Theme: SURPRISE TEST
(54. Unexpected classroom announcement ... and, initially, one hiding
in each set of puzzle circles) - Three different tests are hidden in
each theme entry.
20. Protective net above a cradle: DREAM CATCHER.
34. Government prosecutor: STATE'S ATTORNEY.
40. Reduced responsiveness to medication: DRUG RESISTANCE.
Boomer here.
Hello
everyone, and thank you for all the well wishes and birthday
greetings. C.C. and I had a great Saturday meeting my son and
daughter-in-law at the local Native American casino known as Mystic Lake
in a south suburb of Minneapolis. (Shakopee). We enjoyed the buffet and
then risked a few bucks in the casino. (I'm pretty cheap, I play for
nickels).
Across:
1. Autos: CARS. My mother worked for CARS at the VA. (Stood for Central Accounts Receivable Service).
5. Cutlass automaker: OLDS. Yup this is a car. I never had a Cutlass, but I had a couple of Olds gas hogs in the 60s.
9. Stick-on design: DECAL.
14. Fever with chills: AGUE. Gesundheit!
15. Hide, as a bone: BURY. I often wondered how the bone tastes when the dog digs it up ?
16. 100 bucks: C NOTE. Or, 100 male deer in a GEICO commercial.
17. Breadbasket item: ROLL.
18. Read bar codes on: SCAN.
They are amazing! I have a bar code on my VA ID and checking in to the
clinic it reads the bar code and knows more about me than I do.
19. "Wizard of __ Park": Edison: MENLO.
Thomas Edison was a wizard and set up shop in Menlo Park, New Jersey,
near Newark. Since I had a long history with Graybar Electric, I
sometimes feel I owe my career to Thomas Edison.
23. __ Paulo, Brazil: SAO. Huge City !
24. Some tech sch. grads: EES. I think the puzz is pointing at Electrical Engineers.
25. Type of energy or reactor: ATOMIC. Don't get too close to this.
29. '60s-'70s quarterback Tarkenton: FRAN.
NFL Vikings Hall of Famer. Number 10. I remember some of the magic he
worked back in 1961, when the Vikings were an expansion team!
31. Content cat sound: PURR. PURRfect !
33. Spanish gold: ORO. Our Records Only
37. Philip of "Kung Fu": AHN.
38. Live and breathe: ARE. This are an interesting clue
39. "Ich bin __ Berliner": JFK: EIN. Yes, I am old enough to remember this speech, but I am sure younger folks have heard this line many times.
45. "Casablanca" pianist: SAM. Play it again !
46. She sheep: EWES.
47. Blues singer James: ETTA. Also Miss Kett
48. At first, second or third: ON BASE. I might have guessed UMPIRE
50. Long __ of the law: ARM.
51. Airline to Stockholm: SAS.
58. Gorge: CHASM.
61. Aesop's also-ran: HARE. I never believed that story about the tortoise .
62. "East of Eden" director Kazan: ELIA.
63. Blender button: PUREE. Just make sure you have that rubber top on the thing or you will have puree all over your counter.
64. Barely makes, with "out": EKES. We eked out a few dollars on a 2 cent machine at Mystic Lake Saturday.
65. A short distance away: NEAR.
66. Accumulate: AMASS. We DID NOT amass a fortune at Mystic Lake however.
67. "Wild" frontier place: WEST. Remember Mr. West who played Batman ?
68. IRS form IDs: SSNS. You may give your last four, but not the whole works.
Down:
1. King and queen: CARDS. We played Jacks or better Saturday
2. Greek marketplace: AGORA.
3. Hitchhiker's principle?: RULE OF THUMB. Is there also a rule of finger ?
4. Actress Ward: SELA.
5. Lewd: OBSCENE.
6. "Star Wars" mastermind: LUCAS.
George Lucas created this epic movie. If you purchased a few of the
figures in 1977, you may have a fortune. however, I bought baseball
cards.
7. "Dang!": DRAT.
8. Lip-__: mouth the words: SYNC. Not allowed at karaoke
9. U.S. capital transit system: DC METRO. I've never been to DC. Couldn't get the votes.
10. First month of el año: ENERO.
11. Pro's opposite: CON. Jails are full of these.
12. Braves, on scoreboards: ATL. They didn't quite make it to the World Series this year, but I remember who beat them in the 1991 Series.
13. DiCaprio, in fan mags: LEO. Short for Leonardo. Famous for "Titanic"
21. Potatoes partner: MEAT. Remember the Wendy's Commercial lady. "Where's the Beef?"
22. "B.C." cartoonist Johnny: HART.
26. Tennis great with nine Grand Slam singles titles: MONICA SELES.
27. Goodnight woman of song: IRENE. "I'll see you in my dreams."
28. Coquettish: COY.
30. Tolled like Big Ben: RANG. The Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback does not toll.
31. Romeo's rival: PARIS. I never read Shakespeare so I will take the word for this.
32. Salt Lake City team: UTES.
34. Leftovers wrap: SARAN. I never liked the way it sticks to itself, but it seals better than wax paper.
35. Postage-paid enc.: SASE. Acronym
36. Cost of living?: RENT. And any other thing on which you spend money.
40. Brit. military award: DSO.
41. Job applicants' preparations: RESUMES. Rez oo may, not Re zoom
42. Pretty pitcher: EWER. Not Chris Sale or Clayton Kershaw ??
43. Most concise: TERSEST. I always thought Terse had a little anger in it too.
44. "Don't look __ like that!": AT ME.
49. Beasts of burden: ASSES. No comment
50. Buenos __: AIRES. It took me a while to learn that this is pronounced Ireez.
52. From China, say: ASIAN.
53. Popular performers: STARS. Dallas Hockey Team. (Formerly Minnesota North Stars).
55. "That was close!": PHEW.
56. Leaves gatherer: RAKE. A necessary tool this time of year.
57. Addition column: TENS. Gymnastics scores for Nadia.
58. Auditing pro: CPA.
59. Run smoothly: HUM. Option if you cannot sing.
60. Altar in the sky: ARA.
I know this is Latin, but I could never see the so called pics in any
of these constellations, except for the big dipper. And it did not look
like a bear.
Boomer
45 comments:
Good morning Cornies.
Thank you Mr. Paul Coulter for this easy Monday CW. I FIR in 19:50 min..
Thank you Boomer for your excellent review.
Ðave
On the ornate EWER was a painting of a lea,
And on that lea were EWES, grazing contentedly.
Unmindful of degrees,
E.E.S or P.h.d.s,
A shepherd EKES his living, plain and peacefully.
A hitchhiker should have a Guide To The Galaxy,
And know where your towel is, in extremity.
When you hold a digit out,
Don't wave the middle one about.
It should be a RULE OF THUMB, known universally!
{A, A-.}
Good morning!
Had the circles, but forgot to look at 'em. Read the reveal clue...but only the first part of it. Some folks never learn. Thanx, Paul and Boomer. Yes, Boomer, there is a "Rule of Finger." It comes into play whenever he-who-shall-not-be-named appears on TV.
OLDS: Dad seemed to like 'em. At one time or another he owned an 88, 98, and a Toronado.
TERSEST: That'd be DW in the morning -- grunts 'n' cussing only.
SARAN: I also have that "clingy" SARAN problem with packaging tape. It never fails to fall back onto the roll and become a problem. And when trying to tape the label to the package, the label always leaps up to meet the tape. Grrrrrrrr.
Good Morning, Boomer and friends. Interesting puzzle with a lot of interesting juxtapositions.
I liked CARS next to the OLDS, and also how CARS crossed with CARD.
Also interesting to see EWES cross with EWER.
My favorite clue was Hitchhiker's Principle = RULE OF THUMB.
Hopefully the MCAT, SAT and GRE do not come as a SURPRISE TEST to those taking them!
QOD: A companion loves some agreeable qualities which a man may possess, but a friend loves the man himself. ~ James Boswell (Oct. 29, 1740 ~ May 19, 1795)
Thanks, Boomer, and a belated Happy Birthday. SURPRISETEST for the revealer was Rich's idea. It's certainly an improvement on mine. I originally had RUNNINGMATES in the bottom line, and TEST - "Exam (like those found in each string of circled letters)" in the SE corner. I've taken the GMAT, along with the GRE and SAT. You know you're a nerd when you enjoy taking tests. Unlike nearly everyone else, I used to look forward to finals week. In grad school, we'd all sit in a cavernous hall to take them, arranged alphabetically no matter what subject your test was for. While waiting, I used to chat with a South African surnamed Coulson. We didn't have the same classes or friends or interests, so I never saw him any other time. I really enjoyed his accent and I hope I helped to calm his nerves.
-An easy enough puzzle for a Monday, very pleasant, but not cut and dried.
-We used to own a yellow Cutlass convertible. I loved its looks, but it was not too reliable.
-On our visit to the capital we stayed in suburban DC, right on the Metro Line. We visited DC in different sectors each day. Our concierge told us which stop to use, so convenient.
-I prefer less expensive brands of plastic wrap to Saran. They cling just enough without being too clingy.
-Interesting that terse can be used to mean rude and brusque, but can also mean succinct or concise, one negative and the other positive. In essays and papers for my MA I found that being concise and to the point gave me a better grade than being wordy. When I handed in a small sheaf of papers while others handed in huge ones, I always sweated it. I am glad the professors did not grade on the weight of the paper, but the weight of the ideas.
-Like Paul Coulter, I enjoyed tests when I was in school. I also liked to write papers. As a tutor I enjoyed mentoring kids in test prep and writing papers, especially research papers.
-Minor quibble to a great theme. It is just the last word of the reveal that hints at the
hidden answers in the circles. These tests should never be a surprise. There are prep courses for all of them. The test prep manual for Miller's Analogies was especially eye opening.
FIR and no erasures! I know it's only a Monday puzzle, but I also know my capabilities so I'm feeling pretty smug now. I now wait for (p/w)HEW. Fool me twenty times, shame on you. Fool me twenty-one times, shame on me.
DW once had offices simultaneously in Dallas, Miami and SAO Paulo. She had about a zillion miles when we retired, but we accidentally let most of them lapse. We still have about 250,000 on American, but no longer like to fly. So where did I get to go? Caracas, Venezuela. BTW, the Caracas subway system uses the same equipment as the DC METRO. Rolling stock and ticketing. But the paper strips I bought in Caracas didn't work in the DC METRO. Dang.
No politician could ever get a presidential nomination today by asking "what you can do for your country".
I still love MEAT, but have had to cut way back on potatoes. A1C getting a little dangerous.
FLN: AverageJoe, in Virginia we pronounce it GNAW-f**k, but sometimes say GNAW-fick just to avoid controversy. Of course when I am forced to talk to some company's CSR, I pronounce it just the way it is spelled.
Thanks for the fun and easy puzzle, Paul. Heuristically, I like fills like RULE OF THUMB.
Thanks also to Boomer. Hope you feel better every day.
Good morning everyone.
Belated Happy Birthday to Boomer. Sounds like you had a fine day. Great intro this morning as usual. thanks.
Mostly easy. Didn't get what the hubbub on the circles was all about, though. Paul C. - thanks for stopping in to explain. Guess I didn't 'get' why SAT and GRE would be a SURPRISE TEST. I was thinking more along the lines of a "pop quiz".
I did like the long downs; especially RULE OF THUMB.
Marvelous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Paul (thanks for dropping in) and Boomer (belated Happy Birthday).
I finished this CW quickly (it is Monday after all!) and saw the Tests (even though I have never taken any of them and learned about them here). I see that I am early to the party today for a change.
I was thinking of a mosquito net the cradle before a DREAM CATCHER. There are many different varieties (and a short history) in this article.
DreamCatchers
DRUG RESISTANCE is a huge problem stemming from overuse of antibiotics.
DrugResistantBacteria
Picard and I had a recent conversation about SAS, but it was referring to the shoe manufacturer.
I always have to wait for perps to decide between SSAE or SASE.
My SIN (Canadian version of SSN) is never used for anything other than income tax, government pension and old-age pension. I have a Health Card number for all health-related appointments (which gives me our much-coveted free* MD services, senior's and low-income drug coverage, lab and hospital coverage), and another random number for employer's insurance coverage (for dental, prescriptions not covered by govt. plan, physiotherapy and other paramedical practitioners, medical devices like Boomer's brace). The latter number was changed from SIN many years ago for security.
Wishing you all a great day.
*well, not actually free (unless you have no taxable income) but universal - somebody has to pay!
Thank you, Paul and Boomer for a great start to the day. I FIR in under fifteen minutes. I think this is a first for me.
We lived and worked at Quantico, VA at the start of our marriage over 50 years ago. That was before the metro. Rent was high but most of the historical places were free, so we toured what we could on weekends. We returned in later years and found the metro to be quite helpful in getting around.
I am delighted the puzzle was fun this morning. My two sweet granddaughters asked me to sew their Halloween costumes—princess dresses complete with bustles. Obviously, I have a deadline but I haven’t sewn for a long time and these are difficult for me. My husband is patiently enduring my whining by working in the garage.
Have a great day everyone!
My H.S. math teacher promised us that he would test us on Fridays. What we later learned was that on any day of the week he might start off the class with, "Well, today is Friday..." He's also the guy who taught us the meaning of "for all practical purposes." He said that if you take a boy and girl and every minute you halve the distance between them, the two will never meet. But, they'll soon be close enough for all practical purposes.
CanadianEh!, so do Canadians refer to income tax as a SIN Tax?
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Paul, for another fun & fast Monday. Having made it through life without taking any of those tests, I couldn't find them with no circles. Didn't need them, however. Finished in just over 10 minutes, but found out from Boomer that I didn't read all the clues. FIR with no red letters. PHEW!
Boomer: glad you are well enough to enjoy your birthday casino trip. Sending healing thoughts to you. Enjoyed your expo.
DCMETRO: My son's family just got back from Washington, D.C., a trip they took with one of DIL's clients who was a professional tour guide making his last trip. I couldn't believe all the sites they crammed into a week, including some I didn't know were there. DIL's FitBit recorded an average 8 miles walked a day. My country boy son was shocked by the forced intimacies with strangers while packed in upright riding the DCMetro into the city during early morning rush hours. I can't wait to hear what my DIL has to say about that. The sheer number of people was mind-blowing to his wide-open spaces orientation. They are a well traveled family too -- just not to subways usually.
RAKES have been replaced by pro yard workers with blowers and mowers. I much prefer the noise of a RAKE. With three large maples in my yard, the leaf load is enormous.
C-Eh, your reference to "MY SIN" made me think of my mother. It was her favorite fragrance. Thanks for the spark.
D-O, loved your Friday teacher story. There's an old saying that "the only person that got all his work done by Friday was Robin Crusoe".
Somewhere in the past I encountered a software switch that allowed the user to select between between "verbose" and "TERSE" modes. Maybe the Prime OS? IT Cornerites, can you help?
Sir Walter Raleigh lost his head 400 years ago today. He had been sentenced to die 15 years earlier, but had worked his way back into the good graces of King James. But when Raleigh's men murdered the inhabitants and burned a town in South America in retaliation for Raleigh's son's death, the king reinstated the execution order. Raleigh's last meal was breakfast of MEAT and eggs, followed by a last smoke of his pipe.
Good morning. Thank you Paul and thank you Boomer.
Slept late this morning, and it took a bit of coffee to clear the cobwebs. To wit, my potatoes partner was peas for a minute before MEAT became obvious.
Phillip AHN of Kung Fu didn't come to mind. That was the only other slow down.
Boomer, DW and I went to Las Vegas once. We went as a family group, and met two friends who are habitual Vegas-goers. You and my wife could shake hands. She only played the nickel and dime slot machines. She would change machines if they didn't pay after a few pulls. She cashed in her coins for folding money each time she won. Her brothers gave her a lot of kidding about her "system", but she bought us all dinner twice, bought her and her SIL tickets to the Siegfried and Roy show, and left Vegas with more allotted gambling money than she went with. She got the last laugh on her brothers !
Jinx, perhaps you first learned and used the -v parameter in DOS command line instructions.
Well, as Hondo used to say, time to go chase leaves. I swear there's some micro-climate wind tunnel that sends not only my maple tree leaves down the driveway to my garage doors, but also the leaves from the neighbor's trees.
Good Morning:
Mr. Coulter is becoming quite a regular at the Corner, it seems. The theme was well hidden (for me, anyway) until the reveal. I didn't know Ahn but I sure knew Fran Tarkenton. He was the Giants quarterback when I first became interested in football. Nobody could scramble out of trouble like he could. Dream catcher, as clued, is a learning moment. Anyone else in the dark about this definition? I, too, noticed the Ewes ~ Ewer crossing.
Thanks, Paul, for the easy, peasy solve and for dropping by and thanks, Boomer, for brightening my day, as usual. Hope you're getting used to the "cage" and feeling better.
Have a great day.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Paul Coulter, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Boomer, for a fine review.
Got home from PA yesterday. Was tired. Worked the Sunday puzzle, but could not finish last night. Worked on it this morning and still could not finish. Then I did the Monday puzzle. Worked out fine. Caught the theme.
Jinx: I am your opposite. I have cut back on the MEAT and I ramp up on the POTATOES. I love potatoes in any way, shape, or form.
DRUG RESISTANCE reminded me of my recent medicine that my orthopedic doctor prescribed. Meloxicam 7.5 mg 1/day for only 10 days. Well I took it for 10 days. My knees did feel better. Then I wondered why for 10 days. So, I went on line and inquired about how long a drug stays in your system. I was very amazed and impressed that I found the answer. Drugs, such as ibuprofen, which this one is akin to, have a "half-life" similar to a half-life in atomic waste. Only the drug's half-life is measured in hours, whereas atomic waste is measured in years. Ibuprofen has a half life of 15-20 hours. So, after 80 hours, the drug has only 1/16 of it potency in your system. This is about 3 1/2 days. I am glad I learned that. My two cents.
A couple unknowns today: AHN, SELA, HART, PARIS. Perps worked.
RULE OF THUMB reminds me of hitch hiking. I have done that most of my life when the situation asked for it. I have no problem doing it or fear of trouble (except from cops). My rule of hitch hiking is you have to be at a place on the highway where cars can pull over. Otherwise, they won't, or shouldn't.
I have ridden the DC METRO more times than I can count. It is a perfect transit system, and especially for DC. Cost is real cheap and no hassle with traffic or parking. Yes, it gets crowded on occasion, but so what. Still beats driving and parking.
MENLO reminds me of Edison's birthplace in Milan, OH. I have visited his birthplace a few times and have driven through Milan, OH, many times, having worked in that area many years ago.
Anyhow, time to rake/blow leaves, and then to the Polling Place for Early voting as a judge.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Abejo: I found my son's complaint about the "sardine packing" of the DCMetro funny because this was a kid who ran away from home for 3 days as a teenager when his dad took his car away from him and told him he had to ride the school bus as a punishment. He has always had independent transport. While he appreciated the Metro so he didn't have to drive an unfamiliar area, he was really amusing talking about the experience. We don't have much public transport out here in the boonies.
IMO, protective net above a cradle seems to be a made-up whimsical definition of dream catcher. The baby's dreams float up into the net. Kinda cute. Not literal.
PK, your son's reaction to crowds on the Metro is like Alan's reaction to the street crowds in Manhattan. He kept begging that we call a cab to avoid the solid mass of people.
Phew, great relief that I got this fun Monday puzzle, although it took a bit of work. Many thanks, Paul, and thanks too for checking in with us. It was only the longer answers that took a bit of time to fill in, and in the end I got the whole thing.
So glad you had a great birthday weekend, Boomer, including the fun casino trip.
Prairie Woman, hope those kids look great on Halloween in your home-made costumes!
Have a great week, everybody!
No issues solving this Monday puzzle, went right through, no markovers.
Quibble...a Dream Catcher is an actual American Indian thing....it’s not nor has it ever been a ”protective net above a cradle”. No offense intended, but why the completely wrong clue when the correct clue is available?
YR, Mark Twain is famous for saying “I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead”. But in 1657, Blaise Pascal said "I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter (je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte). I know it must be true because I read it on the internet!
I write that way. Verbose at first, then pithy as I improve it.
Thank you, Paul Coulter and Boomer! It sounds like you had a wonderful birthday celebration, Boomer; good for you! Thank you for the great expo.
I solved this as fast as I could write with only two erasures, WHEW before PHEW (some of us never learn, Jinx) and STATEATTORNEY changed to STATESATTORNEY. Other than that it was a sweet sashay.
A long ago co-worker had an OLDS cutlass and she constantly complained of its inadequacies and having to take it for repairs. When I asked her why she kept it she said, I love the car!
FRAN Tarkington is familiar to me, too, from 70's football which my late DH loved to watch.
Hitchhiker's principle is a clever clue! AHN was completely perped.
My trick for using SARAN is to first stretch it out to the length I want, place it directly over what is going to be wrapped which I situate at the edge of the counter, then cut, pick up the bundle and carefully fold the edges under. It rarely tangles or springs back on itself. This method took me a long time and many disastrous results to develop.
Have a splendid day, everyone!
I guess the Browns know for whom Big Ben tolled yesterday
So I was hitchhiking around Boston and a family pulled up, out of state obviously. They asked directions and I said go up the road and when you get to the fork in the road, take a right.
They took off in a huff Could it be something I said?
Typically easy Monday but Boomer's write-up makes it enjoyable.
WC
Ps. Thanks for popping in Paul
Happy Belated Birthday Boomer...
Funny to read all the brewhaha about the dreamcatcher clue....
Paul C. Don't take this link wrong, it was a very memorable puzzle...
d'o @9:22 - LOL re SIN tax. We have those already on liquor and cigarettes. Cannabis next.
Jinx @9:48 - You reminded me that my grandfather would always buy my grandmother a bottle of My SIN for Christmas as it was her favourite perfume. Haven't thought about that in years!
Irish Miss @ 10:28 and Anon PVX @ 11:58 - please see my Dream Catcher link @9:13. I think it matches perfectly with YR's explanation @11:15, "IMO, protective net above a cradle seems to be a made-up whimsical definition of dream catcher. The baby's dreams float up into the net. Kinda cute. Not literal."
Abejo @10:49 - Actually DRUG RESISTANCE has nothing to do with drug half-life. The half-life is "the period of time required for the concentration or amount of drug in the body to be reduced by one-half". Maybe you could call it Drug Persistence! The dosing interval of a drug (ie. once a day for meloxicam vs. every 6 to 8 hours for ibuprofen) usually depends on its half-life (20 hours for meloxicam vs. 2 to 4 hours for ibuprofen) and the concentration needed in the body for efficacy.
DRUG RESISTANCE is actually referring to resistance by another organism (virus, bacteria) to the drug (usually an antibiotic, anti-viral agent). The bacteria, virus, or other microorganism mutates (changes form) and becomes insensitive to (resistant to) a drug that was previously effective. Scary thought when we have organisms develop that can no longer be treated with the agents we have available. Think about it as being similar to the years before penicillin or sulfas being discovered.
Drug resistance is one of the reasons patients are discouraged from asking for antibiotics for colds (they don't work on viruses), and encouraged, if an antibiotic is appropriate, to take as directed and to finish the prescribed course of treatment. Doctors that specialize in infectious diseases keep up to date on DRUG RESISTANCE and the best antibiotics to use in each circumstance. They are wonderful resources.
Enough of pharmacokinetics and pharmacology and microbiology for today. This was not the TERSEST. LOL.
CrossEyedDave - Good one, Dave. Your link gave me a chuckle. Speaking of short-term memory, mine is notoriously bad. But fortunately, my second grandchild is due on precisely the date of my first one's birthday. So if that happens, it will make remembering the dates much easier.
Boomer glad you had an enjoyable birthday celebration and that you saw our birthday wishes! Hand up sending healing thoughts your way!
Typically smooth Monday solve with no crossed Naticks! Got the SURPRISE TEST theme right away. I have taken the SAT and GRE. No MCAT... yet.
Unknowns: FRAN, ARA, SELA, ANH
AnonPVX I agree that the DREAM CATCHER clue seemed odd.
Here I was shopping for a DREAM CATCHER with my friend Christa at a big Pow Wow in our area.
CanadianEh thanks for remembering our SAS San Antonio Shoes discussion!
I recently shared my photos of the EDISON workshops on display at the huge Henry Ford museum in Michigan. I mentioned that when I was a kid I got my parents to take us to the EDISON workshops in their original New Jersey location. My aunt, uncle and cousins lived in that area and we went with them.
Here are our family photos at that EDISON museum in New Jersey.
My uncle just died this past week. Nice to see him alive and well in the photos. He has a knit hat on in the fourth photo and looks a bit like Yasser Arafat.
Here is one of my photos of the DC METRO
I grew up in the DC area and was back for a high school reunion. When I was in high school the METRO was under construction, so I had to rely on slow buses back then. Or my bicycle (which was faster!). It is wonderful when I am back visiting friends to get around so quickly on the METRO!
We have a female friend ANH who helped out with our wedding.
ANH is the one in the bright pink dress in the front. DW sister is sitting next to ANH.
I have CASABLANCA photos. And STOCKHOLM photos. Another time.
Prairie Woman good of you to sew Halloween costumes for your granddaughters! Has anyone else been doing Halloween? Halloween is a big thing here.
Here we were at the first of a series of Halloween events here!
That hotel is the fanciest hotel in our city. It was shut down for months after the fire and mudslides which damaged it. Amazingly, this Halloween party was free! The DJ is a friend.
From yesterday:
AnonT Thanks for the amusing story of your experience playing the role of fake husband to avoid harassment! We had to maintain the role for about a month. And then afterwards we created some additional stories to explain the situation. I let her do the talking!
I am a fan of the police, but I never heard that TEA song about the SAHARA. Yes, we indeed were given mint TEA. Notably, when we were shopping for a big purchase. The carpet vendors were very generous with the TEA.
Husker Gary Thanks for the story of your OGEE friend Dani. The Filipino side of her ancestry indeed would explain her special beauty!
I had an AHA revelation this weekend about Alan's work. This morning I couldn't wait to tell his counsellor, who blew me off. I had been cogitating about this problem for many months and considered this a possible break-through. She flicked my input away after less than 30 seconds. I came home to write a just the facts ma'am letter, terse (meaning concise), with no blaming or fault finding, but it still sounded terse (meaning rude and abrupt), so I added a bit of sugar. This afternoon I dropped off one copy to the counsellor and one to her supervisor who is much more sympathetic. I feel that I am playing whack a mole. I solve one problem and another pops up. Even if Alan gets accepted into an appropriate living situation, I will be playing whack a mole for the rest of my life.
I love real dream catchers, but this lovely bit of whimsy was just a misdirection, not an excuse for a brouhaha, too strong a word.
My hobbyhorse: Differences of opinion can be enlightening and fun, rather than dire. The extreme antithesis of this idea is "You are so wrong you deserve jail or even death." I rue the death of intelligent dialog concerning differing viewpoints. Emotional reactions inhibit sharing and learning. I am sure I could learn much from my elder son and he from me, but he is so partisan that there is no reasonable dialog. At least, we pull in our horns and agree to disagree,but there is no sharing, no learning from each other. What a wasted opportunity. End of rant.
Good Monday puzzle by Paul, and Boomer's tour through the grid was enlightening.
As usual, no circles on the Mensa site, so, I didn't get, or try to get the theme. But with good clues and perps it wasn't necessary to solve the puzzle.
A few unknowns that were totally filled in by perps were, AHN and MONICA SELES. Otherwise everything filled in nicely.
After living in the DC Metro area for about 35 years I watched the DC METRO grow from a short Orange line from Lanham to Downtown DC in the mid '70's to the many lines that make it up today. Many hours were spent riding the train. Most of the cars that were used in the beginning are worn out now and have been replaced by newer ones. However, it has never been a smoothly run operation. Over the years it has been beset by many problems including mechanical, software, weather, maintenance (or lack of), parking, staffing, and fiscal issues. Plus the multi-jurisdictional make-up of the system has always resulted in problems because politicians never seem to be able to agree on anything. In spite of the problems it still succeeds, at some level, in moving a lot of people from point A to point B.
When I wasn't riding Metro, I drove a number of vehicles in getting around the DC area (mostly on the Beltway) including an Olds Cutlass. It was black with tan accents that had a soft squishy suspension that resulted in it waddling like a duck. Therefore, we named it Daffy.
Paul C. - Have you heard anything from Jeopardy? I see that another constructor, Erik Agard, was a Jeopardy contestant for a 3 day run. I hope you get on the show.
DO,YR Lucina, et al: SARAN Wrap has always been difficult for me to use for the reasons you stated. However, Reynolds has re-introduced their plastic wrap with a slide cutter that seem to work a lot better than SARAN or some of the others. If it sticks to itself it is relatively easy to correct.
Heading off to a Police Academy briefing about how they deal with the DUI situation.
Have a great day everyone.
I liked this puzzle and had many of the same experiences and thoughts about it that many of you did, so I guess that's a WEES. I also very much liked RULE OF THUMB. Thought of you, Lucina, upon getting DRAT.
A lot of the time I have putting into work in the last few days has been editing down my findings into a more TERSE summary report for my boss and the staff. I know from experience he digests information much effectively when it is brief, and he gets bogged down if there's too much detail. But I still have the detailed information available if he asks for it, which he has sometimes done.
The overuse and abuse of antibiotics and the drug resistant mutations of pathogens frightens the crap out of me.
Boomer, glad you had a pleasant birthday weekend. I echo Irish Miss in hoping you're getting used to the "cage" and feeling better.
Ta~ DA!
Ah, what a puzz (to echo Boomer's usage...) A pleasant week-starter from Mr. Coulter!
And what a weekend. My (newly adopted) Dodgers lost the WS (again!), while my (old rival, now also adopted) Rams compensated by extending their winning streak to 8-0!
I admit the Dodgers lost to the clearly superior team.
How 'bout dem BoSox? Wicked!
The LA Boys in Blue gave it a valiant try, entering the history books by winning the longest (18 innings!) game in Series history. It was their only win, but what a powerful model of endurance.
Even when outmatched, never say die. (Unlike Manny Machado's final at-bat....)
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals today, one on each side.
The near side offers a curious anagram. It seems to suggest that the reader should Panic Now, because it recommends...
"CALMNESS LATER"!
oc4beach - No, I haven't heard from Jeopardy yet. I know Eric Agard, so I watched his shows with pleasure. In fact it was Eric who helped me create my first crossword puzzle five years ago. It was a tribute to Will Shortz, which never ran.
Easy peasey lemon sqeezey puzzle today. You'd think that would make it boring, but you would be wrong! Thanks, Paul, for a very entertaining 6 minutes. And Boomer, as usual, your writeup was a treat to read.
Mostly WEESAE; especially the RULEOFTHUMB. Owen, your second poem really resonated here… A+!
Perfect afternoon for a nap! Have a great day, all!
Fun puzzle. My experience was the same as several of you mentioned .
Paul, thanks for coming by. I’m glad the reveal SURPRISE TEST wasn’t yours. Really grated! I’ve heard of Pop Quizes and unscheduled tests. But never SURPRISE TEST. Just sounds awkward. And as several people said, the tests listed better not be a surprise!
The rest was fun. Boomer, thanks for entertaining us!! Feel better!!
Owen, both A+ !!
Hi All!
Thanks PaulC. for a TEST I could pass (sure, it's only Monday, but you never know...). Thanks Boomer for the fun expo. I'd forgotten you'd worked for Graybar - I loved all their stuff (e.g. cable-ladders & the like) for server-rooms.
PaulC. Really, you like tests? Even when I know the material backwards & forwards, I flake. I usually have to skip the first few questions because I have no idea what they're asking. After I find an easy one, I'll get on a ROLL and then return to answer the skipped ones.
WOs: AGaRA, San Paulo (I knew better!)
ESPs: SELA, AHN, ELIA, PARIS
Fav: WEES, RULE OF THUMB as clued //and Jinx beat me to heuristic
{A, A+}
Hahtoolah /Swamp - The GRE was a SURPRISE TEST for me... I was prep'ing for the EIT (Engineer In Training) and discovered the GRE was on the same day. In '93, in N. Louisiana, jobs for EES was scarce and I figured I had better shot at grad-school than a job. I took the GRE cold.
D-O@9:20a - LOL!
DC METRO - I did a 10-week gig for the USDA (right off the Smithsonian line!) but we had to switch hotels every week (trying to keep costs low for the tax-payers). Anyway, every Marriott I stayed at was less than a block from the METRO; even the one out in MD. It was so easy to get around sans CARS.
OMK - Panic Now, just the opposite of The Hitchhiker's Guide cover :-)
Cheers, -T
Y'all reminded me of one of my boyfriends when I was 16. He graduated and went to the navy. He sent me a bottle of "My Sin" postmarked from Paris. I was so thrilled and loved that scent thereafter. However, I didn't take the hint to "sin" with him like one wag remarked.
Musings
-I tiptoed through those tulips darned fast. BTW, I gave four TESTS today
-96-yr-old MIL still drives her 1995 OLDS twice a month for which I have to jump start it.
-DECALS from my ute
-Omaha Public Power District put millions into their Atomic Power Plant and then closed it down months later
-Just got a call and I have to go lay some sod at MIL
-Always fun write-up Boomer!!
Anon T ~
Indeed! The Hitchiker's Guide explicitly warns against today's anagram. But then the reverse may be true.
I mean, perhaps the diagonal recommends checking out the Guide only after the reader has his/her adrenaline under control.
~ OMK
Good news! CC puzzle tomorrow!
Looks like everyone went to bed early today.
Not me!
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