google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday July 28, 2019 Gary Larson

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Jul 28, 2019

Sunday July 28, 2019 Gary Larson

Theme: "End Game" - The end of each theme entry is a type of game. Each theme entry is punnily clued.
 
22. Card game for students?: CLASS WAR.

24. Card game for the lovelorn?: LONELY HEARTS.

43. Board game for spies?: COVERT OPERATION. Unaware of the game. Wiki says "is a battery-operated game of physical skill that tests players' hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills."




66. Card game for plumbers?: BATHTUB GIN.

68. Playground game for bellhops?: LUGGAGE TAG.

86. Card game for office temps?: SHORT-TERM MEMORY. No memory of this game at all.

110. Card game for auto mechanics?: GREASY SPOONS.


113. Board game for tightrope walkers?: HIGH RISK.
  
It would be super tight if Gary limited all theme entries to all games. I bet he tried but could not find enough theme entries. Reminds me a bit of James Sajdak "card game" a few years ago.
Across:

1. "Welcome" site: MAT.

4. Word clarified by the minute hand: PAST. Oh, like "ten past six".

8. Rainbows, e.g.: ARCS.

12. __-Trinity National Forest, California's largest: SHASTA. Any of you been there?


18. Bullring bravo: OLE.

19. In __: as found: SITU.

20. Haul contents: LOOT.

21. Seafood sauce: TARTAR. Boomer likes it with his Aldi fish sticks

27. Waffling: HESITANT.

28. Donnybrook: MELEE.

29. Easy __: AS PIE.

30. Roll call calls: AYES.

31. Hungers (for): LUSTS.

34. __ Gherardini, memorable portrait subject: LISA. D'oh! Mona Lisa. I never knew her surname.

36. Cub with dingers: SOSA.

37. Abbr. on old maps: SSR.

38. Quad minus two?: STEREO. OK, four speakers minus two.

40. Hang (around) as friends: PAL.

41. Medical implants: STENTS.

46. Paid military group, briefly: MERCS.  Mercenaries.

48. Herr Schindler: OSKAR.

49. Stable serving: HAY. Horse's stable.

50. Cpl.'s superior: SGT.

53. Spock's father: SAREK. No idea.


54. ... with __ organized crime: TIES TO.

57. Catch: SNARE.

59. "For every child" rights group: UNICEF. Lots of celebrity goodwill ambassadors.

61. Lyft rival: UBER.

63. Place for a dip: POND.

65. Morlock victims: ELOI.

70. Hideous folklore figure: OGRE.

71. Bull, say: MALE.

72. Youngsters: KIDS.

73. Literature Nobelist Gordimer: NADINE. South African.


74. Big name at The Hershey Company: REESE.

76. Shade tree: LINDEN. Has any you seen these flowers? It's called 洋槐花 in Chinese and we eat the flowers. This article says it's popular in North America. But I've never seen one in person.


78. Flax fabric: LINEN.

79. Supporter of arms, for short: NRA. Nice clue.

80. Hispanic leader in a beret: CHE.

82. Sandwiches for dessert: OREOS.

85. Meted (out): DOLED.

90. Taylor's on-again, off-again romance: BURTON (Richard)

93. Unseld of the NBA: WES.

94. Make bubbly: AERATE.

95. Fairy queen: MAB.

98. Manual reader: USER.

99. Excited about, with "on": KEEN.

101. Year's record: ANNAL.

102. Taiwanese tea drink: BOBA. More commonly "Bubble tea". The chewy balls at the bottom are made of tapioca flour. 

103. Skin flick: NUDIE.

105. Caribbean cruise stop: ARUBA.

107. Man of letters?: PAT SAJAK. Another great clue.

114. Boyd who was married to Clapton: PATTIE. George Harrison too.


115. Nullify: UNDO.

116. "Of course": I SEE.

117. Driver's helper: TEE. Golf club.

118. Gets some shuteye: SLEEPS.

119. Lentil, e.g.: SEED.

120. Pinochle combo: MELD.

121. Eight-time Norris Trophy winner: ORR. Here is the full list. He won it 8 consecutive times (1968–75).

Down:

1. McDonald's drink orders: MOCHAS.

2. They may be blind: ALLEYS.

3. Movie preview: TEASER.

4. Subtle "Check this out!": PSST.

5. Former Sony brand: AIWA.

6. Comic book legend: STAN LEE.

7. John of "Quiz Show": TURTURRO. Regular in Coen brothers' movies.
8. Apiece, in scores: ALL.

9. Shares a place (with): ROOMS.

10. Holiday garland item: CONE.

11. First-rate: STELLAR.

12. Eye sores: STYES.

13. "I told you so!": HAH.

14. Specialty: AREA.

15. Nine-time presidential contender Harold: STASSEN. He died shortly before I came to Minnesota.



16. Atlantic game fish: TARPON.

17. Con __: ARTIST.

23. Bro's counterpart: SIS.

25. Bizet opera priestess: LEILA.

26. High or heavy bodies: SEAS.

32. Jazz club units: SETS. And 33. Had a break between 32-Down: TOOK TEN.

35. Most populous continent: ASIA.

38. Certain wrench component: SOCKET.

39. Boob tubes: TVS.

40. German : Vater :: French : __: PERE. Vater, Father. We also have 43. French for "mangers": CRECHES. 62. "Très __": BIEN.

42. Santa's sackful: TOYS. Sure miss our Santa! So grateful dear Spitzboov was able to see Argyle and gave up an update before he passed away.



44. Strong "pocket" holding in Hold 'em: PAIR.

45. Flip-flop: THONG.

46. Le Carré's "The Night __": MANAGER.

47. Land on the Red Sea: ERITREA.

50. Soup cracker: SALTINE.

51. Reacted to corn, maybe: GROANED. Corny, but Agnes loves her sweet corn.

52. Model Chrissy: TEIGEN. Wife of John Legend. Very outspoken.


53. Induce, as perjury: SUBORN. New word to me.

55. Tater: SPUD.

56. Clothing: TOGS.

58. In an impoverished way: NEEDILY.

60. Big fairy tale character word: FUM.

61. Wrinkly fruit: UGLI. They are in every grocery store now.

64. Patrick with a simulcast sports show: DAN.

67. Farm machine: BALER.

68. Center, for one: LINEMAN.

69. In copious amounts: GALORE.

72. Golden State Warriors coach Steve: KERR.


75. Amazon speaker brand: ECHO. CrossEyedDave has this gadget.

77. Female antelopes: DOES.

81. Word before "if you like" on some stickers: HONK.

83. Eclipse, maybe: OMEN.

84. Sistine Chapel ceiling figures: SERAPHIM. Plural of "Seraph".

85. Period, e.g.: DOT.

86. Groove: STRIATE. This showed up when I googled.


87. Pipsqueak: TWERP.

88. Lacking a sound basis: TENUOUS.

89. Pre-head cold feeling: MALAISE.

90. Keg stopper: BUNG. Also a new term to me.

91. Takes by force: USURPS.

92. Start the hand over: RE-DEAL.

95. Cuban rum drink: MOJITO.

96. Bully, often: ABASER.

97. Either original "PTL Club" co-host: BAKKER. Jim or Tammy Faye Bakker.
 
100. Relieves: EASES.

101. "Storage Wars" network: A AND E.

102. Setting for many a joke: BAR.

104. One of four direcciones: ESTE. Directions.

106. Paleontologist's discovery: BONE.

108. Neutrogena shampoo brand: T GEL. Never used this shampoo.


109. Shake off: SHED.

111. Pup's cry: YIP.

112. Early Great Plains building material: SOD.

C.C. 



52 comments:

  1. I couldn't sleep, so here I am. I found this puzzle more difficult than those on Friday and Saturday. It took me very long. I thought I FIR but no TA DA. TADS instead of KIDS. I had questioned that section, but didn't go back to it. I liked the theme. To my mind all the theme answers are games.
    I have played endless games of WAR with my sons and grandson when they were young. I play it with Alan sometimes.
    Our kids had OPERATION. Their take on it was meh.
    There are so many kinds of tag. In the days when the whole neighborhood was allowed to run outdoors and visit up and down the street we played a lot of tag. It was popular with my kids, too. I didn't see much of it with my students at recess.
    I have played GIN. I do not care for RISK. It goes on and on and on. SPOONS was the only game here I never heard of.
    Alan and I still play MEMORY, also called Concentration, with a regular deck of cards.
    I know suborn from lawyer novels.
    I know our linden trees here, also called basswood. I think they are different from CC's.
    This is the kind I know.
    linden or basswood trees
    There is a boulevard in Berlin called Unter den Linden.
    Berlin
    In England I believe they are called lime trees, but no the citrus fruit type of lime.

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  2. I wonder if, during the path north, escaping slaves and those that aided them that carried letters to love ones already free, had an acronym to call themselves? Perhaps USURPS?

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  3. Morning, all!

    Got through this ope mostly unscathed. I knew all the games except for SPOONS, but I got it easily enough via the clue and the crosses.

    I nearly died in the NE, however. I didn't know/remember STASSEN, thought the clue "Con ___" was asking for a Spanish word (I couldn't get "con carne" out of my mind) and I misread the clue for 36A as "Club with dingers." Also, I have no idea what a "dinger" is in baseball lingo.

    Anyway, after staring at it for awhile I finally read the clue correctly and was able to guess at SOSA with _O_A in place, and that was that.

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  4. Make that "Got through this one"...

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  5. Good morning!

    Tough, tough, tough. DNF, DNF, DNF. I thought Florida was the toughest area, but it was in Kansas that I meet my doom. I had LADS. The center was a LANEMAN which I guess would work for basketball. LERR/KERR, both work for me. Bzzzzzt. Learning moment: The Norris Trophy is not awarded for crossword solving. TEIGEN -- for some reason I was thinking of Cheryl Tiegs, different generation. Thanx, Gary and C.C.

    "Corn" -- When I was growing up our little Wisconsin town had a Corn Roast every summer. The city would purchase tons of sweet corn and set up roasters at every downtown intersection -- there were only two of 'em. The corn would be soaked in beer, then thrown on the grill still in the husks, resulting in a combination roasting/steaming. The husks were pulled back at serving time, creating a handy handle, and the corn was slathered in butter (never margarine). The corn was free to all comers. The local churches, three as I recall, would set up stands where they'd sell hamburgers, hotdogs and beer. It was always quite a party!

    SHASTA-Trinity National Forest -- C.C., anybody who's driven I-5 through northern California toward Oregon has visited that forest. Pretty country.

    Got my DirecTV bill via email yesterday and noticed a $10+ increase. Comparing last month's bill I could see that "Advanced Receiver Service - DVR, Lifetime $0.00" had morphed into "Advanced Receiver Service - DVR $10.00" I guess my life is over. (Yes, I'm going to call them today.)

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  6. DO, you had the same sticking spot as I did. I accepted LANE MAN. A second guess would have given us the better answer, LINE. I had Cheryl Tiegs in mind, too. I was saved by its being too short.

    Stassen was my first thought. Ever since Truman's upset victory over Dewey in 1948 I have been interested in the presidential elections, because my parents were interested. As a grade school kid I heard all the news on the radio for WWII and listened to it being discussed by my parents and neighbors. So, I saw the Korean War starting in 1950 as my witnessing history first hand. Strangely I didn't like history in school. The way it was taught was dry as dust. As an adult I came to love it.

    Does anyone remember the Bakkers? They called their TV show the PTL Club (Praise the Lord).Jim and Tammy Faye were televangelists who raised millions and lived a lavish lifestyle. Jim was brought down by sexual and financial scandals in the 80's and became a sentenced felon. This sensational news was on TV and in the newspapers for months. I recalled them as the Bakers, but RISK and SAJAK doubled the K's.

    DO's corn festival sounds like yummy fun. We love fresh local corn. We had some last night.

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  7. Well we go from an easy Saturday puzzle to a tough (for me) Sunday. I knew of all the games except for SPOONS. Those were the easy fills. It took WAGs to finish the puzzle---incorrectly. LEILA & LISA- both unknowns and NADINE & TEIGEN and MANAGER & SAREK- four more unknowns intersecting. I thought that I had completed it with fe fi fo FUM & UNICEF but I was wrong. My Center was a basketball LANE MAN, not a football LINEMAN because my Youngsters were LADS not KIDS. Steve LERR looked just as good as Steve KERR. A DNF today.

    TURTURRO, SAREK, KERR- never watched Quiz Show or Star Trek and don't follow pro basketball. BOBA and BUNG were filled by perps.

    LeCarre's Night MANAGER was an unknown perpWAG.
    LISA- so it's the Mona GHERARDINI? Who knew? Not I.
    My 'Keg stopper' went from PLUG to CORK to BUNG
    "Skin click was PORNO before NUDIE
    I guessed SERAPHES before the perps made it SERAPHIM, not a word I knew

    CC-no memory of MEMORY? I have no memory of it either but it was an easy guess. Looking at the picture show it's for ages 3+ and I think you were in China at that time.

    YR- your TADS were my LADS; look at my reasoning for LANE MAN. BAKKERS- ponzi scheme con artists.
    D-O, LERR/KERR- worked for me too.

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  8. Hi Y'all! I thought the puzzle was a bit tough too, GROANED a lot, but enjoyed it. Thanks, Gary! Great expo, C.C.

    Sorta got the theme. I was thrown by SPOONS which I didn't think was a game. Had forgotten MEMORY altho I played many a game of that 15 yrs. ago with my closest grandson when he was 3 & 4. He was better at it than I. Played GIN with father-in-law and later with husband, but not often.

    Gherardini: thought chocolate, but that's -delli. DNK: LISA. Counted 12 DNK.

    Knew Steve KERR but not WES of the NBA.

    Used T-GEL at one time for itchy scalp. Don't anymore.

    Never have seen a LINDEN tree that I know of.

    One son's family left for a Mediterranean cruise yesterday. Flight delayed in Philadelphia because mechanical trouble found on the plane they were to board at 7 p.m. Tried to fix. Last report at 10:45 p.m: they were rolling up a different plane. No word since. Hope that's good news. Why mothers get gray!

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  9. Good Morning, C.C., and friends. I found this to be quite a challenge, although I quickly realized that the names of games were the last words of each theme answer. Hand up for not being familiar with SPOONS.

    I had Pool before POND as the place to take a dip.

    I was amused that LINDEN was next to LINEN.

    A new restaurant in town just began serving BOBA tea. Until then, I had never heard or tried this beverage. Interesting, but probably not something I would get again.

    I was thinking of Taylor Swift as the one with many romances, not Elizabeth Taylor.

    I learned of MAB from doing the crossword puzzles.

    My favorite clue was Man of Letters = PAT SAJAK.

    I immediately thought of STAN LEE as the Comic Book Legend. He died just last November at age 95.

    Harold STASSEN was before my time and I don't recall ever reading about him despite his many attempts at a Presidential run.

    QOD: Everything important that I have done can be put into a little suitcase. ~ Marcel Duchamp (July 28, 1887 ~ Oct. 2, 1968)

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  10. Good Morning:

    I had too many w/os to list and almost as many unknowns, mostly proper names which is typical with Sunday solves. I, too, have never heard of Spoons as a card game. Linden was a gimme as I live in Linden Hills on Linden Avenue, however, I have never seen a Linden tree. I think the street was just named Linden arbitrarily as all of the adjacent streets are tree names: Maple, Myrtle, Elm, Locust, etc. Anyway, I had a FIW because of Cane instead of Cone and not coming up with Loot because I was fixated on Load for the Haul clue. Mercs would be better clued as car models, IMO.

    Thanks, Gary, for a challenging Sunday solve and thanks, CC, for the grand tour and the SO. I do love my summer corn. When I see people buying the sad-looking, withered ears in the supermarket, I cringe.

    YR, I hope you discomfort is short lived.

    FLN

    CED, your poor MIL! I hope her rehab goes well.

    Wilbur, I wasn't admonishing your use of Damn, I was only trying to make the loss to BC more palatable by referring to the Irish as Fightin'. Just a Notre Dame's fan's whimsy. (The "meter" matter never occurred to me.)

    Lucina, thanks for the positive update on Ferm

    Have a great day.

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  11. A BUNG is a stopper which is inserted into a hole, often a beer barrel, whiskey keg or wine bottle. The alcoholic court jester in The Wizard of Id is named "Bung"

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  12. Thanks C.C. and Gary. The southeast corner was the last to fall for me. While the clue for Pat Sajak was excellent, I do think that a difficult answer like "Bakker" should have been easier to deduce. Maybe "Notorious couple Jim and Tammy Faye." The Nivea clue didn't help matters; I resorted to Alexa for that. She's one smart lady!
    I did enjoy this puzzle. There were plenty of challenging areas and "aha" moments

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  13. Cone on a holiday (Christmas) tree is rather a cheat. While a cone certainly can be an ornament, so can just about anything else. I might go with "Nose in the air?" as in a reentry nose cone. Or in the spirit of the season "Pitcher David of Mets and Yanks."

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  14. YR: I didn't get to the Corner yesterday so had to go back today and read what was your problem. Sorry to hear about your fall. Hope you feel better soon.

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  15. SE was toughest section for me, but eventually all came together. BTW, channel surfing I saw Jim Bakker hawking survival food kits for the end of times. And, after watching for a few mins., it seems as though that shyster sells quite a lot of them.
    Wish me lick, trying to set a personal best for a month with bike miles ridden, but it has been so windy and hot here that each day it gets tougher to accomplish.

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  16. Musings
    -SAR_K/CR_CHES? I’d like an E, PAT SAJAK. Waddaya know, I was right!
    -We played this MEMORY game with our kids
    -I too wondered when Gary had two card games and then switched to a board game
    -Lindens are favorite targets of Japanese Beetles around here
    -Those with triskaidekaphobia renamed 13th Street in our town to LINDEN Street
    -I wonder what the person who didn’t get my SAC explanation yesterday did with Cub with dingers today
    -Sleep – Does anyone else check their Apnea Hypopnea Index number every day like I do?
    -Tiger Woods STELLAR career is one of the finest in the ANNALS of golf
    -KERR could do just so much with two stars hurt and so the NBA trophy went to Toronto this year
    -A guy walks into a BAR, his friend ducks

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  17. One of my favorite books Sod and Stubble takes place in North Central Kansas not too far from where I live.

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  18. Good morning everyone.

    Got most of it without help but could not cross the finish line unaided with the SE. Had abuser vs. ABASER. And DNK BAKKER. SIGH.
    But it was a good workout and the game theme was worth spending time on.
    Knew of STASSEN as a KID. Perennial candidate. From MINN. I believe.
    We had basswoods in our copses on the farm. It was only later that I learned they are also called LINDEN. In the same family with Hibiscus and cotton.
    HAY - German Heu, L. German Hau, Dutch hooi. As a youngster it was a diphTHONG MELEE, to get the pronunciation right, depending on who you were talking or listening to.
    Nice to see HAY and BALER in the same puzzle. Many good memories of Summer activities.

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  19. Well after y'all found Saturday"easy"(pas moi)* I found this easier than last Sunday.

    The LOOT/LOAD-CANE/CONE almost got me. I got LOOT driving. Then the SE had some blanks. But… I remembered MAB, settled for ABASER/ABUSER( better) and thought)7 down was Bob Barker as in "Come on Down!"

    Gotta go, FIR

    BTW, I had a late Saturday post. I'll answer the trivia later. Ask a non baseball fan for a hint On #2,

    WC

    * Pardon, they played DOMINIQUE (a nique a nique) on Sirius radio

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  20. Well, Sundays are always toughies for me too, but like others, this was fun, and I always enjoy and appreciate your commentary, C.C. I got OSKAR and BURTON and PAT SAJAK (I watch "Wheel of Fortune" every night), but never heard of STASSEN or BAKKER, although C.C. brought back memories of the old TV program. But of course I had trouble with all of the very clever theme entries. Many thanks, Gary, for an enjoyable start to Sunday.

    Hahtoolah, I too had POOL before POND.
    JJM, have a good bike ride.
    Sorry about the tough night's sleep, Yellowrocks.

    Have a great weekend, everybody.

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  21. The recent discussion on the shingles shot motivated me to stop procrastinating and get one. Several years ago I had shingles after a surgery so I am familiar with the pain and misery they cause. The day after the shot I developed a bad reaction and ended up in the ER. After some Tylenol and Benadryl I was sent home with a recommendation not to get the second shot.
    Yellowrocks, hope you are feeling better.

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  22. Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Gary Larson, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

    This puzzle was not easy. Took me quite a while and a lot of deep thinking. Started it last night via cruciverb. Did not get very far. Got up this morning and hit it with a fresh set of eyes. That helped. Caught the theme and that helped me with a couple answers.

    Been up to MT SHASTA, Redding, and the surrounding area. So, I have been to and through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. I worked west of there, north of there, and south of there. The telephone company was Citizens Utilities. I worked a few times on their property.

    BUNG was easy. Got that immediately. Same for MELD. I used to play a lot of pinochle.

    Spelled OSKAR wrong the first pass.

    Remembered Harold STASSEN, at least his name.

    The BAKKERS, ahem.

    So, I am out of here. Going to try to cut the lawn.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    ( )

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  23. Fun challenge today. Theme answers were clever, my favorite being Short Term Memory.
    When I was little, my parents and their friends frequently played Spoons at parties. On the floor in a circle with spoons in the middle, one less than the number of players. Cards would dictate the moment to grab for a spoon, with much hilarity (enhanced by adult beverages). They also played Sardines and Three Deep - anyone remember those?
    We use cones on holiday garlands every year, sometimes sprayed gold for sparkle
    We finally have beach weather in south OC, so here we go!

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  24. Question: How do you folks get pictures next to your entries?


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  25. Yuman, very sorry to hear of your travails. Reactions to vaccines are uncommon...but not unheard of.

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  26. Wendybird, I think that's the pic attached to your Google account (which I don't use myself).

    Four blondes, a priest a minister and a rabbi, Pat & Mike, Stash & Walt, Oley & Lena, a guy and his dog, and a horse walk into a bar. Bartender says "What is this, some kinda joke?"

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  27. No one asked, although I didnt expect any queries. But for anyone who wondered what the weirdo @ 645a was cryptically commenting about. I've been dealing with the U.S. Post Office lately and USURPS just jumped off the grid this morning. I merely turned the USPS into the United States Underground Railroad Postal Service.

    I know. Corny.

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  28. Well, despite repetaed attempts alonng with long breakes, I just couldn't get the last 5 or 6 answers to get to the tada without a little help.

    SUBURN and SAREK, along with STASSEN did me in. Oh well.

    I will have to read the write up a little bit later, but will extend C.C. a thanks in advance. Thank you too, Gary Larson. I really enjoyed it.

    The ony letter that lit up (I was hoping for more) was a misskey. I had PAT SAKAK with the typo.


    We went to see Big Boy # 4014 yesterday. I read the Wikipedia article on it beforehand. There are only 8 left and their locations are identified in the Wikipedia article. You might have one close to you. Big Boy is the only one that is running.

    I took some pictures which you can see in the link below. Fair warning, I'm not much of a photog. You should be able to enlarge the photos a bit.

    It is massive. A sight to see. My sister in law came out to visit, and she and my wife went to see it again today. I'm dog sitting.

    Big Boy pictures from yesterday o

    There's some videos worth watching if you google search "Big Boy West Chicago"

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  29. DNF, looking up BAKKER and LINDEN (I had the LIND__). Still missed laDS, being on the same wavelength as DO, YR and BE.

    During my step granddaughter's wedding vows yesterday the groom recited that he was already falling in love with her before they met "irl". I knew that meant "in real life", but I wondered how many of the other grands understood. I know my DW didn't.

    We're breaking camp tomorrow and heading to Gloucester for a few days. I hope they have their electrical problems figured out there or we will likely shorten our stay.

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  30. Re. The solve. But first, I hope YR and CED's mil are healing. And Misty, same for your shoulder. Perhaps you should try

    Iceing and Heat.



    Perhaps Picard is familiar with SAREK. As with SULU(Yesterday?)

    Manual reader sounded like UTNE . Then I realized they were thinking of that rare USER who reads manuals.

    I had MUD/SOD, and EWOK/ELOI. With KERR and ORR plus DAN Patrick, the proper names were in my bailiwick .

    Fascinating what people know and don't know vis a vis today vs yesterday (people actually were familiar with MCMANSIONS. )

    And I hope the horses in the Stable are getting OATs/HAY.

    WC

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  31. My wife and sister in law just got back from seeing Big Boy. Sister in law sent a picture to her brothers. One of her brothers and his wife drove out from the city to see it yesterday.

    C.C. I enjoyed your write up. I've never heard of that Memory game either. Or knew about the rules for playing spoons. Just knew it was a game. And I sure never would have pictured that BOBA tea.

    Wendybird, Save a picture to your computer. Then click on your blue name in your blogger comments. Then choose Edit Profile. Then add your picture or other image. Then save.


    I didn't copy all of my comments when I posted earlier.

    WikWak, I looked for you yesterday. We did run into one of the golfers from my golf league, and his wife. They were doing a recon before bringing their grandchildren out today.

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  32. TTP @ 1:38--

    Thanks for the Big Boy pictures.

    I've seen the SP's Cab Forward 4-8-8-4 at the Sacramento Railway Museum. I remain stunned that such fragile creatures as us can build and control such immensities!

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  33. Hours of entertainment! Well, an hour and a half, anyway. This seems to be one of those puzzles in which the cluing can make it easy or hard. For me, it was hard, but as I said, plenty of entertainment.

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  34. My neighbor has a Linden tree right by my driveway. It is the messiest tree ever. Every month it sheds something new. Constant loss of twigs & branches year round & most end up on my driveway or in my yard. Mid July every year the Japanese Beetles show up, so now I have piles of lacy leaves everywhere. Be glad you’ve never seen one.

    I knew Wes Unseld because he’s from my hometown, Louisville, KY. He also played at the University of Louisville.

    I was at a mall in Nashville years ago. I was waiting for an elevator & the door opened & out walked Tammy Faye. Her bodyguard was carrying all her shopping bags.

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  35. FIWrong. I had TEIGgs instead TEIGEN. The across NADINg was unknown, and LINEs, while it didn't fit the clue, was still a legit word so I didn't question it.
    The theme was cute.

    FLN--My computer died! LW just turned hers over to me, so I'm posting very late.

    Hand up for SPOONS. Knew MEMORY as concentration.

    PTL Club = Pass The LOOT!

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  36. Sunday Lurk Say...

    PK - did you hear if they held the cruise for the delayed flight?

    YR - starting to feel better?
    CED - If you're reading - how's MIL?

    I remember PTL and 700 Club; For spell, that all that was on Mom's TV. I hated that she'd "tithe" to those shysters when she had so little. +1 that as a reason for my apathy towards organized religion. //you know how hard it was NOT to gloat when those crying "sinners" were asking for forgiveness?

    Nice to see Barry G, Wendybird, and JJM are still out there. There are a few new(ish) faces at The Corner too. Hi Zoe [That's Youngest's name - she left for Dance Camp this AM]

    Thanks TTP for the Big Boy pics!

    Welp, I'm getting better a soldering. Last night I put together an alarm clock kit (that mostly works) and today I put a header on a Raspberry Pi0w AND it still has all it's smoke intact.*

    Have a Wonderful Sunday afternoon!

    Cheers, -T
    *It is a well known fact that electronics work on smoke. If you let out the smoke, things stop working --- sometimes with glorious special effects!

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  37. So… West Point has had three (Heisman), Annapolis,2, AF Acad. none. That leaves the Marines. What, a Quantico Heisman Trophy winner?

    Sacrilege. Somebody rend his garments. Well, listen up.

    In 1968 The Quantico Marines played a College Football Schedule. Their QB?

    None other than Roger Staubach.

    Now during WWII, Otto Graham played for Coast Guard but did not quite get his Heisman from Northwestern.

    Oh, read the fine point on the question. Played at, not for. And I'm not the one who claimed that OCS were academies.

    WC

    Next the guy who took those "days off". Sound familiar?

    WC

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  38. So… Who took all those "days off" and won a batting championship? The eponymously named FERRIS Fain. And..
    No he wasn't a Philly. He was a Philadelphia Athletic. 117 games in 1951.

    Incidentally, he then played for Chicago where our favorite truant, Ferris Bueller went(or not) to HS. Possibly the latter was named for the former.

    Also incidentally, I posed this question to some avid Philly fans(Spring training in Clearwater) and it was one of the wives who piped up " Was there a player named Ferris?".

    Of course I had his baseball card.

    As did Hondo who actually knew the answer three years ago.

    WC

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  39. Hola!
    I almost missed the party! Thanks to Gary Larsen and C.C.!

    Most of this was fairly doable. I well remember Harold Stassen and his many presidential runs and finally recalled SAREK from other CWDs. Seeing PATSAJAK was fun as I, too, am a wheel watcher.

    Taylor Swift was on my mind as well so BURTON did not occur to me and I had TURTON. Why not? I do know BUNG but again, didn't recall it. I also had CANE above and missed out on LOOT. Any CONE on my garland would have to be artificial.

    That's all I have time to post. We are going to my daughter's for dinner.

    I hope all are enjoying a special time today!

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  40. Yep, a "toughy,"... Three hours and a whole ballgame on the tube. The reason: too many media trivia clues ...hate them: worthless info, waste of time. I like puzzles that test knowledge I learned from educating myself with BOOKS! TV shows, actors/actresses, brands, media gossip, ...all are mundane and useless. Hate when it's necessary to have my smartphone find the answers for me ... demeaning at best! Worst part of my struggles: my dog snagged my salami and cheese snack when I was struggling with the SW corner!! How lame is that??

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  41. OKL, what a bummer! A failed computer is so frustrating.
    YUMAN, so sorry the vaccine made you sick instead of preventing shingles.
    I spent yesterday sitting down reading and watching TV. When I sit I am pain free. Today Alan and I attended a birthday party for a resident at his group home. The staff and residents are wonderful, caring people. Alan loves them. Driving there and sitting at the party was relatively pain free. Then I packed Alan's suitcase for our upcoming vacation which will be the next time I see him. Not good! I hope ibuprofen and the heating pad will calm the pain down by bedtime. Thank you all for your concern. I will do paper work tomorrow. That is all the sitting down time I can afford.
    Alan's arthritic knee is very painful this weekend and makes him lame. Always before, after a week or so, he felt better. Cross my fingers that the pain will subside and he won't need a knee replacement. He is not due for another injection any time soon.
    CED, I hope your MIL will be okay. It sounds scary.
    I still have a square dance post to write and then back to my novel.

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  42. TTP, I loved the pictures of Big Boy. Thanks. I would love to be able to hitch a ride in the cab of that locomotive. Actually, any steam locomotive would be OK.

    I remember playing Spoons. Lots of silly, simple-minded fun.

    Alas, I'm afraid my homeless friend, Freddie, is no more. The last time I saw him about a week ago his legs were red between the knee and ankle and he seemed to be in a lot of pain. There is no way I can get in touch with him. No phone, no family that I know of.

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  43. @BillG

    Perhaps someone got Freddie to a hospital for treatment. You may see him again when he is back in the pink and returns to his spot. Maybe even better, he will also receive some sort of psychological help and return to a more self appreciative life.

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  44. Wilbur Charles thanks for asking. Yes, SAREK was a gimme for me as Spock's father. But I had never seen it in writing and thought it was SARaK. That was fixed with the crossing of CRECHES.

    AnonT sorry but I did not understand your comment about SULU from Thursday?

    Here was my article about George Takei who played SULU

    A very courageous and also a very funny man in real life!

    Hand up never heard of SPOONS or MEMORY today. Learning moments. I found this puzzle challenging with a number of proper names and other words I never heard of.

    But it was worth it because I enjoyed the theme and I enjoyed the very clever clues. Reacted to corn made me laugh out loud when I finally figured it out. And the misdirection for Period was quite clever as ERA is so often clued this way.

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  45. CC thanks for asking about SHASTA-Trinity National Forest. Yes, we were there on our expedition to the Oregon solar eclipse two years ago.

    Here are photos of us at SHASTA Caverns and nearby Turtle Bay.

    Yes, it is a very beautiful area.

    By the way, despite the challenges today I was proud that I did FIR. Some unknowns: TARPON, TEIGEN, MERCS, NADINE, WES, TURTURRO, DAN Patrick, KERR, TGEL, MELD, PATTIE, BUNG.

    Some were real learning moments. I have heard BUNG used in a very nasty way and never knew its proper meaning.

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  46. Thanks all. Glad you enjoyed those photos. I'm no Picard, but I guess they were ok.

    When I uploaded the I noticed some older ones I took when I got my new cellphone battery back in March.

    Ordered a cellphone battery from Amazon

    At first, I thought they forgot to ship the battery until I shook the box a little bit.


    Dash T, you didn't hear it from me, but rumor on the street is that you can you can get some replacement smoke in the seasonings section of your local HEB or Randall's. It comes in liquid form to make it easier to get into those tiny openings that the OEM smoke escaped from. I usually find it around the Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce.

    Bill G, best wishes.

    Picard, I think Anon T was wondering if you knew of any other Star Trek crew members that were called "Mister".

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  47. Bill G. That was sad to read... It doesn't have to be that way in America :-(

    Picard - TTP nailed it. I started writing SULU and then thought TNG Mr. Warf and had to perp-check. I figured you were the only other solver that had the same train of thought.

    TTP - ROTFLMAO! I haven't heard the liquid-smoke joke in so long it was fresh. Priceless.
    I am so going to get a bottle of it to take to Defcon's Maker Village and just wait for someone to ask WTF(?) :-)

    Cheers, -T

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  48. GT on NPR

    Liked the pictures and article Picard. And best of all? That shirt and suspenders.

    WC

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  49. TTP thank you for the Big Boy photos and thank you for the kind words about my photos. I love trains and I have also been to the Sacramento railroad museum many times Michael.

    TTP thank you for explaining the SULU inquiry by AnonT. Yes, Mister was indeed applied to Worf and also to Spock as well as to Sulu. And to Chekov. I think SULU and Chekov had no first names originally. First names were invented later. Worf and Spock had only one name.

    Yes, the smoke joke was used a lot by me and my engineering buddies, too.

    Wilbur Charles thank you for the kind words about my SHASTA photos and SULU photos and article. Glad you like my shirts! Not sure where you saw the suspenders? I don't own suspenders, but I do wear a belt that I got at the California State Fair.

    It may not be obvious, but the SHASTA photos are actually arranged in several galleries. If you click on a photo thumbnail, it brings up a gallery. I love caves and it was fun to visit the ones there.

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  50. Tony, I haven't heard if they made connections with the ship in Spain. My DIL's company "training" retreat is aboard, so hard to tell. Supposed to stop in four countries, so maybe on to the next one. Once in a lifetime trip for my son & DIL. Hate to have it messed up.

    Yuman: I have reacted badly to just about every shot I ever took, so sorry you had to have a bad one.

    YR: have you had your side X-rayed? I had a friend who fell and broke some ribs but didn't think he had any problem. He moved wrong several days later, the ribs shifted and punctured a lung. He was bleeding internally and would have died but happened to have a repairman at his house that day who called 911. And you are going on vacation in pain? Careful, girl!

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  51. Bobbi @ 6:40 --

    I agree with you about the trivia clues ("Who was Sam Spade's butler's daughter's mother-in-law?"), but that's what is dealt to us, so humility is part of the crossword experience. I've found that perps will often lead to completion of unknown clues, and in emergencies, my friend WAG comes to the rescue ... or pushes me over the cliff.

    ReplyDelete

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