google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, December 15, 2018, Greg Johnson

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Dec 15, 2018

Saturday, December 15, 2018, Greg Johnson

Themeless Saturday by Greg Johnson

Today marks the celebration that is well appreciated by a man who has always had a cat in his household and has taught and traveled with adolescents for over 40 years - National Cat Herders Day!

One story credits the  genesis of this phrase to IT expert Dave Platt who remarked, "Managing senior programmers is like herding cats."  The site Wellcat took the phrase and declared it a national day.

Our constructor today is Greg Johnson and I can only find this [insert adjective] picture of him from my last write-up of his work and no other info


Let's see what Greg has conjured up to herd us cats here at our word sandbox:

Across:

1. Brakes: SLOWS UP - To SLOW UP from 17,000 mph the shuttle had to fire retro rockets ahead, enter the atmosphere whose friction made the bottom 3,000˚F, make big sweeping turns and then finally deploy drag chutes. The process began over Australia to land at KSC





8. Do a sauce preparation job: DEGLAZE - Adding wine or stock to particles in the bottom of the pan (called fond) after searing or cooking.




15. Wedding employee: LIMOUSINE DRIVER


17. One always looking up: ETERNAL OPTIMIST - Mitzi Gaynor as Nellie Forebush declared I'm A Cockeyed Optimist




18. Meander: WEND.


19. 42nd's second: GORE is closely associated with 
31. Global warming concern: ICE CAPs

20. Food buyer's consideration: TASTE and 27. Pizza party purchase: SODA - Do all SODAS TASTE the same?



21. Polish removers: ACETONES  - We used Windex and elbow grease to get polish out of our carpet


24. One of 20 in many books: MATCH- For our striking friends 


28. Stress-free locale, ideally: SPA.


33. Private dining area: MESS TENT - Can you find this famous one?




36. "Death at a __" (2010 comedy): FUNERAL Just check out the cast!

38. Cooling-off period: DETENTE - America's DETENTE with the U.S.S.R. has ebbed and flowed since the 60's


39. A, often: FRONT ROW - A hilarious Bob Uecker commercial 




41. Hemsley's role on the sitcom "Amen": DEACON - Maybe so, but this is the role Sherman played that helped change TV and the world



42. Hill climber: ANT.


43. What happy concertgoers want: MORE.


45. Perfect places: EDENS.


46. Deeply saddens ... or delights: MAKES CRY 




48. Parting sentiment: PEACE - The first Today Show host Dave Garroway's signature was saying PEACE with his hand upheld




52. Little, playfully: ITTY.


53. First name in late-night talk: DAVE and 61. First name in late-night talk: ARSENIO - Letterman and Hall worked the other side of the clock Garroway had worked


57. Bar association concern: AMBULANCE CHASER - Walter Matthau played AMBULANCE CHASER "Whiplash Willie" in this fun movie




60. Top dog?: PICK OF THE LITTER - How in the world could you pick from (let alone herd) this litter?


62. Shower components: METEORS





Down:


1. Host: SLEW - There's a SLEW of meteors shooting through the atmosphere above


2. For calorie counters: LITE.


3. Predictor, sometimes: OMEN.


4. Conduct may have it on either end: WORD ACCENT - With the WORD ACCENT up front - CON DUCT is how one behaves. With the WORD ACCENT at the back - CON DUCT is how electric wires behave. 


5. Bright star: SUN - The answer to an old bar bet, "What star is closest to the Earth?"


6. Data plan number: USAGE - Verizon has told me how many GB/month I can use without paying more but I can't remember the number


7. American workers: PILOTS - American was the first airline to fly the DC-3 which made it able to make a profit by only carrying passengers while others 8. Counted (on): DEPENDED on carrying mail and freight




9. August hrs. in Augusta: EDT.

10. Breakfast food mentioned in court in "My Cousin Vinny": GRITS - A very funny minute of video





11. Green bean: LIMA.


12. "It's Your Space" sloganeer: AVIS - Remember when it was, "We're #2, we try harder"


13. Cocktail garnish: ZEST - Here's a pile of lemon ZEST




14. Art Deco designer: ERTE - Great for crosswords not so much for Scrabble®


16. Space observation: NO ROOM - A great observation about the space in the Sistine Chapel




22. Pie __: CHART - Speaking of cell phone usage




23. Left carefully, with "out": EASED.


24. Tick off: MIFF.


25. Luxury auto: ACURA - I put my first guess of LEXUS back in the word garage


26. Carpentry joint component: TENON - We had TENON Saw last Friday


28. Bae or boo, to former generations: STEADY DATE - Saccharine pet names 


29. Pound parts: PENCE - A British pound equals 100 PENCE (1p) or 50 TUPPENCE (2p)


30. Playwright Chekhov: ANTON - Cultural idiot me is not familiar with ANTON's plays but I do know who Yogi Berra's backup catcher was (* see at bottom :-) 


32. Prosciutto di __: PARMA - Very thinly sliced cured ham whose superior taste is obtained by the wonderful air in Parma, Italy and 46. Fruit served with prosciutto: MELON




34. Direct: STEER.



35. Some bills: TENS - If you have this  1863 TEN, you should 37. Investigate: LOOK INTO  how much it is worth




40. "Amazing Grace" figure: WRETCH - John Newton, a former captain of a slave ship, wrote the poem in 1779 but never heard the melody which was applied to it 50 yrs later. It can be played using only the black keys.



44. Highly regard: ESTEEM.


47. Spin, say: CYCLE.


48. Storied bear: PAPA - A name I treasure 




49. 2018 White House visitor from Qatar: EMIR - Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is the current EMIR of Qatar


50. Kids' curriculum: ABC'S


51. Garden veggie: CUKE - Our garden ranneth over!


54. Regarding: AS TO.


55. Suddenly turn: VEER - In the VEER FB offense, either the QB or one of the HB's will try to VEER through the defense 




56. Messes up: ERRS 


58. "100 Years...100 Movies" org.: AFI - American Film Institute 


59. Battleship success: HIT - How 'bout Battleship Beer Pong for the pool?





Now I'll try and herd all of you cats to the comment page:



* Yogi's backup had very few stats as Yogi hardly ever took time off.





49 comments:

Lemonade714 said...

Welcome back Greg; good to see you as you.

HG, Berra had SEVEN BACKUPS over the years, with ELSTON HOWARD the only one who actually got to play often. As the article says, SHERM LOLLAR was traded away. He went the St. Louis Browns and then to the White Sox and was the all-star MVP many times.

I have never heard the term DEGLAZE and I just ask the Polish to leave, as Windex and elbow grease sounds harsh.

As clued, I did not know WRETCH and never have seen the movie DEATH AT A FUNERAL

FLN, my link to Jeffrey Wechsler's Puzzle Society Puzzle

Thank you GREG and GARY

Jim B. said...

Great puzzle! Looked hopeless on first pass, then gradually came together from bottom up. Love it when that happens.
Last fill: DEGLAZE and ZEST.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Turned out to be not too difficult for a wretch like me. But, hooray for Wite-Out! That bear wasn't POOH and those pound parts weren't CAGES. It wasn't a pie CRUST, and I was observing the CORONA before it morfed (in honor of yesterday) into NO ROOM. What a mess! I've heard of the accented syllable, but never the "WORD ACCENT." You? LOO KINTO sounds like a game you'd play in the bathroom. Do you s'pose those night names were "late" because they're no longer on the air? Thanx, Greg and Husker.

GRITS -- During our pre-move visit to Houston in '79 we had a hotel breakfast. Don't remember the exact sequence of events, but somehow the water glass was knocked over, and it fell onto the handle of the spoon that was in the grits bowl, launching the GRITS into space. The result was a new wall-splat decoration for the hotel dining room. Haven't ordered grits since.

In honor of cat herding day: The widow across the road passed away just before Thanksgiving. Her four daughters decided to sell the property, but first they had to deal with the herd of cats residing in, over, and around the place. The cats were all spayed/neutered and in good health. Everybody had a name, and most had a collar. Houston SPCA accepted a dozen of 'em. Folks from an animal ranch came yesterday and managed to catch eleven more. That leaves six, and DW managed to trap one of those last evening. Five to go.

OwenKL said...

Amazed to FIRight, it took me so long! No time left for any good l'icks.

The plight of an ANT in EDEN
Might seem like a trivial reason,
But picnics each day
Left him too tired to play,
So he joined the serpent in treason!

{B+.}

Lucina said...

James Brydon:
My sentiments exactly!

At first glance this seemed not only daunting but impossible. However, a fill here and a fill there soon had me connecting whole phrases so from the bottom up it slowly emerged to a glorious finish. Well, maybe not glorious since I had PALMA not PARMA and never corrected it. But that was all. My only error.

I liked seeing ANTON Chekhov; it was one of my first fill. Then SPA started me on the downward slope.

CSO to our own ERTE, Ron Tosh, aka, JazzBumpa.

d-o:
Funny GRITS story! I can see it perfectly. And I'll never understand the appeal of having so many cats.

Today is our Book Club's ornament exchange luncheon. I always take a sparkly one.

Thank you, Greg Johnson and Gary! You both boosted me into a fine start for this Saturday's events.

I wish you a day full of ZEST, everyone!

Lucina said...

Lemonade:
Thank you for the puzzle link.

inanehiker said...

I'm with James - this came in waves. I'd feel stuck and then get a toehold and then a big area would start opening up.

WRETCH comes in the first stanza of "Amazing Grace": "Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a WRETCH like me" One of my favorite renditions is Chris Tomlin's version - he added an extra bridge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MZgXXUW08Q
But I first heard it with Judy Collins in the 70s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5e6IN_YbwM

I use orange zest and a little orange juice in my grandmother's sugar cookie recipe I make at Christmas. Our extended family loves her cookies- everyone else's just are bland in comparison.
Funny moment this morning - my husband often helps out on Saturday if I have a trouble. Today I said the clue for WORD ACCENT- I read it twice saying I didn't know if it was CON'duct the noun or con-DUCT' the verb.

Thanks HG and Greg!

Oas said...

Good morning all.
Wow ! A puzzle worth puzzling over. Thanks Greg for an enjoyable hour of time fill to start the day.

James B Amen ! Looked hopeless at first but kept going around and when the light went on for MATCH and USAGE the game was on . I haven’t smoked in over thirty years and had forgotten about the penny matches we used to get with each pack. Trick was to not use more than one per coffin nail. Knew a guy who ripped the papper match in two and got forty per penny.

When I got to DEGLAZE the Z gave me ZEST which my DW assured me was grated lemon rind.

FIR
Liked the cluing for PILOTS and MESS TENT.
Didn’t know “bae or boo” but it filled in okay.

Thanks Husker G for the enjoyable tour.

Cheers

TTP said...

Good morning. Thank you Greg and Gary.

Not my fastest Saturday ever, but close. Dare I I say it was a Saturday morning quickie ? Great cluing Greg. Loved the grid spanners.

Completed the bottom half (starting at the row that begins with 31A) in just under 9 minutes. The area above took 16 minutes because I had to disprove and eliminate ro(ve and am) where WEND belonged, NASA where AVIS belonged, lime, mint and peel where ZEST belonged, and DAdA where ERTE belonged. I know DADA and DECO are two different art movements, but I don't always think much below the surface area of some of the clues.

Good start to the day.

Desper-otto, there's a term in psychology for those kinds of memory lapses associated with painful or embarrassing situations of one's past. Repression something or another. Ask your wife. She'll remember how you knocked the glass over.



Big Easy said...

For quite sometime the North looked like the ICE CAP at the pole. I knew LITE, EDT, & GRITS. WAGged LIMA & ERTE. But wanted either NASA or IKEA instead of AVIA and LIME instead of ZEST. But being the ETERNAL OPTIMIST (my DW call me a cynic and says I have not TASTE (in clothing)), I went South and filled the grid in normal (Saturday) time. I'm glad DAVE & ARSENIO were the late night SLEWs because I have no idea who are on the shows now.

PARMA, FUNERAL, DEACON,WRETCH, and the badly spelled CUKE (I've only seen that in X-word puzzles) were unknowns solved by perps. EDGED or EASED out of the party. OUNCE or PENCE? MAMA or PAPA bear? The completion of the puzzle DEPENDED on the correct guess.

Pizza Party purchase? No BEER? SODA it was.
AMBULANCE CHASER- every billboard and TV commercial.

LIMOUSINE DRIVER- I found out the morning of my daughter's wedding that they only take you to the wedding and reception hall. You're on you own to get home. We went to my office, picked up one of the work vans, and parked it at the reception hall. Only in New Orleans do people have wedding receptions 15-20 miles away from the wedding. Then they waste time taking pictures.

billocohoes said...

Tough going until perps got me DEACON to open up the SE, then worked up from there.

Tried Rolls first, ACURA's a nice car, but I think it's a long way from the luxury of the top-line Mercedes, BMW etc.

Where does "making phone calls" fit into that pie chart?

I had GRITS once. Thought it was like cream of wheat but without as much pizzazz. It was outside Disney World so maybe it was instant.

CanadianEh! said...

Sparkling Saturday. Thanks for the fun, Greg and HuskerG.

I agree that this CW was intimidating at first but then fell from the bottom up.
Hand up for Lime before ZEST, and Crust before CHART.
I also Edged out of the room before I EASED.
But it was the centre that I FIWed. I didn't know PARMA (but I knew AnonT would get it) and ROW was not apparent to me.

A SLEW of misdirection today, including "pound parts" (PENCE not Ounce) and that tricked ACCENTed Conduct.
This Canadian has not yet memorized the numbers that go with your presidents and that VP could have been PENCE for all I knew. Then GORE filled the spot. (I toyed with Gore before MORE for "what happy concert goers want" but that would have been a dupe plus blood-thirsty patrons.)

Enjoy the day.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Nice intro, HG. Good, as always.

Woohoo. Daunting at first, especially with the grid spanners sticking their chins out. But EDT got it going. Gradually there were enough perps to make good guesses for the spanners. Solve mostly went bottom to top. Hat 'itsy' before ITTY. Didn't hurt being a Ch.E. to get ACETONES early. Think it's big in nail polish removal. No searches were needed.
SLOWS UP - Synonym tp SLOWS down.
CONDUCT - Is also how Zubin Mehta behaves.

TTP, Dudley and others: MV Paul Tregurtha ETA 1415 LT today, at Duluth/Superior.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I finished a few minutes shy of a half hour, so, by my personal time/difficulty criteria, it was a tad easier than a typical Saturday. That said, I needed lots of perps for unknowns such as Deacon and Wretch, as clued. I had Acetates before perps forced the change to Acetones and Gore took a while because I plopped in Neil, for Bush's second child. However, Bush was 41 not 42 and the Second was referring to VP, not offspring. Funny how our minds go in such varied directions. Liked the Melon and Parma (Prosciutto) clecho as that combo is one of my favorite foods. I've never had Grits but I'm well familiar with Deglaze. My favorite C/A was Top dog=Pick of the litter.

Thanks, Greg, for a smooth and satisfying solve and thanks, HG, for the very entertaining and elucidating expo. I must admit, though, I would have liked a picture of a litter of puppies next to the Top dog entry. 😇

Have a great day.

Oas said...

Grits , cream of wheat , quinoa , cous cous , sausage gravy can all look like porridge.
Once in a hotel breakfast line I was next to an older gent who was thrilled to see oatmeal porridge and ladled a bowl full . I was tempted to watch what would happen when he tasted it but the good angel won and I informed him it was gravy for the biscuits .

Oas said...

Just killing a little time this morning . The kids and grands ( except for baby girl on the coast) are commin over for a family Christmas gathering. As the family numbers grow the gathering dates are more tricky to syncronize , thus the early gathering . Frees up DW and myself to head to the coast for a couple of days and ring in the new year on the pacific side for a first.

SwampCat said...

OAS, you forgot to mention polenta which is the same thing as grits with a heftier price tag.

Thanks Greg for the fun puzzle. I struggled more than some of you, but won in the end. I’m still not sure zest is a cocktail garnish. Wouldn’t that make a drink kind of gritty? I wanted lemon peel or olive but perps denied me.

HG, the tour was fun, too. I loved the herd of cats. There was a story in the news this morning about using feral cats to solve problems with mice. We have joked about it but apparently there are organizations that provide feral cats as “working cats.” Who knew?

Yellowrocks said...

Very crunchy. Filled quite slowly, but FIR, for a satisfying finish. NOROOM seemed impossible, but necessary. I was thinking of outer space. Finally parsed it when I was finished. Solving this SLOWED UP my day, so no time to post. Off to the salt mines.

Spitzboov said...

More Stürm und Drang. BH received a letter from Ford announcing a recall on her '17 Focus. "the engine may stall due to a stuck canister purge valve (CPV - [more puzzle fodder])". They will contact her when parts are available - sometime around 10 o'clock next year.

Picard said...

Husker Gary thank you for an especially informative write up today!

But I am ignorant of who is the DAVE of late night TV?

This was a challenge from start to finish for me! But it was also full of fun misdirection! Favorites:
Private dining area/MESS HALL
Spin, say/CYCLE
One of 20 in many books/MATCH

I don't really get the AVIS slogan as a rental car thing. That was my last fill as it did not seem right. FIR!

These wild CUKEs are common here after a fire.

Don't try to eat them!

In "I Get Around" the Beach Boys sang about not having a STEADY DATE.

None of the guys go STEADY 'cause it wouldn't be right
To leave their best girl home now on Saturday night

Anonymous said...

Cuke is informal for cucumber. We often call them cukes.

Anonymous said...

I don't get anything but a blank page to Wechsler's puzzle.

Sandyanon said...

My first post that's actually about a puzzle. I loved it! WEES about how difficult it seemed at first. But it's so much fun when answers look impossible until you get them and then it's: "Well, when you look at it that way, of course!" I always solve across and down together, and this was a bit of a slog, but a really enjoyable one.

D4E4H said...

Just a quick note, I am in the Rehab section of Wesley Manor Those who would like info may call me at 502-645-0822.

Dave

AnonymousPVX said...

I too found it tough going on top and immediately went to the bottom and worked up, sure enough the NW was last to fill.

The “DAVE” is Letterman.

Markovers...PEEL/ZEST, CRUST/CHART, PALMA/PARMA, AMC/AFI.

See you on Monday.

Misty said...

Dave, thank you for checking in with us this morning. We've all been thinking of you and praying for you. Have a really good recovery.

Jayce said...

This puzzle has a lot to like and admire, but a few things bugged me. One was characterizing ZEST as a cocktail garnish; as SwampCat asked, wouldn't that make a drink kind of gritty? I ask, exactly what cocktail uses zest? I'll look it up. ... Okay, there's something called "French 75" and something called "Navy Rations" that call for lemon zest. But the same source also claims a Martini has orange bitters and lemon zest; that sure doesn't sound like any martini I've ever heard of. I've experienced several martini variations and none of them had bitters or zest as an ingredient. Oh well.

I also wrinkled my nose at STEADY DATE, a phrase I have never heard or read. Of course the phrase "go steady" was common, as was "go on a date." In my experience, the thing that was steady was not the "date," but was the "girl" or the "guy." However, just because I have never come across a phrase or language usage doesn't mean it's wrong; I shall look it up. ... Okay, it's in the dictionary and in songs. I have learned something.

Other nose wrinklers for me were WORD ACCENT (green paint!) and making ACETONE plural.

Other than that, Jayce, how did you enjoy the puzzle? Well, it certainly did have some good stuff in it, examples being PICK OF THE LITTER, DEGLAZE, DETENTE, FRONT ROW, the clue for PILOTS, and WRETCH.

Wishing you all good health and contentment.

CrossEyedDave said...

Never understood how to make lemon zest work,
I always get some of the white stuff that makes it taste bitter...
So now I just use RealLemon juice...

Cat herding day?

Well, some one has to link it...

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Thanks, Greg, for an engrossing pastime. Thanks, Husker, for giving us a great tour. Cat herding, indeed!

About the puzzle: WEES. Tough but I filler 'er.

D-O: I feel sorry for your neighbor's daughters. With all those cats, if they were in the house, the place must reek. I knew a lady & her daughter whose less-weird children had to engage the fire department to burn the house and most contents after the lady died & the daughter went to a nursing home. "You won't believe what I found in there," one of her other daughters told me. For one thing, they found a dead cat and kittens closed in one dresser drawer. Cat crawled in and had kittens on wearable clothing and someone closed the drawer and just left it there. Now that picture can haunt you like it does me. Sorry.

Juice said...

Yes Husker I remember that Avis slogan. It was right before Hertz answered back with OJ running through the airports!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Wow - so many times over two hours I was ready to toss the towel and give up but, then, one more WORD would appear and I kept at it. FIR! for my first Sat win in a long time. Whoot!

Thanks Greg for the puzzle - nothing unfair and names were kept to a minimum.

Wonderful expo HG - funny I was listening to a re-run of "How I built this / Planet Money" on NPR and they were discussing all the "National Day of X." Cats didn't come up...

My solve started with LITE, OMEN, SPA, EDENS, PENCE, ERRS, VEER, HIT, ASTO, DAVE, STEADY DATE, ANT, WEND, and I'd continue around and around getting it bit by bit. Finished in the SW with PEACE (and fixing ARSiNIO w/ CUKE)

C, Eh! - hate to disappoint but PARMA took me 3/5th perps :-)

WOs: AmI b/f AFI; vowel movements in ARSiNIO [sic] and ACaTONE [sic]. Perps to the rescue.
ESPs: DÉTENTE, ERTE (as usual - one day I'll remember the correct order of letters)
Fav: WRETCH - it's just a fun and I liked how it was clued.

{A}

Nice to see you back D4!

Picard - don't eat wild CUKEs b/c poisonous or just nasty TASTE'n'?

Cat herding? A SLEW of 16yro girls are showing up in an hour for Youngest's party. Naptime b/f showtime.

Cheers, -T

Ol' Man Keith said...

Husker, SwampCat, & Jayce ~
ZEST in this context means a peel, not a bunch or pinch of a shaven peel.
If you look at a martini recipe calling for it, it will usually say, "Garnish with a zest."
The article makes all the difference.
~ OMK

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Lemon, I knew the other Yogi backups but Charlie did it the longest with the most plate appearances. He sat the bench and played so little but still got a check that he became known as, “The Jesse James of Baseball”
-His one claim to fame was that he warmed up Don Larsen before Don pitched his perfect World Series game in 1956.
-I’m sure you know I made that reference to show I know much more about baseball than Chekov plays! :-)
-Maybe I should have used, “I know who was on deck in the 1951 NL playoff game when Bobby Thomson hit the homerun that became known as the “Shot heard ‘round the world”. Answer: Rookie of the year Willie Mays
-Welcome back Dave!

SwampCat said...

OMK, thanks for pointing out a “zest” can be any kind of peel... shavings with a rasp, or strips of peel using a vegetable peeler.

I thought of that much later in the day when I couldn’t post.

I got blinded by Gary’s picture of the grated kind. That’s also the kind I usually use in sauces and desserts.

SwampCat said...

Tin, don’t read this! It will just upset you!

All this talk of ZEST reminds me of my mother ‘s favorite drink, a Scotch Mist. Basically Scotch (lots of Scotch) over cracked ice with a strip of lemon peel.

I grew up with bald lemons, stripped of their peel, and frayed kitchen towels wounded by pulverizing ice cubes!
LOL

Mike Sherline said...

I appreciated this, to me, extremely difficult puzzle. At first I could only guess at a very few downs and none of the crosses in the top 3 lines. I don't use Google and don't know how you all look up crossword answers there, but was about to try to figure it out. With red letter help a few more started showing up, and as others have said the lower parts seemed easier to get. Another brain dead senior moment - for 13d I could picture a piece of lemon peel, but could not think of the word zest.

Husker I always enjoy your write-ups. I've never seen "My Cousin Vinny", but was pleasantly surprised to hear a fine little tuba solo at the end of the clip - right where he puts the fork to his mouth. Very nice!

Anonymous T said...

So I'm reading the business pages and there's an article on China buying soybeans during the trade DETENTE. That's when the penny drop'd - pronounced 'Da-Taun', Fraunch [hey Splyner!], No?

OMK - I had in my 'Post-notes' the same re: ZEST but, apparently, didn't consult 'em fully. Thanks you & Swamp.

Mike S. - Never seen My Cousin Vinny either but The Cornerites cite it often so I took a WAG there.

Pizza's on the way to feed these dance-cats. //Youngest's friends are all on the dance team.

Cheers, -T

Irish Miss said...

SwampCat @ 5:42 ~ Your final sentence is a shining example of advice given to aspiring writers: Show don't tell. I actually DID LOL!

Dave, get well soon, we miss you.

Every time I see clips from "My Cousin Vinny", I marvel at the range of Joe Pesci: Playing Vinny, the bumbling, good-hearted, rookie lawyer with the nasally, sing/songy Brooklyn (Bronx?) accent versus playing the deranged, cold-blooded, vicious hit man in "Good Fellas."

Wilbur Charles said...

FLN: CED I have indecin now but I'm told no NSAIDs. Shellfish and redmeat are nonos .
TESLA was my first guess. Also, ISOTONERS. And RILE.
I get my PALMAs and PARMAS mixed up
I was thinking of Elston Howard until lemony LIU. I had Sherm's Baseball card. He played with the 1b for whom a famous loafer* was named

DW likes sausage biscuit and gravy. But only when Dan is cooking at Granny's.

Until Picard cane along I was thinking of the Officer's MESS which could be considered "private" .

I see OMK cleared up the cocktail zest. One rubs the peel around the rim.

I loved martinis but learned to stay away from them.
Ok, Gary, who broke his ankle on the previous play. Actually, it's one of two guys so I'll have to re-check**.

Re the xword. I thought it would be considered very difficult. But my experience was similar to most. I knew Anton and the SE filled first. I went west then north. I thought FUNERAL had too many letters.
They always look easier when done. I like a Saturday FIR after two FIW's on the early ones .

WC

*FERRIS Fain . Took 37 "days off" but won the batting crown
**I think it was Whitey Lockman but may have been Don Mueller

SwampCat said...

I remember Don Larson’s perfect game. I
was in study hall listening undercover. When the game ended study hall erupted!!! I just sat there, in a daze. A perfect game?? Not possible!!

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2
-WC - Hondo (real name Skip) and I had this conversation on this blog a few years ago. Don Mueller broke his ankle sliding into third and was replaced by Clint Hartung whose nickname was “Hondo” which Skip adopted as his blog name. Thomson then hit his big three-run game winning home run.
-Anon T – I herded adolescents through airports and theme parks for years.

Wilbur Charles said...

Gary, I think Lockman had the hit that resulted in Mueller sliding . The other interesting bit was the subsequent disclosure that the Giants had installed a radio hook-up between cf bleachers and the dugout.
Thompson was surely signaled Branca's pitch* . The two had an act later where they would appear at banquets. The news of the"cheat" caused a friction.

From the point in time that the radio hook-up was installed the Giants went on their big winning streak . Let's see if I can find a link.

. WC

He probably didn't need it.

Anonymous T said...

HG - DW shepherds her freshmen college students through airports - DC, Italy, China, and perhaps the USSR, er, Russia, in the next year or two.

Making mountains out of ANT hills says...
I'm just joking about these girls. They are all well behaved (if not loud) and mostly take care of themselves. The only odd thing was 3 wanted pineapple on their pizza PIE(?).

ProTip: Order 1/2-anchovies on one pie to guarantee a few slices for self :-)

The girls are upstairs now so I'm going to see whats on PBS/C-SPAN/behind my eye-lids until their parents come to get 'em in a few hours.

Cheers, -T

Wilbur Charles said...

HeresH a link telling the whole story including the WSJ Article .

The Branca Story

WC

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Greg and Gary! Things that needed perps were: FRONT ROW, DEACON, PEACE, WORD ACCENT, GRITS, ZEST, NO

ROOM, CHART, EASED, STEADY DATE, PAPA, EMIR and CUKE.

Doctors and hospitals all week. (Don't have a brain tumor, but why the headaches?)

Have a great Sunday!

Lucina said...

AnonT:
I am surprised, no shocked, that you haven't seen My Cousin Vinny. It seems that it would be right up your alley. You will laugh all the way through it.

PK said...

fermatprime: So glad you don't have a brain tumor! Sorry they aren't finding the reason for your headaches. My headaches are usually from airborne allergens. Have you had a lot of smoke from fires at your house? That would bring migraines on for me. Good luck in finding the cause.

Anonymous T said...

Fermat - Euclid's theorem still weighing on you after the PRIMEs discussion Thursday? That might explain the headaches too :-) //I'm kidding - I hope the Dr's can help you.

Lucina - Now why would I watch a movie (Vinny, GodFather, Good Fellas) that, from what I can tell from the trailers, pales in comparison to spending a week w/ my family? If you met my potty-mouth sibs (and my Sisters are the worst!) you'd understand why Pop went gray early.
[and we never talk business at the dinner table :-)]

That said, a horse's-ass emailed me and I promised I'd queue up Vinny for next weekend.

I was near asleep w/ Dr. Drake Mysteries when parents started showing up. Two dance-cats left to herd and then it's g'nite Bonzo for me. I need it - apparently I've been volunteered to gift-wrap for 6 hours tomorrow (at the mall?!?) for their fundraiser. Oy!

Cheers, -T

Anonymous T said...

Winding down w/ a re-run of Car Talk say...

This just in... Click & Clack, AKA, Tom and Ray, on gas filler sides to put last week's discussion to rest.

FLW - Bill G. - my '86 Alfa has the exhaust near center. '17 Alfa has duel exhaust w/ fill on the driver's side. Discuss amongst...I'm verklempt. [we'll keep the Escape Hybrid and Civic between just us, right :-)]

Nite! -T