Theme: STRING TRIO
(62. Composition for violin, viola and cello ... and what the starts of
17-, 29- and 47-Across comprise) - The first words are all synonyms of
string.
17. Job: LINE OF WORK.
29. Switching from cable TV to streaming, say: CORD CUTTING.
47. Bedsheet buyer's concern: THREAD COUNT.
Boomer
here. I am not stringing you along. I may have mentioned that I play a
little golf in the summer, and I also watch the PGA on TV. I have
noticed two differences between the Pros short iron approach shots and
my own:
1) No one shouts "Go in the hole" when I hit my shot.
2) When the pro hits his shot, the divot flies farther in the air than my golf ball.
Tomorrow,
I hope you will join me in pausing to reflect on the tragedy on this
date in 2001. Like most folks, I remember where I was and what I was
thinking nearly every minute.
Across:
1. "We Create Music" org.: ASCAP.
6. "You're a riot": HA HA. I think we had this last week. (It wasn't funny then either.)
10. Sportscaster Albert: MARV. Mostly basketball.
14. Diner counter alternative: BOOTH. It's been awhile since I have seen a counter in a diner. Usually it's a choice of a table or booth.
15. Hasn't paid yet: OWES. I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. 7 Dwarfs??
16. Jai __: ALAI.
19. Govt. crash investigator: NTSB. National Transportation Safety Board.
20. Weather-affecting current: EL NINO.
The claim is that the climate change can cause milder, warmer winters.
Stop kidding me, I live in Minnesota. However Storm products named one
of their bowling balls El Nino. (I have one).
21. Give up all expectations: LOSE HOPE.
23. __ Strauss, female touring guitarist for Alice Cooper: NITA.
25. Greek "i": IOTA. Certainly have to love these four letter words with three vowels.
26. BB-shaped legume: PEA.
When I was a kid, I remember having a pea shooter. But we did not
shoot real peas unless they were those dried up hard things from the
dime store.
34. Relaxing time in the chalet: APRES-SKI. As opposed to Alps Ski, which cannot be relaxing.
36. Skin ink: TATTOO. "Ze plane Ze plane" Remember "Fantasy Island"? I think Tattoo's real name was Herve.
37. Four-time '60s-'70s A.L. All-Star __ Powell: BOOG.
At one time, Boog was the only player to play in the Little League
World Series and the Major League World Series. His real name is John.
Booger was in "Animal House"
38. 42-yr.-old skit show: SNL. Loved it when Tina Fey did Sarah Palin. I don't stay up that late anymore.
40. Regarding: AS TO.
41. Not at all abundant: SCARCE.
44. Totally loses it: GOES NUTS. Tyrrell Hatton is gaining this reputation when he misses a short putt.
49. Observe: SEE. He joined the navy, to see the world, but what did he see, he saw the sea.
50. Pop's Lady __: GAGA. Many have gone GAGA over this lady. Not me.
51. 1982 Disney sci-fi film: TRON. Huge Disney success
53. Most ordinary: PLAINEST. Tattoo - "Ze plainest, Ze plainest !"
57. Hydrocodone, e.g.: OPIATE. I don't like this word. It stands for a product that has caused so much heartache in our country.
61. Like un maníaco: LOCO.
64. Color of raw silk: ECRU. Is raw silk, silk that has not been cooked?
65. Sights from la mer: ILES.
66. Longtime senator Specter: ARLEN. From Pennsylvania. Could not decide if he was a Republican or a Democrat.
67. Vintage Jags: XKES. The last thing I remember Doc, is that XKE did not come back from Dead Man's Curve.
68. Not e'en once: NEER. Clever clue for never.
69. Wall Street's Standard & __: POORS. Interesting name for an investment company. Do you want to be Standard, or Poor ?
Down:
1. Having the skills: ABLE.
2. Window box dirt: SOIL.
3. Hartford's st.: CONN. Great College Women's Basketball State,
4. Had food delivered: ATE IN.
5. "Hooked on" language teaching method: PHONICS. Wow, do they still have this. I remember having Phonics in first grade.
6. In what way: HOW. "Hello" Clayton Moore from Jay Silverheels
7. GI on the run: AWOL. Absent Without Leave. Saw a bit of that in the States. No so much in Germany - nowhere to run except a beer joint.
8. Valiant: HEROIC.
9. Invites to the prom, say: ASKS OUT.
10. Borough across the Harlem River from the Bronx: MANHATTAN. Home of "Law and Order".
11. Voice above tenor: ALTO. I disagree. Tenor is a male voice, Alto is female, I would clue voice below soprano.
12. Abrasive tool: RASP.
13. Hard-to-explain feeling: VIBE. Pontiac SUV 10 years ago. No more Pontiacs these days.
18. Pics: FOTOS. Spelling ???
22. Bluesy James: ETTA. Ms. Kett was a manners expert.
24. Boats like Noah's: ARKS. I heard they are 300 cubits. What's a cubit?
26. Brew brand with a blue-ribbon logo: PABST. What'll you have ?
27. Pleistocene period: EPOCH.
28. Cheering and yelling, as a crowd: AROAR.
I watched a bit of football at Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday TV. What
a display of nearly 80,000 fans in red shirts cheering for the
Badgers. Then on Saturday night, I tuned in to the Gopher game vs.
Fresno State. Maroon and gold tee shirts and jerseys. About 60,000 of
them. Amazing the drawing power of college football.
30. Down Under dog: DINGO. Maybe your Dingo ate it.
31. "Who's there?" response from a couple: IT'S US.
32. Naples night: NOTTE.
33. Golden-egg layer: GOOSE.
Mr. Goslin - Hall of Famer for the C. Griffith Washington Senators,
Also Mr. Gossage - Relief pitcher, mostly for the Yankees.
35. Flagrant: EGREGIOUS.
39. Rude dude: LOUT. If he gets too loud, kick him out.
42. Actor Scott or his dad James: CAAN. I really liked James in the TV Series "Las Vegas".
43. Enters sneakily: EDGES IN.
45. 2001 scandal company: ENRON. I still have some Enron Golf balls I bought on ebay a few years ago
46. Temporary solution: STOPGAP.
48. Structure protected by a moat: CASTLE. Europe still has lots of these. They are built like a ton of bricks with a ton of bricks.
52. The "N" in "TNT": NITRO. Also "Network" on Cable TV. 245 on Direct TV.
53. Theater suffix: PLEX.
54. What a key opens: LOCK.
55. Farmland measure: ACRE. What a dentist fixes.
56. One in a forest: TREE. If it falls in the forest and no one is around, you cannot hear it.
58. Woody Guthrie's son: ARLO. You can get any thing you want, at "Alice's Restaurant". I'll bet they had a counter there.
59. Stadium section: TIER. A little bitty tier let me down
60. Many millennia: EONS.
63. Dead Sea country: Abbr.: ISR.
Boomer
73 comments:
Grim, satiric, fun -- a l'ick for every mood today.
Religion is the OPIATE," wrote Marx.
Now opiates are a religion, in some parts.
Pain it heals,
It gives good feels,
Sometimes final oblivion it imparts.
John's style was most EGREGIOUS,
To decency he was impervious!
With crowds AROAR
He GOOSED them more,
Even worse than he'd done previous!
The drums beat out a slow TATTOO
To give him his HEROIC due.
The CASTLE saved,
The former knave --
Was AWOL from his own review!
{X, A-, A-.}
Good Monday Cornies.
Thank you Matt McKinley for this Thursday CW on a Monday. I FIR in 25:38 min..
Thank you Boomer for your excellent review.
Ðave
Good morning everyone.
I like Mondays so I can ease into the day with Boomers delightful chatter. Liked your golf thoughts.
Easy as is Monday's wont. No problems with the solve. I liked the LINE of thought on the theme.
ARKS - Boomer asks "What is a cubit". It is a special unit of measure needed to work accurately with assembling gopherwood.
ACRE - German has the word Ackerland - Tillable land. Hydrologists love the unit of measure - ACREfoot (43560 cubic feet.). Very convenient for reservoir volumetrics and for routing flow through a reservoir system.
THREAD -L. German Drahd; Dutch draad. German Draht seems to be reserved for wire such as electrical wire.
IT'S US is grammatically incorrect.
Really, Dave2? I IFR with no erasure, but no idea how long it took me. Another reminder of how we all have different wheelhouses.
I know HOW to pronounce EGREGIOUS and NOTTE, but with my spelling skills I decided to wait to be perped over the rough spots. NITA was totally new to me.
Anyone know how to predict sheet comfort beyond THREAD COUNT? I've noticed that some 400 COUNT sheets are more comfortable than others that tout a 600 COUNT. Figures don't lie, but liars do figure?
FOTOS? Can't wait to read Yellow Rocks' take. (In fact I ALWAYS enjoy reading your thoughts on the vernacular.)
Our favorite diner in Norfolk is Tony's. Bacon or sausage, two eggs any style, home fries or grits and toast for under $5. You can eat at a BOOTH, table or counter. Waffle House also has counter seating, and really good hash browns.
Can't go home because of Florence. The US Navy has ordered all the ships to sea, which is reason enough to stay away. We may go to Asheville to ride it out. They will get some wind and rain, but the mountains will keep them from becoming dangerous.
Thanks to Matt for the fun puzzle. Seemed typically Monday to me. And thanks to Boomer for another chucklefest to start the week.
Good Morning:
I started off on the wrong foot by quickly (and foolishly) entering ASPCA instead of ASCAP; I'll blame this on sleepy eyes and an affinity for animals. I love a puzzle, especially an early week one, that keeps me in the dark until I fill in the reveal, and today's did just that. I sensed a vague connection of Line and Cord but the String Trio reveal was a true Aha! Nita and "Tron" needed perps and Opioid became Opiate very quickly. I like the homophonic pairing of Conn and Caan and I liked filling in one of my favorite words: Egregious. That word, itself, conveys such a powerful meaning. Nice CSO to Bill G who lives in Manhattan (Beach).
Thanks, Matt, for a great start to the week and thanks, Boomer, for making me laugh so early in the morning! You were certainly on your game today!
I know little to nothing about tennis but I would be interested to hear from those who know and follow the game their opinion on the Ladies final match in the US open.
Have a great day.
When Bill Cosby was still a young molester, he asked What's a Cubit?
Nice Monday run - I was surprised to see EGREGIOUS crossing APRES SKI on a Monday but once it got started with the E and the R for me - it was a fast fill.
Thanks Boomer for your take on the puzzle and Matt for the puzzle!
Easy Monday puzzle.
Boomer, thanks for noting that Standard and Poor’s is an unfortunate name for that company.
Yes, we still teach phonics along with other reading strategies. I strongly believe in phonics. Many reading strategies that totally ignore phonics have failed.
Owen, I really like your second offering, but would find a substitute for John.
Boomer, you are too high end for me. Almost all of our diners have counters.
Remember this Pabst jingle?
Jingle
In the old days jingles were great for name recognition. Even the kids could sing all the jingles.I still remember some of them.
There is disagreement about alto and tenor voices.
alto vs tenor
"It is I" and "It is we" have fallen out of favor in informal use, but they are still the standard in more formal situations.
"The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage says that it’s a style choice, and that “It is I” is a formal style and “It is me” is a more casual style. In fact, most people who write about language agree that unless you're answering the phone for the English department at the University of Chicago or responding to a Supreme Court judge, “That's me” is an acceptable answer."
Good morning. Thank you Matt McKinley and thank you Boomer.
Didn't see the theme (Hi Desper-otto !) until the reveal. Easy puzzle to start off the morning.
Much better than yesterday, with a whopping 6 errors.
Will have to stop back in later. Too many things to do right now.
Speaking of crashes, the son and DIL of a friend of mind was in a terrible 9 car pile up two weeks ago. Their car was accordianed between a semi and an SUV. They were removed from their car by Jaws of Life.The DIL has two broken legs and a broken nose. The son has severe internal injuries, including to his spleen. Because he has leukemia doctors, are desperately trying to save the spleen which he needs to survive.
We are in for a long streak of rainy days. We were so lucky that our shore visit was last week with no rain at all.
Jinx @ 0811. Many ships proceed to hurricane anchorages in lower Chesapeake Bay. We did once in Sept of 1959 where we anchored in the lee of an island.. The link below depicts where these locations are. Go to
3.2 HURRICANE ANCHORAGES
Hi All!
I won't say it was a piece of cake nor easy as pie* - the West was a little gnarly w/ APRES, BOOG, clue for LOCO... No WOs there but I was hesitant. Thanks Matt for this puzzle to play on a sick-day [this change in weather is killing my sinuses!]
Boomer - Really? Your expo was too EGREGIOUSly funny; not only the TATTOO dupe but your aside on S&P.... Priceless.
//and ENRON golf balls - do you tee-up w/ the crooked-E looking at you?
WOs: OPIodE @1st.
ESPs: BOOG, NITA, APRES, NOTTE.
Fav: FOTOS next to PHONICS. Phuck you spelling! :-)
{B, A-, B+}
Jinx - You probably know this but Tupelo Honey is a must eat in Asheville. Good luck getting home.
TRON - I spent a ton of my paper-route quarters at Craven's Laundry which had an arcade in the back. Just the beginning theme makes me smell dryer-sheets in mind's eye [er, nose].
Back to sleep. Cheers, -T
*could just be the Benadryl
Easy as Monday morning. Thank you, Matt McKinley.
I was on MM's wave length almost instantly and finished very quickly. I don't time myself so don't know the exact time. The only erasure was OPIODS for OPIATE.
PABST has become a grid regular. French and Italian today.
I love touring CASTLEs. They are extraordinary structures but unbelievably cold; no wonder everyone dressed from head to foot in woolens and hung tapestries on the walls.
MARV Albert is a blast from the past. I may recall wrong, but didn't he resign in disgrace?
Thank you, Boomer. I look forward to your witty comments.
Have a peaceful day, everyone!
Musings
-“How is Matt going to connect these things? Oh, musically!”
-Boomer, your write-ups are always Easy Like Sunday Morning
-What an NTSB job might look like
-Joann remembers the many, many pea pods that had to be picked and shelled for one meal
-Grain will not be SCARCE in the heartland this fall
-Besides sometimes being a freak show, Lady GAGA can really sing
-For many jobs, I am ready and willing. ABLE?
-PABST reminds me of Friday Night TV Fights in the 50’s
-Pogp’s poignant line
-“It IS US” falls easier on my ear than “between you and I”
-Do you speak up when someone EDGES INTO the line ahead of you?
-Look Ma, no KEY to start my car and unlock my door!
-That TREE falling in the woods makes vibrations but no sound
OK HG, Mr. Smarty Pants. If a man makes a statement in the woods and there is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?
Jinx - Yes, even if she didn't see it. :-) -T
Jinx, "Is he still wrong?" Too funny.
However, I was married to Mr.Always Right, in the woods and everywhere else.
Pic, snap, and photo are in the dictionary as informal for photograph. Foto has some mentions on the Internet as informal for photograph, but apparently it is not as readily accepted as the others. Spellcheck red lines foto and it is not in most dictionaries. I think the reason foto seems fine to me is that we had many Fotomat drive through photography developing kiosks years ago.
My post @8:28 said, "Because he has leukemia doctors, are desperately trying to save..." Please forgive the misplaced comma. These days my typing fingers cannot keep up with my thoughts. I transpose letters or characters several times in just a few sentences.
Now that's a hoot, Jinx! The answer is YES!
Marvelous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Matt and Boomer.
I FIW with just one inkblot and smiled at the STRING TRIO theme.
Wow, EGREGIOUS on a Monday. Perps helped to get the correct spelling.
My inkblot was Noche instead of NOTTE (Spanish when Italian was needed). We needed the Spanish with LOCO (although Google translate tells me that "un maniaco" is Italian as well for "maniac" but LOCO in Italian means "site".)
HG, polite Canadians may remain silent when somebody EDGES INTO the line (or politely point out where the end of the line is located, assuming that the person has made a mistake). Daughter had to learn how to use her elbows and stop standing politely when in S. Korea. Queues
Hydrocodone is only marketed in Canada in liquid cough syrups. It is oxycodone that has been blamed with precipitating the OPIATE (or more correctly Opioid) crisis. Strictly speaking, hydrocodone is an opioid not an opiate (small nit with the clue).
Pharmacology lesson below:
Opiate refers to the natural products like heroin, morphine and codeine, produced from the opium poppy plant, while the term opioid is a broader term that includes opiates and refers to any substance, natural or synthetic, that binds to the brain’s opioid receptors – the parts of the brain responsible for controlling pain, reward and addictive behaviors. Some examples of synthetic opioids include the prescription painkillers hydrocodone (Vicodin) and oxycodone (OxyContin), as well as fentanyl and methadone.) Centre on Addiction
Enjoy the day.
Jinx - modern answer is "Depends, is he running a live stream?"
AnonT - LOL! Love Canadian Red Green. Even though his show ended years ago, he still does speaking engagements. I heard him live several years ago. Still hilarious!
YR - thoughts and prayers for healing for your friend's son & DIL.
Boomer: Excellent write-up. Good job!
Matt: Thank you for a FUN Monday puzzle. I enjoyed the theme.
Fave today, of course, was 34-a, "Relaxing time in the chalet" ... APRES SKI.
(Though PABST was a close second fave, LOL.
Husker: I'm wishing you (a day early) a HAPPY BIRTHDAY ...
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
FLN: Picard, I was going to remark on that dude standing on the ledge. My acrophobia started to kick up just looking at him.
In case no one else responded "Some mo(re)-A(SAMOA)
Publix finally had their Pepperidge Farm BOGO. I'm a Sausalito* guy. I like the mint chocolate Klondikes.
And a quicky for today especially since Boomer mentioned golf: If there's nae counter, it's nae diner
WC
* Chocolate and Macadamia
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Matt McKinley, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Boomer, for a fine review.
Puzzle went fairly easily for the most part. My hangup was in the East. APRES SKI was unknown. Did not know EPOCH off the bat. Tried SPARSE for SCARCE. And then I spelled SCARCE as SCARSE. SAAN Meant nothing, until I spelled SCARCE correctly. Then I had CAAN. Did not know Powell's first name or nickname. Did not get EGREGIOUS immediately. Finally got THREAD COUNT and then spelled SCARCE correctly. And then the rest slowly appeared.
I wanted to spell PHOTOS correctly. FOTOS worked.
NITA was unknown. Perps.
Anyhow, off to my day.
Abejo
( )
Good morning!
Late to the party after a trip to the Medical Center to let some dude stick a plastic tube down my throat for the third time this year. Looks like there will also be a fourth. Fun times!
The only problem with Matt's offering were self-inflicted foot injuries due to my illegible scribbles. Nicely done, Matt and Boomer ("ze plainest" was a hoot).
ACRE: OK, I'll bite, how is that "what a dentist fixes?" (If it turns out to be obvious, I'll blame the propofol.)
PEA: In my ute as a small-town street urchin my cousin and I espied a pile of sand which had mysteriously appeared next door. Out with the pea shooters, and it was target practice from across the street. Turns out that the neighbors were replastering their living room. A couple of days later Frances came over to drag my mother upstairs to look at her sprouting walls. "Hmmmmm, I've never seen anything like it. Frances, they look like pea plants. Tom!"
We/Us: David Paul, the local Channel 11 weatherman drives me up the wall, "This system will move into Florida, and won't affect we in Houston." Like fingernails on a blackboard! I'd leave him a message, but I'm not allowed on the KHOU website due to my ad-blocker.
Boomer, during my four years at Madison I never attended a single Badger game. Since then I've gone to twice that many.
It's either problems or was.
Re. 44A. And then there's Jason Dufner Stonehenge man.
Did the Wisconsin fans sing "This oldie
Ok. Which one is Vicodin and which one is Percocet?
All I know is if the Dentist don't proscibe I won't arrive (But I only take a corner of the pill). I feel bad for Tiger Woods who ignorantly took a few and drove.
WC
Yay! No Natick crosses on a Monday! Just a fun, breezy way to start the week!
How did BOOG get such an awful nickname? What does it mean? He and NITA were unknowns. MARV I vaguely have heard of. One of my editors used the term FOTOS. Hardly worth saving one letter!
Who remembers the HOW and Why Books?
This Harvard Lampoon Parody of the HOW and Why Book of Magnets is the funniest parody I have ever read in my life.
My boss was working on a Magnetic Force version of our Atomic Force Microscope and I made a copy of this for him. He proudly posted it on his door. I can't believe I never scanned it until just now! A treasure!
Here are a few photos of us in ISRael. Including some at the DEAD SEA.
Once again here are recent photos I took in CONN where I lived as a child.
I have photos in MANHATTAN, too, where my parents lived briefly while I was in college. Actually, they lived on Roosevelt Island in Queens. A quick aerial tram ride to MANHATTAN! I will have to find FOTOS there sometime.
BoomerI looked it up and indeed ARLEN Specter switched parties twice. He claimed he stayed the same; it was the parties that had changed. He also served as assistant counsel for the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of JFK. He helped devise the "single-bullet theory" which has been a source of conspiracy theories ever since.
This Climate Wizard allows you to see how El NINO and Climate Change will affect different places.
Hi everybody.
Thanks Matt and Boomer.
Gary wrote: - “It IS US” falls easier on my ear than “between you and I.” Did you mean to write, "It is me" vs "It is I?" "Between you and I" is just plain wrong though I hear it and its ilk from time to time on TV.
My father got upset when he found out I wasn't being taught phonics in school. They were teaching the "Look-See method." He sat me down and spent a few minutes before dinner each night teaching me phonics. I ended up being a pretty good reader.
From yesterday and today regarding SAMOAS
Wilbur Charles and PK I actually spent time yesterday looking this up. First of all, I learned that SAMOAS have no mint. They do have coconut and one theory is that is the connection to the island of SAMOA.
But another theory is that it is as you say Wilbur Charles. Here it is written out:
=========
A more tenuous idea is that the word Samoa kind of sounds like “some more,” as in, "Give me some more of those delicious coconut thingies." Of course s’more was already taken, so maybe the Girl Scouts and Little Brownie Bakers went with the next best thing.
=========
I learned that there are actually two different companies that make Girl Scout Cookies. Each uses slightly different recipes. And sometimes different names. SAMOAS are made by ABC Bakers. But Little Brownie Bakers makes a slightly different version called Caramel DeLites.
Here are "5 Fascinating Facts About Girl Scout Cookie Names"
You tell me how fascinating this is.
Hi Y'all! Enjoyed Matt McK's Monday romp. Thanks. Simple, understandable theme didn't drive us NUTS.
Boomer, Thanks for a fun start to the week. GOES NUTS: I saw Tyrrell Hatton emoting for the camera. But Serena Williams' histrionic show was EGREGIOUS enough to get her fined. (EGREGIOUS was a lucky WAG. Very satisfying.) By the way, did they get to finish that soggy golf tournament?
OPIATE: no problem filling this in. Doctor gave my freshman teenaged grandson a prescription for an OPIATE when he broke his thumb. He said it didn't hurt. My son told me what was prescribed and I had a small fit. This was before the OPIoid scandal but I thought a teener had no business taking it. He didn't fill the scrip.
IT'S US: doesn't sound as wrong to me as IT'S WE. When someone asks for my name on the phone and I say, "This is she." I've found there is usually a moment of silence while the caller digests that info.
Lucina: I think MARV got caught with a naughty lady years ago and there was a stink. However. he's still talking away on TV these days.
Jinx: I was amazed that the Navy has ordered ships to sea. I'd think that would be the last place to go, but then I remember all the beached boats in hurricane aftermath FOTOS. Spitz: interesting to learn that ships sheltered in the lee of islands. My son was involved in driving across several states once to fly planes out of Biloxi before a hurricane.
YR: Compassionate thoughts for your friend's family. A nine-car pileup sounds like a person's worst nightmare.
Absolutely not a typical Monday crossword puzzle!
WC@12:04
Vicodin is a combination of hydrocodone (an opioid painkiller) and acetaminophen. Percocet contains an different opioid pain reliever (oxycodone) and acetaminophen.
Oxycodone is considered to be more potent than hydrocodone. But there are some studies that show that the pain relieving effects are very similar between Percocet and Vicodin.
IMHO (I am not a teacher but have one child who needed phonics), some kids will learn to read and spell no matter what method of teaching is used. But the kids who have problems need PHONICS to help them sound out the words. Even an Einstein does not have the memory for the "word recognition" method to be successful. But the idiosyncrasies of the English language will even foil PHONICS. Ask any ESL teacher. Best approach is probably to combine phonics with the elements of whole language that focus on reading comprehension. (Do any of our teachers want to weigh in here; my child with reading/spelling difficulties was also an auditory learner vs. my other children who were visual learners.)
Delightful Monday puzzle, Matt--many thanks! I got the whole thing--except for a single letter. I don't know much about cars, so for the Vintage Jags I had _kes, but didn't know the first letter. None of the words I tried for Theater suffix seemed to work so I left it blank. Oh, X--multiPLEX. Should've gotten that. Couldn't believe the word EGREGIOUS appearing in a puzzle, but I got it.
Enjoyed your write-up, Boomer, and especially happy to have you bring up the Lone Ranger and Tonto. I came to the US in 1954 and saw my first television programs at that time. The Lone Ranger and Tonto became my favorites for years. I also laughed at the Storm products company adopting EL NINO.
Like Picard, I had not heard of BOOG or NITA, but perps helped me get them. I don't drink beer, but got PABST right away. The things you learn in crossword puzzles.
Sorry you need those medical procedures, Desper-otto. Take good care of yourself.
Have a great week, everybody!
Fairly direct Monday puzzle, no issues at all.
I was prescribed some opioids after surgery, but I didn’t take them...I used an herbal substance instead, much better and no dependency.
Please remember that the opioid crisis was directly caused by pharmaceutical companies, they assured doctors there was no issue with dependence on the drugs. And they wouldn’t lie just to make money.
A
TRIO
of
Strings...
PHONICS: I felt so dumb in first grade and didn't really read well. Then I went to second grade and was blessed to have a teacher who had just taken a summer course in teaching phonics. I felt like a great light had been switched on in my brain and began reading proficiently. Even went home and taught my little sister the phonics I was learning. She read on third grade level before going to school two years later. This started my life-long love affair with words.
Desper-Otto: hope the tubing will help your situation, whatever it is. Doesn't sound fun! Best wishes for your health.
PK and CE. thanks for your loving thoughts for Jean's family. She is quite worried.
CE, thanks for your clarification of opiate and opioid. As you said, an opiate is derived from the opium poppy. An opioid is a synthetic version. It helps to know that -oid is a suffix that means like or resembling. For example, humanoid, asteroid (like a star),rhomboid.
Anon PVX, this excellent book expands on your point of view, "Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic" by Sam Quinones. Horrifying.
I won't take opioids or opiates.
It appears I wasn't very clear. That "tube" is an endoscope -- basically a camera on a snake which can be fitted with a variety of other tools. It's shoved down your throat while you're out cold. This was for a Halo® treatment to the lower esophagus. I hope this third time will be a "winner" and the fourth time, in about 10 weeks, will confirm that. TMI? Sorry.
C.C. ~
Some of the Cornerites who do the daily Jumble are asking whether there might be a regular link to the Jumble site posted on the Corner page. We could certainly ask Owen to reciprocate.
Is this something you might be open to?
Today' Xwd was a real treat for a Monday, with words like EGREGIOUS and a French (!) expression (APRES SKI) and even a poetic contraction (NE'ER)! Thank you, Mr. McKinley! And you, too, Boomer - esp. for the picture proving there really was a player named BOOG!
I got XKEs right off. My real treat during my driving years was the succession of Jags I owned, four in all. What beauties! Four years ago I donated my last one to Kars 4 Kids & bade farewell to driving for e'er.
~ OMK
___________
Diagonal Report A three-way on the front end, NW to SE.
D-O: TMI? Nope, not when each of us may be the next to receive that kind of treatment. Big help to have any info and know the procedure was survived by a friend.
Picard: according to Wiki, in the South mischievous children may be call little buggers, and John Wesley Powell's father shortened it to "BOOG". Gee, thanks, Dad!
Boog Powell is now known for a popular barbecue stand past the outfield wall of Oriole Park.
D-O: you could whitelist the KHOU web site long enough to send them your message, then turn the ad blocker back on. Of course, then they'd have your email address.
PK re: Hurricane sortie. If the sheltered roadstead has sufficient anchoring grounds so that the anchor flukes will hold fast, the risk for vessel or personnel casualties is a lot lower than riding out the storm underway in an open, exposed seaway.
Phonics. Much has been made of the difficulties with English spelling. In 1949, Dutch spelling was standardized to be 100% phonetic. Exceptions include surnames and other proper names and some foreign words. So If Dutch, say, is dictated to you to write down and there are words you have never heard of, you can still spell them correctly. (Just my 2¢)
I liked this puzzle. Because I was so skinny as a youngster I was always called STRING bean, so I kind of chuckled at the theme. I was also called beanpole a lot.
I love the word EGREGIOUS. Wondered why anybody would be nicknamed BOOG. Did not know a single IOTA about NITA.
Boomer, loved your write-up!
The only thing that made me go halfway GAGA about Lady GAGA were her TATTOOs. She does have a good voice, though.
Best wishes to you all.
Jayce. Re: Boog. In low German it means "shoulder joint". I grew up with "Mien Boog deit weh". My shoulder hurts.
C, Eh! - I knew you'd know Red Green. Pop and I recite the Man Prayer once a year [we're not very religious], if we have to, we guess.
YR - I'm wishing well for your friend's relatives. Hurting the spleen is NOT good.
D-O: Never TMI; that will be us one day so knowing is, well, um, knowing.
PK - As the Nuns tried to teach me spelling they went back and forth with 'site-reading' and 'phonics.' Former seemed rote [and impossible for a dyslexic] and the other formulaic but for which there was no true rules you could work with [see: knight, night]. I kept hearing "Spell it like it sounds Idiot!"
Um, it "sounds" uh-gre-jus.* That got no love.
So, us stupid kids resorted to artificial languages and wrote computer code.
CED - that Cow Thong is wrong on so many levels :-)
Cheers, -T
*35d
D-O ~
I used to have an annual endoscopy. I would joke about maybe combining it with my colonoscopy, so the docs could meet in the middle & take pictures of each other ...
Good luck with yours. Just hang in there long enough and your doctor will probably give up. When you reach a "certain age," which I did three years ago, they'll recommend you have an MRI instead - for safety reasons.
I call it the "Joan Rivers Clause."
~ OMK
Interesting about the Dutch standardized spelling. Is it continuing to be useful? In the USA some tried using the simplified International Teaching Alphabet (see the dreaded Wiki article) as the first approach to reading and then transferring to the standardized spelling. This method failed because it was too confusing and the transference did not happen.
As a first grade teacher, I believe that phonics is a necessary part of any learning to read strategy. There are many exceptions in English, but phonics is still extremely useful a large percentage of the time. The whole word method helps some students, but needs to be supplemented by phonics. We frequently meet words in reading that are new to us, so remembering the whole word is useless in these cases. I have enjoyed tutoring students with "eccentric" learning style. They greatly benefit with one-on-one help. My strategy there is "what ever works." Making meaning of what one reads is equally as important as recognizing the words.
The school where I taught dropped the "whole language" style after just a few years.
Butterflies are free @ 2:23, gotcha! I wrote thinking of your response. Your responses are so predictable and content free that you are fun to provoke. Why not argue with my posts logically, rather than with put downs. Tell me why I am wrong. What would be a better answer? I would love to have an intellectual colloquy with you. We might might both learn something. I have frequently admitted my mistakes here. Have you?
DO, Alan has had several endoscopes and I have had one or two. They are usually recommended when you have a problem. I looked up the Halo treatment. It seems you are wise to do this to keep trouble at bay. I wish you the best of health.
And then J K Rowling came along and kids started reading about Harry Potter.
In my son's case, JRR and other fantasy followed.
The one thing schools won't do is isolate the gifted math students and put them on a different path.
WC
Spitzboov, thanks for the information about BOOG. Interesting.
Anonymous-T, sorry you are sick. Yes, I also have experience with a few coding languages and have noticed the man-made spelling, grammatical, and taxonomic consistency. But "a=x+>y"? Or "i++"? C'mon, what the hell is that? :)
Ol'Man Keith, I'm tickled that you have enjoyed driving a succession of Jags. Regardless of their reputation of being high maintenance, they are definitely fun cars to drive. You remind me of Inspector Morse and his ol' 1960 burgundy Mark II. Personally I have never driven a Jaguar nor had the pleasure of even riding in one, but I do have fond memories of driving an MGB, a Triumph TR3, and (hello Anon T) an Alfa Romeo Spider. No, I didn't own the cars, doggone it; they belonged to a friend of mine who kindly let me borrow them from time to time.
In response, I don't feel capable of presenting an unbiased reaction. But I did see the match and among many other things I feel that the real victim was Naomi Osaka, who won the match but didn't get to enjoy her victory.
Here, I hope, is a link to a NY Times article (pretty long) that is as close to unbiased as I have yet seen.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/sports/tennis/us-open-naomi-osaka-serena-williams.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage
Sorry. I don't seem to know how to post a clickable link.
Picard,
In your Conn, fotos (sic)
I am a little concerned about this one.
It looks lot like Giant Hogweed, and should be avoided at all costs...
Also, I had to put the Lampoon of magnets in my "read when I have time folder."
(too busy chasing poisonous plants i guess...)
but definitely will, (someday...)
Boomer, I can't find reference to "Booger" in Animal House.
You sure it was a nickname for one of the Frat guys?
Re: puzzle
Hartfords st clue had me looking for streets...
Boog crossing egregarious was a total Natick for me...
I did the crosses first,
and, for a Monday was getting worried bout all the white boxes.
Luckily the downs (and theme) filled in a lot of gaps.
There was one clue,
(I can't find it now)
that I read, and it made no sense.
So I reread it, and discovered it said something completely different...
(hmmm... cause for concern?)
Seems we are going a little astray of the puzzle today,
Jumble,
Tennis,
poisonous weeds...
my 2 cents: Sudoku!
I tried it a couple of months ago, and now I am addicted.
It was one thing figuring out logical combinations on
easy puzzles, but when I got to those 50/50 take a guess
boxes I lost interest. Then I learned about:
X-Wings!
So I have been trying to do hard puzzles, just to try and find X-Wings.
I won't bore you with the mathematical complexities of how X-wings work,
but I just have to complain (to you) that today I did a puzzle
thaat could only be solved using an X-Y Wing!
I find this so incomprehensible, that it is fascinating!
I worked the puzzle early with no problems. Thanks Matt! Boomer, you outdid yourself. Thanks for the chuckles. My day took on a mind of its own and I am just getting home.
D-O, I have had reflux and “tummy trouble “ for years. Lots of endoscopes. Halo works!
Owen, I loved them all, but I’m weird! Hehehehe
Sandyanon ~
1. Start by placing these characters inside chevrons (angle brackets, these < >):
a href=""
2. Then go back an insert your http link between the quote marks.
3. Then after your closing chevron, type the name you want to give your link.
4. Finally, enclose /a inside chevrons.
And Bingo! You're in business.
~ OMK
Dumb auto correct. My nemesis! That was supposed to be endoscopies...more than one endoscopy. Sigh...
I missed yesterday wishing l’shana tovah to those who care!
Spanish is also phonetically spelled. Pronounce a word and you can spell it providing you know the correct pronunciation, of course.
English used to consist of 70% Latin based words though I don't know if that still holds true today, but because Latin is also phonetic, those English words based on it can be phonetically spelled. The other 30% are derived from all other languages and do not always conform to phonics, e.g., jodhpur India (I had to LIU just now) and so those words must be learned by sight. Words from the Greek, if they have not been standardized also can't be spelled phonetically. The consonant digraph PH is included in phonics and most Greek based words contain ph. KN, from German, must be taught separately, too, as the K is always silent in English.
Because English has absorbed so many foreign words, its spelling is difficult; however, it is one of the richest languages. Our vocabulary contains more than one million words and I believe that is the largest of any language group. By now it might exceed even a million.
I have been out 0f academia for almost 25 years so my information is likely not quite current.
Sandyanon: Here is the link to the Web page that explains How to Create a Link at Comments Section
TENNIS MATCH LINK
Late to the party as the New Year holiday had me busy. Thank you, Matt and Boomer.
YR, thanks for the link explaining alto and tenor.
Boomer, there have not been 14 little leaguers who played in the LL World Series and MLB World Series and JASON VARITEK is the most famous of three who have played in the LL World Series, the College World Series, and the MLB World Series.
I like ALICE COOPER but had not hear of NITA STRAUSS
A sweet healthy happy year to all.
Thanks a lot.
Lucina ~
I'm curious about your source for over a million words in our English vocabulary. It is true (most sources concur) that English has the most words, but most sources list about 250,000 words in regular usage.
The OED lists approx. 171,000 words in current use and about 47K obsolete words. Technical dictionaries combined with popular words can reach up to 600,000.
Nobody seems to approach the million figure.
But maybe your figure comes from some combination not covered here?
~ OMK
Y'know ~
Sometimes I think our dogs are the best people around.
~ OMK
PS. 'Specially my three guys...
OmK:
Thank you for your question and your interest. This study which I undertook for a paper I wrote was many years ago and these are the details I can dredge up from memory. Along with verified vocabulary, the sources I used also included many diverse verb and adjectival suffixes and prefixes, etc., some of which have separate entries in dictionaries but many do not. They are usually included in the main definition entry as part of word forms of said entry. I just recall that many of my sources concluded English contains over a million words as a result of those additions. I wish I still had that paper, but I do not.
I also recall with some sadness that the average, note: average, English speaker uses only 500 words in daily conversation. I say sadness, because of the abundance of words with could be used to enrich conversations.
After writing that paper I took note of conversations around me and my informal observation confirmed the findings. This number, 500, does not usually include those involved in professional or technical jobs. In fact, the higher the level of education, the higher the number of word usage.
Lucina - must'a printed it on ONION SKIN :-)
OMK - I've read there's about 750k words but there's so many ways to -ize and oxidize words - that's what makes English frustrating and fun (and crosswords worthy of playing).
Jayce - For reals? +< makes no sense but i++ is post increment i after your done w/ it. C'Mon, simple syntax man :-)
Nite! [oh, bugger] -T
Um, "post increment i after you're done" - moronic misuse ruins another joke --- sadness ensues... -T
AnonT:
My professors were very exacting and if onion skin had been economical to use, they would have required it!
I believe it was OMK who commented on having to rewrite many papers because of just one error. That was my experience, too, in the days of typewriters. For me, the computer was truly a godsend and when I saw those characters disappear by just backtracking, I was in ecstasy.
"Or "i++"? C'mon"
Jayce, that's double-plus ungood in C (or C+ or D-, or whatever version they're up to now.)
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