google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, August 3, 2018, Paul Coulter

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Aug 3, 2018

Friday, August 3, 2018, Paul Coulter

Title: Sounds like a punny puppy.

Paul makes a quick turn around after his Thursday last week,  this time featuring humor as the primary theme. The basics- take a breed of dog and pair it with a sound-alike word that creates a funny image. Then clue them all with "Dog who loves..." With only 40 squares of theme and no reveal, we have a variety of longish fill - EPISODE, ITERANT, MANDALA, MONOPOD RAINOUT, TREATER, BREATHER and INERRANT.  As we will discuss, ITERANT and INNERANT are both very much Friday words. We have some sports, some music, some food, some French, Italian and Spanish, lots of fun for me. Let's go.

17A. Dog that loves a burger topping?: ONION BEAGLE (11).  The ONION BAGEL often dresses up the lox and cream cheese with onion and tomato. Spitz, am I right the word bagel comes from a German word for bracelet?

29A. Dog that loves a winter sport?: HOCKEY PUG (9). Hockey and the PUCK are our first sport of the puzzle and the basis of this punny pup. Ice hockey and its various precursor games utilized balls until the late 19th century. By the 1870s, flat pucks were made of wood as well as rubber. At first, pucks were square. The first recorded organized game of ice hockey used a wooden puck, to prevent it from leaving the rink of play. wiki.

49A. Dog that loves to play in the rain?: MUD POODLE (9). A poodle playing in a mud puddle is a pretty cool image, especially if it a white one. 

65A. Dog that loves spaghetti?: PASTA COCKER (11). The use of a PASTA COOKER rather than merely boiling water may seem extreme, but a Cocker Spaniel eating spaghetti is a great image.


On to the solve.

Across:

1. Indian state bordering Bhutan: ASSAM.


6. Pasture sound: BLEAT. And the clecho 34A. Called from the pasture: BAAED.

11. Cheese go-with: HAM. Sorry, this was hard for me.

14. Fiji neighbor: TONGA. Geography 2.

15. Asperity: RIGOR. Fun five letter word, but I never thought of them as synonyms.
Asperity-harshness of tone or manner. Rigor-severity or strictness.  Dictionary.


16. Trick taker, often: ACE. Bridge, spades, hearts, etc. and a repeat fill from yesterday.

19. Mme., in Madrid: SRA. A little Spanish, literally.

20. Blueprint: MAP. We have two so far today.

21. Loved ones: DEARS.

22. Colorless: ASHEN.

24. Repeating: ITERANT. Ah, here we are; we have all heard people reiterate and probably iterate, but the definition repeating; iterating; as an iterant echo? I love this quote from George Sand, “Iteration, like friction, is likely to generate heat instead of progress.”

26. "__ Day": chapter in the '50s "The Thin Man" TV series: ASTA. What an odd way to clue the dog, but perhaps a bonus dog fill.

28. Noel: CAROL. A little early Christmas.

36. Bearish?: URSINE. If you remember the frequent URSA major/minor, this is easy.

37. "The Facts of Life" actress Charlotte: RAE. This diminutive DIVA goes all the way back to Car 54 where are you?

40. Barbecue, say: BROIL.

42. "As if!": NOT. A popular phrase from the 80s.

43. Equanimity: APLOMB.

46. Vacant, as an apartment: UNLET. Let's undo this un-answer.

51. Green pair, often: PUTTS. Par is determined by an estimated 2 putts on every green.

55. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO.

56. Cancellation of a sort: RAINOUT. Common in baseball.

58. Bit of statuary: TORSO.

61. Undercover cops' gear: WIRES. Did you all watch the WIRE?

63. Part of un giorno: ORA. Day and Hour in Italian. Buon Giorno!

64. Brown, e.g.: IVY. Out of my league.

68. Born, in Brest: NEE. French.

69. Vast quantity: OCEAN.

70. Socially active sort: DATER. My meh of the day.

71. Triage ctrs.: ERS.

72. Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred: DURST. Then and now.


73. Black shade: EBONY. No Ivory today.


Down:

1. Very minute: ATOMIC.

2. Beethoven's "Moonlight," for one: SONATA. Clecho 44D. 27, for Beethoven's "Moonlight":  OPUS.

3. Inveterate critic: SNIPER. That sounds harsh, but then I think of Gibbs.

4. Back: AGO.

5. Hindu meditation aid: MANDALA. A mandala (Sanskrit: मण्डल, maṇḍala; literally "circle") is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. In common use, "mandala" has become a generic term for any diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically; a microcosm of the universe. wiki.

6. Rest: BREATHER.

7. Pinocchio, at times: LIAR. And now a star of TV commercials.

8. Arachnid's hatching pouch: EGG SAC. All you need to KNOW.

9. Verizon subsidiary: AOL.

10. Generous bar buddy: TREATER. Not my favorite clue/fill.

11. Chop finely: HASH. Dictionary says to chop (food, such as meat and potatoes) into small pieces.

12. Real estate unit: ACRE.

13. Signify: MEAN.

18. Oscar winner Kingsley: BEN. 35 years ago. 1983 OSCAR.

23. Comes out with: SAYS.

25. Take badly?: ROB. A repeat but fun.

27. "Hamlet" prop: SKULL. Our very brief Will S. reference this week for Friday after yesterday's double dip.

30. Two-time N.L. batting champ Lefty: O'DOUL.  Hewas so much MORE than just a very successful baseball player and manager.

31. One standing at the end of a lane: PIN. More sports, and a CSO for Boomer.

32. A, in Acapulco: UNO.

33. Acquire: GET.

35. Brothers' keeper?: ABBOT. Cute clue, as the head of the monks.

37. Zodiac critter: RAM.

38. Toon storekeeper: APU. The Simpsons, not a favorite here. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is an Indian Immigrant settled in Springfield.


39. Antiquity, in antiquity: ELD.

41. Perfectly correct: INERRANT. This has a religious meaning, basically infallible but also has a meaning from astronomy : 1650s, in reference to "fixed" stars (as opposed to "wandering" planets), from Latin inerrantem (nominative inerrans) "not wandering, fixed (of stars)," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + errans, present participle of errare "to wander, stray, roam, rove" (see err). Meaning "unerring, free from error" is from 1785.

45. One-legged camera support: MONOPOD. Tripod- three. Mono- one.

47. Netflix installment: EPISODE. They are going after the world of entertainment since streaming began working and you did not have to wait for a disc in the mail.

48. 252 wine gallons: TUN. That is about what my friend drinks annually.

50. Divining rod: DOWSER.

52. Grew fond of: TOOK TO.

53. Deep dish: TUREEN. Generally to serve soup. LINK.

54. Like a cloudless night: STARRY.

57. NRC forerunner: AEC. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Atomic Energy Commission.

58. Food sticker: TINE. Generally more than one on your fork.

59. "Your turn": OVER.


60. Bakery selections: RYES. It is so hard to find a good rye bread in the south.

62. See __ an omen: IT AS.

66. Prefix with pressure: ACU. Not to be confused with APU.

67. Hack: CAB.  You wonder why? Hack short for "hackney cab," which referred to a carriage for hire drawn by a hackney, or an ordinary horse -- leading to the use of "hack" to mean "writer for hire," and the word "hackneyed," which means cliche-ridden. The use of "hacker" to refer to a computer user dates back to the mid-1970s.

Wow, that was work and fun; so much to say, so little time. Thank you, Paul our own PC constructor, and you the readers and writers. Lemonade out.



Note from C.C.:
 
Happy birthday to Jaelyn's beautiful grandma Melissa, creator of Adopt an Inmate project and our faithful Wednesday Sherpa. Melissa's compassion, tenacity and and adventurous spirits continue to inspire me. She is also a deeply spiritual person, always so calm and cool. Have a beautiful day, dear Melissa!

54 comments:

  1. There was an old lady of TONGA
    Who wanted to look much younga
    So she ate lots of HAM
    With pineapple jam,
    And with APLOMB joined the line for a conga!

    The wispy young cloud was curious
    "If I took the RAIN OUT, would winds carry us?"
    He DATED a rain cloud
    "Just a lark", she allowed!
    When he proposed, he had to add, "I'm cirrus!"

    {B+, A-.}

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  2. Greetings!

    Thanks to Paul and Lemonade!

    Cool theme!

    FIR but needed perp help with: RIGOR, DATER, DURST, MANDALA, O'DOUL, INERRANT, TUN and RYES.

    Roasted here today.

    My post yesterday is missing! Drat!

    Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Greetings!

    Thanks to Paul and Lemonade!

    Cool theme!

    FIR but needed perp help with: RIGOR, DATER, DURST, MANDALA, O'DOUL, INERRANT, TUN and RYES.

    Roasted here today.

    My post yesterday is missing! Drat!

    Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good Friday morning Cornies.

    Thank you Mr. Paul Coulter for this challenging yet enjoyable CW. I had to BAIL in the SE to complete it. My favorite fill was at 49 A: MUDPOODLE. I caught the theme early which helped.

    Thank you Lemonade for your informative review. I especially liked the video of Valentina Lisitsa playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Her hand movement was amazing.

    Ðave

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  5. Good morning!

    Stumbled here and there, but managed to cross the finish line in good time. Even got the theme. Nice one, Paul, and thanks for the Hack/Cab info, Lemonade.

    MANDALA: Remember this one from Peter, Paul and Mary?

    SNIPER: Lemon, I think of Gibbs as an ex-sniper, but an inveterate head-slapper.

    ASTA: Probably couldn't be clued as a dog due to the canine theme.

    WIRES: Nope, never watched The Wire, probably because I don't have HBO.

    APU: Simpsons character that's caused quite an uproar about ethnic stereotyping this year.

    POODLE: There's a "monster" poodle on our morning march route. He's got a booming bark, definitely not a cuddly Fifi.

    Fermat, sorry that you lost yesterday's post, but you made up for it today.

    Happy Bday, Melissa B.

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  6. Hi,

    another surprising victory after 35 minutes with lots of erasing in the ODOUL part (baseball again, yuck) and I had GRILL instead of BROIL.

    Finally some proper names I know: DURST - saw him in concert in Bratislava 3 years ago, BEN Kingsley. awesome actor. Seen RAE before in xword, I have not seen anything with her.

    Why is not Simpsons not a favorite around here? Easiest way to learn something about USA here in Europe.

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  7. Oh, and The Wire is the best series I have ever seen. So much good writing in it. Even one Season was covering Polish immigrants in Baltimore.

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  8. Thanks to Lemonade for a very thorough and informative review. Owen, "I'm cirrus" gave me a good chuckle. Researching this theme, I learned there aren't many breeds that make good puns. One that didn't make Rich's cut was EXTRABASSET - "Low slung dog that's good to have if your other one isn't in the mood to play?" He felt that many non-sports fans wouldn't hear Extra Base Hit. Anyway, I hope this gave you all a Doggy Treat.

    In the constructor's community, we call the answer that inspired a theme the "seed entry." For this one, it was ONIONBEAGLE. What kind of seeds do you like on yours, sesame or poppy? None of the above? My favorite is cinnamon raisin. Hmm, Raisin D'etre, anyone? Ooh, I'm feeling a new theme coming on.


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  9. I have a pasta cooker. It has an insert with holes so you can drain the pasta.
    pasta cooker
    asperity/rigor
    "The harshness that asperity implies can also apply to conditions, like "the asperities of life in a bomb shelter." Or even more literally to surfaces, like "the asperity of an unfinished edge." But, most often, you will see asperity used in reference to grumpy human beings."

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  10. HBDTY, HBDTY, HBDDmb, HBDTY and many more.

    Gibbs falls back on his sniper training still when needed. he remains an awesome shot. Meanwhile, why is it that someone who shoots well is called a good (great) shot?

    PC, thank you for stopping by. How about Brendan Emmet Quigley?: IRISH SETTER.

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  11. Paul, thanx for 'splainin' Extra Basset. Hands up for being sports ignorant. Raisin d'etre, on the other hand, is funny.
    Asperity

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  12. SW last to fall, as I figured one way to Brown something is to frY it.

    Krijo, liking The Simpsons is a matter of taste, but I'd caution against using it to learn much about what the real America is like.

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  13. Good Morning:

    What a fun treat for all of the Corner's canine community! (Sorry, Mr. Meow.) I'm with Dave on the Mud Poodle, although they were all cute. I thoroughly enjoyed the theme and the solve but I found some of the cluing off-kilter. Mind you, this is not a criticism, merely my own reaction. For example, I've never heard Hash used as a verb: Dice was my entry. Tureen, to me, is not a deep dish, but a vessel for soup or stew, usually accompanied by a ladle. Also, I don't equate Barbecue with Broil. Perhaps Friday cluing has to be more ambiguous; in any case, I completed the grid w/o help, so all is well. Unknowns were Mandala and Durst. W/os were Aswan/Assam, Anemic/Atomic, and Iterate/Iterant. I liked the Acu/Apu pairing and the Baaed, Bleat, Ram trio. Pin and lane brought Boomer to mind.

    Thanks, Paul, for a doggone delightful offering and for dropping by and thanks, Lemony, for all of the tasty treats in your summary, especially, "Moonlight Sonata" and the smile-inducing, spaghetti-slurping Lady and her Tramp. (I, too, had trouble with Ham (all I could think of was Cheese go with=Dip) and I also nose-wrinkled at Unlet.)

    Happy Birthday, Melissa, hope it's a special day. 🎂🎁🎉🍾🎈

    Have a great day.



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  14. Hello Puzzlers -

    Really had to work at this one...I began at bedtime, after a tiring day, and got nowhere. The light of a new day made things clearer. Lots of unknowns that had to be guessed at. Got there in the end.

    Paul C., good to hear from you today! I wouldn’t have made the “extra base” connection. Apparently Rich really thinks things through.

    Happy Birthday to you, MBee!

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  15. Hi Gang -

    Quite the work out today. Excellent theme. Lots of obscurity in the fill, and some tricksy clues.

    Thought I FIR, but just discovered I missed the E in the RAE-ELD cross. Grrrrr.

    Older step-son and his fam arriving tomorrow for a few days. Their oldest, 15-yr-old Abby just returned from a mission trip in Africa.

    Should be an interesting debrief.

    Things to do today, so I'm off.

    Cool regards!

    JzB

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  16. Lemonade - yeah, IRISHSETTER cracks me up. I could definitely use that in a Cryptic, where constructors are called setters. But I doubt many Americans know this usage. Also, editors like the puns to be one sort, either playing on sounds or meanings.

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  17. Paul (and D-O) for your reference here is the RAISIN D'ETRE LINK to a delightful Sunday from Corner friend SJ SJ ( SJ²) Steven St. John.

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  18. Thank you, Paul, I knew when I typed it that it did not fit, but like you, I thought it was pretty funny. I learned SETTERS initially from reading COLIN DEXTER's INSPECTOR MORSE novels, and then the shows on PBS. It is so much classier than "constructor".

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  19. Musings
    -I’m going to the Guinness people to find the record for most wrong/corrected entries in a crossword – SAMOA, GRILL, TO LET, DIA, DONOR, ATT, LEO, GOP, USDA, OAF
    -Wonderful summation, Lemon of this lovely torture!
    -Another possible cheese companion
    -Do UNTO others and then split!
    -Beethoven’s SONATA took some sting out of my misadventures
    -D-O beat me to the PP&M link. Ya snooze, ya lose! I wore out their 1700 album
    -My daughter’s wine consumption is offset by her dedicated biking
    -Lily TOOK TO us immediately at the shelter and she was ours very soon after
    -It’s always fun and instructive to hear from our constructors
    -Happy Birthday, Melissa. I echo C.C.’s words.

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  20. Good morning everyone.

    Melissa, Happy Birthday!

    Good lead-in, Lemon, as always.

    BAGEL - Merriam gives the origin as "Yiddish beygl, from Middle High German *böugel ring, from bouc ring, from Old High German; akin to Old English bēag ring, The German word for 'bagel' is Bagel. Bracelet seems to be translated as Armband.

    A thorny one today but changing Leo to RAM helped a lot. Having 'aft' for 'back' before AGO didn't help either. TUN was an educated guess based on the approximate weight of # of wine gallons. More learning than joy in the solve, but the puns with dogs helped soften things. Wasn't familiar with the ITERANT form of ITER either.
    OVER - Fine in the puzzle. I cringe when I hear Roger, OVER, and Out; usually in movies or TV. It is either Roger, Over, or Roger, Out. When Out is used, the conversation is finished. OVER means 'your turn' and it continues.

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  21. FIR! MANTRA led to MANDALA, and MAC and cheese before HAM and cheese.

    Jewish mystics like BAGELS and Kabbala,
    They say the former is a type of MANDALA.
    The lox and cream CHEESE
    Are like to G_D's sneeze
    That created the earth a cappella!

    There is a good fellow named Paul,
    Who makes crosswords to challenge us all.
    He has each word caper
    Appear in the paper,
    He's hot in summer, but Coulter in fall!

    {A-, A.}

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  22. Owen - Thanks for the bonus limerick. I can honestly say this is the first time I've appeared in one. So glad you didn't put me on Nantucket...

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  23. Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. This puzzle was For The Dogs!!!. LOL. I caught the theme with the MUD POODLE.

    CSO to Boomer with the One Standing at the End of a Lane = PIN.

    Hand up for wanting To Let in lieu of UNLET for the Vacant Apartment.

    BEN Kingsley will be playing Adolf Eichmann in the upcoming movie, Operation Finale, about his capture.

    I though O'DOUL was a non-alcoholic beer. Why bother?

    My favorite clues were: Bearish? = URSINE and Food Sticker = TINE.

    QOD: You never known when you are doing something that is affecting someone. ~ Martin Sheen (né Ramón Antonio Geraldo Estévez; b. Aug. 3, 1940)

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  24. No time to read the comments right now. Later.

    What a dog! No, I mean it. I love dogs and enjoyed this puzzle by Paul C. Mostly a quick sashay except at ODOUL. I had to look him up to finish the OD___ but then erased GRILL for BROIL and ABBOT emerged. Whew! UNLET? Okay.

    DURST was also unknown but emerged. I love the word APLOMB. BAAED reminded me of former poster, Windhover, whom I expect to see in about three weeks when I visit some friends in Dayton.

    EGGSAC brings memories of Charlotte's Web. My fourth grade students loved it.

    Happy birthday, Melissa!

    Enjoy your day, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Well, I love dogs, so the theme of this puzzle was a delight--after I cheated and looked up the answers. But overall this was a toughie for me. I got some of the smaller corners and areas here and there, and the only theme answer that filled itself in was PASTA COCKER. Still, lots of fun, especially with Paul C. checking in with us (thanks, Paul) and with Lemonade's fun write-up. Loved seeing the picture of "Lady and the Tramp," one of my favorite movies when I was a kid (first saw it in a drive-in movie--remember those?). Also listened to the sad Peter Paul and Mary song. Krijo, I too had GRILL before BROIL, and like others had TO LET before UNLET. Anyway, fun all around, many thanks for this on a Friday morning.

    Have a wonderful birthday, Melissa.

    And have a great day, everybody.

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  26. Hacker also describes me as a golfer.

    Any fan of Airplane! should at least once watch Zero Hour!, an 1957 drama film starring Linda Darnell, and Dana Andrews as Ted Stryker. Much of the dialogue went directly to the 1980 parody. When Ted says "That's an entirely different kind of flying altogether" I double-clutched expecting everyone to repeat the line all together.

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  27. Hi Y'all! This doggy theme was cute but by no means cuddly. Thanks for a challenge, Paul. Thanks for a great expo, Lemony.

    Last fill was the "C" in AEC/COCKER cross. Just could not come up with a COCKER. We had one when I was a kid. Dumbest dog with no personality at all -- just there. I was so surprised when I met a smart dog with intuition and brightness. Later had a number of dogs with personality on the farm.

    New to me: ITERANT, INERRANT, asperity, equanimity.

    71a ERS? uh, TREATER & DATER (meh), also SNIPER, BREATHER & DOWSER. Then we have ELD sans ER.

    Did not know NRC or AEC.

    Happy Birthday, Melissa B.

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  28. Ta- DA!

    Loved the dog theme. Especially HOCKEY PUG. Thank you, Mr. Coulter!
    I never remember whether ASSAM has 2 "S"s or three "A"s. Thanks for straightening me out, although the Ol' Walnut will probably forget again before next time.

    Really happy to see Lefty O'DOUL remembered. He was the manager of my Seals when I was a kid. The SF Seals were the only BB team I ever loved. I still resent the NY Giants for trying to replace them in my hometown.

    ~ OMK

    ____________
    Diagonal Report:
    0 today.

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  29. Well, no wonder this puzzle was so far out of my wheelhouse!

    Happy Birthday Melissa!

    Did you know that if you hold the onions,
    The Bagel Beagle is a flying superhero!

    Did you know...
    Hockey Pug is a YouTube sensation!
    with, um, er, 373 views so far...

    Poodles, even when muddy, are still very distinguished...

    I wish I could say the same about some beagles and pasta...

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  30. Fun doggies!

    Valentina Lisitsa has been one of my favorite pianists for many years.

    Good wishes to you all.

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  31. HBD Melissa!

    Funny the things I know only because of doing Xwds.
    I don't watch The Simpsons, but I know APU. Don't golf or bowl, but I know PUTTS and PIN. Don't hang around bakeries, but I know rye and RYES - one of the most common bakery (or bar) words to be found here.

    Misty ~ Ah, yes, Drive-in movies! The whole family could go for a single admission. If the movie was boring you could volunteer to go to the snack bar, then play tag with your brother around the cars.
    Later on, you could double date in high school - and not even watch the movie.

    ~ OMK

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  32. Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Paul (glad you popped in too) and Lemonade.
    DNF for me today; I couldn't get the SW corner to fall - I had NEE and ERS and the ---SO but could not see TORSO or IVY.
    I get IVY league, but that is not this Canadian's first thought for Brown (I wanted HUE) and do you really call them just IVY?? (as in Brown is an example of IVY?)

    Hand up for Grill before BROIL, and Dice before HASH. (I agree with Irish Miss about both.)
    Another hand up for To Let before UNLET (clothes-peg to nose meh!)
    I had _ UD at 49D and wanted PUDDLE to be the first part of the entry, but RAM was solid.

    Wine (Cab?) would have been nice with the cheese; LOL re your "whine" link, HuskerG.
    I saw the CSO to Boomer and was not misdirected by the lane.

    But I was totally misdirected by the Brothers' keeper. I started out thinking about Cain and Abel but the ? led me to Brothers typewriters and I did not understand about the monks even when ABBOT filled in. (Thought of Abbott & Costello but was sure about the two Ts.) Lightbulb moment when I got here. D'uh!

    Happy Birthday Melissa.

    Wishing you all a great day.

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  33. Wow, this was a tough one, especially compared to the previous few days. I know it’s a Friday, but still, wow.

    AFT b4 AGO, DICE br HASH, PIES b4 RYES, NEXT b4 OVER....and surprisingly enough, that was it. Lots of good guesses, haha.

    So the Yanks got their clocks cleaned last night, I stopped watching at 10-4, so glad I did. The league’s best bullpen?....7 batters in the 4th without an out. Geez. I could pitch that bad....for a LOT less.

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  34. DNF. Couldn't get IVY for "Brown, e.g."--Oh, schools, not colors. CanadianEh: I have seen them called "Ivies", but not the singular.

    I wanted PIES and got lost after filling in TORSO. If I'd tried pronouncing "ries" I would have gotten it.

    Got but did not understand PUTTS until the solve.

    Saw the theme with ONION BEAGLE.

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  35. Hi All!

    FIW. And I will gladly take it against Paul and his five-dollar words. Whew!

    My fill went like this: ACRE, mAc (‘n’ Cheese), SRA, CAROL, URSINE, leo, ERS, TINE, NEE, Husky ???, SAYS, Oh, HOCKEY… and then little by little things came into focus.

    Thanks Paul for the Puppy Puns Puzzle. For at least 2 hours, I didn’t think I could even finish it [see the 3Ps there again? :-)]. The SE was non-intuitive. Thanks for swinging by The Corner w/ what was the Puppy-seed bagels [er, entries].

    Thanks Lem for the expo. Hard @Ham for you ‘cuz it was non-Kosher? :-) I had MAC ‘n’ Cheese until I finally sussed ASHEN.

    WOs: Grill b/f BROIL; Husky b/f HOCKY; Leo b/f RAM
    ESPs: DURST, INERRANT,
    Lookups: what an NRC is; Charlotte RAE [#sad, I thought RAE but Leo was blocking so I thought I thought wrong]
    FIW: ASSAn / nANDALA [add another hump to the “n” and I’m closer to the win!] and TUbEEN (thought that was a fancy wash-TUB).
    Fav: I’ll go w/ a TUN of wine for TIN; my TREAT.
    Runner-up: c/a for ABBOT.

    {A-, A-; A, groan :-)}

    Billo @9:04 – really? Not at all like what real America is like? Come to my Mom’s house :-) //ooooh! Mom sent me some honey from her hives which arrived yesterday – so good!

    Happy Birthday mb! CED – that was the PURRfect cake for mb [and a little kitty for you :-)]

    Cheers, -T

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  36. Well, I'm watching Tiger in the Bridgestone but can't figure out how PUTTS is a pair on the green. I had problems with the PIN in the lane too. Of course, the V8 hit .

    Yet I did FIR this tough Friday Paul Coulter gem.

    Nice to see Lefty recognized. I imagine he was unknown but I have a vague idea that I talked about him in here one day.
    Speaking of... I'll stay MUM on that Redsox-Yankee game from last night.
    Chuckle.

    Another Starry night

    Yes, HBD to Melissa and let's see that beautiful grandchild again
    Owen, you're INERRANTLY ingenius.

    Krijo, we had some "yucking" on RONALDO last week. Pele is the extent of Soccer around here.

    Thanks for dripping in Paul*. I had Wet Poodle as in Noodle. Dunkin has a 2fer so I go Raisin with Strawberry Cream cheese; Sesame-Plain. On the side so I can gob the cheese not spread it.

    Lots of bytes, I'll post and read the rest.

    WC

    * That was spell check but II stayed with it

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  37. WC: When a ball lands on the green some distance from the hole, the golfer often has to take two putts to make it into the hole. I've heard it called "two-putting". Usually ends up being for par.

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  38. PK, is that what they call putt-putt golf?

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  39. YR - Lem called out two PUTT on the Green (I learnt something). Apparently, you should be able to hit the Green in one swing on a 3 Par. Golf? I'm lucky just to figure out which PIN I'm shooting for; I score a gentlemen's 8 on every hole [but, with beer, it's a nice way to ruin a good walk].

    -T

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  40. Pk, I got it but felt like "Such a stupid" when the bulb lit.

    That's a quote, btw, from Roberto de Vincenzo (sic) when he lost the masters because of a scorecard error.

    And in my 'ute I bowled a lot but even after an alphabet run I didn't Grok PIN.

    I used to have a ten foot rabbit companion nicknamed "Mr Stupidity" . I got to like the old SOB cuz he hung around so much.

    WC

    Oh, I had some notes in my text file . I'll post them here:

    IMO, EXTRA BASSET would've been the best of all.
    Wow, that St John xword would've been fun. How about Ohmish item?*
    PK, Goldens seem dumb but are very "dog" smart.
    OMK, didn't the Giants play in the Seals Park before Candlestick? JoeD greatly benefitted from Lefty's tutelage. TedW not so much, I think.


    * Piece de Resistance

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  41. T, the gentleman's 8 is known as the SNOWMAN.

    Golf punishes the wayward shots more than it rewards good ones. eg On a shot out of bounds you "lie" 3 not 2. In a scramble* the bad don't count but the really good ones are invaluable . I recounted how it was the cook from the kitchen who made all the putts because he assumed that's what you do. That was a restaurant foursome which I joined at a charity tournament.

    * The Scramble is where the group plays the best ball and forgets the rest.

    Ben Hogan, a superb striker of the ball lamented the fact that his four foot miss counted the same as the rest.

    WC

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  42. Lemonade, I see I forgot to give you my gratitude. Your scholarly expos add so much to the solve. And I'm surprised so many found this puzzle hard. I found it very doable and finished it before my second cup of coffee.

    I noticed the CSO to Boomer at PIN. Nose wrinkle at UNLET. And like others any knowledge about the Simpsons is from CWs.

    DURST and O'DOUL were the only parts I found difficult. And it was nice to see all of EBONY instead of a poetic EBON.

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  43. Hi everybody. For me, this was harder than usual. Good...but hard.

    Here's a question that's been puzzling me: If a bunch of people decided to turn off their unneeded lights and appliances, what do the providers do with the excess electricity being generated? They would cut back on their generation and send some to a different part of the grid, but in the short term, what happens when supply exceeds demand? Wouldn't it be good if they could store it in big batteries or big rotating flywheels or ...? But I don't think that technology is very advanced. So what do they do with excess electricity being generated?

    ~ Bill G.

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  44. Fred Durst did not play the role of Psycho in Stripes.
    Stripes was released in 1981. Fred Durst would have been 11 at the time.
    The actor that played was Conrad Dunn.

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  45. I am not a DOG person, but the theme was fun, creative and whimsical. Some answers seemed just wrong. TUN? INERRANT? ELD? SNIPER as clued? ASHEN as clued? But I did FIR!

    Here I was with a famous BIT OF STATUARY at a little art museum in Paris. She has a TORSO and a beautiful face. But I think they got her cheap because she had no arms.

    Here is the URSINE story of the BEARS and the Bulls. Not a happy story.

    This awful BEAR and Bull fighting was conducted here in Santa Barbara as I learned at a history talk a few years ago. It is reputed to be the origin of the BEAR and Bull on Wall Street.

    From Yesterday
    CrossEyedDave: Thanks for the kind words about my OLD WEST photos! Thanks for taking the time to read the details on the bulletin board!

    WikWak: Glad you also enjoyed the OLD WEST town of Rhyolite. My brother is a geologist so I knew Rhyolite as a beautiful mineral specimen. I think I have been there three or four different times over the years. It does change a bit each time.

    From Two Days Ago
    OlManKeith: Regarding tabloids: Few people may admit to reading them. But the National Enquirer has an official Audit Bureau of Circulations circulation of over one million! Of course, these days there is even worse nonsense on the Internet with even wider readership.

    Michael: Thanks for your WAG for It's A ____. Too many possibilities!

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  46. Bill G - Re: Turn off the lights wither goest the energy. If generation begins to exceed demand, it is decreased to keep USAGE and generation in balance. This is done by closely monitoring the frequency. and system voltage. If the load is lightened and generation stays the same, frequency will increase . If demand exceeds generation, the frequency will drag. Certain units are designated in each control area to automatically adjust for frequency excursions. This is called regulation. The industry requires the system frequency track to pass thru 60 Hertz several times each hour, never stay above or below very long, and to stay extremely close to 60 hertz.
    Where large single loads of several hundred MW, such as aluminum pot line, are connected to the system, and they suddenly disconnect, fast load changing generation such as hydro will trip out simultaneously to keep in step.

    Hope this helps.

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  47. thanks everyone - heading to beach tomorrow to enjoy the coast weather.

    CED - perfect, thanks ;)

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  48. Here's more Lefty O'Doul talk Lefty

    Two things worth mentioning:
    1. He was traded for Joe Dugan. Jumping Joe was highly regarded by none other than Connie Mack but also I knew him personally. A great, great guy.
    2. About the picture taking. One of the "Ambassadors was a Spy

    For whomever might be interested in Lefty etal, I once wrote a Lefty Sprocket pastiche and sent it to Norm Nathan of Boston Radio fame. He said he liked it. Or being nice like Owen with my poetry.

    WC

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  49. Wilbur Charles@ 4:35 said:
    "I used to have a ten foot rabbit companion nicknamed "Mr Stupidity" . I got to like the old SOB cuz he hung around so much. "

    Hmm, are you sure he wasn't 6 foot 3,
    and white,
    and possibly went by the name Harvey?

    He hangs out with me now, that's how I have so much time
    to find silly links for the theme entries...

    Also known as a "Pooka."
    hmm, i wonder if Rich would allow "Pooka" in a CW...

    (Note:)
    if you ever want to watch this entire movie,
    and can enlarge it (like on Ipad) to block out the annoying spinning stars,
    here is a good quality link...

    Spitz (& Bill G)
    Fascinating, load affects/effects frequency!

    (even with 3 phase electricity?)

    But, why?

    (I thought frequency was determined by the speed of the AC generator...)

    Does this mean load affect/effects the speed of the generator/dynamo?

    Another question:
    if a transformer can increase/decrease voltage,
    and resistance can be used to decrease current,
    what can be used to increase current?

    I need this to complete my perpetual motion machine...

    (Seriously!)

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  50. CED @ 2042 said: "(I thought frequency was determined by the speed of the AC generator...)"
    That's the point. The generator maintains the frequency, and the prime mover to the generator needs more or less fuel (water in the case of hydro)to match the generation with the load and operate at the desired frequency.

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  51. Much later that day:

    Happy birthday Melissa!

    desper-otto at 7:03 AM
    - - Thanks for the link to Peter, Paul, and Mary. I had not heard the" Great Mandala."
    - - I found The most beautiful version of Hallelujah you have ever heard.

    Paul C. at 7:16 AM
    - - Thanks for stopping by the Corner. I look forward to your "Raisin D'etre" CW.

    Ðave

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  52. CED - when power consumption drops, to reduce Hz, you remove butter from the toast taped to the cat's back (patent pending). -T

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  53. Wilbur C ~
    Dunno if the Giants ever played in the old Seals Stadium. I’m not the one to ask.
    I made many trips to 16th & Bryant to see the SF Seals. But I would never have crossed town to see the transplanted NY Giants.
    When I was a kid, the Seals held sway in Seals Stadium, and the 49ers in Kezar.

    Candlestick? That’s the cliff above the sea where my stepdad took my brother and me for target practice with our air rifles.

    ~ OMK

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