google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, June 5 2019, Parikshit S. Bhat

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Jun 5, 2019

Wednesday, June 5 2019, Parikshit S. Bhat

Theme: CIRCLE OF LIFE

20. Many a coast-to-coast journey: RED EYE FLIGHT. A flight that takes off late at night and arrives early in the morning, usually taking off after 9 p.m. and arriving by 5 or 6 a.m. So, in taking a red-eye, you'll be in the air overnight, when you would typically be asleep. Typically, these flights travel west to east (according to cheapflights.com).

26. 2008 Ridley Scott film set in the Middle East: BODY OF LIES. Scott directed, Leonardo DeCaprio and Russell Crowe star. IMDB.

35. Reassuring reply to "You don't look well": I FEEL FINE. Except when it means the opposite.



46. Championship in a ring: TITLE FIGHT. For boxing fans - Andy Ruiz Jr. stuns Anthony Joshua in heavyweight title fight.

52. Influential in a big way ... and a hint to this puzzle's circles: LIFE CHANGING

Melissa here. Did you get the circles? Perfect answer for the reveal, very clever.

Across:

1. MSNBC analyst Melber: ARI.

4. Olds Cutlass model: CIERA. Tricky spelling.

9. Garbage boats: SCOWS.

14. Airport shuttle: VAN.

15. Up to this point: AS YET.

16. Deck with the Fool and the World: TAROT.

17. Make sense of: INTERPRET.

19. Yoga pose: ASANA.

22. Be concerned: MIND.

23. Burr and Hamilton, e.g.: ENEMIES.

31. Prefix with scope: ENDO. From Greek ἔνδον endon meaning "within, inner, absorbing, or containing."

32. Symbols in email addresses: ATS. @

33. Fishing equipment: REEL.

34. Ryegrass disease: ERGOT.


38. Cal. sequence: MTWTF. Monday, Wednesday, ...

41. Indigenous Japanese: AINU. Had no idea: Ainu, is a language spoken by members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

42. Took in: ATE.

45. Neighborhood: AREA.

49. Party popper: BALLOON. Not pooper ...



51. Invasive plant: WEED. Scotch Broom was introduced from Europe as a garden ornamental by early settlers of the Pacific Coast. Later it was used to prevent erosion and stabilize banks and sand dunes. It became invasive, and now costs Oregonians an estimated $40 million per year in lost timber revenue and control efforts. It sure is beautiful, though.



57. Goes after: HAS AT.

59. Spanish estates: HACIENDAS.

61. "Flashdance...What a Feeling" singer Cara: IRENE.

62. Put in office: ELECT.

63. Increase, with "up": AMP.

64. Big name in wedding invitations: EATON.

65. Med measures: DOSES.

66. Salty expanse: SEA.

Down:

1. Prefix for the birds: AVI.

2. Went on a rampage: RAN RIOT. I like this fill.

3. Plans (to): INTENDS.

4. Bit of TLC?: CARE.

5. "__ with my little eye ... ": I SPY.

6. "Reader, I married him" governess: EYRE. One of my top five books of all time.



7. Coral environs: REEF.

8. British prime minister after WWII: ATTLEE. Clement Attlee.

9. __ whisper: STAGE.

10. Soft wool: CASHMERE.

11. Holding the floor: ORATING. Ohhhh ...

12. Got the gold: WON.

13. Many a stop: Abbr.: STA.

18. Jacuzzi effect: EDDY.

21. New officeholders: INS. Politics.

22. Deg. for a CEO: MBA.

24. Old name of Tokyo: EDO.

25. Drunk: SOT.

27. German composer Carl: ORFF. Wikipedia.

28. Payment for services: FEE.

29. "To Kill a Mockingbird" novelist: LEE. My newest granddaughter shares her first name, Harper. Another top five - both book and movie. We also have a cat named Boo, and another named Scout. Now I just need a dog named Atticus.



30. __ ease: anxious: ILL AT.

34. Plenty, in texts: ENUF.

35. Firenze native: ITALIANO.

36. Chick-__-A: fast-food chain: FIL.

37. Chemistry suffix: INE.

38. Queen of folklore: MAB. Queen of the fairies.

39. __-la-la: TRA.

40. Firmly established: WELL SET.

42. Meeting handouts: AGENDAS.

43. When you're "ahead of" it, you're likely to succeed: THE GAME.

44. JFK stat: ETD.

46. Clog part: TOE.

47. Made slow progress: INCHED.

48. "Victory is mine!": I WIN.

50. Many times: OFTEN.

53. Divine circle: HALO. Love this clue - and so appropriate for today's puzzle.

54. Killer serves: ACES.

55. "Sweet!": NICE.

56. Understands: GETS.

57. Shake a leg, quaintly: HIE.

58. Immortal Notre Dame coach Parseghian: ARA.

60. Place for a hot stone massage: SPA.

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear TTP (Tom)! Besides being our Tuesday/Friday guide, TTP is also always there helping me with various blog glitches. 

Hope you have a fantastic round today, TTP!


  


66 comments:

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Thank you, Parikshit, for a doable fun Wed. puzzle. Thank you, Melissa, for your enjoyable expo.

No circles on Mensa, but they weren't needed to fill. For the LIFE of me, I couldn't see the CHANGING. Was too RED-EYEd to see that simple theme. Drops helped and I'm back again.

DNK: ARI, AINU, EATON. Most of the last few wedding & graduation invitations I got were not the formal white folders. They were picture collages of the honorees. Is that fad wide-spread? Wonder how they compare price-wise.

"Jane" before EYRE. RAN "amok" before RIOT (amok sounds funner).

Could not think of LEE. Watched a piece about the play of "To Kill A Mockingbird" on Sunday night. Duh!

ORFF again! Got it this time. Yay me!

Happy Birthday, TTP! You are such an asset to the Corner. Thanks for all you do.

Lemonade714 said...

A very well done and nicely revealed hidden jumble word from PSB. It was not easy for a Wednesday for me, as I started out not knowing 1A. It also had a mini-theme of EDO and AINU from old Japan. I was surprised that this was a stumbling block as we had it this year and have had it many times.

Japanese aborigine lat Roger & Kathy Wienberg Thu Jan 24, 2019
Indigenous Japanese lat Elliot M. Abrams Thu Feb 15, 2018
Native of Hokkaido lat Melanie Miller Sun Oct 26, 2014
Aborigine of Japan lat Matt Skoczen & Patti Varol Sun Oct 12, 2014
Indigenous Japanese lat Jeb Bennett Fri Oct 10, 2014
Hokkaido native lat Gail Grabowski Sun Feb 23, 2014

Melissa, I too have a Harper granddaughter but cannot compete with your cats. Tom, HBDTY and many more. I look forward to sharing Friday with you.

Lemonade714 said...

My HARPER is the dark-haired cutie in the colorful tutu in my Avatar, along with my son and CHARLOTTE at their recent dance recital where all three danced.

KS said...

MTWTF had me flummoxed, but there was no other choice but to enter it. I didn't understand until I got here to the blog. Time to slap my forehead!

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Wet, and likely to stay that way, so the daily "march" thru the 'hood will be postponed.

Had the circles, saw all of the FILEs. Oh, the theme was LIFE? D'oh. Yes, I read it as "Party pooper" and looked sideways when BALLOON showed up. Interesting to see ORFF again so soon. I enjoyed the outing, Parikshit, and the expo, MelissaBee.

ENDO: Appropriate. I've got an appointment with an ENDOscope next Tuesday. It'll be my first trip to Houston since September. If there is a next time for the endoscope, I'll be changing the location.

TTP, happy birthday, young man. Thanx for your yeoman service to the blog. Hope you've got something great planned for the day.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIW, guessing IdE instead if INE and not having any idea for AINU. Lemony, I use my car keys every day, but that doesn't mean I'll remember where they are the next time I want to drive.

Erased care for MIND and STA for STN, and knew of the MAy Queen but not the MAB Queen. "Killer Queen" is a staple on my oldies radio station.

Wanted Amyl Nitrate for "party poppers". Momma told me not to come. She said "that ain't the way to have fun, son."

Chik-Fil-A is OJ Simpson's favorite restaurant (and crime).

HBDTY, TTP. Hope it is a Layer Seven day.

Thanks for the fun challenge, Pari. And thanks for the fun tour through the grid, Melissa Bee.

Lucina said...

Hola!

NICE one, PB! Thank you. And thank you, Melissa.

D-O, I saw FILE, too and was surprised at LIFECHANGING! But then I OFTEN don't even get the theme.

Surprisingly I remembered AINU, was pleased to see ORFF again, and of course, liked HACIENDA.

CSO to AnonT at ITALIANO. I'll take one at ASANA. It's good to practice yoga especially for balance.

MTWTF flummoxed me for a while but then realized CAL. meant calendar!

Fun to see FEE alongside LEE.

BALLOON recalls the arch one of my nieces made for Saturday's shower.

I love the hot stone massage on my legs when I go for a SPA pedicure.

Happy birthday, TTP! Thank you for your ceaseless efforts on the Blog and have a sensational celebration today.

Enjoy the day, everyone!

D4E4H said...

FIR in 43:51 min.

Wonderful Wednesday Word smiths!

Thank you Parikshit S. Bhat for this enjoyable CW.

Thank you melissa bee for your excellent review.

Happy birthday TTP.

Ðave

Harry Dunne said...

I also saw the story about To Kill A Mockingbird this past Sunday on 60 Minutes. It was about the revival of the play on Broadway. It supposedly remains true to the book with only a few modern aspects added. The cast includes Jeff Daniela as Atticus Finch. He is fretting over portraying such an iconic character. I'm sure he will do fine and totally redeem himself.

Lloyd Christmas said...

Dammit. Its Jeff Daniels.
I am one pathetic loser.

jfromvt said...

Fun puzzle. As with desper-otto, I read the clue as “party pooper”. I liked HACIENDA, don’t see that often in a crossword.

But I have to rant again about circles in the grid; totally unnecessary for this puzzle IMO.

Husker Gary said...

Musings¬
-Oh, that’s what he is going to do with LIFE
-We had a CIERA, a Cutlass, an 88, a Bravada and I wanted a TORONADO
-People who MIND don’t count and people who count don’t MIND
-EATON is a huge manufacturer of valves and gears in Kearney, NE
-Our Italian guide said, “First I am a citizen of Florence, then of Tuscany and lastly of Italy”
-Even this didn’t change Chick-Fil-A’s long standing policy
-Happy Birthday, Tom!
-Fore!

Yellowrocks said...

Thank you PSB for a fun puzzle. Mb, interesting blog. I, too, thought that FILE was being changed until I got to the reveal.
I watch ARI Melber almost every day.
I first became aware of the AINU in Japanese class. I have sensed that many of the ethnic Japanese do not like to talk about the AINU and look down on them. "...discrimination and negative stereotypes assigned to the Ainu have manifested in the Ainu's lower levels of education, income levels and participation in the economy as compared to their ethnically Japanese counterparts." (Wikipedia) The Japanese government has recently declared the Ainu's right to practice their own culture and religion. The AINU language is almost extinct, partly because it was never a written language.
Although I know EATON, it took four perps to dredge it up. V-8 can moment.
Lemon, cute picture of Charlotte, Harper and their dad.
A very happy birthday to you, Tom. Thank you for all you do for the blog.

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning.

Thanks, Parikshit, for a challenge today. I, too, was stuck at MTWTH, looking for something from California or Calculus. V-8 is right! On several counts here for me. Also waited for more crosses before I could commit to EYRE over Jane. Fun.

Thanks, Melissa, for a thorough walk through the puzzle. I did not know about Scotch Broom. Interesting.

A very Happy Birthday, TTP!! No wonder you were climbing around on ladders staining your home last year--you're just a kid!!! Thanks for helping in many ways around the Corner. Have a very SUNNY celebration.

desper-otto said...

There's been a kerfuffle in Texas after the San Antonio city council refused an application by Chick Fil-A to open a restaurant in the city's airport. The council referred to the company's anti same-sex marriage stand.

Anonymous said...

D-O

In other news, the city council has also voted to rename the city due to the history of Saint Anthony and his Christian beliefs. They also hope to rid the city of all shrines and missions that remind the residents of the Christian influence on the city. Remember the Alamo?

desper-otto said...

Alamo? I usually use Enterprise.

oc4beach said...


Good Wednesday puzzle from PSB that took a while to fill in today, but I got it done with a SWAG or two. MB's tour through the grid provided the V-8 can moments and background to the clues.

Mensa site, so no circles. Didn't see the theme til the write-up.

I had a few hitches along the way today:
ALERO before CIERA
RODS before REEL
MTWTF was a stumbling set of blocks

I didn't know ARI because I don't watch the Talking Heads on many of the supposed news shows because they all seem to always have an AGENDA and are not interested in actually reporting the news.

Perps filled in my stumbling blocks today, as usual.

Have a great day, everyone.

Anonymous said...

D-O, how Thrifty of you!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Hand up for seeing File as the theme and being pleasantly surprised when filling in Life Changing, a great reveal. I've never heard of the movie, "Body of Lies" and Ainu is not in my memory bank, either. MTWTF was slow in coming as I thought the Cal. meant Calculus. Like others, I saw Pooper instead of Popper; my only w/o was So far/As yet. This time, I remembered Orff, though. I liked these duos: Ari/Ara, MBA/Mab, and Fee/Lee, side by side. My favorite C/A was Divine circle=Halo. (Hi, Melissa) CSO to CanadianEh at Eaton, not the stationary people, but a famous department store. (Out of business, CEh?)

Thanks, Parik, for a mid-week treat and thanks, Melissa, for the fun and factual tour. I loved seeing the clip of Atticus and Scout as Gregory Peck was one of my favorite actors, probably number two after my beloved Cary Grant. [sigh!]

Happy Birthday, Tom, I hope your day is as special as you are! 🎂🎁🎉🎈🍾 Thanks for all you do for the blog,in general, and for CC, in particular. Enjoyed seeing the photo of the Chicago contingent again. Thanks, CC, for posting it.

Lemony, I noticed the new avatar before reading your post. Great picture. More, please, Sir!

Have a great day.

Jerome said...

"I hear that you are Italiano"

"No, I a Latino"

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy Birthday to TTP.

What KS said @ 0638.

Seemed knotty at first but then gradually got it hitting on all cylinders. Caught the theme at 20a and then the reveal at 52a - LIFE-CHANGING. That helped with the balance of the remaining circled letters. AINU was easy since i'm interested in isolate languages and cultures, and has been in before as Lemon said.
NICE challenge from PSB.

Personal milestone: Today marks 60 years as a Commissioned Officer in the US Navy. No big deal, but who would've thought all those years ago.

TTP said...


Good morning. Thank you, Parikshit and thank you, Melissa.

Wow ! Thank you, C.C. and thank you all for the Happy Birthday wishes.

DW surprised me this morning with a beautiful card, cheesecake (to be eaten this evening) and she's springing for my golf today. Going out for dinner will have to wait because of the golf league today.

Every year on my birthday I read "this day in history" and also look to see what holidays are being celebrated. This year:
- Festival of Popular Delusions Day
- Hot Air Balloon Day
- National Gingerbread Day
- National Moonshine Day
- National Running Day - June 5, 2019 (First Wednesday in June)
- Global Running Day - June 5, 2019 (First Wednesday in June)
- National Tailors Day - June 5, 2019 (First Wednesday in June)

The only place I'm running to today is the golf course. I like gingerbread cookies, but I'd have to drink some moonshine and become delusional before I'd ever go up in a hot air balloon. Neither of those will ever happen.

It rained overnight, making it 26 of the last 36 days since May 1st that we've had rain in Chicagoland. Hoping the skies remain bright for the remainder of the day.

Have a great day, everyone.

Lemonade714 said...

D-O and anon 9:36, your punny humor really Hertz!

So I saw a tv ad that you have to stop using shampoo in the shower because all the shampoos promise more body, and we all know that we mostly already have too much body. Instead, they recommend using dishwashing liquid because it eliminates fat and grease.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, MelissaB and friends. Ah, the dreaded circle puzzle, where the circles were unnecessary.

Like oc4beach, I tried Alero and Rods before CIERA and REEL, respectively.

Interesting to have Carl ORFF again after he dropped by so recently ~ recently enough that I still remembered him!

Happy Birthday, Tom. May you have many, many more.

Congrats to Spitzboov for his 60-year milestone.

QOD: When the final result is expected to be a compromise, it is often prudent to start from an extreme position. ~ John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes (June 5, 1883 ~ Apr. 21, 1946)

Wendybird said...

Fun puzzle. Thanks to Parikshit and Melissa.
Learning moment - never knew the little circled a’s in email addresses are called “ats”.

AnonymousPVX said...


This Wednesday puzzle had some snap to it.

Markovers....sigh....ETA/ETD....never safe in an assumption....ATTLEY/ATTLEE.

HB to the birthday folks.

On to Thursday.

Misty said...

Delightful Wednesday puzzle, many thanks, Parikshit. As usual, I had trouble at the top but did just fine on the bottom and worked my way back up. I'm always grateful for the circles (sorry about that) because once again they helped me sort out the FILE/LIFE theme and get the LIFE CHANGING reveal near the end. My toughest part was not knowing AINU or the fast food Chicken chain, and I wondered if both ERGOT and ENUF were right. Still, a lot of fun and I loved your commentary, Melissa--many thanks for that too.

Have a great birthday, TTP!

And have a good time today, everybody.

CrossEyedDave said...

Will have to discuss the puzzle later,
(the Siberian Husky is waiting...)
& I am still trying to Digest it...
(the puzzle, not the DOg. Although the Hot dogs last nite are giving me problems...)

I rely on Serendipity to find entertaining links,
So, I just happened to be watching "Girl In The Woods"
as she is an entertaining videographer.

I invite you to an interesting (& possibly life changing) party.

Part one, The Easy Stuff?

Part two, The not so easy stuff...

ANywho, Tom, it is not easy finding a cake with TTP on it,
so enjoy this virtual cake before watching the above videos...

Jinx in Norfolk said...

D-O, it isn't that Anon was being Thrifty. It's just that he's on a Budget.

Anonymous said...

I'm not necessarily on a Budget, I was just hoping to Payless.

RE said...

Very challenging for me today. Had no idea for mtwtf, thanks to Mensa didn't have to deal with those darn circles.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Just as long as you don't rent from one of those tiny little local agencies. Always go with a National.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Of course if you work for a large company your employer might have an Enterprise-level agreement that might offer you a good deal.

Bill G said...

Thanks Mr. Bhat and Melissa. Very enjoyable.

Not much sun around here lately. The weathermen call it May Gray and June Gloom.

Thanks for everything TTP. Happy Birthday!

I don't mind the circles so much as not having them when they are needed. I go to another CW site that has them so I can see where they are.

Thanks to all who gave so much on D Day and in WW II in general. The world is a much better place because of their sacrifices.

CanadianEh! said...

Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Parikshit and melissa bee.
I FIR eventually but there were a few inkblots among the circles (due to my own RED EYE slowness). I did not think of File as the circles filled but rather saw Flies (retained the S from 26A). Reveal at 52A fixed that misconception!

Hand up for Alero before CIERA, and for light-bulb moment with MTWTF.
Like AnonPVX, I changed ETA to ETD, and ATTLEy to ATTLEE.
I saw the CSOs to Lucina with HACIENDAS, AnonT (ITALIANO).
ORFF was remembered from the other day. For AINU, I had to dig a little deeper into the memory bank.
I had CARE for 22A "be concerned" but it was needed as part of TLC for 4D. That corrected the CEO's degree from CPA to the more appropriate MBA. Usually the CFO has a CPA.

Like IM, I often notice the duos. Along with ARI/ARA, I was hoping for an AVA to match AVI. No Gardner today.

Yes, IM, EATON's closed years ago. The famous catalogue was discontinued in 1976; the store folded in 1999. Assets were purchased by Sears but they could not resurrect it. Now even Sears is gone (as of 2018), and we are left with The BAY.

Even this Canadian has heard of Chick-FIL-A; they are making their first-ever international expansion with a store in Canada (prime location at the corner of Yonge and Bloor in Toronto) opening sometime later this year. In the next five years, the company says they hope to open 15 more stores throughout the Toronto area and Southern Ontario.

Happy Birthday TTP.
Wishing you all a great day.

OwenKL said...

After taking a RED-EYE FLIGHT,
Jet lag may blur day or night.
I FEEL FINE
Is just a line --
You feel you've been in a TITLE FIGHT!

Winchester Cathedral,
Oh-bo-dy-o flies,
What could you be hidin'
Away from my eyes?
Oh, did she once tell you
To me she'd been untrue?
Winchester Cathedral,
Her BODY OF LIES?

{B, A-.}

Scaly sided merganser said...

Even though it's a crossword staple, it is Rare a Avis pun is made. Too far?

Ol' Man Keith said...

HBD TTP!

Living with the Enemy ~
We have a relatively new Chik-FIL-A down the hill from us, just across the street from our main campus. You'd think this controversial chain would have trouble selling its product to university students, but the local manager has made news by opposing the politics of Chik-FIL-A's corporate boss.
This certainly helps his local sales!
Tit for Tat ~
My wife and I don't like Chik-FIL-A President Dan Cathy's homophobia, but we reason it thusly:
The money we give to his restaurant forces his hand. No matter our politics, he has to hand over his sandwiches.
Damn straight.

Lucina ~
What is it with those hot stones? You remind me that I used to enjoy that treatment. I'm not sure it actually did anything for me, except to feel good while it was happening.
Haven't had it in recent years. But lately I have found these chemical-activated pads called "ClickHeat." Have you seen them? They come in various sizes, from small (palm-sized) to largest (bigger than a heating pad). They are translucent plastic pads filled with clear liquid. When you click on a little metal bit on the inside, they create a marvelous heat that lasts 10 mins to an hour. I keep a couple of the little ones by my bedside, and whenever I feel tense or cold I activate one or two and let them rest on various muscles.
Verr-ry soothing.
~ OMK

inanehiker said...

Fun Wednesday with a little crunchiness to remind as we are heading to the end of the week!

With Chick Fil-A - they keep to their policy of being closed Sundays EXCEPT for humanitarian purposes:

https://factsandtrends.net/2018/09/19/4-times-chick-fil-a-has-opened-on-sunday/

Happy birthday TTP/Tom

Thanks Parikshit and Melissa!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Jeopardy James?
Hand up if you thought James' last stand was just a little fishy...

Or am I the only one here who thinks James H. may have thrown his last game? My wife feels the same way. Surely we aren't the only ones.
The new champ, Emma B., is good, no doubt. She took over about half way through the game. It came across as fair & square. Then James seemed to lag on the buzzer for answers he must have known.
In the final round, I thought they would both go "all in." She did, but he posted a tiny, paltry amount, completely out of character.
I'm not saying he did anything dishonest. Maybe he was just tired, and there's no rule that he can't slow down.
But it sure felt funny.
~ OMK

CrossEyedDave said...

Sorry to be a little fixated,
But I cannot pronounce Chick-fil-A
any other way than Chick-A-Filla,
& it doesn't sound appetizing...

MAybe if they opened up a store in the middle of the woods...

In the meantime...


Maybe you Crossword Regulars would appreciate
Some Morels in the woods..
(+Steak+Butter+Ramps)

(++KittyKats!)

P.S. I am interested in what Picard thinks of this Girls Videographer skills...

Lucina said...

OMK:
Yes, the hot stones just feel good and are relaxing on the legs. But I haven't heard of the ones you describe. Time for some research on them as they sound interesting. I know other people who would benefit from them, too.

I see the punsters are really kicking it. I'd give a Dollar to join in.

Lucina said...

BTW:
I believe James looked exhausted on that last Jeopardy episode and just didn't have the energy to continue. As I understand it, they tape five shows a day so for 32 days that sounds tiring even with weekends off.

I can't wait to see him on the next Champions event.

Jayce said...

Nice puzzle. I didn't understand MTWTF (Mount what?) or ATS until reading the explanation here. Noticed the scrambled word but didn't know until the reveal whether it would be FILE or LIFE. Body 'o FLIES?

Knock knock.
Who's there?
AINU.
AINU who?
AINU you seemed a little bit ORFF.
No, I FEEL FINE.

To me, the story about To Kill A Mockingbird this past Sunday on 60 Minutes seemed to be more a paean to Aaron Sorkin.

Keith, I also was surprised at how little James Holzhauer wagered in Final Jeopardy. It seemed so contrary to his usual practice of betting it all or at least betting a lot.

Happy birthday, TTP!

Terry said...

60 years? Still on active duty?

Michael said...

Spitzboov @ 9:57 --

Bravo Zulu! And many more years to you!

I know how you feel ... suddenly one day I had 40 years of service ... Huh? Where did all that time go?

Sandyanon said...

What I have read is that Mr Holzhauer knew that if Ms. Boettcher answered correctly and bet large, he couldn't win. So his only hope was that she missed, In that case he had to guard against his other opponent betting large and answering correctly. So he kept enough of his money to beat that gentlemen. Strategic betting. After all, that was the only occasion on which he was behind at Double Jeopardy, I believe, so his strategy had to change.

Michael said...

TTP @ 10:07 --

"- Festival of Popular Delusions Day"

Oh, I am so ready for this -- so glad it's only once a year!

oc4beach said...


OMK, JAYCE and others. Actually, James H's bet at the end was the smart move since he did not have the high score going in to Final Jeopardy. If he bet it all and she bet enough to top his highest possible score, she would win even if they both got it right. If they both missed the Final Jeopardy answer, it was possible that the third person would win. James' only hope was for Emma to bet big and lose and he would win even if he got the wrong answer, but only bet a little. He was playing the odds the best way possible.

OwenKL said...

Worked the Mensa site, but caught the anagram easily -- lust didn't know if it was going ti be LIFE || FILE.
Hand up for pooper,
Cal.(ifornia) was favorite clue -- needed 4 perps before I caught it!
Thought the MIND/BODY was going to be part of the theme, was disappointed it wasn't.
My l'icks were very late today, but hope I gave somebody a nice earworm!

CanadianEh! said...

Spitzboov - congratulations on the 60 year milestone!

OwenKL - enjoyed your work today and gave first verse an A.
Jayce too.
We have a plethora of verses and puns today.😀👍

Yes, I thought that James was not ringing in on easy answers and was surprised at his low final bet. But Sandyanon and oc4 give a good explanation for that.

Spitzboov said...

Terry @ 1552 - No, Since age 60, I'm in retired status with pay. The commission stays in effect.

Thanks to those who bade good wishes. You are a good group.

Yellowrocks said...

Sandyanon and oc4, I agree.
Emma with her gutsy daily double, fast button skills and depth of knowledge was a worthy opponent. She was not a flash in the pan. She was still strong on Tuesday, too.
Did any of you stumble upon Sunday's spoiler? I did. I was so disappointed.

Bill G said...

I saw a headline about last night's Jeopardy result from a reputable online news source. They didn't say James had lost but I guessed that was the case since they had featured that story. I miss him...

CED, I am willing and interested to eat unusual stuff that other folks consider a real delicacy. But I got the feeling that the folks in your videos were just eating weird stuff just because it was weird.

I had had Chick-Fil-A once and thought it was very good. I haven't made much of an effort to seek it out again after I became aware of the political and moral beliefs of its owners.

Jayce said...

Thanks for the well-reasoned explanation of the way James Holzhauer bet. Makes sense.

Anonymous said...

I try not to burden myself with the political, religious or moral beliefs of artists, musicians and entrepreneurs. Picasso, Michael Jackson and Ben and Jerry's would all be off limits for me and that would be a shame. I don't like resauratuers kicking rival politicians out of their establishments and public shaming them so I try to remain civil.

I dont know much about Chick-Fil-A but I know what I like. A chicken sandwich and a frozen lemonade always satisfies. I like to enjoy it listening to Billie Jean while gazing at The Old Guitarist.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!
Happy Birthday TTP! //I'm working on your .xml present... ;-)

Parikshit, I won't say your puzzle was LIFE CHANGING but it sure brightened my morning. Thanks.

Wonderful expo mb - nice to see I wasn’t the only one who read 'Party pooper'...

WO: AS now b/f YET
ESPs: MAB, ARA, ARI, ATTLEE, ORFF, IRENE
Fav: (and I FEEL FINE) [REM - 5:07]

CSO to Lucina's HACIENDA.
D-O, IM, Misty, & YR: I anagrammed FILE b/f LIFE too.
Finally got -TWT-, and then the penny-dropped on the meaning of Cal.

I was surprised to see how CASHMERE was spelt since I learned it was an AREA from Led Zeppelin's Kashmir [8:55]. So, I LIU: Kashmir v Cashmere

Spitz - Salute!

Rental-car puns? That's the Uber mood-Lyfter

Cheers, -T

Wilbur Charles said...

Got started late. Lots to do. Then I entered ARGOT and never spotted ANUF/ENUF.

Got lucky. Thanks to the inexplicable prescience that Owen talks about I mentioned to a friend, IRENE, that she'd made a xword as "Good night girl of song" (Sunday?)

She mentioned another Irene, CARA and presto there was Irene CARA today.

-T, Sun City is a bad place to carjack. All these senior citizens are packing although the fatal shots were fired by a 25 year old clerk.

He'd(the perp) been chased, cornered by a local coca cola driver and other drivers. My take: He had an automatic pistol (Glock)?; fine for close in but very hard accuracy wise.

Apparently, the perp ran up against a cool customer. No charges pressed of course.

My problem as it so often is early week is haste. I hardly stopped to check the theme and thus had GAME changing despite it's use elsewhere.

Hbd TTP, thx for the write-up MBee

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

PS, I know y'all think you'd covered the rental car racket but I had an ACE up my my sleeve.

WC

Ol' Man Keith said...

Regarding James H.,
I'd say BOTH answers seem to be on target.
Thanks!
~ OMK

PK said...

Spitz: thank you for your service and congratulations on your commission anniversary.

I was sorry to see James lose. After a week of sleeping thru Jeopardy time, I managed to be awake for his "failure". I couldn't tell if he was tired and losing his edge or the lady was just faster on the button. She definitely came with a desire to win. He didn't seem sad to be done for now. He's a cool customer.

I can't believe I'm the only one who got "popper" on first read. However, I was thinking of the party "crackers" my daughter brought home from New Zealand rather than a balloon. That took perps.

Melissa had to explain CAL. to me. I even thought calories along with WEES.

Anonymous T said...

Boy, talk about your forgot to Refresh b/f Posting... I missed from 12:40 on!

{B, A}

Jayce - LOL!!! Mt. WTF

Re: Jeopardy! - I read the FiveThirtyEight.com Article on how James "Broke Jeopardy!" Monday.

Inanehiker - thanks for that link on Chick-fil-A.

We have a Chick-fil-A around the corner (in Houston that means outside of the neighborhood and just across the freeway). We oft get it when DW and I work late as a quick (and relatively healthy) pickup. Like OMK said, politics be damned - those little nuggets with honey... Oy!

WC - forgot about Ace... Nice one.

Cheers, -T

Misty said...

Thank you all for the interesting and helpful discussions about James Holzhauer's last bet. I wondered about it too, and your suggestions are very possible and make sense.

Lucina said...

I still believe James was tired since he didn't ring in as often as usual and since he maintained a low score all your ideas on his betting strategy sound sensible.

Wilbur Charles said...

Perhaps if Steve was around he would have reminded us of the "Day that saved England" eg. Dunkirk Day.

It was talked about more when I was young circa '55-66

. WC