Theme: One Day at a Time. This could have been another circle puzzle, but instead the theme answers were marked with stars, with the word DAILY scrambled, and hidden in each.
18. *1930 Faulkner novel: AS I LAY DYING.
24. *1986 Chris de Burgh hit, with "The": LADY IN RED.
36. *Wits, when scared out of you: DAYLIGHTS.
52. *Hit below the belt: PLAY DIRTY.
58. Popular newspaper puzzle, and a hint to what's hidden in the answers to starred clues: DAILY JUMBLE.
Melissa here. The downs seemed a notch tougher than the acrosses.
Across:
1. Break down noisily: SOB. Ohhh, I was thinking of a car ...
4. Living things: BEINGS.
10. Mug: FACE. Sneaky.
14. Lab eggs: OVA. Plural of ovum.
15. "Bewitched" witch: ENDORA. Here she is in 1973 appearing on the TV game show, What's My Line? The final episode of Bewitched aired in March of 1972.
16. Vigorous spirit: ELAN.
17. 2018 giant shark film, with "The": MEG. I guess I'm living under a rock, because I've never heard of this movie.
20. Enlightened Buddhist: ARHAT. In Theravada Buddhism, an Arhat (Sanskrit: अर्हत् arhat; Pali: arahant; "one who is worthy") is a "perfected person" who has attained nirvana. In other Buddhist traditions the term has also been used for people far advanced along the path of Enlightenment, but who may not have reached full Buddhahood. The understanding of the concept has changed over the centuries, and varies between different schools of buddhism and different regions. Practicing Vipassana (a form of meditation) on the Theravada arhat path, increases one's capacity for compassion.
22. "... __ many ways": IN SO.
23. Letter between zeta and theta: ETA.
27. Patio furniture maker: CANER. Fooled me into thinking of a brand.
29. Defiant comeback: I CAN TOO.
30. Thrown out of the game: EJECTED.
32. Time zone word: Abbr.: STD. Standard, as opposed to Daylight Savings Time. Time Zone Abbreviations – Worldwide List.
33. Money left on a diner table: TIP.
35. Score often requiring overtime: ONE ONE.
39. Feral: SAVAGE.
42. Unfavorable review: PAN. I wonder why that term is used for a bad review.
43. __-Cat: winter vehicle: SNO.
46. Group of nine until 2006: PLANETS. In August 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded the status of Pluto to that of "dwarf planet." Controversy.
48. Grated together, as teeth: GNASHED.
51. DeGeneres who voices Dory: ELLEN.
54. Bird in 2019 Liberty Mutual commercials: EMU.
55. Apple discard: CORE.
57. Small amounts: DRIBS.
62. Cal. pages: MOS.
63. Humerus neighbor: ULNA. Bones of the arm.
64. Eye-related: OCULAR.
65. "Tamerlane" poet: POE.
66. Cribbage pieces: PEGS.
67. Hospital fluids: SERUMS.
68. Shade of blue: SKY.
Down:
1. Mogadishu natives: SOMALIS.
2. Emote: OVERACT.
3. Capital on the Tigris: BAGHDAD.
4. "Scram!": BEAT IT.
5. Middle of dinner?: ENS. Two Ns.
6. Ugandan dictator Amin: IDI.
7. "Honest!": NO LIE.
8. "Thank U, Next" singer Ariana: GRANDE.
9. Puts into words: SAYS.
10. 2010 Mark Twain Prize winner Tina: FEY.
11. Incompatible with: ALIEN TO. That was tough.
12. Hiker's flask: CANTEEN.
13. Fighting words?: ENGARDE. Nice clue.
19. Museum tour guide: DOCENT.
21. "Atlas Shrugged" writer Rand: AYN.
25. "Just a bit longer": NOT YET.
26. Agitate: ROIL.
28. Highly paid pitchers, typically: ACES.
31. Host between Jack and Jay: JOHNNY. The Tonight Show hosts. Johnny Carson was the best, imo.
34. Domino dot: PIP. Why are the dots on dominoes called pips?
36. Swede's neighbor: DANE.
37. Means: AGENCY.
38. Crazy (over): GAGA.
39. Step on the gas: SPEED UP.
40. Like many barbershop quartets: ALL MALE.
41. Appraising: VALUING.
43. Goes for crustaceans: SHRIMPS.
44. Small laptop: NETBOOK. According to How Stuff Works: "In general, netbook computers are smaller and lighter than notebook computers, which in turn are smaller and lighter than laptops. But there are no specific size or weight classes for computers."
45. Wandering journey: ODYSSEY.
47. Christmas tree choice: SPRUCE.
49. Puff __: venomous African snakes: ADDERS.
50. Elton John's title: SIR.
53. Madagascar primate: LEMUR.
56. Spanish eyes: OJOS.
59. Vegas opening: LAS.
60. __-ray Disc: BLU.
61. Fugitive's flight: LAM.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Glad you're back online, Owen! Hope you're home soon.
2)
Dear Irish Miss (Agnes) fell backwards on the concrete floor on Sunday
night. X-rays/CT scan showed that she had a sprained shoulder. Right now
she has Oxycodone to control the pain, but her stomach is like mine,
very averse to those pain pills. Terrible nausea. She'll need to follow up
with her own doctor and an orthopedic doctor once the pain and nausea
subsidize. She has family in the area, but she lives alone. Simple everyday things can be challenging for her.
Let's send her get-well cards and cheer her up. Her contact details are here.
50 comments:
FIR in 49:52 min.
Good morning Cornerites and Cornerettes.
Thank you Craig Stowe for this crunchy Wednesday CW.
Thank you melissa bee for your excellent review.
Pip pip to you.
TTFN
Ðave
Yay! I'm back on-line, thanks to Brenda bringing my laptop to the hospital for me!
However, not-so-yayfull, this was a FIWrong for me. Couldn't remember if BAGDAD was a double GG or DD, and AR?AT was a word I've seen in crosswords before, but just couldn't dig out of the cobwebby attic.
FLN (actually LN-2) In one book of crossword lore I read about a woman in Australia who submitted a solution to a British newspaper (cryptic) crossword 23 years after it was originally published. Crossworders are persistent!
AS I LAY DYING, my fluids EJECTED.
A nurse came by with SERUMS injected.
With DRIBS and drabs
From I.V. bags
My malady was being rejected!
For the DAILY JUMBLE, the letters scrambled.
Some on the LAM, others just ambled.
On an ODYSSEY
Some go to sea,
Like alphabet soup, some are Campbelled!
Good morning!
Owen got back online just in time for this one. I zipped right through this one, but needed the reveal to get the theme. Melissa, I never heard of The MEG, either. Tried EviCTED, but the perps demanded the JE. The advent of the computer tablet sounded the death knell for the NETBOOK. I enjoyed the outing, Craig, and also the review, Melissa.
Add me to the group who did not know THE MEG
PAN The meaning "criticize severely" is from 1911, probably from the notion in contemporary slang expressions such as on the pan "under reprimand or criticism" (1923)
BagHdad and ArHat in the same puzzle.
Thank you, Craig and Melissa.
THE MEG is currently in the rotation on HBO. It has popped up on the screen several times over the past couple months. I've passed so far. First Man, however, has been viewed several times in bits and pieces. Saw the second installment of Hard Knocks last night. Interesting insight to tryouts and training in the NFL. Its definitely not all fun and games.
Is it a good idea to post Agnes' personal information? AnonT, what say you? Maybe it should request that you send C. . a request for said information. She could filter the bad intentions from those wishing to send good intentions.
Saw the theme but only when I got to the unifier/reveal. Took 6:30 to finish. That pesky "h" in Baghdad & arhat (?) was the toughest opponent.
Having seen "sera" so often in puzzles, "serums" seems misplaced.
Happy mending to the ill, injured, and infirm.
Good Morning,
Thanks, Craig, for some fun and a well-timed CSO to OwenKL with the DAILY JUMBLE!
Nicely done, Melissa. Thank you. I had the opposite experience. The downs saved me. I liked OJOS crossing OCULAR. Loved teaching AS I LAY DYING to AP Seniors. With an understanding of the elements of Southern LIt, it began to make some sense.
xoxo to Owen and Agnes.
Taking MIL to Ortho doc today. An exciting outing? ;-)
Do have a sunny day.
IM, sorry to hear about your fall. Good that nothing was broken. It seems that falls are the bane of those of us "of a certain age."
Bill G, FLN, you can look him up on Spokeo.com. They'll provide the full listing (address, phone, email, everything they've got) for $0.95. Leave the space out of VanZant.
When I am writing a WORD document I save constantly to avoid Misty's disaster. I forget to save here on the blog. I just fat fingered a wrong key and lost a post I spent more than 30 minutes on. I should save this on WORD, too. No time to repost.
Good morning everyone.
A bit of a cranky solve today. More dollops of white-out than usual for a Wednesday; mainly in the center west (Nevada?). Had Finn before DANE and overawe before OVERACT. Also stir before ROIL. But Craig did a good job getting my brain neurons firing. In the end - - FIR.
Thanks Melissa for the intro.
Good morning. Another early AM solve for me. Nothing to gnash your teeth over. Smooth Wednesday solve. Picked up on the JUMBLE of DAILY at the second theme answer, LADY IN RED.
Odd that I would know of the movie The Meg. Never saw it, but remember the commercials for it. No hesitancy there. I think the only fill I really had to work at was ALIEN TO. Oh, and ARHAT too.
Thank you, Craig and Melissa.
Irish Miss, sorry to hear of your fall.
Sorry to hear that IM is in pain after her fall. GET WELL SOON!! Will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
AS for the puzzle, I had to look up up i the dictionary the word DOCENT as I have never heard that word before.The rest of the puzzle went quickly.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Craig Stowe, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Melissa Bee, for a fine review.
Get Well soon, Owen KL and Irish Miss. It is no fun to be down with something.
Did the puzzle in about 20 minutes this morning. Pretty good for me for a Wednesday.
DAILY JUMBLE came easily. Then I caught the theme as I looked at the starred clues. Good job, Craig!
I also never heard of THE MEG. I miss most movies. We just do not do a lot of that.
BAGHDAD was easy. ARHAT was not. I knew AYN Rand so that helped.
Spelled ENDORA wrong. Used an A to start. BEAT IT fixed that. Also spelled DOCENT with an S. CANER fixed that.
CANTEEN reminded me of the company my dad worked for before he moved to Florida. He had a vending route all his life.
Liked the three J talk show hosts. Never thought of it that way.
First day as a crossing guard this morning. Crossed 125 kids in a half hour. Plus parents. Busy. Busy. It will slow down in a few days.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
JJM:
Please contact one of us Chicagoans. We get together now and then to swap stories, etc.
Abejo
Nice puzzle from Craig and Melissa B's treatise helped fill in the theme that I didn't get.
It was a good thing I knew how to spell BAGHDAD, because I didn't know what an Enlightened Buddhist was. Needed perps for the whole word along with a few others.
I filled in the DAILY JUMBLE in the CW and today's Jumble was EEZY PEEZY.
It was interesting that Spanish Eyes and Eye-related crossed.
The movie the MEG is sort-of an updated version of the JAWS movies about a Megaladon, a giant sharklike prehistoric predator. Apparently it did pretty well at the box office.
I still think Pluto got a bum rap when it was EJECTED from the list of planets. Is a dwarf tree not a tree, so is a dwarf planet not a planet? That astronomy bunch can be pretty mean sometimes.
I hope that all who are not well heal quickly.
Have a great day everyone.
Good Morning, Melissa B and friends. I found this to be a fairly easy Wednesday puzzle, but had the same stumbling blocks as many others. I don't recall even hearing about the movie THE MEG.
I knew that BAGHDAD was on the Tigris, but ARHAT was unknown.
Cribbage is very nostalgic for me. My grandfather taught me to play the game and playing the game was one of the last things my mother and I did together before she was killed.
Hand up for Stir before ROIL.
QOD: You should always leave the party 10 minutes before you actually do. ~ Gary Larson (b. Aug. 14, 1950)
Hi Y'all! Great early morning entertainment, Craig & Melissa!
Got the theme with the reveal despite having a bad record unscrambling theme's like this. Yay, Craig! Yay, me!
Melissa, hand up for never hearing of The MEG. Also found tough: "Incompatible" = ALIEN TO.
Also tough for me: "means" = AGENCY. What? Oh, okay! "Stir" before ROIL.
Forgot the country for Mogadishu and LIU before filling anything on the puzzle. Africa geography just doesn't stick in my mind like I want it to.
Oh, Agnes, so sorry for your injury! I have the nausea with pain pills too. Does ice or heat help you at all? Maybe a topical Salonpas or something would help? Will pray for your recovery. I, too, wondered about the safety of posting Agnes' address. Hope her African Prince, "phone pal" doesn't show up at her door.
Owen, got a chuckle from today's poem. You must be getting better since your wit has returned. Sorry, this has laid you up. UTI's are no fun.
Was it Jinx who was reading Michener's "Caribbean"? Sounded good to me so got it from Kindle last night. Haven't started it yet. I thought I'd read a lot of Michener's work, but found a lot of his books that I'd never heard of.
I liked this puzzle. I found the reveal half way through and used it to get one theme answer. ARHAT and MEG were new to me. Thank you, Craig and Melissa.
Agnes, honey, I am wishing you a quick and thorough recovery and good pain management. That oxycodone is nasty. I find it worse than the pain. Maybe your doctor can recommend something better.
JUMBLE, CSO to all you Jumble fans, especially Owen. Glad to see you back here today, Owen.
Inanehiker, FLN, I agree that Grey's Anatomy is too "soapy." I stopped watching it, too. I always wondered how those doctors had all that free time. I liked the human interest stories with the patients, but not the rest of it.
I have often read that a positive "I can, too!" "Yes, I can" attitude is helpful for pain management and healing, along with following sound medical advice. When I broke my foot and needed a large prosthesis and cadaver bone implanted, the doctor said I would never dance or hike again. My silent answer was, "You wanna bet?"
FERAL is very commonly used to mean SAVAGE. However, technically feral refers to a domesticated animal or its progeny now living in the wild. Feral horses and pigeons do not seem all that savage. Feral can refer to domesticated plants gone wild, too. When we hiked we often saw very old tumble down remains of homes in the woods with domesticated flowers run wild.
I am sure that most of our information, as well as our addresses is readily available online. IM has her actual name on the puzzles she constructs and her posts indicate the area where she lives. Her address could be googled quickly. I am sure mine can be, too.
Realtors from FL were constantly calling me for info about the former owner of this house more than 25 years ago. They used her last name and I remembered her husband's first name and that they moved to FL. I found her obit in two minutes online. End of harassment. Why didn't they think of doing that?
Thanks to Craig for a crunchier than usual Wednesday, and MBee for the ‘splaining. FIR in 26 minutes. Things I didn’t know or had never heard of:
The MEG, ARHAT.
Observations:
-The 3 Across answers in the far southeast if put together sound like the name of a (dwarf?) planet in Star Wars. MOSPOESKY.
-Love those GN words like GNASHED.
-Put me on the list of people who felt SERUMS sounded awkward. Really wanted SERA.
Why am I up this early? I have no idea. I hope it doesn’t get to be a habit.
Remember: No matter where you go — there you are.
Enjoy your day.
Musings
-Susan mentioned Dillinger yesterday and today we get The Lady In Red
-Classically trained Agnes Morehead despised the role of ENDORA but cashed the checks
-Some managers get EJECTED to stir up his players
-Seeing Pluto’s eccentric orbit makes it easy to see why it is not considered a PLANET but rather a random body captured by our Sun’s gravity
-Meat packing plant jobs are drawing many SOMALIS to our part of the country
-Silent H’s are a real problem for me in puzzles
-Get well soon, Agnes!
Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks for the fun, Craig and melissab.
Straight-forward solve again today with only one inkblot. Hand up for Stir before ROIL.
Thankfully ARHAT and MEG filled with perps.
I saw the theme and immediately thought of Owen.
I missed seeing OJOS crossing OCULAR. Thanks Madame D.
The Yankees were hoping Marcus Stroman would become their ACE pitcher, but the Blue Jays traded him to the Mets. "As part of the deal, the Mets get $1.5 million from the Blue Jays to offset much of the $2,506,452 remaining on Stroman's $7.4 million salary this year." Highly paid is right!
Glad to see you are back online, Owen. Hope your recovery continues well.
Sorry to hear of your fall, Irish Miss. Get well soon. (Ask the doctor to consider Tramacet maybe)
Wishing you all a great day.
I will bet six beers and three shots of Old Crow that Craig was doing the Daily Jumble and it dawned on him that it could be a good puzzle theme. There's no way it was easy to do. Think of having to put DAILY into common phrases and words with the letters scrambled.
Great job and great puzzle, Craig!
IM, how awful! Prayers from here!
Owen glad to see your wit wasn’t damaged. Get well soon.
Craig, thanks for this challenge. I loved Wits, when scared out of you. I usually hear Scare the DAYLIGHTS out of...
I am a DOCENT at the WWII museum so that was a hummer. And speaking of that conflict, FLN Gary I loved your reference to the SBD Dauntless dive bombers that sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi, the Japanese Admiral s flagship. Marvelous planes! The day before, all four of the aircraft carriers in the area at the time were sunk by the Dauntless.
It’s hard to get excited about people dying, but they were trying to kill all of us. War is awful.
Dumb autocorrect ! DOCENT was a “gimme“ but auto correct doesn’t like. Something else was also changed. Aw well.
HG: The so-called "Lady in Red" was actually wearing orange. Her clothing just looked red under the theater marquee lights
Off to a dentist appointment this morning, so just a quick thanks to Craig and Melissa for fun puzzle and commentary this morning, and thank you for the news about Irish Miss, C.C. I was happy to know ENDORA, ELLEN, AYN, and JOHNNY, and I knew it had to be POE, but had a bit of trouble in that southeast corner. Never heard of MEG, like others, and kept thinking it was California page, not Calendar page--DOH! Have a good day, everybody.
Good clean Wednesday puzzle. Got the theme right away. Only issue is 11 down as alien to. Alien is being strange or foreign, not incompatible.
The problem with 11 down is clearly alien to me. I thought it was a gimme. Susan, I played cribbage with my grandmother for 30 years; it was real bonding. She went on to play UNO with the other grandchildren.
Dillinger's girl was THE WOMAN IN RED. THE LADY IN RED told a completely different SONG STORY .
I agree that all information is available online; whether correct or not. I am sorry for what happened to Agnes and what happened to her. I use a cane because I fear falling down.
Best wishes and prayers.
I read museum tour guide as Muslim and wondered if the DOCENT came from the Arabic.
I had a little trouble in the SW.
Interesting that DAILY JUMBLE would show up.
WC
Hola!
First, Agnes, I'm so sorry to hear of your accident and hope the healing goes well.
Owen, you sound fit as a fiddle so I hope your healing continues well, too.
Craig Stowe, thank you for a fine word fest! BAGHDAD/ARHAT almost beat me and even after I had filled the grid I LIU to make sure of the spelling.
Count me in the number who never saw or heard of MEG.
I loved OJOS/OCULAR crossing.
One of my book club friends is a DOCENT at the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesen West museum.
How well I recall agonizing over Faulkner's AS I LAY DYING. Just reading sentences that were a complete paragraph almost mesmerized me into a hypnotic state. And that was at least 60 years ago.
I also liked the three Js of late night hosting.
Thank you, Melissa, for a fine review.
Have a fantastic day, everyone!
Dear Agnes (Irish Miss) ~
Very sorry to learn of your bad fall. I hope the pills can at least help with the *#@! pain & that you can get rid of both very soon. I'm sure neither can dampen your spirit. We look forward to seeing you back in the Corner very soon!
A clever pzl today, thanks to Mr. Stowe! Good to see the Jumble again on this side of the URL.
Have a good session with your dentist, Misty. I hope you have as good luck with yours as I did with mine!
~ OMK
____________
Dr: One diagonal today, NW to SE.
It offers up an anagram that refers to the condition wherein one has just about had it up to here with attempting sexual reproduction between similarly sized and shaped gametes. I mean of course the infamous…
“ISOGAMY DRAIN”!
Melissa ~
Oh, I get it (I think). When you wrote that "Breaks down noisily" = SOB made you think of a car, were you thinking of a SAAB?
~ OMK
Dear Agnes -- as one invalid to another, wanna race?
DOCENT is from the Latin, docere: to teach (from Random House Webster's College Dictionary)
I liked this puzzle. As Melissa pointed out, there were some really clever clues. I especially like how DAYLIGHTS was clued. Some very nifty down words, too. It took me a while to parse ENGARDE because I got so hung up on the first three letters ENG having something to do with engines or engineering.
I don't want to start or engage in an argument, but by every definition of planet I know of, Pluto is a planet.
Irish Miss, so sorry you fell. I hope you, and you too Owen, recover quickly and thoroughly.
Owen, I love how you rhymed Campbelled!
Good wishes to you all.
Well this Wednesday puzzle had more crunch than expected.
One markover.....NOTNOW/NOTYET.
Irish Miss....I hate those pills. My son got addicted to them after a doctor prescribed them for THREE MONTHS before the operation, and then another couple months after. Gee, guess what happened? He bounced around rehabs for a while, then life got real and he pulled out of it. He’s been clean for quite some time now.
When I had surgery a couple years back, they gave me “oxy in a bottle”....liquid. I took one sip the first night to get to sleep, and that was it.
I substituted an herbal substance that is illegal here but not everywhere. New York, for instance, has just decriminalized it. That’s what I’d be using. Not encouraging anything by anyone, just saying.
On to Thursday.
Today is Navajo Code Talkers day , honoring the code talkers from WWII who used their native language as a code. They just said whatever was needed in Navajo. The “code” was never broken by the Japanese.
FIR, but erased FaY, ADDler and ODeSSaY. Bad spelars of the world UNTIE!!!
I found this one very tough, and was surprised to see that ARHAT was correct. Seems like what a pirate says when a kid(d) asks him "gee, Mr. Pirate - what's that on your head?" "ARrr, HAT".
Teaching Microsoft Project today and tomorrow. Will probably not be able to finish tomorrow's cw until I get home, as was the case today.
IM, wish you were close enough for DW and I to pitch in and help with your recovery. Get well soon. I'm so glad you didn't hit your head.
Thanks for the interesting puzzle, Craig. And thanks to melissab for the fun review.
OMK: Really good one!
~ Mind how you go...
Hi All!
Thanks Craig for the mighty fine puzzle; like Jerome said, anagramming DAILY into a phrase musta been a bugger. Thanks mb for the fine expo.
WOs: eDI Amin, DRaBS b/f DRIBS, SyRUMS
ESP: ARHAT, MEG [actually, M was the result of ABC-run and I recalled the movie one letter past 'L' :-) SOMALI finally followed.
Fav: GNASHED is a really fun word.
The theme was needed to figure out @24a: -A-Y-N-ED
Docent - a word I couldn't think of May 3rd but Java Mama, TTP, Lem, and Lucina cemented it in my mind -- nailed it today with only the hesitation of 'C' or 'S.'
{A, B+} - good to see you at The Corner so soon!
DR is a stretch today :-) //SaaB totally made up for it!
IrishMiss! Ouch. Please get well soon. //And maybe a nip or two of Dewar's for the pain.
Cheers, -T
DOYEN and SAMANTHA didn't fit.
Jayce, thanks for the comment about Campbelled! I love doing creative things with language, and doubly love it when anybody notices!
Keeping my humor up is pretty easy for me, but I'm still feeling pretty miserable 😔. Weaker than a kitten, very tired all the time. I am so glad and greatful I have a wonderful community like all of you! My body may be ailing, but you keep my mind alert. And I'm also sooo glad I live in this modern day when I can talk to all of you folks I would never have known. When I'm in a little bit of pain with an ear ache, I think of how much worse it could have been facing a bone saw in the Civil War.
OKL - you have friends indeed.
Remember when you first came to the Corner and soon thereafter some snark would PAN just the act of you posting limericks? And Cornerites others stood-up and said they enjoyed your prose?
Remember when you inspired C.Moe and Harry to Haiku?
And then you started the JUMBLE site and Cornerites (with more time on their hands than I) joined you over there?
You have friends indeed.
Get well soon. Cheers, -T
Funny that the discussion of Pluto came up before I had a chance to read the blog this evening. I have just finished watching a show on PBS. Not sure what series or episode it was but they were discussing Pluto just as intoned in. And according to some dude he said:
" A planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
Pluto satisfies both a and b but not c. It has an orbit around the sun, no matter how erratic it may be. It is round. But they are several other objects in its orbit that it is too small and has not enough mass to force out of its orbit. Therefore the IAU or some arbitrary committee has deemed it a dwarf planet.
I don't have a dog in this fight but those are the facts. The question is, do you give a hoot what the International Astronomical Union thinks?
Dear Clyde:
Then by the IAU's criteria, has our planet 'cleared' the moon from the neighborhood? Or better yet, how about Jupiter, with its 59 (or whatever the current count is) moons?
OwenKL:
Please hang in there! I, for one and many others, too, look forward to your posts and your verses. It adds further character to the quirkiness of our Corner group.
[A poem I wrote back in June of '13.]
PLANETS
When I was born the planets known they numbered just at nine.
As I grew up, and then grew old, that didn't change, 'twas nine.
But then things altered, worlds were found where none were seen before;
The Kupier Belt yields planetoids, then more, and more, and more!
So Pluto gets demoted, but asteroid Ceres gets restored,
Like Pluto, once a planet, till lumped with its rocky horde.
Planets now are eight, but dwarf planets are abounding.
The heavens now are crowded, the increase is just astounding!
But then, that wasn't yet enough to change our frame of mind
Sufficiently, so exoplanets they began to find.
Circling other stars, strange huge worlds far from home,
Giants first, then rocky core enclosed in gaseous dome.
New methods are developed, telescopes in orbit hone
The grails are smaller planets in the Goldilockian zone.
Worlds are found in hundreds, promises of other Earth
Where life, not as we know it, could have had a cosmic birth.
What does it mean to this old man, new things that humans learn?
I shall not live to fly out there, to ride a rocket's burn.
Yet when I see the stories science fiction has produced
There's comfort in the wonder science proves is not reduced.
Dear Micahel
Moon, or satellites orbiting planets ARE "cleared". They are under control as they have been sucked into the planets gravity. Thw planet has enough gravity(mass) to either pull the moon into orbit around itself or force other objects out of its orbit around the sun. There are no other objects within Earth's(or Jupiter'a) orbit that are also orbiting the sun with their own individual orbit. Clear as mud? Pluto shares it's orbit with thousands of other masses that are orbiting the sun outside of Pluto's influence.
It's as if Pluto is just the largest asteroid in a asteroid belt orbiting around the Sun's gravity.
Pluto and I have
a Platonic love relationship
no matter how dwarf it is.
Ðave
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