google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, January 26, 2019, Andy Kravis and Erik Agard

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Jan 26, 2019

Saturday, January 26, 2019, Andy Kravis and Erik Agard

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Andy Kravis and Erik Agard


Today's holiday takes me back to a candy treat we always had during Christmas at Grandma's house. She had a bowl of assorted nuts (plus a houseful of the same) and a plate of peanut brittle. 

It was much darker and thicker than this shown here but I remember it very fondly. Now that my teeth are much older and not likely to be replaced as they were when I was 10, I don't indulge any more but I fondly remember the taste!

Today's constructors have made a mark on TV gaming as well. Andy became a millionaire on Million Second Quiz with Ryan Seacrest. As you can see below, Erik was threatened with a pie by Alex Trebek because Alex, a dedicated crossword solver, was frustrated by this puzzle Erik created with Tracy Bennett and I blogged here. Did you do better than Mr. Trebek on that August 18th exercise? In our gmail exchange, Erik told me that he and Tracy started with the middle stack on that puzzle and worked out from there. Erik also told me he won on Jeopardy that day!


Andy Kravis                             Erik Agard 

Across:

1. Selection process including the Sky and the Sun: WNBA DRAFT  - I didn't look up who the Connecticut Sun drafted in the Women's National Basketball Association 2018 draft but here's who the Chicago Sky took



10. Anna of "The Emoji Movie": FARIS She was the voice of Jailbreak

15. Lip-syncing accompaniment?: AIR GUITAR - Is Hugo Chavez also Lip-synching at the U.N.?



16. "Me too": AS AM I.

17. Bingo center square: FREE SPACE.

18. Hasbro game that requires twisting and pulling: BOP IT - If you're interested

19. Spacewalk initials: EVA - NASA's first Extra Vehicular Activity was a space walk in 1965 by Ed White. NASA's most famous EVA occurred on July 20, 1969



20. Ready for fumigation: TENTED Tenting by Termite Terry

22. Metaphorical low area, with "the": PITS - Also very active place during the Indy 500 😏

23. Gathering tools: RAKES.



25. Film dialect that uses subject-object inversion: YODA SPEAK.



27. 1990s gaming release, initially: SNES - Super Nintendo Entertainment System


28. "LOTR" initials: JRR - Here 'ya go:



29. Visitor center: SHORT I - The center of the word Visitor is a SHORT I

30. Course with fruit, perhaps: ART CLASS - Heads we do fruit, tails we do nudes

33. Sure-footed critters: ASSES - 'Nuff said

34. Licorice, e.g.: ROOT - Here's a bunch of licorice herb roots



35. Increase: HIKE - A tax HIKE in gov't speak is a "revenue enhancement"

37. Commented on EweTube?: BAAED.



40. Ironically, designation for the fourth film release in a classic sequence: EPISODE I - George Lucas made the first Star Wars movie in 1977. He later labelled it IV so he could make assorted prequels and sequels.



44. Remove the zest from: UNPEEL - "Hey, don't throw that lemon peel away, I need zest for my martini!"

46. Record no.: RPM - David Seville recorded the Chipmunks at half the RPM's and then played them back at normal RPM's

47. Tablets brand ... or, cutely, what they treat: TUMS - Tums for your tummy

49. Saves for the future: SALTS AWAY

51. Hardly taciturn: VOCAL - "Where's my dinner?"



52. Whack: STAB - Every Saturday I take a whack/STAB at blogging 

53. Andalusian city on the Costa del Sol: MALAGA- MALAGA is a city in the province of MALAGA on Spain's Costa del Sol. 



55. One in a conflict, maybe: EGO - Conflicts involving EGO's can result in a 56. Utter: TOTAL disaster

58. 2017 hit comedy about a women's weekend getaway: GIRL'S TRIP -  Rated R (for crude and sexual content throughout, pervasive language, brief graphic nudity and drug material). Rotten Tomatoes assessment

60. QB's protection, in football lingo: O-LINE - Offensive LINE



61. Type of gland: ENDOCRINE All you want to know

62. Hangs: PENDS - Any decision in this house PENDS until there is a mutual decision 

63. Where I-35 and I-80 intersect: DES MOINES - The last time I was here, I turned left and met Boomer and C.C.




Down:

1. Symbols of thinness: WAFERS - WAFER THIN = Twiggy to me

2. End point of the Noble Eightfold Path: NIRVANA Here 'ya go

3. CBer's opening word: BREAKER - BREAKER 19 is a request to use channel 19 on a CB radio. The CB craze during the 55mph oil embargo days had many people talking like they were all "good ole boys". Play as much of this song that starts with BREAKER 19 and you will hear as much of the lingo anyone should want



4. Golden __: AGE - Many modern TV sitcoms seem to be rehashing I Love Lucy plots that were from what some say was TV's Golden AGE

5. Decisively outraces: DUSTS - Usain Bolt has DUSTED about everyone

6. Begging to be picked: RIPE 7. Nonetheless: AT ANY RATE - this is one person's opinion

8. Two and one, for two: FACTORS - Yes, 2 and 1 are the FACTORS of 2 because 2 x 1 = 2

9. Trapped, in a way: TREED.

10. Old-style dope?: FAB - Dope is current slang for "cool" 11. In contrast with: AS OPPOSED TO FAB which is so yesterday!

12. Narrow-bladed swords: RAPIERS A guide to foils, epees swords and RAPIERS

13. Do in a bit: IMITATE - Will Jordan had a famous "comedy bit" where he "did" Ed Sullivan



14. Winter Paralympians' equipment: SIT SKIS that can negotiate the 48. Inclines: SLOPES.



21. Legal pros: DAS - District AttorneyS

24. Jersey Shore rockers since the '70s: E STREET BAND - Bruce Springsteen's backup band

26. Visored military cap: SHAKO - A French-made Shako for those who 50. Engaged in: WAGED war in the American Civil War



28. Companion of A-Rod: J-LO - A portmanteau of Jennifer Lopez

31. Works on programs: CODES - I don't think I could sit all day and produce CODES



32. Where some subs are fixed: SHIP YARDS - Hitler fixed his subs in his nearly impregnable submarine pens. I tried to get my subs fixed in a Deli here at first



36. Belief: ISM.

37. No-parking area: BUS STOP.

38. Literary France: ANATOLE - ANATOLE - A Nobel-winning Frenchman of letters

39. Lang. test for top students: AP LATIN - Advanced Placement LATIN. Good Luck with this sample question: 



41. Cajun confection: PRALINE - Billboards used to tell you to get one here



42. Skincare brand from the Greek for "beautiful wax": EUCERIN.



43. Envision: IMAGINE 

45. Fast flight: LAM - In this TV series of my ute, David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble was on the LAM every week



51. Explorer da Gama: VASCO - VASCO's voyage can be compared to America's moonshot. The spice trade he started made Portugal a very wealthy nation. Who knew 54. Latch (onto): GLOMming onto black pepper, etc. could be so profitable?



57. Arles article: LES LES blogueurs ici sont très intelligents! (The bloggers here are very smart)

59. Piece of TNT?: TRI - TRI Nitro Toluene - BOOM!

A very nice and hardly brittle puzzle by our TV stars today. Comment away:







49 comments:

  1. DNF. I don't want to talk about it.

    You must take real good care of your new AIR GUITAR.
    Don't leave it in an aisle-way, where it might get a jar.
    Air guitars are WAFER light,
    Any passing DRAFT just might
    Blow it AWAY to IMAGINARY places very far!

    There are certain FACTORS that keep me here on Earth.
    I like to see my GIRL STRIP, to the suit she wore at birth!
    Doff the TENTED sweater,
    UNPEEL the melons' fetter --
    When she takes a GIRLS TRIP, I miss her in my berth!

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  2. Good morning!

    DNF this morning, but I don't feel too bad about it. This one was a Wite-Out wonderland. Those Jersey boys weren't the Four Seasons. (Actually they started in the '60s. I knew that. D'oh!) That CBer wasn't saying, "TEN FOUR, good buddy." That no-parking area wasn't the bus LANE. In the end, it came down to Anna's last name and the name of that Hasbro game. I had no idea about either one. I'll settle for two empty squares on this mind-bender. Congrats, Andy and Erik, you're much hipper than I am. Great expo, as usual, Husker.

    RPM: David Seville (Ross Bagdasarian) was also responsible for Ooo Eee Ooo Ahh Ahh Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang -- The Witch Doctor. Les Paul was the guy who first took advantage of the dual speeds of tape recorders. He'd record his guitar at slow speed, then play it back at double-speed, and accompany it live. At one time, he was the only person in the world who owned an 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorder. His wife, Mary Ford, would sing, and Les would sit with his guitar and play with himself.

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  3. E STREET BAND came easily, but took a long time to break out of the SW. Tried phoneIxaz before DES MOINES. AS do I before AM, didn't know FARIS. Should've known BOP IT because my daughter had one, but could only think pOPIT, so finally needed red letters for those crosses. Didn't grok dope=FAB until long after I was done.

    ANATOLE France: "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

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  4. Gary- ironical that you place National Peanut Brittle Day first with PRALINE (which is NOT Cajun) as one of the fills. The pralines are softer and won't hurt your teeth but will require a lot of flossing to remove the nuts from your teeth.

    A little too tough to finish the NE. I correctly guessed AS AM I & IMITATE, but the complete unknown BOP IT, FAB, & Anna FARIS and the SIT part of SIT SKIS. were left blank.

    LOTR- I filled JRR but had no idea what the abbr. LOTR was.
    SNES, JLO, ANATOLE, MALAGE, GIRLS TRIP, NIRVANA- all solved by perps & WAGS.

    desper-otto---Les Paul 'played with himself'? Okay, I take your word for it.

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  5. Today's was not only a very difficult puzzle; it was also very lame. Too many obscurities.

    I still don't know what TENTing has to do with fumigation.

    I have never heard the offensive line called the O LINE. Has anyone?

    Since when does "dope" = "cool"? Well, it does almost rhyme with "woke."

    Is a "District Attorney" necessarily any more professional than a "defense attorney"?

    "Do in a bit" for IMITATE is a pure foul.

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  6. About usual Saturday difficulty for me. Andy and Erik, nice challenge. HG, you are one of Saturday's treasures. The NW was solved 1-2-3. The SE took some time. EUCERINE was all perps. ANATOLE was a gimme to start the SW. I missed two cells in the NE. We had several BOP ITs years ago, but I put POP IT. That B would have helped with FAB. I didn't know FARIS. so I wrote SARIS and SAP. I had no idea DOPE means cool or fab.
    IMO the golden age is from retirement until health and/or financials problems overtake the retiree.
    FACTORS reminded me of my teaching and tutoring days.
    PITS brings to mind Erma Brombeck's funny and wise book, "If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries What Am I Doing in the Pits." Here are some quotes for Brombeck fans.
    Here's Erma

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  7. Good Morning.

    I'm not sure what happened today, but I finished this one correctly. What I struggled with came with the crosses. I hoped I might do better than usual at WNBA DRAFT. Now, truth be told, on Saturday I don't normally find anything but snow until a short answer about a third of the way down. I had fun with this, if only because I began on a hopeful note. Thanks, Andy and Erik.

    Great tour, Gary. Thanks. I stumbled at I-80 and I-35 because for a moment there, I was at I-65. Not good for a person who loves maps as much as I do. Doh! I enjoyed thinking about the peanut brittle and the PRALINES.

    FLN: IM and D-O, the arsenic hour is the time after naps and before dinner. That's why Wednesdays at the NU Marching Band practice was so much fun. No one is ever fussy in the presence of a Big Ten marching band!

    Have a cozy weekend. -6 this morning. . . .

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  8. Good morning. Thank you Andrew, Erik and Husker Gary.

    I loved it. Another good Saturday challenge. Did better than last Saturday, but still a FIW.

    I figured that dope was info, and with FA- in place, I guessed FAT. I figured if "the skinny" means the inside information, perhaps in a shortened version, then "the fat" might mean to give all the information. I guess not, because no TADA was heard. It was the only letter that turned red when I changed the game to regular. I'll take it.

    Love that kitten gif, HG. I also thought of the croupier's rake for some reason.

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  9. D-O you really have a way with words. Once I was able to grok WNBADRAFT I actually did well with this effort from Andy and Erik. (BTW, the Sun drafted LEXIE BROWN who is the daughter of DEE BROWN a former Celtic.

    I think they did include a mini-theme with YODA SPEAK and EPISODE I/

    I did not remember SHAKO which we last saw in this May 2013 Matt Skoczen. This hat, which became popular in the 1800s is from Hungarian csákó, short for csákós süveg "peaked cap."

    PRALINES were named in the early 18th century: from French, named after Marshal de Plessis- Praslin (1598–1675), the French soldier whose cook invented it. With its strong attachment to France, Louisiana has embraced this CANDY . Driving from Connecticut to Florida many times, I know STUCKEYs well, though I recall the Pecan Roll more.

    Thank you, HG for the EUCERIN information and Andy and Erik for the workout. You also made licorice seem so unappetizing, Gary.

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  10. Madame Defarge where did you learn this PARENTING TERM? Obviously, most of us never heard it before. I think there may be a puzzle here.

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  11. Anon 9:14, your rant is sad.

    Fumigation is accomplished by TENTING .

    Football Positions. The offensive line, or O-line, is the group of offensive players that play up front and block for the quarterback and running backs. Even though the quarterback and running backs get all the glory and press, they couldn't do anything without the offensive line.

    Even a non-Urban Dictionary know DOPE means cool. ADJECTIVE informal very good. "that suit is dope!"

    Get a television and catch up with the 21st century; because you do not know something does not make it unfair. Learn stuff like I do and enjoy the process.


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  12. Nice video, Lemonade, but I didn't see a tent in it; and that use of "tenting" is not in the dictionary.

    I didn't say there was no "offensive line" in football or that I didn't know what it is; I just said that no one calls it the "O LINE."

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  13. Good morning everyone.

    Anon @ 0914 - If you would lookup or google the things you don't know, maybe you would know what you don't know and could work on the things you would like to know. I do that plus reading the erudite write-ups by Messrs HG and others and one can learn quite a bit here.

    Needed several red letter assists but it was worth it to try the things I did know. The puzzle managed to drag ANATOLE out of the deep recesses of my mind and that I didn't know was still there. Had small i before SHORT I. (Don't ask.). NIRVANA was a WAG but still had trouble parsing the whole NW as the 3 nine ltr stack was largely unfamiliar to me. Same with dope for FAB. Guess I'll still have to be careful how I use it or the listener will ROTHFLHAO.
    I'm not a Yoda fan so getting YODA SPEAK made me feel pretty good.



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  14. Oddly got some of the more esoteric clues but like more than 50% of Saturday puzzles. DNF. Plus didn't take all morning to try to complete as the sun is actually shining in central NY State today and my Vitamin D stores need boosting!!

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  15. Tenting, Participle of the verb tent, from the dictionary, "to cover with or as if with a tent." The fumigators use tarps to make a tent like covering over the house before fumigating.
    Here's how tenting fumigation is done. BTW, just two perps suggested tenting to me. It makes sense.
    tenting
    One man's meat is another man's poison. We all have different wheelhouses, different experiences and different funds of knowledge. One person can't know everything, so we learn from one another and from the puzzles. Like Lemonade, I look up everything I don't know. It fixes it in my mind and expands my horizons. It leads the curious minded down rabbit holes and into interesting mental excursions.
    Am I dope for never having heard DOPE used as COOL? I accept my mistake as a learning experience.
    I am well acquainted with the arsenic hour with my kids and grandkids, but not by that name. Good article, Lemonade.

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  16. Good Morning:

    This was a FIW due to the Fab ~ Bop It crossing. I never heard of Bop It and, like TTP, I thought Fat, as in Chew the fat, fit the clue. Dope and Fab are not part of my vocabulary, nor is woke. I finished (albeit incorrectly) in much better time than I achieved last Saturday, but I wasn't keen on some of the cluing or fill, but I'll chalk that up to the generational gap between solver and constructors. I couldn't believe Shako was correct as I've never seen or heard that word in my life and it seemed like such an odd name for a hat. The things we learn doing simple crossword puzzles! Also needed perps for WNBA Draft, Nirvana, EVA, Eucerin, Episode I, and SNES. My favorite Clues were for Art Class and Tums and my nose wrinkler was Unpeel.

    Thanks, Andy and Eric, for a Saturday stumper and thanks, HG, for the always block-buster summary and enjoyable visuals and links. Is the cute kitty Lily? The photo of Malaga brought back memories of a vacation there almost 50 years ago.

    Madame Defarge @ 9:17 ~ Thanks for defining Arsenic Hour. I'll tuck that tidbit away right next to Shako!

    Have a great day.

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  17. Well, Saturday puzzles are always toughies for me, and this one was no exception. I did get a few interesting items on my first round--like YODA, ANATOLE, and VASCO--but the cheating started soon after that. But what fun to read Husker Gary's write up with those terrific pictures! And thank you for that great picture of ERIK and ALEX TREBEK--what a fun moment that was on "Jeopardy"! Anyway, thanks for the puzzle, Andy and Erik, and again, a great commentary, Gary.

    Have a great weekend, everybody!

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  18. Visitor center (SHORT I) crossing SHAKO was just plain mean.

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  19. Wow! And I thought this was unusually easy for a Saturday. Much of the fill was either in my wheelhouse or perps helped as I solve across/down and it all took about an hour.

    ANATOLE France! Talk about a blast from the past. I haven't heard that name in decades.

    MALAGA was my second fill after RAPIERS. That was my very first destination to Spain in 1973. Yes, men slapped a woman's behind in those days but that is just one small memory from a vast store of them on that trip.

    With MALAGA in place I worked my way through the SE and into DESMOINES. Interesting meaning of EUCERIN. I laughed when TUMS filled in.

    Some fill was unusually easy such as BAAED, FREE SPACE, YODA SPEAK, RAKES, AS OPPOSED TO and others. I'm surprised some found this so difficult.

    WNBADRAFT took me the longest because, well, because it's sports! The B in FAB/BOPIT never made it. I don't know dope as FAB so I'll have to do some research.

    Anna FARIS is familiar because she is so good in Mom on TV.

    Thank you, Andy and Erik. You didn't stump me today. And many thanks, Gary. You make me look forward to Saturdays.

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  20. Wow, that was tough! Very reassuring that you experts had trouble with the NE corner too. I’m learning that when all else fails, think grammar - but still I put “small i” before “short i”. Loved art class.
    Beautiful sunny day and 70 today in Dana Point - going for a walk!

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  21. I am surprised so many here had not heard of shako. As the former wife of a marching band instructor, I found it common place.
    shako images
    Notice that many of the hats are called shakos.

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  22. Thanks, Husker for the 'splaining, especially for FACTORS and IMITATE - got them but was head-scratching on those two. The South was a quick solve: "E Street Band", "Shipyard", and "O-line" helped with the perps. But the NW/NE! LIU's: Never heard of "Noble Eightfold Path" - Nirvana! Great teaching moment, creatively clued. Don't know movies and "Anna" somebody - who? Never heard of BOPIT (family youngsters are adults). Liked the cluing for "Air Guitar." It was a fun challenge.

    FLN, Anon-T, loved, loved the Cornbread and Butterbeans clip! Now, that's some spoon-playing. Wondered where the CCDs are now. Per wiki, they won a Grammy for their 2010 album, "Genuine Negro Jig" - I guess they're still together.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Chocolate_Drops

    Stay warm and safe, everyone! Lemon, I'm sure you're enjoying the "cool" snap - 60's.

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  23. Did you know that the ad hominem is typically described as an attack against the person, or more specifically their character, personality, or physical appearance? Most people consider this a rhetorical fallacy: a weak argument based upon immateriality.

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  24. Gary, I think 39D would be choice "B". I'm pretty sure. Kinda. Well, maybe.

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  25. Musings
    -I am smart enough to know how little I know. I take every puzzle as an opportunity to learn! MALAGA, Andalusia and Costa del Sol entered my lexicon today.
    -O-LINE and D-LINE are very common terminology in football. Throw in nickel defense, jet sweep, wildcat formation, yada, yada, yada…
    -Also, I recently had to look up RONDO and now have a tenuous grasp on that musical term and have listened to a lot of wonderful music that has those repetitive characteristics. When puzzles give you lemons…
    -IM, that kitty was not Lily who is “Siamese if you please”
    -Sandy, I was wondering if anyone tackled that AP Latin question

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  26. Musings
    -I am just back home after going to the big car show in Omaha with my grandson and his father for the tenth consecutive year. Grandson told me that the LA Ram Greg Zuerlein, who kicked the winning, long field goals, was a student of my daughter’s in 4th grade and graduated from Lincoln Pius X in Lincoln. Hudson felt really proud that his mother had a connection to upcoming Super Bowl and will watch it with him.

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  27. Super tough one today, I’m with Madame DeFarge, not sure how but got this one done.

    Many markovers for me though..EYE/AGE, FAT/FAB, ARTCLUBS/ARTCLASS, RISE/HIKE, EPISTLEI/EPISODEI, SLANTS/SLOPES, GRAB/GLOM, DOING/WAGED.....a real mess.

    Have a pleasent weekend.

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  28. BREAKER, BREAKER! I am not on Andy & Erik's wave-length. However, perps, WAGs, red-letter runs & Aha moments let me rise to the challenge and fill this beast. Thanks guys! I never heard of Andy's show "Million Second Quiz". Did watch Erik on Jeopardy. (BTW I had a good day with Jeopardy yesterday. Knew several questions none of the contestants knew, but not the final.)

    BREAKER meant someone wanted to BREAK into a conversation. CBs were a great invention for farmers. We had them in all the cars, trucks, tractors and combines where communications capacity was a real boon. Our farm fields were spread out on a 25 mile radius of our house. Can't tell you how great they were for emergencies or just simple instructions like which field to bring food to during wheat harvest. Saved a lot of driving looking for people.

    SHAKOS: I have pictures of three of our ancestors in these caps from the Civil War. Two of the men died of dysentery and one lived to draw a pension.

    Slow start with WNBA DRAFT & FARIS on the lead lines. I knew there were WNBA teams named Sky & Sun but didn't connect them today. Got AIR GUITAR and felt better.

    HG thanks for the expo. As a kid, I loved the peanut brittle my two old-maid cousins made at Christmas for us. They were so pleased when I asked for the recipe as a young bride. I learned to crave PRALINES when I lived in Southeast Texas in a pecan grove with a champion PRALINE maker. I'm drooling on my keyboard.

    D-O: naughty boy, maligning poor departed Les Paul. LOL!

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  29. I thought that SHAKO was a "Kepi." The difference seems to be in the SLOPE of the sides. In the modern French version, the Kepi's sides seem to go straight up and down.

    I once had occasion to look up the name for the American-style billed hat--as distinct from the non-billed "Garrison cap" or Canadian "Wedge cap"--and the word commonly used is a "Cover."
    That seems too generic to me. Does anyone have a better answer?

    Today's pzl did me in, with so many pop culture references outside of my range. Nice to see the teaming of two TV prize winners, but otherwise I looked on as a polite observer.
    ~ OMK

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  30. This puzzle was far too hard for me. I did eventually fill every letter correctly, but it took a lot of mindless red-letter alphabet runs. Even so, several of the answers made absolutely no sense to me until reading Gary's excellent explanations.

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  31. Got to admit that the clue for FACTORS was very obscure. Usually in a clue a reference to 1 and 2 would indicate something unique to 1 and 2 or of which 1 and 2 were noteworthy examples. I don't see that with factors. Also the clue for IMITATE was definitely a stretch.

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  32. 1 and 2 are the ONLY factors of 2.

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  33. Two and one, for two: FACTORS - As Lemonade said, "Yes, 2 and 1 are the FACTORS of 2 because 2 x 1 = 2"
    Gimme for me. I taught this in 5th grade math. At its simplest, a factor is a number that divides another number or expression evenly—i.e., with no remainder.
    Six, four, three, two and one are factors for 12.
    Clue - Do in a bit.
    DO can mean imitate or do an impression. In The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle said he could "do" James Cagney. "Judy, Judy, Judy." I have often heard DO used this way. The BIT is a comedy bit or skit.

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  34. I would prefer to respond directly but since you are an anon - the video for fumigation says:
    " How to Prepare for a Fumigation Tenting of your Home." But since you did not read, please click this TENTING FOR TERMITES VIDEO .

    Saturdays are hard, most of us cannot finish, but they are not as hard as NYT Saturdays. To get better you need to do things outside your comfort zone.

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  35. Andy and Erik took my lunch money before the wedgie!

    Hi All!

    Thanks guys for the puzzle but I'm not worthy. BREAKER, FREE SPACE, EVA, RIPE, VASCO, TRI, JRR, RAKES, ditto (@16a), E STREET BAND, EPISODE I, ISM, DESMOINES, and Hop not LAM, was all I got before needing HG's help. Note: that was >1hr of noodling...

    Thanks HG for the extra-play with your helping hand here and there and the sparkly expo salving my EGO.
    HG - I enjoy Coding when I'm solving something novel (or hacking). Doing it full-time, though, it would become drudgery (i.e. coding reports is a bore).

    Once I got a few cheats, I had fun taking a STAB at more c/as and enjoyed my 'learning-day' (SHAKO?) so it's not a TOTAL loss.

    Still never got dope==fly==cool==groovy==FABulous ; I was thinking dope==skinny==info==FAq. Like I said, wedgie time...

    {A, A}

    TXMs - That FLN link was actually Michael's - I just HTML-ified it. Thanks for the update on Carolina Chocolate Drop.

    HG - Love it: "When puzzles give you lemons…" That sums up most my Saturday solves :-)

    So a "Do in a bit" has nothing to do with a horse's mane but this? [Jordan Peele's Obama after '16 election - 1:22]. Um, OK. I get it now.

    Enjoyed reading everyone's conversations / wheelhouse inputs; that's how we learn, eh?

    Speaking of eh?, where's C, Eh! been?

    Cheers, -T

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  36. When there is a construction collaboration I understand that the author with the theme idea gets top billing. My question is who's on first when it is a themeless?

    Alphabetical by first name?

    IMWTK

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  37. "Peaked cap" seems to be the term of art for American billed military hats. In this usage,"peak" means a "visor."
    When I was in high school ROTC, we didn't get to wear these until we reached cadet officer rank. It was a big, big deal in HS.
    An even bigger deal came in my senior year when I was appointed battalion adjutant. I was one of just two kids who got to wear a real saber! The adjutant and student commander (my pal, Freddie) were the only two authorized for the swords.
    Why?
    We used them once or twice a month, when our companies lined up on the drill field and their captains would shout out their roll calls to me.
    I would then turn to face the commander behind me and shout out "All present or accounted for, sir!" and then salute by slapping the hilt smartly against my nose & swinging it down diagonally to my right side.
    He would return the salute.
    Then we'd put our beautiful sabers away--until the next parade.
    ~ OMK

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  38. FLN, thank you, Michael - sorry about that. Those blue HTML links are way easier (thank you, Tony), but I'm stubborn (or lack patience/*comprehension), and one foot remains stuck in the cave. Thanks also, Tony, for the Jordan Peele clip - great impressionist. Still remember some of your Key & Peele clips. At least Peele is still around.

    YR, thanks for an explanation I can comprehend (*see above) ... "do" James Cagney, as in impersonate - got it!

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  39. @5:42p - Interesting question.
    I think the more experienced constructor (Erik, FOR ONE :-)) takes second-billing. That's been my experience as my mentor, a "real constructor," took on the heavy lifting (gridding is hard!) but gave me kudos as "author" on a few pzls.

    Years ago, I did the same thing for a mentee with an article on Proxy FTP sans Browser in Dr. Dobbs. [my God! that was near 15 years ago!] My buddy proposed the problem and I wrote most the code while mentoring him in perl. I didn't mind a bit ceding top-billing because I was bringing him along. I recall my mentor in the Unix-space back in my days at the DOD; coached me along with with a wicked sense of humour. Good Man, him.

    My $0.02. Cheers, -T

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  40. Sonnova - I was thinking it was SysAdmin Mag we wrote for... (I still have the FREE tee they sent me). My bad, I just picked the first link that mentioned our article. -T

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  41. Sorry, OwenKL, you're absolutely right about the FACTORS clue - when read properly it does make sense, but I was relying on memory - never a good idea.

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  42. Factors was not something I ever studied is school. Must be the so-called new math that my kids had. They always did their schoolwork with no help from me. Occasionally their dad would be called on for math help but he didn't usually know what they needed. All were good students. Good thing.

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  43. PK, thanks - I thought I was missing a coupla years of elementary 'rithmatic (what?!) -- back then we called them multipliers, so simple actually. Factors?

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  44. TxMiss: glad I'm not the only one not up on math terms. I think I do good to add, subtract, multiply and divide for my math needs these days. They are few and far between.

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  45. TexMiss @ 5:55-- "FLN, thank you, Michael - sorry about that. Those blue HTML links are way easier (thank you, Tony), but I'm stubborn (or lack patience/*comprehension), and one foot remains stuck in the cave. Thanks also,"

    I know they are easy, but it was near midnight, and I wanted to get the spoons music out before I went blotto. Long day, and all that....

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  46. Anon-T ... "running light without over byte", eh?

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  47. Michael - Wow! You go back... (for the un-l33t - Dr. Dobb's history). Buddy & I were in SysAdmin but, if you go to SAmag.com, it takes you to Dr. Dobb's. M&As over time I guess.

    Thanks for the "running light without over byte" (forgot that!). Brings back Happy (Hacking) Day's memories.

    Cheers, -T

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  48. This is long so I'm dumping it here.
    OMK- FLN
    " and then salute by slapping the hilt smartly against my nose & swinging it down diagonally to my right side. "
    So there I was at PI* and a second Louie had one sentence to recite as part of the OD ritual. He froze . It was cold that day and the swords had an Ivory hilt. There's one more element of the sword salute . To return the sword to the"Carry" position one has to turn it, blade down then "flip" it up. All done precisely and well practiced as I don't have to tell you. So...

    Between all the above lame excuses (did I mention I'm left-handed-so it's never NOT awkward) I neglected to "flip". And. .
    The sword slipped and I did the unthinkable, the unmentionable, the unpardonable... I straightened with my left. Deftly but not so deftly that the parade(to follow) leader who also tended bar at the O-Club didn't notice(Marines notice EVERYTHING).

    He did compliment me on the parade and my snappy salute during.

    WC

    PS.. One week later I was a civilian.

    * Parris Island

    Pps "Cover" in the MC was anything on your head . Never hat. Hat = Helmut in football

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