google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, May 31, 2019, Jeffrey Wechsler

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May 31, 2019

Friday, May 31, 2019, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Boris: “Do you agree?” Natasha: “ДА!”

My regular doubles partner here at the Corner, Jeffrey Wechsler is back on a Friday with one of his classics - an add letters puzzles to create funny fill. Today DA is added and I hope it did not addle your brain. DA is the yes in Russian, an abbreviation for DAD in Britain (I think-Steve?) and a common shortcut for District Attorney. He also sneaks in the amusing non-themer DADAIST, along with many other sparklies like ANALYST,  DOGGIES, I'M ALONE, MASCARA, ON A DATE, PORGIES, STENCIL, ALARMING, MACARENA, MIRRORED, and SEDATION. We also have many apostrophes and the usual trickery in some cluing. On with the fun.

17A. Short-order bear?: FRYING PANDA (11). If you can have a Kung-fu Panda why not one in the kitchen making your lunch, using a FRYING PAN.

24A. News item from Hoda Kotb?: TODAY STORY (10). The 4th-hour anchor is away with her new adopted BABY. It is too soon to watch TOY STORY.

34A. Skeptical response to "Here's the drink I owe you"?: SAY IT ISN'T SODA (13). Obviously not the response of a teetotaller.

46A. Element of avant-garde music?: DARING TONE (10). I think the tonality or lack thereof of Arnold Schoenberg was more daring. I have a cousin who married a Schoenberg.

55A. Prosecutor ... or what four long puzzle answers have received?: ASSISTANT DA (11). So maybe this is the one he had in mind. I hope he doesn't mind my subversive write-up, but I just must have fun. On with the show. 

Across:

1. Just right: APT. Not an easy start, but it is Friday.

4. Some pets, in totspeak: DOGGIES. Totspeak is a term I think was developed solely for crossword fill like OWIE, WAWA and oh yeah DADA!

11. Ronda Rousey's sport, initially: MMAMixed Martial Arts.

14. Supporting: FOR. Not a beam but a person.

15. Tempting text to a lover: I'M ALONE. Sounds like some kind of illicit rendezvous.

16. McShane of "Deadwood": IAN. Ian has been one of my favorites, I think Steve also, since his days as LOVEJOY. However, in the John Wick 3 movie, he is not a nice man, and that is not a nice movie. Halle Berry continues to look nice, though.

19. Label for some Usher releases: RCA. Do people care about record labels anymore?

20. Words from a bell ringer: IT'S ME. Not in the tower, but at your front door. Obviously not an academic visitor.

21. Pen part: NIB. All you ever wanted to know about PENS.

22. Continental border river: URAL. This divides Europe and Asia.

23. Coolidge who wasn't president: RITA. This mostly Cherokee and mostly forgotten SINGER was married to Kris Kristofferson as well as having hits like...

27. L'Oréal's Voluminous Carbon Black, e.g.: MASCARA. I love having this in the puzzle with 12D. Popular '90s  dance:  MACARENA.

29. Longtime preceder of Johnny?: HERE'S. Both Ed McMahon and Jack Nicholson made this famous.

30. Maurice Sendak/Carole King musical "Really __": ROSIE. A hard Friday fill but a wonderful collaboration between the creator of Where the Wild Things Are and the very talented Ms. King,  subject of the Broadway hit Beautiful.

33. "__ you clever!": AREN'T. Yes, he is.

38. Apollo's birth island: DELOS. This Greek god has great BACKSTORY.

39. Nautical pole: SPRIT. I will leave the words to our sailors.

40. Saw: ADAGE. Nope, just letters here.

41. At the movies, maybe: ON A DATE. Here too.

50. Bird's biological class: AVES. I like this followed by...

51. Bill distributors: ATMS. Since birds have bills.

52. Detroit labor gp.: UAWUnited Auto Workers.

53. Research support: GRANT.

54. Sundial marking: III.

58. Luke, to Anakin: SON.

59. Sign maker's aid: STENCIL. Do they need them any longer?

60. Court fig.: ATTorney. Not an abbreviation popular in the profession.

61. "Star Trek" spin-off, briefly: TNGThe Next Generation.

62. Fish also called sea breams: PORGIES. This little FISH is one the many considered as a kosher fish. Catfish are not.

63. Future 62-Across: ROE. JW just egging you on.

Down:

1. Validate: AFFIRM.

2. "The quality of mercy is not strain'd" speaker: PORTIA. "It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven." Merchant of Venice Act IV, Scene I. Jeffrey and I both love our Friday Shakespeare.

3. Secret meetings: TRYSTS.

4. Order the Beef Wellington, say: DINE.

5. Bit of texting shock: OMG.

6. Space: GAP.

7. Endocrine __: GLAND.

8. Ancient region of present-day Turkey: IONIA. I always thought it was in Greece.

9. Not continue past: END BY. Also Use By.

10. Ahab's milieu: SEA.

11. Did the same as: MIRRORED.

13. Pro with a couch: ANALYST. Psycho-

18. Apple product: IMAC.

22. Unborn, after "in": UTERO. Literal Latin.

24. Unhurried pace: TROT.

25. Refreshing place: OASIS. Or maybe you want to visit...

26. Siskiyou County peak: SHASTA. I am sure this was a gimme for our West Coast contingent.

28. Gotten up: ARISEN.

31. Many a cable co.: ISPInternet Service Provider. Not related to 55D. Cleopatra's "poor venomous fool": ASP. A double dose of Will from Act V, Scene 2.
"Poor venomous fool
Be angry and dispatch. Oh, couldst thou speak,
That I might hear thee call great Caesar ass."

32. 2001 scandal subject: ENRON.

34. It puts people out: SEDATION. A very nice clue for a Friday deception.

35. Frightful: ALARMING.

36. Ones using asanas: YOGIS. And so many of your neighbors. 12 FAVORITES.

37. Pitchfork part: TINE. Actually any fork.

38. Arp, for one: DADAIST.

42. "Phooey!": DARN. Probably the tame version of what JW is thinking about my silliness.

43. Video game figure: AVATAR.

44. Take care of: TEND TO.

45. Wayne Manor and environs, e.g.: ESTATE. An odd Batman reference?

47. Relish: GUSTO.

48. Law enforcement tool: TASER.

49. In arrears: OWING.

53. Hoedown misses: GALS. Not misses, but misses. Not related to Hoda Kotb.

56. Chem. or phys.: SCI.

57. Bun package closer: TIE. If you keep your legs tied together you will not get a bun in the oven.

We have made it through another Friday challenge from Jeffrey. It always feels good to solve and then discuss one of his creations. I hope you had fun and I will leave you with the grid and another picture of a classic DA. Lemonade out.




45 comments:

OwenKL said...

F.I.R. means I Finished It Right
Tho it may have taken all of my might!
In my own head-bone
I did it alone,
Tho I had to work all thru the night!

Tots and toddlers love the DOGGIES.
Roman bird-watchers loved the AVES.
An ASSISTANT D.A.
Loves a legal fray,
And gardeners love their ROSIES!

Po, the Kung Fu PANDA, worked with his Pop,
Together they ran a Japanese noodle shop.
A U.F.O. driving splotchy
Landed on their hibachi --
Then the FRYING saucer got a Kung Fu chop!

"Oh, Captain, there's a flaw in our SPRIT!
The wood of that spar has just split!
Our ship sure will founder,
Sleep with PORGIES and flounder,
And with Davey Jones we'll all have a TRYST!

{A, B+, A-, A.}

D4E4H said...

FIR in 48:58 min.

Happy Friday friends.

Thank you Jeffrey Wechsler for this extra crispy CW. I was sure that I would have to reveal a letter in the NW cell, but somehow I got a "word hold" and soon the cell was all black.

Thank you Lemonade for your excellent review.

17 A -- I thought it said short-order "beer". I got the theme at 17 A which helped the other 4 themers.

Ðave

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

At first I thought Panda Express was going to be part of the theme. Nope. My totspeak pets began life as BOWWOWS -- almost a clean-grid Friday. CSO to Lucina with ASANAS. Thanx for the diversion, Jeffrey, and for the expo, Lemonade.

PORGIES: Haven't heard much about 'em since this song from my ute. Porgy appears at 0:33.

CartBoy said...

⭐️Great to have a JW start to the weekend. Really had to grind in the southwest, but it came. Looking forward to the next JW gem.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Lemonade and friends. This was a very challenging puzzle for me. RITA Coolidge was my first fill on the first pass!

I liked how the ATT was immediately below the ASSISTANT DA. I did see the DA insert, but looked for it at the end of the answers, and not mixed throughout the phrases.

I learned of MT. SHASTA from doing the crossword puzzles.

I wanted Ended in lieu of END BY.

PORGIES, also known as Sheepshead, do not sound very tasty.

I misread 13-Down as Pro with a Crouch, so immediately wrote in (baseball) Catcher.

QOD: Don’t pessimism and caution naturally go hand in hand? ~ Lynne Truss (b. May 31, 1955)

Big Easy said...

DA! Finally an easy Wechsler puzzle to finish that only took a few WAGS & perps to finish. PORTIA, DELOS, MMA, IAN, ROSIE, PORGIES, & SHASTA just worked themselves into the grid.

Hoda- she was a local newscaster for years, married to a tennis pro that I know. Boy did he ever mess up his meal ticket when she went big time. She found out about a few TRYSTS, threw his clothes on the street, and I mean threw them on the NYC street, and kicked him out. He's back in town as a tennis pro.

Anonymous said...

Hoda's a co-anchor of the first 3 hours, and it's never too early to watch a classic like "Toy Story." The fourth installment comes out this summer.

Right around 15 minutes for a Friday JW puzzle is a good sign for the start of the weekend.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased END at for END BY, MACARaNA, and rats for DARN, Also had to fix DADoIST, but I won't go down that route(r).

I'M ALONE reminds me of a beach weather forecast - "the coast is clear".

Love me some RITA Coolidge. The Lady's Not For Sale.

I once dated a woman who made a tidy sum doing radio commercials. Her singing voice was indistinguishable from Carole King's. It was legal to mimic a voice for commercial purposes in those days. (She also expertly played the piano, guitar and flute. I remember her buying an old sax one Friday afternoon, and by Monday she could play recognizable tunes.)

When bow sprits started making a comeback in sailboat racing, a friend who sailed on Lake Texoma bought a boat featuring that device and named the boat "Toad Poker".

If I ever get around to it, I want to dub MACARENA over a video of one of Beto's speeches. Should be funny whether you are a supporter or detractor.

Thought of Picard at TNG.

Thanks to JeffWech for another gem. My favorite was "longtime preceded of Johnny?" for HERE'S. And thanks to Lemony for another fun visual tour.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Big easy - tennis pro fidelity brings to mind a camel and the eye of a needle.

Anonymous said...

A reminder of those daffy high school days, "the ducktail is a men's haircut style popular during the 1950s. It is also called the duck's tail, duck's ass, duck's arse (UK), or simply D.A., and is also described as slicked back hair. The hair is pomaded (greased), combed back around the sides, and parted centrally down the back of the head," looking when seen from the back like a duck's behind. Anyone old enough to remember this?

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Thanks, Jeffrey, for a theme I got finally this week. A real doo-DA day! Found the puzzle easier than yesterday.

Thank you, Lemonade for all DA silliness. Need a little fun this week.

Knew who Ronda Rousey was but wanted E(xtreme) Martial Arts. (Hey, we got MA to go with DA.) Had to perp the 2nd M.

DNK: IAN, DELOS.

Endocrine GLAND was easy. My son informed me recently that there are exocrine GLANDs also.

FLN: Big Easy: interesting drug theft story.

Ah yes, I remember the ducktail hairdo. All the grease left stains on the shoulder of one of my favorite blouses. Mother couldn't figure out what caused it.

Just got to feeling less anxious about stormy weather with a few dry days when I got news last night of a dam bursting near my niece's farm where they had already had flooding over cropland near the house. Fortunately, she answered right away and let me know they were okay. Rain predicted the next two days. Glub! Glub!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Happiness is a sunny (rarity this Spring) Friday in May and a JW puzzle to tickle our fancies. I caught the theme immediately at Short order bear=Frying panda, which was also my favorite C/A. There was some crunch but fair perps saved the day: w/os included Sedative/Sedation, Avis/Aves, and Denali/Shasta, and unknowns were: Delos, Mascara, Rosie, and Portia. I, too, liked the Att below Assistant DA (Hi, Hatoolah), and the ISP ~ ASP duo. On the Wechsler scale of difficulty, I'd rate this a Goldilock's "Just right."

Thanks, Jeffrey W, for never disappointing and always pleasing your legion of fans and thanks, Lemony, for your always spot-on dissections of Friday offerings, particularly Mr. Wechsler's; you have a talent for understanding and explaining his themes and craftsmanship perfectly.

Have a great day.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Thanks for the erudite, breezy intro, Lemonade. Glad to see a bit of risquéness as was common in the old days.

Bumpy start but finally got "in the groove." Had to not 'overthink' some fill, such as DOGGIES and URAL. DELOS was a WAG, but perps were consistent. Not Naxos today-:). The DA add-on was easy to suss.
BZ to Jeffrey on another enjoyable solve.
DA - 'there' in German

FLN - Lucina, I agree with your comment about the youngsters' news watching habits. Our kids and their spouses are GenXers and they seem to get their news content from the internet. Makes me wonder how reliable the cable news ratings really are as to viewer audience.

Lemonade714 said...

I imagine that at least 80% of the regulars here recall the DA hairdo. I never tried it.

Hoda, started sharing the 4th hour of TODAY with Kathie Lee Gifford in 2008. In 2005, Kotb married former University of New Orleans tennis coach Burzis Kanga. She started as a full anchor in 2017. I should have said she began as 4th-hour anchor.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A fun Friday with Jeffrey (don’t call me Jeff) and Jason (you can call me Lemon)
-Ah, a PORGY not in a Gershwin opera
-Did anyone else use these Glass Wax STENCILS as a yute?
-Lucy MIRRORED Harpo Marx in a famous sketch
-My first puzzle collaboration with C.C. had the Cascade peaks like SHASTA as theme fills. e.g., 1. Prince of Monaco - RAINIER
-Mom’s ADAGE for MYOB – “TEND TO your own knitting”
-I have taught PHYS., Chem., Bio., Geo. and Anat.
-D-O, I really liked the Brothers Four link! So that’s what they were saying

SwampCat said...

Loved loved loved this doable Jeffrey Wechsler! I raced through the top thinking, it can’t be this easy, then hit that unspeakable SODA and screeched to a stop.

I loved the FRYING PANDA! RITA Coolidge was a favorite of mine for a while. We still claim Hoda as a local. PORTIA is my all time favorite character. My kids live on/near?Mt Shasta. HERES Johnny was a delicious Wechsler misdirection. Just so much to love!!

Lemon, thanks for the sparkling tour.

Owen, all A’s but number 4 has to be A++

Walter said...

Lucina and Spitzboov,

Its no wonder that the next generation is looking to alternatives for their news sources. Just yesterday the New York Times declared MSNBC too liberal for their reporters to appear on the network lest they too would seem partisan. Boy that's rich, huh? That would be like David Duke declaring the Klan to be too racist.

The media these days is just too partisan and more concerned about making the other side look preposterous rather than just reporting the facts.

Anonymous said...

So much for no politics...!

CanadianEh! said...

Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Jeffrey and Lemonade.
I had to work (especially across the middle), but FIRed and saw the DA theme. (Thanks for pointing out all those extra DAs, and the ATT under the reveal.)
Thanks for the smiles, Owen.

AOK changed to APT; END at changed to END BY; iPad (alt. iPod) changed to IMAC; Tab changed to TIE.
Unknowns included DELOS, ROSIE, PORGIES, Hoda SHASTA (although we have had it before!).
I was misdirected by the "preceder of Johnny" clue (hi SwampCat) and was thinking of Steve.

Wishing you all a great day.

Anonymous said...

First thing I do is go to the bottom and see who the puzzle constructor is for the day. First thought was “it’s a Friday by Wechsler, whoo boy am I in for a toughie.” But I sailed through in record time, caught the theme with panda, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. JW never disappoints me.

Judie B

Anonymous said...

Too political here for me.
Old time fan of the corner.

CrossEyedDave said...

I must take this moment,
to solemnly announce, that I have finally
completed a Friday Jeffrey Wechsler, Unaided,
without assistance, and in so doing, am shocked into sensibility...

CrossEyedDave said...

Nah, just kidding!

While I did complete the puzzle without help,
I have 9 lives when it comes to puzzle solving...


What does an Assistant DA do anyway?

Lucina said...

Hola!

DA! DA! What's better than a Friday Jeffrey Wechsler mixed with Lemonade? Nothing! Thank you, Jeffrey and Jason! What a delightful treat.

I love FRYING PAN PANDA! I also realized that DA would be added to the theme fill.

And I also love some Shakespeare anytime, especially a double dose.

Siskiyou County is too far north for me to know it but Mt. SHASTA is well known and with SH in place it was obvious.

The only place I had problems was in the SW where I started with APPALLING (too long) and wasn't sure of which was Apollo's birth island. Finally DADAIST and SEDATION confirmed DELOS and ALARMING. ATMS was typically tricky for JW!

PORGIES is another unknown but it emerged with perps and I liked that it was followed by ROE. AVATAR was learned by doing CWDs.

Have a day filled with GUSTO, everyone!

waseeley said...

"I'm alone" sounds like an invitation to a 3D, but not a menage a trois.

Lemonade714 said...

waseeley nice catch on the I'M ALONE TRYST combo, but where did ménage à trois enter the picture? Perhaps your trysts were very exciting. Spitz, I never censor risqué when it fits.


Wilbur Charles said...

"Tempting text to a lover: I'M ALONE. Sounds like some kind of illicit rendezvous." Like a TRYST

I give myself credit for recognizing PORTIA. Debit for thinking it was Julius Caesar. I'm sure OMK can opine better

Doodah yesterday, DADA today.
I thought I was dead in SW, because I had BUT<SAY. YOGIS saved me. The best complliment I can give is looking up to see the constructor and the AHA

I think I happened to mention PORGY and Bess recently. AHA. It was over in J-Town to Owen about, ugh, Opera

Speaking of. Y'all come see us sometime - if not for the J then for the Poes-ay

WC- enough for now

Java Mama said...

Good afternoon everyone! A delightful Jeff Wex Friday solve. I used to be intimidated whenever I’d see Jeff’s name as constructor, but I’ve learned his puzzles usually turn out to be doable with a little creative thinking. He even spiced up the familiar added letters theme by sprinkling the DA’s in the beginning, middle and end of the answers. Thanks for the lively write-up, Lemon – you were clearly having fun with this one. I especially enjoyed the RITA Coolidge link; what a lovely voice!

Favorite c/a was It Puts People Out = SEDATION. Surprised myself by remembering Ronda Rousey’s sport is Mixed Marshal Arts. HERE’S Johnny brought a smile when the penny dropped. Only true unknown was PORGIES, but perps filled it in nicely. Lemon, your comment that porgies are kosher, while catfish are not, led me to wonder what was non-kosher about catfish. A quick internet search revealed that kosher fish must have both fins and scales, and catfish do not have scales. Today’s learning moment for me.

DH and I spent Memorial weekend travelling to Iowa to get acquainted with our newest grandson. As an added bonus, my other daughter and her family accompanied us on the trip, so I got to spend the whole weekend with all four grandkids – Heaven!

Lemonade714 said...

Is commenting on the media and making a joke really all that political? I do not think to espouse the cause of an individual or a party is appropriate. I do think to make natural responses to words in the grid or clues, without picking a side would be unlikely to lead to an argument. Also, trying to be funny is an urge hard to resist. YMMV. I will await further clarification from 'da boss.

Anonymous said...

If you keep your legs tied together you will not get a bun in the oven.
REALLY, Lemonade???
To whom are you directing this sexist chauvinistic remark?

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Jeffrey Wechsler, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade, for a fine review.

Well, when I first looked at this puzzle and saw the constructor, I said "Oh Boy" this will be a doozie. It took me about an hour and a quarter and I had it. That is pretty good for me for a Friday.

Caught the theme with FRYING PANDA, after getting ASSISTANT DA. Made sense and helped with a couple others.

I did not know MMA for 11A. Three down perps and I had it.

URAL was easy. We have had that before, border between Europe and Asia.

I wagged IONIA and got it right. Lucked out.

I thought 27A was going to be a book. Once I had seven perps I realized I was wrong.

Looks like a nice day today. Lots of mowing and gardening to do. Should take me the entire weekend.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

AnonymousPVX said...


I didn’t note this Friday puzzle’s author until the end.

When I saw JW the super crunchiness was explained.

Just had to keep working this one, moving around as I got stuck and then unstuck.

One markover....DEMOS/DELOS...so close.

Weather update....another record high temp yesterday, this time 99°. That’s 5 record high temps in a row.

My brother just sold the family home in CT to move to Florida, he’s in Davenport. I’m sure he’s going to be very knowledgeable about the difference between air temp and dew point. The 100° degree record temps here were accompanied by low humidity, thus a low dew point. Yesterday’s 99° was accompanied by a higher humidity/dew point and the contrast was immediately apparent.

One other brother lived in Florida years ago, I went to visit him. I knew Florida was summer tough when I asked if we could go to the beach. “No one goes to the beach in the summer” he said, “because it’s too hot”.

Jayce said...

A pleasant JW Friday puzzle that I had tons of fun solving. Got the added DA at FRYING PANDA but made the mistake of pre-filling DA as the last 2 letters of all the long answers. Oops. A nice learning moment about IONIA. Loved the clues for SEDATION and HERES. I think Mt. SHASTA is one of the prettier mountains in North America, as is Mt. Hood in Oregon.

Owen, good verses!

Yeah, I remember the ducktail. Yeah, I had one. Flat top, too. Never cut my hair into a Mohawk, though.

When LW and I looked at CED's "What does an assistant DA do anyway?" photo, we both exclaimed, "DOGGIES!" (We are both dog lovers, especially Weimaraners.)

Wow, spell check wanted to change "Weimaraners" in the previous paragraph to "Submarines". Sheesh.

I'm with Lemonade in not conflating comments about the media with arguments about politics.

Java Mama, glad you had an excellent Memorial Day weekend.

Speaking of ménage à trois, I enjoyed a glass of it with dinner last night. Yes, it's a brand of wine, a red blend of, guess what, three varietals.

Good wishes to you all.

Lemonade714 said...

Nice to see you Java Mama.

My sexist chauvinistic remarks along with my sexist chauvinistic pictures and videos are aimed up into the air, so do not look up if you do not want to be injured by one. If I cannot make myself laugh, I can't make anyone else laugh. If I have to be just Mr. Serious puzzle critic I will apply for a job at a different blog. This is, after all, a game site.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Yep, Lemonade, PK, & Anonymous ~
I not only remember the (in)famous DA hairstyle, I sported mine with pride for three years in junior high school, age 13 through 15.
The breaks between classes were barely long enough to attend to it in the bathroom mirror. The DA was combined with a big wave in front, with one strategically-loosed curl on the forehead.
There was one year when I wore my DA in back with a buzz cut--or flattop--overhead! Super cool!

Today's Wechsler was much fun. I did not see the theme, so some of the fills seemed strangely awkward--especially TODAY STORY and DARING TONE, which seemed unimaginative and lacking zing. But that's because I didn't realize they were part of the goofery.

We used to camp up at Castle Crags State Park when I was a kid. Loved the area. Near Mt. SHASTA, that beauty of a peak! One day my brother got the idea that he would climb to the top. He spent a whole hour trying & did not understand why he wasn't making much progress.
"Guess it's harder than I thought."
Too bad he's not with us now. He could just join the line on Everest...
~ OMK

Ol' Man Keith said...

Wilbur ~
Why the "ugh" before "opera," my friend? Are you sure you're not conflating the frou-frou socializing with the art itself?
I thought your Jumble comment made a sensible distinction between the opera you like versus the "fat lady" kind. I didn't think you were against the entire form.
~ OMK

Anonymous T said...

Hi All! IT'S ME.

Jeff Wex, you have a way to vex. I had to lookup DELOS to get some extra-play. And, it wasn't until reading Lem's fabulous expo that I knew what a Hoda Kotb was. Thanks both of you for a fun Friday run.

WOs: North b/f SPRIT [ESP], ACARaNA [hi D4!], YOGaS
ESPs: RITA, ROSIE, IAN (and Teri Gross talked about Deadwood this morning!), ++many more.
Fav: OMG xing I'M ALONE. //DW will be home soon and 'DA kids is gone :-)

{A+,B, A, A+} //Your muse is back!

Spitz - I'm a GenXer and I don't watch TV news unless something is breaking. Usually, I just read the paper and/or have NPR on in the background. While I monitor Twitter, Social Networks are no place to source from.

@8:01 - this Xer has heard of a duck's arse as a style but never seen it in real-life.

Jinx - Dubbing anything over Beto would be funny. He just has a way of orating that commits to rhythm.

HG - your STENCILS reminded me of the ones we'd spray canned fake-snow through in the '70s. Lucy and Harpo just for you...

CED - It's great to have your wit back. Speaking of wit - HERES an interview with a guy who wrote a book on puns. I listened to this morning. [~1h]

Nice to see you Java Mama.

Cheers, -T

Old Okie said...

I thought the bun in the oven line was very cute, Keep it up Lemonade.
Puzzle was a normal Friday puzzle. A couple of thinks I was not sure on.

Terry said...

Great links, thanks.

Lemonade714 said...

Thank you all for the supportive and complimentary comments. Terry and Old Okie stay a while and feel free to add your four cents worth. (Damn inflation!).

Wilbur Charles said...

OMK, I was echoing Owen's verses. To be honest I'm nowhere near qualified to say anything about opera.

I'm guessing that if I read the libretto and sat down for a few hours I'd be apt to enjoy it.

Lemonade's"bun" comment is simply an old joke more often than not told by women. I would guess that most of the regulars* here were born <1955. To wit… We are not now subscribing nor plan to subscribe to the fad known as PC.
The best example of that plague is my picking up a group of college seniors in a limo for interviews at Raytheon. No conversation ensued because being strangers and smart they realized that anything they said could be labeled un-PC

All in all great entertainment provided by Lemony and J-Wesch

WC

PS, I was handicapped DA-wise because my basketball coach wanted dhort hair. (In deep retrospect I realize he didn't want ME). **

WC

**For complicated reasons requiring too many bytes

*** I can only speak for male regulars

Wilbur Charles said...

Short hair, preferably crewcut to which I drew the line

SwampCat said...

Lemon, I’m on your side re buns!! An old innocuous joke. No problem !

SwampCat said...

While I’m at it, Let me say much of the pleasure of Jeffrey’s puzzles, beyond the intellectual word play, is the fun! There are always laughs in Jeffrey ‘s puzzles. If we can’t laugh why bother.

Lemon, you keep on laughing!!!! Please!

Jinx in Norfolk said...


12 dead in Virginia Beach tonight when a disgruntled city employee opened fire, 11 good folks and the shooter. Makes arguing about an old joke rather small.