google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, January 3rd 2019 Pawel Fludzinski

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Jan 3, 2019

Thursday, January 3rd 2019 Pawel Fludzinski

Theme: Retirement Party - all the theme entries pun on the hang-up-your-boots topic:

17A. Watchmakers never retire, they just __: WIND DOWN. One of my favorites, along with 12D.


20A. Musicians never retire, they just __: DECOMPOSE. This one is a little bit of an outlier to my mind. I'd say that a musician and a composer are two different animals. That's just me being hyper-critical though.

39A. Beekeepers never retire, they just __: BUZZ OFF.

55A. Tree surgeons never retire, they just __: BRANCH OUT.

61A. Teachers never retire, they just __: MARK TIME. Some teachers are giving up marking homework, citing research that says it doesn't help the student improve in any way. Instead, they have interactive discussion with each student on the work that was submitted.

12D. Farmers never retire, they just __: GO TO SEED.

38D. Lumberjacks never retire, they just __: PINE AWAY.

A neat theme from Pawel, and in fact I'm surprised that it hasn't been done before. Both across and down theme entries, and both the downs interlock with one of the acrosses, that's neat. The rest of the construction and the fill are solid with just one (personal) grumble for my first blog of 2019.

Let's see what else we've got that catches the eye:

Across:

1. Save for later: LAY ASIDE.

9. Place to doodle: MARGIN. I tried napkin first.

15. Smooth talker: OPERATOR. Released in 1984, Sade's album coincided with the emerging CD music boom. It seemed like everyone I knew had a copy of it to be played at every dinner party.

16. 1969 World Series competitor: ORIOLE.

18. Elite area of the pop charts: TOP TEN.

19. Passionate about: INTO.

22. Beetle-shaped artifact: SCARAB.

25. Grad school grillings: ORALS.

26. FDA overseer: HHS. The US Department for Heath & Human Services. I didn't actually know what HHS stood for until today.

27. Urban network: ROADS.

30. First name in architecture: EERO. Very influential figure in architecture and industrial design. Here's the iconic TWA Terminal at JFK which opened in 1962:



33. Prime letters?: USDA. Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner are the seven grades of beef. Most of the Prime beef goes to restaurants and hotels.

34. Acclimate gradually: EASE IN.

36. One not seen on "MTV Unplugged": AMP. Not quite true, but you get the idea. Generally there are no electric instruments. You still need amps for the vocal and acoustic mics. There were some really great sessions in the series.

41. Anonymous surname: DOE.

42. Pal: PAISAN.

44. Polish language: EDIT. Very nice misdirection here - polish as in hone, rather than slavic.

45. Actress Collette of "United States of Tara": TONI. Thank you, crosses.

46. "Chasing Pavements" singer: ADELE. I think Adele might be winning the "singers in crosswords" count at this point.

47. Some mil. hospitals: VA'S.

50. Spew out: EGEST. Not ERUPT them. That set me off down the wrong track for a while.

53. White weasel: ERMINE. Ermine fur is (or was) used on a lot of ceremonial costume.

59. State categorically: AVER.

60. Ides of March word: BEWARE. "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!"

64. Roughly three nautical miles: LEAGUE. So Jules Verne's Captain Nemo sailed 60,000 miles submerged in Nautilus. That's about three circumnavigations of the earth, quite a feat.

65. Often-fried tropical fruit: PLANTAIN. Food! I spent some time trying to think of another commonly-fried fruit and came up empty-handed (battered and deep-fried doesn't count).

66. Least candid: SLYEST.

67. It may be diagrammed: SENTENCE. Seems like a lot of work, I don't really see the point, to be honest.


Down:

1. On the paltry side, as an offer: LOWISH.

2. Between-finger-and-thumb quantity: A PINCH.

3. They mind your own business: YENTAS. Nice clue, this one made me laugh out loud.

4. Fervor: ARDOR.

5. Glum: SAD.

6. "What was __ do?": I TO.

7. Columnist Maureen: DOWD.

8. Marine eagle: ERNE.

9. Hustle: MOTOR.

10. Kitchen magnet?: AROMA.

11. Gentle waves: RIPPLES.

13. Dots in la mer: ÎLES. Your french lesson for the day. Paris sits in the middle of the Île-de-France region, an "island" within the larger landmass of the country itself.

14. Aloha State bird: NENE.

21. Prefix with play: COS. Cosplay, a portmanteau of costume+play. Some excellent examples of cosplay can be seen each year at Comic-con in San Diego.


23. Oranjestad's island: ARUBA. Stab in the dark, but I knew Aruba was part of the Dutch West Indies at some point, so it made sense.

24. Petty officer: BOSUN. Contraction of boatswain.

28. Woodworking tool: ADZ. You can "adds" an E if you like!

29. Out of it: DAZED.

31. __ Grande: RIO.

32. Only partner?: ONE. The one-and-only.

34. System used for many returns: E-FILE.

35. Word with dark or hours: AFTER.

36. Suitable: APT.

37. 1972 host to Nixon: MAO. Tricky Dickie's groundbreaking trip to China to meet the Chairman.

40. Horatian creation: ODE.

Be wise, and mix the wine, since time is short: limit that far-reaching hope.
The envious moment is flying now, now, while we’re speaking:
Seize the day, place in the hours that come as little faith as you can.

From "Carpe Diem"

43. Billboards and posters: SIGNAGE.

46. From __ Z: A TO.

47. Vance of "I Love Lucy": VIVIAN. Ethel to Lucy.

48. Lackluster: ANEMIC.

49. Calm: SERENE.

51. Stocking shades: ECRUS.

52. It may be fitted: SHEET.

54. Finish choice: MATTE.

55. OPEC units: BBLS. How does a barrel of oil get abbreviated to BBL? Because the 42-gallon drums were originally blue, so a Blue Barrel, or a BBL.

56. Lively country dance: REEL.

57. Decides what's fair, among other things: UMPS. Baseball umpires. Fair or foul ball.

58. Tall __: TALE.

62. Got on the ballot: RAN.

63. Round Table VIP: KNT. I've grumbled about this abbreviation before, so I'll spare you my moans. I still don't like it though.

Back stateside after my sojourn in England. I got very lucky with the weather, I only needed the umbrella on two days out of 16, which must be some kind of record in December. Here's the beach at Shoreham-on-Sea looking towards Brighton on Christmas Morning:


And that does it for me. Here's the grid:

Steve


56 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!'

Thanks to Pawel and Steve!

Great puzzle. Loved the theme!

FIR with the following things perped: ORIOLE, HHS, ADELE, PAISAN, LOWISH, COS, ADZ, SIGNAGE, BBLS and KNT.

Have a swell day!

PK said...

Hi Y'all! This is my favorite puzzle by Pawel, thanks. Welcome back, Steve, glad the weather cooperated for your trip.

The theme was very amusing. Never heard the "old retired" version which plays more kindly than the "old never die" version we did in HS. Of course, the original was "old soldiers never die, they just fade away." We did a bunch of versions. The only one I remember we saw on a novelty sign: "Old fishermen never die, they just smell that way." Giggle, giggle! Ah youth!

EDIT fooled me, trying to think of what Polish language was called.

DNK: TONI, DOWD, COSplay? Used to just call it dressing up.

Lemonade714 said...

Welcome back, Steve.

Always nice to see a Pawel puzzle, and I like how he tricked people by using the heteronym POLISH ; when I was young I if the local softball team known as the Polish Cits being sponsored by WINDEX .

This was a very well done theme and it did remind me of this puzzle from MARCH 2014 NYT

I agree about COSPLAY being both unknown and unnecessary.

Thanks guys

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Started right out with a Wite-Out moment: SET/PUT/LAY ASIDE. But that was the only one. Got the theme, and I agree with Steve that DECOMPOSE is an outlier, but only because it's a single word; the others are all two-words. I also wouldn't have liked KNT, if I'd noticed it. I didn't. Thanx, Pawel. Welcome back, Steve.

LEAGUE: In my ute I thought a league must be very small, because I thought that was how deep the submarine went. D'oh!

VAS: CSO to Boomer. Hope he's doin' better now. What a deferens a year makes.

OwenKL said...

The brick-workers did their jobs with pride,
Their crews would EASE IN at four astride.
Their pension plan
They thought was grand --
When they built a house, each would LAY A SIDE!

The dental school deserved its laurels.
Its graduates' clients had no quarrels.
It was so good
Because it stood
On basing all test grades on ORALS!

ADELE admitted to a yen
For buying blouses now and then
That were too great
For her dress size eight,
But she liked to be in a TOP, TEN!

{B+, A-, B.}

Yellowrocks said...

Funny theme, Pawel. Easier than yesterday's puzzle. HHS and TONI were all perps. Thanks for the explanation of BBS, Steve, and other interesting tidbits. I am glad you had a good trip with good weather.
In 2018 NJ has seen more inches of rain than in any other year since official record keeping began. My grass is still green.
I know KNT from chess articles. I don't have the patience to learn how to play chess, but it is interesting that knowing just a tad about something can give you a puzzle answer.
PK, loved your old fishermen joke.
We had fried plantains every day for lunch in Costa Rica. Meh. I haven't had any since then.
Most students really don't look over marked papers, unless they have to redo them. I often went over the answers with the class and let the students mark their own papers, adding explanations as needed. I would walk up and down the rows glancing at the papers to see who actually did their work.
My favorite bracelet which I have had since I was 20 has different colored scarabs.
I didn't remember COSplay and needed all three perps. I had an adult friend who was into anime costume conventions.
Google says, Cosplay-the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game, especially one from the Japanese genres of manga and anime.
Time to fight the Monday morning blues on Alan's first day back to work after the holiday vacation. He always feels quite ill, but usually does okay if I force him to go. It makes me feel mean to force the issue.

Oas said...

Thanks Pawel and Steve . Fun puzzle
D-O two whiteouts for me Put/LAY ASIDE and BRANCH off/OUT. Enjoyed the theme . Was waiting for “carpenters never die they just wear out their tools”
Totally unknown was PAISAN need to LIU I guess.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

A nice puzzle from Pawel. We seem to see him once or twice a year.

Solved it without searches and only 2 small wite-outs. I had setASIDE before LAYASIDE. Yentas helped me there. The other was I had Sir before KNT.
Polish language - Trying to cover all the bases, I considered Sorb and Wend before seeing (arguable) a mis-direction and going with EDIT which the perps liked.
LEAGUE -roughly 3 nautical miles. A nautical mile is roughly a statute mile, too. (I liked Steve's comment, too.)

New Years Day - first watch. I have mentioned before the Navy tradition of writing the log for the first watch of the New Year in verse. I was privileged to do so on Jan 1, 1961.
USNI has shared with us the log of the first watch of 2019 a modern destroyer:

The following is the entire USS McCampbell (DDG-85) middle watch deck log composed by Ens. Lauren Larar, for Jan. 1, 2019.

Steaming alone over waters no trouble,
McCAMPBELL is ready to fight on the double.
With lights burning brightly above on the mast,
All engines standard, 16 knots going fast.
We cut through the waters below deep and blue,
Our course is 200, degrees true.
Our position is in the sea to the east.
Our stomachs are full from the grand midrats feast.
1 alpha, 2 bravo are turning each shaft,
Alpha power units move rudders back aft.
Numbers 2 and 3 are the paralleled GTGs
Material Condition is Modified Z.
Computer assisted manual is the steering mode,
So we can maneuver per Rules of the Road.
CO’s in her chair, she’s up on the Bridge,
We’re still left of track, we’ll come right just a smidge.
TAO down in Combat, monitoring aircraft and chats,
And EOOW in Central, stay vigilant Hellcats!
The year that’s behind us was challenging, yes, indeed,
But Ready 85 will always succeed.
We’re mighty, we’re strong, we cannot be rattled
In the year that’s to come we’ll stay RELENTLESS IN BATTLE!

Couple notes:
Midrats are Midnight rations.
GTG's I assume are gas-turbine generators. She stated they are in parallel so I assume they were in a non-hostile area or the electric load would have been split, for security.

Have a great day.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Big, fat DNF. Walla Walla did me in this time. I thought 1a must be set ASIDE or put ASIDE, and that blocked YENTA and LOWISH. I had A PINCH, but thought it must be wrong. Also erased EjEcT for EGEST, RIvletS for RIPPLES and grow away for GO TO SEED (I like mine better).

I teach folks how to DECOMPOSE project deliverables when building something called a work breakdown structure, and use the "old songwriters never die" joke just to see who's listening. BTW PK, I remember the "old fishermen" one. I also conjured up "old truckers never die, they just get a new Peterbilt" from my ute.

I thought "white weasel" was going to be a favorite, but Comey wouldn't fit. Turns out my favorites were Polish language and Kitchen magnet.

Can any of you, my Corner family, fold a fitted sheet? DW and I have watched several Youtube videos and still can't do it.

Contrary to Southern California folklore, the city of Azusa wasn't named for "everything from A TO Z in the USA".

Thanks to Pawel for the fun, Thursday-appropriate puzzle. I was SO close. And thanks to Steve for the great review.

desper-otto said...

Jinx, the fitted sheet goes from bed to laundry and back to the bed. Folding is not required.

Old barbers never die -- they just have close shaves.

Guy said...

Fried plantains are a staple in many African countries as well as the Caribbean and Central America. They are the equivalent of potatoes in their diet. My favorite variation is mufungo. A Puerto Rican dish at my favorite south Florida restaurant includes garlic, pork cracklings(chicharron) and shrimp. Served in a wooden vessel and mmmm so good!

TTP said...

Thank you Pawel and thank you Steve. And, welcome back !

Wasn't that a fun puzzle ? Took longer than usual. It's all about the cluing. Today's was really good.

NW was the problem area.
A PINCH - Read quality v quantity. What a difference a letter makes.
Kept trying to work in set ASIDE.
Maureen who ? No idea.
Had the NTAS and saw SA before YE

Liked USDA for "Prime letters." Can we expect Select or Choice in the future ?

The "teachers" clue for MARK TIME put me in a mindset that made SENTENCE easier to get.

Liked lumberjacks and tree surgeons in the lower left section.

Didn't know that tidbit about BBLs. Thanks !

Anonymous said...

Steve, apples are often fried. Both battered and deep fried(fritters) and sauted with sugar and cinnamon. Have also had fried peaches, fried pineapple and fried bananas. I'm sure there are many others. They are fried in butter mostly instead of oil but fried nonetheless.

Anonymous said...

Nice puzzle. I really liked the theme. Seemed easy for a Thursday.

jfromvt said...

Fairly easy, but a fun puzzle. Thought DECOMPOSE was the best answer.

PK said...

Jinx: I hold up one hand and put one corner pocket over the hand. then I find the other short side pocket and drape it over the pocket on the hand. I follow that with a third pocket over those on the hand & finally add the fourth pocket. As you go, you have to make sure you aren't twisting any of the sides and your folds are falling in place. With pockets enjoined, I lay the partially folded sheet on the bed and smooth it into smaller folded squares. Don't worry about wrong side out in places. One corner with be right side over your hand, the next corner with be wrong side out. This won't be as smooth as an unfitted folded sheet, but it's just going in the linen closet and is as neat as it gets.

Batesville said...

Old crossworders never die they just fill in the box.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-What a fun way for this retired teacher to MARK TIME with Steve and Pawel
-My friend and president of our golf league Eddie Watt, had 16 saves for those ORIOLES
-Places in the TOP TEN and political office could/can be bought
-The SCARABS in the movie The Mummy creeped me out!
-The butcher at our store said PRIME beef is too expensive to sell
-Tomorrow we find out if we can EASE my mother-in-law INTO assisted living
-This left-brained guy loved diagramming and it did help me
-I saw a LOWISH price on a pickup yesterday. Reason? No 4WD
-DOWD is bipartisan as she “calls ‘em the way she sees ‘em”
-The Big Bang guys would tell you that a woman who looks like that would be a rarity at Comic-Con
-Hassling kids about missing homework is pain in the kazoo for teachers. I gave short assignments to be done in class or none at all.

Adele said...

Really loved this puzzle...I also put “set aside” first, but soon figured it out. I really love PK’s addition about old fisherman..good one! I love seeing my name in the puzzle... used to be “Fred Astaire’s first dance partner”. Haven’t seen that one in a while, but this one has made it pretty popular!
As for fitted sheets... I’m not going to waste too much time on that. I just do the best I can, sure in the knowledge that no one will be checking my linen closet!

Yellowrocks said...

HG, if only we could have skipped homework to be done at home. Our upwardly mobile, yuppie type parents insisted on lots of homework and the admin backed them 100% on everything. They ruled the roost. The most time consuming work for me to grade was was writing, like essays, creative writing, research papers, etc. My students did daily journaling, too. Their journals were not corrected, but I commented in every journal over a two week period. It was nice to dialog with the kids and it encouraged them to keep writing. One parent complained I never gave encouragement. My response to her child's journal had been very very positive and won the day for me for me with the principal.
PK, I successfully use your method for sheets fitted only at the four corners. Now my sheets have elastic all the way around. I never can fold them neatly. Adele, my thoughts exactly.
I took Alan in to work earlier. He was very angry which is unusual because he is an even tempered person. I haven't heard anything yet. Surviving this for a day or two sets the pattern for work being a taken for granted given and not an option. I can't wait.

AnonymousPVX said...

From yesterday....

Irish Miss....you are totally correct, since I got back from my Christmas trip I have seemingly “lost” a day....thanks for finding it!

Today....

Jinx...”white weasel”....Trump doesn’t fit either.

Desperate-Otto....only one sheet, no extras? I have 6 sets, rotated weekly, they last a long time.

Ahh..the crossword...a bit of good crunch in this...let me check...Thursday puzzle that features another no giveaway theme. If you’re going to theme a puzzle, this is how to do it...just like yesterday. Nice!

Markovers...PUTASIDE/LAYASIDE, LOWISE/LOWISH, COYEST/SHYEST/SLYEST, MIS/COS.

Irish Miss said...

Hi Everyone:

This was such a fun puzzle, I was sorry to finish it! My favorite was the Tree Surgeon~Branch Out, but they were all top-notch themers. My only w/o was the too hasty entry, NY Mets instead of the correct, singular-tense Oriole. I like the word, Scarab, for some unknown reason. Did anyone else find the Hustle=Motor odd?

Thanks, Pawel, for a super-duper solve and thanks, Steve, for a snazzy review and the learning moment about BBLs. Glad you had nice weather and limited need of a brolly! Welcome home.

YR, my New Year's resolution is to emulate your patience and fortitude.

Have a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Oh, I forgot to say thank you to Spitz for sharing Ens. Larar's log. So glad you explained midrats! Thanks!

Lucina said...

Thank you, Pawel Fludzinski, for a fun filled puzzle!

Hand up for SET before LAYASIDE. After that it was mostly a quick EASEIN. I really chuckled at the themes especially DECOMPOSE! GOTOSEED was good, too.

COS is completely out of my wheelhouse and I couldn't wait to see what the explanation would be. Thank you, Steve! My daughter and SIL are heavily into Comicon and attend whenever possible with or without costumes.

My first sighting of TONI Colette was in Little Miss Sunshine in which she plays the mother. I love that movie.

CSOs to Spitz at LEAGUE and AnonT at PAISAN.

I loved teaching SENTENCE diagramming; I believe it taught students to expand their minds and deepen their grasp of ideas.

Hand up for SIR before KNT and thanks again to Steve for telling us how BBLS came to be.

I fold fitted SHEETs by laying them out then flattening the corners to form a large rectangle; from there I can configure overlapping rectangles to fold it properly.

Have a splendid day, everyone! The faucet is still not repaired!

Lucina said...

Spitz:
That log is a beautiful piece of work! Are they all that well written? Thank you for sharing.

Lemonade714 said...

Toni Collette is another fabulous performer from Australia who starred in the very odd show The United States of Tara in which she portrayed a housewife suffering from DID the modern term for Multiple Personality Disorder. Here is a GLIMPSE .

Misty said...

Fun puzzle, Pawel, many thanks! A bit challenging, but I got the top and the middle and had trouble only in the south. Loved getting EDIT for Polish language and AROMA for Kitchen magnet instantly, without a moment's hesitation--made me laugh. Irish Miss, I got MOTOR for Hustle, but also still don't understand it. So what is KNT? I don't get that one either. But I loved seeing VIVIAN Vance in the puzzle--brought back happy memories of "I Love Lucy."

Hope Alan will be okay, Yellowrocks--sounds like a difficult day for both of you.

Nice write-up, Steve, and glad you had a safe and good trip.

Have a great day, everybody!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

PVX, thanks for making my post bipartisan. In that light, neither Nixon nor Clinton were right either. Can't add Carter to that list. He fits a lot of positive and negative adjectives, but he was one of the few pols in my lifetime that wasn't a weasel. May he continue to enjoy good health and perform good deeds in 2019.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Lemon, I always admired Collette in "Tara" but couldn't decide whether I liked the show. But it was like a crash on the Interstate between a Brinks truck and a semi full of Coors - I just couldn't stop looking at it.

Yellowrocks said...

Just as I was posting at 10:17, blog time (11:17 eastern time) Alan eloped from the workshop. I was called, a staff member drove around in her car looking for him and the police were called. When I dropped him off, I alerted the workshop that there was a problem. For a while Alan was working normally, but, apparently, still upset,he went to the restroom and then out the door to a luncheonette about half a mile away. A worker from a different special needs facility was having lunch there and, on observing him, thought there might be a problem and elicited from him where he worked. The workshop and I were called and Alan was picked up. Phew! He's safe! He is suspended from work for the rest of the day and tomorrow. I said no TV or going to the store Thurs. or Fri. It won't be a holiday. IM, thank you for your support. My patience and fortitude is slipping after 55 years.
Lucina, sorry your faucet is still unrepaired. It is so difficult not have water in the kitchen.
Motor as a verb from Merriam Webster,"to move or proceed at a vigorous steady pace motored down the field for a touchdown."

Michael said...

IM @ 11:20, and Spitzboov, too: there's another naval idiom around 'mid.'

Usually it's called 'shift work' in the civilian world (day shift, swing and night shifts, etc.), but the military uses the word "trick" for shifts: day trick, swing trick, and MID trick. Sometimes this just got abbreviated -- "Oh, he's working mids."

Lucina said...

YR:
Thank you. I just unloaded the dishwasher and washed all the dishes by hand! I'm so glad that's not a daily chore! The cold water is on and hot water in the rest of the house so I brought some from the tap in the tub to fill the sink. To rinse them I boiled water in the teakettle and poured it over them.

I'm sorry to hear about Alan, too. How is your search progressing for a facility for him? That has to be such a worry for you. I see my step-nephew who now lives with his sister and her husband and wonder what he would do without them. He is receiving SS assistance so that helps with the expenses.


desper-otto said...

Michael, I was in the navy -- granted, it was 50 years ago -- but I never heard of shifts or tricks. We had a day tour and a night tour. I do remember midrats aboard ship. I was a day-sleeper.

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Pawel Fludzinski, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Steve, for a fine review.

Steve: Liked you BBL definition. Always good to learn that stuff.

Puzzle was great. Really liked the theme.

Thank goodness for perps. I would not have gotten ORIOLE otherwise.

COSPLAY was unknown. Perps.

Finally got EDIT for 44A. Was trying to think of a Polish language (from Poland) word, since our constructor appears to be Polish.

I saw PLANTAIN while working at Amazon. Had no idea what it was. Looks like large bananas. And, since I do not like bananas, I figured I would not like plantain either.

Heading for Erie, PA, tonight. Visiting my sister, who is recovering from a stroke.

See you tomorrow, from Western PA.

Abejo

( )

Reg said...

On diagramming or parsing a sentence, I immediately thought of Georgie and Missy on "Young Sheldon" learning to write complete sentences and Georgie coaching his sister to "Put a verb in there, girl!"

Bill G said...

Every time I hear Azusa, I think of an old Jack Benny radio sketch. Mel Blanc supplied several characters' voices, including the railroad station announcer who called out, "Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cu... camonga!" Do you remember it?

I could never fold a fitted sheet. I have given up trying to learn how and just don't care any more.

The Cuban restaurant near here has fried plantains served with all the entrees.

I know I'm in the minority but, like Gary, I kinda liked diagramming sentences. Soon after I started teaching middle school, I noticed the English teachers had stopped teaching formal grammar. The 'new' philosophy was that kids learned grammar from reading good books. I don't think it worked very well considering how many adults don't know why "Would you like to go out to lunch with Barbara and I?" is incorrect. Disgramming sentences gave me a mental image of subjects/objects, prepositional phrases, etc.

I love Prime ribeye steaks from Costco.

Bill G said...

As a middle-school math teacher, I thought it was necessary to assign some homework most every night. The students would never have learned algebra without some practice. I never graded the homework; just noted whether the students had done it or not. Then I would take questions and go over the troublesome problems in class.

Pawel and Steve, thanks. I enjoyed and appreciated your efforts.

Ol' Man Keith said...

A delightful pzl from Mr. Fludzinski!
This was fun to do throughout, even in the chewier sectors. The joke fills kept me in smiles, and the occasional misdirections added to the fun.
My fave may have been the creator's play on his own mother tongue @44A, "Polish language."
I kinda missed the absence of "The Old Actor didn't retire, he ___" (MISSED HIS CUE).

WooHoo! Three days and counting! Three days in a row for the LA Times to be waiting in my driveway...
Pretty soon, I will have to stop remarking on it as an unusual thing.
~ OMK
____________
DR:
One diagonal, NW to SE.
Today's anagram seems rather anodyne. Mr. Fludzinski seems intent on celebrating the art of passing time with improvised graphics, both in his Xwd and in the public square, with his anagrammatic nod to a ...
"PLAZA DOODLE" -
Or am I missing the point? Is he perhaps pointing to an infamous canine-reptilian hybrid, the notorious ...
"LIZARD POODLE"?

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Pawel and Steve (glad you had good weather and safe travels - love the photo!)

I loved the theme today and smiled often. But I was officially a FIW with a big blot right in the centre. I entered Dozzy for "out of it", then corrected my spelling to Dozey, thus messing up ADELE and USDA. Sigh! EDIT filled in correctly but I did not understand how the Poles could speak that language. Oh, Polish the verb, d'uh!

This Canadian also had difficulty with "prime letters" (tricked into thinking of numbers), plus I did not know that your US Dept.of Agriculture was responsible for your Prime/ Choice/Select categories. Our equivalents would be Canada Prime/AAA/AA.
HHS was foreign to me also.

I had Avid before INTO (and noted it crossed ARDOR), and Eject before EGEST.
AVER today and not Avow. I debated between UMP and ref but the "fair" ball decided it quickly. Hand up for wanting Sir before the nose-wrinkling KNT.
I wanted Dis-play but had the O of ORALS, and the unknown COS filled the spot. (Perhaps we would have preferred a math clue to go with our CW friend SINE.)

Thanks Steve for explaining BBLS. I think somebody here linked about the blue barrels once in the past but I had forgotten.
I saw the CSO to Boomer with VAS (and I caught your Vas deferens, d'otto!).

I'm with YR re folding those fitted SHEETs. It was easier (using PK's method) before they but the elastic around the whole edge.

YR, sorry to hear about Alan. Hope things settle.
Lucina, hope you get your water problem solved. Makes us appreciate our first world comforts!

Enjoy the evening.

Big Easy said...

Most of this puzzle was a snap to EASE INto but the MOTOR and COS-play made me stare at my answer, thinking some of the crosses were incorrect. Never heard of COSplay or used the word MOTOR to describe 'hustle'. TONI & ADELE were unknowns filled by perps.

ERMINE- is a white STOAT, not weasel.
KNT- ugh! I agree with Steve.
D-O, we never fold sheets either; bed to washer to dryer to bed. 'Adele'- we have duplicates of the same patterns in unopened boxes. Why take them out; we could never get them back in.

HHS- other than the FDA, NIH, & CDC, a great sinkhole of money that produces very little but spends billions and billions. Nah, it's over a TRILLION.

MARK TIME- I never took books home from school ( grades 1-12) to do homework. I would do most of the assignments while everybody else was passing notes or gossiping. I called it 'busy work'. DW (a retired teacher) said my teachers probably hated me because I would tell them that there was no reason to do assignments on things that I already knew. If I could ace the tests without doing the homework, why bother with the busy work. As in why bother to diagram a SENTENCE if you already know the parts of speech. Useless.

With those comments I'll WIND DOWN & BUZZ OFF.

Lucina said...

Bill G:
I'm with you all the way and agree with your comments. Cal Thomas, with whose opinions I rarely agree, had a column today titled: A Worthy Resolution: Speak Proper English. He bewailed much of currently spoken English and that often mentioned here at the corner. I'm in complete agreement with him on that. If anyone is interested the column is likely available on line.

Haiku Harry said...

Santa's sleigh puller
Got a random Christmas card
Sent to: "Deer Jane DOE"

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Hand-up for that ink-blot at 1a!

That was a heck of a lot of fun (even if it did make for an easier Thursday) Pawel, thanks.

Welcome back to the States Steve and thanks for the expo. I'm w/ you on KNT but keep Slade; I'll take Croce for my OPERATOR musical reference.

WOs: Put->LAY, OnERATOR(?) because I had AN INCH (think Maxwell Smart's finger/thumb when he says, "missed it by that much"). AVow -> AVER.
ESPs: TONI, ERMINE, EERO
Fav: c/a for YENTA
Runners-up: TONI under PAISAN and Prime Letters(?!) made me think, "b, c, e, g,...?"

When you start work for an oil company, the first dumb-question you ask is "What is BBL?" Nailed it!

Anyone remember the children's book What the Witch Left? That's where I learned about Seven LEAGUE Boots (and what a LEAGUE was).

{A, B+, B}

Thanks Spitz for the Ens's 1/1 Log.

Lucina I'm sorry to hear you are still sans faucet.
YR - Sorry to hear about Alan's setback; there's a special place in Heaven for you.

When she teaches writing, DW MARKs papers with notes to bring up in the one-on-one sessions w/ her students.
Being right-brained, I enjoyed and excelled at diagraming a SENTENCE. I still speak wrong(ly). //sorry BillG & Lucina :-)

How I fold fitted sheets (when the cleaning-lady's not around).

OMK - LOL DR!

Old programmers never die. They just can’t C as well.

Cheers, -T

Spitzboov said...

Lucina @ 1129 said. "That log is a beautiful piece of work! Are they all that well written?"

I thought is was well written as it captured the essence of information required for the log. She implied they were somewhere west of the Int. Date Line. I cant't speak to if they are all well written; I've only read a few over the years including my own. They have to be good enough to pass muster with the captain, and for the most part are a public document.
Even though many US Navy traditions came from the British Navy, the Brits do not write their New Year's logs in verse.

Here are 3 more such logs from the 60's:. The ship's names are at the end of each entry:
At 8kts, steaming with Hanson in stride,
Richmond K. Turner serves country with pride.
Dangerous waters are these on the coast,
Rimmed with Viet Cong who are hardly our host.
Nothing must daunt on this New Year’s night,
This year, as last, we must concentrate might,
Fighting aggression, and guarding our home,
Wary, lest Commies try farther to roam.

This ship is darkened as Hanson is too,
Hiding the fact we’re on 020 True.
SOPA and Officer in Tactical Command –
Captain of Turner is much in demand.
His is the judgement, on which we rely,
He calls the shots, and TE 77.0.1.2 does comply.
COMSEVENTH Fleet has positioned us here
Near North Vietnam, where our purpose is clear.
USS Richmond K. Turner (DLG 20)
1 January, 1967

…or moored pierside closer to home…

I’d like to say ‘Happy New Year to you’
And tell you our ship is moored starboard side to
Berths Mike and November, and here’s the location:
San Diego, California at North Island Air Station.
As an added precaution again any trouble,
Our mooring lines are, not singled, but doubled.

Our boilers are cold at the start of this year
So we must receive various services from the pier.
To list all ships present indeed would be hard
But Oklahoma City (CLG 5) and Bon Homme Richard (CVA 31)
Are two of the ships, one forward, on aft
The others are various yard and district craft.

SOPA Admin said tonight, and I quote,
‘COMFIRSTFLT is senior officer present afloat.’
He’s presently embarked in Oklahoma City,
But being aboard tonight, what a pity.
The night has been long, but would you believe,
That this watch is over – I stand relieved
USS Constellation (CVA 64)
1 January, 1968

Spitzboov said...


Occasionally, the tradition even allowed a venue for personal lamentations as well as good wishes extended to all:

As OOD I greet with scorn
This wet and dreary New Year’s morn!
It seems to me as I shiver with cold
That the Year is nearly 100 days old

The New Year is greeted with much good cheer
As MAUNA KEA is moored to number 2 pier
At berth number 1 port side to is this craft
Standard lines are doubled with wires fore and aft

The PARICUTIN; the FIREDRAKE, and the MT KATMAI
Along with yard craft, are moored nearby
At NAD Concord our home port we wait
A long sea detail to the Golden Gate

Boiler #2 and generator #1 are in use this hour
To give to the ship the much needed power
The pier provides services as they usually do
The brow, fresh water, and telephone too

The pertinent facts; I have told them all
While other this night have had a ball
0345 has come and I must not glance back
I look ahead to a siege in the sack

I must end this verse, I cannot go on
For very soon will break the dawn
To all the world, and to those near and dear
I wish a peaceful, prosperous, and HAPPY NEW YEAR
USS Mauna Kea (AE 22)
1 January, 1963

Picard said...

We are just back from attending the Rose Parade in Los Angeles! Lots of videos and photos to share if there is interest! Has anyone else here attended the Rose Parade in person?

Before the parade, we went to the King Tut exhibit at the California Science Center.

Here are my King Tut exhibit photos!

Can you see the SCARABs in the photos? There are quite a few!

I very much enjoyed this theme! And some fun misdirection with the POLISH LANGUAGE clue!

Steve thanks for the illustrated review and interesting learning moment about BBLS!

Finding a place to stay in Los Angeles was not easy. We ended up finding a hostel near Union Station in Little Tokyo.

Across the street from the hostel was this COSPLAY shop!

I also solved the puzzles from the past couple of days. I was honored to see Jean-LUC Picard honored on New Year's Day. I see HUSKer Gary got in there, too! Yesterday's FISH HEADS puzzle was a bit of a challenge for me, but it was fun!

Wilbur Charles said...

I was thinking of Arthur's guy, Sir KAY

EJECT<EGEST was my write over

HG, I'd think those 69ers (Balt.) would want to forget that WS
YR, that's be because they want the kids kept busy. Btw, I thought of you when I saw Diagramming SENTENCES. I'm with Steve, Ugh!

Bill, I remember it but never knew it was Mel Blanc. Got a laugh every time

WC

OwenKL said...

Boomer et al: Bowling alley ad.

Old actors may retire, but they do it by stages.

Mr. Fludzinski lives (or used to) in Santa Fe, but I've never been able to track him down. I suspect I did see his car in traffic once -- the license plate, IIRC was XWORDS. Unfortunately we were in opposite turning lanes, otherwise I would have followed to introduce myself to him.

"Prime letters" my first thought was FERMAT.

Headline: Jan. 4, 2119: China Lands On Far Side Of Ultima Thule, Finds Coal Deposits And 2 Mile Long Carrot!

Bill G said...

Pickard, Barbara and I are of like minds. We would enjoy the Rose Parade but never wanted to battle traffic, parking issues and the crowds. However, twice we drove to Pasadena the day after the parade to wander by the parked floats.

Mel Blanc; he was also the voice of Jack Benny's old Maxwell automobile and the voice of Mexican Sy in the well-known Si-Sy routine.

Lucina said...

Spitz:
Those are some impressive verses! I wonder if all sea persons are so poetic.

AnonT:
That video is close to how I fold a fitted sheet. I'm too OCD to just bunch it up as I've seen others do. It makes me want to pull my hair out.

Saturday the plumber will be here! My new refrigerator will also arrive that day. Who knows, they may collide with each other.

Anonymous T said...

Picard - welcome back! I saw the Tut exhibit in Houston. Your picture of COSplay took me back a second - "is that an adult shop?; Picard has a different idea of COS..." :-)

Spitz - I feel ASEA ('cuz McHale's Navy is the closest I got to the Navy. Army training, Sir!)

OKL - re: bowling.... Cheeky.

Lucina - Does it the new icebox have an ice-maker? Though my Pop, the Handyman, hates this, when the two (plumber & fridge) collide, say "while you're here..." and get the ice-maker hooked up too.

BillG: Si.

Cheers, -T

Michael said...

D-O @ 1:38: "Michael, I was in the navy -- granted, it was 50 years ago -- but I never heard of shifts or tricks. We had a day tour and a night tour. I do remember midrats aboard ship. I was a day-sleeper."

It must depend on your rate ... people that work communications or other 24-hour jobs that had needs for constant manning taught it to me ... alas, also 55 years ago. I first heard the phrase "mid trick" from a CT2, but it was used in all branches. Someone was excused to the first sergeant because he was on "trick work."

Anonymous T said...

Oops an extra article (it) with the object (or whatever - the icebox) not parenthesized...
See if you can Diagram the SENTENCE the way I mangled it :-)
Anyway Lucina, if the plumber and appliance overlap, annoy the plumber and get both squared-away.

Spitz - I meant to say "and thanks." '68 made me feel 'there' (asea; and not in the lost sense) and last line was a laugh.

C, -T

Bill G said...

AnonT, thanks. I enjoyed that all over again. It's not PC though. I'm guessing it wouldn't go over with the sponsors today. Sad... This PC sensitivity is a good thing but it is often overdone IMO.

Lucina: I found Cal Thomas's "A Worthy Resolution: Speak Proper English" online. Good stuff. I can see why you (and I) wouldn't often agree with him when I saw his aside about Bernie Sanders voters.

Michael said...

Spitz @ 7:23: "... At NAD Concord our home port we wait...." as ammo ships.

I thought it was NAVWEASTA Concord. (But in any event Concord was declared surplus to the Navy, and the locals are lining up to see how they're going to slice up all that land. Think in the low billions.)

Anonymous T said...

Bill G - I just found/read it.
Meh - IMHO, Cal Thomas comes off as a grumpy(-off-his-meds?) William Safire.*
Like, you know?

Right!
So...

How two friends interact is not the demise of language. An outsider will not understand my family talking amongst ourselves. I read the lament of vowels the other day... What-ev-er!**

Proper English will morph and survive(ish) in written prose.

Now, his (Cal's, I digressed) criticism of the press and, especially, the politicians, being language-lazy... There's some merit in thar that. :-)

Cheers, -T
*I loved Safire's On Language columns; he always tossed in A PINCH of etymology
**Actually, a good article - I saved it for DW