google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday February 18, 2018 Kurt Krauss

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Feb 18, 2019

Monday February 18, 2018 Kurt Krauss

Theme: Vowel Movement -  A, E, I, O, U between B and N.

17. Extreme-weather restriction, perhaps: TRAVEL BAN.

25. Title bear of '60s TV: GENTLE BEN.

37. Brit's trash can: DUST BIN.

51. Classic French song whose title means "It's so good": C'EST SI BON.

61. Frank holder: HOT DOG BUN.

Boomer here.  

Hello all.  Just got back from an annual trip to Las Vegas. Graybar Electric hosts a retiree reunion at the Orleans. At the banquet on Monday, President Kathy Mazzarella reports on the previous year's successes. I give a little stand up comedy, and first I thank President Kathy for hosting the fine banquet, and then thank her for letting us know that the people they hired to replace us are doing a helluva lot better than we ever did. I did pretty well in the casinos this year. I like to play for low stakes and I found a draw poker machine where you can play 100 hands at the same time for 1 cent per hand. Also played a little low minimum craps on the machines.

Below is a photo C.C. took of me at the flower display at the Wynn on the Strip. The lunar New Year of the Pig is celebrated everywhere in Las Vegas.  C.C. and I were both born in pig years.  (Not the same year of course,)

I may have turned a corner Thursday, After a couple of ordinary games of bowling, I decided to resurrect an old Storm "Virtual Gravity" bowling ball out of the bag and nailed a 235 game with 7 strikes. (two doubles and one turkey !).  Guess what ball I will be using this morning. 

You can see more pictures here. Connie is my sister, who lives in San Francisco.
Boomer and the Pig, Wynn

Across:

1. Class-conscious gp.: PTA.  Harper Valley's is most famous.

4. Big name in underwear: SPANX. Never heard about this brand.  Are you sure it is not just BIG underwear?

9. Near-sighted Mr.: MAGOO. Voiced by Jim Backus who became more famous as Thurston Howell on Gilligan's Island

14. __-de-sac: CUL.

15. Conical home: TEPEE. Minnesota was historically the home for many Native Americans.  I often wonder how they survived Minnesota winters like the one we are having this year.  Minus 25 a couple of weeks ago, followed by around two feet of snow.  Brings to mind that famous song, "I'm dreaming of a white Groundhog Day."


16. Do penance: ATONE.

19. Dwindled: WANED.

20. Krispy __ doughnuts: KREME. These guys came to Minnesota about 10 years ago and cars were lined up at the window, but eventually they failed. I don't see any stores around any more. Maybe because the spelling was poor.

21. Chat room chuckle: LOL.  I see this all the time but I never hear "out loud".

23. Japanese computer giant: NEC.

24. 18-wheeler: SEMI. Another interesting connotation. I always see the whole truck,  doesn't SEMI mean "Half"?

28. A flirt may bat one: EYELASH.  Be careful if you are in the on deck circle.

31. Mount McKinley, now: DENALI.

32. '60s "acid": LSD.  LBJ took the IRT in the USA, What did he see?  The youth of America on LSD.  (An old acronym song in my youth).

33. Like baggy pants: LOOSE.

36. Bewilder: ADDLE.

39. Paris' river: SEINE.  When will I again, See you there, on the moonlit banks of the Seine.

43. Boxing's "Iron Mike": TYSON.  I lost interest in boxing when he bit Holyfield's ear.

44. Yahoo! rival: MSN. Add "BC" and get the news.

47. Obtain through intimidation, as money: EXTORT.  It is Tax season.

49. Attached, as hotel rooms: EN SUITE.

54. Unexpected thing to hit: SNAG. Or sometimes a centerfielder will snag a hit away.

55. Cornfield sound: CAW.  Cannot scare a crow without a brain.


56. Suffix with iso- or poly-: MER.

57. Footnote abbr.: OP CIT.

59. Sci-fi author Verne: JULES.  Very deep works. "Twenty thousand leagues under the sea", and "Journey to the center of the earth."

64. Leaning: ATILT. We have all seen or ridden on a Tilt a Whirl.  I used to call on the company that made them, Sellner Manufacturing in Faribault, Minnesota.

65. Battery post: ANODE.

66. Absorbed, as a loss: ATE.

67. Fishing line holders: REELS.  They make really hi tech reels now.  Guaranteed to catch fish.

68. What a rooster rules: ROOST.  When I was young, in my house my Mother ruled the roost.

69. Like seven U.S. flag stripes: RED.

Down:

1. Cut for an agt.: PCT.  Not a cut for Matt Kuchar's caddy, but he is trying to atone.

2. Thanksgiving birds: TURKEYS.  This clue is so easy even I can figure it out.

3. Fearful: ALARMED.  Okay, but if you ALARMED your home, you should not be fearful.

4. Flower part: STEM.

5. Brazilian soccer legend: PELE.  Only one name and everyone has heard of him.

6. Msg. for a cop car: APB.  All Points Bulletin

7. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" novelist Zora __ Hurston: NEALE.


8. Arc lamp gas: XENON.

9. Animal's gullet: MAW.  Also Mrs. Kettle.

10. Finished: AT AN END.  If it's at the end of a rope, you are finished.

11. (Having) spoiled: GONE BAD.

12. Like amoebas: ONE CELL.  I think the largest single cell is an Ostrich egg

13. Wordsmith's ref.: OED. Oxford English Dictionary.

18. Wedding wear: VEIL.  "Here comes the Bride"

22. Inc., in Toronto: LTD.  Also a big old Ford

24. French salt: SEL.

25. White-sheet wearer, on Halloween: GHOST.  Dangerous costume, do not trip and watch out for cars.

26. Singer Rimes and soaps actress Hunley: LEANNS.

27. Never, in Neuss: NIE. Do we like foreign words in puzzles? Personally, I don't think it's fair.  Like getting Canadian money in change.  Sorry Ms. Eh

29. Birch family trees: ALDERS. Are Older Alders Elders ?

30. Not worth a __: SOU.

34. Hog's home: STY.  I think pigs live in stys. Hogs live in stylish stys.

35. "Barnaby Jones" star Buddy: EBSEN. Famous as Barnaby, but also as Jed Clampett in the "Beverly Hillbillies". But his bad luck was he was cast as the Tin Man in "Wizard of Oz" but had to withdraw because the metallic face makeup made him sick.

38. + or - particle: ION.

39. "Just a __!": SEC.

40. Carry out, as a task: EXECUTE.

41. "Don't believe that!": IT'S A LIE. You are correct.  Sometimes I cannot believe where my golf ball ends up.

42. Ailing: NOT WELL.

44. Hotel room amenity: MINI BAR.  We did not have one of these at the Orleans.  But I'll bet those who have them pay more for an ounce than I lose at the tables.

45. It's a law: STATUTE.  I wonder if there is a statute of limitations on the number of statutes we can have.

46. Opposite of pos.: NEG.  Yup, we have a pretty negative Post Office in our city.

48. Comic Conway: TIM.  Ensign Parker in McHale's Navy, but also appeared on "Laugh In" quite a bit.

50. Maritime safety gp.: USCG.  Hope they are all paid and back to work.

52. Joy of "The View": BEHAR.

53. Maine college town: ORONO.  We also have an Orono city in Minnesota.  Lots of well-to-do folks have homes there.


57. Sports betting numbers: ODDS.  Here are your craps odds when the point is: 4 or 10 Two for one, 5 or 9 - three for two, and 6 or 8 - six for five.  Once the point number is established, you can place double your pass line bet behind the line (some casinos offer more). It is not marked on the table because casinos rarely show a bet that has no house advantage.   

58. Browning or Burns: POET.  You're a poet and you don't know it, but your feet show it.  They're Longfellows.

59. Pickle container: JAR.

60. Ave. crossers: STS. Okay, but where do lanes go?  In bowling centers  

62. As well: TOO.

63. Beatty of "Deliverance": NED.  I loved "Dueling Banjos"

Boomer


53 comments:

OwenKL said...

FIW. Started with SPANk + kENON, didn't think the gas was right, so switched to zENON, and SPANz sounded good. When red letters told me that was wrong, I finally put X.

Hooray for the myopic Mr. MAGOO!
Each EYE he has sees enough for two!
Or three or four,
Or several score --
If you saw that many, you'd be blurry, too!

In these days of MeToo, when men are skanks
When trying to ATONE seems to get little thanks
What is the intent
Of women who tempt
By wearing clothing inviting SPANX?

{A, B-.}

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Managed two booboos with ASPENS/ALDERS and LEEANN/LEANNS -- Wite-Out works wonders. Otherwise, this was a fast schuss (oops, that was yesterday) to the bottom. Thanx, Kurt. Loved your title, Boomer.

Buddy EBSEN: Also played George Russel, pal of Davy Crockett, in the Disney TV series.

TIM Conway: Probably best known for has antics on The Carol Burnett Show. Remember Tim's Elephant Story?

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased LEeaNn for LEANNS. When oh when will I ever learn to pay attention to the tense direction in the clue?

SPANX may be a big name in underwear, but I hope they never become a big name in big underwear.

I ran into Buddy Ebsen occasionally at the Boys Market in Marina del Rey, CA. He looked much older without makeup. This was in his Barnaby Jones days.

Back in the days when I traveled for business I normally made the desk clerk keep my key to the MINI BAR. Prevented arguments at checkout. The exception was when I went with my DW to a high-performing salespeople conference. The company would pay for everything from the minibar, but nothing alcoholic from the rest of Boca Raton Resort complex.

I used to hold project team meetings at 8:30. I stopped at Krispy KREME on the way in to buy a couple of dozen hot ones. My peers wondered how I got such good attendance at my meetings. My standard response was that I was assigned the most interesting projects.

Thanks to Kurt for the fun puzzle. I especially liked "suffix with iso- or poly-" for MER. It's interesting that you resisted using the stale Frawench clue when there was so many other foreign-language items in the puzzle. And thanks to Boomer for yet another hilarious start to the "work" week. I forgot to look for the theme, but your description was better than anything I could have come up with.

billocohoes said...

Krispy Kreme had the same trajectory in Albany. Lines blocking traffic, disappeared within three years.

Jules Verne didn't write just deep works. Also wrote Around the World in Eighty Days, Five Weeks in a Balloon, and From the Earth to the Moon. He got around.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Boomer and friends. Fun Monday puzzle with just enough challenge.

Hand up for Aspens before ALDERS. I also tried Leanne before settling on LEANNS.

I also learned that an Unexpected Thing to Hit is not a Wall, but a SNAG.

My favorite clue was Class-Conscious Group = PTA.

Zora NEALE Hurston is becoming a crossword staple.

It was 80+F here yesterday, but today will only be in the 50s.

QOD: Writers are frequently asked why they wrote their first book. A more interesting answer might come from asking why they wrote their second one. ~ Len Deighton (né Leonard Cyril Deighton; Feb. 18, 1929) It's his 90th birthday!

Oas said...

Good morning all. Could not find a paper with LA Times crossword this morning so I just visited the blog . Enjoy the review and the write ups that follow.
Semis was already a word around when I was a kid.
To me it always meant a truck without a box for gravel or freight . Basically a cab and chassis of little use when not hooked up to a trailer. I remember calling the ones pulling a trailer simitrailers.

Lemonade714 said...

Boomer, not only was your bowling spot on, but your write-up was an A+. Nice picture and cool that you and C.C. share the year of the pig. This rat married a monkey.

I had not heard of ZORA NEALE HURSTON until my sones had to read her works in high school, and now she is very frequently here.

No CSO for ORONO?

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was an easy, breezy Monday with a theme that jumped right out at me after filling in Ban, then Ben. I didn't have any w/os or unknowns but I liked the Caw ~ Maw duo and the sub-theme en Francais: Sel, Sou, Seine, Cul, En Suite, and C'est si Bon. Tres Bien! CSO to Lemony and Hatoolah at Orono.

Thanks, Kurt, for a pleasing start to the week and thanks, Boomer, for the comical commentary. Thanks, also, for sharing those lovely photos from Vegas. Happy bowling!

FLN

Yuman and WC, thanks for your comments and viewpoints. I guess what I was interested in knowing was whether Matt's initial behavior and subsequent reversal would affect his reputation amongst his fans and fellow tour members. One colleague voiced a disparaging comment about Matt being two-faced. Of course, this was from an anonymous source, so is questionable, IMO. I'm familiar with Kuchar's name but no nothing at all about him.

PK, I'm glad to hear that your DIL is doing better. It's too bad, though, that she suffered so much, unnecessarily, but at least the surgery was successful.

Jayce, I'm sorry to hear of you DIL's loss and her tough battle with cancer. I hope her treatments lead to a positive outcome.

I learned last night that my SIL passed away yesterday. She recently had two falls which resulted in three separate surgeries, then suffered two strokes. She was 93 and had a relatively trouble-free life. I imagine the services will be later in the week as she died in Maine but will be interred in Troy, with my brother.

Have a great day.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Kurt Krauss, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Boomer, for a fine review.

Zipped through this very quickly. Cruciverb was out to lunch today, so I printed this from Mensa. Mensa works very well for printing the puzzle.

Never even looked for the theme today. After I came here I saw it.

SPANX was an unknown word. Thank goodness I knew XENON.

I was going to spell TURKEYS as TURKIES. SEMI fixed that before I wrote it down.

Wanted BARREL for 59D, but JAR seemed to work better.

I like franks on HOT DOG BUNS, but I like the buns toasted and I like the franks charred a little bit, not boiled.

BUDDY EBSEN played with Davy Crockett (Fess Parker) on TV. That's the first show I remember him in. Back in the mid fifties.

Now I have to go out and shovel snow (again). No school today, so I did not have to guard.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Kuchar is his generation's Tom Kite. Doesn't win much, but is so consistent that he makes a TON of money. He's won 9 times on the PGA tour, and has made about $45 million. By comparison, Tiger Woods has won 80 tournaments and Phil Mickelson has won 44, but each has "only" won about $100 million. I suspect that sponsors have paid all three more than they have won on tour.

Yellowrocks said...

I had my post all finished after spending a long time on it. Then someone called me on the phone and I used the computer to get info for her without safe guarding my post. GONE! I have no time to reconstruct it. Maybe later.

Irish Miss said...

Shame, shame on me! I just reread my comments and saw an egregious error. Should read "KNOW nothing at all about him," not NO. Mea Culpa!

Anonymous said...

Krispy Kreme came and went here also. The big expansion was ill timed with the rise in popularity of the no carb diet fad which was blamed for its downfall.

Tim Horton's came and still is around although the stores seem always empty.

Now Dunkin is popping up everywhere but the stores sell breakfast sandwiches and coffee more so than donuts.

Doesnt really affect me as I almost exclusively shop at locally owned businesses. My donut shop is on its third generation of proprietors. My coffee comes from a local chain of 5 stores which buys and roasts in own. And my breakfast when I do treat myself to it comes from a local diner/greasy spoon.

I will admit though to hitting the drive thru of Mickey Ds occasionally when in a hurry. Sausage Mcmuffin with egg combo with juice. I heard their coffee is good but I almost always have time to make my own at home from beans purchased at aforementioned roaster.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Boomer - Great intro today. Informative, too.

Saw the ……BAN vowel sequence early on. Prefilled BON and BUN. French in HS made C'EST SI BON easy. MER could have been clued Frenchwise, too, but they went with (iso)MER. Knew NIE but had to look up where Neuss nestled - - near DĂ¼sseldorf.
MAW - sense of mouth or opening: German Maul, L. German Muul.
sense of stomach: German Magen, L. German Maag, Dutch Maag.
Seems to be distantly related to "mow" as in "haymow"
NIE - Easy for me; I grew up with it. I don't disagree with Boomer about foreign words. Where should the line be drawn? In this case the perps were easy enough and firm. We have had NIE before.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Loved the write-up, pix and trip recap!
-HANES and IGLOO? Buzz, no, but thanks for playing! :-)
-We had “Flirtatious bat – WINK” (both eyes vs one) in Saturday’s puzzle
-Naming Mt. Everest for some British surveyor seems rude when it is really Chomolungma (Tibetan) or Sagarmatha (Nepalese)
-Did this ADDLE the shooter? (:15)
-HGTV has recently added “en suite” to its House Hunters show to indicate the master bath is connected to the master bedroom. Pretentious?
-I hear BOLO (Be On the Look Out for) more today than APB
-Wearing a GOWN without a VEIL works better than the reverse
-One of my granddaughter’s majors is French and she spent a semester in Grenoble. Today she and I discussed the pronunciation of our crossword friend La Vie En Rose

Lucina said...

Thank you, Kurt Krauss and Boomer! The puzzle was fast and fun. Boomer, thank you for sharing the pictures.

SPANX were first introduced on the Oprah Show by the woman who invented them and are now worn by hundreds to, um, reshape their figure.

PTA was cleverly clued.

I liked Buddy EBSEN in all the roles mentioned above except that I didn't watch the one with Fess Parker. He would have been a good tin man, IMO. In an interview he mentioned that he had studied singing and dancing.

Yes, so much French today. I'm surprised that MER wasn't clued along with JULES somehow.

d-o:
I have a tax question for you. Do you find that this year more people are filing a straight 1040 rather than itemizing?

Have a tres bien day, everyone!

Yuman said...

Boomer,
SPANX was invented by Sara Blakey. In March of 2012 she was named the world's youngest self-made female billionaire by Forbes Magazine. Lucina, I think it will take more than SPANX to reshape this body LOL

oc4beach said...


A fast Monday solve from Kurt. A good puzzle that I took more time enjoying Boomer's expo than I did solving it.

As usual I didn't see the theme until the write up. Cute.

Just a few hiccups. HANES before SPANX and AOL before MSN. Other than that it was a speed run.

Custom Donut shops seem to have a short life span in many places. At the beach the custom donut shops that make fresh hot donuts with any toppings you want seem to flourish where their franchised brethren in non-resort settings crash and burn. I would imagine that the reason is people being on vacation are more inclined to buy donuts by the dozens and don't worry as much about the cost. We've had three custom shops in this college town go belly up where Dunkin Donuts seems to survive mostly on the coffee and single donut or breakfast sandwich model that college students live on. Just an opinion.

Yes HG, I agree with you, I think it is pretentious. To me it's a Master Bathroom.

Also HG, according to my police friends, APB has been replaced by BOLO. APB was used in the old Dragnet TV show days, where NCIS and other shows use BOLO. Similarly they refer to Persons of Interest rather than calling them Suspects.

Again, winter has not left us. Some light snow and sleet over the night and flurries now with gusts. Stay warm everyone.

Misty said...

Delightful Monday puzzle, Kurt--many thanks. I got Mr. MAGOO right away, and that got me started. TURKEY was so easy, I wondered if it might not be right. I didn't realize how many French words there were until Irish Miss pointed them out, but I got them all, even though my French is not as strong as my German (got NIE, of course). PTA cracked me up when I got it--you liked it too, Hahtoolah. Loved Buddy EBSEN on 'Beverly Hillbillies,' and nice to see TIM Conway too.

Great that you had such a good time in Vegas, Boomer--and wonderful picture of you with that sweet pig and those flowers. Fun write-up, and your poet joke made me laugh.

Irish Miss, so sorry to hear about the loss of your sister-in-law--I send my condolences.

Great way to start the week. Have a good one, everybody.

desper-otto said...

Lucina, yes there are definitely fewer itemized returns this year. Married couples have to come up with $24,000 in deductions ($26,600 if both are over 65) before it's worthwhile to itemize -- that's a steep hill to climb. Only medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of income count toward itemizing. Next year's tax season that'll climb to 10%, unless congress extends the 7.5% limit. In addition, folks living in high-tax states can only claim a maximum of $10K for their property taxes and state income/sales taxes -- not $10K for each, it's $10K combined. So far this tax season I've only prepared one itemized return.

Lucina said...

Irish Miss:
I am so sorry about the passing of your sister-in-law.

Krispy Kreme is still available in some areas here after the flash and burn of their initial entry but Dunkin' Donuts carries on. In my neighborhood they recently moved a block down to a newly built store and closed the old one. I believe they offer the first coffee free. My preference, if I ever have donuts, is Bosa Donuts. They are more substantial as opposed to the air-filled ones at Dunkin.

Acesaroundagain said...

Thanks for sharing the pics Boomer, looks like fun. Glad the bowling is coming around. I too have been using older balls for better control and scores. All the best.

PedantTheBrit said...

Isn't there some rule about the answer not appearing in the clue, i.e. ROOST and ROOSTER?

desper-otto said...

Glenn, I too have been using older balls the past few years. Not certain about the control and scores, though.

Yuman said...

FYI starting next week McDonalds is going to add “donut sticks”to their menu.
Sad news, Tim Conway has dementia and is recovering from brain surgery.

Lemonade714 said...

So Gary what was the pronunciation that you learned for LA VIE EN ROSE?

oc4beach said...


IM: I'm so sorry about your Sister-in-Law's passing.

AnonymousPVX said...


PedantTheBrit....I agree, that does seem against good construction rules.

Krispy Kreme grew too fast, collapsed, reorganized....now their doughnuts are in just about every grocery store,

Thanks to being “sure”, I had one markover....LOIRE/SEINE...you’d think I’d learn.

Dorf said...

When I think of Tin Conway I remember the dentist skit with Harvey Korman. Hilarious! LOL!

And the fishing CV videos.

CanadianEh! said...

Marvelous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Kurt and Boomer.
No newspaper today because it is Family Day here. Cruciverb was down, moving me to the Mensa site. I found this CW to be a little crunchy but perps cleared up the problem areas except for ENSUITE (explained below). After I got the Tada, I realized I had forgotten to look for a theme; a quick glance at Boomer's grid showed the AEIOU progression.

Hand up for Aspens before ALDERS, and AOL before MSN. I debated between Igloo or TEPEE. (Apparently, Igloos are paraboloid not conical!) I even had a Scottish Mr. McGoo before MAGOO surfaced, and had to correct Ebson to EBSEN.

But it was misspelling Leanne (and not noticing the plural), thinking that N (for naval) would be a good first letter for that "Marine safety group" (oh Coast Guard d'uh!), plus the afore-mentioned Ebson, that caused my FIW. I got ONE NITE for that attached hotel room, which made no sense and forced me to turn on red letter help. Oh, ENSUITE!

I smiled at the MINIBAR crossing ENSUITE.
I am familiar with SPANX although I use them to smooth out the lines only on very special occasions (like the weddings of my children, who caused the need for them!). I used to be skinny (sigh!).

I was glad that the white sheet wearer was a GHOST not a KKKer.
Krispy Kreme crashed and burned here also. There are still a few stores left in the immediate Toronto area I believe. But Tim Horton's still reigns supreme!

LOL re that Canadian change, Boomer. Yes those Canadian nickels, dimes and quarters are worth about 25-30% less than their American counterparts. But I'm guessing that Loonies and Toonies do not get passed off in your change!
I'll take a CSO at "Inc., in Toronto=LTD". Token Canadian clue for the day.

Belated Happy Anniversary to Husker Gary and Joann.
Condolences on the loss of your SIL, Irish Miss.
PK, glad to hear that DIL is doing better.
PendantTheBrit@12 - Good catch. We seem to be noting more of these issues lately.
Yuman@12:31 - sad news about TIM.

Wishing you all a great day. (President's Day for some or all of you?)

D4E4H said...

Just a short note to let you know that I had the flu starting on Jan 24th. I have been isolated in my room since then because I had a cough that wouldn't quit. I have been released from isolation today, and expect to return to Assisted Living by Friday.

Dave

Ol' Man Keith said...

I have long wondered how the "poet/don't-know-it" poem ended. Thank you, Boomer for relieving my ignorance! Whew...

I never cared for the Beverly Hillbillies, but I always enjoy seeing Buddy EBSEN when he pops up in old TCM-channel films. What an amazingly lithe dancer he was! I hope his later fans knew what an original stylist he was.
His Tin Man successor, Ray Bolger, was a pretty good mover as well. But Buddy was unique.
~ OMK
____________
DR:
One diagonal today, NE to SW. Only two vowels constrain the anagram possibilities. The best I can do is ...
"TROLL NETS"
- or -
"TEN WORLDS."

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle but it was harder than I expected it to be. I stumbled at ENSUITE along the same lines that CanadianEh did, namely thinking along the lines of ONE NITE. The funny thing is, I had originally spelled EBSEN correctly and then changed the E to O in order to make the ONE. Sheesh.
Hand up for calling the underwear HANES before they said it said Hanes. My other hand up for entering LEANNE at first (contributing to that ONE NITE train of thought).
I notice Mr. Krauss had to clue ION with the + and - characters rather than using the terms "pos" or "neg."
It seems the British have "verbized" the word BIN; it is common to say things like "I binned it." Somewhat analogous to Apple Mac users saying "trash it" rather than "delete it" or "put it in the trash."
I like Dueling Banjos too, but I feel it takes a tad too long for the song to get going.
Boomer, your write-up and photos are very satisfying. Thanks.
Actually, the Sausage McMuffin with Egg is really not bad at all.
Good wishes to you all.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Straight from the UNL campus, Emma says “Lah vee ahn rose”. She further says Edith Piaff adds a second syllable to “rose” when singing so it matches the rhythm of the song. She has never heard that word with two syllables unless it is referring to rosè which is a different sense of the word. BTW, Emma’s mother has some Rosè at home!

Spitzboov said...

Pedant @ 1200 - - You're probably right but I think you should cut Kurt some slack. Otherwise the clue would have had to use the older word for rooster which was made un-PC by the Puritans because it was beginning to acquire a double meaning.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave ……….

Husker Gary said...

Musings 3
-YR!! I ALWAYS compose on my Word for Mac (including HTML code for which I have auto text) and THEN I copy and paste all that to the Comment Box at our LA blogspot. I have even caught errors in my post, deleted the post, made the correction on Word and then copy and pasted the edited text. That way I have a backup!

Yellowrocks said...

I like this puzzle although I forgot to look for the theme.
Boomer, glad you felt well enough to go to Vegas and even give a speech. Nice pics. Also glad your bowling is improving. Things are looking up.
D2, what a horrible two weeks of flu and isolation. Glad you are on the mend and out of "stir."
PK, glad your DIL is improving. It is difficult to experience further problems after a successful operation.
IM, condolences for the passing of you SIL.
Jayce, it must be tough for your DIL losing her dad and having cancer at the same time.I wish her improving health.
On a happier note, Gary and Joann, congratulations on your long lasting, strong marriage. Happy anniversary.
Here even modest homes and condos like mine have a master bath connected to the master bedroom. For me ensuite is an OK way to describe it.
Dunkin Donuts used to make their donuts on site, freshly baked several times a day. I believe baking them centrally and sending them out only early in the morning to stores has led to their donuts falling out of favor. I don't buy them these days for that reason. Except for early in the morning, they are stale.
-MER is the root for isomer (equal parts) and polymer (many parts), rather than the suffix. There is also monomer (one part). Iso and poly are common prefixes.
I like the smattering of foreign clues.
Mom used to recite the "They are long fellows" joke.
Love Mamma' s Family and the Carol Burnett Show, even in reruns. Thanks for the memories in the link. Vicki, Carol and Tim are great comedians and a great ensemble.
HG, you are right. Sometimes I do that, but sometimes I am too lazy to toggle back and forth between the other posts and Word. I regret it today.

Michael said...

Another reason for Krispy Kreme's demise: in my opinion not only were their doughnuts staler, but they were also smaller than the competition's offerings. Once the local Korean ladies' doughnut was held next to a similar KK work, it was clear that KK had shaved off some batter.

OwenKL said...

billoc: would you say the works you listed were "high concept"?

KK just opened their first store here in Santa Fe about a year ago. Those little things are more cookie-size than pastry-size, IMHO.

Egg and cheese McGriddle is my choice for the road, but if I'm taking it home, I'll get a big mac an eat it with a knife and fork.

I have an excellent post-it note app I use for first drafts, and two excellent browser add-ons that save all text entries I make, "Form History Control" and "FormSave". I couldn't decide which is better, so kept them both as back-ups.

CrossEyedDave said...

Never saw the vowel movement...
I do remember complaining (& reading to) Daughter #2 about
how easy Mondays are, and then getting stuck @ Spanx/Neale,
Cestsibon/Behar, & a footnote about minibars/opcit?

All successful WAGs. (actually, only Spanx/Neale could have perped diagonally...)

Belated Happy Anniversary HG!
(I would post a cake, but it would be stale by now...)

Dave2, are you sure it was the Flu?
Did you have a fever?
I have been fighting two separate upper respiratory conditions
since Thanksgiving. Still have coughing fits, no temperature.
Inlaws brought the 1st one, Daughter #2's boyfriend brought the 2nd.
He coughed so hard that he fell down the stairs, & a day later went to the hospital
which confirmed no Flu. (ditto for his brother...)
I personally think it is my taking Humira injections to tone down
my immune system because of Psoriasis that is making it hard to get rid of this.

Anywho, I enjoy reading the comments, and they always send me down
the YouTube Rabbithole.

Case in point: Tim Conways Elephant Story led to Carol Burnetts revenge...

Which led to Show Stoppers...
(part 2 only, look for part 1 at your own risk...)

Which led to a remarkable piece of talent that is much older
than I thought. Take a Gander at this. (& watch to the end...)

Note, I recently discovered that like the Ipad, you can fast forward or backward
10 seconds at a time on a keyboard by simply tapping J or L.
( K pauses...)

Misty said...

Dave, what a relief that you're getting better and will soon be back in Assisted Living. We'll keep our fingers crossed that you have a good week.

Lemonade714 said...

Thanks, Gary and good to see you Dave 2.

If you come to visit me we can go to DANDEE DONUT FACTORY (which opened its first store in a shuttered Tim Horton's) and get still baked on site doughnuts not costing $3.00 each. I love the sour creme glazed.

en suite has a very specific meaning that is different from master bathroom. A master bathroom is the largest bathroom in the house and features all the necessary amenities for cleaning the body. A toilet, sink, bathtub or shower, and mirror are almost always included in a master bathroom. Ensuite designates that it is included within the bedroom, or suite of rooms that make up the master bedroom, such as a vanity for someone to put on makeup or a dressing room. Just because it is French it should not be considered as pretentious.

Becky said...

Lemonade714, thanks for tooting my horn, but, alas I am not the same age as your lovely wife, Oo. I was born in 1948 -- I tried fixing it on Wikipedia but it would't let me.
And I, too, am a rat!!

Becky

Anonymous said...

I agree with Husker and oc4beach that the way "en suite" is presented on the HGTV show "House Hunters" seems pretentious to me. The realtor on the show "Love It Or List It" is the same.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All (and an especially warm welcome to D4! Nice to see you post.)

I found this quite crunchy for a Monday; lots o' names (crossing!). Thanks Kurt for the challenge on a Monday.

Boomer, what can I say that other's haven't? LOL aside at EXTORT. Nice to hear you're throwing again with the "Virtual Gravity" ball. Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

WOs: 1d PTC, I didn't read 58d closely and thought (and entered) HATS(?)
ESPs: DENALI, LEANNES (w/ a few WAGs), CESTSIBON [theme got me the BON!], MER, NEALE, EBSEN. Like I said, Crunchy.
Fav: PTA was cute but I like the clue "It's the law." Who else thought Gravity? Speed of light?...

{A, - }

Jayce & IM, I'm sad to read of your respective losses. PK, I'm glad to read your DIL is doing better.

@9:41 - I was going to say the same thing about the timing of low-carb and "KREME's" explosive-expansion. Sometimes, timing is everything. BTW, ex-Texans know it's Shipley's down here.

OMK - Re: DR... Are you insinuating a Planet-X?. Wait, What? NASA? //after Pluto's demotion, isn't it now Planet-IX? :-)

D-O@12:18 - LOL!
Also, TIM's Elephant bit is a classic I watch at least twice a year... It never gets old.

C, Eh! - I was going for the Scot too and waited for it AT AN END. //Oh, and yeah, with the recent news, I too thought of David Duke.

Sadness. DW's not home. Before leaving Russia folks started getting really sick (food poisoning). Two stayed in Russia and went to the hospital. DW landed in Tokyo and pulled a George Bush by throwing up on the Japanese [they really are going to think this is how Americans greet each other :-)]. Two more went to the hospital. DW and her travel-partner went to a hotel. She woke up this morning better and will be on today's (tomorrow to us) flight. I got Valentine's, Birthday, and Anniversary (Church one's tomorrow!) cards , a dozen roses (is that a case?), and NY Strips for her welcome home. Youngest invented double-white chocolate layered hearts w/ a cheery in the middle (the bottom 1/2 of white-chocolate is infused with Cheery juice). Tomorrow, she plans to finish with a drizzle of dark-chocolate. So, we'll have that too!

Well, with DW still out of town, I have time to join CED in the rabbit's-hole with Carol Burnett.

Cheers, -T.

Ol' Man Keith said...

No, Anon T! No!
I was not insinuating any such thing--or, er, didn't know I was insinuating.
Now that you made me look at these "Nibiru" predictions, I am bummed that my anagrams opened the door to this grim possibility.
Ohhhh, No-ooo!
~ OMK

Lucina said...

Oh, no! The Russians poisoned them? Do they know what caused it? I'm glad to hear they are recovering. I'm glad you are going low key on the welcome!

Anonymous T said...

Lucina - I think it was their "last" supper. So far everyone, including DW, has recovered w/in 24 hours - classic "ate something that was a bit off." At this time, I'm ruling out A-243 or polonium-210..

OMK - You'd know that about Nibiru if you listened to the Crazy People Show :-)
Don't feel bad about the unknowing insinuation... happens to the best of us. Here's the King of the Britons inadvertently suggesting that coconuts migrate.

Cheers, -T

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Enjoyed the puzzle and expo, Kurt & Boomer. Also enjoyed the Vegas pics.

I caught on to the vowel progression theme after finishing. Simple but fun. However, at first I tried to fit BAD & BAR of the downs into the theme.

Hand up for Hanes before SPANX which I knew of from TV but nowhere else.

With having Beverly Hillbillies Irene Ryan recently & Buddy Ebsen today, I have a hankerin' to tell you I laid in a goodly supply supply of vittles today brung me by a nice youngun'. There's anuther snow storm brewin' in the west. Be here by tomorrow, they claim.

D-O: I printed my tax forms from the internet and got 'em done with the help of a magnifying glass to read the tiny print. After finishing, I felt I should go back and claim an extra deduction for being blinded by the form. Only the IRS would reduce the 1040 pages to half a page and leave all that white space when they could have used larger print and filled the page. Duh!

IM my sympathy for the loss of your SIL. I'm surprised they would have operated on her at her age.

Jayce: my sympathy for the rough time your daughter-in-law is having. Prayers that the loss of her father will not have a further adverse effect on her health.

D4: so sorry to hear what a rough time you have been having. Glad you are feeling better and hope your health improvement continues.

Anonymous T said...

PK - I enjoyed your hillbilly bit. Gots 'em salted in for the winter I 'spect.

Expand your mind say:

Ever sit back with a cocktail listening to an NPR call-in program and hear
"[your name], you're on,"
and, for a spit second, you think, "Oh, Shit!, I'm not ready."
And then they say "[from not your city]"
and you breathe a sigh of relief that it's not you on the radio next
And then you realize you didn't even call them?

I think I just drafted my first real [hinky] joke... Judges?

//This could also be the nugget for a SciFi short-story ala Asimov's Franchise but where call-in shows call folks at random. #ThinkFast //OKL - feel free, if it's a good enough crux, to steal it and run.

Cheers, -T

Dow Jones said...

FYI...

The Tuesday edition (2/19/19) of the Wall Street Journal features a crossword puzzle (Treasure Hunting) by C.C. Burnikel. The puzzle may be solved online or printed from the FREE website: WSJ.com

OwenKL said...

Tony: I've got a serial SF story running thru the Jumble Hints right now. May twist your idea around a bit. A dictator can't remember names, so decrees everyone's name is changed to "George"!

TTP said...


Thank you Kurt Krauss and thank Boomer.

Finally got around to the puzzle. Got all the answers easily enough with the exception of C'EST SI BON. Perps filled that one. Didn't look for the theme.

Boomer, good game. Hope your morning series today went well. I had a 586 last time out. One of those was a 155. Bowling again this Thursday.

Irish Miss and Jayce, sorry for your losses.