Title: X marks the spot. White rabbit, white rabbit. my second first of the month in a row.
RELM is back for his 21st publication since the switch when the Corner began blogging the LAT. This is, however, my first time to write-up Mr. Morris. I tried to read about him and did not find much except he had 13 LATs prior to the switch, beginning in 2004, and 3 NY Sun puzzles. Today is a simple theme - add an "X" to the end of the second word of a two word 'in the language' phrase. With only 45 theme letters, there is lots of room for some lively 7 and 8 letter fill. LARAMIE, LYNETTE, REFUELS, UPSTART, FLAT TIRE, FOXY LADY, TEAR INTO and WINE LIST are the group. Showing off his 15 years of experience, we are presented with a pangram. I imagine if you are using an "X" as the centerpiece of a puzzle, you might as well get the rest of the letters in the grid.
Meanwhile, I just lost a significant part of my write up, so here I go again.
17A. Addition at the palace?: QUEEN ANNEX (10). A logical building going from QUEEN ANNE Furniture.
58A. Mole in the cat food factory?: INSIDE MANX (10). My mental picture of this CAT working as a spy in a cat food factory makes this my favorite.
11D. Missing watch?: LOST TIMEX (9). It was also nice to be reminded of the TIMEX watches which were the symbol of practicality and value in the 60s.
34D. Change in China?: ASIAN FLUX (9). At this time of year, with children in this country dying, I am not sure I want to be reminded of the INFLUENZA.
And the reveal
25D. Intangible quality responsible for four puzzle answers: X-FACTOR (7). If I were pretentious, I would say this is the je ne sais quoi for a person or event that has the most significant impact on the outcome. Instead, I will link a COMIC BOOK and a TV SHOW.
Okay then.
Across:
1. College Park Big Ten athlete: TERP. College Park, Maryland is the home of the State University. They are called the Terrapins, shortened to Terps.
5. Smarten (up): SPIFF. This was a bit if a struggle, especially after I entered the semi-verboten 5D. Brainpower: SMARTS.
10. Cutlass, e.g.: OLDS. Not a sword.
14. Big name in the cookie aisle: OREO.
15. "Rebel Without a Cause" actor: MINEO. The reverse of the earlier clue that gave us Sal. James Dean was the star, but Sal was a pretty boy.
19. Dot on a globe, perhaps: ISLE. This took a bit as well.
20. Surprising and sometimes annoying success: UPSTART. I needed this one to get going in the NW.21. Felicity's "Desperate Housewives" role: LYNETTE. I never watched even though I am a Teri Hatcher fan. MS. HUFFMAN.
23. Somme summer: ETÉ. Our first of three accents from French.
24. Pringles alternative: STAX.
26. Trap fluff: LINT. I have told the story before, but my mother was a nurse working 12-hour shifts and never had owned a dryer. Our clothes were put outside on the line, or in the winter, my father dropped the clothes off to be washed an dried. Finally, as she became the boss in her work as the head nurse in the hospital, my father bought her a new washer and dryer. I was starting college and came home one day when she asked me to help because she could not understand how to deal with the flannel in the dryer. She was having trouble forcing it in to close the door. It was the lint, which kept growing.
27. "__ about time!": ITS.
28. Reason for road service: FLAT TIRE. How many have had to change one on a major highway?
32. Disreputable: SHADY.
35. "All in the Family" spinoff: MAUDE. The late great Bea Arthur.
36. Dallas NBAer: MAVerick.
37. Church service: MASS.
38. Zany: WACKY.
39. Ballet move: JETÉ. This is a jump in which a dancer springs from one foot to land on the other with one leg extended outward from the body while in the air. See also grand jeté, petit jeté.
40. Weapon in some action flicks: UZI.
41. Potsdam "please": BITTE. Our German lesson reminder.
42. Social gathering: MIXER.
43. Rip verbally: TEAR INTO. I mean, mean.
45. Fall back: LAG.
46. Acknowledge: NOTE.
47. Woodwind musician's piece: REED.
49. CPR pro: EMT.
52. Gasses up: REFUELS.
55. University of Wyoming city: LARAMIE.
57. PC addresses: URLS. Uniform Resource Locators, colloquially termed as web addresses, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. Wiki,
60. Down: BLUE. Referencing one's mood.
61. Egbert __, aptly named W.C. Fields character: SOUSÉ. Classic humor.
62. Countertop material: MICA.
63. Alluring: SEXY.
64. Youngster of an awkward age: TWEEN. A portmanteau.
65. Bullring bravos: OLES.
Down:
1. Kitchen topper: TOQUE. The hat is back.
2. Release violently: ERUPT.
3. Shortstop alongside Robinson: REESE. The great Pee Wee Reese
4. Keats or Yeats: POET. Yes, but they were not as prolific as our own Owen KL.
6. 1492 sailer: PINTA. If you pay attention you will notice it is not a sailor but sailer. Great clue.
7. Lodging provider: INN.
8. Sense: FEEL. One of many normally called touch.
9. Jimi Hendrix classic: FOXY LADY. An amazing talent. He was the headliner at Woodstock.
10. Point in the right direction: ORIENT. I am proud I got this instantly.
12. Nimrod: DOLT. Mean words from my youth.
13. Arcade trademark word: SKEE. Skee ball.
18. Vile: NASTY.
22. Nick at __: NITE.
27. Passports, e.g.: IDS.
29. "Star Wars" hero: LUKE. Skywalker. One of Anakin's twin children.
30. Velocity, e.g.: RATE.
31. At any time: EVER.
32. "Give me __ and nothing but": Tom Lehrer lyric: SMUT. Classic humor.
33. Sunset obscurer: HAZE.
35. Actor LeBlanc: MATT. He has worked steadily but without any great success since Friends.
LINK.
38. It includes reds: WINE LIST. Red. Rose. White.
39. Lively dance: JIG. Would you like to know HOW TO?
41. Small meal: BITE.
42. Sierra __: MADRE.
44. Mixed martial artist Ronda: ROUSEY. She was undefeated and then she wasn't. LINK.
45. Heavy: LEADEN.
48. Beethoven dedicatee: ELISE. Für sure.
49. Inbox message: EMAIL.
50. Prepare, as garlic: MINCE.
51. __ Pete: hot sauce brand: TEXAS. This SAUCE.
52. Massages: RUBS.
53. Creator of Perry and Della: ERLE. I am about half way through my reading all of the books.
54. Winter coat: SNOW.
56. Magazine contents: AMMO. A magazine is a part of a firearm that is used to store ammo in until the weapon uses it
59. Go after, in a way: SUE.
Another Friday in the record book as we march (pun intended) to spring. My first RELM and another Friday are done. Lemonade out.
Thank you RELM and Lemonade. This has been a good week puzzlewise for me with four out of five correct. Today II FIR with one lookup. I started with TERP and OREO but then went clockwise with TOQUE being the last to fill.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: In the write-up you mention “after the switch.” What did the blog switch from, please?
Enjoy your Friday everyone!
Rabbit Rabbit
ReplyDelete🐰 🐇
ReplyDeleteTEXAS PETE prepared in a jiffy!
In his tux, he looked real SPIFFY!
Until his spurs, which jangled
In his tails became entangled --
His prospective father-in-law became real iffy!
The ROOK and QUEEN thought to ANNEX
A different board -- checkers, eschewing checks.
They filled in the pieces roles
With some unscrewed OREOS!
Black and white -- well, what'd you expect?
There was a stud from LARAMIE
Applied to work a harem. He
Had the stuff
To make he cut --
It's WACKY when he has to pee!
{A-, B+, A-.}
Quick solve today. Something seemed goofy with Smarten (up) clue and SMARTS answer all in the NorthCentral...but I'm only a solver, not a constructor.
ReplyDeletePrairie Woman, when C.C. began her blogging career on January 21, 2008, , the puzzle was the TMS Daily Crossword Puzzle distributed by Tribune Media Services. The syndicator decided to switch to the LA Times with this being the first BLOG AFTER the switch.
ReplyDeleteI think the new standard for clue/fill duplication is that it passes unless it would reveal directly each other.
ReplyDeleteCC at USAToday
ReplyDeleteCartboy, thank you for the link. Speaking of C.C. (who has had many USA lately) they are showing people having to take their snowblowers on the roof to clear the snow.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Lemonade and friends. I quickly got QUEEN ANNEX, so realized that the theme probably related to the addition of the letter X. Fun Friday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThe movie The Favorite was about QUEEN ANNE. It was not, however, my Favorite movie.
The northeast corner was almost my downfall. I first tried AUTO, then EPEE for the Cutlass, before the perps fell into place on my second pass.
I liked the crossing of BITTE and BITE.
Sal MINEO recently appeared in a puzzle, also in a Rebel Without A Cause clue.
I am unfamiliar with STAX.
The French Summer (ÉTÉ ) actually has two accents.
In Louisiana, the hot sauce is Tabasco.
QOD: It’s impossible not to take advantage of people. The trick is to take advantage of them in their own best interest. ~ Ralph Ellison (Mar. 1, 1914 ~ April 16, 1994)
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteYay! Got the theme early and finished in good time. Tried FORT for ROOK, but it didn't last long. Thanx R.E.L.M. and Lemonade.
MINEO: Sal's making more appearances in CWs than he ever did in life.
MICA: Never thought of it as a "countertop material." LIU and learned that it's bits of MICA which put the gleam in granite countertops.
ERLE: Lemonade, when you finish his Perry Mason books you can dive into the mysteries ERLE wrote as A. A. Fair.
Too easy for a Friday. It might've been my fastest Friday solve ever. Anyone else have this result?
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle today thanx R E LEE MORRIS.
ReplyDeleteFIR in reasonably good time .
Thanx L714 and OweKl
As an avid dancer I liked the JETE and JIG and MIXER get together.
Had to move clockwise doing the JETE around the grid .
X FACTOR helped speed up the solve some.
TGIF
The X-FACTOR addition was an easy spot, and it made it easy to TEAR INTO this one. LYNETTE, ROUSEY, MATT, SMUT (and Lehrer), & TEXAS were unknowns but the perps filled them in. But the NW kept bugging me because I knew that PeeWee REESE didn't play on the same team as the Robinson I was thinking about- BROOKS Robinson. Wrong Robinson. Jackie.
ReplyDeleteLemonade- Many houses have burned due to the LINT left in dryers catching on fire.
TEXAS hot sauce? Not in this neck of the woods. I bet there are over 100 brands of Louisiana hot sauce, with TABASCO being the biggest seller.
Hahtoolah, WORLDWIDE, it's Tabasco. Crystal Hot Sauce is a huge seller in NOLA. And aournd here MATT LeBlanc is pronounced with a silent 'c'. They pronounce things strangely in these parts. BLANCHE Dubois and Maison BLANCHE.
FIR, but erased ebb for LAG, oboe for REED, and ROwSEY for ROUSEY. ROUSEY arouses me, but she also scares the poop out of me.
ReplyDeleteI saw Jimi Hendrix in Cincinnati circa 1968. Wore a black velvet suit I bought that summer in London.
If I were to put Texas Pete in my chili it would cool it down. Can't stand the stuff. My current favorite is Ass in the Tub Hot Sauce.
I also thought today's puzzle was easier than the usual Friday. Easier than this Wednesday's puzzle. Still fun, though. Thanks RELM. I especially appreciated the clue for MICA after the stale ones we have had lately. And thanks to Lemony for the tour and links. I had no idea that the Corner had pre-LAT days.
I still wear a (Carriage by) TIMEX. I've spent far more on batteries and watchbands than the watch itself cost originally.
ReplyDeleteSeeDY before SHADY.
NIMROD is also a synonym for "hunter," from the mighty hunter and king in Genesis and Chronicles.
Hi Y'all! This RELM puzzle seemed easier to me than many Fridays. Thanks. Always enjoy your take on things, Lemonade. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteLast to fill was the NE corner: OLDS/ROOK/LYNETTE/ORIENT/DOLT/SKEE. Finally had to resort to red-letter runs to fill.
Liked the XFACTOR theme. Had QU_E_A & got the rest quickly. Always a good Friday when the first theme entry comes easy. Most of my main genealogical lines ancestors were settled from the war zone of the Palatine and sponsored by Queen Anne to the American colonies around 1710. They became the core group of German-speaking Pennsylvania Dutch. I guess that would make Pennsylvania the QUEEN ANNEX.
LINT: On a related note, I attempted to use the Sears washer at our house in Houston. It wasn't a big load...but it wasn't a small one, either. I set the control half-way between, not realizing that it was a 2-position switch. The water never shut off, and d-o managed to flood the house. Dw won't let me forget that.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteEasy for a Friday. Thoroughly loved the theme. Very clever. INSIDE MANX was superb, but I chortled at ASIAN FLUX, too.
No searches needed. Few unknowns were gotten from perps.
STAX - Didn't know but BH had some sitting out on the counter where I was working. Tada!
Had plié before JETE.
Thanks Lemon for your usual fine intro.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun theme but I stumbled on it too early when I filled in Stax and then, nosy Josie that I am, I checked to see what the down fill was going to be and, voila, it's the X Factor. Oh well, I still enjoyed the solve with the only unknowns being Foxy Lady and Smut and Texas, as clued. I use Tabasco sauce, but infrequently and sparingly. My Wine list was first a Wine Rack and, like billocohoes, my Seedy evolved into Shady. My favorite C/A was Mole in the cat food factory=Inside Manx. (Hi Lemony.) The theme contributed to an easier Friday than usual,IMO.
Thanks, Robert E Lee, for an entertaining offering and thanks, Lemony, for the informative and in-depth summary.
Welcome back, Dave, we missed you and look forward to your posts.
Spitz, were you familiar with that Viking ship? It traveled to many US ports, per the write-up.
Have a great day.
Musings
ReplyDelete-(Famous) AMOS and OTIS (Spunkmeyer) gave way to our stalwart OREO
-Congress has several UPSTARTS this session
-FLAT TIRE? I called 1 800 MY AM FAM and it was changed for me in 20 minutes
-This was my watch for 25 years before I went all Apple Watch
-In 1971, The University of Omaha switched mascots from Indians to MAVericks
-Five guys shooting UZIs can’t hit the hero, but the hero can turn on a dead run and get all of them
-Some serious REFUELING
-Oh, second baseman Jackie Robinson, not Robinson Canoe
-We had to ORIENT our rabbit ears to get our TV picture
-Did you notice all the morning shots of Hanoi this week seemed to have a HAZE in the air?
-Unlike RHONDA, ERLE’s Perry was undefeated
'Tween is, in fact, the abbreviation for BETWEEN, Miriam. It was in use from the 1300s and certainly, Will Shakespeare used it in that context. The fill here, however, was clued with an awkward youngster, which is an abbreviation of a portmanteau.
ReplyDeleteNOUN
tweens (plural noun) · tweenie (noun) · tweenies (plural noun)
short for tweenager.
Easier than yesterday's, with a great theme. "Für sure." LMAO
ReplyDeleteSomeone changed NIMROD to mean "dolt" without notifying me! I suppose the pejoration comes from Elmer Fudd, who was a bit daffy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, RELM and Lemonade for a fine Friday fix!
ReplyDeleteAmazingly I recalled TERP! However, I thought the cookies might be AMOS; name was a misdirection but the EVER popular OREO emerged.
Yea! I liked seeing POET(s) Keats and Yeats! I also appreciate seeing MASS as clued.
I've never been desperate enough to see the Housewives so LYNETTE took its time appearing and only after I sussed FOXYLADY, also unknown. As well, I don't know why SKEE is a trademark but it perped itself.
I loved the theme and except in LOSTTIMEX didn't really need it to solve.
RELM managed some clever designing with JIG/MIXER and especially the X FACTOR in the themers.
Thank you, Lem, for explaining the appearance of SMARTS and smarten; I winced at the sight of them.
Dudley, don't be a stranger.
The OLDS cutlass as I recall had many problems.
I'll say adios for now and hope you have a blessed day, everyone!
ReplyDeleteFinally finished a Friday puzzle with no look ups. Thanks RELM.
After spending three years on the U of MD College Park campus working on a masters degree, I had to know the clue meant TERPs. Basketball was always their strong sport, but not football where they were always an also ran team. Maybe, eventually, they will improve in the BIG10 (or is it 14).
I had PLIE before JIG forced me to JETE. I didn't know what a pIG dance was.
When sending a Text to my son many times I get a "So Noted" response from him which means he doesn't want to take the time to carry on a Text conversation.
So, like others today was a race to the finish line.
Snow again last night. More scheduled for tonight, tomorrow and Sunday. I think it's time to make Roadkill Stew of a certain little Rodent in Punxsutawney.
Have a great day everyone.
BTW HG, the undefeated Perry Mason, was a myth. First, as BARBARA HALE - DELLA STREET pointed out we saw only some of the cases. And there were verdicts entered against him. THE TRUTH .
ReplyDeleteFor example, PERRY LOSES
The only crazy thought about the character is ROBERT DOWNEY JR. is supposedly going to produce a new Perry Mason movie where he will play Mason. It is likely he will try to reimagine the character as he did for his SHERLOCK HOLMES movies where there was a subplot that Holmes and Watson were gay lovers. Ironic, I guess, since RAYMOND BURR was gay.
No LA Times this morning, possibly because of rain. Thank goodness I can now read it on the computer, but how do I do the crossword puzzle? Took me a full half hour to figure out how to print it and Voila! it worked! Great blessing because this has been one of my best puzzle weeks so far. Got the first three without any cheating, had trouble yesterday, but I loved this Friday puzzle and got almost all of it before I had to look up a couple of items. Yay--thank you, Robert.
ReplyDeleteNice to have some easy fills, like POET for Keats and Yeats (hey, I'm a literary scholar) and some clever ones that I got right away--like SNOW for that winter coat. On the other hand, I kept thinking of paper magazines before AMMO set me straight. Loved seeing Bea Arthur's MAUDE, and W.C. Fields' SOUSE cracked me up. My German came in handy for BITTE, and it made me both happy and sad to Sal MINEO again today. I looked him up after the last time, and it turned out he was shot in an alley by a burglar who had no idea who he was. He was only 37 or something at the time. Well, I shouldn't end on a BLUE note after working on this fun puzzle. And I always love your write-up, Lemonade.
Have a great day, everybody.
oc4beach @ 10:55 ~ I'm awaiting my umpteenth order of Kibble's Nibbles, thanks to your long ago recommendation, but I'll pass on your recipe for the Rascally Rodent Repast! 😉
ReplyDeleteOn a nostalgic note, Mickey Mantle retired 50 years ago today.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad Friday puzzle at all.
Markovers...WISEN/SPIFF, CITE/NOTE, ROUSSY/ROUSEY.
Matt LeBlanc...was simply hysterical in Episodes on Showtime, as were just about all the characters...the writing was excellent as well. Man With A Plan is a much more generic network comedy.
Lemonade: enjoyed seeing your handsome son. The drink looks surprisingly like an ice cream concoction. I think I missed learning about the contents somewhere.
ReplyDeleteMisty, thanks for telling how Sal Mineo died. I was wondering what happened to him the other day, but forgot to LIU. I had such a crush on him when I was young. Couldn't stand James Dean.
OC4: I message my kids and ask questions, sometimes really needing an answer. The sign says they have looked at the message, but don't bother to answer. Drives me nuts. So rude. It's not like I bother them daily -- probably once or twice a month. I fantasize about how to get revenge. It centers around changes in my will. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!
I liked this puzzle and the X theme. Experienced many of the same things many of you did, eg changing PLIE to JETE because of JIG and changing SEEDY to SHADY. A couple of our very good friends got their PhD degrees in mathematics from the University of Wyoming at LARAMIE.
ReplyDeleteI've just about given up hope that constructors will stop using nimrod in its Bugs Bunny sense. Legend has it that fans of Bugs and Elmer knew their Bible well enough to make the connection that Elmer was a hunter and that there was some, now lost, irony, going. Not sure if I buy that explanation, but as a recovering prescriptivist I am willing to accept the reality that usage determines meaning.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, if you have access to the NY Times puzzle, don't miss CC wonderful offering today. And does anybody get the Newsday theme today? I completed the puzzle, but I don't understand the revealer.
Oh well, screwed up another puzzle by One Letter,
ReplyDeleteby misreading Beethoven dedicatee as possibly Etude,
crossed by a comedian before my time.
Note: Spell Checker also does not like the word "dedicatee."
My etude perped into elide leaving me with a W.C. Fields "Soude?"
(Nuts, I need a drink...)
HG, I had many of those electronic digital watches.
Always had to get a new one when my sweat would gum up the buttons...
I now use a Fitbit, which buzzes every hour if I don't keep moving.
I am not sure which is more annoying, the watch that does not like sweat,
or the one that does...
Oh well, like all original Crosswords, this one was special...
FLN,
Question for Spitz, (or any other old Tar...)
I had to continue watching the voyages of the Viking Longship this morning,
and when they got to Chicago, they were forced to leave because (government)
decided the were a commercial ship, and required a pilot to go thru the Great Lakes
at $400- an hour...
A 14:14 recap...
What a load of Bureaucratic BullCrap!
P.S.-
ReplyDeleteI love Texas Pete! Tastes great and is one quarter the price of
Franks or Tabasco...
They only carry the original version around here, but there
are hotter and cooler versions in some parts...
"If you want to make a Bumper taste good,
Slather it in Texas Pete!"
:)
oops!
ReplyDeleteforgot my question to SpitzBoov,
If a ship does not carry Cargo,
how can it be a commercial ship?
NW Runner, other than the Newsday puzzle having a country, a US state, and one Canadian and three US cities (including the two longest answers), I don't see a connection to map-making.
ReplyDeleteI came up with "CAR"tography with CHEVY and FORD. Having only two theme answers seems kinda lame, though.
ReplyDeleteI can't thank you enough, Lemonade, for giving us access to Tom Lehrer's SMUT song. I'm a longtime fan of Mr. Lehrer, having learned a great deal from his subversive PoV. (Is his German name merely a coincidence?) But I don't recall this particular song, so am grateful to hear it here in the Corner!
ReplyDeleteOn (nearly) the same wavelength, I got a kick out of seeing W.C. Field's character name, Egbert SOUSÉ. It reminded me of his distinctively superior drawl in pronouncing that (ahem) quaint surname.
Thanks are also due to Mr. Morris for his brilliant pangram. Much fun was had uncorking his X-fills.
Misty! ~
Glad you managed to print out the pzl, but sorry you missed your paper. I got mine. But I am angry that the LA Times still hasn't got its act together. This unreliability is truly sad, especially when print papers are having such a hard time holding customers.
BTW, what rain? It was dry as a bone over here.
~ OMK
____________
DR: We have 4 diagonals today, 1 on the near end and a 3-way in opposition.
The mirror’s central anagram may refer to one or the other (or both?) of the recent Hanoi negotiators. Could it be a critique of insincere diplomacy--summed up in two blunt words?:
“SOULLESS TACT”? Hmm?
The front end anagram is more familiar. It reminds me of certain occasions in my professional life when I failed to cast female friends in roles to which they aspired.
I refer of course to …
“MAD ACTRESSES”!
D-O, if that’s the case then it’s even more lame having “cart” in the clue for 1 across
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIM @ 12:10 pm: I'm glad you are enjoying the Gibble's chips. They are unique. If you ever get the chance to try another PA brand called Middleswarth, you may enjoy them also. These are the chips that I mail to my kids in NJ because they can't get them there.
Also, I don't blame you on passing up on the Roadkill Stew. The best way to make it is to use lots of canola oil to make it easy to scrape out of the pan into the garbage.
PK @ 12:32 pm: I've already told my kids that I'm spending all of their inheritance, so writing them out of the will wouldn't work. I need some other approach. I have threatened them with not cleaning out the basement before I pass on and leaving all of my junk for them to deal with (and there is a lot of stuff.)
Thanks Robert for the engaging puzzle. And Lemonade for the explanations.
ReplyDeleteSo CC did both the USA Today puzzle and the NYT puzzle? What a feat!
62a. Countertop material: MICA, was confusing. I know one of the key properties of mica is that it forms thin sheets easily. I Wikied and found that FORMICA was created as a substitute for mica in electrical insulators and is a plastic laminate:
FORMICA
After Googling I also learned that mica is found in some granite countertops. Too much mica and it is too brittle.
MICA in GRANITE
6. 1492 sailer: PINTA. Nice to see one of Columbus's other ships. Usually Nina is the answer.
13. Arcade trademark word: SKEE. Skee ball.
SKEE Ball is a key plot element in the movie Dogma,
God, an old man, gets conked out playing Skee Ball. God is in a hospital bed and
Alanis Morissette has to kill him so he is released. She becomes God.
SPOILER ALERT
Best Wishes for an early spring,
VS
Many thanks for your comment, PK. Ol'Man Keith, it rained here during the night and the ground was still very wet until almost noon, although it is dry now. But the LA Times never came. I too am incredibly frustrated by this--thanks for your sympathy.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteI am so proud of me-self today. Not only did I get a Friday FIR*, there's not a single ink-blemish on my grid - NO WOs!
//I took a snap if you want proof.
Thanks RELM for this head scratcher. Took me about 45 minutes (fast for me @7:06) to suss everything out.
Thanks LEM for the expo and Jimi's FOXY LADY. Also interesting about Downey Jr. reprising Mason... I wonder how that would work - I mean everyone is familiar w/ Holmes but I don’t think kids today know Mason [I've only seen a few episodes and I'm 48]
The mind's-solve: My first solid was EMT and I worked out from there. Back to the north and I got STAX / X-FACTOR and knew the game afoot. That helped finish the South with INSIDE MANX. Then the East filled fine... Moving back up again. How'd I miss MAUDE's clue? I know that (and The Jeffersons). Bring it on RELM!, I've got this...
It's got to be ANNEX... Drop the X... ANNE(noodle) perp-check; wait... Amos (Famous)** or OREO... Oh, ETE. QUEEN ANNE(?) TOQUE (Eh? - Bob & Doug reference - take off hoser)... Must be OREO/ REESE... UPSet...no. NASTY. UPSTART! It is PINTA... SPIFF, SMARTS. //done - I be smart today.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: MINO, LYNETTE, ERLE, ROUSEY
Fav: There was so much fun in this grid... I'll go w/ JIG xing JETE (Hi OAS!)
{A, A+, B+}
BigE - I'm w/ you. Sure I live in Houston but my Hot Sauces (other than Cholula) are all from LA. Crystal (fav), LA HS (for some recipes), and, sometimes, Tabasco. All good stuff.
OMK - DR #1 is LOL!
BillO (and NWRunner & AGMoral)- that's why it was so funny when Bugs calls Elmer NIMROD - double-meaning only the smart kids got :-) Wait, are they saying that Bugs coined the DOLT connotation? Maybe I'm not so smart :-) //NWRunner & AG - I looked this up b/f I read you. I draft & read simultaneously.
Oc4 - so you got IM on Gibble's? She got me hook'd... I'm thinking Ponzi scheme / multi-level marketing here. What's your vig IM?
Pop told me a few months ago (after the 1st snow) that he was cleaning out his basement. Said it was because he loves us too much to have to deal w/ his sh**. I guess our standing 8pm Sunday calls worked!
Last thing (I know, I'm going on too long). MATT LeBlanc [11:30 interview] I knew from Friends. He's not a Joey, er, DOLT.
Cheers, -T
*FIR, to me, is no outside help at all - not even a Google for spelling. Like golf, we play against ourselves.
**I didn't think of OTIS HG. Good I didn't w/ the 'O' inking first.
Re: Viking Ship. I'm not familiar with its registry, so I can't guess about the Coast Guard's reasoning. I can see a need for pilotage for some legs of the trip due to transiting the St. Lawrence and Welland Canal locks, and the need for traffic control in restricted areas.
ReplyDeleteNot knowing more details, I can't comment on the "commercial" question.
I want to post a link to my favorite Tom Leher song. This is lip-synched by a, possibly, frat boy with visuals:
ReplyDeleteNEW MATH
VS
Virginia Sycamore:
ReplyDeleteThank you for explaining SKEE as a brand. I'm clueless when it comes to electronic games.
I love the QUEENANNE style of furniture and I noticed, lemonade, that the example posted has the QWEENANNE legs on the sofa and chairs but not on the table. For me, that would not work.
My patio is looking colorful! I haven't had time to do the Jumble or any other CWds working outside all afternoon in the HOT sun. It looks SPIFFy. was SPIFF from yesterday? My mind is elsewhere.
That Viking ship is amazing!
Re: Viking ship.
ReplyDeleteThe Minneapolis Star Tribune reported in part: "The U.S. Coast Guard says it doesn't have the authority to give the world's largest Viking ship an exemption from a law that requires all ships navigating the Great Lakes under a foreign flag to have a pilot on board. Only Congress could do that."
The vessel's homeport is Haugesund, Norway, so it is foreign flagged. I don't know if they did but they could have asked their Ambassador to ask if an exception could be made. It would have had to be coordinated with Canada, as well.
VS - I've always liked Lehrer's NEW MATH too. Thanks for the "Math Club" rendition.
ReplyDeleteIt (new math) was imposed upon me in fits and starts as I bounced between public and private schools [depending on which parent had custody at the time] in the mid/late '70s. Nevertheless, I ate it up and can work numbers in bases 10, 12, 8, 16, and, especially, 2.
//1010 is 10 and 0101 is 5; I mean, how easy is that? Shift one bit for halves...
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand Binary and those that don't.
I was also taught Imperial and Metric growing up in the '70s [why are we still not Metric?!?]. I did well in EE & Physics where everything was metric - not so much in Thermo and Materials where everything was Imperial [I'd convert to metric, do the maths, and then convert back to BTU or whatever].
Lucina - I heard on the radio this morning that we, in Houston, had only 2 sunny days in the 28 that February is. My azaleas are pop'n' and the herbs in the (over-grown w/ weeds) garden are huge! //I need to find something to do w/ all this rosemary and thyme.
I'll still give it 15 days before taking out my cacti from their over-wintering-warm (LINT free(ish)) laundry room.
Cheers, -T
Coda - who, yesterday, wanted LINTs for 'Naval bases?' ?
ReplyDeleteI'll naval-gaze my way out... Cheers, -T
I had two writeovers, WACKY/LOONY;SHADY/SEEDY;HAZE/EAVE. I Guess that's three
ReplyDeleteEasier than yesterday
I just had to be on RELM's wavelength, getting ROOK,FEEL,UPSTART,TWEENetc.
If it was Cano it would be Jeter, if Brooks, Belanger. We just had REESE
-T, what a coincidence, I was working on binary in my head. I can't remember why. I just moved once, at ten. Oops, also at seven.
WC
AnonT:
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing your cactus bloom this year! I may have to get myself one of those.
Great puzzle.
ReplyDeleteWe had a yellow 1960 something Cutlass convertible, the most beautiful car ever. Loved it. It was often under repair. Alas, we soon sold it.
I agree that tween in this sense is a portmanteau. Alan at age 55 has become a tween. He is on the verge of leaving home and is striving for independence. I was perturbed by the negativity, at first, but now see that this is a healthy and necessary step towards separation for both of us.
I can relate to those who find the lack of response from our sons or grandsons upsetting. My grandson never acknowledges gifts, money, texts, sweet words, questions, etc. Not even a simple GOT IT or THANKX.
Lucy, good eye. I did not notice the table.
ReplyDeleteMisty, that is not quite the complete story of THE DAY SAL MINEO DIED
ReplyDeleteVirginia Sycamore, good to see you.
ReplyDeleteLucina, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES was not part of the HOUSEWIVES OF... franchise, but a soap opera in the SEX AND THE CITY tradition.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteThanks To RELM and Lemonade.
Am in a rehab facility. Life is tough. More later.
FIR.Problems were STAX, LARAMIE, SOUSE, FOXY LADY, REESE and ROUSEY.
Have to go back and read previous blogs.
Have a good night!
Re. Jeopardy: Alex has always come across, to me, as sour and arrogant to go along with his brainpower. It caught up with him tonight when he bet it all when he didn't have to. I know his teammates were frustrated.
ReplyDeleteFermat, so good to have a post from you. Quite the day - the return of Fermat and Dave 2.
ReplyDelete