google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday April 29, 2019 Matt McKinley

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Apr 29, 2019

Monday April 29, 2019 Matt McKinley

Theme: MLB (66. Org. in which the start of five answers is a "central" player) - Each starting word is a AL or NL Central player.
 
16A. Advice columnists Ann and Abby, e.g. (AL Central): TWIN SISTERS.

37A. Monarch's self-referential plural pronoun (AL Central): ROYAL WE.

59A. Pride or greed, e.g. (NL Central): CARDINAL SIN.
 
9D. Preteens in a pack (NL Central): CUB SCOUTS.

32D. Warnings of serious danger (NL Central): RED ALERTS.

Boomer here.

A bit of a tough time last week. Our homeowners association hired a contractor to replace our roof shingles. Not only was the noise unbearable, but they also moved my Direct TV satellite dish off line and I had NO TV for three days!

C.C. and I spent several days out of the house, donating a little money to Mystic Lake casino, (a small gambling loss and feasting at their buffet for lunch two days.) We also made a stop at the famous Mall of America, however we did not buy much, MOA has tourist trap pricing in most stores. 

Across:

1. Britannica ref.: ENC

4. Singer LuPone: PATTI.  Not familiar with her, but I have heard of Patti Page.


9. Baseball hat: CAP.  I have quite a few.  Some are TC, Some are Vikings, and a lot are Golf.

12. Classic grape soda: NEHI.  I believe this was a favorite of Radar O'Reilly.

14. Sarge's command: TEN HUT.  Sarge's command for Attention.  Ten Huts is where we lived.

15. Put into play: USE.

18. "If I may digress ...," in texts: BTW.

19. Sprinted: RAN FAST.  When I was a kid, women wore nylon stockings that ran fast.

20. Jackie's Ari: ONASSIS.  Jackie could have written the book "How to Marry a Millionaire",

22. __ one's time: didn't rush: TOOK.

23. Sharp-tasting: ACIDIC.

24. King's tenure: REIGN.  "Uh Ha, Oh no, don't let the reign come down."  

27. Tiered Asian temple: PAGODA.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an, China

30. Apt.'s sleeping area: BDRM.  Still not fond of abbreviations.

33. "Bro!": DUDE.  "Hey Dude, Don't make it bad, Take a sad song, and make it better."

35. Hitch, as a ride: THUMB.  Wow, I did this so many times before I had a car.  My high school was 5 miles from my home, and if I needed to stay after school there was no activity bus.  Once I hitchhiked home from Sacramento to Minneapolis.

36. Commit perjury: LIE.

39. Shop __ you drop: TIL.  You can really get exhausted at good old Mall of America.

40. "The Giant" of wrestling: ANDRE.  He spent some time in Vern Gagne's AWA.  I remember his battle with Hulk Hogan in WrestleMania, however I do not think he ever fought (Governor) Jesse, "The Body" Ventura.  Andre was one year older than I but he passed in 1993.  Those seven foot 520 pounders don't seem to last as long as six foot two - 180 lbs. (But they make more $$$)


42. Food for hogs: SLOP.  Aw, don't call my dinner slop.

43. "Ohio" quartet, initially: CSNY. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

44. St. Peter's domain: HEAVEN.  I checked with Warren Beatty and "Heaven Can Wait" 

46. "The Lion King" hero: SIMBA.  I know lions are kings of the jungle, but I never saw one wearing a crown.

48. Chinese PC giant whose name is partly derived from the Latin for "new": LENOVO.  I am preparing these comments on our Lenovo, which has been very dependable over several years. 

50. Hertz rival: AVIS.  We always answer this clue with Avis. We don't often  see National, Budget, Dollar, Payless, Enterprise, Alamo, Advantage, or Thrifty.  Maybe Avis is the only four letter rental company. 

53. Faddish pursuit, after "all": THE RAGE.  Isn't this where kids go to smoke pot and listen to bands?  "Or is that only on Law & Order"?

55. Carefree antics: HIJINKS.  My Mother used to bowl on a team with a lady whose nickname was Jinks.  So when I saw her I said ---

58. "The Fault in __ Stars": 2014 film: OUR.
61. Obtain: GET.  That's why they say Go-getter, and not Go-obtainer.

62. Neatened (up): TIDIED.  Or clean up your wash.

63. Chekov bridgemate, in "Star Trek": SULU.

64. GEICO specialties?: ADS.  Not only GEICO.  I get a kick out of all those companies try to "Out funny" each other. I do laugh at their lies about how much money they can save us though. 

65. Little cuts: SNIPS

Down:

1. __'acte: intermission: ENTR.

2. A novice in: NEW AT.

3. Trouser material: CHINO.  Never had a pair and Santa, do NOT bring me one

4. Kid brother, at times: PEST.  I never had a brother and my sisters were not pests.  But here in Minnesota, we have plenty of mosquitoes.

5. Colony crawler: ANT. And ANTS

6. 2000s teen drama set in California: THE OC.  I have heard of this, it is something about Orange County.  But I think it's a stretch for a Monday puzzle.

7. Rutabaga, e.g.: TURNIP.

8. Tryst-confirming words: IT'S A DATE.  I try to avoid politics but I cannot resist.  An MSNBC guest the other day said that Cory Booker is trying so hard to be the next Obama, he was waiting for him to ask Michelle for a date.


10. Italian wine hub: ASTI.  I never liked wine.  Is Italian better than French.  I remember Christmas Eve my uncle would bring a quart of Mogen David to Grandma's and we would all have a sip.

11. Chapel seats: PEWS.  Correct, and they don't smell.

13. Bring up to speed: INFORM.  Step on the gas ??

14. "__ the season ... ": TIS.  To be Jolly Fa la la.  A little early, or late for this clue.

17. Sushi bar drink: SAKE.  Does this taste like Mogen David ??


21. [Ah, me!]: SIGH.  Once there was a silly old ram, thought he'd bust a hole in the fam.  But he had SIGH hopes.

23. "Furthermore ... ": AND ALSO.  I expect we will hear these words in many speeches next year.

25. Altar promise: I DO.

26. Five __: burger chain: GUYS.  I think I have heard of this.  Is one of the guys named McDonald ??

28. Key with one flat: Abbr.: D MIN.  Also on my Report Card.

29. With dexterity: ABLY.  Hope I can ABLY hit a golf ball if the weather warms up.  I think it was 40 on Saturday, but there was a prediction of snow and thankfully it did not show up.

30. "How dull": BLAH.  "Save the Life of my Child"  Simon and Garfunkel "Bookends"

Said officer MacDougal in dismay:
"The force can't do a decent job
'Cause the kids got no respect
For the law today (and blah blah blah)."

31. Enjoy fine food: DINE.  Okay, and what kind of wine??

34. Wells sci-fi race: ELOI.  "The Time Machine".

37. Performs in costume, as a Civil War battle: RE-ENACTS.  I think the Civil War was a terrible era of U.S. history and I am not a fan of any re-enactment or movie.

38. Typist's meas.: WPM.  Believe it or not, First Sergeant Chapman liked me and the Army taught me how to type and I became a Company Clerk along with Mail Clerk so everyone liked me.  I was the Radar O'Reilly of the 606th Medical Ambulance Company of Fort Campbell, Ky. 42223

41. KOA patron: RVER.  Never owned one.  There is a company in Iowa that makes Winnebago RVs.  They are expensive and huge. Many people spend a lot of money on vehicles and fuel, just so they don't have to stay in a hotel.   

43. Nitpicks: CAVILS.

45. Consequence of an absence of pain, in an exercise mantra: NO GAIN.  I have some exercises to try, hopefully to improve my balance. Thank you, Dr. Nina.

47. Mexicali's peninsula: BAJA.  This is an interesting peninsula.  It's a Mexican State which does not seem to be connected to Mexico.  Northern border is California with maybe just a touch of border with Mexico across the Colorado River.  I visited Tijuana once many years ago.  The entire city was a flea market.  Is it still that way?? 

49. "Rigoletto" composer: VERDI.

51. "To wrap up ... ": IN SUM.

52. Proficiency: SKILL.  Hope those of you with SKILL at crosswords got this far without using any cross words.

53. Frat party garb: TOGA.  Cannot help but thinking of John Belushi in "Animal House".


54. Tinted: HUED.

55. Makes haste, old-style: HIES.

56. Swing voter: Abbr.: IND.

57. Cold shoulder: SNUB.  Go a little lower and you'll get to BUNS

60. Quick swim: DIP.  Yup but this can also be an adjective.

Final season bowling report. My Thursday night league had an 8 team roll off which my team was not included.  So I competed with other outcasts in a three game no tap tournament.  No Tap is a form of bowling that when you knock any nine pins down on your first ball, it counts as a strike. The huge advantage is consecutive strikes will add to your score, plus you do not have to worry about missing the ten pin if you leave it.  I did encounter a pocket 7-10 which screws thing up, but my final was 224-189- and 258=671.  With my handicap I think I finished 3rd out of about 32 entries.  It's not a big money event, but I expect to receive maybe $20-$25 which of course I will split with my wonderful wife, C.C. so she can buy some Tofu.

Boomer
Note from C.C.:

Wendybird emailed me this question yesterday.

"For some reason, when I type my comment in the box and hit “publish”, it never appears. I thought I had indicated my “name” as Wendybird, but that doesn’t show up either.  I thought maybe I was supposed to hit “preview” first, so I did, but my comment just vanished."

I remember SwampCat or CanadianEh! experienced the same glitch a while ago with their iPhone or iPad. How did you guys solve the problem?


65 comments:

OwenKL said...

FIWrong, on a Monday! And the very first cell, at that. iNC + iNTR. INC didn't make much sense, but ENC makes no sense at all! Someone explain it to me, please.

PATTI was partial to PAGODAS.
Susie would SNUB strawberry sodas.
Diane would DINE
On Danny's dime,
Jedi yodelers would yell about Yodas!

{B-.}

D4E4H said...

FIR in 34:52 min. Last square was the "C" at the Natick of 43 A -- CSNY (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young), and 43 D -- CAVILS
(to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily) - dictionary.com

Great Monday morning you Cornies!

Thank you Matt McKinley for this pleasant CW.

Thank you Boomer for your informative review. You used the word "central" to describe the teams. I LIU, and found on Wiki that both leagues have an East, Central and West division. Who da thunk?

Ðave

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Boomer and friends. Seeing the words in parens made me think of baseball, so I was ready when I came to the unifier. CSO go Gary's wife with the TWIN SISTERS.

Like Dave, the "C" in CSNY was my last fill, too.

Andre the Giant (1946 ~ 1993) is also known for playing Fezzik in The Princess Bride.

Interesting to have 'TIS and 'TIL in the same puzzle.

I recognized the photo of the Giant Wild Goose PAGODA from my visit to Xi'an a couple of years ago.

QOD: A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking. ~ Jerry Seinfeld (b. Apr. 29, 1954)

KS said...

Enc is the abbreviation for encyclopedia.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

There was a little crunch to the cornflakes this morning. Nice. Didn't notice the theme until I got to CARDINAL SIN. Well done to both of you, Matt and Boomer.

DUDE: The wisdom of Sam Elliott.

PEST: My nearest sibling was a brother, five years older, and I was definitely a PEST in his eyes. He provided lots of bruises to prove his dominance.

THUMB: In my ute, I too used to thumb rides. Of course, in those days nobody locked the house, and everybody left the keys in the car while shopping. Different times.

FIVE GUYS: I'm told that one just opened about 5 miles down the road. Haven't tried it, though.

Steve said...

This was a fun grid for a Monday! I like it when the themers aren't easily gettable, and as you encounter them you build anticipation of what it might be. I usually solve all across first, so this happens frequently.

What I liked:
The theme was fun! How can you not like baseball teams? And limiting them to the central divisions tightened up the theme nicely. I'm also a fan of a mix of across and down themers. Well done!
55A HIJINKS. I don't know why, but I love that word!

What I didn't like:
Some of the fill was not great, like:
1A ENC. Don't open a grid with a yukky answer. 1A sets the solver's expectation. Make it a good one! 1D ENTR just added insult to injury.
30A BDRM. Ick. Don't do that...just don't
41D RVER. I don't know, that just jangles my nerves.
43D CAVILS is a fine word, but too Naticky crossing CARDINAL SIN on a Monday. Hmmm..is that a Cavil?

Overall a great start to the solving week! Thanks to Matt and Rich!

Steve Out.

Oas said...

Thanks Matt and Boomer for a fun puzzle and review.
D4e4H As at other times I find your comment fits my experience with the puzzle very muchthe same.
Last fill was C at CSNY and CAVILS and happened to be a guess that turned up right.
Caught the theme and used it to help with CARDINAL SIN.
The rest seemed to fall into place without too much trouble.
Have a great day all and don’t let 59A keep you out of 44A.

Cheers

Yellowrocks said...

No cavils with this one. I got CAVIL with just the C. THE OC was the only fill new to me.
My MIL used to serve Mogen David at Christmas time,too, the only time she ever served wine. Way too sweet for my taste. Merlot for me.
Many of today's ads, in trying to be clever, don't promote brand recognition. I remember the ad, but not the product. Geico is an exception. In the old days, jingles made the brand name memorable. My students used to sing the jingles for fun.
Patti LuPone was a award winning Broadway star, Evita, Sweeney Todd, Les Miserables. She also acted in movies and on TV. She made recordings.
My younger sister is a Civil War buff. I have read more than a dozen historical novels based on the Civil War. I have seen a few reenactments.
We have had CSNY quite often.
I solved in wide horizontal stripes top to bottom, so my last fill was in the SE corner. No hold ups. I always use perps to confirm.
Misty, I am glad you had a good dinner party. I cannot imagine fried avocado.

inanehiker said...

Fun run for Monday - both in the puzzle and the blog! Thanks Matt and Boomer!
Since I am from the center of the country and the theme clues are MLB "Central" teams- both of my teams the ROYALs and the CARDINALs are represented today!

ANDRE the giant was so tall because he had Acromegaly or Gigantism - where the pituitary in his brain made too much growth hormone. These days it can be treated by surgery or radiation and if caught early enough a person can have a normal life expectancy. But people with this aren't just tall - all their organs get too big as well like their hearts and they usually die early of the multiple problems that this entails, especially if untreated or unrecognized early enough!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Thanks Boomer for your ABLY composed Monday intro.

Couple strikethroughs but no problems with the solve. Wanted khaki before CHINO. (Wore both in my Naval service.). I think CHINOS originated in China.
Liked the baseball related theme. HIJINKS gave me a smile.
LIE - German lügen, L. German legen, Dutch liegen. (ie has e sound of eel.). (I wouldn't LIE to you. 😎)

Re MOA: We visited MOA in 2001 on our way back from Medora, ND, to MSP airport. Agree with Boomer's assessment.

Jerome said...

Abe's father- Pa Goda

Favorite drink of a "Kung Fu" character. Nehi to a grasshopper.

Trophy for a teenage baseball player who always says, "Ah, me!" SIGH Young award.

jfromvt said...

I love baseball, so the theme was easy for me.

Andre the Giant got his start wrestling in Montreal, which is 90 miles from where I live. Back then, wrestling was actually on TV (the CBC) every Saturday afternoon, and he was the big draw. Every so often, they would come down to wrestle in Burlington, Vermont, so I saw him a few times. All fake of course, but a lot of fun. He was a huge man. Then he was discovered by WWE and became a huge star.

My mother has never been a big TV person, and she says it is because in the early days of TV all they had on was wrestling.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

What a bummer to have a FIW on a Monday! I had Able instead of Ably and was anxious to get to the blog to have CSNE explained, but no Tada was forthcoming. I thoroughly enjoyed the theme (which I caught immediately) and the solve, but some of the cluing and fill were beyond Monday level, IMO. OED instead of Enc and Khaki instead of Chino were early stumbles, but easily corrected.

Thanks, Matt, for a fun (but personally disappointing) start to the week and thanks, Boomer, for soothing my bruised ego with your wit and wisdom. Congrats on your 600+ series. Enjoy the tofu, CC!

Have a great day.

TTP said...

Thank you Matt and Boomer.

HI JINKS ! Sounds like a CSO to me.

I liked this baseball themed puzzle, and it was good to see both the AL Central Division leading TWINS and the NL Central Division leading CARDINALS in the grid.

I loved and still love the harmonies of CSN&Y. Teach Your Children Well comes to mind among the so many great songs. Ohio was the song about the tragedy at Kent State. My friend's mother was a professor there and was present at the time.

Never slowed down and MLB was my last fill.

Boomer, our end-of-season roll off was Thursday night as well. We won the league. I am still on the IRL with what I believe to be a torn UCL, and didn't make it. Banquet this Thursday night.

TTP said...



Wendybird, check to see if you are signed into your Google account.
See if you can post a comment by using the "Prove you're not a robot" function.

BurgerChef said...

If you enjoy a good burger and fries and have the capability, give Five Guys a try. I would rate both their versions better than any other chain out there. Not as good as a local gastropub or if your lucky to have one, a good local diner, but good for a chain.

The sizes are tricky to get used to. A small fry is big. A medium fry can feed 2 or 3 and the large fry feeds 4 normal people. My wife gets the small burger but I prefer the double. Many choices for toppings are available and are requested to be named for each burger.

Prices are a little high, imho, but all items are freshly made in front of you and peanuts in the shell are free while you wait.

One other interesting tidbit. Sacks of potatoes fill the waiting and eating areas while the name and location of the farm where each day's potatoes were grown are written on a blackboard near the kitchen area.

CanadianEh! said...

Marvelous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Matt and Boomer.
Some crunch today but I got the theme teams. (CAVILS on a Monday. Really!)

My newspaper does not credit the constructor; I thought this was a C.C. creation with the baseball theme. I parsed the plural TWINS, CUBS, CARDINALS, but singular ROYAL and RED; but the clue was singular "central player" so no nit (or CAVIL). We had no Jay, but the team is AL East not central.

Many inkblots today. For some strange reason, I entered Ran Past before INFORM corrected to RAN FAST. Initially, I had And Else before Perps corrected to the more appropriate AND ALSO.
I learned NEHI doing CWs. I've never seen one on a store shelf.
Hand up for wanting OED before ENC. (Thanks KS@6:54. I suspect there were more of us who took a minute to see Encylopedia.)
I was taken in by the CSO and entered HiJinxs. (I always smile when I refer back in a comment and say Hi Jinx!)
28D "key with one flat" could have been F Maj also. D MIN is its relative minor.
The OC was unknown.

56D "swing voter;Abbr.=IND", I presume is Indecided. I usually say Undecided. Is Indecided even a word? I can only find indecisive in dictionary. Am I missing something here???? I LIUed and Wiki says a swing voter may also be called a "floating voter who may not be affiliated with a particular political party (Independent)", so I am starting to think it stands for Independent. That makes more sense and answers my own question. LOL I'll leave the comment in case anybody else had the same problem.

Enjoy the day.

oc4beach said...


A couple of crunches for a Monday, but ultimately doable. Boomer's gridsplanation was enjoyable. (As Usual)

Had DYED before HUED, ABLE before ABLY, OED before ENC, and LOFT before BDRM. I still don't like CSNY as a crossword answer or clue, but it does beat 4-letter European rivers.

I agree with BurgerChef @ 9:42 about 5 Guys burgers, especially about being overpriced. They are pretty good, though. Although you get a lot of fries, they are not double fried and tend to be greasy, plus there are a lot of places that have better ones. Like a number of other chains they do have a secret menu that you can try, you just have to ask and hope the crew is aware of them.

Have a great day everyone.



Yellowrocks said...

OED is a dictionary. Britannica is an encyclopedia.

Yuman said...

Tried Five Guys cost us double what we pay at In-N-Out. Love to watch them slice the potatoes and then they go straight to the fryer, yum!

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-RED SCARES and OED were my only speed bumps
-Would you pick up a hitchhiker today?
-Sonny and Cher once sang, “Charleston was once THE RAGE, uh huh”
-IT’S A DATE – We have 12 invitations for graduation parties
-Civil War soldier RE-ENACTORS show up for our city festival in woolen uniforms and July heat
-From what I have seen of RV’s, we’d have to live in one permanently to justify the expense and our marriage would have a 50/50 chance of survival. Make that 10/90…
-NO PAIN/NO GAIN has been debunked for years - Better advice!
-BTW, Tijuana only has three syllables
-Jingle – Can you recite all of the Big Mac ad? Two all beef…

AnonymousPVX said...


This was a nice Monday puzzle that still had some crunch to it.

Well clued and I loved the BB tie-in. I am able to watch my Yankees as I got the Yankee season pass from MLBTV. Then I got a Chromecast Ultra and now I cast the game from my app to the TV.

However, UVerse has just dropped NFL Network and RedZone, so I will be changing my provider come August to Spectrum. Dropped the channels but oddly, no rate reduction. And I used to work for these idiots.

From Saturday and the Star Trek/Thrall comment....they were not “enthrall” to the rulers but “in thrall”. Enthrall means to fascinate.

No markovers today. See you tomorrow.

AnonymousPVX said...


Oh yeah....Five Guys is one of the better premium burger spots.....don’t ever order a large fry unless you have a trailer.

Not only do I know the Big Mac jingle, I can repeat it really fast.

Misty said...

Delightful Monday puzzle, many thanks, Matt. Got PATTI right away and, like Boomer, thought of Radar O'Reilley as soon as I realized the soda would be NEHI. Jackie's ARI shows up in puzzles a lot, but this is the first time he appeared as ONASSIS, in my memory. I know the expressions BRO and DUDE only from crosswords--not in my regular vocabulary (hey, I'm in my seventies). Never heard of LENOVO, but I got it anyway. Boomer, your HI JINKS comment made laugh. When I got to the bottom and saw MLB, I figured it was a baseball theme. But still don't know what AL Central and NL Central (National League?) stand for. Anyway, thanks for a fun experience, Matt and Boomer.

CanadianEh, I think IND stands for Independent voter.

Yellowrocks, thanks for asking about my Fried Avocados. The salad was okay with a nice topping but still monumental work. For the topping you have to dice the avocados, coat them in flour, dip them in an egg wash, coat them in breadcrumbs, and fry the in oil until lightly brown. I refused to buy 8 pieces of corn and scrape them and fry them and instead just used frozen corn. A real monster salad.

Have a good week, everybody.

CrossEyedDave said...

My only nit was having to learn "Cavils" on a Monday...

Here's 21 minutes of "interesting" MLB...

Old Okie said...

I have never heard of Five guys burgers, guess they don't have them down here in Oklahoma, While you guys up north are still shoveling snow, I have been mowing grass, I spent most of the day mowing yesterday, since it was my birthday weekend my son did the trimming, Boomer, you are a youngster, I turned 79 Saturday, and still mow the biggest part of 5 acres.

CanadianEh! said...

C.C. and Wendybird - I don't remember posting about losing my posts, but it may have been a while ago. I am always signed in when on my iPad and just hit Publish from there. On my PC (where I do not remain signed in), I hit Publish and then am asked to choose my Google account and then for my password. I rarely preview and never hit the I'm not a robot reCAPTCHA. But I do always Copy my post before hitting Publish "just in case". This is probably based on memories of losing posts to the ethernet!

Misty said...

I forgot to say that I think I remember that the teen drama set in California, "THE OC", referred to Orange County, which is where I live. Could that be right?

Lucina said...

Hola, amigos y amigas!

Thank you, Matt McKinley and Boomer! What a lovely puzzle followed by a lively commentary.

Though I'm not a baseball fan this puzzle posed no problems for me since the theme answers were couched in regular terms. I liked TWIN SISTERS!

Also, it was surprising to see ONASSIS fully spelled out; we usually just have ARI.

I still have fond memories of visiting the Mall of America. It's a vast shopping paradise and most surprising of all was the wedding chapel on the top floor. We saw a wedding party go from the chapel to a restaurant just across from it. If you go up to the upper floors the prices are lower, at least when we were there a few years ago.

My LENOVO search engine pops up unexpectedly and it's annoying.

I believe BDRM is an abbreviation used in classified ads for apts. I have no CAVILS with that.

Canadian Eh!:
You are right about Independent and I have heard that many of the President's party are now changing to Independent. No politics intended, just stating what I've heard.

HEAVEN spelled backward is a popular girl's name including one of my great-nieces, Neveah.

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

OwenKL said...

Haht: Just for the record, my LW is also an identical twin. I've only met her "Sissy" a couple of times, and they've got enough mileage I can barely see any slight resemblance any more.
Princess Bride is perhaps my favorite movie, so that's where I think of ANDRE also.

KS: Thanks for ENCyclopeda!

STEVE: Agree ENC/ENTR stink, but BDRM was okay. "sleeping area in ads" would have been a better clue. And the problem with RVER isn't in the puzzle, but in how it's written in discussion. RV-ER, R.V.ER, R V'ER would make more sense.

oc4beach: Thanks for the link. Never been but will try the 5 Guys.

HI-JINKS = SHENANIGAN

CanadianEh! said...

Speaking of ADS, Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism has had some great, award-winning ads over the last few years. See for yourself (start with the first four and continue as time allows!). Beautiful spot to visit; give yourself lots of time, as it is quite big. I am due for a return visit.
NoSuchThingAsAnAccidentalTouristHere

Yes, Misty, I came to the conclusion that IND meant Independent. We don't use that term very much in Canada referring to voters. We do have Independent politicians who do not belong to any political party. In fact, we currently have two famously-created Independent politicians, Jodie Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott. But I will not bore you with Canadian politics!

Madame Defarge said...

Hello!

I am late to the game today, so as you might guess it's a WEES call here. I enjoyed the puzzle and the explication. Thanks, Matt and Boomer.

I found the theme again. This is a whole new life for me. Well, maybe just a bit more fun in this old life.

Have a good day. In French, one says, "It's a beautiful day for frogs." [C'est un plus bel jour pour les grenouilles.] Indeed. Today's consistent rain and Saturday's snow have left quite a lot of water standing around. Searching for sunshine. . . .

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Matt McKinley, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Boomer, for fine review.

Got through easily. Caught the theme with CUB SCOUTS. We are going to a Cubs game next week. Hope it is not snowing.

Did not know CSNY. I am not familiar with the newer music.

PATTI Lupone was unknown. Perps.

Rained all morning today. Got soaked while guarding the crossing. Lower legs and feet. Had a raincoat on for the top of me.

I have to take the dog out. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Anonymous said...

You know your old when...

"Did not know CSNY. I am not familiar with the newer music."

Love it Abejo. Just goes to show that we all have our own realm of knowledge. Lol

Ol' Man Keith said...

A little sorry to see the lack of recognition for PATTI LuPone. I was fortunate in seeing her award-winning performance in the title role of Evita on Broadway.
While I am not a huge fan of musicals, that was a brilliantly transformative performance--one of the few completely indelible experiences I recall from a lifetime of attending shows.
Sadly, Ms. LuPone does not photograph all that well, or she would surely have had an enormous mass media career.
In person she is riveting, dynamic.

Misty ~
Your fried avocados must be delicious! Still, a lot of work. I used to enjoy cooking, but not lately, as I have difficulty standing for long. And cooking takes a lot of standing.
I knew Gary Burghoff, who played Radar, the drinker of NEHI. I directed him in a couple of shows at the Belfry Theater in Wisconsin. At the end of our season, I had to step into his role in our last show when he left early for a contract in New York. That turned out to be a little off-Broadway number called You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He played Charlie.
The rest, as they say...
~ OMK
____________
DR:
We have two diagonals today, one on each side.
The anagram on the near side takes me back several decades to a traumatic incident in my high school bio lab, when I found highly abnormal counts of single-celled creatures in two of my Petri dishes.
Ah, yes, my friends, I found I had...
"AMOEBA FLUKES"!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. All I have to say is WEES. I still get fooled into thinking of some kind of college in New York whenever I see CSNY.

AnonymousPVX, as soon as I posted it, I realized "enthrall" was wrong, that I should have typed "in thrall". I was too lazy to post a correction. But thank you for pointing it out.

Misty, not to belabor the point, but those fried avocado chunks you made sound interesting. I can imagine trying to bread them was difficult, even if only because the chunks would be so slippery.

There is a Five Guys just a mile down the road from us. We've never been in it.

I guess I'm a Pinot Noir guy. Also Cabernet Sauvignon. As for whether French wine is better than Italian wine, Boomer, I personally like the former better than the latter. So much Italian wine is made from the Sangiovese grape, the taste of which I simply don't like.

Jerome, good ones!

My wife and I have both recently been discussing possibly switching to the Independent party.

Madame Defarge, I love that French greeting.

May you all be well.

Lucina said...

Canadian Eh!:
I can happily say I've been to New Foundland and Labrador! After we read The Shipping News by Annie Proulx and saw the movie, my friend, Marsha, and I were intensely interested in that part of Canada and so we booked a trip and traveled there for one week. It was fascinating and we met some lovely people. One of the best surprises we saw were the numerous book stores in St. John! It was a wonderful tour.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Thanks Matt for the serious granola in this morning's puzzle; not your typical Monday speed-run. The theme, however, was obvious immediately. #BASEBALL!

Fun Expo Boomer - that "No Tap" bowling rule seems like not putting-out; really(?).
I was with a Medical Company (409th Medical Clearing Company of 807th Med Brigade) too. I was 92B [Med lab tech].

WO: I can never remember how to spell BAhA, HIgInks, ah, BAJA.
ESPs: CAVILS* is totally new to me. Otherwise, many c/a's took serious perps [looking at you PATTI & PAGO-A]
Fav: DUDE, gotta be dude, esp. after last week's Dude puzzle, Man.

{B+}

Welcome (back?) to The Corner Old Okie. How close are you to OKC? Google shows 3 up there and one down near Norman [Boomer Sooner!]

*D4 - from definition you provided, I'm wondering if CAVIL is related to kvetch. Anyone? //Loved the Seinfeld QOD!

Misty - yes, OC is Orange County. There was also OC "sports-wear" back in the '80s IIRC.

Abejo - What @1:37p meant is CSNY is from the early '70s. Ohio. Can't avoid the politics in that one [unless you don't click].

YR - re: jingles. The Girls could hardly talk yet but when "We are Farmers" played, they'd finish with "Bubmp-ity bumb bum."
HG - All the way through I can... "on a sesame-seed bun."

Jerome - a Barney Miller / Fish reference(?) Think the kids' will get it? And Grasshopper goes further back!

Cute DR OMK. Cool that you directed Radar.

D-O: Dang it DUDE - twice I've been beaten to linkin' Lebowski. Nicely played. Five Guys' is pretty good - Cajun fries might be worth the trip. If you have a Smashburger nearby, try their rosemary & garlic fries.

C, Eh! - I also tickle myself when typing "Hi Jinx!" :-)
I see this has been beaten to death but... I read IND as Independent (hand-up) - I've been registered both D & R but that's just to participate in primaries.

Jayce - as an American of Italian heritage, it is my duty to take umbrage with your "French is better wine." SIGH but you're right; ACIDIC the Chianti. //only good with Fava beans and... :-)

Before the MS150 (a 180 mile bike ride from Houston to Austin that I've grown smart enough not to do anymore), I'd have a beer (yes it was pre-dawn; is that a problem?) and toast my fellow riders "No Pain!, No Pain! Let's Ride!"

Cheers, -T

Prairie Woman said...

Good afternoon. Thanks for the explanations, Boomer. And, thank you to Matt for inadvertently giving me the ear worm of Jiminy Cricket spelling encyclopedia.

I caught the theme at Cardinal Sin. Since my family is from Southern Illinois, it is almost a sin to be something other than a Cardinal fan. My adult life has been spent halfway in between St. Louis and Chicago where there is a somewhat peaceable rivalry between Cubs’ and Cardinals’ fans.

Our mall has a Five Guys; we have tried it once. Although the food is good we decided to spend the same amount on something other than a hamburger. The restaurant and its very visible neon sign is located next to Dick’s Sporting Goods on the most traveled side of the mall. After a few snickering social media posts there is now a new sign with the name of the mall visible between the other two signs.

Best wishes for a sunny day for all my fellow Midwesterners!

.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Jayce ~
Are you planning to join the American Independent Party (AIP) or to just declare yourself Independent (IND)?
We are constantly being reminded of the difference here in CA. Apparently too many people have been checking boxes for AIP when what they really want is to become "independent" of any party.
I have always been independent (small "i") of party affiliation. I remember George Washington's warning.
(I can hear the ageist cracks already.)
I can't remember ever voting for a Republican, but I never signed on as a Dem.

A few times I have written in a candidate. I voted for Eric Severeid instead of Goldwater or LBJ. (I would have gone with Johnson if it weren't for Vietnam.) Still, I keep getting mailings as if I'm a member of the Democratic party.
I don't mind.
But they're wasting the postage.

CanadianEh! ~
No! Please tell us more about Canadian politics!
Anything is a relief from our own...

Mme Defarge ~
Love the frog day greeting!
Speaking of things French, there was a neat essay in yesterday's NY Times. I forget the writer now, but he was talking about Pete Buttigieg's chances. He likes Mayor Pete, but thinks electing him would be a mistake, as he is too much like our Emmanuel Macron.
--End of political rant--
~ OMK

Anonymous T said...

Prairie Woman: "Five Guy's Dick's Sporting Goods" is the LOL of the day!

I grew up in SPI, IL.: 1/2 Cards - 1/2 Cubs. I swear you could tell political affiliation based on which team someone rooted for. I had a warm spot for the Cubs but knew the Cards would win. Cheers, -T

Anonymous said...

Omk and Ceh?,

Please!!!!

I'd rather not hear of anyone's politics!!

We have friends in Canada(insert your joke here) who often tell me they have problems much like our own and to not believe anyone who tells US otherwise.

Ol' Man Keith said...

LOL. I'm not sure that an independent stance is all that political.

But then, we should act as though someone will always be offended.
~ OMK

Anonymous said...

Just an fyi old man.

The mere mentioning of LBJ and Vietnam is political! Lol.

Jayce said...

Anonymous T, I am still trying to find a Chianti that isn't harsh or too acidic. By the way, LW and I watched "Big Night" recently. You know, the movie with Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub as two Italian-American brothers (named Primo and Secondo, believe it or not) who run a restaurant. We loved it. Good food, excellent acting, heartwarming story.

Ol'Man Keith, not the AIP. Just IND. We both are currently registered Republicans, and we may stay that way just to be able to, as you pointed out, have a vote in the primaries.

Shoot, almost anything one says can be called political. But I don't think CC's rule means nobody can even mention a person's name or explain a little history. I think (and as a lousy professor I once had liked to say, "If I'm right, and I think I am ...") the intention was for us not to engage in arguing, bickering, or trying to persuade others. The same goes for religion. (I think I'm right. Hehehe)

Speaking of frogs, I fondly recall a Chinese restaurant in Tempe, AZ, called "Ching Wa", which is frog in Mandarin Chinese. It used to be on Elliott Road, just west of Kyrene; I don't know if it's still there. The food, actually, was pretty good.

Abbondanza!

Jayce said...

Yep, there's always going to be someone who gets offended.

Anonymous T said...

Jayce - I'm going to look for that programme.

Prairie Woman didn't ask for this but...
I've been to both Wrigley and Busch (II & III) and I'll tell you (and anyone else who reads) - fans from both CHI & STL (in both locals) are polite [even when tossing little jabs (cork'd bat anyone? - 'roids(?) McGwire) around] and really knew the game. The talk in the stands was like listening to folks watching a chess match - A thing of beauty as everyone respected everyone; even when the play went against them. ['wow! that was a beaut!; toss behind the back and we're out. Gotta give it up - props.']

Contrast that with sitting in the Crawford boxes at Minute Maid and (3) Dodgers fans screaming obscenities at my 8yro Girl when she cried "Swing and a miss!" as the final out in that inning was pitched. DW insisted I do something.

SIGH - "Look you F***ers, don't curse in front of my kid" was about all I could muster.
//those guys were eventually escorted out and we enjoyed our 'Stros loss that day.

WC - I'm curious how they do it up NE w/ Yanks & Sox.

Cheers, -T

Terry said...

Ah yes, puns, the thalidomide, bastard children of true wit. Not to say that I don't love them. Well done.

Michael said...

OMK @ 4:09 --

You want relief?

My son made me a bumper sticker on Zazzle:

"Bullmoose Party in 2020!"

Yuman said...

Jayce, and for other “winos” yesterday, I watched “Bottle Shock” It was based on the1976 wine competition, “Judgement of Paris”
when a California wine defeated a French wine in a blind taste test. Very enjoyable movie saw it on Starz but Amazon also has it.

Canadian Eh, last night I watched a movie about the Canadian folk artist, “Maud Lewis” who lived and painted in Nova Scotia. For unknown reasons the movie was shot in a Newfoundland.

Anonymous T said...

@Michael - A close second with Bull Moose Party. :-) -T

RE said...

What does FIW stand for? Thanks in advance.

Avg Joe said...

Not a spoiler, but Jeopordy is well worth watching tonight.

Darrell Hammond said...

Oh Avg Joe...

(Read in my best Sean Connery voice)

You're treading on thin ice there Trebek.

Avg Joe said...

Darrell. What? I didn't give a damn thing away. I'm just pointing out that the contest was interesting and worth seeing. (And in the spirit of Radar O'Reilly) that is all..

Jayce said...

RE, FIW stands for Finished It Wrong.

Darrell Hammond said...

Avg Joe.

Easy there, tiger. I never suggested you did any such thing.

TTP said...

OK, troll, you're done.

Big Easy said...

""For some reason, when I type my comment in the box and hit “publish”, it never appears. I thought I had indicated my “name” as Wendybird, but that doesn’t show up either. I thought maybe I was supposed to hit “preview” first, so I did, but my comment just vanished."

Big Easy has NEVER been able to post from any phone either through "NAME/URL" or my google account.

Jayce said...

This is a test, posting from my iPad.

Misty said...

Thank you, everyone, for your kind comments about my fried avocados and my home county of Orange County! So nice to get feedback.

D4E4H said...

desper-otto at 7:02 AM wrote "in those days nobody locked the house..."

I was raised on a farm, and our house had no locks.

Ðave

Wilbur Charles said...

Two all-beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun
It only took a few seconds for me to shut off “MLB”!!!

“Did not know CSNY. I am not familiar with the newer music. “ Rtfl! no offense#. Oops, Anon@1307 got it first

I had a good one when I lived in Concord, MA . I was in the front yard and a car pulled up:” Do you know the way to the Emerson House?” “Sorry, I don't know the neighbors” . Duh

-T, I got the”Guy's Dicks” thx

I just ran this off fast with no hiccups

-T, I haven't been to Fenway in the 21st century (nor Gillette). I follow the games on TV and I would say Fenway has mellowed, partly because the disliked Yankees (and Sox) are gone. __SUCKS is prevalent both places.
BTW (cso?)
I'm back to posting on Android. If the setup refers to a Google account then it's automatic(because I'm always logged into Google)

WC

# Abejo, the rain man, bravo. October 1969 it rained every day, all day(Vietnam) Also, the following spring came Cambodia and 4 dead in Ohio. Shock


Bill G said...


Jayce,after reading your posts all this time, I would have bet money that you were registered as a Democrat. Dunno why exactly...

CanadianEh! said...

Lucina - Glad that you enjoyed your trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. It is a unique experience.

OMK and Anon@4:29 - No I won't inflict Canadian politics on you and the rest of the blog.
"Loyalty to country ALWAYS.
Loyalty to government, when it deserves it." –Mark Twain

Yuman @5:54 - Yes, people in Nova Scotia were upset that the Maud Lewis movie, Maudie, was shot in Newfoundland . . but quite often, movies are not shot on the precise location.
Here's an interesting story that I linked at the time about one of her paintings being discovered by a savvy volunteer in a thrift shop. Fortunate bonus for the charity's work.
$45,000ForMCC