategy rather than have me win all the time. :>)

    We had an earthquake early this morning. No big deal here. I slept through it...

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  25. YR, the other night, very late or very early I opined about what may be behind Alan's episodes. Since I've had some experience with individuals being affected by their diet, especially sugar or unrefined carbs, I thought perhaps you could chart Alan's eating along with his over all "serenity"*.

    I've had personal experience with mood changes and had read countless books about things like hypoglycemia. At the same time I know you have excellent Medical advice.

    Finally I have a friend who was just put on a zero sugar regimen. After three weeks he sampled a cupcake and went on a sugar binge.

    Perhaps I should have emailed this but you've shared your triumphs and travails with Alan with the corner so I'm risking it.

    WC

    * Bill Wilson's favorite word . PS. Wednesday is my 40th anniversary. 44 for not smoking

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  26. Seemed to be a lot of proper names today. May have seemed that way to me because I didn't know a few of them.

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  27. Misty at 11:17 AM

    - - I was going to gasp at the knowledge that you have "Never heard of BARBARA MANDRELL," but I just don't have the strength. I wanted Reba McEntire like some one else, but I knew Babs when she became obvious.

    - - Just for that, I am posting this --LINK-- for CrossEyedDave, and you can't look.

    Mean old Ðave

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  28. EZIO/OZAWA was a Natick for me. But I did WAG it correctly to FIR. I have been to the Boston Symphony Hall many times to see the Pops. But I have never actually seen the Boston Symphony! Hand up for BAT before OWL. Thanks, Yellowrocks, for pointing out that OWL is a better fit as clued. Surprised that SARTRE was obscure for some. It was a gimme for me. Dinner conversation in our home usually involved my parents talking about some deep philosophy issue.

    CED: Thanks for the amusing image!
    TTP: Thanks for the learning moment about the origin of NSYNC.
    Wilbur Charles: Thanks for explaining your copy-text challenge! I do not own a phone and cannot imagine the contortions needed to post using one! Glad you have found a solution!

    Here are my photos of HAIFA. The Bahai Gardens are spectacular.

    The real beauty of HAIFA is how all of the cultures proudly get along together.

    My nephew took me to the abandoned CAGEs at the original Los Angeles ZOO in Griffith Park.

    A learning moment for me! But I showed him the Bat Cave nearby, which he had never seen!

    I had this five dollar DigiComp computer as a child that could be programmed to play NIM!

    Did any of you other math/science people have one of these amazing little inventions? Husker Gary? Fermat Prime? AnonT?

    From Yesterday:
    AnonT: Glad you enjoyed my ORANGS photos. I am so sorry you did not get to attend your dream school MIT. Our family was not rich or poor which actually made it a big financial hardship. You really should have gone as those in your situation did get financial aid. I got none and had to work and borrow. Plus a lot of sacrifice from my parents and grandparents. I am very grateful. I do hope Lucina is correct that your life turned out well anyway.

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  29. I’m with Picard, bad form to have two names intersect EZIO / OZAWA.

    Otherwise a standard Tuesday puzzle.

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  30. Thanks to Bruce and Gail for a slightly tricky Tuesday puzzle. And to TTP for its explanation. Got the theme as soon as I was able to get 58 across with perps.

    Luckily I sorta knew EZIO [I always want Enzio], E_ITU, OZAWA NSYNC. Able to perp my way through unknown letters.

    When my sons were teens, the 1990s, I had heard of NIM and got it confused with NIN. They had to tell me NIN was Nine Inch Nails. I think we discussed programming a NIM game in my AI computer class.

    MOA I always recall due to a shaggy dog story joke that ends “And that’s why the MOA are no Mo’ah.” Something about drunk MOA orgies and they get stomped to death by elephants. Tried to find on YouTube but too many other MOA type entries.

    Hope all have a nice spring day. Prayers to those with earthquaes and volcanoes.

    Live Well and Prosper,
    VS

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  31. Nice puzzle today! Thanks to Gail and Bruce and, of course, to TTP. Thanks for stepping up to Tuesday, TTP!

    Hand up for wanting BAT before OWL. Didn’t take long for the perps to change what I am pleased to call my mind, though.

    In my experience, people using *NIX are referring to UNIX and also to the various LINUX distros based on it.

    Madame DeFarge @ 08:48: sure, I'm game. Don’t know the place you mentioned, but that’s why GPS was invented (a little bit why, anyway…)

    Lots of talk here about the size of Texas; what really brought that home to me was realizing a number of years ago that the distance between Beaumont and El Paso is roughly the same as that between NYC and Chicago. Of course, now there’s Alaska—and Texas could fit inside it with much room to spare.

    OTERO County NM came as quite a coincidence this morning; last night I was on the ham radio and talked with a fellow ham who was living there. Small world.

    Have a great day, all!

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  32. Nice write-up TTP ... and you were right about my fave today.

    Cheers!

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  33. NIM may have been the undoing of many Xwders today, even among the hundreds (thousands?) who don't post in this Corner.
    Like others before me, I missed ERI TU (choosing ERA TU instead), so came up with the attention-grabbing game name of NAM!

    I wondered for a while how match-stick removals should be equated with, say, the removal of western forces from Vietnam, but I found no answer ready-to-hand.

    In all other respects this opus from the Venzke/Grabowski team seemed normative - although as usual I missed the theme.

    Must close now & get ready for yet another doctor's appt this afternoon. See y'all tomorrow!

    ~ OMK

    ____________
    Diagonal Report: Oh, no-oh! Not another day sans diagonals!
    Yep. No lie. That's what it is.
    Oh, sure, there are a couple of sub diags (NW to SE), but you know what I feel about those. I just don't count them when they lack a main line anchor.
    Sheesh.

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  34. PS. Good to see you back, Misty. Rest those eyes!

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  35. Tinbeni!
    Did you spill anything on the keyboard?
    (The Blog was stuck for about a half hour around your post!)

    I was trying to respond to D4Eh4 to thank him for the sleep link,
    unfortunately, I can't use it because it is too long.
    my Ipad only runs for a couple of hours as its battery is quite old.
    I have been using this one
    but DW says the howling winds creep her out...
    I have been thinking of using David Lanz, but it is hard to find 2 hours without ads...

    Irish Miss!
    I thought of you when I saw this (what I thought was a) serious discussion
    on Spam emails. Ted Talks?
    P.S. I was sold at "KitKat."

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  36. PS to AnonT: Thanks for the Right Turn Clyde ORANGS clips. I had never heard of this before. Seems that Clyde would be a good guy to have on your team!

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  37. Oh nuts!

    I was so busy trying to get on the Blog
    that I forgot to Segway,

    The Ted Talks link should have been titled
    "Arm Twisting the Spammers..."

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  38. Nice puzzle. I liked it. Hand up for entering ERE TU and NEM.
    My word of the day is GEEZER.
    Best wishes to you all.

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  39. FIW. Had ERE TU; N_M was unknown.
    "Match stick removing game": Thought of pick-up sticks.
    Hesitated between BAT and OWL. Chose right!
    Knew or perped the rest.
    Got the theme with the first set of circles.

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  40. CED @ 2:31 ~ Thanks for that hilarious clip. (Cute, cuddly, canine clips are always welcome, too! 🐶)

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  41. Misty: I also was thinking of RAM as using coercion! Sorry that you have had difficulty post-surgery. I do hope you feel better soon. Thanks for stopping by!

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  42. Hi Y'all! Thanks, Gail & Bruce. So great of you to take on the Tuesday spot, TTP!

    My natick was OSHEA/HRE cross. Last to fill was ORAN & NIM. Did not know: OZAWA, ERITU, ORAN, OTERO, NIM. Forgot there were two "R's" in SARTRE. No circles, no theme solve, no matter.

    BARBARA MANDRELL had a TV show many years ago which we never missed. Gimmee.

    Mother took us to "South Pacific" when I was a little girl. Fell in love with EZIO Pinza & the way the name tripped off the tongue. Sis & I went around proclaiming "EZIO Pinza" (giggle, giggle!) until I'm sure mom wished she'd left us home for that movie.

    I'm trying to remember the non-Indian guy who played "Geronimo" in the movie of the 50's. My favorite actor then.

    Doing the puzzle, I thought Angel Soft was an Avon lotion. Duh!

    Picard, thanks for the trip to HAIFA.

    WC: congrats on 40 yrs. of "serenity" & 44, smoke free.

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  43. Thank you PK, I wish Splynter was around still . I hope he's staying with the program.

    WC

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  44. CED - I'll raise your KitKat w/ a dead boy in the street [same guy, y'all - kid's not dead]. Thanks so much for posting that bit of LOL! -T

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  45. CrossEyedDave at 2:31 PM

    - - Did you enjoy the feline faces in my link. Oops, Misty, disregard the word "feline."

    - - Your fireplace video has done it now, you've stimulated my long term memory. This is liable to be a long term post. I do hope the crackling fire does not burn my hard drive. I'm not sure how realistic these You Tube videos have become. "Chestnuts roasting on an open laptop. Jack Frost-ing one of your birthday cakes while having a nip for Tinbeni."

    - - We start on the farm circa 1951 - 1962 where there was a natural fire pit in the front yard. Visions of hot dogs and marshmallows dance in my head. We fast forward to 1986 - 2002, the "New House" that I had built. The fireplace sat in the left front corner at a 45° angle so we could enjoy the fire, and the TV at the same time. It had a brick face, and was so enjoyable.

    - - From 2002 - 2005 Lynn and I enjoyed the stone faced fireplace that occupied the wall opposite the couch. In each fire setup, there was always something to do to "tend the fire." In 2005 we moved here with a gas fireplace, boring. It did warm the cockles of our hearts during a extended power outage from an ice storm several years ago.

    - - My mind is a terrible thing to waste, so I LIU cockle: innermost, and then cocklebur: nature's Velcro. I'm back.

    Ðave

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  46. OwenKL thank you for that Spanish ERES TU . What a beautiful language. el idioma de los cielos.

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  47. Ol'Man Keith, Picard, and Dave--thanks for the nice responses.

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  48. Misty, sorry to hear your eyes are giving you trobble. I hope it resolves quickly.
    WC, thanks for caring. Alan is trying to cut down on carbs and sweets because his A1C had been inching up. He has lost a little weight.
    Long ago I played NIM on paper.
    I enjoyed the orang pics.

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  49. I think I was thinking of Jeff Chandler who played Cochise in "Broken Arrow" in 1950 then in "Son of Cochise" rather than Geronimo. My research time is limited on this.

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  50. Misty please take care and feel better.

    Jeff Chandler died while he was very young - early 40's. For you PK COCHISE

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  51. I was posting while Misty mentioned"cataract issues" I hope that gets clleared up

    WC

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  52. Thank you Lemonade, Wilbur, and Yellowrocks--you are all so kind to care. I really appreciate it.

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  53. PK: Glad you enjoyed my virtual HAIFA tour. It is a very beautiful city, a bit like Santa Barbara. I am sorry my DW had to miss that part of our travels. I included my train ride to and from there from Tel Aviv.

    In one of the last photos you will see a young couple who live on a kibbutz. Even though they lived on a rural farm their entire lives, they were more worldly than most other people I met. The young woman said these wise words to me: "This country would work so much better if everyone would accept that the other people are not going away."

    Yellowrocks: Glad you enjoyed the ORANGS photos!

    AnonPVX: Glad you agree about EZIO / OZAWA. I am OK with proper names crossing as long as at least one of them is either commonly known or is a common name (like BARBARA!)

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