google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday October 28, 2019 Craig Stowe

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Oct 28, 2019

Monday October 28, 2019 Craig Stowe

Theme:  MIDDLE GROUND.(52. Compromising standpoint ... and what the answers to starred clues contain?) - LAND is in the middle of each theme entry.

20. *Do business shrewdly: WHEEL AND DEAL.

28. *Murmur lovingly: BILL AND COO.

34. *Basic experimentation method: TRIAL AND ERROR.

41. *Like a typical walking stride: HEEL AND TOE.

Boomer here.

Land Ho!!  Enjoy the Monday puzzle!  First of all, I wish to thank C.C. and all of you faithful Crossword Corner member bloggers for all of the fine birthday wishes I received yesterday.  Also, I have been enjoying the World Series without favoring one team or the other. But I do find it incredible that the visiting team has won every game so far.  I do not remember that ever being the case in a World Series, but sometimes, at my age, I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast. I have not heard if the Astros asked to stay in Washington for game 6, but I think they are watching the "Wizard of Oz" and trying on the ruby slippers and clicking the heals and repeat, "There's no place like home, There's no place like home." 

Across:

1. Gives in to gravity: SAGS. Old folks like me fight this gravity problem constantly. Some of us are losing the fight.

5. Annoying little kids: IMPS.

9. Hunter's plastic duck, e.g.: DECOY.  I am not a hunter. I have seen these but I don't think they work.  You cannot fool a duck.

14. Clear off the road, as snow: PLOW.  This season is coming to our home in Minnesota soon.  part of the reason why our taxes are on the high side.  It's expensive to keep the roads clean.

15. Actress Gilbert of "The Conners": SARA.


16. Make amends: ATONE.

17. What "Ten-hut!" is short for: ATTENTION.  I thought it was a row of Quonset huts on a Marine base.

19. Income __: TAXES.  The season is coming next April.  About time the flu season subsides. 

22. Tidy up: NEATEN.

23. "__ you kidding?": ARE.  No I am not.  I wish there was a tax shot to buy.

24. Off-the-wall: ODD.  Add an "S" and my mind wanders to the craps table.  I know the odds for every number.  I learned them the hard way.  You can make a 4, 6, 8,or 10 the hard way.  You may get 30 to one, but correct odds are 35 to one.

27. Walmart warehouse club: SAM'S.  We have one of these west of our home, but it does not seem much different than Walmart, except I think you have to purchase a membership. Like Costco

32. Muslim mystic: SUFI.

33. Lake near Carson City: TAHOE.  This is a beautiful lake in the higher elevation of Nevada.  I never went to Carson City, but we visited Harrah's club in Tahoe after bowling in Reno.


39. Sea item sold by 39-Down, in a tongue-twister: SHELL. 39. See 39-Across: SHE.  She sells sea shells by the seashore.  Say that real fast three times.

40. Say no to: DENY.

44. Bygone Japanese audio brand: AIWA.  I don't remember them.  I think Sony acquired them.

48. Conclusion: END.  It's not the end.  We still have the "down" clues.

49. Boardroom VIP: CEO.  Interesting - in the 19th century, native Americans had a chief, and the military had officers.  Not sure where the executives came from.

50. The Lone __: RANGER.  At a bowling center I used to patronize, there was an autographed photo of Clayton Moore.  "Who was that masked man? I don't know, I wanted to thank him."


55. Deck alternative: PATIO.  Our home does not have a patio.  We have a raised deck that serves us well.  Except I don't know how the squirrels get up on it.

58. Belittle: DENIGRATE.

59. 17-syllable Japanese poem: HAIKU.

60. Suffix with major: ETTE.  "Halftime brings on pretty girls, with little short skirts and long blonde curls. - But who's got time for majorettes, when NBC has got the Jets and I just can't afford two sets."

61. Auth. unknown: ANON.

62. Desert retreats: OASES.  Singular OASIS was a brand of cigarettes,  I don't see them anymore.


63. Monica's brother on "Friends": ROSS.  "Also the surname of George's fiance on Seinfeld."  I don't watch "Friends".  I've had enough.

64. German thinker Immanuel: KANT.

Down:

1. Reproduces like salmon: SPAWNS.  If salmon reproduces so much, how come it's so expensive ?

2. __ Gibson, first African-American to win a Grand Slam tennis title: ALTHEA.  Virgil Tibbs wife on "In the Heat of the Night".

3. Pep rally cheer: GO TEAM.  "Go Wild, and take the Timberwolves with you!"

4. Candy and such: SWEETS. Then there was Wilson Sweet, also on "In the Heat of the Night."


5. Turkey's largest city: ISTANBUL.  I thought it was Constantinople. I am old.

6. Principal: MAIN.  I will bet this is the most common name for a street.

7. Spur to action: PROD.

8. Beach footwear: SANDAL.

9. Job of typing in facts and figures: DATA ENTRY.

10. List-shortening abbr.: ET AL.  What's the difference between ET AL and ETC.? One letter of course.

11. Courtney who played Monica on "Friends": COX.  I do not watch "Friends".  I remember a timid comedian named Wally, and also Courtney had a bit role on a Seinfeld episode, before she got famous and rich.


12. Single: ONE.  Gotta pick up those single pins.

13. "By all means!": YES.

18. Phillies' div.: NLE.  It seems there is a team called NATS in that division doing quite well,

21. Significant stretch of time: ERA.  Mainly because their pitchers have low ERAs.

24. Twice cuatro: OCHO.  If this were German I would say Gesundheit.

25. Way in: DOOR.  Add an "S" "Light my Fire"

26. Forest female: DOE.  A deer, a female deer - The hills are alive, with the "Sound of Music".

29. "__ tree falls in the forest ... ": IF A.  With no one around, does it still make a sound??

30. High-end chocolatier: LINDT.


31. __ es Salaam: DAR.

32. Lustful: SALACIOUS.

34. At that time: THEN.

35. Oboe or clarinet: REED.  I remember Donna Reed.  This was back in the day when some of the sitcom was named after the leading actor or actress.  Isn't that right, LUCY?

36. Not feeling well: ILL.  The Great State of TTP,  Notice in campaign season, All states are great.

37. __ volente: God willing: DEO.

38. Vigorous qualities to put into one's work: ENERGIES.  Our power supplier is XCEL Energy.  They serve us very well.

42. Nancy Drew's beau: NED.

43. Walk feebly: DODDER.  That's how I walk, especially upstairs. I just didn't know what it was called.

44. Arctic jacket: ANORAK.


45. Exotic lizard kept as a pet: IGUANA.

46. Was happening: WENT ON.  Fires in California wine country seem to go on and on.  Hope folks up there are safe.

47. Passionate: ARDENT.

51. Buenos Aires' country: Abbr.: ARG.  With all the problems in the middle east we don't hear about unrest in South America. Except recently there was hubbub in Santiago, Chile - A spinoff of a subway fare increase.  Reminds me of Poor Old Charlie on the MTA.  "Did he ever return?"

52. Karaoke prop that often ends in "c" nowadays: MIKE.  "Mike, Mike, Mike what day is it??  Hump day".  Don't get me wrong, I am still no fan of car insurance commercials.

53. Jared of "Dallas Buyers Club": LETO.

54. Tolkien creatures: ENTS.

55. Vietnamese soup: PHO.


56. Small battery: AAA.  These are not that small.  I have things in my possession that take those little round batteries that have a four digit number for their name.

57. "__ the season ... ": 'TIS.  To be Jolly, Fa la la la la la la la la.

Boomer



36 comments:

OwenKL said...

FIW. Had DODDEl, which gave a natick at LET_ + l_SS. I plugged in lySS (for Ulysses) instead of ROSS. I've never watched Friends, but they're in the culture (and crosswords) enough I at least recognize their names.

Not sure ALTHEA counts as prescience, since she came up by being indirectly referred to in a prior puzzle.

The most common street name in America is Second. I'd have to look up the rest, but Main has to battle it out with First and Central, so they're a little ways down the list.

OwenKL said...

If an ANORAK WENT ON an IGUANA,
Would he say the coat feels like a sauna?
Would he feel ARDENT pleasure
At this warming treasure?
Would he wear it, or say, "I don't wanna!"?

A couple of IMPS, a girl and boy
Played some tricks. She was the DECOY.
She got ATTENTION,
Which prevented prevention
Of his "liberation" of SWEETS or a toy!

{A-, A.}

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I could tell from Boomer's write-up that I'd missed seeing about 50% of the c/a's in my dive to the bottom. Did notice the "and" in the center of each theme answer, but not the L that preceded it. D'oh. Thanx, Craig and Boomer.

ENERGIES: People moving up this way from Houston are shocked to learn that there is no choice of electric provider -- it's Entergy or darkness.

SINGLE: I had to re-read Boomer's comment for this one several times. I was trying to figure out why he wanted to a pin that said "Single" on it. What was he up to?

SAMS: I have to question the marketing strategy in Bentonville. We had a Walmart on I69 7 miles south of us. Then they built another, on the other side of I69, 5 miles south of us (for the math-challenged among you, they're just 2 miles apart in a mostly rural area). Then they built a Sam's Club on I69 between the two. It was only 6 months before they shut the doors...permanently.

desper-otto said...

Just "to pin," not "to a pin."

Boomer said...

Note to desper-otto - I bowled in a Minnesota State Senior tournament on Saturday. Three games, I think I left about 10 single ten pins on pocket hits, but at least I picked all of them up. I finished with 578 and took over third place in my age group. The tournament runs through November 10th so I imagine that I will be passed by a few. A small check will have been worth the drive. The ten pin is the bane of all bowlers. Ask TTP.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, erasure-free. Even SUFI x LINDT.

DECOYs are made of plastic now? What's next, Styrofoam totem poles?

If a man states an opinion in the forest and his wife isn't there to hear him, is he still wrong?

FLN, Lucina that was a great story. Oh the IRONy. My mother liked to garden. Before I was born, my dad bought her a human-powered plow for her birthday. She was still telling that story in the memory care unit when she was in her 80s. "He tried to make a jackass out of me" was her tag line.

Thanks to Craig for the fun but challenging puzzle. And of course to Boomer for another great tour. May you pick up all those taps.

jfromvt said...

Nice Monday puzzle, good start to the week.

This World Series is like 1996, when the away team won the first five games. Unfortunately (as a Red Sox fan), the Yankees went home for game 6 and beat the Braves to win the World Series. So as far as I know, the away team has never won all the games in a series.

Was never a big “Friends” fan. The day to day adventures of six impossibly good looking people didn’t appeal to me. But if Jennifer Aniston were to show up on my doorstep...hmm..

desper-otto said...

Just "a pin," not "to pin." Jeez.

Anonymous said...

Easy puzzle, which is what Mondays are for.

"Friends" is a funny show.

Yellowrocks said...

Craig, good early week puzzle. I didn't see the L for LAND until the review. I knew it would be more than just AND. ROSS, COX and LETO were perps and wags.
Thanks for the fine review, Boomer.
I know that crossword clue and fill often ignore nuance, so this paragraph is no nit. The nuances struck me today.
WHEEL AND DEAL usually has the connotation of unscrupulous.
SHREWD often is just merely astute, although sometimes it may be negative. It derives from "Middle English (in the sense ‘evil in nature or character’): from shrew in the sense ‘evil person or thing’, or as the past participle of obsolete shrew ‘to curse’. The word developed the sense ‘cunning’, and gradually gained a favorable connotation during the 17th century. (By the way, wheel and deal is a square dance call.)
IMP has the connotation of playful mischief. So I use IMP, often with a chuckle, as a middle epithet, when I am not annoyed.
To me BY ALL MEANS is an emphatic YES. OFF THE WALL. to me, is an emphatic ODD.
Just sayin'. No nit with his puzzle.
We have a patio, Many of our neighbors have decks. Our property is narrow because our condo building consists of six side-by-side attached residences. When I have a lot of company the patio allows the party to spill over onto the lawn. I find a small deck confining.
I am not doddering, but my balance is not good. For the past year, when I step on anything uneven without noticing, I tend to fall. I need to change my habits and be much more aware that I am no longer a spring chicken.

Yellowrocks said...

I saw LAND at the REVEAL, not the REVIEW. I guess my brain is becoming unbalanced, too.

TTP said...

Well nuts. I made a real mess out of a Monday. Kinda like D-O trying to write "a pin". :>)

Boomer, I was flipping through the channels the other day and one of the local PBS stations was showing a clip of these these three pickers in striped shirts. Now I know who the Kingston Trio is. And who Charlie is. Apparently he never gets off the train, but his wife always passes him a sandwich through the window as the train rumbles through town.

Yep. The better you get, the more likely you are going to leave the ten pin when you don't strike. Last year I took Boomer's advice and bought a ball that has one purpose - knock down that stupid standing ten pin.

Nice set Boomer. 193 average. Keep on hitting that pocket ! Also, when our little Chicago group met the last time, I learned that Wik Wak used to league bowl and carried a pretty high average. He was in the 190s to 200 range.

How about those Nats ? What a great season, regardless of the final outcome. Apparently there's no Harper in team. It's going to be interesting to see where Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon end up next season.

Hope Cole goes to the Angels. Would love to see Rendon go to the Astros. He's from Houston. Played high school ball at Lamar, and then went to college at Rice. His wife is a professor there. They live in Katy. So it's not going to happen.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A nice puzzle with SUFI and ANORAK thrown in for ODD fill
-TRIAL AND ERROR – Edison’s reply after being asked how it felt to fail 1,000 times to get a working light bulb - "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."
- Blowing snow isn’t hard but when the PLOW leaves that icy mess at the bottom of the drive…
-An Omaha dealership’s car ad featured a LOAN ARRANGER
-In Casino the goons used a cattle PROD to get a cheating blackjack player away from the table
-That isolated tree makes vibrations but no noise
-Like others I missed the L at first

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Thanks Boomer for another engaging intro.

FIR. No problems with the solve. Paid minimal attention to the theme; AND saw all the 'ANDs' coming through.
CSO to the ANONs, most of whom are not snarky. But then there's -T. "-)
NEATEN - Have to NEATEN up a bit. Our Bridge group is playing at Chez Spitzboov tonight. In another ERA, we would 'titivate' our Quarterdeck upon entering port.
ISTANBUL - is derived from the Medieval Greek meaning "to the City."
PLOW - British 'plough'. German Pflug, L. German Ploog, Dutch ploeg. (The 'g' is elided from the back of the throat like the ch in 'ach'. The vowels are long u, long o, and long u, respectively.)

Totally unrelated to any of the above, I thought some of you might have an interest in Life Aboard A Destroyer - A Navy Family - At The Helm, aboard an Arleigh Burke Class destroyer. Not my Fletcher Class DD from 60 years ago, but it did stir up quite a few memories.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Joann and I spent a lovely evening last night watching Downton Abbey on the big screen. As is my wont, I then read the reviews at Rotten Tomatoes (Critics – 84%, Audience – 94%) where one critic wrote a sentence that truly represents my feelings on movies today:
“But the movie (Downton) omits the Method masochism and "eat this bowl of chaff, it's good for you" bombast that has increasingly become synonymous with Hollywood's Oscar bait.”

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Anytime a puzzle, especially an early week puzzle, obscures the theme until the reveal, I'm a happy solver. I suppose that "Land" might have been obvious to some eyes, but not to mine, so, therefore, the Middle Ground reveal brought a very satisfying Aha! Dar, Sufi, and AIWA all needed perps but no w/os necessary. I'm more familiar with Doddering vs Dodder, but I get the drift. She crossing Shell was cute, as the cluing tied them together. CSOs to Haiku Harry and our welcome Anons, not the snarky ones, though!

Thanks, Craig, for a pleasant start to the week and thanks, Boomer, for continuing to tickle our fancies with your wonderful wit and home-spun anecdotes.

A great big shout out to our own CC for today's outstanding puzzle in The New York Times but, more impressively, for garnering the most positive, praise-filled review from Rex Parker. Rex never minces words and is rarely overly complimentary but he gives CC a much-deserved, glowing tribute to her talent and achievements. Brava, CC! (I recommend reading it as it may be one of the last of its kind from Rex.)

FLN

Robin, thanks for dropping by.

Ferm, nice to hear from you and hope you're able to join us more frequently.

Have a great day.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Thank you to Craig Stowe and Boomer! You are really funny, Boomer!

Easy and sparkling is how I would describe today's puzzle. Sparkling fill: ALTHEA, ANORAK, SUFI, HAIKU, ISTANBUL,PHO and some I never saw, DAR, DEO and ARG. Now I understand why so many Vietnamese restaurants have PHO in their name.

ISTANBUL is a vibrant city which I've visited twice and would go again given the opportunity.

Lake TAHOE is another place for a repeat visit especially in summertime.

So far I don't DODDER but that doesn't mean it won't happen. But as long as I keep exercising I hope it will be later rather than sooner.

Is DATAENTRY still a job skill? I know it was many years ago but in this day of automation is it still a requirement?

My PATIO is quite large and suitable for a big crowd but only in the autumn and winter months.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

CrossEyedDave said...

Been AWOL since Friday's Fe Fi Fo Fum,
I had a whole bunch of links set up & waiting to post for this great
puzzle, but I got sidetracked & life messed up my plans.

Yes I found Saturday to have easier Cluing, (but I had red letters on...)

Yes, I found Sunday to have extremely devious cluing! (no red letters, dead tree)

Thank goodness for Mondays! (only crossword solvers can say this...)

Boomer! A Belated Happy Birthday Wish!
I found you a cake, but I may have parsed it wrong...

Todays puzzle?
Althea was mentioned several times over the past week,
did I remember it? (No!) (Bzzzt!)

Which brings me to Monica's Brother.
I have seen every Friends episode,
I know every character name!
then you ask me who is Monica's brother, & the word Ross
falls into senile, can't find the word, Hell!
(I do xwords to sharpen my brain, not to find out how senile I am!)
Oh, where did those Neural connections go!

Also, I had Ail b/4 Ill. The clue deviously pointed you to Ail b/4 Ill...

Hey, I am not that old! this is what Dodder means to me!

Learning moment: Anorak...

Re: Xword staple: Ents,
I found an image where The Ents, found The Entwives!
(Unfortunatley, I cannot link it here with getting kicked off The Blog.)
So, I give you, The fine line between Genius, & Asshole...

Misty said...

Woohoo! Woohoo! I got this delightful Craig Stowe Monday, even though I worried about that AIWA. Never heard of it, and it didn't look like a real word to me--but what a relief that it was okay and that meant that I got the whole thing. Woohoo! Many thanks, Craig. I too didn't get the L AND in the middle even after getting the MIDDLE GROUND solution. Very clever. I watch "The Connors" only occasionally, but got SARA. Got the SHE SHELL joke right away--fun. And thank goodness I still watch "Friends" every now and then--that gave me ROSS. Oh, and my German helped me get KANT. A Monday pleasure--thanks again, Craig. And hope you had a terrific birthday, Boomer--you deserve it.

Have a great week, everybody!

CrossEyedDave said...

The following post is in response to CC's request for Roomba info,
Non-suck the life out of my Blog readers need not delve into this vacuum...

I have only ever had one robotic vacuum, & it is not a mindless, chicken
with it's head cut off wanderer. But it (they) will never replace a manual vacuum.

I have a Hoover 970 Rogue.

The thingie is amazing,
(I can watch it for hours!)

Good Points:
It maps the entire house (one floor) and then cleans within the perimeter in straight lines.

Easy to set up! (* note bad points below...)

The dust bin is always full, so it must be working!

using an Ipad, or phone, you can see a map of your house,
& where the thingie has been, and what it has cleaned in real time.

Especially great in the kitchen, (if you walk barefoot)
because every time you salt/pepper a sandwich, it gets all over!
just hit a button, or ask Alexa, (or try to get it going in the ipad/IphoneApp)
& your kitchen is barefoot walkable in minutes!

You can set up no go zones on your map!

Bad points:
(you know there were some...)
The software is terribly Buggy
but for this reason you can get it less than list price.

You MUST have excellent WIFI
(or it will very very uncommunicative...)

Be prepared to clean your house to use this damn thing!
(by this I mean)
Yes, it will go around obstacles. But if you have a bunch of bar stools
in your kitchen, just imagine a drunk cleaner trying to navigate all those legs...

You have to pick up any small rugs, like in front of your kitchen sink,
or entryways...

any rugs with tassles are a problem (it gets stuck!)

I have to pick up shoes in the mudroom
(can't train daughters to be neat)
if I want full cleanage...

I have to close the dishwasher door!
It will get stuck under the half open door and scream terribly...
(don't let this happen to you...)

It will clean main areas with excellence!
(but edges, not so much...)
even with the rotating brush thingies, it will miss
stuff under baseboards and cupboards. Requiring manual
re-vacuuming (does not apply if you a man living alone, only wives see this stuff...)

Biggest complaint!
I want to carry it upstairs & not vacuum!
But to do so requires losing your precious map! with all your no go areas!
The dang thingie will only do one floor!

If you have two floors, you need two thingies!

Oh, & as an aside,
I had redone my kitchen, adding hardwood floors, which created
a one inch lip between kitchen, and the rest of the house.
The dang thingie is programmed not to fall down stairs,
so while door saddles may not be a problem, if it senses a drop
it may decide to abort that room.

Little Steven said...

Many here are probably aware but I imagine many are not. Monica(Courteney Cox) made a cameo very early in her career(1984, pre-Friends and pre-Seinfeld) in a very popular Bruce Springsteen music video. Keep an eye out out for cute Courteney @ 2:25 and onward until she is pullled on stage to dance with The Boss.

Bruce's Dancing In The Dark

desper-otto said...

Here's a major downside for the Roomba (or other robotic vacuum cleaner). If you have a pet (or a baby) that makes a wet mess on the floor, the vacuum will do a great job spreading it everywhere. You will not be pleased.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle. I filled it so fast, almost all from the acrosses, that I went back to already-filled downs just to read the clues. Some pretty nifty fill, such as ISTANBUL, ANORAK, DENIGRATE, and DODDER. I enjoyed the SHE SHELLS. I do not like the term She Shed, however.

From last night, thank you for the advice NOT to give my wife a vacuum cleaner as a Christmas present. I think it is excellent and wise advice. I will follow it.

As for robot vacuum cleaners, the biggest problem they all have, IMO, is that they are round. Therefore the rotating brush is much shorter than the width (diameter) of the machine, so it is inherently incapable of getting the edges of rooms. There is one brand, called the Neato Botvac, that is "D" shaped (or what I like to call shovel-nosed shape) so the brush is longer and extends almost the full width, exactly like a manual vacuum cleaner. The D7 is the top of the line model. I don't know how good it is or how well (or poorly) it works. There is a review of it here.

Here's wishing you all a terrific Monday.

Lucina said...

Little Steven:
That is an impressive link of Bruce and Courtney! I've never been a fan but maybe I would have been had I seen him earlier in my life. Wow!

TTP:
Yes, the iRONY! In the 80's, which is about when that incident happened I did a lot more ironing and these days only a little. Today I was ironing and recalling it all over again. Sigh.

Jayce:
I commend you on your decision!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

A few days ago I asked about replacing my laptop's keyboard as a DIY project. I watched a YouTube video and it looked simple enough, with the keyboard just popping up from the top. So I ordered the replacement keyboard. Before I started, I decided to look for a video depicting my specific model, mainly because mine doesn't have an external battery to remove before starting, and my keyboard won't pop up from the top. WOW! This looks difficult. Here's the video I watched, and I'm not sure I'm up for this as a starter project. The video doesn't have any narrative, but does have some lovely music. Has anyone done this type of replacement?

Ol' Man Keith said...

I like how polite Boomer is when he says, in regard to SAGging, "Some of us are losing the fight."
Some of us, indeed.

Enjoyable theme today. Adds interest to an easy Monday pzl.

Hail, C.C., for your NY Times placement!

Congrats to Misty for your Ta~ DA! Yep, AIWA is definitely a thing. I used to accompany my daily run with music from my tiny AIWA transistor player.
Remember how they were the latest in miniaturization?
~ OMK
____________
DR
: One diagonal on the friendly side.
Today’s anagram takes note of my large and ungainly lower extremities, for which I am constantly apologizing. I refer to my…
ATONEABLE FEET”!

Lemonade714 said...

Boomer, you are amazing. With the health issues you have faced and face, your achievements in bowling and blogging are awesome. I must blame jet lag but forgive my failure to acknowledge your birthday yesterday.

HG: what ate you two trying to say? “But the movie (Downton) omits the Method masochism and "eat this bowl of chaff, it's good for you" bombast that has increasingly become synonymous with Hollywood's Oscar bait.”

Lucina, Courtney had an extremely pretty face, but I guess you were talking about Bruce. Meanwhile, I think C.C. and Paul Coulter are out to take over the crossworld. Thanks all.

Clarence said...

Lemonade

Courteney STILL has an extremely pretty face, IMHO.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

"Monday, Monday" was a longish work day. Glad it's over.

Too hasty with puzzle fills and made a few easily collectable errors. One of those days when I couldn't decide between "era" and "eon" and went with the wrong choice first.

Major"ette" is another term for your college minor correct?

Thought "pho" referred to the noodles not the soup itself.

"Wheel and deal", "denigrate" are terms and actions that unfortunately have replaced "middle ground"


Abejo said...

Good evening, folks. Thank you, Craig Stowe, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Boomer, for a fine review.

Well, my internet was down all day Sunday and most of today. That is why I did not do the Sunday puzzle until last night when I purchased a Chicago Tribune, for $3.99, to do the puzzle. Got it done. Today ATT got the internet going again after finding my wring had been tampered with by mice in the pedestal at the corner of our yard. So, after that I downloaded todays puzzle via cruciverb.

Boomer: HBD. Sorry I am a day late. Read the above paragraph.

Caught the theme today after I was almost done. Pretty simple.

BILL AND COO????? Not familiar with that term. Of course, being from Erie, I have missed a lot.

Very familiar with TAHOE. I worked there.

AIWA rang a bell. HAIKU did not ring a bell. Perps.

ANORAK was unknown to me. Perps. Same for ALTHEA.

Well, I will sign off for now. I will stop in later and comment on the Sunday puzzle.

See you tomorrow and maybe later.

Abejo

( )

CanadianEh! said...

Marvelous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Craig and Boomer (belated Happy Birthday!).
I was thankful for a straight-forward Monday level CW after the past tumultuous week. Happy to report that both the new grandson and my DIL are doing well. (The rest of us are just tired! I LOLed when I started with 1A SAGS.)

I FIRed and saw the LAND in the middle.
I wanted Brats before IMPS. Like YR, I think of IMPS as cute (now I have 7).
DENIGRATE, DODDER, and SALACIOUS add sparkle to a Monday.
We have no SAM's around here, just Walmart.

Jinx@7:31: of course you know that "If a man states an opinion in the forest and his wife isn't there to hear him" he is still wrong. In fact, he doesn't even have to be in the forest LOL!
Ray'o Sunshine@6:29: LOL re majorette
Spitzboov@9:44: thanks for reminding me of the British Plough. Oddly enough, this Canadian uses PLOW but I do remember the other spelling being used here in the past.

Good evening to you all.

Misty said...

Thank you, Ol'Man Keith. Devices were never my strong suit, I'm afraid--and still aren't. Great that you're up to speed with them.

Lucina said...

Lemonade:
Yes, I agree that Courtney COX is lovely but I was more impressed with Bruce!

emraeshine said...

Happy belated Boomer and howdy to the Crossword Corner community. Hoping to get feedback on how we can improve https://www.crosswordsolver.com/ to better serve crossword puzzlers and increase engagement. Thanks in advance. Your input is greatly appreciated.

OwenKL said...

emraeshine: I tried your site on the first 4 across and down clues of Tuesday's puzzle. Of the 8 clues, it only answered 1 --10a-- correctly, 1 --1a--incorrectly, 1 --1d-- with 48 answers (the correct was about 30 in the list), and the other 5 were no solution found.

Aside from the fact that there are already many solving sites out there (which I do my best to avoid as I consider them cheating), I'd say yours isn't yet ready for prime time. Constructors today (at least for the better newspaper ones) strive to come up with original clues that are different from anything used before. It's a valiant effort, I applaud you for that! If you're doing it for experience (as I did with a couple games when I was programming), I wish you well with improving it. If you're actually trying to create something marketable, well...

Anonymous said...

Courteney Cox spells her name with an extra "e" as I have typed a few times today with others ignoring my example and continuing to spell it incorrectly. I took notice of her unusual spelling while watching countless reruns of "Friends" on TBS and Nickelodeon. Just sayin'.