"Make Certain"
17. Single-digit temps, for most: COLD SPELL. Spell check - Worth the read.
24. 1984 Prince hit: PURPLE RAIN. Rain check
36. Body of water between Connecticut and southeastern New York: LONG ISLAND SOUND. Soundcheck. SRV Soundcheck
52. At close range: POINT BLANK. Blank check
61. Grandmaster's last word ... and what the last word in 17-, 24-, 36- and 52-Across can be: CHECKMATE. An indisputable victory.
Across:
1. Half-__: coffee with a little less kick: CAF.
4. Chocolate-making bean: CACAO.
9. Polynesian people: MAORI.
14. Darth, as a youth: ANI. Star Wars stuff. The Wookieepedia at Fandom.
15. Suspect's excuse: ALIBI.
16. Muslim religion: ISLAM.
19. Exams for would-be attys.: LSATS.
20. Try to whack: HIT AT.
21. Jazz great Blake: EUBIE.
23. Cabinet dept. concerned with nukes: ENER.
29. Picket line participant: STRIKER. Or a forward in soccer.
31. Fierce public protest: OUTCRY.
32. Jot down: NOTATE.
35. Napkin's place: LAP. Napkin Etiquette
42. Skater Midori: ITO. Master of the triple jump.
43. Muscle injury: STRAIN.
44. Small river: STREAM.
48. Tribulations: ORDEALS.
55. Bushels: A LOT. Gobs.
56. Ponzi scheme, e.g.: FRAUD.
57. Ann __, Michigan: ARBOR. The town plat was filed under the name of Annarbour. Home of the University of Michigan.
58. California/Nevada resort lake: TAHOE.
64. Milky gemstones: OPALS.
65. Breed that's Welsh for "dwarf dog": CORGI. The Cardigan and the Pembroke
66. Fresh: NEW.
67. George of "Cheers": WENDT. Norm !
68. Trap during a winter storm, say: ICE IN.
69. Dozens of mos.: YRS.
Down:
1. Secret supplies: CACHES.
2. Bless using oil: ANOINT.
3. Color-altering camera lens accessory: FILTER.
4. Actors in a show: CAST.
5. European mountain: ALP.
6. Paris corp.: CIE. Company abbr = co. Compagnie abbr = cie.
7. More adept: ABLER.
8. Prepare to shine in a bodybuilding contest?: OIL UP.
9. Cultural setting: MILIEU.
10. State with conviction: ASSERT.
11. Suffix with pay: OLA.
12. Templeton in "Charlotte's Web," e.g.: RAT.
13. Cyberchats, briefly: IMs. Instant Messages. Also, IM is the abbreviation sometimes used here at the corner for our dear and caring Irish Miss, so CSO !
18. Adventurous: DARING.
22. Rain-__ bubble gum: BLO. Gobs of bubble gum balls. The flavor matches the color.
24. Animals at home: PETS.
25. Eurasian border mountains: URALS.
26. Rights advocacy org.: ACLU.
27. "Reading Lolita in Tehran" setting: IRAN. "Heather Hewett of the Christian Science Monitor notes the book's "passionate defense of literature" that will "resonate with anyone who loves books, or who wants (or needs) to be reminded why books matter." - Wikipedia
28. Big Apple law gp.: NYPD.
30. Japanese carp: KOI.
33. Skin pic: TAT.
34. Noted 2001 bankruptcy: ENRON. Financially devastating to so many.
36. Talk like Daffy: LISP.
37. Director Preminger: OTTO. Cruciverbalist Desper- ______
38. More formal "Me neither!": NOR I.
39. Lacking light: DARK.
40. Bully in the "Toy Story" films: SID. Phillips. The antagonist.
41. Like challenging push-ups: ONE ARM. Strength and balance are required.
45. Surround: ENFOLD.
46. Taking a break: AT REST.
47. Management deg.: MBA.
49. Capital on the Hudson: ALBANY. "Albany is known for its rich history, commerce, culture, architecture, and institutions of higher education."
50. Thief during a riot: LOOTER.
51. Scatters, as seeds: STREWS.
53. Soap star Susan: LUCCI.
54. For a specific purpose, as a committee: AD HOC.
57. Comparable (to): AKIN.
58. Aid for a disabled auto: TOW.
59. Big lug: APE.
60. Solo of "Star Wars": HAN. More Star Wars.
62. Before, in verse: ERE.
63. Cinematic FX: CGI. Computer Generated Imagery. As seen in Star Wars etc.
Another sweet treat for us. Here's a picture from JD's 75th birthday celebration.
48 comments:
Greetings!
Thanks to Gary and TTP!
Still raining. Did not know RAT and BLO right off hand. Otherwise easy.
Noticed that C.C. had another puzzle at the upuzzles site.
Have a great day!
If any of you are interested in how to solve cryptic crossword clues, here's a completely unhelpful article from the New Yorker. The current New Yorker crossword is a normal American style (about NYT Friday level), but a few years ago they ran cryptics.
A whale in LONG ISLAND SOUND
May be to Niagara Falls bound.
It's an ORDEAL to spawn
UP STREAM from the pond,
And STRAIN to jump without falling down!
(With apologies to Benny F. and Fake News.)
I fain to ASSERT in this MILIEU
That unconvoluted words will not do!
We attempt to ENFOLD
In our pedantic mold
The extremes that English can STREW!
{B+, A.}
FIR, but erased CoCoa for CACAO and As IN for AKIN. DNK ANI, CIE, BLO, SID or RAT.
Thanks for another fun puzzle, Gary, and for the fine tour, TTP.
FLN - WC, I guess the only honest things left in sports are professional wrestling, harness racing, and the New England Patriots.
Moving from Wildwood to Silver Springs today. Should be able to drive it in about 45 minutes. It will take us about an hour to get ready to leave and another hour to set up once we get there.
Is today's puzzler the same Gary Larson, the cartoonist of the Far Side?
RIP Carol Channing.
Good morning!
Theme? Nope. Reveal? Missed it by t-h-a-t much; it was already filled in. Tried ATTEST before ASSERT and LUCHI before LUCKI before LUCCI. (Saved by the CORGI.) I guess those "nukes" must refer to nuclear power plants. ENER isn't in charge of ICBMs, is it? Thanx, Gary and TTP (enjoyed the pomme).
Anon, no he isn't.
Hi Y'all! Fastest fun puzzle in awhile altho still took some thought. Thanks, Gary!
Read the reveal but didn't understand what was needed until TTP artfully explained. Thanks, TTP! I tried both to mate the words and check them, not add check at the end.
DNK: CIE, CGI. Never heard of the book, "Reading Lolita in Tehran". Do people read there at all?
Push-ups: ONE ARM? This picture almost made me cry. Takes me two ARMs just to push-up out of a chair. In HS we were taught that girls had to do push-ups from the knees not the toes. One of those things they thought would STRAIN girls' reproductive organs, coach said.
Good expo, TTP. Quick solve today. I forgot to look for the theme.
One arm push up? Yes, it does look painful, PK. Even when I was young I found push-ups difficult.
Jinx, I did a double take on driving from Wildwood to Silver Springs in 45 minutes. They are almost a thousand miles and more than 15 hours apart. Then I remembered you are in FL. We have enjoyed vacationing in Wildwood, NJ for more than 25 years. Enjoy your trip.
Happy belated birthday, JD. Lovely family pic.
From Index Mundi, "Iran - Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24) in Iran was 97.68 as of 2014. Its highest value over the past 38 years was 97.68 in 2014, while its lowest value was 42.33 in 1976." The times they are achangin'"
Good Morning:
This is my idea of a top notch puzzle: a clever theme, totally hidden, with an Aha reveal. Add to those aspects, a bit of a crunch, some fun cluing and fresh fill and you have a pretty satisfying solve. I think we've had (Rainbow) Blo before, but I needed perps for it and also for Sid and Rat, as clued. My Cocoa morphed into Cacao and my Strait became a Stream. Long Island Sound was a gimme as I used to live on the Connecticut side. Nice CSO to the New York State contingent with Albany.
Thanks, Gary, for a very enjoyable Tuesday offering and thanks, TTP, for your always educational and informational reviews. Thanks, also, for the CSO and kind words. I enjoyed learning about Corgis as my only knowledge of them was Queen Elizabeth's affinity for the breed. It's odd that the Pembroke has no tail. BTW, that was a neat local map of my area.
JD, great picture of the fabulous foursome and Grandma!
We had a few days of radiant sunshine but right now the skies are grey and gloomy.
Have a great day.
I just noticed that I spelled gray the English way. Maybe CanadianEh's influence? 😉
D-O@6:55 - Yes ENER is in charge of nuclear weapons. Don't feel bad, our ex-Gov didn't know either :-) Play later, -T
Musings
-Eye loft spiel Czech!
-Judge Judy – Victim - “He took my purse where I had all my credit cards”. Perp’s ALIBI – “I didn’t take your purse and there were no credit cards in it” Oops!
-Muscle STRAIN? No pain, no gain is an ignorant mantra!
-Even Earls at Downton can be misled!
-My guilty pleasure of NCIS changes the CAST at will
-I got an IM at 6 a.m. this morning to sub on March 1. Took it!
-ACLU’s is famous for defending speech we hate
-California Fire LOOTERS have to be at the bottom of the food chain
-Judy, nobody in the handsome picture looks close to being 75!
Good morning everyone.
Thanks TTP for explaining the theme schtick. I saw the BLANK CHECK connection but didn't "see" the others. D'uh.
Thanks for the ALBANY on the Hudson map showing IM's and my (younger years) MILIEU. If you expand the map one pulse you can see RPI in the NE part of the map. Cohoes is there too, but then he's from Amsterdam, I think. So much for digressing.
Liked seeing the across spanner LONG ISLAND SOUND. (Tricky navigation connection to NY Harbor through the dangerous Hell Gate tidal strait.)
STREW - German streuen, L. German streien, Dutch strooien. Seem to stem from the same root word(s) that gave us "straw".
Spitz, why is RPI in Troy, and not in Rensselaer? And how long did it take you to learn to spell Rensselaer?
Good Morning.
Thanks, Gary. I was on your wavelength today. I even found the theme before TTP explained it. Big day for me. Nice beginning for a busy day to come.
My fave today was, of course, CORGI--actual Welsh name is Corgwyn. I had two, both Pembrokes, they often have no tails so they wiggle their butts when they are excited. Quite cute. I thought the first one was quite a gal until I met the second one. She had quite a personality: funny and clever. I still miss them. After a combined 25 years, I have retired from being a dog mom.
Thanks for the tour, TTP. As always, you do a wonderful job for us. Merci beaucoup!
Another damp, dreary day. My bones tell me there is probably snow on the horizon. I don't need a weather person. I'll have to make my own sunshine today. Consider it done! ;-) I wish you the same.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Gary Larson, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, TTP, for a fine review.
This puzzle seemed like a Monday. Pretty easy. Not complaining, at all.
Had all the theme answers before I got to CHECK MATE. Figured them out.
Got IRAN for 27D. Many years ago our book club read "Reading Lolita in Tehran." It is non-fiction and deals with Iran after the revolution. The author was not happy. As I recall the book was a little tough to read. Lots of non-fiction books are like that, I have found. Anyhow.
WENDT was easy. Liked the Normisms link from TTP. Very funny.
OTTO was easy for 37D. Our old dog, a German Shepherd, was named OTTO. We still get mail for Otto in Pennsylvania. Long story.
Tried NOT I before NOR I became obvious.
Volunteering at the Elgin Community College Book Store this afternoon. Our Kiwanis Club does that twice a year. The students check their backpacks in with us.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Well,,,,
I will endeavor to respond to this theme...
After the Checkmate, there was an afterplay...
And, The final word(s)
D-O @ 0951 - - RPI is named after the person who founded it in 1826, Stephen van Rensselaer III. He was a scion of the earliest Dutch patroons. His ancestors held a manor 24 X 48 miles which included Albany, Rensselaer and the surrounding area.
I probably learned to spell Rensselaer on the day I filled out my application. (Didn't want any screw-ups in the process.)
To add on to Spitz's post: RPI at Troy was established in 1824 by von Rensselaer and Eaton and named after one of the founders.
The Van Rensselaer family, who were the feudal landholders of the entire future Rensselaer County built a residence in the future city of Rensselaer, named Green Bush at the time. In 1897, Greenbush was chartered as a city, and its name was changed to Rensselaer.
So RPI predates the city's name.
I think Alan is coming home tomorrow, but as with most hospital discharges, it is up in the air until the last moment.
I enjoyed yesterday's puzzle and comments. It reminded me that the guys at our high school had mixed ancestry. They had Roman hands and Russian fingers.
Quick and easy today, thank you, Gary Larson! And thank you, TTP. I didn't CHECK for the theme so appreciate your explanation of it.
I'm not a fan of Prince but PURPLE RAIN is often referenced in many contexts.
OLA in last week's puzzle was hello in Portuguese.
Charlotte's Web was a favorite in fourth grade so Templeton the RAT was easy. In the movie Paul Lynde gave him a voice
Nice to see both ALP and URALS.
Et CIE is printed on many perfume and cologne bottles.
JD:
I'm sure that your grandchildren went all out to celebrate your birthday. That is a lovely picture.
Have a fabulous day, everyone! RAIN expected here!
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Gary and TTP.
I encountered a little crunchiness today but persevered and got the theme. (I do recognize that Americans have BLANK CHECKs but Canadians have Cheques!)
I saw the CSOs to D'otto, IM and our ALBANY contingent.
Hand up for Not I before NOR I, and for thinking of Queen Elizabeth II with CORGI.
LUCCI required perps.
I had forgotten George's last name and fought the DT ending.
At first I wanted Scads for 55A Bushels, but it was A LOT today.
I had ICE IN crossing As IN before AKIN was forced on me by CHECK. I rather liked the former.
We have had single-digit temps here (with a minus in front of the single digit and a C for Celsius after it!). That is a COLD SPELL for more than most of us, (but not single digit temps in F). But the results can be beautiful. (You can even see your American Falls at photo 19.)
IcyWonderlandAtHorseshoeFalls
LOL, Irish Miss@9:13 re gray/grey. Watch out that you don't start adding U's!
Great photo JD.
Glad Alan will be home soon, YR.
Wishing you all a great day.
Easy puzzle with great fun. Thanks Gary. Perps filled in ALOT but I needed TTP to explain it. Thanks!
Owen, loved them both!
Fun Tuesday puzzle, Gary--many thanks! Moved through this one pretty smoothly with just a few erasures. Like Abejo and CanadianEh, I put NOT I which gave me that strange SST start for the 44 across. It wasn't until I saw STTEAM that I realized it was STREAM. My other initial goof-up was putting CHESS MATE--hey, I don't play chess, but figured they might have a 'Grandmaster,' whatever that is. It wasn't until I tried it with all the theme words and it didn't work that I realized it had to be CHECK MATE. Yay! Solved the whole puzzle for me at the end. Nice write-up, TTP, and sweet picture of JD and those little ones, C.C.
I lived in Ann Arbor for eleven years while teaching at the University of Michigan. It was nice to be able to walk to work every day. When I came to Irvine and lived in University Housing, I was again able to walk to work. Now I walk up and down the hall twenty times with my dog Dusty twice a day, trying to stay in shape.
Funny joke at the end, Yellowrocks. And hope things continue to go better with Alan.
I'll be teaching my first class at the Senior Center tomorrow--on James Joyce's "The Dead." So I may not be able to check in here until later in the day, if at all. Hope it goes okay.
Have a great day, everybody.
JD, you and the grands do indeed look grand. They are obviously keeping you young.
The most famous ONE-ARMED PUSH-UP for me, but this young lady's form was imprrsssive.
Lots of nice stuff including the CSO to our upstate NY contingent. Where in Connecticut were you when you were near the Sound?
This Gary Larson is a professional comedian, not a cartoonist. perhaps he will stop by and introduce himself one day.
Thank you Tom and Gary.
This puzzle went fairly quickly, just had to wait for 9A to get 12D.
So no markovers today.
From yesterday, and to MICHAEL...
I’ve felt for a long time that the #1 and #2 seeds getting the week off is a huge advantage....especially if they also rested their regulars in the last game of the regular season....and having the home field advantage when they finally play is big as well...if they had to play the first week, even against the #7 and #8 seeds at least they’d still have to play. It might not be a great game but folks would show and again, they’d still have to play.
Lemony @ 12:23 ~ We lived in Greenwich for two years and in Stamford for eight years. We had a condo right on the Sound with an adjacent marina. My husband was an avid fisherman and the Sound was his favorite "fishing hole," especially when the Blues were running. He was a catch and lease fisherman all his life.
YR: We had some of those foreigners in our HS too -- with the Russian hands & Roman fingers. Blew my mind a few months ago when I realized my five darling teenaged grandsons are at that age to "join the foreign legion". Surely my guys wouldn't be uncouth.
Lemony: I finally found out where my niece & family have been living in Thailand -- Chaing Rai. I can't find where you said you were. Is that anywhere near?
My house is being bombarded with bits of ice falling off the trees. Almost like a hail storm. We've had no wind since the heavy wet snow storm several days ago and the winter wonderland scene continued until noon today. I had planned to venture out, but don't like the idea of my vehicle getting little dents from the ice chunks. Still cloudy and gloomy but warming up above freezing. Maybe manana.
Fun puzzle, although I did not rip through it like many of you. Since I don't remember names I almost ended up with Wenft because I chose engulf instead of enfold. Luckily graud looked VERY strange and I knew Tahoe was oe, not ue...write overs and done.Definitely rusty!
I read Grandmother's last word instead of Grandmaster's last word and kept skipping it . Guessing I need larger print. heh,heh.
The cancellation of AMC was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was so addicted to that silly soap opera. I taped it every day, and was not happy when it went from a half hour to an hour... but I continued to watch.I was sad when David Canary passed away a few years ago. He played twin brothers.
Fun stuff TTP.
You are too kind Husker G. The boys get a kick out of balloons, candles and watching the opening of presents... before getting back into Fortnight.
An easy but engaging pzl today from Mr. Larson - the kind that keeps one on one's toes, with no fear of losing balance.
Misty ~
Good luck tomorrow with your class on The Dead. Break a leg!
It is a wonderful story (which I came to after seeing the stage adaptation), and I'm sure you will do it justice.
~ OMK
____________
DR: We have one diagonal today, on the mirror side (NE to SW).
The anagram appears to promote a Mexican celebration at which Señor OwenKL must be the invitado de honor.
I mean, of course...
a "POEM FIESTA"!
Thank you, Ol'Man Keith, for the kind good wishes. So, where does the expression "break a leg" come from? I've always wondered about that. I'll try to both do a good job and keep my leg safe, in any case.
I'm surprised no one has commented on my apologia on the first poem. You do know who Benny F. is, I guess?
I liked this puzzle.
Misty ~
There's no consensus on the origin of the phrase. The corniest one I've heard is that it means to "Make your entrance."
The side curtains on a proscenium stage are known as "legs." Backstage personnel stay behind the legs; ergo, to cross beyond a leg is to enter onto the stage proper.
But I'm sure the roots of the expression are in superstition. Theater folk are--or used to be--highly superstitious. And one of the worst things you can do to such people is to wish them good luck.
It just jinxes them.
To counter this, you must curse them or wish that something awful should afflict them. It has become standardized in "Break a leg."
(Germans up the ante and say "Hals- und Beinbruch!" I like the Italian, "In bocca al lupo!" The French are the most succinct with "Merde!")
~ OMK
Owen, I don't know who Benny F. is, unless he's Benny the Beluga. But then there's no "F" in Beluga!!
Yes, Misty, break a leg. As Keith said, I always surmised that wishing a performer well would jinx him (her) so we should wish him ill, break a leg. I am sure you will slay them. Wish I could be there.
Just WHO is "Benny F"?
Google says he's @bigbennyboy1. Is that who you mean?
~ OMK
Hand up a speedy solve with a fun theme!
TTP thanks for the SPELL CHECK poem. SPELL CHECK takes small mistakes and turns them into utterly incomprehensible new meanings. Please turn yours off here and we will all be happier!
CC and JD thanks for the photo and Happy Birthday, JD!
Unknowns included: WENDT, LUCCI, CIE, SID
I did know ITO and OTTO.
Here PRINCE was honored in our 2016 Solstice Parade including PURPLE RAIN
My musician friend Emiliano Campobello was PRINCE and the blonde lady in black dancing with him is my friend and sometimes co-worker Tiff.
We are having RAIN here in the mud flow disaster area and people in that area are packed and ready to go. Our planners in this desert climate don't deal well with this. Plenty of local flooding, but no disasters so far.
Here are childhood photos of our family at the beach at LONG ISLAND SOUND
I have photos of ALBANY, TAHOE and KOI. Another time, perhaps.
From yesterday
JD and Lucina glad that my Hearst Castle POOLS photos brought back happy memories. Interesting learning moment, JD, that there used to be one tour. Yes, it is hard to decide among the many choices now.
Glad you got to see the big POOL when it was filled with water. I had seen it with water back in the 1980s. I think it is repaired now. It was a huge project.
I think they let people pay some huge fee once in awhile to have a group swim in one of the POOLS. Maybe $1,000 or more. Kind of an expensive POOL party!
AnonT glad that you also enjoyed the simple functionality of the Palm PDA world!
Hi All!
Thanks Gary for another tidy Tuesday puzzle requiring just bit of brain-STRAIN. Thanks TTP for the expo (SRV later) and the 'Candidate for a Pullet Surprise' poem; good stuff, that.
WO: Spring b/f STREAM.
ESPs: MAORI, OTTO, LUCCI
Fav: STRIKER but not as clued :-) [1:14]
Runner-up: FRAUD xing MBA so close to ENRON... DARK, eh?
{A, A}
Wonderful photo JD; thanks for sharing! Thanks for sharing the Falls, C, Eh!
I've always understood "Break a leg" as wishing good luck by bad.
OKL - Inquiring minds... Benny F who?
OMK - LOL DR today.
My Bro (CEO & drummer one) was in the Army stationed in Belgium. While at a little dive-music bar, six guys walked in, talked to the bartender, and then took the stage. Prince played for about 20 people in the joint for about an hour. Bro said he (Prince) could really shred the guitar and the music they played sounded nothing like you hear on his (Prince's) albums.
Cheers, -T
Is Benny F Benjamin Franklin? or is that what they call him in Hamilton?
OMK, until you gave the German, I thought you were running thru a song from The Producers
Youtube video It's Bad Luck to Say Good Luck on Opening Night
Wikipedia says that besides "breaking" the leg line, which meant the actor could be seen by the audience and thus must be paid, "break a leg" was also an archaic expression for a curtsy, which an actress would do to accept applause.
It's been raining here almost all day. I will enjoy a mini-vacation while listening to the rain on the skylights.
I just finished watching an old WKRP. It was the one where Johnny's reflexes keep getting faster while undergoing a test where he keeps ingesting alcohol. Also, Herb (and Les and Bailey) get thrown in jail. Herb was wearing a carp costume and he squares off with the WPIG mascot.
WKRP was one of the best sitcoms ever.
Prince (and others) may be well known for being able to 'shred' a guitar, but Chet Atkins could PLAY one and make all kinds of great music that I always enjoyed.
A new musical
Features Truman's wife and dog,
Called CORGI and Bess.
I misspelled CORGI(K) .I knew Ms Lucci although I haven't watched Soaps since General Hospital in the mid-80s .
Yellowrocks has inspired me to do more reading. I'd read the sequel and I wanted to read The Lincoln Lawyer . And...
Yesterday's word HYPE appeared. I recall a remark that I couldn't comprehend and now do . HYPE in street language is a name for someone addicted to hypodermic needles. eg a HYPE.
Nice haiku Harry. BTW I'm used to not"getting" Owen's allusions
WC
Thank you, Ol'Man Keith and others, on the very interesting information on "break a leg." I'll let you all know how it went tomorrow, maybe, or the next day for sure. We are getting predictions for horrendous rain storms tomorrow night until Thursday morning, so let's hope we don't miss checking in with our wonderful blog friends.
Haikus confuse me
Too often they make no sense
Hand me the pliers
Here are the Pliers
Essence returns with Hammer
Repair our Haiku
Says to self, "-T that Haiku was awful" Responds to self, "Hey, it's the best I got."
WC - Hype as in hyperbole. But you already knew that...
Bill G. Yes, I know WKRP's 'Fish Story' well. 'Ding...' "And they're off!"; "Cop's got a lid, I wanna lid." "I think I'm drunk offcifer, I just saw a giant pig painting the lobby."
Season 1 episode 20(?) [nope, just looked episode 21]. They don't (probably can't) make shows like that anymore (see: Barney Miller, All in the Family, et.al.).
BillO - thanks for The Producers' clip. Great show!
Good luck, er, Break a Leg, Misty. Hope the rains won't keep you away.
Cheers, -T
Benny F. is indeed Benjamin Franklin, and I'm amazed that none of you were aware of this article he had printed in an English newspaper. The original article is much longer, and what quotes I could find on the Net were too short, so here is my own abridgement:
"... And yet all this is as certainly true as the Account, said to be from Quebec, in the Papers of last Week, that the Inhabitants of Canada are making Preparations for a Cod and Whale Fishery this Summer in the Upper Lakes. Ignorant People may object that the Upper Lakes are fresh, and that Cod and Whale are Salt-water Fish: But let them know, Sir, that Cod, like other Fish, when attacked by their Enemies, fly into any Water where they think they can be safest; that Whales, when they have a Mind to eat Cod, pursue them wherever they fly; and that the grand Leap of the Whale in that Chase up the Fall of Niagara is esteemed by all who have seen it, as one of the finest Spectacles in Nature! — Really, Sir, the World is grown too incredulous: Pendulum-like, it is ever swinging from one Extream to another. Formerly every Thing printed was believed, because it was in Print: Now Things seem to be disbelieved for just the very same Reason."
My faulty memory was that this was for the whales to spawn, not to hunt. I'm sure there are denizens of our capitol (sic) who would appreciate this.
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