Theme: Let's Get Going - Sequential order in each answer.
20. Well-to-do: SITTING PRETTY.
25. Instruction to a bank to make periodic payments: STANDING ORDER.
45. Pink slip: WALKING PAPERS.
51. Ship's required nighttime illuminators: RUNNING LIGHTS.
Boomer here.
Hello everyone. I saw the doctor last Wednesday. I have been through many treatments but it seems that everything did what was expected. I just need a few blood draws over the next three months and then return to see the doctor in March. Best news - I am cleared to resume bowling! I assume I am also cleared for golf, but it's tough to find a course open when it's twenty degrees. I'm happy to settle for bowling now. I'll check in and let you know how I did. Hard to predict after 8-10 weeks on the bench.
Hello everyone. I saw the doctor last Wednesday. I have been through many treatments but it seems that everything did what was expected. I just need a few blood draws over the next three months and then return to see the doctor in March. Best news - I am cleared to resume bowling! I assume I am also cleared for golf, but it's tough to find a course open when it's twenty degrees. I'm happy to settle for bowling now. I'll check in and let you know how I did. Hard to predict after 8-10 weeks on the bench.
Across:
1. Hindu royals: RAJAS.
6. Tool with jaws: VISE. Is this considered a tool? I thought it was a clamp to hold something you want to whack at.
10. Mixer with Scotch: SODA. Mud in your eye, baby do I feel high oh me oh my!
14. Lightweight vacuum first sold to hotels: ORECK.
15. Pianist Gilels: EMIL. Mr. Skoda in "Law and Order" played by J.K. Simmons
16. Eve's second son: ABEL. Adam and Eve were ABLE to raise CAIN!
17. Peppy-sounding cracker brand: ZESTA. - I prefer RITZ - Everything tastes better when it sits on a Ritz. Thank you, Agnes, for your delicious seed crackers, mixed nuts and other tasty goodies.
18. El __: ocean current: NINO.
A phenomenon occurring in the 90s and beyond. The Storm company named a
bowling ball after it. I had one but I donated it to my pro shop
dealer.
19. Completely occupy, as an arena: FILL. Something I do to my gas tank weekly. I saw $2.19 per gallon today. What's going on at your part of the country??
23. Above, to poets: O'ER. The land of the free, and the home of the brave!!
24. Drinks with crumpets: TEAS. There is a tea expert in our home. It's not me, I am the coffee expert.
31. Loving squeezes: HUGS.
32. Beer whose logo suggests a prize winner, initially: PBR. I have been to MILLER park in Milwaukee. I wonder if they sell PBR there.
33. Chopping down: AXING.
36. Ocean east of N.C.: ATL.
I've seen the Atlantic and the Pacific but the Pacific isn't terrific
and the Atlantic isn't what it's cracked up to be. Sorry, that's a Navy
Ballad, I was in the Army.
37. Central Illinois city: DECATUR.
40. Funny Tina: FEY. She did a great Sarah Palin on SNL.
41. Rep's sales target: QUOTA.
43. + or - particle: ION.
44. Criticize sternly: SLAM.
If this is grand, it's a four-run home run. Here's an oddity. I have
been to the only two Twins games where a player hit three triples.
(Lyman Bostock and Denard Span).
However, I have only witnessed one major league grand slam (Dan Gladden) in person.
49. Picnicker's worry: RAIN. James Taylor saw this and Fire.
50. Spanish "that": ESA.
57. __ B'rith: BNAI.
I coach the bowling team of the Catholic high school from which I
graduated. (More years ago than I want to admit). There is a synagogue
now, next to the school and they sometimes have combined religious
services held by a priest and a rabbi in the HS gym. I tell this story
because I am proud to be associated with this merge of religions.
58. "Paula's Home Cooking" host: DEEN.
59. Extremist sects: CULTS. This word always reminds me of Jonestown in Guyana. Ugly times.
62. Puts frosting on: ICES. I know this is about cake, but you ought to see my driveway in January.
63. Tall and skinny: LANK.
64. Audibly: ALOUD. What ?
65. Pageant body band: SASH.
66. Greek Cupid: EROS. No runs, no hits, no EROS, and nobody left on base.
67. Body areas that may be irritated by shirt tags: NAPES. I agree, I hate shirt tags.
Down:
1. "Frasier" role: ROZ.
2. "All bets __ off": ARE. Please ! a few more bucks on the pass line. I need to get even.
3. Zooey's "New Girl" role: JESS.
4. They "speak louder than words": ACTIONS. This is an odd clue for a crossword puzzle. Makes me think I should tear it up and stomp out of the room.
5. Did figure eights, say: SKATED. Great winter fun in Minnesota. We have a huge rink less than a mile away, but I am too old.
6. Start of Caesar's boast: VENI. He came, he saw, he conquered. They named a salad after him, (And a Las Vegas hotel).
7. "Sign me up!": I'M IN.
8. Woo with a tune: SING TO. "Don't worry if it's not good enough, for anyone else to hear."
9. One who gets hitched in a hurry: ELOPER. This could be a shortened title of an elevator operator.
10. Sensitive high school health lesson: SAFE SEX.
11. Last bio: OBIT.
12. Shoulder muscle, briefly: DELT. I have had a deltoid muscle pulled in my right shoulder. It really wrecked my bowling for awhile.
13. Partner in war: ALLY.
21. Poppycock: TRIPE. Edible stomachs from cows and sheep. No thank you, I'll stick to brats.
22. Storm-tracking device: RADAR. Better known as a speed tracking device.
25. Former NBA big man, familiarly: SHAQ. Still a big man. I see him four times a week on commercials. (I watch too much TV.)
26. Ballet skirt: TUTU.
27. Beaming: AGLOW.
28. "SNL" network: NBC. Some of the "too much TV" is MSNBC, Their spinoff news channel. Chris Mathews hollers way too much.
29. Not enough salt to taste, perhaps: GRAIN. What does this clue mean? I don't get it.
30. Hunter's weapon: RIFLE. I agree although I am not a hunter. However, why is it still legal to own an AR-15 in the U.S.?
34. Within shouting distance: NEAR.
35. Places with elliptical trainers: GYMS. We have many fitness centers in Minneapolis and suburbs. I don't go - have no reason to pay for pain.
37. __ Lama: DALAI.
38. Get dolled (up): TOG.
39. Remove a fastener from: UNPEG. 15 two, 15 four, a pair is six and nobs is 7. Count it.
42. Become discolored, as silverware: TARNISH. Careful by the table. Don't tarnish the varnish.
44. Diner flipper: SPATULA. I worked for a Perkins long ago, and the head cook called it a spat. Sounded funny to me.
46. Amazon e-reader: KINDLE.
47. Out of neutral: INGEAR. Do NOT rev the engine while taking it out of neutral.
48. Trash holder: ASHCAN.
This is kind of an old word for garbage can. When I was age 1-4, I
lived in a home heated by coal. We had an ashcan out back.
51. Sluggers' stats: RBIS. Sometimes known as Ribbies.
52. Donald Duck, to his nephews: UNCA.
53. Glasgow denials: NAES.
54. Jay with a TV "Garage": LENO. Always enjoyed his "Tonight Show" opening stand up routine.
55. Tattoo artist's supplies: INKS. Also enjoyed Jimmy Durante's "Inka Dinka Do".
56. Sty fare: SLOP. This is also when you barely hit the head pin, get a strike and leave four or five pins on the lane.
60. Election Day day: Abbr.: TUE. Not every Tuesday, just once every two years. Except in North Carolina.
61. Militant '60s campus org.: SDS.
Students for a Democratic Society. Protested the war in the 60s. I
was not in favor of the war, but I don't like these militant
complainers.
Boomer
Note from C.C.:
Here is a picture of Boomer and me at the Annual Graybar Retiree Christmas Luncheon last Thursday. Do you like his tie?
 |
| Boomer and C.C., December 13, 2018 |
EMIL and ABEL were waiters from DECATUR
ReplyDeleteStarted a business at weddings to cater.
Then EROS imposed
And Emil proposed --
They ELOPED without using de caterer!
Can you imagine SHAQ in a TUTU?
His size twenty-two in a ballerina toe-shoe?
His pirouettes on the court
Would still fit his sport --
You don't think he'd prefer a hoop-skirt, do you?
Taking a statement with a GRAIN OF SALT
May keep you from accepting something that's false.
But a tweet from a T
Might need to be
Taken with an entire salt gestalt!
{A, A, A!.}
I don't get 29 down either
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteGot the theme...after I'd finished puzzle and went looking for it. The only Wite-Out application came with UNPIN/UNPEG. Was thinking Dekalb until DECATUR showed up. I think it's GRAIN, because a single grain of salt is too little to taste. Thanx, GG, BV and Boomer.
SKATED: The improvement district has arranged for an in-tent skating rink at a nearby shopping center. $5 will get you an hour of skating and rental skates.
PBR: I seriously doubt they'd serve Pabst beer at Miller Park. Pabst, Schlitz, Miller, Braumeister, and Blatz were all Milwaukee breweries at one time.
Boomer, gas prices here have hovered around $1.91 lately. That's at WalMart. About $0.20 higher at the majors: Shell, Exxon, Texaco, etc. Do gas stations give a cash discount where you live?
A single GRAIN of salt may go unnoticed to the taste
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Boomer and friends. Fun and speedy Monday puzzle. A good theme as I prepare to go to the GYM for my morning daily ritual!
ReplyDeleteB'nai Brith literally means Children of the Covenant.
Bill V: Thanks for explaining the GRAIN of Salt. That clue and answer didn't make sense to me, either.
I had Ants before RAIN as my Picnicker's Worry.
QOD: Last, but not least, avoid clichés like the plague. ~ William Lewis Safire (né William Lewis Safire; Dec. 17, 1929 ~ Sept. 27, 2009)
Monday fun run. Gail & Bruce always have great crosswords!
ReplyDeleteMy dad was always a Pabst Blue Ribbon fan- way before it became a hipster retro favorite!
Growing up I remember the commercials from Hamm's "land of sky blue waters"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o83xxWCel8g
Boomer - glad all is progressing well - hope you have restarter's luck at the bowling alley today!
FIR, but my neck was irritated before my NAPE.
ReplyDeleteWhen I filled SING TO, I immediately thought of this beautiful scene.
I wonder why we see ION so often, but never anION or catION, ION's yin and yang.
D-O, we don't have cash discounts in Virginia but there are a few grocery store chains with discount tie-ins: Spend $100, get a 10 cent discount at the pump. Costco gas is a little under $2 here.
Thanks to G&B for the fun puzzle. My favorite was "pageant body band" for SASH. Had me going for a while. I knew what a "boy band" was, but not a "body band" until I was struck by the V8 missile. Thanks to Boomer for the funny take on the puzzle. I'm so glad you again can hang out in the alleys.
Thanks Gail and Bruce for the puzzle .
ReplyDeleteWas able to work it through steadily, but had Vinny on my subconscious from a previous puzzle and spelled Vini for VENI . Did’t read the clue for EMIL so humbly take a FIW to start the week.
Didn’t think about the theme till I came to the corner.
Enjoyed the tour Boomer and am happy to hear that you’re doing good.
OwenKl again I enjoyed your wit this morning , como siempre.
Che
Gas here is around $1.90 at the "regular" stations. It's somewhat less at Sam's.
ReplyDelete29D: I immediately went with BLAND but soon learned I was wrong when I wanted to fill in ION. Finally got GRAIN via crossing words. I still don’t get it.
ReplyDeleteNote to desper-otto and others, I do not believe our gas stations offer a discount for cash, however I have never asked. I use a PNC credit card which gives us 4 cents back on every dollars worth of gas we purchase. So that's a little over 8 cents per gallon. It builds up on the bill each month and pays us by check when it hits $100.00. By the feedback I read today, it looks like Minnesota is a bit higher than other states. But I am still relieved that gasoline prices have dropped.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteNice tie, Boomer.
Mostly easy today. I scratched my head over 29d, too, but perps were firm for GRAIN. I took it the way Bill V. did. Theme was easy enough.
DEEN - BH and I ate in her restaurant in Savannah ~ 15 yrs ago.
STANDING ORDER - I've had one in place for years for bloodwork to verify proper Warfarin levels. Usual interval is 4-5 weeks.
The lowest gas price here is Speedway (successor to Hess) at $2.49/gal.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteColor me happy when the week begins with a Gail and Bruce fun run. Nice, simple but solid theme with one unknown, Emil, and one w/o, Lean/Lank. Unpeg and Eloper were a tad wobbly but G and B can do no wrong in my book. CSO to our resident Earl Gray, AKA, Abejo. Last night, I saw Zooey Deschanel in "Elf" and didn't recognize her with blond hair. She's much prettier as a brunette.
Thanks, Gail and Bruce, for keeping us happy and content and thanks, Boomer, for keeping us (me) in stitches. Your positive updates are music to my ears! Keep on keeping! Good luck at the lanes. Great picture of you and CC but my eyes are not keen enough to see the tie pattern.
I filled my tank about 10 days ago and paid $2.59 a gallon. I think some area stations give a cash discount and there is a local grocery chain that rewards your purchases with a per gallon discount, depending on how much you spend. I fill my tank twice a year, so the cost is inconsequential. (PK and I make a good pair. 😉)
FLN
WikWak, you make my surgical experience look like a walk in the park. Hope you are feeling better.
I'm off to a doctor's appointment and then an afternoon of party preparation for some guests this evening for some Christmas Cheer!
Have a great day.
Around here the up-in-the-air sign price for gas is the cash price. If you pay by debit/credit at the pump, it's anywhere from 10-20 cents higher. Not quite bait'n'switch, but almost.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning!
ReplyDeleteYay! Great news Boomer! Quite a nice photo of you and C.C. Thanks for the tour.
Thanks Gail and Bruce. Didn't know EMIL, but got him on crosses--after serenade wouldn't fit for SING TO. Wanted Danville before DECATUR, which also didn't fit. The rest was pretty smooth. I like my Scotch with SODA, unless it's a really fine one and comes in a box. ;-) Sorry, Tinbeni.
This is the first puzzle I have finished in at least a week. CW's always ended up on the back burner this week, and I never lit the flame. Lots of baking and other holiday folderol going on here. Lots of it with grandkids after school. Fun. Always good for a long winter's nap.
Have a fine day.
Marvelous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Gail and Bruce, and Boomer (great news that you can return to bowling).
ReplyDeleteI got the theme with the second themer (STANDING) and immediately filled in WALKING and RUNNING. I see a theme connection with 4D, ACTIONS!
But I actually DNF, leaving blanks in two spots. I did not know Zooey and having Ranas instead of RAJAs gave me Ne?s. This Canadian did not know ZESTA crackers and I forgot ROZ.
This non-beer-drinking Canadian also did not know PBR beer and GRAIN was not making sense (I was looking for Bland -hi Magilla). Thanks to Owen's poem, I see the GRAIN of salt meaning (noun not adjective).
Hand up for Ants before RAIN at the picnic (Hi Hahtoolah!), and Lean before LANK (hi IM).
I filled in a horrible A-word AGRIN before the much better AGLOW filled the spot.
I agree with IM that UNPEG and ELOPER were a tad wobbly.
Gas here is hovering around $1.00. That's a Canadian dollar and per litre. According to my online convertor, that would be 2.82US$/US gallon.
Getting rid of the TARNISH is on my job list for today.
I noted NARY (or was that from yesterday?) a SASH on the Miss Universe pageant last night.
TUTU reminded me of this cuteness that has been dancing around social media.
FluffYourTutu
Enjoy the day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-A fun puzzle and good news from/about Boomer - life is good!
-We have a STANDING ORDER for cat treats from Chewey.com
-Pushing our ORECK is a STANDING ORDER for me every Friday
-I pour off the liquid from Joann’s bean and ham soup and put it on crumbled ZESTA crackers
-Crapshooter’s cry, “C’mon eighter from Decatur”
-Do state patrolmen have a speeding ticket QUOTA?
-Christian CULTS play a big part in the second half of a documentary on Rome I watched recently
-My hearing aids do not like whispering, speak ALOUD please!
-Lack of ACTIONS
-Niece now lives in Ottumwa, Iowa and says nothing in the town denotes it as the home of RADAR O’Reilly
-GRAIN – Getting a solid fill but not the clue is very odd. Thanks D-O!
-Gyms - our town has the world’s largest YMCA, three commercial workout facilities (fourth one being built) and lots of obese people!
-SLOP is also knocking in a pool ball after randomly slamming into a bunch of them
-Nice snap Boomer and C.C.!
Boomer: Excellent, informative write-up. (Yes, I like your tie!)
ReplyDeleteGail & Bruce: Thank you for a FUN Monday puzzle.
At Villa Incognito the only "Mixer with Scotch" ... is more Scotch.
Here in Tarpon Springs, Gas is $ 2.189 a gallon. Six gallons and I am good for a month.
A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.
Cheers!
PS I already got my Festivus Pole decorated for Festivus Day this Sunday.
Good morning. Thank you Gail, Bruce and Boomer !
ReplyDeleteI liked the progression in this puzzle. It was predictable after the second theme answer, but still enjoyable, and the remaining fill and clues made for a pleasurable Monday morning solve.
I just checked gasbuddy.com. Lowest gas prices here for regular unleaded ranges from $2.03 at a nearby Pilot to $ 2.37 in the city areas. That's lowest. Average prices would probably be another 15 to 30 cents a gallon. I don't know of any stations around here that have a higher rate for using plastic, but some charge 10 cents less if you also buy a car wash ticket. Just found an article in the Northwest Indiana Times posted 4 hours ago that said the average in Illinois is $2.33, down from $2.66 in November, and in Indiana the average is $2.25, down from $2.51 in November.
Boomer, glad to hear your able to return to the lanes ! Here's the bowling report from last Thursday night. 182-212-192 for 586. Still not a single clean game in 24 attempts this season, but getting closer. I saw something Thursday I have never seen in my years of bowling. The guy on the lane next to us left an 8-9-10. I didn't see the shot, just the leave. No one around us had ever seen that leave. Wish I would have seen the shot to see what the pins did. Have you ever seen that ?
Another masterly Monday grid from Gail and Bruce! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I saw the progression of gerunds I filled STANDING, WALKING and RUNNING. Nice!
No problems to report. This was a smooth sashay today. Though I don't know JESS I made a stab at it because of RAJAS. And I well remember ROZ on Frasier.
Thank you, Owen. I saw the GRAIN in your poem and the light flashed on.
Boomer:
I clicked on your tie to enlarge it and noticed the bowling pins! Very nice. And it's just wonderful to hear you are doing so well. I believe your positive attitude and sense of humor all play into that. Please keep us informed.
Gas in my neighborhood is $2.75. Right now I have over 600 points from Kroger so that will discount 60 cents a gallon. I've bought many gift cards and that doubles the points. I usually fill up once a month.
Have a splendid day, everyone!
Fun Monday puzzle, Gail and Bruce--many thanks. I too am relieved that GRAIN turned out to be right, although it took me a while to understand that it referred to the tiny quantity of a GRAIN OF SALT. Didn't know JESS or EMIL and am glad those worked out too. Got LENO right away but then had to wait to see if the love god would be EROS or AMOR, then EROS fell into place. And I too thought of ANTS before I got that it had to be RAIN. So it all turned out swell, and it was wonderful to see Boomer looking so handsome and hearing that he'll be able to start bowling again. Yay! Loved his tie, and your beautiful jacket, C.C--what a great looking couple you are. And so happy that all the treatment is going so well.
ReplyDeleteGood start to the week before Christmas. Have a great day, everybody!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Bruce and Gail and Boomer’s sense of humor or a good start to Monday!
I, too, did not understand grain and for a while my Lama was a dalli for some reason. After finding that error, this went along smoothly.
Today’s puzzle was a SO to my husband with Decatur; he grew up on a farm not far from there and spent his high school days cruising the “main drag” as was the custom for teenagers in those days. Decatur is the original home to the Bears football team. Sadly, in our 50+ years of marriage we have watched the city fall on hard times with the loss of several booming industries. Archer Daniels Midland still prevails in processing corn and soybeans from the rich farm land of the area.
We came from the NW Chicago suburbs to NE Indiana last night paying $2.09/gallon for fuel on Rt 30. However, a look at gas guru told us that prices were rising about 15 cents.
Enjoy being alive today!
I agree with the (many) others who found 29D strained at best. “(blank) of salt” makes more sense to me.
ReplyDeleteNo comments about 52D? UNCA? I realize it’s short for uncle but really?
Otherwise no issues at all, other than not remembering how to spell DALAI correctly.
Markovers...just one, DAHLI/DALAI.
See you tomorrow, maybe, I’ll be out during the day.
Hey Boomer, good luck and may all your tenpins carry.
ReplyDeleteWees,
ReplyDeleteI was sitting on the fence about posting a link of kitty for sitting pretty...
However, by round two I was back to my usual standing orders...
I had to post this one for walking papers, because it is just so bad...
Running lights reminded me of my fitbit...
Boomer great news and keep us posted on your bowling! Love the tie!
ReplyDeleteFun theme with a bit of crunch for a Monday. Hand up did not know ZOOEY. Learning moment. I knew it was either RANIS or RAJAS so the WAG was fairly easy. Had to dig out ROZ/ZESTA from cobwebs of memory. Hand up, GRAIN puzzled me, but I think the explanations here make sense.
When I was fifteen I went to NORTH CAROLINA with my parents for an extended three week vacation. It was nice to swim in the warm water of the ATL OCEAN. I also enjoyed visiting the Wright Brothers' monument and museum.
And I got to see people flying hang gliders for the first time. Back then, the rule was "never fly higher than you care to fall". They would only fly above sloping sand dunes. How things have changed!
Here we were at the NORTH CAROLINA Outer Banks along the ATL OCEAN
Some other relevant photos today, but that is probably going to do it!
From yesterday:
ReplyDeleteMike Sherline glad you agree about Jimmy Carter and the MALAISE speech! Yes, he was more focused on energy independence for the US than on climate change, which was just being talked about for the first time. But the issues and principles were the same: Some short term sacrifice, but a long term benefit for investment in the future.
WikWak glad you also were a TOP CAT fan as a child! And glad you also enjoyed getting to see the opening theme again! I seem to remember the Bullwinkle Show featured a number of these cartoons as part of the show.
I think the shows we remember from childhood depend a lot on our exact age. They often came and went quickly.
Hi everybody.
ReplyDeleteGas prices around here are always higher than most other places in the US; it's about $3.59. Divide that by 10 and that's about the cost of gas when I started to drive. When I was a kid, there were no self-serve gas stations. My parents always asked the gas jockey for $3 worth, never a fill-up.
I've had tripe once, in menudo. I went driving around one Sunday until I found a little cafe that was serving some. I liked it.
ReplyDeleteWe too watch MSNBC often. Boomer wrote: "Chris Mathews hollers way too much." I like what he has to say but I think of him as interrupting way too much.
Great picture and tie Boomer and C.C. I am happy and relieved by all the progress you have made, sped on by your attitude. It is one of the ironies of life that being ill is a great diet. Thank you for the positive spin on religion. I do understand you not wanting to eat animal stomachs, but why would disrespectful children be better?
ReplyDeleteTwo times watch three triples in a game- live? WOW!
Gas here goes from $2.199 on up, but Publix will sell you a $50.00 gas gift card for $40.00, which is a 20% discount, so it out of pocket costs me $1.76- net.
PVX, if you ever watched Uncle Scrooge and Huey, Dewey, and Louie you would hear that it clearly is UNCA
Scotch and SODA?!? Por Tin.
Hahtoolah- the fact that James Safire was born James Safir is obscured by having them both say, Safire.
Picard:
ReplyDeleteYour photos remind me of the many trips I've made to N.C. where one of my sisters has lived since 1974. We traveled there on alternate years and toured those sites you posted. North Carolinians really love their lighthouses. My sister's BIL has a large collection of miniature ones which replicate all those along the ATL coast. Tourist shops usually have them for sale.
I love Gail and Bruce puzzles and this one is no exception. Hand up for not getting the GRAIN clue without reading about it here. Like Lucina, I saw the GRAIN in Owen's poem and the light flashed on. Pretty much WEES.
ReplyDeleteI think Zooey Deschanel is very pretty.
Cool tie, Boomer. Nice slacks, too. So glad that treatment is working and you are getting better so quickly. Please don't over-exert yourself at bowling and break something.
I used to like Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. As I recall, it was not bad at all. We also had Schlitz. Come to think of it, that was when we lived in Wisconsin. Hmmm.
Speaking of beer, or bier, our son and his wife recently returned from a nice 2-week vacation in Munich, where she grew up. He told me that bier is not taxed as an alcoholic beverage; it is taxed as a food.
We drive so little that I, for one, don't pay attention to the price of gas here, but I think it is in the $3 vicinity. But heck, I usually don't know the price of anything anyway. Fortunately, LW is quite price-conscious; unfortunately, she often won't buy something we need or want if it isn't on sale and does buy something we don't need or want because it is on sale.
Speaking of not revving the engine before taking it out of neutral, my dad broke the driveshaft on his Buick by repeatedly putting it into reverse (to back out of the garage) immediately after starting it, while the engine was still automatically revving. We all could hear the loud "clunk" sound as the reverse gear activated and the revving engine tried to propel the car backwards while he still had his foot on the brake. Only so many of those clunks and the "universal joint" snapped. (It's another story but he blamed and punished me for "weakening" the driveshaft by "squirreling out" {which I did not do} when I had borrowed the car the day before.)
Good Christmas wishes to you all.
I wrote the GRAIN OF SALT poem after reading Boomer's commentary, although I agree with d-o & BillV's reasoning that it's just too little to taste. But after seeing how many others also didn't get it, I looked up the phrase, and found a rather more interesting history than I had expected!
ReplyDeleteI've been house-bound for the past couple months, hoping to go outside for the first time today, so don't know current gas prices. But my Kroger/Smith's cr.cd. gives me a discount IIRC 5c for every $10 I spend at their store. Stations used to have different cash/plastic gas prices, but I don't think I've seen that on signs in a long time.
CED, I always enjoy your pics, but you had me LOLing louder than normal today!
Thanks Lucina for the heads-up on a close-up of the tie! I had thought it was a typical Xmas design with snowmen!
Once for a league party (decades ago when I still bowled) I got a set of miniature tenpins with two marble-sized bowling balls, fastened the pins to the hems of my cut-offs, put the marbles in my pocket, and wrote on my T-shirt "If you like my pins, let me show you my balls!"
Nice tie, Boomer! Cool & tasteful.
ReplyDeleteSorry to lean to the political side, but I need to post a mild defense of the SDS. Isn't it a bit off the mark to have been against the US involvement in Vietnam but not in favor of "militant complainers"? How else did they ratchet up legit opposition?--other than by SDS (and similar democratic protest groups) making voices heard?
Yes, they were wild & raucous at times and didn't always focus on their main target, but let's be clear: they weren't exactly the Weathermen.
(Sorry: end of response.)
A neat Monday puzz from the Grabowski/Venzke team!
Ta ~ DA!
Both chewable and doable. GRAIN was an enigma until Owen shed light. And No, I didn't know JESS either, but I got it right--luckily!--even though there was no way to know whether RANAS or RAJAS was correct for 1A.
Jayce ~
As for beer in Germany, I was there before, during, and after the Wall, but never spent much time exploring the bier possibilities. I am impressed, though, that you can get beer at their McDonalds, and don't have to settle for Coke. What really gets my attention in Deutschland is the sausages! What a wonderful array of local blends, textures, and shapes!
Just as Holland takes pride in their many varied cheeses (best served with iced gin), Germany owns the world's menu & appetite for gourmet sausages!
~ OMK
__________
DR: a nice 3-way NW to SE. The central diagonal seems to honor those who, following the present POTUS, share his penchant for braggadocio. The anagram proclaims they are all...
"BOASTERS PLUS"!
Gotta ask, Jayce, what does "squirreling out" mean?
ReplyDeleteYes, Owen, I too found CED's cartoons especially "humerus" today
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you're doing well Boomer!!
ReplyDeletekeep up the great attitude!
Growing up in northern Virginia, there was no tenpin bowling, only duckpins. The pins are smaller, the ball is handheld (like a softball pitcher) and you get three rolls per turn. Scores are lower since the pins are smaller and don't interact with each other as much as they do in tenpins.
ReplyDeleteSince the ball is lighter and smaller, I think it's less daunting for a beginner to get started. Boomer, have you ever tried it?
Hi Y'all! Thank you, Gail and Bruce, for a fun & fast puzzle. Enjoyed the great progressive mobility theme.
ReplyDeleteThank you Boomer for a fun expo. Keep 'em rolling. Glad your treatment is over and worked.
IM: happy to be "paired" with you even if it's only gas fills. We are doing our parts to keep carbon emissions low in the atmosphere, dear. I'm old enough to remember being a teenager when we pooled our spare change and bought a dollar's worth of gas to ride around all evening.
CanadianEh: I think I'll go "fluff my TUTU" and dance a while now.
Boomer, good luck with bowling. I am so happy to see you are able to return to some of your former pleasures.
ReplyDeleteGreat day today. David came to see our decorations. We had a pleasant relaxing visit. Alan was too "sick" to go to work today because he wanted to see David, but lots of luck trying to BS a teacher. David and I picked Alan up from work later on and we went out for a Coke. Everyone was happy.
Interesting theme.
I liked GRAIN and UNCA Donald. Unpeg and eloper, not so much.
LOL, CED, at your Don't sit on the fence.
Canadian, the tutu picture was adorable.
Adam and Eve were not able to raise Cain or Abel for too long. Cain fled.
Our gas is at $2.29 today. The price is falling rapidly. Good thing, because I use 45-50 gallons a month.
After the cervical disc discussion last night, I was awakened by a sharp long lasting pain and tingling in my hand. The tingling is old, the pain is relatively recent. I took Ibuprofen and read for 2 hours until the pain quieted some. Reading is my go-to pain and stress reliever. It never lets me down and adds new words to my Xword vocabulary. I know I have bad disc and bone spurs in my cervical spine and bad discs in my lumbar spine. In the new year I will need to get this checked out. While IM's experience encourages me, WicWac's experience is scary. Wearing a brace for 6-8 weeks would preclude driving and I have no in house help. This, too, will pass. I shall survive as I always have.
Zooey Deschanel is the younger sister of Emily, star of Bones. Their father Caleb has five Oscar nominations for cinematography, their mother Mary Jo played Annie Glenn in The Right Stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe gas station around the corner is at $2.43, down .40 since the summer, but I'll often go a mile away where I can use my grocery card plus get a nickel for my Sunoco Card. Ten miles away another station with the same brand may be 30 cents higher.
It's not a cash discount, it's a plastic markup. Not all stations have them.
When we toured Savannah, the guide recommended several restaurants she said were better than DEEN's.
Feeling better (ish) today, but still very dizzy unless sitting or laying down.
ReplyDeleteGas here is $2.099; I expect Costco is cheaper but haven’t been there recently. There is one station in town that charges an extra 10 cents for credit sales; many others used to, but that’s the only one left as far as I know. The big thing in this area is what looks a good low price but is really the price if you also get a car wash. No wash = 15 cents more.
In my HS days I pumped gas at a local brand station, where the price was $0.199/gal. At the majors (Standard, Shell, etc.) it was 1 or 2 cents more. 5 guys could hop in somebody’s car, collect a quarter from the 4 whose car it wasn’t, and drive to St Louis and back (~180 mile round trip)!
I never read or heard H, D, and L call Donald anything but Unca Donald.
The high school teams in Havana IL were the Ducks (Duck hunting’s very popular; it’s right on the Illinois River). The Junior High teams were the ducklings. There was a large painting of Huey, Dewie, and Louie on the gym wall there, done with Walt Disney's permission. Cool.
Today’s puzzle: piece o' cake. Even GRAIN, which I didn’t understand until I got here. Thanks, Gail/Bruce and Boomer!
Someone was just speaking of Boomer (oh yeah—it was me); great news for you and for all of us, too!
I must be in the wrong state ... the local ARCO has 87 octane for $3.25 (midway between the Bay Area and Sacramento). Maybe it will drop some more, who knows?
ReplyDeleteA VISE is a clamp. And a clamp is a tool. Therefore, a vise is a tool.
ReplyDeleteThe gas reward discount from my regional chain grocery store is negated by the fact that their per gallon price is usually 10 to 15 cents higher than surrounding stations.
desper-otto, squirreling out was my dad's way of saying "burning rubber" i.e. accelerating hard to make the rear tires spin and squeal and smoke.
ReplyDeleteFun Monday! Thanks G and B. I even got the theme!
ReplyDeleteBoomer, great new! Prayers continuing. And your witty expo was an added treat.
Owen, you hit the top! You’ll never do better than these.
Here you go !! I know you have all been waiting for the bowling results Monday morning in the travelling league at Mermaid Lanes in Moundsview, MN. Boomers scores : 185 - 200 - 214 - 599. I was pretty happy with that !
ReplyDeleteNote to TTP. I have seen a lot of stuff bowling but I never saw a leave of an 8-9-10. I might have one for you. I was bowling with a big burly guy one night. He threw it pretty hard and once threw at a full rack, took out the 7 and 10 pin and left the other 8. My set today had three opens. A 7 pin and a 7-10 in the first game and I missed a ten pin in game 3. The middle game (200 even) was clean with only one double. Looking forward to Thursday night now. I'll update next week. Thanks everyone for your comments.
ReplyDeleteMichael @3:41 ~
ReplyDeleteYou get what you pay for. CA gas costs more because we pay extra for a cleaner burn. And for better roads (to come).
I don't always like paying more than the rest of the country, but I console myself that we're getting better quality.
I think the gas companies could do a better job of advertising; they should stroke our egos with big signs reminding us that ours is the Champagne of gasoline, the Rolls Royce of petrol!
~ OMK
Well, it's a good thing I don't drive all that much any more, because I did fill up today, and in Los Alamitos (So Cal), it was $3.63.9!
ReplyDeleteSandy ~
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! You just bought a tank of liquid gold!
Use it to drive only to the Purest of Places...
~ OMK
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteMonday FIW. Like OAS, I had VINI (and I don't have the excuse of thinking Vinny - I just can't spell in English, much less Latin).
Thanks Gail and Bruce for this Get Moving puzzle; straight-forward theme.
Thanks Boomer for the fun expo (I didn't get GRAIN either until OKL's poem) and health update. Glad you got to bowl today! (nice tie too!)
WOs: VIcE and I had two Ls in my DALlI LLAMA - (shrinks in the RAIN?)
ESPs: JESS, iMIL [sic], UNCA(?), GRAIN
Fav: I'll go w/ Central IL, DECATUR in the center of the grid.
{A, A, A+}
Posting late means most my questions are asked and answered ("squirrelling out," Boomer's Bowling score, who Zooey is (but not how it is pronounced), and y'alls petro-price (even in $CA / litre)).
Price of gas/gal I don't pay attention to - it's price of oil per barrel (both WTI & Brent) - my stocks depend on it and Oy! It's harder to pay Eldest's tuition.
CED - That "why I enlisted" letter is the kind of thing I'd have written as a joke if I wasn't so scared shitless in Basic. :-)
Cute DR OMK - BOAST indeed.
WikWak - Cute re: the ducklings. Our Middle, Jr, and High schools are all The Longhorns [ they're next to each other across from George Ranch - things are bigger in TX!]
Cheers, -T
8'er from Decatur is a craps term(I see HG pointed that out
ReplyDeletePBR??? LOGO???
I think I get or rather I'll take that clue with a GRAIN of salt.
No Boomer. If you only see Shaq four times in a week you hardly watch TV at all. If I still had a mind I could name four different products per week
For golf the Scots said " If it's NAE wind it's NAE Golf
An American: NAE Gambling* it's NAE Golf
CED, and then you have Fo'dors(travel)
"warm water of the ATL OCEAN. " That's an oxymoron for NE'ers. Speaking of NE(Ugh). (Pat's)
Also, as I got to that point in the posts, opinion was about 50-50 on the meaning of GRAIN. I now opine that B&G meant one GRAIN=Bland
The food industry is gradually adding more salt and sugar to everything. Talk about Google running the world-the select "taste" testers ruin everything from movies to dinner.
Do you really want to get me started on gas? I have diesel btw. When gas plummeted diesel actually inched higher. I know you don't care, I'm just tell'nya
Btw, Murray's original triple killer was Tris Speaker. Which of our Texans actually knew Tris.
Phone ran out of juice I had a mtg. I should finish up
WC
* Or... If there NAE Gambling...
Or... If there's NAE 'Scuses ....
Boomer, I didn't have a camera, but our team captain did and I'm kicking myself for not asking him to take a picture of that 8-9-10. I did some searches on the internet to see if anyone has ever written about it and couldn't find a single reference. I can only imagine a very junior bowler barely having enough juice to get the ball down the lane that would hit the pins light enough to leave an 8-9-10. I wish I had seen that first ball.
ReplyDeleteThey announced that someone on the other side of the house threw a 289 game, and later I was trying to figure out the math. I looked it. Spare, 10 in a row and a 9 count, or ten in a row and 9 spare. So obviously eleven possible ways since there are 10 ways top get a spare in the first frame.
But while I was looking it up, I saw that the rarest score in bowling to get is a 292. First, because it is one of only eleven bowling scores that there is only one possible way to get (0, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299 and 300) and second because it is almost impossible to only knock down exactly 2 pins on your first ball, which your burly opponent did. I've never seen that. That's a rarity !
But to get a 292 a bowler would have to throw the first eleven strikes and then get that two count. Nobody that is good enough to throw eleven in a row is going to miss so badly that they only get two on a full rack. No wonder it is the rarest score in bowling. You probably already knew that. I didn't.
You had 3 opens in your set with a clean game in the middle. I had 2 opens in the 1st game, 2 in the second, and 4 opens in the third game. I write down my count, frame by frame so I can study it and think about it later. My third game was 9/, X, 6/, XXX, 9-, 9-, 7-, XX9 for the 192. Three opens in a row ! We lost 5 of 7 but are still in first place. I'm inconsistent but loving getting back into bowling again, and I'm sure you are glad to be bowling again too ! Welcome back !
Wilbur, my grandmother worked for Tris Speaker and my mother was born on his ranch.
I am very impressed Boomer and very happy for you with the return to bowling at such a high level.
ReplyDeleteOTH, I knew nothing of GILELS and I confess, why would I? But I did learn.
Cool about Tris Speaker
Never heard the exact phrase "squirreling out", but the car's rear end handling would be "squirrelly" if you gave it too much power on snow, ice, mud or gravel.
ReplyDeleteIf you remember Donald Duck in the Sunday funnies or in comic books, the nephews definitely said "UNCA".
Lucina glad to know we visited places in NORTH CAROLINA that you have seen as a regular visitor! Have you seen the hang gliders on the sand dunes? I am wondering if that is still a popular activity?
ReplyDeleteHere I was inspired after our NORTH CAROLINA visit to make a hang glider of my own!
Wilbur Charles sorry, but I am not understanding your meaning about "warm water of the ATL OCEAN."
It is a lot warmer than our OCEAN water here in Southern California! And even more so than the OCEAN water near Boston! So, I am not understanding? Please do tell!
Boomer congratulations on the great bowling scores, especially after being away for awhile!
OlManKeith I agree with your SDS comment.
Picard, WC said "warm water of the ATL" is an oxymoron in New England. Like rush hour traffic.
ReplyDeleteWarm water is in the Gulf of Mexico, where they complain if the water temp is down below 80, and in January I tell them the 68 water there is still warmer than Cape Cod in August.
OMK @ 4:32:
ReplyDeleteBy and large, better roads aren't the problem in California -- it's road planning that hasn't happened since Pat Brown was governor. At least, where I live in Solano County, I can come up with six stunningly obvious upgrades that could actually eliminate traffic jams ... but won't happen.
And, agreed, oil company advertising usually amounts to a press release that "we're changing to [winter/summer] blends, so prices are going up."
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Gail, Bruce and Boomer!
Great picture!
Only puzzlers: ZESTA, PBR, DECATUR and JESS.
Hope to see you tomorrow!