google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, October 8, 2019 Debra Hamel

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Oct 8, 2019

Tuesday, October 8, 2019 Debra Hamel

But is it erasable?  The first word of each theme answer can proceed the word Pencil to give us a new concept.

17-Across. Ocular arch-shaping cosmetic: EYEBROW WAX.  Eyebrow Pencil.



26-Across. Robby the Robot, e.g.: MECHANICAL MAN.  Mechanical Pencil.
48-Across. Backyard cooker: CHARCOAL GRILL.  Charcoal Pencil.  Everything you wanted to know about the difference between a charcoal pencil vs. a graphite pencil but were afraid to ask.



And the Unifier:

65. Tentative "It's a date" ... or a hint to the starts of 17-, 26-, and 48-Across: PENCIL ME IN.  If you "pencil in" an appointment in your date book, you can always erase the date and cancel your plans if you get a better offer.

Across:
1. How headless chickens may run: AMOK.  Did you know a turtle can swim without a head?

5. Argo and Titanic: SHIPS.

10. Email asking for money, perhaps: SCAM.

14. Pedi partner: MANI.  As a Pedicure and Manicure.


15. "A Confederacy of Dunces" author John Kennedy __: TOOLE.  John Kennedy Toole (Dec. 17, 1937 ~ Mar. 26, 1969) was from New Orleans.  Sadly, he died by suicide at age 31.  His most well-known novel was A Confederacy of Dunces, which was published after his death.


16. Gyro bread: PITA.  Yummers!


19. Like Felix Unger, e.g.: ANAL.  Hmm ...

20. Forbidden regions: NO-GO AREAS.

21. Mom's brother: UNCLE.  My mother had no brothers, thus I have no maternal uncles.

22. __ Lanka: SRI.  The island country off the coast of India.  Between 1948 and 1972, the country was known as Ceylon.  The name Sri Lanka means "Resplendent Island" in Sanskrit.


23. 1/60 of an hr.: MIN.  There are 60 Minutes in an Hour.

25. "The cow is of the bovine __; / One end is moo, the other, milk": Ogden Nash: ILK.
32. Miss. neighbor: ALA.  Louisiana and Arkansas are also neighbors of Mississippi, but the answer today is Alabama.

33. High school stat: GPA.  As in the Grade Point Average.

34. Loewe's lyricist: LERNER.  Alan Jay Lerner (Aug. 31, 1918 ~ June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist who collaborated with Frederick Loewe (June 10, 1901 ~ Feb. 14, 1988), who was a composer.  Together they created many well known Broadway musicals, including My Fair Lady and Camelot.
Lerner is on the right.

37. Dog pack leader: ALPHA.

40. One or more: ANY.

42. Spanish "I love you": TE AMO.  Today's Spanish lesson, obviously.

43. Get by: MANAGE.

45. Article in Die Zeit: DER.  Today's German lesson.

47. Up to, briefly: 'TIL.  Short for Until.

52. N, E, S or W: DIR.  N(orth), E(ast), S(outh) or W(est) are all Directions.

54. Golf teacher: PRO.

55. Portuguese saint: SÃO.  Today's Portuguese lesson.

56. UPS driver's assignment: ROUTE.

58. Not one to pass up a porterhouse: MEAT LOVER.

64. King of Siam's Broadway dance partner: ANNA.  Anna and the King of Siam was a musical by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II.  It was loosely based on the true story of Anna Leonowens (Nov. 5, 1831 ~ Jan. 19, 1915), who was a tutor to the children of King Mongkut.  Russian-born Yul Brynner (July 11, 1920 ~ Oct. 10, 1985) played the role of the King.


66. The Stones' Jagger: MICK.

Sir Michael Philip Jagger (b. July 26, 1943).

67. One-eighty: U-TURN.

68. Distort, as rules: BEND.  Bending the law doesn't exactly break the law, but it could be considered inappropriate or unfair.

69. Throbbing pain: ACHE.

70. Pro bono promise: NO FEE.

71. Boats like Noah's: ARKS.  Not all Arks, however, would be laden with animals.


Down:
1. Last word before digging in?: AMEN.  Cute clue.  A reference to saying Grace before a meal.

2. BLT condiment: MAYO.  A Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich would have Mayonnaise in it as well.

3. 10 C-notes: ONE-G.  Ten C-notes *$100 bills) are worth One-Grand ($1,000).

4. Put the __ on: squelch: KIBOSH.

5. Attic function: STORING.  I initially tried Storage.

6. Sewing machine inventor Elias: HOWE.  Elias Howe (July 9, 1819 ~ Oct. 3, 1867) is credited with creating the modern sewing machine.  Isaac Merritt Singer (Oct. 27, 1811 ~ July 23, 1875), however, has his name associated with the machine.  Howe was a nice family man, but Singer was quite the cad.  Singer is believed to have fathered at least 24 children with various wives and mistresses.

Elias Howe and his Sewing Machine.

7. Corn Belt state: IOWA.
8. Outmoded TV type: PLASMA.

9. __ symbol: SEX.

10. Wing measurement: SPAN.  The Albatros has the largest wingspan of any living bird.


11. Where Reds play: CINCINNATI.  A baseball reference to the Cincinnati Reds.

12. In the least: AT ALL.

13. 2018 Best Actor Rami __: MALEK.  Rami Said Malek (b. May 12, 1981) plays Elliot Alderson on the television series Mr. Robot.  He won the 2018 Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.

Malek is on the right.

18. Hard to find, to Caesar: RARA.  Today's Latin lesson.

21. Like some expectations: UNMET.

24. Feeling poorly: ILL.

26. Palindromic address: MA'AM.

27. "Enchanted" film title girl: ELLA.

28. Naval officer on a cereal box: CAP'N CRUNCH.  This cereal has been around since 1963.  We used to eat it as kids.


29. Beer initialism: IPA.  As in India Pale Ale.  Here's the history of India Pale Ale.

30. "I'm on it!": CAN DO!

31. "We __ Farmers": insurance slogan: ARE.
35. Pianist Gilels: EMIL.  I am not familiar with Emil Gilels (Oct. 19, 1916 ~ Oct. 14, 1985).  He was a Soviet musician.  It's a long piece, but worth listening to.

 

36. Winning streak: ROLL.

38. "Yeah, right!": HAH!

39. With jaw dropped: AGAPE.


41. Affirmative vote: YEA.

44. Do something human?: ERR.

46. Stephen King's kid lit counterpart: R.L. STINE.  Today is the birthday of R.L. Stine (né Robert Lawrence Stine; Oct. 8, 1943).  He turns 76 today.  Happy Birthday!  He is best known for his Goosebumps series of horror fiction for children.


49. Awaken: COME TO.

50. Sometimes it's unmitigated: GALL.

51. Self-moving vacuum: ROOMBA.

52. Certain queen's bailiwick: DRAMA.  Cute clue.  We all know someone who is a big DRAMA QUEEN.

53. Greek column type: IONIC.  There were 3 major styles of columns in ancient Greek architecture: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.  (If Debra Hamel, today's constructor, is who I think she is, then she is a historian specializing in Ancient Greece.)


57. Word before part or heart: TAKE.  As in the phrases Take Part and Take Heart.

59. Sufficient, in texts: ENUF.  Meh!

60. "Back forty" unit: ACRE.  The most remote area of the farm.

61. Swerve: VEER.

62. Kindle technology: E-INK.  I don't have a Kindle.  I do have a Nook, but I really prefer to read an actual book with pages that I can flip back and forth.


63. Gps. of drinks: RNDS.  As in Rounds.  "I'll get the next Round!"

65. "The lowest form of humor ~ when  you don't think of it first": Oscar Levant:  PUN.

Here's the Grid:

QOD:  Read.  Read.  Read.  Just don’t read one type of book.  Read different books by various authors so that you develop different styles.  ~ R.L. Stine (né Robert Lawrence Stine; b. Oct. 8, 1943).  See 46-Down.
    
Notes from C.C.:

Happy 78 birthday to dear Jayce, who's been with our blog for over a decade. Thanks for understanding so deeply my 🥣安 and other problems, Jayce. So glad you found us. Here's his wedding picture again. Young and Beautiful.

36 comments:

OwenKL said...

Razed eyebrows could result
From too much EYEBROW WAX.
A lei person's "Aloha," by rote
Is MECHANICAL, MAN, to the max!

Overuse of a patio CHARCOAL GRILL
Leaves an adipose hazardous waist.
A werewolf bayed, "Farewell, Moon.
PENCIL ME IN when next full phased!"

{A-.} Entries in italics where theme entries in Sunday's crossword, ones in all-caps are all the theme entries from today's.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Had parsing problems this morning. Who was MECHANIC ALMAN? What kind of technology is EIN K? D'oh. Also tried ONE K/ONE G, PBR/IPA and MAKE DO/MANAGE. Not a sterling morning for d-o. Plus, I didn't get the theme, because (once again) I failed to read the full reveal clue. Some old dogs just can't learn new tricks. Got 'er done, though, so life is good. Thanx, Debra and Hahtoolah.

desper-otto said...

Oops, forgot. Happy birthday, Jayce!

Lemonade714 said...

Happy birthday and many more Jayce. (how do you pronounce your name? I keep saying J C in my mind, not sure why).

I agree Susan that this must be the debut of DEBRA HAMEL who created a challenging and fun puzzle with such fill as: "A Confederacy of Dunces" author John Kennedy __: TOOLE ; Pianist Gilels: EMIL .

Hahtoolah, you called out Mr. Singer for his 24 children but did not link information about Thai King IV MONGKUT who was the 43rd child of his father. Having been celibate for 27 years, he now set about building the biggest Royal Family of the Chakri Dynasty. In the "Inside" of the Palace, there was a veritable city of women—reports say three thousand or more. They were mostly servants, Amazons for guards, officials, maids and so on, but Mongkut acquired 32 wives, and by the time he died, aged 64, he had 82 children. wiki

Gamar Tov, may you all be sealed in the book of life for a happy healthy year. Also, be sure to be here Friday for a wonderful and hopefully entertaining and enlightening joint blog by TTP and me and surprise guests.

TTP said...

Good morning. Thank you, Debra.

Desper-otto, you think that's bad ? I spelled ALPHA as ALPPA. Then, when reading the reveal, I tried to make sense out of EYE, MECHANIC and CHAR before I finally saw it.

D'OH !

No MAYO for Abejo. He'll have the BLT, hold the MAYO.

Happy Birthday, JAYCE !

Hahtoolah, great write up !

TTP said...


Abejo,

BTW, sad news this morning about the fire causing the ruin of the historic Masonic Temple in Aurora. I had driven past it a number of times when helping a friend's son and wife get settled in their house. I believe I recall you mentioning attending functions there.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

DNF. Misspelled CINCINatTI, so I couldn't get LEr__ and TE t_O. Had to erase SpAM, barbecue GRILL and STORage.

HBDTY, Jayce. In my mind I pronounce it "Jay's".

I was going to add a story about my early dating days, NO GO ZONES, and ANAL, but some things are just too easy so I'll pass.

CSO to Gary.

PLASMAs are outmoded? They had a shorter life cycle than the Pet Rock.

Witty puzzle, Debra (without the superfluous H). I especially liked the Levant quote. And thanks to Hahtoolah for the interesting review.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Happy Birthday to Jayce.

Crunchy, but it was solved without help. MEATLOVER help me spell GALL correctly. Sigh.
KIBOSH - In the language since Dickens' time. Nobody seems to know the etymology.

Alice said...

Almost FIR ... had to change Spam to SCAM when the Reds were mentioned.
HOWE was a guess .... I was thinking Singer, but that didn't fit.
E-INK is unknown to me, but perps insisted. Same with RNDS which I really wanted to be reds.
Lovely anniversary picture!
Have a nice day everyone.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Debra Hamel, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Hahtoolah, for a fine review.

First: Crucicerb worked today. Hallelujah!

Second: Happy Birthday, Jayce, and many more.

Third: Thank you, TTP, for remembering that I do not like Mayo on a BLT (my favorite sandwich), or any other sandwich. Also, I had not heard about the old Masonic Temple in Aurora catching fire. As you said, I used to attend Knights Templar functions in that Temple. Now they meet in a smaller Temple in Aurora. Which works out fine.

Puzzle worked out fine. Caught the theme once I had 65A PENCIL ME IN. Charcoal Grill is my favorite way to cook outside. I do not use a gas grill. I own five charcoal grills. Four in Illinois and one in Pennsylvania.

MALEK was easy. I saw that movie Bohemian Rhapsody. We do not see many movies. My oldest daughter and her family were in from Ohio last year. We all went to that movie. It was outstanding. I had never heard of the music group Queen. I guess I should get out more.

Unknowns: TOOLE, SAO, ELLA, R L STINE. Perps helped.

The one I did know really well is IPA.

Off to my day. Have to finish cutting the grass after the dew dries up. Started yesterday, but ran out of time. See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I had absolutely no clue about the theme until filing in the reveal, so this was not only fun to solve, but brought a nice Aha upon completion. Noticed the Der ~ Dir duo and learned that there is such a thing as E Ink. Who woulda thought? My favorite C/A was Certain queen's bailiwick=Drama. (I know far too many for comfort.) I like the word Kibosh and Bailiwick, too, for that matter. What struck me was the overwhelming number of entries that either ended or started with A:

Pita, Ala, GPA, Alpha, Anna, Rara, Iowa, Plasma, Ella, Yea, Drama, Roomba, and IPA.

Amok, Anal, Ala, Alpha, Any, Anna, Ache, Arks, Amen, At All, Are, Agape, and Acre.

Thanks, Debra for a fun solve that I rate A for effort and thanks, Hatoolah, for your breezy, light and refreshing analysis. I especially enjoyed the Tchaikovsky concerto as he and Mr. Rachmaninov are two of my favorite composers. They have both given the world some of the most beautiful, haunting, and soul-reaching music ever written, IMO. (I think Jayce (in my mind, Jace) is a fan, also.) Learning that John Kennedy Toole died by his own hand at 31 was a shock to me. I'm familiar with "A Confederacy of Dunces" as a title but have never read it and no nothing about its story line. For some reason, I also think of the author as O'Toole.

Happy Birthday, Jayce, hope you celebrate in style! 🎂🎁🎈🎉🍾 . Beautiful picture of the beaming bride and groom, BTW.

FLN

Keith, I hope you're feeling better and on the mend.

Have a great day.

Yellowrocks said...

A bit challenging for a Tuesday, maybe Wed.-Thur. level. I got the theme from the reveal. I didn't understand EINK and RNDS but left them in, because PENCIL ME IN had to be correct. I checked my puzzle on the Washington Post site when I was finished. FIR. I parsed RNDS, but I had to look up E INK, which was new to me, as was MALIK.
My arthritic shoulder appreciates the lightness of my Kindle and my aging eyes like its ability to enlarge the print and add light to the page. Like anything new, it took time to get used to. I found it a taste worth acquiring. And I can read the Kindle lying on my side in bed.
On the farm, I saw chickens with their heads chopped off running AMOK for a while afterward. Have you heard the idiom, "Run around like a chicken with its head cut off"? It means to act frantically or without control. That always brings to my mind seeing the butchered chicken. It also brings to mind some of today's politicians.
Hahtoolah, interesting article about Singer.
I pronounce Jayce to rhyme with place. Jayce please inform us. I wish you a very happy birthday.
Is "The King and I" factual? Even Anna's diaries are hyperbolic. The movie is banned in Thailand because it portrays the king as boorish and backward and his people as childlike and inferior to westerners.

Lucina said...

Hola!

First, happy birthday, Jayce! And may you enjoy many, many more! Do tell us how to pronounce your name.

I'm back from the Cancer Believe Walk in Redlands with sore feet. This year I felt it more keenly for some reason. Age, perhaps?? But it was as much fun and with as much frolic as ever, all 10,000+ marchers with direct or indirect connections to breast cancer.

I stayed at my sister's home, of course, and talking about DRAMA queens! There was a houseful. My nieces and grandnieces could take awards! And on arriving at the house a ROOMBA greeted us at the door!

Today's puzzle was right in my wheelhouse as I always solve puzzles in PENCIL! KIBOSH surprised me and I was unsure of the spelling because I've never written it but it emerged nicely.

CINCINNATI is another word I have trouble with and can't remember if the N or the T is doubled. I think I've got it now.

Also, I am definitely a MEATLOVER!

Thank you, Hahtoolah, for a fine commentary today. What is going on with Keith? Is he unwell?

I hope the rest of you are all well; I missed you and I'm glad to be back.

Have a sensational day, everyone!

Lucina said...

I forgot to say that my grandmother would kill chickens by twisting their necks until they fell off then they would run AMOK without a head.

Mailman1959 said...

I put Meal lover instead of meat and Gull instead of gall. Some days just don't work out.

Tinbeni said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAYCE! ... my first Sunset Toast is to YOU !!!

Hahtoolah: Wonderful, informative write-up. Good job!

Cheers!

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Debra and Hahtoolah.
I agree that this CW had a little crunch for a Tuesday, but I FIRed and saw the theme (but not until the reveal clue).

Hand up for Spam before SCAM; and again like Alice, I perpendicular E INK and wanted Reds (but it was used in the Cincinnati clue). I didn't understand RNDS until I arrived here.
MEAT eater changed to LOVER. TE AMO.

Rick will have us all AGAPE, allowing 19A and 9D in the same CW.
I hate MECHANICAL PENCILs. I I always apply too much pressure and break the lead.
I heard stories from my Dad about chickens running AMOK. Our farming ancestors were not squeamish! I don't know if I could have eaten chicken after seeing that.
We pulled the tomato plants out of the garden today. Only a few tomatoes are left, picked in baskets to ripen for BLTs with MAYO. Yum!
Unlike Ms. Alba on Sunday, MICK has Aged.

Welcome back Lucina.
OMK was not well on the weekend. Hope he is feeling better.
.
Happy Birthday Jayce.
Wishing you all a great day.

Ol' Man Keith said...

HBD Jayce! Hope you have a good day, kiddo!

I learned of the Greek architectural orders through my freshman Philosophy class, of all places. The three column capitals have always appealed to me.
I sorta missed the horizontal swoop in today's illustration of the IONIC.
~ OMK

Misty said...

Delightful Tuesday puzzle, Debra--many thanks. Nice to have some pleasant memories stirred up, like "The King and I," a favorite when I was young--though we didn't consider the political implications back then, unfortunately. Nice to see the picture of MICK, Hahtoolah. And I loved Felix Unger, and would agree that he was a nerd and a neat-freak, but A___? That shocked me a bit, Debra. And nice memories of the music of LERNER and his composer partner. I also did a lot of sewing when I was young, so got HOWE without any problem. My unknowns included MALEK and ROOMBA. Anyway, fun puzzle, thanks again, Debra and Hahtoolah.

Happy birthday, Jayce--lovely wedding picture.

Have a good day, everybody.

Bill G said...

Thanks Debra. I enjoyed that. You too Hahtoolah. Very excellent!

Happy birthday Jayce (rhymes with place I figure). I am pleased to have made your acquaintance and to be able to count you as a friend.

I often call up a local informal eatery and order a BLT to pick up on sour dough toast and with avocado added. Really good.

Damn Dodgers. One more chance...

Hahtoolah said...

Happy, Happy Birthday, Jayce!

Wilbur Charles said...

"Digging in"- AMEN. I was thinking of the foxhole prayer.

I'm one of those MAYO abstainers. Maybe a Flavored Mayo

I read the wiki on "Confederacy..". TOOLE must have thought the "dunces" were the publishers.

I agree that the difficulty was late week. Speaking of… the Sunday Post(Birnholz) was a beaut. I wish it had a Rex'ian blog.

Hbd Jayce.

WC

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle. Like TTP, I tried to make sense out of EYE, MECHANIC and CHAR before I finally saw it. For some reason I replayed that Plushenko ice skating performance in my mind when I filled in SEX. By the way, I showed it to my wife and she loved it; she laughed a lot. Now she has started calling me MSB. I had to ask her what that meant. "My Sex Bomb." Sheesh.

Jayce is actually my real nickname, and rhymes with place. Since my father and I were both named John, my family came up with a way to distinguish between us by calling me by my initials, JC. Soon they were pronouncing it JAYcee (rhymes with Macy) because it's faster than enunciating Jay CEE. Then my sister, who loves to shorten people's nicknames, started calling me Jayce and the name stuck. My sister is also the one who saddled my other sister with the nickname Dee, which is her middle initial and which she dislikes being called. But she will always be Dee to all of us. Oddly enough, for some reason, my sister ended up calling my brother James, whom we all called Jim, "Jamesio." Double sheesh.

Interestingly, my wife's family, who are from Hong Kong and all spoke only Cantonese before emigrating to Canada, liked using the English letter "B" in nicknaming my wife's siblings. My wife, who is the "first born," was just plain Da Jie which means big sister. Then came her brother, whom they called Da B, meaning Big B, the "B" denoting the second one, or number two. Then another boy, whom they called Xiao B, meaning Little B. Then a girl, whom they called B Nü, meaning Girl B. After that I guess they ran out of B's because none of them have nicknames.

The reasons I find that interesting (and endearing) are several, but one reason is how it ties in with how my wife and all but one of her siblings were named. All the girls' names start with Bo, which they spell Po, meaning Precious. My wife's given name is Po Lin, meaning Precious Lotus. My wife's sisters are named Precious Jade, Precious Bell, and so on. The three boys' names all start with Guó, which in Cantonese is Wok, meaning Nation (no, not frying pan!) The one exception is the youngest girl who for some reason does not have Po in her name; her name is WàiYī.

Okay, I have overloaded you all with TMI about me and my family. So I'll close by thanking you all for your lovely birthday greetings.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Tired eyes today from golf in a VERY stiff breeze!
-E_LA/A_PHA – Stupid me chose an S
-ANAL? Me? I just want my currency all facing the same way, unwrinkled and in sequence!! And another thing, that toilet paper roll on 36 Down is backwards
-A 15-yr-old girl is the very ALPHA person in the sophomore class where I sub
-That UPS driver has a ROUTE (root) around here not a ROUTE (rowt)
-“I’m on it!” I just wrote that response to a friend for whom I am subbing Wed and Th when he changed plans on me
-HBD, Jayce!
-Nice job, Susan!

Lemonade714 said...

Well, Jayce- it was nice to be both right (the nickname came from initials JC) and wrong.

Wilbur Charles said...

Misty, re. "Shocked" by ANAL.... Tutta Colpa di Freud (Blame Freud). He coined the term "anal-retentive".

WC*

* I used that as a check signature in USMC Disbursing for signing speed

My signature today is a mess, an anal-retentive's nightmare.

WC

CrossEyedDave said...

Happy Birthday Jayce!

Just stopped in to leave my mark...

Hmm, that cake wasn't sideways when I posted it.
& I don't know how to fix it.

Sorry to be a pain in the neck....

Lucina said...

Jayce:
That is really interesting about the family names. I know so little about Asian cultures so you have contributed to my store. Bo made me think of Little Bo Peep and now I wonder where that Bo came from.

Ol' Man Keith said...

VERY interesting stuff, Jayce. I was voting for "Jay-Cee," but now I know how it morphed.

CandadianEh! ~ I think I am feeling better. But I'm not taking bets. It has lingered for days. It is the weirdest ailment I can recall--weakness, lack of energy, edginess--but no obvious pain; slight nausea, zero appetite. Sleepy.
Maybe--just maybe I am shaking it off.
~ OMK

Misty said...

Wilbur (and Debra) my "shocked" was of course a joke, for amused. But, hey, if Freud approved, I have no problem with the word.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Didn't realize that my plasma TV in my man cave is outdated. Our still in use 25 year old 36 inch CRT must be ready for the Smithsonian. Unmitigated "gall" I spelled Gaul. Must have been thinking of my last trip to Paris. Didn't know Eyebrowwax was a thing. Put spam instead of "scam" the former being more appropriate to emails which had me scratching my head on 11 down for a while.

Interesting theory that to preserve all extant animals instead of the impossible task of herding live pairs that their DNA was stored on the ark

A bit of an inky mess. I finished eventually but should have "penciled it in."

Lucina said...

I just learned that today is R. L. STINES' birthday.

Keith:
Since I was gone I didn't know of your illness but do hope you are better.

inanehiker said...

Just got around to the puzzle - very long day!

The nickname/ naming discussion made me think of a friend's kids. The oldest girl they started as a nickname calling her Bo Peep (I don't even remember her actual name), but their younger son Paul was such a boisterous toddler often good naturedly causing destruction in his wake - so they nicknamed him Bo Paul (for the Bhopal disaster which had happened the year before he was born)

HBD Jayce!
Thanks Hatoolah and Debra!

SwampCat said...

Ray o Sunshine, I also have an ancient TV that my son in law was throwing away after 20 years of use. I have had it now as a backup for kids to watch on Saturday mornings while their parents slept in and I baby-sat. Those “kids” are now college graduates! The TV still works!

Ah, the puzzle. I. must have been on the right wave length. No unknowns, no write overs. We have commented before how some are easier for some of us than others. (Did I just get lost in syntax?)

Hahtoolah, you were at your best.

Owen, all A’s !! Hope you are feeling better. Hang in there. We need you!!

Jayce, happy b’day 🎂🍧🎉

D4E4H said...

Carol and I FIR  in 35:15 min.

Good Evening Cornerites of Continental USA.

Thank you Debra Hamel for your enjoyable Tuesday CW.

Thank you Hahtoolah for your excellent review.

Ðave 

SwampCat said...

Toole was a very sad footnote on New Orleans culture. Confederacy of Dunces perfectly captures one small slice of life here. Local legend has it that he didn’t feel appreciated and so ended his life. Such a waste. I’d love to have seen his take on other of our local color.