google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, July 14, 2018, Andrew J. Ries

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Jul 14, 2018

Saturday, July 14, 2018, Andrew J. Ries


A Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Andrew J. Ries 

On the Fourth Of July we Americans celebrate our declaration of independence. Ten days later our French friends celebrate Quatorze Juillet or, The Fourteenth of July which they also refer to as Bastille Day. That day celebrates the storming of the infamous prison and the beginning of The French Revolution. "Liberté, égalité and fraternité!"




I blogged another Saturday puzzle of Andrew Ries's last April 28 on Super Heroes Day. Below is a picture of David Hanson, Victor Borocas (who authored last Sunday's AAA puzzle), our own C.C. and Andrew (not Andy). Next to them is one of Andrew's published books of puzzles that is so apropos for his home state.


Andrew had a double major in film studies and history from St. Cloud State, which he calls a "hockey school", an hour NW of Minneapolis. He got hooked on puzzles by his grandmother and his passion has led to his now being a full-time constructor (as you can see by one of his books above). Andrew says it is not really work when you are doing what you love. He estimates he will do close to a hundred puzzles this year as his trade requires being prolific. I had a great exchange with Andrew via gmail and I hope we get to see a lot more of him in the future

I was also fascinated by the very clever logo for his website which incorporates Andrew's name and a familiar zodiacal fill we see here. C'mon, ya gotta love it!

I managed a 14-minute tour through today's puzzle as I seemed to be on Andrew's frequency beginning with a NASA gimme for me. 


Now let's storm the barriers and see what else A RIES has for us today:



Across:


1. Critical measurements in "Apollo 13": AMPS  - This NASA educator, who has seen Apollo 13 countless times and remembered how the ground crew in Houston figured out how to mete out the meager 20 AMPS the command module would have available to return to Earth.




5. "Yada yada yada" letters: ETC.


8. They may be wrapped at restaurants: FORKS - Pitas and sushi stayed in the kitchen


13. China neighbor: LAOS  - This will connect Kunming, China with Bangkok, Thailand through LAOS




14. Common pace for a slugger: TROT  - The most famous home run TROT in baseball history




16. "__ you special": AREN'T - Sarcasm d'jour 


17. In a big stack: PILED HIGH - How do you even attack this $22 Carnegie Deli sandwich?

19. Assessor's decision: VALUE - Oh look, my the house tax levy went down! Oops, never mind, the VALUATION on my house went up


20. Kind: ILK - Aren't we an ILK here at the corner and each of us a vital 7. Tooth not examined by a dentist: COG.


21. Car wash option: WAX - Is it worth it?


22. Serious reading?: RIOT ACT - King George I issued this decree in 1714 saying goups of 12 or more could be shot or impreisoned when assembling. He wrote it in German as he never learned to speak English and German survived in Buckingham Palace until WWI when they also abandoned their German family name and adopted the name Windsor.




24. B-complex vitamin: NIACIN



26. Old fad items packed in boxes with breathing holes: PET ROCKS - There truly is one born every minute

27. Conclude with: END ON - Some rude people don't heed the rule that fireworks were to END ON July 4th. 


28. Achieves: DOES


29. New job requirement, perhaps: RELO - Real estate agent speak for RELOCATION


30. "That makes sense": GOOD REASON




33. Convertible's spot: DEN - I assume Andrew did not mean someone ran into the house with their car




34. Help for ones seeing stars?: TELESCOPES - Galileo changed the world with his telescope by looking at the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. His findings got him accused of heresy and kept him under house arrest until his death




36. Macabre rock genre: DEATH METAL - Google if you're more interested than I am


38. Where odds are posted: Abbr.: OTB  - Here are what the OTB odds were for the final leg of the Triple Crown this year




41. Modern capture?: SCREEN GRAB  - The picture above was a SCREEN SHOT (GRAB) from a website using Command + Shift + 4 on my MacBook Pro computer



43. Negri of silents: POLA - I'll bet you all know the "little tramp" with whom she had an affair (circa. 1922)

45. Starter starter?: HORS  - What HORS D'OEUVRE(S) (literally outside the work or outside the meal) are appropriate for a Bastille Day party?


46. "Nattering nabobs" veep: AGNEW - Spiro of Maryland - Nixon's VP and lightning rod


48. Track runners: TROLLEYS  - Omaha once had a trolley system that was second in size to only Boston

50. Many a head shop garment: TIE DYE.


51. Don't forget about: INCLUDE.


52. Have in hand: OWN.


53. Reddit VIP: MOD  - They are MODERATORS on the Reddit site with which I have no experience


54. One you usually don't want to meet: MAKER  -Rooster Cogburn once warned, "Prepare to meet your MAKER!"


55. Makeshift branch hanger: ROPE SWING  - The internet has a bottomless supply of "fails" on ROPE SWINGS. You can't fool gravity, inertia and centripetal force.




58. "Hello" balladeer: ADELE and 42. First artist whose first six albums debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200: BEYONCE - I'm sure they are fine artists but they are not on my iPhone playlist


59. Miss a syllable or two, say: SLUR  - Foster Brooks (correction) used this verbal device to make a good living




60. Formerly: ONCE.



61. Rich veins: LODES  - Gee, I wonder where they got the name of the TV Show with the man and his three sons in Nevada

62. Medium skill: ESP - I've told the joke here at least twice about the the crooked fortune teller who was running from the law - Headline - Small Medium At LargeAh, you can't go wrong with good material!


63. Invader from below: WEED.



Down:


1. __ skiing: ALPINE - Sliding down a mountain using "fixed-heel" ski bindings


2. Sending out: MAILING - I can't remember the last time I got a significant communication via Snail MAIL


3. Round fabric pattern element: POLKA DOT


4. Compass dir.: SSE - This plane is heading SSE which is 160˚to the nearest 10 degrees on a compass and the 0 is dropped from the runway marking




5. Hunt in "Mission: Impossible" films: ETHAN - A Tom Cruise film franchise


6. Brand with a leporine mascot: TRIX  - Silly Rabbit, TRIX are for kids!





8. Solid, in a request: FAVOR  - "Hey, brother, would you do me a solid (FAVOR)?





9. Speaker: ORATOR - On November 19, 1863, famed ORATOR Edward Everett spoke for two hours but President Lincoln only spoke for two minutes at a cemetery dedication


10. Fastened anew, as a corset: RELACED seems to fit with 47. Squeezed (in): WEDGED.





11. Sandwich component?: KNUCKLE - "How'd ya like a KNUCKLE sandwich?"


12. "Boss of the Plains" apparel brand: STETSON - Mexicans claimed their tan galán (very gallant) hats were superior to Texan's plain STETSON hats. For those Texans, tan galán became...


15. Golfing groups: THREESOMES - A THREESOME playing winter golf on the Great Plains

18. Gradually goes down: DWINDLES Jimmy Durante wistfully singing the September Song, "Oh the days DWINDLE down to a precious few"


23. "Come on in!": IT'S OPEN.


25. Whispered sweet nothings: COOED - Often paired with BILLED and I suppose I could look up why but...


26. They take things the wrong way: POACHERS - Killing those animals is contemptible 


28. Smallest Battleship pieces: DESTROYERS - Can you pick it out?





31. Connected with: REACHED.


32. Bottom-line positives: NET GAINS - Could be in dollars or yards


35. Looie's underling: SARGE - This second Looie never could get the respect of those under him





37. Metaphor for a potential crisis: LANDMINE - Do you know where they lie at family gatherings?


38. Best-case: OPTIMAL.


39. "The Wizard of Oz" plot twist--literally: TORNADO - Dorothy leaves b/w Kansas and winds up in Technicolor Oz


40. Denied access, on social media: BLOCKED - My niece's incessant politics and profanity made me BLOCK her

44. Genetic variant: ALLELE.




49. Casting array: LURES  - Where do you start?




50. Annoying sort: TWERP.


52. Numbered work: OPUS - The most popular "On Hold" music in the world is this OPUS Number One written for CISCO by Tim Carleton and Derrick Deel. 15 seconds is enough for me.




56. __ Miss: OLE  - How 'bout those Rebels?


57. "I. Am. Speechless.": WOW - Now how about some comments for Andrew and ce misérable (this miserable) that will Leave. Us. Speechless. 


p.s. I hope our Madam Defarge is knitting today in observance of Bastille Day! 



DA GRID





50 comments:

  1. Thank you Mr. Andrew J. Ries for this difficult Saturday CWP. My first good fill was 17A, 9 letters to build on. The NW filled naturally, but then I needed to BAIL in almost every cell to complete the CWP.

    Thanks Husker Gary for your excellent review.

    Ðave

    ReplyDelete
  2. Greetings!

    Thanks to Andrew and Gary!

    FIR. But took longer than Gary. Took a while to get DEATH METAL, HOR'S, MOD, ALPINE, ETHAN, FAVOR and LANDMINE.

    Hope to see you tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  3. West of Rio Pecos, Judge Bean ruled that.
    Gunslingers were read the RIOT ACT.
    He ordered a TORNADO once to cease
    Because it was disturbing the peace!
    If you're passing the Pecos, behave with RIO TACT!

    {B.}

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good morning.

    Thank you Andrew and thank you Husker Gary

    Had fun with this puzzle. A smooth solve. A number of clues and answers made me smile or chuckle.

    Leoprine mascot brand crossing "Common pLace for a slugger ?" Had TwIX for the brand until THREESOME became evident, and at that point, TROT sounded better than TwOT. (Should be using the new glasses.)

    Having PilCHERS ere POACHERS tripped me up for a moment.

    Husker Gary, were you looking for “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”! in response to the appetizers question ?

    ReplyDelete
  5. 45A hors, 8D favor, completed with perps, had no idea how answers connected with the clues until I read the blog

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good morning!

    Was getting absolutely nothing on this one...and then I figured out that the Barnacle published the wrong grid. I printed it out, and then things started to come together. Hand up for reading "Common pLace..." (Hi, TTP.) Tried SCREEN SHOT before GRAB showed up. Nicely done, both of you, Andrew and Husker.

    TRIX: Reminds me of the old joke that ends, "Silly rabbi, kicks are for Trids!"

    AGNEW: We just discussed his nattering ways a few days ago.

    VALUE: Most of the taxing entities here have frozen our taxes. But the assessed VALUE on my unimproved, un-frozen woodlot went from $4300 to $20,000 in just one year.

    POACHERS: I was reading just yesterday about the tragedy in Africa. Endangered black rhinos were being relocated to save them from POACHERS. Eight rhinos died in the process. Salt poisoning (I didn't know there was such a thing) is suspected.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wrong grid also published in the Albany Times-Union.

    HG, that's a picture of Foster Brooks. Frank Fontaine was on the Jackie Gleason show. Drunks aren't too comical any more.

    The central section took a long time to fill, and never sussed the meaning RIOT ACT. Some things may work easier for me with pen and paper.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gary,
    wonderful write-up: the comedian with Dean Martin in your picture is FOSTER BROOKS another one who slurred. Frank was Jackie Gleason's foil.

    Enjoyed the puzzle and appreciated the constructor's wit. Help for ones seeing stars?: TELESCOPES , One you usually don't want to meet: MAKER and Sandwich component?: KNUCKLE my favorites. I only know ALLELES from watching CSI.

    Thank you, Andrew and Gary.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Pretty funny timing, Oo interrupted my posting. Sorry for the dupe.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mea Culpa! Thanks for the gentle correction, biilcohoes and Lemonade. You found the one mistake I always leave intentionally! :-) I was looking at Foster and Frank (Crazy Guggenheim) Fontaine on YouTube, picked Foster and put the other name.
    Yes, TTP, that is what I should have put!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Y'all! Very interesting A RIES OPUS, thanks, Andrew. Took me awhile to understand his logo. I'm an aries. Oh, first initial and last name. Good one. Tough puzzle. Took awhile to fill the top. NE last to fill.

    Also a very good expo, Gary. Can't wait to finish here and carry the "September Song" link to my other browser. One of my favorite all-time songs. Used to sing it. By request even.

    Never heard of DEATH METAL or SCREEN GRAB. Ah, the things one learns in cws that are missed in a sheltered life.

    Learning moment: Leperine is a rabbit. Well, I guess a rabbit will "Lep" around. Just a little TRIX to help remember it.

    Solid = FAVOR? Hmmm!

    D-O: Yes, salt can poison. I had a work colleague whose pre-school daughter was poisoned by salt force-fed by her new step-mother. Despite the daddy being "sure" it was accidental, his wife served time in the prison. The child would go ballistic thereafter if anyone tried to salt her food. She almost died.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good Morning:

    I breezed through this quickly but Gary beat my time by 4 minutes. There were so many easy-to-suss long fill: Destroyers, Telescopes, Screen Grab, Rope Swing, Threesomes, etc. that helped the solve. Fun to see Adele and Beyoncé, though I don't listen to pop music. Never heard of Death Metal and hope I never have to. Gary cleared up my not understanding the C/A, Solid in a request=Favor. My favorites were: Sandwich component=Kunckle and Serious Reading=Riot act. My one w/o was OMG/Wow. I thought it was an exceptionally clean grid with little to no "glue" or crosswordese. Plus, there was something for everyone, age-wise.

    Very nicely done, Andrew, bravo! And thanks to HG for the snazzy, jazzy Saturday learning lesson.

    I liked the play on A Ries as I, like PK, am an Aries, too.

    FLN

    WIlbur, I must be dense because I don't understand your comment.

    Michael, you make a good point. I guess it's all a matter of interpretation. 😉

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good morning everyone.

    POACHERS; WOW. Some really great cluing. Got most of it so I should be happy. Couldn't grok REACHED, and plain didn't know ALLELE; a new learning.
    DESTROYERS - CSO à moi.
    Liked KNUCKLE sandwich. Small eddies due to rudder action are also called KNUCKLES. Akin to German Knochen for 'bone'; L. German Knoken. The 'K' is pronounced.

    Fine jobs by Andrew and Husker. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Husker: WOW! What an informative write-up.

    I am sure glad I solved this puzzle (while watching the 3rd Place World Cup game).

    As for the "Final" tomorrow ...

    GO CROATIA !!!

    Cheers!


    PS You live and work in a country for 2 years, 3 months, and 22 days ...
    are treated very well ... and you become a FAN of their team.
    Go figure ... LOL

    ReplyDelete
  15. WC, FLN. Not only was Alf Landon still alive in 1956, he was only 69 at the time. This is an age I now see as quite youthful. Anyway, he was also alive in 1987 at 100 YEARS OLD

    ReplyDelete
  16. Aries gave us a fun run today. Thank you. WOW!

    As I skipped from quadrant to quadrant I seemed to be in his wave length. RIOT ACT? Oh, not RIO TACT which, of course made no sense.

    Interesting evolution about the ten gallon hat from STETSON though I had no idea it was the Boss of the Plains brand.

    The middle caused me a Natick since I had no idea about DEATHMETAL and refused to give up RELATED. Finally, LIU and REACHED the end. I also had FOR starters but HORS overtook it.

    I vividly recall riding the TROLLEYS in Phoenix in the 40s and 50s. Yes, I'm that old.

    CSO to Spitz at DESTROYERS and I knew you would latch onto it. I was surprised to learn it was the game, though.

    MOD? Reddit? No idea. Thank you, Gary, for your excellent review and your solid explanations.

    Bunco with my friends today. Fun times will ensue.

    Have a terrific day, everyone!


    ReplyDelete
  17. Allons enfants de la patrie...
    Slow going after a fast(for Saturday) start. Who am I kidding with this non-erasable pen. EGO as we saw in a recent clue. Paid for it, fe. OPTION A, OPTIMUM, ERSE,MUTANT,HAH < ETC. I had NET GAINS but I then wanted SCREEN SHOT so SALES. ugh, ugh.
    Final result: a very messy FIR.

    Let's see the write-up and comments.

    I'll be back

    WC

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hello there.

    First of all I must thank all of you for your good wishes on my MIL's house going under contract on the first day. She's very excited. And the proceeds will take care of her in her new digs.

    Andrew, this was grand fun this morning. I'm not sure how I did so well today. Many fills felt like something I've heard even when out of my wheelhouse. Lots of successful WAGS. Thank you.

    Gary, didn't I just say you outdid yourself last week!?!? Well, this was a grand write up. Great explanations and links all around! Merci beaucoup!

    Also, Gary, indeed I will be knitting today! It's too weird and dreary to do anything but binge watch Jeopardy and knit. By the way, some believe Dickens based Madame Defarge on Marianne--the symbol of the French Revolution and of France. She is not unlike our Lady Liberty. And after all, that gal in NY Harbor was a gift from France. Aujourd'hui, on parle beaucoup de francais ici. Eh, Swampcat?!

    Have a sunny day even if the weather is not cooperating.

    ReplyDelete
  19. It is Saturday which means it was a challenge! Last to fall was SW with POLA/ADELE/LURES etc. To FIR!

    Husker Gary: Please do tell who POLA had an affair with?
    Thanks for the RIOT ACT explanation! Hand up I never got the meaning before and found it hard to parse in the puzzle.

    When we first moved to Maryland AGNEW was running for governor against a man named George Mahoney whose campaign was openly racist. AGNEW was the lesser of evils. The good old days were not so good. My parents were grateful they were not eligible to vote.

    Here are my photos at the National Capital TROLLEY Museum. A happier part of my Maryland history!

    Here we recently visited many famed TELESCOPES on Mount Wilson

    I enjoyed photographing the MAKER Faire at our local high school engineering academy. Smart kids!

    Happy Bastille Day indeed! Here are my photos and videos of our French Festival

    We are just about to head over there now!

    ReplyDelete
  20. From Yesterday:
    Lemonade: Thanks for the Picard CSO for IT IS SO!

    Mike Sherline: Glad you also admire George Takei (SULU) as a hero! Yes, Amelia Earhart indeed was behind him.

    Here is a better shot of my friend Claire Frandsen who played Amelia Earhart. She created the entire ensemble of Dinosaur Heroes. With help, of course.

    CanadianEh: I am guessing our school system did occasionally have a SNOW day. But in New England it had to be quite severe. We did not have any SNOW days while I was there. Very different when we moved to Maryland. A few snow flakes and it was a play day!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Some very 'imaginative' ( = incomprehensible ) cluing. Solid = favor ??? Starters starter = hors ??? Riot Act took a long while, too, because of the cross with 'favor.'

    I get the 'hors' one now, but when working the puzzle and triple-checking the perps, nothing came into focus.

    Ah, well, Monday's coming....

    ReplyDelete
  22. Interesting puzzle grid, Andrew--it caught my attention before I even started the puzzle. It was a Saturday toughie for me, of course, and on my first round I only got AGNEW. For a moment I worried that it might be SPIRO, but then I figured the last letter down would be WEDGED, so at least I got that one. But lots of fun clues and mis-directions. RIOT ACT = serious reading? Seriously? HORS as "starter starter" cracked me up. So did KNUCKLE sandwich. I did get TELESCOPES early on, and that helped. Anyway, fun puzzle, Andrew--many thanks. And Husker Gary, your pictures are just terrific. I really enjoyed them.

    J partners, let me know if you have any suggestions on how we can communicate.

    Have a good weekend, everybody!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Picard, Pola Negri had an affair (some say platonic) with Charlie Chaplin. He's the guy in that photo Husker posted.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I liked this puzzle. Easy to see why Andrew Ries is a pro. Top notch stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Michael, the use of SOLID meaning favor comes from this EXPRESSION .

    Picard, Chaplin's most famous character was the LITTLE TRAMP , hence HG's comment.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow...almost 3PM and under 25 comments...

    Anyway, a deviously clued Saturday that rewarded effort. Had PINCHED b4 POACHED, and like others SCREEN SHOT b4 GRAB.

    And that was it.

    Anyone who questions the value of reverse cameras in cars should read the entry above... I have the rear cam and I still check in back of the car before backing out of the driveway.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Irish Miss and I finished in a dead heat for second. 14 min is fast for a Saturday! Nice.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi All!

    3 puzzles in one today! As D-O said, the Chron error'd on the grid-print. Second, Mensa printed an extra column after 12d but there was no 13d clue for the spanner(?) Trying to figure out what I mean? Look.

    Third puzzle was A. Ries'. Speedy clean grid and with fun and no clunk. Alas, a DNF. I had Mutant @44d [I knew it was wrong 'cuz of LODES & ADELE, but nothin'] and fliES @49d. No way to unlock that corner w/o HG's help. Thanks Andrew and HG.

    Great expo Gary. That hold music, OPUS 1? Yep, that's ours - really gets annoying after 10 seconds when someone [I'm looking at you Sam!] on a THREE-or-more-way conf. call puts the group on hold --- that's all we hear while trying to talk.

    Lem called-out all the Sparkle. I really liked KNUCKLE too. PET ROCKS was just fun w/ DEATH METAL in there. There's gotta be a band called PET ROCKS. [OMG, there is!. //I looked into it so you don't have to - they are a '70s ERA cover band.]

    MAKER as clue'd is really good. Wish I'd have the perps to sussed it.

    Do me a solid is common enough for me... It means, 'this favor would be huge and I'd owe you big'. Very much unlike, "be a love and get me a BEER."

    {B+}

    Lucina - RIO TACT made perfect sense in OKL's VERSE :-)

    PVX - which entry above?

    Have a great Saturday!

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  29. It is wonderful what patriotism can do.
    Yes, Husker Gary is right: The royal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha changed their name to Windsor in 1917 to rid themselves of any taint of their German titles.
    Other families followed suit.
    Battenberg famously became Mountbatten.

    And on the home front, a certain Drumpf became Trump.

    Very tough pzl today. I surprised myself by nearly finishing w/o help despite wanting to throw in the towel at several earlier points. I finally cheated to complete the SE sector.
    It was bright work from Mr. Ries but chewier than I wanted it to be.
    Very clever cluing. HORS was my favorite fill.

    ~ OMK

    ____________
    Diagonal Report:
    None today, thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Not to be 'that guy', but PT BOATS are the smallest battleship pieces, not DESTROYERS.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Marc - I think we are talking about the the game.. See the bit on size, Destroyer only takes two hits before it's Sunk. It's a good strategy to place it parallel to another ship to hide it's little self. -T

    ReplyDelete
  32. Houston Chronicle ran a puzzle with clues from another puzzle that absolutely had nothing to do with today's puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Misty and other Jumblers ~

    Hang on! I just found my way to the July 14 page of the "Ginger Roots" page, but then I happened to hit on another page, a second Jumble page that Owen is currently posting on.
    Try this: http://jumblehints.blogspot.com/
    And then click on today's date in the lower right section.

    Good luck!

    ~ OMK

    ReplyDelete
  34. @3:41 anon - see my and D-O's posts. Yeah, H-Chron (or the feed from the wire; billo said "Albany Times-Union" also got the wrong grid with the proper clues) muff'd it.

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  35. Challenging but not "Saturday Impossible" puzzle by Andrew. Only one name I absolutely didn't know, 5d, the actor, of course.

    Great writeup, as always, Husker.

    8a Along with plastic (and paper) bags, my wife & I have banned plastic utensils & carryout containers - bring our own collapsible Tupperware, cloth napkins, screw top cups and flatware.
    Yeah we get a few funny looks, but have you seen the gyres? We do live on an island, after all. Many people claim to love the land/environment, but most (I believe) are oblivious to the devastating results of their thoughtless actions.

    45a-starter starter left me completely blank; have to admit HORS makes sense.

    53a - isn't Reddit a web site? I thought it might be CTO as in a recent puzzle.

    58a & 42d - personal nit - no, more than a nit - I really wish everyone would stop referring to pop "music" performers, and even worse, rappers, as "artists". No matter how many mindless screaming fans they attract or how many million$ they rake in, they're not artists.

    8d - loved the gif. Our cat bumps my wife's hand with his head whenever she's not petting him, but he's never actually grabbed it with his paw!

    28d - forgot Battleship was a game - couldn't imagine how a destroyer could be part of a battleship - battle GROUP, yes, but... Guess the capital B should have tipped me off.

    Picard @1257 - Claire looks like she's really enjoying flying. And who wouldn't?

    ReplyDelete
  36. While watching Wimbledon and working the puzzle during commercial breaks I managed to finish with only a few unknowns. Rafael Nadal lost to DJOKESTER (remember that fill a few weeks back for Novak Djokovic) in an extended fifth set. Angelique Kerber beat Serena Williams in two sets.

    AMPS and whatever a "Reddit VIP' is -MOD- were perped. My HEAVY METAL died and became DEATH metal, which I've never heard of. My keyboards have 'Print Screen' and they make a SCREEN 'SHOT'; GRAB? Never heard of it either.

    1D- had to change SLALOM to ALPINE
    26D- MY BURGLARS were really POACHERS
    15D- One of the guys didn't show so we became a THREESOME (no FIVESOMES are ever allowed)
    28D- I had no idea about the game but figure it would be a ship of some type and DESTROYER(S) fit nicely.
    PET ROCKS- make P.T. Barnum proud

    ReplyDelete
  37. Thursday's puzzle was way over my head so I followed Thumper's advice. Yesterday was easier but I was late getting to the blog. Today was easy for a Saturday. Thank you, Andrew R., for the fun. Enjoyed the expo, H.G!

    My biggest error was putting in SCREEN shot instead of SCREEN GRAB. That kept the SE a no-go for the longest time until I came to the blog to look at the grid. Then it fell rather quickly.

    1d ALPINE SKIING makes me think of my daughter. She and a couple friends are leaving tomorrow morning, going to Tanzania and will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro! She said it's the easiest mountain to climb, it's more hiking than mountain climbing. I'll wait for the pics. Thankfully they are going with a tour group.


    We do get snow days here. Cincinnati is very hilly and the roads get slippery so it's not safe to be out. I think it's good for the students mental health to get a day off.

    Happy Saturday!




    ReplyDelete
  38. Oui, Madame. Ici parlez francais beau coup, tres bien. But you must know my accent is Cajun not Paris, and the dumb spell check is making it impossible to type!!

    Fun puzzle but too many unknown for me to claim victory. Thanks, A Ries! Husker, I finally understand all I didn't know....at least a little better.

    New Orleans is certainly NOT. World Cup city. Do we even know what soccer is? But we have a wonderful local rivalry between two old friends. Maurice French Pastries is run by an old French family and is a mainstay in town, having been here nearly forever. Drago's Seafood restaurant is run by the Cvitanovich family from Croatia who are credited with bringing the oyster industry to town, many many years ago.

    Need I say more? They have been on tv and in newspapers championing their different teams. Fun!

    Madame D, forgive me. Drago's charbroiled oysters are tastier for me than Maurice's doberge cake. I must root for Croatia.

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  39. Funny. When the reveal popped up I saw the words RIO TACT???? Owen, that was a full W.
    TTP, likewise I need to remember the reading glasses.
    Btw, exactly what are AMPS?
    Is there anyone besides Picard and I who've never seen an episode of any CSI?
    My uncle left me George Feyer at the Cafe Carlisle. His version of September Song was my favorite. Also, Non Dimentica (sic).
    IM: do you mean qui,qui? .. Who has the bat?=Who's UP Scenario. => UPS clue. FLN

    WC

    PS. I was going to ask whether Ginger Roots was being used for Jumble but why not LIU

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  40. Ol'Man Keith, sadly, your link above didn't work when I clicked on today's date.

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  41. Wilbur @ 6:36 ~ Yes, that is the comment that I still don't understand.

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  42. WC and IM re: AMPS. Husker explained it in his lead-in. AMPS are Amperes, a measurement of electric current. Apparently the Apollo 13 accident limited the spacecraft's electric capacity to 20 AMPs so the crew had to turn off any load not critically needed to meet the capacity limit.

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  43. Misty ~
    I checked it twice again, and it does work. Did you not reach the page titled "Jumble - Hints, But No Spoilers"?

    Be sure to copy the whole link out and post it directly to your site field on a new tab. Enter once, and you should arrive at the page with the above title.

    Don't try to click on any date until you have done this. Once you reach the page, go down to the lower right section for the choice of dates, and click there.

    See you on the other side!

    ~ OMK

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  44. Saturday workout. Thanks for the fun, Andrew and Husker Gary.
    P&P required for me today and my inkblots are copious.
    But at least my newspaper had the correct clues; except 5A was "When tripled, "yadda":Abbr." instead of "Yadda, yadda, yadda letters".

    Hand up for Slalom before ALPINE, Mutant before ALLELE.
    I had Gets before DOES, and OIL tankers before DESTROYERS (it's been a while since I played Battleship with my kids).
    HORS filled in with perps but I had to come here to understand. FAVOR also filled in but I didn't even understand when I got here. (I thought maybe it had another meaning when you left out the U, LOL!) I have Never heard the expression "would you do me a solid"!

    I smiled at the "Nattering nabobs" after our discussion the other day. (prescience of the blog?)
    My first fill for "Tooth not examined by a dentist" was BLU (short for Blue) which I thought was brilliant, but was proven totally wrong.

    Enjoy the evening.

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  45. Spitz @ 8:20 ~ I don't think I questioned Amps. 😉

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  46. IM - My mistake; I misread Wilbur's 6:36 missive.

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  47. desper-otto and Lemonade: Thank you for explaining about POLA NEGRI and Charlie Chaplin. I saw the photo but had no idea who it was. And thanks for explaining the TRAMP connection!

    Mike Sherline: Yes Claire indeed was enjoying flying as Amelia Earhart. The other heroes were mostly on dinosaurs. Since she did so much of the creation of the concept and of the dinosaurs I was surprised she did not have a dinosaur of her own!

    By the way, here are my photos of the current location of the dinosaurs!

    Wilbur Charles: Actually, I have watched some CSI episodes. My parents were watching them for awhile, so I would see them when I visited. That was maybe five years ago.

    Much has been said already about AMPS. The Apollo 13 accident reduced the total amount of energy remaining in the batteries. The idea was to reduce the electrical load enough so that limited energy would last long enough to get them home. Given that the battery voltage is fairly constant, the easiest way to measure the load is by watching the current in AMPS. A lot of smart people and a lot of luck got them back safely.

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  48. Lemonade @ 1:59 -- thanks for the reference, but today is the first time in my life I ever heard that 'solid' expression. Must be from living in California?

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  49. I ran out of juice on my phone last night so I'm posting now...

    First, Spitzboov, thanks for clarifying AMPS. I didn't recognize it as Amperes and didn't know that Apollo 13 had that issue.

    IM, Friday@8:06 you said to Jim Q "I preferred your Qui,Qui clue. Actually, it was Oui,Oui.
    Mine was "Qui,Qui avez le bat?"
    Who has the bat.*
    The xword answer: Who's up scenario.
    With the UPS in the middle.

    Does that clear it up?

    WC

    * There's an extra "Qui". Oui, Oui works n French but not qui,qui.

    And... Abbott & Costello had a Who's on First routine. ( qui gardez le premier base?". )

    Rich would never go for such arcane cluing but Will Shortz might.

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